Development time too short

[cprodrigues]

But I'd rather they delay than rush.

 

I totally agree.

[Kilroy_Was_Here]

I want a polished game, but I really hope they will complete it in time.

Obsidian is a mid size studio. All those people must be paid. A long delay could mean breaking the budget.

 

It depends on the individuals. If I recall correctly, some of the team behind VTM:B was so unhappy with the state the game released in that they offered to stay on to create additional patches for free.

[Darustet]

Also in favor of delay (if needed) = for more polishing.

 

But this conversation might be a bit too early one to have. I think there's tons of things to figure out now that the budget and the amount of contect is finally cleared. They said at the start that the real working starts after KS and that was specifically because they weren't sure what where the final numbers and how larger would the world be. I'm confident, that if they say they can do it by spring 2014, they can do it, but deciding a specific date before budget and the size of game is even decided yet seems a bit of a gamble to me.

[DocDoomII]

For those games the developer were probably starting from scratch. Obsidian already has development tools fine tuned by years of use (they said so more than once).

[SarcasmoTheGreat]

Looks to me like they've been working on this for a while now. I don't think they were pulling lore concepts and screenshots and character or dungeon designs out of thin air last weekend. I believe they've known what they want to do, and Kickstarter was simply intended to make more of those goals a reality. A year and a half to code their ideas and write some stories seems like a pretty long time in light of that.

[rjshae]

It wouldn't surprise me to see them schedule it for 18 months, but it ends up taking two years. It's a big project with lots of bottlenecks. Things happen; problems come up. Ideally they can get it out before the 2014 holiday season and it ends up on everybody (else's) gift wish list. But if not, that shouldn't be a big deal.

 

But I have been known to be mistaken... from time to time.

Edited October 17, 2012 by rjshae

[Technatorium]

1 and a 1/2 is actually quite a lot of time for this kind of game.

1) Many of the team members have worked on this style of game

2) They already have Onyx and Unity to work with

3) "Cutscenes" were often done in-game were the program took over and moved characters around and dialog "bubbles"

4) Voice-overs will probably be kept to the chapter transitions and maybe to some important scenes.

 

Doing 2D is a lot less costly than 3D. A lot less work is needed with 2D but with more money Obsidian can make that 2D graphic "pop."

Not to mention they have said that they plan to keep everybody in the loop in the development process.

They don't have a NDA so that are free to talk about their game as they wish.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Technatorium

[redneckdevil]

Im quite certain they can met the deadline. Delay if they need to, do not rush but dont daddle.

 

Also for gods sake, do not post pone the release til November or early December or it will look very strangly that u only backed it up to hit the holiday crowd. Im just saying that they would need to release it between Apr thru sept because Nov thru march makes it look like its only gonna postpone for either hiday crowd or to boost their opening quater for the year.

 

I dont believe they would do this, im just saying for them to watch out when they release the game if they have to push it back because it can look like the reason for being pushed back was not for poliah but more for more money oppertunity.

Not saying they would, but they need to be careful to preserve their image.

[Doxy]

I just hope PE doesn't look anything similar to Dungeon Siege 3.

[Ignatius]

Baldur's Gate 2 took a year and a half to make. Development time of modern games is skewed.

 

That's actually really impressive.

[quantum_freak]

I would love it if it would be released in 2014. But I don`t want the quality of the game to suffer because of that. If it takes longer so be it, just do`t rush anything Obsidian!

[Metabot]

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.

 

 

What do you mean everything? What're you talking about?

[cdx]

I hope they take some more time for the game than April 2014. This is the estimate for 1.1m game, not the one that they are going to make now.

 

It's true that they can hire more people for certain tasks, but what we all like about Obsidian is their design / writing and this needs to be done by the core team (plus George Ziets). They have a large new section of the game to make with the addition of the second big city and the extra companions.

 

I hope that they go through the timetable for the project and update us with a later delivery date sometime soon. Right now they have a good reason to say that, due to the funding available, the game will be much bigger and awesome than expected at the start of KS and in order not to let down their backers they will need more time to meet our high expectations.

 

If they try to go for 18 months and fail, then in a year or more announce they'll need more time, they'll immediately get a name for delays and bad project management in the absence of a publisher.

 

I completely trust them to know what they are doing, I just hope they are not afraid to immediately announce a longer development time (if they need it) in order "not to disappoint" us.

