Silent Winter

I'd still like the log as a record though - a number of times in combat, I've needed to scroll back up a lot to see something I missed. Not sure whether I'd prefer floating text/numbers or just the log - but I wouldn't want to do without the log at all.

^I like the idea of the pet nosing around for food - might take too much programming to have it interact with the 2D background though (flitting between trees - it would need to know where the trees are in each area)

But you could still put log on the left, then portraits (off-centre) and then buttons right, right? That'd be fine for me. (Though your 'preferred version' is good for me too)

You can change your vote after having cast it. Just consider "IE nostalgic" to encompass any version of the UI with such a layout But as I said in my post (bolded for emphasis) - that's not the case - the poll is on which one you'd prefer, not which layout you'd prefer. (Not that this matters a whole lot - Obsidian will no doubt go with their own ideas, I just hope they're flexible like in Sensuki's latest suggestion.)

Yes, but then you're counting my vote against (I voted Sensuki's in the poll and then Saeri posted his later) - so my preference between 'IE Nostalgic' and Sensuki's is for Sensuki's, but between that and Saeri's version, I'd vote for Saeri's. But that's probably enough arguing over what the poll results mean

You're clearly in minority with this opinion.He is not a minority atm because from 30 votes only ten prefer the IE layout. I hope for at least a 100 votes before we can judge anything from the results though. But they're talking about Saeri's version which isn't an option in the poll (The 'IE' version you gave doesn't have the IE 'feel' and looks like a minimalist UI laid out oddly (rectangular block in top left should be a longer, thinner line - might look better then). - Saeri's version wins on style (IMO) )

^^That's pretty much what I wanted in the first place - won't happen, but it's nice (why is it so tiny?)

^That's more like it - but make more use of the horizontal space - maybe expand the combat log a little and make portraits larger / give more space between for status-effect-icons that then don't need to cover the picture.

No option for portraits in the middle, log left, buttons right? 'None of the above' would get my 'perfect' vote but Sensuki's is the closest so far. Waiting to see how it looks with the solid IE-style background but hopefuly we can have a 'best of both worlds' and allow the 3 sections to be moved on top of that.

hence the need for testing, community feedback and improvement

^same here, but I don't think it would be that difficult to do with the right software - you basically need a program that will render it, same as for a diffuse/AO map. Not sure if Blender would but I'd be surprised if it couldn't (perhaps with a plugin). The biggest obstacle is getting the area into the game - we'll have to wait and see what modding tools become available through the community.

^not displacement map - that's used when rendering the diffuse/spec/AO maps to add detail to the 3D mesh, (different objects have their own diffuse,spec and displacement/bump maps). (It isn't a separate map applied at game time) The occlusion map (per-pixel occlusion) would be the z-depth map. It tells the engine how far the pixel is from the camera. ('z' as in the z-axis). So it knows whether to hide one object behind part of the 2D map (e.g. a character walking behind a tree)

^AO map would just make it look better If specular makes everything too shiny, then you're overdoing the specular settings (tip - specular colour needn't be white - try dark colours on paper for example) z-depth map tells the engine how far everything is from the camera so it can calculate whether your character is in front of / behind the tree etc. Walkmesh would require unity (possibly pro if you're going to add it to PoE) (I guess the mesh itself could be made in any 3D program but I think Unity would be needed to make it work with PoE) Extent of modding options is uncertain at the moment - but there are some clever modders out there. I'll be happy if even adding in NPCs/Quests/Items/Dialogue is possible a la IE games. Edit: Not sure about 'albedo' either - it appears to be just the diffuse map

^You'd need to create at least an image map, z-depth-map, walk-mesh, (specular map makes it look better), and probably normal map. You'd need to render it in isometric view, yes. (Or the other angle for outdoor scenes). (Edit: Just to clarify, that's a flat 2D image of a scene from an isometric POV)

Minsc approves: Magic is impressive but now Minsc leads - swords for everyone!

^You mean keep them as character-creation 'perks' but remove the numbers at level-up? So you're always 'maxed' at one but never spread evenly across a few? Not sure if that's what you mean but it sounds limited there - sure, most people might decide early on to specialise in skill-X and then keep that pumped at the max, but some people want to do well enough in 2 skills or 3 without diluting it all the way to 'jack of all trades'. If you mean simply remove the skills altogether, then I think it would be negative. I don't think 'most' PoE players would prefer to remove it (and 'most' players in the gaming market may prefer fancy graphics and hack'n'slash rpgs so we're not counting them). If it were done a la BG and only rogues could disarm traps and pick locks, it would be ok (though less ideal) for me - but I actually like having the option to specialise your characters further than their class. So the need is to make the skills equally attractive. Adding more skills might help too but I'm not sure there's the time to balance it all (maybe in the expansion/PoE2?). I don't want NWN level of skills, that was too many for me - but a few more might be good - then again, the attributes are also checked in some situations instead of skills (conversations and some scripted interactions) so there may be the necessary variety anyway.

