[Easter Eggs!]

The further adventures of an infamous space hamster.

 

Also, something as epic as the pantaloons in the Baldur's Gate series would be grand.

[Inventory system]

BG2's refined inventory system is just about what one should have in a RPG game I think. I don't think I've played a RPG with multiple controllable characters that did it better.I wouldn't mind some more equipable slots though, or some sorting / autostack options.

[Update #14: The Music of Project Eternity]

For comparison:

 

PT

youtube.com/watch?v=8usOiu8StWQ

 

IWD

youtube.com/watch?v=-bPZ9Nt_2oA

 

BG

youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7vWiaxw7Y

 

BG2

youtube.com/watch?v=ki9mkLh9u08

 

BGTob

youtube.com/watch?v=lB7T6Kd9cYg

 

They're all good pieces of music. The thing about a theme though, or any piece of music in a video game or movie, is what it's paired with means everything.

 

I'm not sure I'd be overly impressed with any of the above had I not played the games. Having played the games, they all resonate with me. Planescape Torment and BG moreso though due to the stories.

 

Music is incredibly important as everyone is saying, and I know Obsidion knows this.

 

I'd add though that I don't think the themes are the best pieces of music from these games, though the PST theme is close.

 

Music becomes something super special when it touches you. Occasionally there's a song in a game that becomes iconic with a certain part of the story, and amplifies the feelings that are invoked by a storyline. Two good examples (one from an Infinity game and one not):

 

Deionarra's Theme

http://youtu.be/g05awcTskKE

 

When I first played Planescape I remember being very moved by the scene where Deionarra's theme is introduced, and it was at that point of the game that I was hooked... though perhaps 'absorbed' is a better word. To this day, I want to know more about her. Her story is just a part of what is probably the best story in all of video gaming history. Never before or since have I voraciously read that much dialogue in a game.

 

 

Aeris's Theme (skip to 1:28)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qnyxd7Vq0Q&t=1m28s

 

 

When I first played FF VII.... Well..... most anyone who ever played that game and didn't know what happened at the end of Disk 1..... well, you know. That piece of music had been introduced in the game before the memorable scene, and yes, it was nice, but that memorable scene took the song to another level as much as that song took the scene to another level, and I'd say had a lot to do with what made that game legendary. To this day I wish I could somehow save Aeris, and oh how I tried in disk 2 and 3.

 

I think a goal of any writer and music composer involved in an epic game is to attempt to create something that will resonate as deeply as the above examples do with so many. There are other examples for sure (in movies), but these are the two that came to mind and both are from what many consider to be the best games of their genre.

 

All that said, my vote for best theme from the above choices would be Planescape's.

 

I loved Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate 2 is still the best sequel to any game ever for many reasons, not the least of which is you started out as a lowly level one errand boy in game 1 and you got to stick with the same party (for the most part) all the way through to the end. But Planescape Torment has a story above and beyond even that of Baldur's Gate.... and it's the story and the memory of the story that really makes a piece of music. The best and most memorable pieces of music have a story, and that's true of music that preceded modern visual media.

 

I really like the music that Obsidion has so far released. What will determine if it's uber awesome ultimately? Well... a lot depends on the composer yes, but a lot also depends on the writers and designers. I don't think it's the best idea to try and sway them one way or the other the way some of the people in this thread have. Let them do their thing. I have some faith in them.

 

What can change the nature of a man?

[Level up rate?]

The rate of level/power gain in Baldur's Gate 1 was about perfect (sans XP cap). Baldur's gate 2 leveled you a bit too fast.

 

I love BG2, it was an awesome game. Probably the only thing I could take issue with in that game was the level progress. In a big way it felt like BG 2 and 3 were pushed into one game (plus expansion) in terms of level progress.

 

I say that having played, BG1 & 2, IWD2, Planescape Torment (also about perfect but you played a demigod of sorts, so not for Project Eternity), NWN2, Dragon Age, and a plethora of other non Bioware/Obsidian Games from the 80s until today.

 

One of the major things wrong with modern Computer RPGs is that you do gain levels and power too fast. NWN2, while a great game, had you at something like level 3 or 4 only an hour or two into the game. Please no to that.