Update #47: Odds and Ends

[IndiraLightfoot]

Lovely update! I love where this is going! The static shots are great, the font and the colours are really fitting.

 

Like everyone else, I adore the plume hat! Now, here's the big question: Were my pc do don that hat, will the plumes rustle slightly graphically?

*Fingers crossed*

[Labadal]

Even if I found the font of the bridge event a bit hard to read (bad eyesight), I liked the style of it.

[Jenda]

Yes! Please give us cutscenes like that at reasonable intervals! We don't need full-motion animation, but cutscenes like this sound great where appropriate. It would be nice if there was a narrator's voice, but that could even be added later if the budget doesn't allow (while reducing the risk of over-simplificaiton for voicing purposes).

 

On the other hand, it shouldn't pop up whenever an environmental skill check or decision is required ("The door in front of you is locked. Hushed voices can be heard from the room beyond. Do you (i) listen carefully (ii)apply [item] (iii) peer through keyhole (iv) pick the lock") - when the isometric view tells the story just fine, avoid breaking the flow of the game. Conversely, there should be cutscenes at key points in the story even when no skill check or decision is involved. But I'm sure the team has already thought of this ) I have full confidence the right decisions will be made.

 

(And also, thanks for update! Can't wait for next. Already backed Torment, too bad there aren't any higher digital tiers without the P&P rulebook or WL2 - I would seriously have to fight with myself. I might just throw in a few more bucks for good measure, though :-D )

[ImRhoven]

Loving those bridge pictures. From the idea of them to the art style, everything's great about them. 

[Faerunner]

This update honestly makes me feel so happy. The concept art and story ideas seem, as usual, utterly gorgeous.

 

I think the armor looks fantastic. Also, sorry to harp on minor details, but, thank you so much for letting the women wear actual armor. That is, thank you for having female armor cover the same amount of skin as their male counterparts. Actually, thank you for having the armor cover period. While I'm not against light or revealing armor in general, I prefer armor to fit the class and equally cover both genders. It just irks me when the same piece of armor that covers a male character reasonably (for his class) turns into a glorified bikini for female wearers for no discern-able reason beyond titillation of the straight male viewer. Come on!

 

Then again, you guys seem to have been great about this for some time. On the TV Tropes Chainmail Bikini page, your games (KOTOR2 and NWN2) are some of the few to avert the "improbably revealing outfit" standard of so many games. It's such a minor thing, but it still makes me happy.

 

Anyway, about the role-playing:

 

"We really want Project Eternity... to introduce you to this new setting, to make you feel personally invested in your choices, to engage you with the personalities and factions involved in the conflict, and to give you all of the freedom you've come to expect from an Obsidian RPG." You make me fall in love with this game the more your post about it. I know it's going to be flawed (everything is), so don't be afraid of viewers being disillusioned, disappointed, or anything like that. It sounds like this game will embody everything  that many of us love in RPG's, which is more than many companies are willing to do, and which is more than any of us can ask for. I cannot wait to read more updates! <3

 

EDIT: Sorry to be over-zealous, I'm just now very excited about this game.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Faerunner

[D'rez]

I love that tile set, but I think $70,- S&H is a bit to much.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I love that tile set, but I think $70,- S&H is a bit to much.

What?

 

EDIT: Oh nevermind, it was referencing the Dwarf Forge thing.

Edited March 27, 2013 by WorstUsernameEver

[Sensuki]

Icewind Dale style cutscenes are the best. The static images, music and voiceover.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Sensuki

[ryukenden]

Woah, the dwavern tiles are already at $200k. 

 

Also, you guys said environment with bells and whistle screenies are 2 week from now. But on the bottom of your post it says "see you next week". So which one is it?

[Karranthain]

PLUMES!

 

 

And "Darklands" inspired narration methods (not to mention the really nice armour designs).

 

Colour me impressed.

[Theobeau]

These pics looked much better on a desk top monitor and are a nice distraction from down to the wire, last minute thesis editing and grinding.

 

I'm going to find it hard to keep thoughts of plumed hats from making their way into the last bits of writing!

[Sensuki]

... where a man can wear feathers ...

[Jarmo]

I'd hope the "storybook-look" could be used in the inevitable in-game lore-, history- and background info  books.

