I don't want PE to be another Icewind Dale

[Olauron Mor-Galad]

Of course not. They are talking about mechanics, right, but mostly about combat mechanics, and it worries me. Maybe it will be fixed in future updates.

What about this:

I think the companions will have more voice compared to other NPCs in the game, but I don't think we will be voicing every line. We want to give the writers the ability to "go nuts" and not worry about bleeding into another voice session

 

 

They are teasing us with companion concept art. Yes, it is not much, but they are very early in the development.

[sesobebo]

Developers talk mostly about combat in their updates and on the forums people demand Vancian system and even Justin Sweet portraits. This is the main reason why I am opposed to Justin - I fear that the game will not only look like Icewind Dale, but it will also play like one.

i just want to ask one favor of You:

can You please not use Justin Sweet's Icewind Dale portrait as Your avatar, when making statements like this?

[Gecimen]

You don't want the game to be a like Icewind Dale? Heh... I don't want it to be like Planescape Torment.

We don't really get what we want in life, now do we?

 

Are you one of those who voted for Call of duty on the main page?

[Sensuki]

It certainly would help if a dev would comment on this. IWD is kind of the black sheep of the infinity engine games. Don't get me wrong -those two games were good games in and off themselves but they always felt a bit out of place with the rest of the IE games due to their linear story and combat focus.

 

I strongly hope PE will not emulate those parts of IWD...but imo I don't think that's the case.

 

They already have. Look at the comment above yours.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Sensuki

[AlphaShard]

I'm glad they mentioned Icewind Dale.

 

Icewind Dale had some great elements.

 

The specific things I've seen Josh mention about Icewind Dale are the dungeon-delving and the Fantastic 2D Backdrops ...

 

 

I've played this game and I have no memory of this place...

[Superdeluxe]

Everything that has been coming our since the beginning was that this won't be IWD. Once you saw that you will have companions with back stories that should have made you sleep easier

[Piccolo]

Developers talk mostly about combat in their updates and on the forums people demand Vancian system and even Justin Sweet portraits. This is the main reason why I am opposed to Justin - I fear that the game will not only look like Icewind Dale, but it will also play like one. And this is definitely something that I do not want.

 

Not the main point of OP but this does kind of blow my mind.

Are you really thinking the portrait artist and the gameplay are in such a symbiosis that changing the artist also changes the gameplay,

or even nudges, pushes or affects it in one way or another? Because either it doesn't or I'm in the alternate dimension again.

People are often stupid like this.

 

I recall someone on another forum saying they didn't want Jeremy Soule as a composer because they hate Skyrim for it's dumbed down RPG elements. Not liking a composer's style is one thing... but connecting their music with the dumbing down of modern RPGs is ridiculous.

[Sensuki]

I've played this game and I have no memory of this place...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSrf8EgSyDg

 

Played and completed are two different things, how far did you get ?

Edited October 9, 2012 by Sensuki

[Jasede]

Justin Sweet = game will be like IWD. I don't want to live on this planet; how do you come up with these ridiculous conclusions? These two concepts are entirely unrelated.

[cyberarmy]

From the Kickstarter page:

 

Project Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment.

 

This.

We got this information from the first day KS started.

[Dorateen]

You don't want the game to be a like Icewind Dale? Heh... I don't want it to be like Planescape Torment.

We don't really get what we want in life, now do we?

 

Are you one of those who voted for Call of duty on the main page?

 

What a bizzare thing to say. Based on his comment, it is more likely he would vote for Icewind Dale (given the topic of this discussion) or even Temple of Elemental Evil on the main page.

 

By the way, Icewind Dale had a sequel, and expansion and a downloadable mod adventure. That's more than some other title in the Infinty Engine era.

 

Harumph!

[Enoch]

IWD was fun, but it got to be a drag with how repetitive the combat got in some areas. Although flawed in other respects, I thought that the sequel was an improvement in this regard-- it had a higher occurrence of unique setpiece battles, relative to the grind-through-another-pack-of-this-level's-monster-of-the-week.

[Gecimen]

You don't want the game to be a like Icewind Dale? Heh... I don't want it to be like Planescape Torment.

We don't really get what we want in life, now do we?

 

Are you one of those who voted for Call of duty on the main page?

 

What a bizzare thing to say. Based on his comment, it is more likely he would vote for Icewind Dale (given the topic of this discussion) or even Temple of Elemental Evil on the main page.

 

By the way, Icewind Dale had a sequel, and expansion and a downloadable mod adventure. That's more than some other title in the Infinty Engine era.

 

Harumph!

 

Ok let's see: The popular consensus on this site is that PS:T is the best Black Isle/Obsidian game ever and numerous sites on the web still list PS:T as one of top 10 games in history.

 

Someone disliking PST is completely OK by me.

 

Someone commenting/backing on P:E disliking PS:T is outrageous.

 

Btw, as you see my comment is on the sentence : "Heh... I don't want it to be like Planescape Torment."

[Pope]

Seriously?

 

IWD had the best dungeons of all IE games (barring solely Durlag’s Tower). With PE, Obsidian is putting these dungeons in a BG-like free-to-explore map with a deep adult PST-like story.

