Development time too short

If I recall correctly DOA took 3 years, same with Mass effect 1 for developing and creating new IP from the ground up. Don't want PE to end up like KOTOR 2 & AP. Anyone feel the same way?

 

Please take you time Obsidian.

i thought the same ... please don't rush. 2014 seems to be a bit early.

I had the same thought recently. I'm trusting that the amount of money being raised lets them hire the right help to do it in less time. There's enough years of hands-on experience at Obsidian that they should be able to make that call.

 

*Should* =) I need to make myself believe in that or I'll go crazy. (-er)

No console ports and a lot less 3D modeling to do and no license holder to get approval from ... I dunno, I guess we just have to assume Obsidian knows what they're doing?

Edited October 15, 2012 by nikolokolus

It seems like they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do before the kickstarter started. However, the devil is in the details. I trust them enough to put this game in my top ten of all time though.

I'm sure Obsidian is aware that, unlike publishers, the people pledging money would rather see a finished game than an early release. If they need the time, they'll take it.

 

Unless they're idiots and don't want people to ever pledge money to them again.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Death Machine Miyagi

Hopefully they can release a beta at the estimated time. But personally I think they should use more time on the full version if they feel they need it.

I think this is the biggest fear I had about the project given the past performance by Obsidian (KOTR2, FNV, AP, TOEE). These previous projects were all unfinished and unnecessarily buggy on launch -- well KOTR2 was not as buggy as the rest.

I don't think development time would be a major issue. Obsidian is pretty experienced when it comes to developing games like Project Eternity. Unity assists in speeding up development, and since it is isometric, they don't need to spend as much time on animations and modeling. However, if time does become an issue, I'd rather they delay it than release it unfinished.

Edited October 15, 2012 by YourVoiceisAmbrosia

Gotta remember that using an Engine they're already intimately familiar with, instead of creating one from scratch or customizing one for the first time will significantly reduce dev time. Still, if we make the second big city a year and a half does feel like a fairly optimistic turnaround time.

Their original timeframe was based on a $1.1 million game. They've since tripled that and added at least double the content. No way April '14 holds up, and it's only a matter of time until they let us know that.

 

But I'd rather they delay than rush.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Chaos Theory

Obsidian probably didn't count on reaching all those stretch goals . Maybe they need more time?

Their original timeframe was based on a $1.1 million game. They've since tripled that and added at least double the content. No way April '14 holds up, and it's only a matter of time until they let us know that.

 

But I'd rather they delay than rush.

 

Aren't they using the funding to increase their team and the amount of people working on the game? If that is the case, it shouldn't affect the release date significantly

Edited October 15, 2012 by YourVoiceisAmbrosia

Dragon Age: Origins had mo-cap, voice acting, and cut scenes that take a lot of time. Translations (for mostly VO work): Polish, German, Czech, French, Hungarian, Russian, Italian. If you look at the credits, and the amount of time this extra crap that won't be in Project Eternity takes, then you'll see Obsidian know what they're doing.

Edited October 15, 2012 by AwesomeOcelot

I think it is too early to have a set date and they just gave a rough estimate. If they need more time they can and will take it.

Fallout 2 was released a year after the previous one, BG2 two years after the first title, same for IWD.

Developing a low-budget game like Eternity is quicker than developing a full AAA production.

Anyhow, I think the April 2014 date is just an estimation: if Obsidian will think the game need more work and polishing I think they'll take more time to accomplish that. After all, there's no publisher with its tight schedule or such things.

Feargus already said in an interview (back at the beginning of the Kickstarter) that the more stretch goals they get, the longer it will take them to make the game. So I'm pretty sure they're planning to push back the release date as a result.

 

EDIT:

 

But no, I'm not worried that the game will turn out like KotOR II or AP; those are two of my favorite games of all time. I imagine that without developer constraints, Obsidian will not be pressured to release a buggy game, but even if they do, buggy games don't bother me. Almost all of my favorite games had buggy launches. Bugs can be patched. Great design supersedes buggyness.

Edited October 15, 2012 by eimatshya

Also, less red tape and better direction with smaller studios. No one spends a month modelling a character that was never going to make it into the final version, or the project gets changed midways because some corporate saw his son play a game an enjoy so now he wants his game to have the same features.

Also making 3D maps that can be viewed from a variety of angles takes a hell of a lot longer than isometric/cavalier oblique 2D maps. That's partly why Dragon Age 2 had camera and texture issues, they didn't have enough time to account for viewing angles in a 3D game.

Also making 3D maps that can be viewed from a variety of angles takes a hell of a lot longer than isometric/cavalier oblique 2D maps. That's partly why Dragon Age 2 had camera and texture issues, they didn't have enough time to account for viewing angles in a 3D game.

 

true, not to mention the recycled areas and the meaningless battles with waves of thugs.

Yup.. this is not going to be a game like the ones mentioned through the first couple of posts. I would still expect a 2014 release, whether it is April or not. There's going to be less reliance on voice acting and more on text conversations.. and so on.. while I certainly wouldn't consider this to be a "low budget" title with all the connotations that implies.. it's certainly not going to be like Mass Effect or KOTOR etc

Fallout: NV which most people would agree was pretty massive, was finished in a year and a half. It also featured a lot of new settings/characters/plot and it was 3D modeled. So I think this will be doable.

If I recall correctly DOA took 3 years, same with Mass effect 1 for developing and creating new IP from the ground up. Don't want PE to end up like KOTOR 2 & AP. Anyone feel the same way?

 

Please take you time Obsidian.

 

How much of that development time was spent on the high-end graphics? Plus, as you indicated, they were both new IPs that had to be created from the ground up.

 

PE, while a new IP, seems to be heavily based off of what they did with the IE games. So they already have a general framework for what needs to be done, and have an idea of how long it takes to do it.

I'm pretty sure Obsidian will release it when it's ready, and not before. There's no publisher hassling them to rush it out the door. They know that fans will happily wait if needed.

Fallout: NV which most people would agree was pretty massive, was finished in a year and a half. It also featured a lot of new settings/characters/plot and it was 3D modeled. So I think this will be doable.

 

Yeah but remember that they had everything pretty much handed over to them from Bethesda with regards to the model they were building NV on.

 

I would think that the beta will be an effective method of determining if in fact OE will need more time to iron out whatever is needed when the time comes.

 

I still at this stage have complete faith in OE to release the game when they state they will in early 2014. They have some immense expierence at their disposal

 

In the end if we have to wait longer for the game to come out I am in no hurry.

Edited October 16, 2012 by Liquid_Silver11