[Merged] Please make a console version!

[perezca]

I don't currently have a computer of my own and probably won't have one for a while but I love your games Obsidian and considering the fact you guys have almost raised half the funding for Project Eternity and it's still day one, I think you will have plenty of funding to consider making a console version! So please consider it and if you announce a console version, I will gladly pledge! This is for anyone who agrees there should be a console version so speak up and let your voice be heard!

[Oerwinde]

The reason its for PC only is because the team doesn't want to have to dumb it down for consoles. Not saying that console players are dumb, but interface and control options are severely limited due to the gamepad vs keyboard and mouse. Who knows if they might port it to consoles eventually though.

[oldmanpaco]

I don't currently have a computer of my own and probably won't have one for a while but I love your games Obsidian and considering the fact you guys have almost raised half the funding for Project Eternity and it's still day one, I think you will have plenty of funding to consider making a console version! So please consider it and if you announce a console version, I will gladly pledge! This is for anyone who agrees there should be a console version so speak up and let your voice be heard!

 

And so it begins.

[Metabot]

No. I guess there are console licenses that have to be bought, so it would take a chunk out of the budget.

[Nefastus]

You have about a year and a half to buy a computer. Start saving now

[Syraxis]

PCGAMINGMASTERRACE

[Tigranes]

Porting costs a lot of money. That's one of the reasons they could offer an initial budget of 1.1 million - PC only. You add in licensing fees, additional Q&A, development, etc, etc, and I wouldn't be surprised if the 'porting' budget would be larger than the main budget.

 

'Dumb down' is a separate question. It's 100% true that having to develop for consoles changes many fundamental parts of your game from the very start; whether for good or bad is for you to decide, but it does add to the difficulty.

[Oerwinde]

'Dumb down' is a separate question. It's 100% true that having to develop for consoles changes many fundamental parts of your game from the very start; whether for good or bad is for you to decide, but it does add to the difficulty.

 

Dumb down may be the wrong term, but almost 100% of the time, the platform a game is designed for is the platform the game is better on. Ports almost always suck, whether its PC->Console or Console->PC.

[salty]

Please do not make a console version.

[trulez]

No, no and no.

 

Games developed for PC and consoles simultaneously are without exception compromises, and always forced to fit the restrictions of consoles, thus they become less of a game than what they have potential for.

Edited September 15, 2012 by trulez

[perezca]

You see how much money they've raised already, there's no doubt in my mind they'll raise more than enough for the budget they desired for the PC version and I'm sure that a port or even a console version built from the ground up wouldn't cost more than it would to make the PC version. I'm not even asking they make them side-by-side, they could easily make the PC version first and then concentrate on the console version. If they don't, I'll guess I'll just have to save up like you said and get a computer...but even then I'll still use my Xbox controller to play it

[Tigranes]

a port or even a console version built from the ground up wouldn't cost more than it would to make the PC version

 

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it will. I can see a Xbox/PS3/PC version of Eternity costing over 3 million.

 

You could port it over afterwards, but if you had made the game initially with PC in mind, you'll need to make a lot of changes - or you just make a really crappy port.

 

Yeah, I'd say getting a computer's the best option here. It will probably use the Onyx engine, so you will likely need a decent but not top of the line computer.

[Mashiki]

Look at it this way perezca, in a year and a half you'll be able to save up the money to buy a computer. With the rate that PC hardware devalues you won't be able to buy top of the line but you'll be able to buy the previous generation of hardware at about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost and probably be able to play the game well. I wouldn't worry, 2014 is a fair bit away.

[NoxNoctum]

I think it being PC only is probably a big draw really. People are tired of seeing their RPGs be limited by inherent console restrictions (see Skyrim which I heard a lot about with regard to interface etc)

[Zed]

I don't currently have a computer of my own and probably won't have one for a while but I love your games Obsidian and considering the fact you guys have almost raised half the funding for Project Eternity and it's still day one, I think you will have plenty of funding to consider making a console version! So please consider it and if you announce a console version, I will gladly pledge! This is for anyone who agrees there should be a console version so speak up and let your voice be heard!

Hey, guy, this is CRPG turf.

 

Multiplatforming a title is a huge undertaking. Even if they raise 14 mils, it's still not gonna be worth it because of the toll it takes on interface design (among other things).

 

Maybe post-PC launch.

 

Seriously, this Kickstarter isn't even meant to appeal to console gamers. Why are you doing this to me. Can't you play Dragon Age 3 instead?