[sparklecat]

Looks to me like they've been working on this for a while now. I don't think they were pulling lore concepts and screenshots and character or dungeon designs out of thin air last weekend. I believe they've known what they want to do, and Kickstarter was simply intended to make more of those goals a reality. A year and a half to code their ideas and write some stories seems like a pretty long time in light of that.

 

Yeah, I've pretty much been picturing everyone opening up desk drawers and pulling out those sketches and world-building ideas they'd been working on for years in their free time when PE started to seem like it'd really happen. Eighteen months seems possible to me, even with how much more they ended up raising than they'd expected.

[AW8]

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.

doa took 6 years

Out of curiosity, what is DOA? At first I thought he meant Dragon Age: Origins and simply misspelled the acronym.

You're not talking about Dead or Alive, are you? :D

[PeonWarrior]

I'm absolutely sure they will extend their deadline if necessary, but 3 years is far too much. DA:O and Mass Effect are modern multiplatform-games made by modern standards. Better comparison would be Baldur's Gate which was made in about three years by unexperienced team and completely from scratch. Almost 20 years of technological advancement, ready engine, experienced team, many great examples on how to make this kind of games and no publisher breathing down their necks... April 2014 sounds very reasonable to me.

 

Don't underestimate Obsidian: Some of those guys have been in industry for decades. They know what they are promising.

 

I'm all for Obsidian taking their time to make a game I've been waiting for so long. I also realise the longer they take, the more cash they burn /w the possibility of going over the $4m budget limit. I've already pledged as much as possible and it's times like these I wish Obsidian have infinite resources On the contrary, my expectation of Obsidian is so high (to a fault) maybe that's why I'm disappointed by some of their modern games.

[Rocketbean]

I think they should take as much time as they want, a "it's done when it's done" mentality. If they feel it is complete by 2014 then by all means, release it in 2014. However I wouldn't want it to release in 2014 simply because that's their arbitrary deadline.

[PeonWarrior]

Baldur's Gate 2 took a year and a half to make. Development time of modern games is skewed.

That's actually really impressive.

 

Bioware carried over many assets from the first game so they could put alot more time, effort and focus on content development. In essence the foundation was already laid and I could say the same for Kotor 2, FNV ect. Even back then I think Bioware had a team of writers that penned all the stories, sidequests and dialogues scripts for BG2.

[PeonWarrior]

I think they should take as much time as they want, a "it's done when it's done" mentality. If they feel it is complete by 2014 then by all means, release it in 2014. However I wouldn't want it to release in 2014 simply because that's their arbitrary deadline.

 

Agreed. On condition they don't to mimick Blizzard and don't follow arbitrary deadline, balance is key. To this day, I still hold grudges against Lucas Farts (Kotor 2) and recently Electronic Farts (ME3).

[Kilroy_Was_Here]

They don't have a NDA so that are free to talk about their game as they wish.

 

This had never ocurred to me, but that's true.

 

I'm reminded of the pending release of the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. Overhaul, the studio behind the remake, realized that they weren't going to make their published release date and needed a delay. But because of agreements they had signed they needed both Atari and Wizards of the Coast (I believe) to sign off on it. By the time all of the approvals were in place to announce the delay it was less than a week before the game's originally scheduled release. The BGEE forums erupted and have been relatively empty ever since.

[matthewfarmery]

I just say this

 

talk the time that you need to bring to the fans a very good and polished game, some bugs are to be expected, that will always be the case, but please dont rush this game, your fans would never forgive you

 

if you need extra time to release the game do so, we will understand

 

that is all

[tarasis]

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.

doa took 6 years

 

I was going to say myself that DOA was in the mix for a long time, the game was first announced in e3 2004 and must have been gestating for a bit before that.

[Brannart]

Obsidian has needed to turn around projects very quickly for years. I hope this game is a chance for them to take the time they need and do it right. Granted they probably have to worry about going too long with just a 4 milllion dollar budget.

[JOG]

Just have a look at Spiderweb Software, that guy releases a 50+ hours RPG every year since the mid 90ies, alternating between remakes and totally new stories. Every 2-3 games there are even major improvements to the engine. Now extrapolate that with a budget of 4m instead of 5-10k, a team of 20+ instead of 1, dedicated programmers, artists, and sound guys, and you'll see that 18 months are quite possible.

 

But yes, Obsidian, this time nobody is rushing you. If it aint done, it aint done, this time your financiers want a complete game rather than a quickly released one.

Edited October 17, 2012 by JOG

[Labadal]

I think it will be released in 2013, but not in April. Probably sometime in last month of quarter 3 or sometime in quarter 4.