Update #57: Hello again for the first time...

[Chilloutman]

Already told it and will tell it again, no more pink/purple please

 

I know I am nitpicking....

 

On the other hand, is that armor we already seen on that nature god-touched artwork?

[Aoyagi]

Already told it and will tell it again, no more pink/purple please

 

I know I am nitpicking....

 

On the other hand, is that armor we already seen on that nature god-touched artwork?

That purple is actually my favorite color. YOU RACIST

[Mico Selva]

I think we all expected more information in this update, after that awesome Rezzed presentation, but I understand why devs would not want to post all the goodness in one week.

I'm looking forward to the pledge mangamenet system the most. I really need to upgrade my pledge for this game, and by a lot.

[Gumbercules]

Welcome, Brandon!

 

Not much to comment on in this update, but the animat looks great! I'm loving this trend of showing the various concept thumbnails along with the final/near-final design.

[Fearabbit]

Already told it and will tell it again, no more pink/purple please

 

I know I am nitpicking....

 

Well, "nitpicking" implies that you are, technically, right about what you're saying. Which is impossible with a subjective statement such as "no more pink, I don't like that color".

 

However, I don't completely disagree. Many fantasy RPGs are too colorful because every type of magic has its own hue. You have a dark fantasy setting... and then you put in all these fancy effects in blue, green, red, pink and orange. It's off-putting and can make the world feel very "gamey" (with all these colorful magic effects I'm usually reminded of the highly-saturated worlds of WoW and Torchlight).

Restricting the magic effects to only a very small palette of colors can make them feel more like they're part of the world. And if souls weren't represented as bright purple glowy things but as faint white mists, I think that would be much more effective.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Fearabbit

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Defiance Bay hints at something that I've been waiting for an uber long time in a game like this. Since we have technology to do it, this would be my favorite game ever if you guys included a sunken pirate ship cave/dungeon complete with lots of booby traps. Even better for an expansion if we get to buy a boat to travel about on and go on a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt. At the very least It would be fun to have an abandoned ship graveyard to explore.

PS Since these games are not really made like traditional games, once you guys get your style guides together and work flows established if someone wouldn't mind making a blog or tutorials of how you guys are making stuff, I have always wanted to make a game like this and just unsure how to approach it. The idea Wasteland 2 is using so the backers can assist in prop making for their game sounds similar to what I'm asking. It would be awesome if you guys had a ton of extra bits to work from once you get going. Plus it would give us a head start for modding down the line when the time for that happens. Also just out of curiosity what programming language is being used? Oh one last thing, Hows the behind the scenes documentary going? Have they been meeting you guys regularly, or is it only like 3-4 times a year type of thing?

[BAdler]

Welcome back. A rehiring and a 'promotion' - nice work

 

What format are you guys planning to use for Production? Sprints? or some other method?

We will be using a typical milestone system. I am currently figuring out all of our assets, features, and areas, in total, for when we enter production. Once that is done, we will be able to construct our future milestones based on risk, priority, resources and time allotted.

 

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for the warm welcome. It has been a blast so far.

[BAdler]

Also just out of curiosity what programming language is being used? Oh one last thing, Hows the behind the scenes documentary going? Have they been meeting you guys regularly, or is it only like 3-4 times a year type of thing?

All of the programming inside of Unity is being done with C#, as far as I know.

 

As for the documentary, we have been recording with them fairly often (several times a month).

Edited June 26, 2013 by BAdler

[IndiraLightfoot]

Although I don't know you at all, Brandon, I just wanna tell how happy I am that you're back at Obsidian for Project Eternity. After all, you were the pacer guy for the production of perhaps the best D&D CRPG of all time, if we count the expansions too. Churning out MotB that fast on top of the huge OC of NWN2 must have been no mean feat, and it turned out great! Then you went ahead and made an entirely different expansion on so many levels, with jungles,

Yuan-Tis and T-Rexes. Just wow!

 

I'm curious, though. Will the game be produced modularly, i.e., will it be produced as separate modules in the same vein as NWN2?

[andar90]

I really like the concept of the Animat. It's interesting. I like the depth of thought that seems to be going into the concept of magic (or souls) being bound into mundane matter.

[J.E. Sawyer]

I like the look of the animats. Is it me, or is Eternity going to play around with the FORGOTTEN ADVANCED CIVILIZATION trope as well? The inclusion of copper armour and designs that look and feel dated is a pretty awesome turn away from the usual LOOK AT HOW ADVANCED THESE ELVES WERE approach most fantasy games have.

 

Yeah, the Engwythans were good at three things: soul manipulation, mathematics, and growing big crazy structures.  Their metallurgy was generally garbage and they weren't particularly advanced in any other fields.  Glanfathans have surpassed them in mathematical discoveries and astronomy.  The other "big" cultures have also discovered an enormous amount of knowledge about souls that the Engwythans never did -- though there are still aspects of Engwythan technology that contemporary animancers don't fully understand.

 

As a side note, while Glanfathans are dominantly elves and orlans, Engwythans apparently had a strong representation of every race in their society.