 

Maybe one half of the screen with cover illustration and an abbreviated blurb/synopsis,

the other half giving the lengthy wall of text for those equipped with patience and interest..

 

I can almost taste the awesomeness already.

[Lysen]

I love the idea of those baroque plates being used for skill checks in-game, or to convey some sort of interaction with the environment that would otherwise be a simple feedback message in the conversation box ... or some kind of psuedo cut-scene.

 

This isn't confirmed, yet.

 

 

 

 

 

How I organized and moved my characters [...] very much captured the feeling of the Infinity Engine games

 

I hope that with regards to moving the party through confined spaces, it didn't capture the IE feeling too closely...

 

Nope, we've got a solution for that. Bobby or Josh will go into that in a future update.

 

If you fix pathfinding, then PE will be the best game ever!

[Milten]

About these cutscenes. Will they be the same if protagonist is female orlan cypher?

[WorstUsernameEver]

Woah, the dwavern tiles are already at $200k. 

 

Also, you guys said environment with bells and whistle screenies are 2 week from now. But on the bottom of your post it says "see you next week". So which one is it?

It's not a contradiction. Next week we get an update and the week after another one with the environment showcase.

[mstark]

Looking great! Love the idea of the "what do you choose to do" images.

 

I'm a bit concerned about the choice of typeface, many of the old IE games used typefaces with bad readability (most notably, Planescape: Torment, and it's considered an interactive book by many!). While Black Letter typefaces (or Gothic, a derogatory term, as they started being called in late medieval Italy—the period PE is largely based on) was still the common way of writing, it was rapidly being abandoned for a new type of script. During this period, many far more readable typefaces started making it into popular use.

 

I'm concerned because my eye sight is far from perfect, and extended reading on screen requires good typefaces (and relatively large sizes) for me. In printed books (and long form reading in general), serif fonts are generally used because they are considered more readable than sans-serif. However, serif fonts require high resolution (or high DPI, in print) to read better than a sans-serif, for that reason sans-serif fonts are usually the better choice for on screen reading (unless you happen to be on an above-average DPI (think "retina") screen).

 

Personally, I wouldn't like to see a sans serif font in Project Eternity (that would be too immersion breaking!), but maybe you could consider at least providing an alternative to Black Letter? Maybe give us the option to toggle the font to a highly readable serif, for visually impaired, dyslexic, or people who generally find it a chore to read for extended periods on screen? Many (Italian!) serif typefaces widely in use today were conceived in the 15th-16th century.

 

I realize the printing press hasn't been invented in P:E, so if a Black Letter font is the only non-immersion breaking choice, I hope there'll at least be an easy way of hacking a typeface with good readability into the game   (and maybe a way of toggling font-size?).

 

Some relevant (and good!) sources:

http://www.garamond.culture.fr/en/page/italian_typefaces

 

http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-families/oldstyle

 

Thanks for all the hard work! With best intentions,

A web typographer

[Zoma]

Get George Ziets to narrate. He has an awesome voice.

[wanderon]

Once again I am totally impressed with the latest update - especially the opening panel showcasing the option of choices - awesome! 

 

I do have one issue tho - it's beginning to look like I'm going to have some back problems to deal with from sitting on the edge of my seat until this game is released!  

[StrangeCat]

Great Update!  I love the Northern look of the characters. 

 

As for the hat plume I first thought that was a four leaf clover!

 

 

[Solviulnir the Soulbinder]

mstark raises some excellent points about fonts and readability (or rather legibility) of the in-game text. I think it's quite an important issue - e.g. the "ability check" screens are an amazing concept, but the current font (despite being beautiful) is rather hard to read. Garamond, as mstark suggested, would be one of better choices imho. The screens would still retain their original character while being definitely more legible with a somewhat less calligraphic font. 

Thanks very much for another informative update! You are my heroes.

 

[HorseFD]

I really hope we get to see the waterfall scene animated soon.

[LordCrash]

Nice update!

[Nithy]

Those Darklands-style C&C text selection screens are making my spine all tingly. I hope to whatever gods may or may not exist that narrative mechanic is in the final game.

[Amentep]

I want my fur-clad barbarian to wear the plumed hat. That would rock.

 

You could name your barbarian "Norwegian Blue".  He'd have beautiful plumage.