To all of our backers and fans...

[Lephys]

Hail,

 

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking - scripted interactions will appear everywhere. It's like talking to NPCs, but instead of speaking you perform actions. I hope that cleared something up.

 

-Adam

*Is pelted with spherical chunks of ice for 37 damage*

 

. It did clear something up, and I apologize for the fuzziness of my question. I was sort of wondering about several factors at once (frequency, etc.) as well as specifics on exactly what kind of interactions were encompassed by the awesome little scripted illustration scenes. Your answer pretty much tells me exactly what I was wondering, so thank you quite muchly. ^_^

[iseijin]

Will magical weapons work the same way as in the Infity Engine games? (+1, +2 etc. and some unique function)

[JFSOCC]

 

Could you tell us something about the factions we're likely to encounter? even a tidbit? It's one of the things I'm really looking forward to.

 

Hail,

 

I wouldn't be a good person to tell you about factions. It would be a good topic for a future update, but we would have to be careful to avoid spoilers because many of the factions play an integral part in the story.

 

-Adam

 

What? no "the ratsnatcher guild is going to be awesome"? I am disappoint.

[Bli1942]

Is there going to be a pony? I want a pony.

 

Valid question. Iso RPG's don't tend to have mounts that'll let you move faster, could be cool.

[Sensuki]

Happy Friday!

 

I'll answer a few questions throughout the day today. About anything. Ask away.

 

Cheers,

Adam

 

I am a bit concerned about the display of target 'DCs' or values on attack rolls in Eternity, although I'm only concerned about Expert Mode.

 

When I make a roll to hit or something, I do not want to know the target number. The Infinity Engine games obfuscated these values like D&D I guess.

 

For example

 

Sensuki attacks Adam Brennecke: 18 + 4 = 22: Miss

 

Whereas in later games the target values have been shown, so a 'modern example' would be

 

Sensuki attacks Adam Brennecke: 18 + 4 = 22 vs AC 23: Miss

 

In some recent Something Awful posts, Josh has explained that target values will be shown in pop-ups (of which can be disabled, and are turned off in Expert Mode) and I believe he is talking about avoiding obfuscation in an upcoming GDC talk - I wanted to know whether the target variables will also be obfuscated from the combat log in Expert Mode (or when whatever setting that disables popups will be disabled) , and if not could we have an option to be able to disable the display of target values in the Options Menu.

 

---

 

From the Dialogue UI screenshot Brandon posted a while ago, the speaker's name was the color of brown. In Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and Icewind Dale 2 the speaker's minor or major clothing color (I think it was major) was the color of their name in the Dialogue UI and combat log. In Icewind Dale 1 the colors were simplified and light blue was always the color of an NPC speaker. How is the color coding of names in the Dialogue UI and Combat log being handled in Eternity ?

 

---

 

What is the size of the current largest external area in 1440p per screen render size ?

 

---

 

In recent examples Josh gave on Something Awful, the War Hammer and Morningstar use Pierce or Crushing damage (whichever is better), is this correct in that they both have those properties or was one of them swapped ?

 

---

 

A while ago I asked about attack animations and how attack speed would end up affecting them. It was stated that at the present time (may or june i think) attack speed increased the speed of the animations only and not downtime between animations. Josh said that they will probably be eventually changed to a combination of animation speed and downtime or just downtime between animations - has this been played around with yet or is it something that you're planning to revisit during post-production ?

 

---

 

Since attack bonuses were moved to a 100 point scale up from 20 (+15 now instead of +3), will other systems follow suit ? (skills, attributes etc)

Edited October 26, 2013 by Sensuki

[Nonek]

One question if you gentlemen would be so kind. If Eternity is successful (as i'm fairly sure it will be) and spawns a lucrative franchise, will the expansions add to the base game with areas, feats, characters and what have you, or do you envision them being seperate affairs like for instance Dead Money in New Vegas? Personally i'd prefer an integrated gameworld slowly expanding I think, but would not be against seperate areas like the above mentioned adventure.

 

Furthermore, and I hope i'm not being presumptious, do you envision returning to the same areas and situation if you should happen to develop a sequel? The reason I ask is that so few gameworlds now seem to favour slow iteration, where our actions are seen to have occured and the theatre of conflict changed with our passing. Ultima for me seemed so authentic partly because of the impression my Avatar had left upon it. Please note this does not mean i'm in any way against introducing new areas, i'm all for dynamic, strange and striking locales, just that existing areas can be built upon and taken advantage of so that the gameworld seems to expand rather than retcon with every game.

 

It seems such a waste when all of the hard work a developer provides is forgotten, or worse yet is derided in favour of their latest product, rather than being taken advantage of and expanded upon.