[Ramireza]

Josh :

 

Why i can find these AWESOME P:E screenshos on a german gaming site and not here??

 

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/project-eternity/bilder/screenshots/project_eternity,48834,96863.html

 

They look great btw

 

[EDIT]

 

OMG, pure ART :

 

Edited June 26, 2013 by Ramireza

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Nice find Ramireza! I like the direction things are headed. 

Glad to see some volumetric atmosphere in the underground areas. I also like the painterly feel the art shows. For some reason the pictures seem really gritty not in a good way though. It looks like image degradation almost pixelated. Maybe the source art is not created at a high enough resolution or fidelity. Who knows how old that is, but it definitely shows potential.

 

[Tagaziel]

Yeah, the Engwythans were good at three things: soul manipulation, mathematics, and growing big crazy structures.  Their metallurgy was generally garbage and they weren't particularly advanced in any other fields.  Glanfathans have surpassed them in mathematical discoveries and astronomy.  The other "big" cultures have also discovered an enormous amount of knowledge about souls that the Engwythans never did -- though there are still aspects of Engwythan technology that contemporary animancers don't fully understand.

 

As a side note, while Glanfathans are dominantly elves and orlans, Engwythans apparently had a strong representation of every race in their society.

If I'm not mistaken, this scenario is similar to how the legacy of Rome played out: while some technologies continued to impress centuries later, in many aspect succeeding cultures and states surpassed the failed (Western) Empire. It's a refreshing approach, to say the least.

 

It might fall outside the design scope, but what about law? Roman law, despite being over two millenia old (if you start counting from the Law of the Twelve Tablets), still continues to influence our culture, our lawmaking, and, at least in continental Europe, continues to be a part of the curriculum for law studies (which, admittedly, I graduated). Would the laws of Eir Glanfath have a similar impact, assuming they'd be sufficiently advanced? Would there be a Iustinian to gather the law and form a codex? The glossators, commentators, mos italicus, mos gallicus--- oh damn, I'm rambling again.

 

It's just that many, many games completely ignore how profound an impact law has on life. I recall very few games where law played an important role in the setting and was relevant to the game (off the top of my head: Morrowind and the special status the island enjoyed).

 

Don'tmindmejustalawgradramblingon

[Gumbercules]

As a side note, while Glanfathans are dominantly elves and orlans, Engwythans apparently had a strong representation of every race in their society.

 

Do the Glanfathan elves not have the same prejudices against wild orlans as the other main civilizations? Also, are aumaua a majority or sizable minority of any main civilization, and if so how advanced is it?

[WorstUsernameEver]

and growing big crazy structures.

Are you using the term "growing" figuratively or is there something we don't know about their techniques to build architectural structures?

[Lephys]

All of the programming inside of Unity is being done with C#, as far as I know.

Word of caution to any potential future modders: Take great care with that code. It's sharp. o_o

 

Also, if any of the dev team ever wants to "run with such-and-such's code," make sure they keep the point aimed in a downward position. u_u

[J.E. Sawyer]

 

Do the Glanfathan elves not have the same prejudices against wild orlans as the other main civilizations? Also, are aumaua a majority or sizable minority of any main civilization, and if so how advanced is it?

 

 

Glanfathan elves have none of the biases against orlans that other cultures do. Orlans are well-regarded in Glanfathan tribes.  Aumaua are a minority in all of the "core" nations/cultures around the Dyrwood.  The aumaua-dominated cultures to the (far) north and (slightly closer) south are about as technologically-advanced as the Aedyr Empire.  I.e., generally pretty advanced but exceeded in some ways by the Vailians (generally the tech "leaders").

[Malekith]

 

 

Do the Glanfathan elves not have the same prejudices against wild orlans as the other main civilizations? Also, are aumaua a majority or sizable minority of any main civilization, and if so how advanced is it?

 

 

Glanfathan elves have none of the biases against orlans that other cultures do. Orlans are well-regarded in Glanfathan tribes.  Aumaua are a minority in all of the "core" nations/cultures around the Dyrwood.  The aumaua-dominated cultures to the (far) north and (slightly closer) south are about as technologically-advanced as the Aedyr Empire.  I.e., generally pretty advanced but exceeded in some ways by the Vailians (generally the tech "leaders").

 

Any of the more "primitive stone age" cultures around the area?

[Woldan]

If all the armors in PE are of the same quality as in the artwork I'm really excited, it looks absolutely fantastic. Also the creature reminds me a lot of the Tarnished Sentry in lower Dorns Deep, Icewind Dale:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sensuki]

We will be using a typical milestone system. I am currently figuring out all of our assets, features, and areas, in total, for when we enter production. Once that is done, we will be able to construct our future milestones based on risk, priority, resources and time allotted.

Cool thanks for the reply. Hopefully George Ziets gets his area design wish

[JFSOCC]

So the best gear will likely be Vailian in make?

[mstark]

Welcome back!

 

Josh's lore posts get me all tingly. Lore update soon?

[Archmage Silver]

Thanks for the update - looking forward to to the next installment of Arcanum with MCA.

[rjshae]

Nice artwork as always. Thanks.