[Li_Lai_Fu]

Whatever you do Devs please keep this console free. It always hurts the PC version in terms of playability and feel. Menus become unbelievably anoying to navigate among other things. PC is most deffinitely the way to go with a game like this.

[perezca]

Hey, I am here because the ONLY PC game I will ever play with keyboard and mouse was made by this team. Neverwinter Nights 2, in case you were wondering. I think the first was better but that's a different story. I also loved their console games, mainly KOTOR 2 and New Vegas so I believe if anyone can make a quality PC version and then once that's done, make a quality console version (most likely Xbox, simply cause of past history with Xbox and Obsidian). So, I am interested in this game just as much as all of you and I see no reason (funding out of the question because it's clear the fans want this game and will fund it, including myself) why post-PC launch there couldn't be a console version. I don't like ports either, you're all right about "dumbing it down" and the like, that's why the best option is creating a console version of Project Eternity from the ground up with consoles in mind instead of porting, so that it wouldn't be a disaster like so many other ports. And I believe Obsidian can do that, because their extraordinary pool of talent has done it before.

[HoonDing]

The reason its for PC only is because the team doesn't want to have to dumb it down for consoles. Not saying that console players are dumb, but interface and control options are severely limited due to the gamepad vs keyboard and mouse. Who knows if they might port it to consoles eventually though.

Dunno man, I finished hardcoer peecee arrpeegees like Baldur's Gate and Torment by only clicking left mouse button.

 

While Phantasy Star at least required 3 buttons.

 

[WDeranged]

If making a console version would hinder development or remove anything from the game then don't do it, simple as that.

[trulez]

If making a console version would hinder development or remove anything from the game then don't do it, simple as that.

By default it does. As soon as you go from "whats possible for PC" to "whats possible for console" you've limited your choices (memory, processing power, UI, controls etc.)

[Piccolo]

As others have said, consoles just aren't adaquate for this kind of game. That has nothing to do with PC elitism or wanting to spite console gamers; it's just fact. Developing this kind of game to work on consoles as well would most probably just be a huge detriment to the PC version.

[Humanoid]

I can't see it worth the effort now, but from what little I know, future console generations seem to be heading in a direction that is somewhat converging with the PC, possibly making a future port an easier proposition than what's possible with the current generation. It may or may not pan out, but I see the direction as a good one, to the point where a console may eventually be, more or less, a mass-produced mini-ITX PC (albeit running a different OS). I hear stuff like going back to x86 architecture and even implementing DirectX on consoles - again from my limited knowledge of console design - so in future it may well be very much a viable decision.

[Humodour]

Consoles are evil.

 

Unless they're Valve consoles that can accept a keyboard and mouse as input. Or tongue movements. I'd accept either.

[Emitan]

I wonder if a Wii U version could work considering its controller is basically a tablet. I'm not sure what the resolution of the screen is but I'm sure it's low res.

[Cugel]

I sincerely hope that Obsidian will change its position on the potential console releases of Project: Eternity. I see no valid reasons against console versions. There is a huge market for this kind of games on consoles. Many forget that the first KOTOR was originally exclusive to Xbox, and that the sequel (the first game developed by Obsidian) was also released on Xbox. Both games were equaly popular on the PC and the console, first one actually sold much more on Xbox and is considered as one of the games that defined that console. Dragon Age: Origins was also multiplatform game and it is well known that the console versions sold much greater numbers than the PC one. I see that one of the most common arguments against the console editions is the problem of adapting interface for use with gamepad. I do not see how this was a problem for any of the games that I mentioned! They are all equally enyoable with gamepad and keyborard-mouse combo. I will mention Final Fantasy XII, a PS2 exclusive which had one of most complex RTWP combat systems (DAO actually borrowed many ideas from FF XII!) and yet it was perfectly playable with gamepad!

 

I belive that WiiU would be perfect platform for Eternity. The game would be released relatively early in console lifetime, which would mean that it would have the advantage of being an early title. It is also unlikely that there would be threat of piracy on WiiU since its highly unlikely that the protection will be cracked so early. Should I mention that (according to data from November last year) Witcher 2 was pirated almoust 5 million times on PC? Also, the design of WiiU gamepad makes it an ideal platform for genres that are usually found on PC. Note that I do not see any problems with porting this game to Xbox 360 and PS3 and I belive that it should be ported to both consoles since I've already proved that these games are perfectly playable with ordinary gamepads, I just believe that WiiU would be an excellent first choice.