Update #34: FIRST ART UPDATE

[Monte Carlo]

The neogaf nerd rage was awesome. I wonder how many of them put any dough down for the Kickstarter?

[WorstUsernameEver]

Btw, I know this is OT, but Wombat makes a good point: having a function similar to the BioWare forums "filter to developers posts", both in the forums and the threads, would be pretty good. IMO, of course.

[Rob Nesler]

I will not be afraid of presenting unfinished or exploratory work to this community.

 

Thank you! I love the updates and transparency so far.

 

Art Direction of World and Creatures will be coming, but not this year. ;-)

 

Confirmed: Art Direction of World and Creatures coming January 1st!

:-D LOL

[Hattmannen]

I'm just scared that the devs will start putting in Easter Eggs all over the place (because people will keep asking for everything that amuses them to be in the game) and then I can't take their game seriously, especially when it wants to deal with mature issues.

 

You have a good point. We'll surely see numerous amusing details during the updates and what in-jokes and Easter eggs actually goes in the game have to be carefully considered. Luckily we have a team of very talented and experienced game developers to deal with that.

 

Personally I'd like to see a lot of humour in the game. And just because a game is amusing and make you laugh at some parts doesn't mean the game can be serious as well. The key is to have a good mix so that you can take the story and the overall themes seriously and still have a lot of fun on the way. Some parts are more serious, perhaps even solemn, while others can be all fun and play.

Besides, isn't that the way life is? A good and engaging story should, in my opinion, reflect these aspects and, of course, everything in between.

 

To say it all in a sentence; There is more than enough room for jokes while still being able to take the story seriously.

[Hormalakh]

@Hattmannen Josh Sawyer has spoken about this before:

I think it's safe to say that we all (on the PE team) believe that we want some measure of humor in the game. It's probably not going to be a rollicking knee-slapper, but we don't want it to be The Road: The Game.

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/62556-the-man-said-its-not-so-bad-to-have-some-fun/#entry1284917

 

I'm not advocating against humor; I'm advocating against the game becoming either too ridiculous to take seriously or too much of a meta-game of the forum.

 

@Ieo I actually like the fact that there is no railing; the setting is supposed to be the high middle ages. I don't really think that the historical period is known for its dedication to "safety." It actually helps to show that the time period and universe aren't just "safety first!" and is a little bit more gritty.

[sirchet]

Am I the only one here that expects this to be a VIDEO GAME, hence the amount of seriousness really isn't that grave of a concern.

 

Myself, I get more than enough seriousness in my every day life, I play these great games to escape.

 

A story, or narrative can be engrossing and moving while still being entertaining.

 

I guess what I'm saying is, lighten up folks.

[rjshae]

Am I the only one here that expects this to be a VIDEO GAME, hence the amount of seriousness really isn't that grave of a concern.

Yes. Yes you are.

 

...in the background an ominous hollow sound leaks from the chimney... a cabinet door rattles on its hinges...

[Sacred_Path]

Humour for the sake of humour doesn't have any place in a mature RPG. Unless it's a bard telling a bawdry joke in a crowded tavern.

 

OTOH, especially for the sake of realism, absurdity, goofiness and irony should surface in many situations/ persons. I want oddball companions whose flaws of character become painfully obvious in a personal conversation. People - be they arrogant nobles or filthy peasants without any self-awareness -, should baffle you with their requests/ accusations/ commentary. Fail should occur at the most inopportune times. Facepalming yourself in a good way because of some hilarity is a very nice occurence in a good game.

 

It's not necessary to rewrite Lord of The Rings.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Sacred_Path

[Rob Nesler]

@Hattmannen Josh Sawyer has spoken about this before:

I think it's safe to say that we all (on the PE team) believe that we want some measure of humor in the game. It's probably not going to be a rollicking knee-slapper, but we don't want it to be The Road: The Game.

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/62556-the-man-said-its-not-so-bad-to-have-some-fun/#entry1284917

 

I'm not advocating against humor; I'm advocating against the game becoming either too ridiculous to take seriously or too much of a meta-game of the forum.

 

@Ieo I actually like the fact that there is no railing; the setting is supposed to be the high middle ages. I don't really think that the historical period is known for its dedication to "safety." It actually helps to show that the time period and universe aren't just "safety first!" and is a little bit more gritty.

