[Update #54: Art Update - Work IS in Progress!]

You can do Baldur's Gate Sized Portraits without having to have a Sidebar UI

 

Here is a really dodgy mspaint job of it:

 

 

Status effects could now be on the portrait like in BG/IWD

 

Only thing is with this design I've lost the space for the Animal companion. You could remove a line of hotkeys I suppose - two lines of that is more than the original mockup.

 

 

Even though I'd still like the chat/log window to be on the left, this, to me, is the by far best suggestion so far.

[Update #54: Art Update - Work IS in Progress!]

Finally, make sure that spell-icon space is aplenty and customizable.

 

+++

This cannot be overstated!

 

My first character of choice is always, to use the olden days' terminology, a chaotic evil mage, so having an easy to use and at least somewhat customizable spell interface is something that can potentially greatly influence the enjoyment I get from playing any RPG.

[DRM-Free Option -- Why not just make all Steam copies DRM free?]

There's this misconception that Steam is DRM. Steam is just a delivery system, but Valve supplies tool to implement DRM if developers and publishers want to make use of them. Steam games do not require Steam to run unless it is configured so by the game's manager. Skyrim on launch did not require Steam to run, but Bethesda patched it later. Many older games do not bother with Steam dependency, such as Commandos 2. Move the game folder around, copy it to another PC, launch it from the exe with Steam closed (and Steam will not start up).

 

It makes no sense to say "We will offer a Steam version and a DRM-free version" because being a Steam version doesn't necessarily imply things one way or the other regarding DRM implementation. Why not make all versions DRM-free, yet still sell the game on both Steam and GoG? Why punish people who choose Steam instead of GoG as their delivery system by giving them DRM in their copy, when DRM free versions will be readily available anyways?

 

I'm not sure I understand you correctly... are you complaining that the P:E Steam Version will probably require Steam to be running in order to play the game?

Like - you really do complain about a steam title needing steam to run?

 

Don't get me wrong - I can see why being able to freely move the game folder around and copying it to other computers can be a nice feature for some people - but why not choose the drm-free version then?

 

And concerning your last thought: I at least do not in the least bit feel punished just because the steam version will probably require Steam to be up and running - I would have it up and running anyway, since I really like the library feature which enables me to comfortably manage all my games without having an insane amount of icons on my desktop or an insanely long start menu list.

 

So I for one am just glad that they do offer a steam option.

[Update #54: Art Update - Work IS in Progress!]

While I certainly think the idea of a bone and obsidian UI could be really cool looking, it would also be very stark and high-contrast.  I think it would wind up dominating the screen, regardless of the environment.  Our outdoor environments, especially, will fall more in the BG and BG2 spectrum of colors, which is why we went with more subdued natural tones and copper accents.  We can certainly look at alternatives, but I wanted to give feedback on that particular idea.

 

This might be a bit early, but what are your plans on modding tools etc?

The way I see it, if there were to be any kind of SDK or maybe just an easily modifiable file structure, everyone could make their own UI's just the way they like 'em.

Maybe there might even be a sticky thread sometime in the future where avid modders could present their interpretations and share them with the rest of the community.

[Update #54: Art Update - Work IS in Progress!]

To break away from the heated UI discussion, did I mention how awesome this is?

 

 

I wonder if dialogue will be handled this way? Probably not though.

Reminds me in a very pleasant way of the first type of computer games I ever played, which were text adventures... to have a similar method employed for quest choices like in the mockup would be awesome.

 

To me this really enhances both the overall atmosphere of the game, as well as the level of immersion into the game; a lot of modern games, even RPGs, feel kinda hectic in the way they present quests or even dialogue - there just isn't the same "Hey player, why don't you just sit down for a spell and listen to the story I'm about to tell you"-vibe around anymore.

 

I also feel that if the game shows you everything in absolute detail, instead of just hinting at and telling you about certain details, it takes away a lot of opportunity for the player to simply use their own imagination to picture the current scene just the way they like it, the way they think a horrific spider or a wizened old woman etc should look.

That's basically the same difference between reading a book and watching a movie - both can entertain you, but a book, to me, always wins where immersion and sheer "I need to know how the story ends"-ness is concerned.

 

A lot of you guys might have experienced something similar after having read a book which was then made into a movie... there's almost always at least one character, setting, detail, whatever, where you feel a sting of disappointment because it just doesn't look or feel right.

 

Long story short: The artwork and presentation of choices in the mockup immediately reminds me of everything I like about reading books over watching movies - it stimulates the imagination without chaining it down to only one possible interpretation.

[Update #54: Art Update - Work IS in Progress!]

If the final game looks anywhere near as gorgeous as in the first mockup screen, then a lot of screenshots will be wallpaper material... so if you could implement a "Hide UI"-toggle, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Update #53: The Man Who Makes Monsters]

Hey devs and fellow users,

 

after having read the Project Eternity cover story in this month's issue of GameStar, I have just decided to pay for the 'slacker backer' option (aptly named, I feel rather ashamed about not having learned of PE earlier on, being a huge fan of the classic RPG era) and started to browse your forums.

 

The amount of feedback and updates from the developers is really great, and such behind the scenes reports as this one only make me want to play the game even more.

 

In short: Keep up the great work, hopefully there'll be a lot more new backers like me in the next days.