[Solviulnir the Soulbinder]

 

Is it possible you're seeing the specific aesthetics of those rocks as "this is just what random stone jutting from the ground is supposed to look like," when it's really that those particular rocks are supposed to look exactly like that (with the little layers/ripples in them and such)? 

 

They're pillars of adra and aren't supposed to look like ordinary rock.

 

Roger that Mr. Sawyer, but why does it look so low poly and has such weird texture mapping? The trees are looking gorgeous btw.

 

I know, I'm weird like that.

[jethro]

Furthermore, and I hope i'm not being presumptious, do you envision returning to the same areas and situation if you should happen to develop a sequel? The reason I ask is that so few gameworlds now seem to favour slow iteration, where our actions are seen to have occured and the theatre of conflict changed with our passing.

I'm guessing you are talking about a future PE2, not the expansion. To see at least some of the same areas (especially towns probably) a few years, decades or even centuries later would be a fantastic idea. This is not just a gimick because it makes the player connect much more to the history of the country.

 

The only problem is if PE has wildly different endings it could make it difficult presenting a unified future for all the diverging histories. Naturally that depends on the impact the player has on the environment. But if for example he can decide if the king dies or is overthrown that should change history books in PE2.

[rjshae]

 

 

Is it possible you're seeing the specific aesthetics of those rocks as "this is just what random stone jutting from the ground is supposed to look like," when it's really that those particular rocks are supposed to look exactly like that (with the little layers/ripples in them and such)? 

 

They're pillars of adra and aren't supposed to look like ordinary rock.

Roger that Mr. Sawyer, but why does it look so low poly and has such weird texture mapping? The trees are looking gorgeous btw.

 

I know, I'm weird like that.

 

It looks a lot better when you zoom in on the original picture. The complex surface texture combined with a rippled surface and possible a high diffuse reflection somewhat masks the shape and the shadowing. Basically there's just a lot going on.

[Longknife]

Can't really talk about it right now, but we think it's going to be cool.

 

 

They bought us all the newest Transformers action figures.

[Chaos Theory]

 

Can't really talk about it right now, but we think it's going to be cool.

 

 

They bought us all the newest Transformers action figures.

 

 

I believe they will post pictures of their oddly extravagant new office in an undisclosed location in non-extraditable Montenegro, and then announce that they have cancelled plans for the fulfillment site...  Forever.

[ManifestedISO]

 

Can't really talk about it right now, but we think it's going to be cool.

 

 

They bought us all the newest Transformers action figures.

 

 

No, but I did manage to get one of the new Star Wars Black Series Boba Fett figures. For my brother's birthday last week, but it doesn't ship until 12/2. Pre-order was only live for about three days. And that's just for Fett, not the SDCC exclusive version with Han Solo in carbonite, going for $250 now, after retail of only $45.  

[SophosTheWise]

Sooo, what about an update on wednesday? Should I plan on staying up late tomorrow?

[Messier-31]

Sooo, what about an update on wednesday? Should I plan on staying up late tomorrow?

 

10 gold says it's still too early.

[SophosTheWise]

 

Sooo, what about an update on wednesday? Should I plan on staying up late tomorrow?

 

10 gold says it's still too early.

 

 

10 gold? What are you? A lousy Xvart? Bet me a thousand!

[ManifestedISO]

Gameplay trailer, release date, incoming. 

[Lephys]

The only problem is if PE has wildly different endings it could make it difficult presenting a unified future for all the diverging histories. Naturally that depends on the impact the player has on the environment. But if for example he can decide if the king dies or is overthrown that should change history books in PE2.

Well, if possible, they could always go the Mass Effect route and allow the import of narrative branching. Then, they could always take that farther than Mass Effect did. I'm sure without full voice-acting and intricate 3D third-person graphics to worry with, a lot more focus and resources could easily be placed into the actual potential branching that is allowed for in the between-game import process.

[SophosTheWise]

Gameplay trailer, release date, incoming. 

 

I want to believe.

[Sensuki]

No update tomorrow either right? I assume the wait will be a full month (or one of those 'when it's done' cases).

Edited October 29, 2013 by Sensuki

[Labadal]

I think we'll get a big update the week Josh's GDC Next panel is held.

[ryukenden]

Devs, is there a reason to stay up tomorrow? tell me the update is coming.

[Messier-31]

Even if there is an update coming up (but unlikely) I'd rather get some sleep and read it in the morn.

 

Whoa, looks like I really am aging...

[Adam Brennecke]

We have a small update for today, but it's not going to be the "big update".

[JFSOCC]

in before nerd-rage

[kgambit]

Edited October 29, 2013 by kgambit