AirBreather

Q for the devs: Per the main/front page of PoE's website ( eternity.obsidian.net ), is "Distribution via Steam and GOG (DRM-free)" still correct in light of this publishing deal? I assume so, but offical words would be appreciated. Never mind, I saw this somewhere: Re: the deal with Paradox affecting the DRM-free nature of POE: "We will be providing both Steam and GOG digital versions of Eternity. The GOG version is still going to be released. The partnership with Paradox has not changed anything we have promised to our backers."

Awesome, thanks for the update/link to the official word (from at least one dev team). No word on whether things will be actively forbidden... Hmm. Sounds like it will be quite an interesting artistic divergence. Will have to wait and see!

Well, some discussion coming up, and thanks for all that. I'll do some snipping and replying. Thank you for being a voice of reason. Feel like you are the only person that gets completely where I am coming from. :D If anything, I have the following 'goals' by these two threads and polls: 1) To draw attention to the shared engine natures of the two games, by anyone (including devs, fans, backers, etc). 2) To avoid, by laying of a co-operative ground work between these two dev teams, the conflicts that occurred in IWD/BG days by a sort of prepatory "fair useage" agreement or something. Specifically to avoid the rendering 'illegal', banned, etc, of the use of one games asset's into another. Point #1 has succeeded. Even moreso when somebody says "Nobody cares." Can you grok the inherent contradiction in that statement? Point #2 remains to be seen, as it is more of an IP thing than an engine thing. If all it takes is both games being present on the mod-makers and mod-user's system, well then... All good! I am quite aware that this thread, poll and so on may be completely useless and unnecessary if there are no plans for restricting content or having non-compatible assets. :D In such a case, modders would be using those assets and absolutely no 'prep work' would be required by devs. However, IF the devs explicity state that they are forbidding the sharing of assets between titles, this thread is NOT useless because it can then draw interest to... Not doing that! Any official statements would help a lot.

This poll and thread is a 're-launch' attempt of another thread (@ http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65236-co-operate-with-torment-ton-in-allowing-shared-art-assets/ ), with clearer languaging around the (now multiple) poll questions. The really key thing that would make this happen (or not!) in any form is dev interest, of course, and that is what these threads/posts will hopefully stimulate. For myself, Q1: Yes - of course. :D Q2: Only if the devs feel like it. Not attached either way. Q3: As Q2. Cheers!

Starting a new thread & poll with much clearer languaging, taking into account as much as possible that has been said here...

Hello All, I think I made a big mistake around the poll question. The way it is worded somehow implies that I am suggesting obligating/pushing art assets from one game to another. What I really meant is to simply make them (offically) available via the other game's respective modding tools. Lots of replies here, so I will do snipping! Thank you! I actually backed The Strange, completely forgot about it too. Cool idea for a mega-mod! See my rewording at the start of this post. This is more about engine/asset support than making either dev team's work dependent on the other... If you get what I'm saying...? Yes to unique art, no to requiring shared art. Again, I think I seriously messed up the wording/implications of the poll. Its more about the whole shared resouces angle. YES! This is 100% what I mean! Good to hear all these replies. For a while I was afraid the topic would just be ignored. Hope you don't mind the quote maze.

Bolded points 1 & 2 = limited imagination much? See below. Well, for equal benefit for both, likely possibilities could include: - Monsters, of any type. - 'Natural'/wasteland backgrounds. - Any sort of small house/building interiors. Just off the top of my head, possible ideas for TToN assets in PoE could be: - Mechanized interiors as part of a giant knight/siege engine - 'Bloom' city as adventure where player group gets shrunk down into a strange, exotic plant - Any generic wasteland (potential link-in to desolate/desert like areas) - Normal or exotic plant zones (hidden forest areas, magically twisted wastelands, etc) - Cave/natural underground systems - Most anything as part of a dream/nightmare/drug haze/illusion/'astral' experience - Monsters as some sort of invasion, exotic zoo, etc And for PoE assets in TToN: - Pretty much everything, hand-waved under 'its an alternate dimension!' OooooOOOooo! Bolded point 3 = *sigh* I'm not suggesting some massive effort here (unless they want to do an expansion of sorts, which is unlikely), merely an continuation of the already existing engine collabration. It is already well known that there is not going to be dedicated modders tools to the degree of say NWN - but this can be a useful 'bone' to throw, surely? This is really about the modders - assuming there is ANY sort of file/system/mechanics in place modders WILL extract something... Eventually... from either game to used in the other, unless there are 'special measures' in place to prevent that. This 'rubber stamps', makes easier and official the process. Let me put it this way - if it only took like FIVE minutes per each map and maybe TEN for each character model... Would it be so painstaking a cost for the potential benefits for fans, gamers, modders in the mid-to-long term?! I know there is a point where the cost outweighs the benefit (such as taking an additional day or week to make a background 'compatible'), but I seriously doubt that such is the case. Of course, any official word on the feasibility of ANY of this is much appreciated.

