Update #66: Double Whammy

[Bli1942]

So, TL:DR: the fullfillment website is open soon?

 

At thanksgiving there is a big announcement and it's "side dish" is the website

Edited November 1, 2013 by Bli1942

[J.E. Sawyer]

It'd be nice if the inns give certain bonuses that the stronghold can't.

 

They will.

[J.E. Sawyer]

 

Yes, they last until the next time you rest.

 

How long can the party go without resting?

 

For comparison:

• In IWD my party had to rest like 3 times per dungeon to regain spells and health (yep, that entailed annoying backtracking).

   

• In IWD2 it was imo the perfect balance - regular resting was required to succeed, but I did not have to backtrack out of dungeons.

   

• In BG2, or at least in the later parts of the game, one could go without resting for a looooog time - and I usually waited until multiple NPCs complained about being fatigued - which kind of took the "edge" out of the resting mechanic.

What resting balance are you targeting for PE?

 

 

Personally, I found that resting was more frequent in IWD2 than IWD1.  We are not going for high-frequency resting.  Of course, part of this will also depend on the difficulty level the player is on, whether they are overleveled or underleveled when approaching encounters, and how efficient they are with their resources.

[Lephys]

You could also play around with the duration of these on-rest bonuses (whether from am inn, or the stronghold and its enigmatic shrubbery layouts, etc.). So maybe something could allow your bonuses to last through multiple rests instead of just one. Perhaps, if a bonus does so, it diminishes some (if it's large enough -- I wouldn't want to take a +1 to Stealth down to +.5 to Stealth, really).

 

Maybe food plays a part in this. *shrug*. "Well-fed" is a common state for bonuses in many a game. But, this way, if food DOES affect such things, then, instead of having it simply ALSO provide bonuses of its own (which it could still do, obviously), it could simply be the duration factor. Or both. It could provide bonuses separate from the from-resting bonuses, and/or affect the duration of bonuses through additional rests.

 

Just a thought.

[Wombat]

Yeah, when I was writing my previous post, I was thinking of something like that, which could make the deeper dungeons harder especially for hardcore mode players.

[Chilloutman]

Maybe food plays a part in this. *shrug*. "Well-fed" is a common state for bonuses in many a game.

Instant memory flash of Ultima Online, best fantasy MMO so far but not much practical for PE imo.

[Messier-31]

Maybe food plays a part in this. *shrug*. "Well-fed" is a common state for bonuses in many a game.

 

But how much "well"? Tell me how do you feel if you ate too much - fancy fighting monsters?

[Skie Nightfall]

I do find it odd the constructions give bonuses though. Reminds me of how items give you sudden bonuses at Fallout 3.

[Osvir]

 

Brilliant stuff!   I'm at work so this will be short.

I really like this concept :D but I am wondering, is there a chance that... instead of restoring the west building simply into what is shown in the screenshot, could we replace the building with something else? (Stables, Tower/Outpost, Library etc. etc.) choices~ "What do you want to build?"-ish

 

Unfortunately, no.  Swapping sections of the rendered 2D image is trickier than it may seem.

But maing variations of the image would not be? For instance:

 

1 original image (which you showcase)

1 image where everything is the same except a single building (basically a copy+paste picture wherein one building has been modified)

 

Of course, time better spent elsewhere really but I couldn't help but to propose it at the very least.

 

Another method would be to treat buildings like props, similar to how you treat foliage like props, but I bet you already have thrown that idea around and didn't choose to pick it because it is potentially extra work? (hypotethical analysis)

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Maybe I missed it but has Hector discussed working in the Unity Engine vs however they had to create the assets back in the old days? Is it faster, harder, What are some of the new things he can do now that he couldn't before? What are the chances we'll have things like moving lava or caverns with reflective crystals, etc? Hector, if it's possible, can you guys try to create some levels where the environment  has edges like the edge of a cliff or bridge in the foreground so we have really epic views while we're exploring. I know the old IE games didn't have that, but I'm hoping with technology now, we can explore the lay of the land a little bit more so it looks like in parts of the game we are climbing in elevation, or have to make it up a pass before the wind blows us over an edge for example. Maybe we can knock enemies over ledges so they fall below on rocks and we go back later to loot their corpse. I think everything you've shown so far has been great, keep up the good work. In the Dev Diary video thing, maybe you can give us a walkthrough of your process of making a scene or something like that too by the way. 

[Sensuki]

If any of the devs still read this thread

 

At times I help critique some of the work that is being created around me or from outsourcing

In this bit of the Q&A Hector mentioned he critiqued outsourced (art)work. Out of interest what kind of stuff have you had to outsource ? (besides some of the Kickstarter campaign art)

 

We know that Wasteland 2 had that Unity Store thing where they got people to do 3D models and they bought them from the Unity store and in the latest DFA Episode they mentioned that they had to outsource a bunch of their animation because they only have a couple of animators (although they aren't exactly a shining example of good project management).

 

Do you mean just buying art assets from the Unity store or have you had to actually commission some stuff to be made as well ?

Edited November 3, 2013 by Sensuki

[Osvir]

 

 

Brilliant stuff!   I'm at work so this will be short.

I really like this concept :D but I am wondering, is there a chance that... instead of restoring the west building simply into what is shown in the screenshot, could we replace the building with something else? (Stables, Tower/Outpost, Library etc. etc.) choices~ "What do you want to build?"-ish

 

Unfortunately, no.  Swapping sections of the rendered 2D image is trickier than it may seem.