^but there'll be no time-stop in PoE -> That amounted to several MMs at once = more power per shot. I liked MM because it scaled with level and was insta-cast (pretty much) so it remained useful throughout most of the game (sometimes needing Lower-Resistance first against later enemies) I'll wait and see how PoE's spells play - having level-x fireball for various levels seems boring on paper but when taking into account casts per-day, it might work out well in practice. (I've run out of high-power fireballs but I can still cast mid-power ones)

^You forgot: "Look behind you, a 3 headed monkey!" *view the wares while the merchant is distracted*

29. We suggested this early on - not sure if it's being considered but it would be cool to have a spider-form that can shoot webs or a plant form that can root into the ground and draw strength or .... 30. There's no alignment system a la DND (Law-Chaos / Good-Evil) but there's a reputation system - you could be loved by one faction yet despised by another. You may get a reputation in one town for being an arrogant jerk but have a reputation in another for being generous / whatever.

^6. yes, I think they took some ideas from 4th edition too. ^8. Yes, in BG2 the level cap (with TOB) went up to 40 - but that was a high level campaign and a continuation from BG1 - BG1 was only 6-9 (ish) The developers need to put in content for each level so there's a cap - in this case, level 12 - more can be added in the expansion/sequel if they desire. The sequel isn't being worked on - it's more like an ideal future if PoE sells well enough to fund a sequel. It may be in the BG->BG2 style (continuing main char's story) or simply an IWD->IWD2 style (new story in same engine). The expansion is planned but no work has started on it yet (AFAIK) so we've no idea what it will add.

Not enough time to answer them all but I'll mention the ones that I know off-hand: Wiki is a little behind on some info apparently: 1. There are a lot more than 5 monster types, also plenty of undead (PoE has its own take on undead but there are zombie and skeleton types as well as more recent undead 'Fampyr' - not exactly vampires but feeding off living flesh to survive) 2. I don't know if any is planned but it's possible in the engine. 6. Spells per rest/encounter are based around the Vancian system of the IE games but improved without the need to pre-select spells (so more like D&D sorcerers but with added per-encounter spells). As you level-up you'll be able to cast more spells per-rest/encounter and some per-rest spell-levels may become per-encounter. We like it that way for the IE-feels. 8. Baldur's gate originally had a level 6 cap (or something) expanded to 8 or 9 with the TOTSC expansion. PoE will have an expansion released in the future which should extend the level-cap. (We're also hopeful of a sequel but that'll depend on how sales of PoE go). 12. There is a bestiary, defeating certain numbers of enemies will enable you to fill it out (possibly other ways too). 14. There should be lots of party interaction, not sure it'll go as far as party-breaking fights but some NPCs may not get along well. 15. Not sure they'll allow multi-classing in the future - more classes might be added, but I'd prefer that to be the case only if it's something unique and fun. 25. There are spells to restore endurance but not 'health' (though apparently the latest build had talents that could do it) - this was lore-based, no healing magic - but a good rest will refill the health-bar. --- In general, it will be mod-friendly (though will have no tool-kit a la NWN - more like IE games). So custom classes/NPCs/Quests should be addable. --- that's all I've got time for for now

sadly there isn't (in PoE) - pickpocketing will be limited to some scripted-interactions (maybe dialogue choices too).

I always thought "show me your wares" was a traditional greeting to a merchant. Imagine it said with a friendly smile - the use of 'please' may not be culturally required in this part of the world in order to convey courtesy - merely the tone. (It's being translated from Glanfathan after all ) Including just the line without 'please' allows us to roleplay it with different tones according to our character without the need for Obs to write a few different lines: "Show me your wares, or else" "Show me your wares, quickly, I've little time" "Show me your wares if you think your little shop has anything of value to a grand adventurer like myself." "Kindly show me your wares, good merchant." "Can I 'ave a look at yer wares, please sir?" etc There are, of course, times when you want a few different responses because the other party will react differently. (And I hate it when those are unclear and I think it's a nice tone when the writer thought it a harsh tone). But this isn't one of those times to make the effort since the reaction is the same (it's just a 'trade' button).

^yes

^Most of it is a flat 2D image, so not intaractable. They could put in a 3D object such as a barrel to explode in a particular situation but that wouldn't be the norm for most barrels in the world.