 

WHAT IS THERE NOT TO LIKE?

[Zoma]

Why can't we have both Icewind Dale combat experience, while also having a PST characterization experience at the same time? Best of both worlds don't you think?

[Sensuki]

I remember the first time I found the main crypt in the Vale of Shadows and thought, now THIS is a dungeon.

[nikolokolus]

There's nothing wrong with people wanting this game to be less focused on single-minded combat and dungeon crawling. I happened to like the IWD games quite a lot, but I realize it's not for everyone. That said, I get the feeling that people really aren't taking the time to read the front page for the kickstarter, and then subsequently not taking the time to carefully read the updates. If they were, then I'm not sure how one could get the impression that PE is going to be some kind dungeon crawler ... now if they just skimmed and glossed over things then, I could see it, but all the information is there.

 

As to why so much attention has been paid to mechanics vs story. Say what you want about storytelling in gamesm but if somebody gets the mechanics and the gameplay wrong, it won't matter how good the story is. Ultimately it's the foundation of the entire gaming hobby, despite some companies and their idiotic contention that games are actually supposed to be cinematic flip-books, where the player is more passenger than driver. Secondly, there probably isn't much story to share at this point in the development cycle, so we're just going to have to take it on faith that they want to write a compelling narrative to go along with good gameplay.

[NoxNoctum]

I know this thread is about IWD (which I haven't played),,, but since it's also kind of about combat... just gotta say I'm playing through ToEE right now (with the Co8 mod) and MAN. Really amazing stuff. I'd kill for a strong narrative paired with that combat system.

[Bill Gates' Son]

Honestly, I rather this game be more like IWD, TOEE, and BG2 than Planescape Torment; and I like PS T.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Bill Gates' Son

[Merin]

You don't want the game to be a like Icewind Dale? Heh... I don't want it to be like Planescape Torment.

We don't really get what we want in life, now do we?

 

Thank you.

 

Icewind Dale is one of the games I've replayed the most. I've tried PS:T three times and never finished it, tried Baldur's Gate a half-dozen times and never finished it.

 

To each their own.

 

We're getting a mix of the games. Stop worrying!

[Ieo]

Given that Obsidian cited all three IE games as content-specific progenitors, I don't think we have anything to worry about the game being balanced across three fronts (dialogic and narrative, combat, exploration).

 

There was another "worry" thread, particularly about how all the updates and stuff are about mechanics. Here's my response:

 

I'm a big Torment fan too, but that information has to come from Avellone, so we'll have to wait. In my opinion, it's riskier to talk about story and other non mechanical things because there's a very real risk of spoilers. Mechanics are safe. General world description is safe. I'm holding fast to my faith that Avellone will deliver. I'd rather they be conservative on some information, that's for sure.

[Jarmo]

Combining the deep involving storyline of Temple of Elemental Evil, the rich memorable companions of Icewind Dale and the satisfying combat system of Arcanum! Can't not unpossibly fail!

[Krios]

I would say PE is a marriage of the good parts of Baldur's Gate (story driven, reactive companions, lush setting) and modern day tactical combat CRPG.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Well my friend, I wouldn't worry too much. That game is older than some people on this forum, they've made a lot of games since then, the artists are much better than they were 15+ yrs ago, and technology is way more powerful. The dev's have said a few times they like the option of a player not having to kill everything in it's path, and brought up some of their old games in which you could talk your way out of almost everything if you were specced right. I think you'll probably be in for a treat. The ONLY thing that makes me hesitant is the continued stress on how Mature they are going to be able to make this. Also Tim Cain seems to really like violence in his games. Although, I think more than likely, you'll be able to get around the game without being a masochist or a saddest.

[Bobby Null]

When Obsidian mentioned Icewind Dale in their first video along with Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment, I was a bit worried. Don't get me wrong - I've played and enjoyed both IWD and IWD2, they were good games, but Icewind Dale was actually something like a big expansion pack to Baldur's Gate, centered on combat. Besides slaughtering monsters and exploring mega-dungeons there wasn't much to do. Obsidian also mentioned games Planescape: Torment, Fallout and Arcanum, so I thought Icewind Dale was put in just for the credits and PE will be more like those games. Guess I was wrong. Developers talk mostly about combat in their updates and on the forums people demand Vancian system and even Justin Sweet portraits. This is the main reason why I am opposed to Justin - I fear that the game will not only look like Icewind Dale, but it will also play like one. And this is definitely something that I do not want. There is also another thing. I remember that Sawyer once talked a bit about Icewind Dale and explained that it was a workhorse for the good old Interplay - it had a short development cycle, didn't cost much but sold really well. Fargo is also a big fun of Icewind Dale (which is not surprising lol). So, I am beginning to fear that PE will be another Icewind Dale focused on combat and dungeon-crawling, not a solid RPG like Arcanum or Planescape: Torment with a lot of options besides combat.

 

IWD was intended to be the story-light dungeon romp of the Infinity Engine games. It was well written, just less narrative elements than the other titles. Remember, this helped with multiplayer quite a bit as the BG games were very hard to play in multiplayer. We are inspired by the art direction and level design of the IWD series, but Project Eternity will have a much deeper narrative experience. Fear not, my friends.