Which IE game do you want Eternity to most "feel" like?

[Arsene Lupin]

When I say "feel," I'm not really talking about gameplay mechanics or narrative design here, but rather the general ambience of the game world and characters and player's role in that world.

 

Shadows of Amn and Planescape Torment are probably my two favorite RPGs of all time, but when I think about which Infinity Engine game had the world I most enjoyed exploring... a world I really felt like I was a "part of"... the game that carried the general sort of ambience I most want to see in Eternity... it's the Icewind Dales.

 

I really loved the atmosphere of those games--particularly in terms of the environment. It really felt like you were out in this vast, mysterious, mystical frontier--which I find a lot more interesting than spending a lot of time in heavily populated urban areas.

[samm]

IWD1 :D We'll have Torment for Planescape: Torment feeling.

[Lephys]

I never got to play through all of the BG games OR IWD games, but I got to play them a good bit and watch my friend play them a lot, and I've gotta say I'm a HUGE fan of how the IWD games felt.

[Ffordesoon]

Gameplay-wise? Icewind Dale.

 

Story and choice-wise? PST.

 

Exploration and tone-wise? Baldur's Gate.

 

I doubt most people here would say otherwise.

[mcmanusaur]

This thread feels eerily familiar...

[GrumpyOldschooler]

Ffordesoon summarized it pretty well there, but to be honest I want it to divert bit from IE-standard towards Fallout-style when it comes to exploration.

[Ffordesoon]

Oops. You meant atmosphere. That'll teach me not to read the OP before I post.

 

The atmosphere I'd like to see is a mix of the three, but I do agree that the Icewind Dale games are lovely concoctions in terms of atmosphere. Not too out there, but not too safe, either.

 

This is going to sound weird, because this game isn't particularly well-regarded even by Obsidian fans, but I'd like to see PE mark a return to Dungeon Siege 3 in terms of tone and atmosphere. It wasn't a great game, but that's mainly due to the ARPG structure at the heart of the systems. A lot of the "fluff" bits deserved to be in a better game, because they really were very intriguing.

[centurionofprix]

The first Baldur's Gate. I can't seem to explain just what it is, but there's a subtle sense of alternating solemnity and eldritch wonder to it sometimes, regardless of the quality of the storyline or the general consistency of the tone, that I enjoy (and that I guess the PE team is already going for). I don't know where it comes from; Bassilus's midnight reveries have a feeling of depth to them, for me at least, that isn't at all supported by the rudimetary text. Maybe it's the visuals and soundscape coupled with the fact that the scenario itself leaves so much to the imagination. That would be a great scene for a mod to elaborate upon with some investigation and intrigue before the encounter with the man.

 

Better yet, Mask of the Betrayer.

Edited May 8, 2013 by centurionofprix

[GrumpyOldschooler]

Oops happened to me too, so you're not alone. Anyway, regarding that sort of feel, I'd say out of these options BG would be best. Torment's atmosphere is too alien for this world, but then again Fogotten Realms is way more juvenile and fairy taleish than this seems to be, so it's pretty hard to say. IWD2 was pretty gritty and nice for FR, but combat heaviness was part of the atmosphere and that's not really my thing. Though I enjoyed IWD2 until Yuan-Ti stuff, it was fun combat-oriented adventure, but at that point it just became combat without any adventure or fun.

[Kjaamor]

It's interesting to me that IWD has been so successful, because I really do regard that series as being several leagues below the likes of BG and Torment - and as I've stated before, I'm not PS:T's biggest fan. To be honest, while the combat in IWD was awesome, that was really all it ever set out to do and both games feel more like expansion packs than fully-fledged rpgs.

 

Obviously, I voted for BG. I want to see exploration of a world map, I want to see a certain level of fleshing out for npcs, and I want to see a relatively complex and exciting combat/levelling system. Anything on top of that is a bonus, really.

[Randomthom]

I liked IWD because it had more click-for-description flavour texts than the others, it felt more like you were playing a good ol' table-top D&D session & the GM just gave you a description (a good one, not one that says "it's a 5-foot wide corridor...")

 

I thought that BG2 had some awesome soundscapes, particularly in Athkatla. They really gave a feeling that you were in a large bustling city.

 

I haven't played enough of PS:T to really comment on it's atmosphere but I have played some pen'n'paper in Sigil and it's a great setting though sometimes it feels a little too weird and I long for the good ol' prime material plane.

 

If the quality of the artwork measures up to these (and from the small bit that we've seen so far it will surpass them) then the stage is set for great atmosphere. What we need is for everything else to compliment that, great non-clichéd characters with interesting back-stories (something IWD lacked absolutely) being my primary hope.

 

At it's heart, great atmosphere is about creating and then maintaining the illusion of being in & part of a living breathing world. Everything can contribute and anything can break the illusion if done wrong. There is no perfect measure because what makes atmosphere for one player breaks it for another.

 

A good example would be the descriptive flavour text I mentioned. I like it, it reminds me of good times sat around a table with a lot of books, paper & dice. I imagine that many players would see it as a crutch to describe something that the artwork has failed to represent adequately itself and big floating letters in the sky might break the illusion.

 

What is really wonderful about PE is that I have absolute faith in the developers to create something great because

a) There's no pressure from an overbearing publisher saying "You MUST include X" or "How can we include microtransactions here?"

b) They love these games, they wouldn't have started the kickstarter otherwise

c) They have their own IP to work with,a chance to start something great perhaps?

d) Everything I've seen from the updates so far suggests that it's everything I've been hoping for from a CRPG and was worried I'd never see the like of again.

