Update #51: Prototype 2 Update

[Aeschylus]

Town guards won't know you have been bad, but bounty hunters do 1000 golds per head of party members :D

 

Then the evil side of me just sells out the rest of my party and buys another 5 pawns to lead around.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Aeschylus

[Sacred_Path]

per google translate: the icelandic for bat is kylfu. wikitionary has this to say about the etymology of bat. Dialectal variant (akin to [/size]Swedish[/size] dialect [/size]natt-batta[/size]) of [/size]Middle English[/size] [/size]bakke[/size], [/size]balke[/size], from Scandinavian (compare Old [/size]Swedish[/size] [/size]natbakka[/size], Old [/size]Danish[/size] [/size]nathbakkæ[/size] 'night-flapper', [/size]Old Norse[/size] [/size]leðrblaka[/size] 'leather-flapper').[/size]

 

so this creature is like the "soul seeker." or soul mirror/ soul seeker. andi komist (soul seeker in icelandic) or andi spegill (soul mirror). ...spegill andi. spegilund...Seglund? segilund? segulant? Comusant? Andicombs?

there are so many reasons I can think of from the top of my head as to why a rarely-seen demonic creature may have a name that isn't easily explained etymologically.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Sacred_Path

[Gizmo]

Is it me, or does that town have a massive Hommlet vibe to it?

It does.

 

Skuldr have poor vision, but they use a form of echolocation to perceive the spirit world. This allows them to “see” souls, making it difficult to use stealth to avoid them.

 

So does this mean that Skuldr will be blind to mechanical implements and/or NPCs? (or Undead?)

 

_____________________

Everything about this project looks better and better.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Gizmo

[TheEvilcrane]

This looks absolutely fantastic! Dynamic cloth would fit really well with the improved dynamic look of the game - without taking anything away from the classic Infinity Engine look. The Skuldr looks quite good, but it could perhaps use some additional finer details, something to make it pop out more, but I'll reserve further judgement till I've seen the little fellah in motion

[Frenetic Pony]

Another nice update! Hope any environment maps for metallic armor are linked to local ambient lighting well enough. I also wonder if complex spectral absorption for metal is worth it, given how far away you are. Maybe, complex ior bdrfs I say! Including screen space subsurface scattering, or SSSS, because we need more SSSSs and it's really, really cheap.

 

Regardless, yay for tint maps, tint maps on everything, on all the things! Since you're not pressed for background texture constraints, at all, on all the background assets too! Want a different color house? Boom! Done.

 

Well whatever, the Skuldr looks like it could have been from Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate 2 when viewed from that perspective. Hope we get a video walkthrough of prototype 2 being played!

[Qutini]

AAAAH! I can't wait to play this game!! :D

anyways, I'm interested about animation. I'm hoping to be an animator myself, and it'd be cool to see maybe a speeded video, of the animation proccess for one of the creatures?, from the rigging of the skeleton to the finished animation.

Thanks for making this game!

[whemever]

It really sounds amazing, I look forward to seeing some more.

 

Regarding the City Guard and the no Psychics, I'm of the opinion that (a-la Terry Pratchett) the Guard should be made up of all races (that will work together) and utilise the best of their abilities, after all in a group of guards, if one is psychic, what good does it do them if that 'person' is not in charge.  Obviously you need ranks in the guard, that way you can target the 'man in charge' and blunt their response.

 

Looking at what you've got,as the Skuldur relies more on echo-location and is the cave dwelling version going to react more to light and its effects, afterall in low light conditions, more light is very distracting (that is if you use eyes, yes, I did read about echo-location, but eyes are still eyes and those adapted to living ion the dark will be overloaded by light)

 

I am really looking forward to this and see just where it goes, keep it up guys, but please more visuals (be they screen shots or movies) to give us ideas and enable us to be a little more 'pointed' with comments.

[AW8]

Stealth-disrupting Skuldr aka Demonic Batface looks cool.

[Valar_Omega]

The picture does not look as much as a villages as a single estate. Love the ogre, and nice to see the size comparison.

 

I hope the Town Guard A.I. does not give us psychic guards that know we have done bad even if we killed the last known witness.

 

Not only that, but town guards are also going to know about crimes you are going to commit in the future. Do not be surprised when you walk into a town and 20 guards show up to arrest you for the murder of one of the people living there who you where going to kill.

[Osvir]

Great update!

As for features... what types of merchants are there? (e.g. armorsmith, weaponsmith, hybridsmith, doctor, innkeeper, botanic, magician etc. etc.) How's the economy in P:E?

[Tuckey]

Liking what I've been reading. The creature looks cool, I hope when animated they come with a cool set of idle animations rather than just rocking back and forth etc.

 

I'm glad you have not crammed too many buildings into one area region as that avoids the temple of elemental evil problem of hommlet. I will assume that there are adjoining areas like fallout 2 that make up the village.

 

Assuming this is a village prototype I have questions. (A bit confused because link for larger picture on kickstarter said town prototype) but later said

"The plan for prototype 2 is to create a small village"

 

1) Is this the equivalent of the center where the majority of commerce takes place? Should we then expect the outlying districts to be made up of houses where people live or will that not be explorable in game for a atypical village you make.