But maing variations of the image would not be? For instance:

 

1 original image (which you showcase)

1 image where everything is the same except a single building (basically a copy+paste picture wherein one building has been modified)

 

Of course, time better spent elsewhere really but I couldn't help but to propose it at the very least.

 

Another method would be to treat buildings like props, similar to how you treat foliage like props, but I bet you already have thrown that idea around and didn't choose to pick it because it is potentially extra work? (hypotethical analysis)

Post-Post EDIT: Of course, these ideas are a little bit late into production but I just wanted to throw it out here

 

EDIT EDIT: And then... *floats off into dream land* ... make walls into props, floor, many layers of props and textures and then and then.... mapmaker toolset <3

Edited November 3, 2013 by Osvir

[IndiraLightfoot]

^{"Whammy" makes me think of  Champ Kind in Anchorman...}

[Archmage Silver]

Looking forward to the backer site at last.

[Dark Elf]

I do find it odd the constructions give bonuses though. Reminds me of how items give you sudden bonuses at Fallout 3.

 

Same here, but it depends on execution, really. A lab coat providing bonuses to Medicine makes no sense whatsoever and is really quite a horrible idea, whereas it's somewhat plausible that an advanced suit of power armour should give, say, a small bonus to Guns (due to inbuilt stabilisers, on-board tracking systems and whatnot). Now, inspiration matters, I can see how having recently attended a theatre performance would make you feel more cultured and sociable or how someone who just returned from a reading binge at the library might feel and act more knowledgeable on lore-related matters. It's not that much of a stretch.

[Lephys]

 

Maybe food plays a part in this. *shrug*. "Well-fed" is a common state for bonuses in many a game.

 

But how much "well"? Tell me how do you feel if you ate too much - fancy fighting monsters?

 

I would consider not-well-fed to be "I had some trail mix so I wouldn't collapse and die from burning 1,500 calories a day keeping things from killing me whilst I trekked from that city 73 miles away to this one with limited rations," and well-fed to be "I actually got to sit down and have a proper meal, with variety and nutrients and whatnot, so that I'll not suffer fatigue in the next 12-16 hours from a severe lack of the things my body needs to keep me energized and/or rebuild and repair after a long day of surviving bandit attacks and there's no telling what else."

 

And yes, I realize it's a little abstracted, but there is a decent overall difference between just stuffing some quick calories in you and actually getting to eat proper food, in the ongoing efforts of your body to keep up with prolonged exertion from things like "adventuring."

 

Also, that's why I think it would make more sense to be an augmentation for a rest bonus; you're well-fed, and then you rested, so your body actually processed that food. Not "Okay, we just had a huge feast... NOW LET'S GO RUN SOME LAPS AND SLAY SOME DRAGONS! 8D!"

Edited November 4, 2013 by Lephys

[Wombat]

Maybe, how about making "grades" in rest points, which can be integrated under the same rules with the stronghold/inn hospitality ideas: Resting in upgraded rest-related installments in the stronghold and staying high-priced rooms in inns would give the party higher bonuses since they are most likely to be the ideal resting places? This would allow the designers to take control on the tones of each area. For example, if the designers would like to put more emphasis on survival in a dungeon/field, they could put just low-grade rest points in it. Even in this case, if they desire, they can still put a high-grade rest point before a boss fight in the same area. The grades may be affected by survival skills of the party members and/or mode setting, means, choosing the expert mode may down grade some or each camp.

 

I suspect some of the ideas around resting can be traced back to still mysterious "camp" ideas of the Black Hound but I wonder how much of them are adjusted to this project.

[forgottenlor]

 

Are you guys ever gonna do updates on the rest of the classes? Or maybe an update on that spell/ability list that was mentioned previously?

 

In this update it says the big update is coming soon, and part of it will be the backer site. Then it also says, about the site:

 

"On the right there is our “Game” section of the site, where over the coming months more information and art about the various races, classes, characters, critters, and locations of interest in the game can be found."

 

I'm gonna guess when they put the site up there will already be lots of information on it that we haven't seen before about the characters and abilities etc, then more will be added later on

 

 

They need to pace themselves. Saw a speculative release date of April 2014 in the October issue of the German magazine Gamestar, and I am betting it will take them even longer to finish, so they won't want to have nothing to say later on.

[Zoma]

Any implementation of cooking food during rest? Taking the approach from Dragon's Crown, cooking and allocating food to the respective party members would give them temporary bonus depending on the type of food given. Some party members may prefer one kind of food over the other.

[jethro]

Any implementation of cooking food during rest? Taking the approach from Dragon's Crown, cooking and allocating food to the respective party members would give them temporary bonus depending on the type of food given. Some party members may prefer one kind of food over the other.

Sounds very much like micro-management.

[Hormalakh]

any update today? hoping for the big big update, but i really don't think it'll happen....

[Labadal]

Josh is at GDC Next tomorrow. He'll have a 30 minute session. The session will be video recorded.

[Tamerlane]

They'd been doing them every other week for a long while, and now that they're working on A Big God Damn Update, it's super unlikely that they'd start doing back-to-back updates.

[Sensuki]

I hope you guys announce who the contract writer is in the big update - that's a pretty important position.

[Monte Carlo]

Any implementation of cooking food during rest? Taking the approach from Dragon's Crown, cooking and allocating food to the respective party members would give them temporary bonus depending on the type of food given. Some party members may prefer one kind of food over the other.

 

No. For the love of God, no.