BG2-style "Easter Egg encounters"

[Sensuki]

I am hoping that when it comes to Production, that the area designers keep some of the following things in mind

 

BG1 had easter egg item placement, as well as a few cool things such as talking to charmed enemies. Great idea and I'd love to see some of that stuff in Project Eternity. Obviously there will be an object highlighter, but it would be cool to have some stuff that you can only find my pixel hunting (probably not likely from a design perspective but we'll see).

 

BG2 had some really nice easter egg encounters. The Twisted Rune is one of the most well-known ones, where if you have a certain Rogue Stone in your inventory and open a certain door you get access to a pretty awesome encounter with some sweet gear as a reward for completing it (not to menion the XP).

 

There's also some other stuff related to casting high-level utility spells in specific locations on certain maps.

 

For example if you cast the "Freedom" spell in a certain location in the Underdark where you find remains of a battle ... you get a very nasty surprise

 

There's also some other ones you can find interacting with the environment

 

But yeah I haven't really experienced this kind of exclusive content for a while because I guess developers have been afraid that content is pointless if not many people experience it. I did listen to an interview with MCA recently where he said he was a big fan of exclusive content.

 

Hoping to see some of this kind of stuff where it fits into the game world.

[JFSOCC]

I did listen to an interview with MCA recently where he said he was a big fan of exclusive content.

I believe what he said was that as a designer you should be OK with players not experiencing everything you've made for them.

[forfs]

I wouldn't consider your examples easter eggs. You could learn of both of those encounters from NPCs. BG1 had many more easter eggs (or things that I would consider easter eggs), and I didn't really care for them. Whether you're aiming for humor or secret encounters you can make those without silly references to real world. 

[Sensuki]

No they're not easter eggs, but I couldn't think of a better word.

 

Obscure maybe ?

[JFSOCC]

secret bonus content.

[mstark]

Considering who's currently working on PE I'm pretty sure the game will have a balanced, tasteful amount of secret content and Easter eggs.

[Iucounu]

BG1 had easter egg item placement, as well as a few cool things such as talking to charmed enemies. Great idea and I'd love to see some of that stuff in Project Eternity. Obviously there will be an object highlighter, but it would be cool to have some stuff that you can only find my pixel hunting (probably not likely from a design perspective but we'll see).

Don't forget Daer'Ragh. That was the real easteregg of BG 1 (even though it wasn't terribly spectacular). Of course, the talking to charmed enemies was far more fun. You could even charm potential companions and get personal information from them that way. But I don't consider this as an easter egg.

[Bartimaeus]

Off-topic, but...even though I've played through Baldur's Gate (2) roughly a million times, the Twisted Rune encounter is something I never, ever did or really knew about until about a year ago. I'd heard about it from various places - mod descriptions, forums, etc. - so many times over the years, but I'd never knew what it actually referenced to. Always assumed it was just a player-made name for something I always did. I always sell gems as soon as I get them, so I never opened that door on the Bridge district successfully. And since the door always casts...Disintegrate, is it? ...I always assumed it was supposed to just be a trapdoor for killing you.

 

It's probably the only piece of Baldur's Gate content I'd never done up until then...I think it's quite amazing that I'd missed it that many times. I agree that these sort of things should be present for P:E.

[curryinahurry]

As far as easter egg items or characters; it isn't a high priority for me, but can be nice as a way to add humor or excitement (especially at lower levels where a semi-powerful item can seem wondrous).  The other part, encounters that seem happenstance, or obscure, to my likng, are absolutely a must to add depth to the game.  Encounters that are only available if one uncovers an otherwise unremarkable object, or only occur if the PC is in a particular location at a particular time (of day or even year), are the sorts of things that give a game a long life for those players who want to linger in the PE world.

 

On a similar note, I really hope that there is a robust rumor system in this game that yields actual quests, or even quest arcs.  It is a great way of giving a sense of exploration in the game and can be delivered to the player in a multitude of manners.

[Stun]

I wouldn't consider your examples easter eggs.

Agreed, in fact, not a single one of the examples was an easter egg. The Twisted Rune encounter was actually the scattered remains of cut content.

 

Easter eggs are hidden modern-day references that appear in a game. BG2 had a few, such as the Squirrel and Moose in a cage near the circus tent in Walkeen's Premenade (Rocky and Bulwinkle reference), and the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon posters in Ribald's shop. Stuff like that.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Stun

[Sensuki]

If I could edit the title of the thread I would, what I really meant were obscure/exclusive encounters that are hard to find / can't be experienced by everyone.

[JFSOCC]

Easter eggs are polish, if you have time for making them you clearly have a finished product

[PrimeJunta]

I'm all for optional, hard to reach content. They flesh out later playthroughs brilliantly. Even better if there's some of such stuff that's only accessible to particular character builds. I had a lot of fun looting the Death God's vault in MotB for example. 

[mkreku]

One of the main reasons why I love the Gothic games so much is precisely for this reason: they are shock full of extra content like the examples listed above. It gives any game longevity and a reason to return to the game even years after finishing it.

 

I think it was on my third playthrough of Gothic that I found the hollowed out rock in the river. Never have I been so happy to find a few gold pieces..