 

2) Will the village seem busy and alive?  ie. people running for shelter from the rain; people bartering at market stalls, people collecting water from wells, kids playing in puddles, merchants with horse and cart coming to and fro, people repairing broken tiles on the roof etc.

 

3) Can a village economy be affected by all the items you haul out of the dungeon?

 

Also could you in a future update tell us what progress you have made concerning environment animation like bushes and trees etc.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Tuckey

[Lephys]

*________* ...

 

Finally, guards that will eye one person's party suspiciously and question almost everything they do, just looking for an excuse to arrest them. Then, in another playthrough, if you kill a man in the middle of the street, the very same guards might approach you and say "I'm really sorry to bother you, because I know you're busy and all, but, I really kind of need an explanation as to what that was all about, if you wouldn't mind."

 

Thanks to reputation! 8D

 

Shady party versus "They don't hurt people who don't deserve it!" party. 8P

 

What would I like to hear more about? Really, all the little details you can think of that seem unimportant or too little to be an update or news bit. It's really interesting to hear what design attempts caused problems, and what those problems were. Also, what kinds of things are you guys currently pondering a full-on solution to? Obviously you have all the expertise, and we are but humble forum-goers, but... it seems like, if there's some mechanic you're torn on, maybe our knowing about it and the main options you're between at the moment would produce some surplus brainstorming on the matter that would be helpful to your endeavor.

[Lysen]

I hope the Town Guard A.I. does not give us psychic guards that know we have done bad even if we killed the last known witness.

 

Flowing cloaks sounds great, hope they do not clip though. Far too often sheathed weapons or quivers clip cloaks which is quite unsightly, I hope this kind of issue will be addressed. Though I can not think of a single game where this was done where clipping was not present to some degree. Also will we have wind and rain? If so will the cloak have more weight and hang when wet and flutter more when dry and windy?

 

 

Maybe they can see into your soul or something)))

[LadyCrimson]

I hope the Town Guard A.I. does not give us psychic guards that know we have done bad even if we killed the last known witness.

Yeah....I've never liked the "psychic guard" concept either. It's fine to have a reputation system where after you do so many known "bad" things or whatever in a town, the guards of that town start to chase after you but...

 

Along with them knowing you've done wrong even when there are no witnesses, I don't like it when the rep system applies equally to all cities/towns everywhere in the world at once, or something. Unless PE has the magical equivalent of video surveillance, a global media news system and a TV in every home, at least initially such rep. systems should be town/area based. Manage to do "bad" and escape the guards in one town shouldn't mean the very next town you arrive in should immediately know you're an outlaw and chase you as soon as you try to step foot in.

 

So each town/city could have a separate rep. counter and only when rep is bad in multiple places does a more widespread rep counter kick in. Or some such.

[godsend1989]

Just a quick question, will gog version have patches after release, bug fixes and stuff ?

[Godfather101]

 

I hope the Town Guard A.I. does not give us psychic guards that know we have done bad even if we killed the last known witness.

Yeah....I've never liked the "psychic guard" concept either. It's fine to have a reputation system where after you do so many known "bad" things or whatever in a town, the guards of that town start to chase after you but...

 

Along with them knowing you've done wrong even when there are no witnesses, I don't like it when the rep system applies equally to all cities/towns everywhere in the world at once, or something. Unless PE has the magical equivalent of video surveillance, a global media news system and a TV in every home, at least initially such rep. systems should be town/area based. Manage to do "bad" and escape the guards in one town shouldn't mean the very next town you arrive in should immediately know you're an outlaw and chase you as soon as you try to step foot in.

 

So each town/city could have a separate rep. counter and only when rep is bad in multiple places does a more widespread rep counter kick in. Or some such.

 

Yap, thats one thing i didn't liked either.

Hope when i kill someone in a house at night, perhaps with a stealth character, the guards stay away from me.

Perhaps the murder becomes town gossip, perhaps someone tries to solve the crime (perhaps i lay down wrong tracks to someone else ^^), but getting all guards aggro eventhough nobody did witness my crime breaks the immersion for me.

[lavizh]

Just a quick question, will gog version have patches after release, bug fixes and stuff ?

I am sure they will update the game no matter what digital platform they are using.

[Frisk]

per google translate: the icelandic for bat is kylfu. 

 

Eh...

 

That would be "bat" as in "baseball bat" (and besides, the word is "kylfa" - "kylfu" is the accusative/dative/possessive form)

 

The Icelandic word for the (animal) bat is "leðurblaka" which translates to "leather-flapper" or something like that.

 

On this subject, the word Skuldr has a very definite Old Norse feel to it.  In the old mythology, Skuld was one of the three "norns" who ruled over people's destiny, with Skuld being the manifestation of the future. (The other two were Urðr (the past) and Verðandi (the present).

 

In modern Icelandic the word "skuld" means "debt".