Yep, no OSHA in this world.

[Hormalakh]

Hey Rob,

 

I would be interested in how you or your artists would best welcome our feedback in the art? Would you like us to put up pictures that we think could influence your art direction, or would you rather we opine on what you come out with yourselves? There have been quite a few threads with images meant to help/influence the artists on these boards. I want to know what is most helpful for you guys? Is there another way that would be welcome?

 

P.S. Obviously I don't think we're going to take over art direction, but many of us -as is obvious- have opinions that we'd like to share. I'm just wondering what the best way, in your opinion, is to share it. What would you find helpful and -other than obnoxious feedback- unhelpful?

Edited December 8, 2012 by Hormalakh

[Rob Nesler]

Hey Rob,

 

I would be interested in how you or your artists would best welcome our feedback in the art? Would you like us to put up pictures that we think could influence your art direction, or would you rather we opine on what you come out with yourselves? There have been quite a few threads with images meant to help/influence the artists on these boards. I want to know what is most helpful for you guys? Is there another way that would be welcome?

 

P.S. Obviously I don't think we're going to take over art direction, but many of us -as is obvious- have opinions that we'd like to share. I'm just wondering what the best way, in your opinion, is to share it. What would you find helpful and -other than obnoxious feedback- unhelpful?

We will be creating a forum for interested people to put up their art ideas, soon. I was hoping that a little bit more of the world, characters and creatures was developed and revealed before we open it up; to lay the groundwork for artist to depart from.

[alanschu]

How do you balance realism vs. artistic style?

 

We had made shifts to a more artistic style that may have some unexpected/exaggerated features in an attempt to make the art seem more unique and recognizable, while still being fantasy. This met with some mixed reviews (unsurprisingly).

 

I'm typically a proponent that ardent adherence to realism isn't necessary, but I know not all agree.

[Petrikov]

I trust the medicine-ball flail will be in-game.

[Rob Nesler]

I will not be afraid of presenting unfinished or exploratory work to this community. This is not your typical game development and marketing paradigm. People have pre-paid to not only get a great game, in 18 months, but to also get a view (and in some cases collaborate) into the game development experience, now, and to the end. This update was clear right in the beginning, in spite of the humour, that we are in a foundational, groundworky, nitty-gritty stage. In order for us to be successful, we must build and test things in a very crude state. So that we maximize our time, all early asset development must be very flexible and easily edited to allow for rapid iteration. This is how we will effectively get to a state of confidence in scale and capability with respect to all visual features and performance, in the game. There is a natural order to game development. The initial steps are rarely shown to the public, because of the often less "impressive" aspect of it, and because publishers usually restrict access to game content in the early stages. More often, developers go "dark" for several months, sometimes years, before they show ANYTHING! We are, instead, embracing the complete "Kickstarter" experience that people have paid for. This kind of transparency comes with obvious risks: it takes time to assemble, write, and respond to responses to updates and we expose ourselves to much greater criticism.

But make no mistake! We know that what people write and more importantly--how they write it--,says more about them than it does about us or what we are doing. If the feedback is relevant, thought out, and not abusive, it is far more likely to be considered by us as important and useful. Words vomited in hateful threads are tainted by drama and ego and are therefore useless to me. In the end, this game will be great! and everybody who contributed to the kickstarter will have been able to witness, why! If their feed back was "useful" then they might also see the part they played in this development experience, as well.

Art Direction of World and Creatures will be coming, but not this year. ;-)

 

 

Rob, I have a question regarding "transparency." Whats so different with the Kickstarter model versus traditional game development where those other studios can't talk about the game at all and theres worry of trade secrets being leaked, NDA's, etc, where as Kickstarter seems to give you freedom to do as you please.

To answer this effectively, might take several paragraphs. Let me make an attempt to be brief for you here, but maybe leave the opportunity for an "update" that addresses this question in a more comprehensive way. Also much of what I say here is my own opinion on this topic.