[Greensleeve]

I think that other than the IE games (voted IWD), the game with an atmosphere that's most like what I'd like to see is Storm of Zehir, actually. That feel of exploration and discovery. That feel of a strange new land. That's what I want to feel in PE. 

[TrashMan]

BG1. The atmosphere of the realistic, medieval world was almost perfect there.

[nikolokolus]

Some blend of Baldur's Gate 1 and the Icewind Dale games would be fine by me.  Although "ambiance" is kind of a nebulous concept, I guess I'm referring to a mix of art and design, a main protagonist that isn't some "Chosen One" douche bag, and a focus on exploration as much as narrative.

[alanschu]

Torment.

[Sensuki]

There's a few things where I'd like specific "feelings" again

 

Baldur's Gate 1 wilderness areas and wilderness music, in daytime, night time and rain was a great blend of atmosphere; I always get a warm fuzzy feeling just wandering around in that game. I am not sure why.

 

Icewind Dale had better atmosphere in specific locations (mostly because there were no wilderness areas); the specifically tailored visuals and music such as "Easthaven in Peace", "Hrothgar's Home", "Kuldahar Theme", "Arundel's Home".

 

BG1 and IWD1 both got the Temple feeling just perfect - when you walk into a Temple in those games the visuals and the audio were both really awesome.

 

Unique Area Exploration: IWD1

Low level named encounters: BG1

Boss encounters: BG1 probably had the easiest boss encounters but IWD, IWD2 and BG2 had good ones

Quests: I hope to see revolutionary quest design since we're not using XP per kills

Loot acquisition: BG1 had the best rate of finding magical items, your first magical item was a big deal and buying them was expensive.

Amount of voice acting: BG2 (but I am a bit worried it will be more on the IWD side due to budget)

 

I think this one is important : IWD engine has significant lag when entering through dialogue, I don't know whether this is intentional but it is really annoying. In BG1/2 you can enter through at lightning speed - good thing once you've played the game 20 times.

[Ffordesoon]

I think this one is important : IWD engine has significant lag when entering through dialogue, I don't know whether this is intentional but it is really annoying. In BG1/2 you can enter through at lightning speed - good thing once you've played the game 20 times.

Word. Torment's got the same problem.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I want a chimera with the exploration and freedom of BG, the gripping story of PST, and the well-designed encounters of IWD.

[Agremont]

BG definitely.

 

Torment:Tides of Numenera will fullfill my Planescape:Torment needs.

[Pshaw]

Out of the choices there I want BG. Planescape is the more interesting world by far but in this project I want the world to feel a bit more traditional.

That said if fallout 2 was up there I'd pick that. Not that I'd want that sort of setting for this game, I'll get my helping of that when wasteland 2 launches, but I really enjoyed the feel of the world. I loved zig-zagging around the map trying to find hidden areas or special encounters. The whole world just had a bit of mystery to it that I wanted to uncover. I also enjoyed things being a bit more down trodden in the world at large. It made doing the heroic things a bit more special.

[Nonek]

Darklands.

[jamoecw]

the thing i liked about IWD over the others is that it felt like the party was your party.  in both P:T and BG1/2 you were a character, who had people who followed you.  BG1/2 had a great world to tromp through, the banter was solid, and the storyline robust, but the party felt off, since the characters weren't yours, and those that joined had this magic party limit thing that sorta meant that you had to chose if you wanted good banter or a good party, which put one of the strengths of the game at odds with its own gameplay (sorta like dragon age's tactics/custom AI).  P:T had a few choice companions, but had the same problem, though less noticeable, the story was better, and with the changes to death and how combat there was far less animosity between companion interaction and gameplay.

 

ideally you'd make your own characters, start the game, and any NPCs that want to follow you can, leaving based purely based on their own personality/story.  picking some background stuff for for generic banter for your own characters (i mean did aerie really have much more to her banter other than she was a kidnapped fairy? or that jaheira was a druid/harper/friend of the father?), then have the NPCs do banter with your characters as well.  next throw in a couple of cities a few villages, and a ton of wilderness in between.  then etch history and lore into everything, from generic magic items to a random cabin in the woods, each with a paragraph or two that makes them feel special.  finally have a story that has you run around the area with plenty of wiggle room for side quests.

 

so in short:

IWD = sandbox

BG = atmosphere

P:T = interactive novel

these things are not completely at odds with each other

[Sensuki]

IWD = sandbox ? what

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

IWD = sandbox ? what

Maybe he mixed up BG and IWD, although calling BG a sandbox might be a bit of a stretch.

[Odd Hermit]

I seem to be in the minority, voted Icewind Dale.

 

The game had such a great atmosphere and that included the UI as well as the environments and even the primitive sprites(the amazing portrait selection helped there). And of course there was the music, Soule is hit and miss with me but IWD was definitely one of his hits(Morrowind was his best IMO though).

 

BG II: SoA and PS:T both had a more...game-y, comical feel in some ways whereas IWD had a darker, harsher tone to it that made it feel like not just a game but a work of art.

 

It wasn't the most verbose of the options and I would take PS:T or BG II: SoA over it for writing and characters certainly as IWD was more of a dungeon crawl and had no scripted party, but "atmospherically" it was a superior overall experience. 

 

 

I expect Eternity to be a healthy mix of them though and considering the superior tech they've got access to I don't think it will fall short of those games in any area, am extremely excited for it already and pledged enough to get the digital concept art. Pretty easy to have some faith in it considering the names involved, and what I've seen/read so far has also been promising.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Odd Hermit