 

Adding the -r to the end turns this into a masculine name - and maybe the Skuldr is responsible for future debts - the patron demon of politicians?

[whemever]

 

Adding the -r to the end turns this into a masculine name - and maybe the Skuldr is responsible for future debts - the patron demon of politicians?

 

 

Hmm he looks far to reputable to be the patron demon of politicians, more like the patron demon of Estate Agents?

[Su Sinodan]

Hello! Thanks for great update! Here I will explain my opinion.

I'll try to describe my thoughts in order.

Skuldr

I have a few questions about this monster. Skuldr has some sort of echolocation, which in fact detects "prana" (life force) of living beings. In my opinion this defines Skuldr as a predator and hunter. I.e. the beast by definition hunts on all living beings (otherwise why should he "see souls"?). And here I have a question - why he is so red and visible? I suggested that this is due to his living environment in a poorly lit location, rich on red and brown colores. It would be strange for a predator to not use a camouflage for its environment.

 

The Ogre

The Ogre is gorgeous! Filled with power! Looks like a wild proud hunter! And he does not seems to mindlessly aggressive, as ogres usually portrayed. I think that's right. The lack of technology does not necessarily entail the stupidity and aggression. A different view of the world and way of life - Yes, but not stupidity.

 

Village

And village art makes me feel a bit frustrating. I apologize in advance for my premature conclusions, but somehow, in RPG it is common to call the settlement of 5 houses and 7 NPC "the village". That is something that always upsets me. You feel lonely in such worlds. Of course, this can be explained by attacks of aggressive (and often hungry for human flesh) beings, wich create population decline in the region. But all the same, if this village contains of 5 NPC, how does it survives? Yes, probably before player`s arrival there were a lot of people, and just yesterday the trolls ate most of them. But not in all villages across the world at once! It's just not logical. However, on the other hand, on your concept, houses look as if they were built for several families each. And with this approach, I agree. Live among the monsters and guard against them is better in groups. I hope in the world of "Project Eternity" villages of 5 houses and 7 of the NPC will not exist. Even if it is 20 NPC in the same 5 houses - it will look much more vividly! Let them be silent, will be identical and will walk on the streets without reason. Perhaps there can be 2-3 "visitors" NPC. I.e., each time you visit the village this NPCs will not be the same ones, or just be away from the village for a time you came. It will create the feeling of the flow of visitors passing through the village, same as the player does himself. In my opinion, this will give more "life" to the villages.

 

Anyway, thank you for your work! I hope Project Eternity will be a splendid RPG! Looking forward to further news!

Edited April 24, 2013 by Su Sinodan

[Sensuki]

someone just posted this on SA too

 

 

 

I find the Skuldr very humorous because the name is one letter off from shoulder in my native language ("skulder"), and they certainly have a lot of shoulder.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Sensuki

[SunBroSolaire]

Village

And village art makes me feel a bit frustrating. I apologize in advance for my premature conclusions, but somehow, in RPG it is common to call the settlement of 5 houses and 7 NPC "the village". That is something that always upsets me. You feel lonely in such worlds. Of course, this can be explained by attacks of aggressive (and often hungry for human flesh) beings, wich create population decline in the region. But all the same, if this village contains of 5 NPC, how does it survives? Yes, probably before player`s arrival there were a lot of people, and just yesterday the trolls ate most of them. But not in all villages across the world at once! It's just not logical. However, on the other hand, on your concept, houses look as if they were built for several families each. And with this approach, I agree. Live among the monsters and guard against them is better in groups. I hope in the world of "Project Eternity" villages of 5 houses and 7 of the NPC will not exist. Even if it is 20 NPC in the same 5 houses - it will look much more vividly! Let them be silent, will be identical and will walk on the streets without reason. Perhaps there can be 2-3 "visitors" NPC. I.e., each time you visit the village this NPCs will not be the same ones, or just be away from the village for a time you came. It will create the feeling of the flow of visitors passing through the village, same as the player does himself. In my opinion, this will give more "life" to the villages.

 

Bear in mind this is just for the prototype and might not be in the final game at all. Anyway, I think that it is very unlikely that there will be one NPC per building. More likely each house is a family of 4 - 6. It doesn't seem so unrealistically small then. Consider the fact that these are essentially pioneer families (if I understand correctly), it would not be that unusual to see even just one or two houses alone in the wilderness. Civilization might not have roots in this part of the world yet.

[Su Sinodan]

Hmm...

I'm sorry. I guess I did not put it correctly enough.

IMHO, if a pioner family came into some region, highly populted with dangerous monsters, then atleast half of them must be able to protect the others. Otherwise they will perish after first large raid of hungry beast. However there are many RPG games, where a village of 5 NPC located in high-leveled aggressive mobs hunting grounds. Any way, I'm not telling, that Project Eternity will be the one, but trying to attract attention to this problem.

Thanks!

Edited April 24, 2013 by Su Sinodan

[StrangeCat]

Wow Prototype 2 sounds like it will really be something to look forward to!

[obie191970]

All this looks awesome.  Looking forward to see what's next.