The most crucial difference, is that when a developer is contracted by a publisher in a typical work-for-hire situation, the publisher is bringing all the money, for all development, marketing, PR, manufacturing and distribution of the product. For that, they want a certain amount of control over the Intellectual property and how it's presented, because they feel it's the best guarantee of the products success. Developers are more often than not restricted from discussing or presenting any aspect of the project, without consent and editing from the publishers Marketing and PR groups, to avoid controversy and control the message of the product.

In Project Eternity's situation, there is no publisher. There is a community of donors, who have pre-paid for the game, and in some cases actually paid to participate in the development of features. We already have to expose much of what we do to this smaller group anyway, because they need to know how to design their thing. For the larger community the risks I mentioned in the previous post, are actually not that great: time and brused egos--is not really that high a price to pay. Their contributions have faithfully earned them the right to read, see and comment. The information is going to go out there anyway, so we might as well flow with it. At the risk of stating the obvious, nothing we say or present is going to undermine our ability to sell this product, right? As added value, we're giving the communtiy 18 months of entertainment product, not just the game and the other things.

[Rob Nesler]

How do you balance realism vs. artistic style?

 

We had made shifts to a more artistic style that may have some unexpected/exaggerated features in an attempt to make the art seem more unique and recognizable, while still being fantasy. This met with some mixed reviews (unsurprisingly).

 

I'm typically a proponent that ardent adherence to realism isn't necessary, but I know not all agree.

We will draw up some ideas that we think are in the ballpark, and make them, get them working in the game, judge the effectiveness of the silouettes, materials, movement, and refine until we are satisfied.

[StrangeCat]

I look forward to that creature update. It will be interesting to see what you guys decide on for art work and how far you take your imaginations in a new IP.

 

Are you creating creatures to just fit the world you create? or are you going all out with wild ideas around souls, a new plane maybe, a creature that can eat souls? What sort of imagery are you looking to convey? what influences those art works.

 

 

and will there be more grey models of creatures with Meh

 

and yes people I was a backer of this game one of the first acutally.

[xSigma]

I just want Obsidian to know this...

You have a new IP....take advantage, make a rich varied universe with many creature types, lore, environments, morality types, etc.

Don't get bogged down on a specific visual theme. So your going for a Romanesque style? Have a book that talks about Persian style homes...etc.

This will make the universe vast, allowing for more games over a broad range of places and times. Giving a plethora of possibilities.

Think of ME or TES universes. Ooooh the places you'll go.

[Sacred_Path]

Can we learn a bit more about the sources the artists are using for inspiration?

[Jajo]

The rendering of the house i very very similar to a historic building in out town, the Romanesque house:

YES!! this was a key reference image that I used. Again this drawing was exploratory, to contribute to the conversation of architectural style. It's not necessarily going to be in the game. There are others, and they are all color, but i didn't post them yet. Can you post the buildings location in Google maps?? Are there other buildings in your town like this, because yes! we do like Romanesque.

 

I don't know the exact location of this particular building, but it's in Poreč, istrian peninsula in Croatia. Istira is full of such limestone houses. Full.

Numerous costal towns there have old, well preserved and sometimes UNESCO protected town cores that are just beautiful like that.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Jajo

[mstark]

Found it :D

 

http://goo.gl/maps/Xu9SZ

 

The place is so beautiful, now I want to go travelling!

Edited December 10, 2012 by mstark

[Hormalakh]

You guys out in Croatia should take some pictures! Send them over to Obsidian!

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Found it :D

 

http://goo.gl/maps/Xu9SZ

 

The place is so beautiful, now I want to go travelling!

 

what amazing technology that it's able to composite several photos into one complete one. Thats kinda high tech for internet stuff

[Rob Nesler]

I just want Obsidian to know this...

You have a new IP....take advantage, make a rich varied universe with many creature types, lore, environments, morality types, etc.

Don't get bogged down on a specific visual theme. So your going for a Romanesque style? Have a book that talks about Persian style homes...etc.

This will make the universe vast, allowing for more games over a broad range of places and times. Giving a plethora of possibilities.

Think of ME or TES universes. Ooooh the places you'll go.

sounds like a good idea!

[Rob Nesler]

Can we learn a bit more about the sources the artists are using for inspiration?

Yes. Someday, in the not too distant future.

[Hormalakh]

Just wanted to commend you on keeping up with the forum. Thanks.