Hello all, This is cross-posted in the Pillars of Eternity General forum (waiting for approval, I'm still a newb there!) and the TToN Game Ideas user voice section (same subject but with different game title in the subject line). Background: there were (and ARE still) a lot of awesome mods for the infinity engine games. However, there was some flak about 'illegal' mods - specifically, mods that extracted and used cross-game art assets, such as IWD components inside BG2, without the IWD game being present. However, now there is a great opportunity: two awesome rpgs being developed at the same time, using the same engine, unconstrained by publishers, and interested in the same sort of background art systems! (Unsure about the model/npc/monster art, though!) This is doubly important as the backgrounds have been mentioned as being the most complex to implement - it will give both sets of game modders an entire new world's set of resources to play with! What I am proposing is that the developer teams of PoE and TTon co-operate to allow compatibility and full support of art (and model?) assets in between each others games. Ways this could be implemented: 1) Both games purchased and present on the same system (potentially simplest). 2) One of the games purchased, another 'authorized' or purchased, but not necessarily on the same system. 3) One of the games purchased, combined with an 'art asset modders pack' (that would cost a token fee or be free). 4) The devs create an official shared/combined 'art asset pack' (token fee or free). 5) One or both of the dev teams create a playable (un)official expansion that is merely a run-through (and display zoo? Maybe something rather... Modron-cube-like? :D ) of the others game in order to tie the art assets to one of the games (instead of being shared in general). 6) As #5, but one or both do a full-on expansion! Due to the settings, the TToN inside PoE would be rather strange, but interesting (perhaps a 'What If?!' scenario?), while the reverse could fit as some sort of visitable alternate dimension or something. 7) As any above, but work contracted out (not done in-house). *Note that any of the above proposals could be Kickstarted for interest, possibly once both games are launched. I do not want the devs time 'taken up doing non-development things' - even having the intent to share and making sure art assets are compatible, game engine wise, would do a lot! There are a number of considerations around this process. Some that I've thought up include: 1) The devs do NOT want to share art assets (though they are willing to share other things). 2) Conflicts and issues with IP rights, including that of Monte Cooke's Numenera. 3) Nobody thinks this is a good idea? 4) There are some complicated engine issues that would prevent this from being possible (???). 5) Other??? Comments welcome! I truly think this could be a start of some awesome win (PoE devs) - win (TToN devs) - win (gamers) - win (modders) situations!

Hello, I was wondering about the feasibility of this - the subbing in/quick switch of a low poly alternative model when the character dies? Either generic, or perhaps somehow based/derived from the living npcs' model?

Hmm. Great update! Per the general request, a few things come to mind: - Strong personality (of whatever type): a personality core that stays intact and influences the way they DO change, like a visual filter for their evolution - the 'filter' is still there, but the way things are interpreted/act out change (if that makes any sense??). - Depths of personality: hidden depths, some sort of mask/layer that can be uncovered in certain situations. (Obviously this could be overdone, and maybe only makes sense for a particularly 'guarded'/silent/quiet type, or certain overblown/hyperbolic personalities) Some cliched examples would be berserker that really likes art/quiet/peace/talking but does the dumb brute act, the fragile type with a merciless mask, bitter poisoneer with a 'princess' facade, etc. (Can be done with a lot more complexity, I hope/imagine) - Constant reinforcing of the personality through very *small* things, even as simple as regular greetings, catch phrases (maybe! Heh), (changing/evolving) reactions to certain situations. Much more important than a big monologue every hour or so (unless their 'comment' is a grunt, significant silence, etc, that is drawn attention to)! - Granting the *player* able to do *small* things to reinforce the nature of the companion: like pointing out a bush to a druid (for a one-line comment), swords for warrior, certain magical energies for a wizard, etc. The key to these is that they are frequent and very, VERY small - the equilivant of "hey, what about that? Oh really? Cool thanks!" There might be more involved versions of this, such as asking a companion about their take on a certain subject, but these 'small' things are meant to blend as seamlessly into the world as possible. This could include just about anything: first time (or some set number of times) an item is viewed in store/inventory (or used somehow), spells cast/hit, certain areas walked into/specific parts examined, etc. It shows that the companion is not just a silent/trigger/banter machine, but more active in their views in the world and towards you/the player. Hmm. Thats it for the moment...