New Kickstarter incoming

[Darth Trethon]

 

 Obsidian’s Bold Future: Eternity Meets Skyrim, A Second KS

I also hate the idea of episodic content.   Yes it has worked in the past for some games, but I'm the type of guy who wants to experience the whole game not sit and wait a few months for chapter 2 because I'm done with chapter 1.

 

I agree regarding episodic content. That's a no for me, make a whole game and do it properly. I'm not interested in episodic content.

[Bryy]

I'm done with Kickstarters for people and companies that can afford to do it themselves. KS is for people who actually need funds. And ceratinly no more without seeing a first project delivered. I love Obsidian but this doesn't sit well with me.

 

Well, yes and no. Sometimes you Kickstart to avoid the BS.

[Eldryth]

The title doesn't really describe it all that well- all that's decided is that they want to create more games in the Eternity engine to turn it into the new Infinity engine- basically, the Icewind Dale or Torment to Pillars of Eternity's Baldur's Gate. Which sounds awesome, really! The interviewer focused a bit too much on that particular dev's favorite idea- something more open world like Skyrim, but still using Eternity gameplay. And that's just one of many ideas, we'll know what they actually decide on in March or April.

[Hassat Hunter]

Stop ruining good story based game with that open-world BS.

 

Arkham Asylum

The Witcher

And now this? Open-world is so overrated, and waters down plots :/. Not exactly the direction I want Obsidian to go...

[Darth Trethon]

Stop ruining good story based game with that open-world BS.

 

Arkham Asylum

The Witcher

And now this? Open-world is so overrated, and waters down plots :/. Not exactly the direction I want Obsidian to go...

Funny you'd say that and ignore the amazing open world game for Obsidian themselves....Fallout New Vegas, no watered down plot(in fact it was much enriched from Bethesda's Fallout 3) and sure as hell no lack of choice and consequence. An absolute masterpiece. I see no reason to doubt Obsidian on this and no reason to think anything will be watered down.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Darth Trethon

[Hassat Hunter]

"It was enriched from a Bethesda game."

 

Well, that's not saying much.

And no, I'm not that fond of Fallout: New Vegas.

[Zoraptor]

I was pretty down on the idea of a 'Skyrim' type game, but it really depends on whether it's being used as shorthand for open world (something like Gothic or Fallout could be considered similar to Skyrim in some ways) and as clickbait/ PR speak or not. The big problem with name dropping Skyrim is that while that is great for pitching it to publishers Skyrim has a rather more... polarised view amongst people who kickstart, who usually do so because they want something other than what mainstream publishers produce.

 

I could certainly see an open world style system working quite well where you had something like the overland map from Storm of Zehir. That could also work for some of the other ideas mentioned in the RPS interview, have episodic content where new dungeons/ dlc/ expansions can be plugged into the overland map etc. Wouldn't have to be standard Tolkienesque Fantasy either, do a sort of Faster Than Light hybridised with XCOM thing with an open universe for all I care, or something with a Syndicate vibe.

 

Do wonder what the licensed property they might KS would be though. D&D seems too similar to PoE, Star Wars seems unlikely for numerous reasons, it isn't Alpha Protocol*, I doubt Wheel of Time would be a realistic prospect. Nothing else I can come up with seems likely either- System Shock, Gothic while PB is busy with Risen etc are all pie in the sky and I struggle to think of any TV/ film stuff that would be suitable/ realistic (The Wire The RPG seems... unlikely, unfortunately)

 

*Hey, I'd kickstart Omega Methodology.

[Osvir]

The big problem with name dropping Skyrim is that while that is great for pitching it to publishers Skyrim has a rather more... polarised view amongst people who kickstart, who usually do so because they want something other than what mainstream publishers produce. We are all bloody hipsters that's what.

When Kickstarter gets too mainstream we'll start going to Kickstopper. 

 

EDIT: Great post I just couldn't help myself with the quote

Edited December 15, 2013 by Osvir

[Robsidious]

What I took away from that article... it was all too vague to get excited about anything. After all, Feargus was just kicking around a few ideas. Though I really like the sound of creating a series of 'Eternity Engine' games. An open-world Skyrim Baldur's Gate building on Eternity's tech sounds pretty appealing, however without more information we have very little idea what that would look like, but it seems too costly. Episodic content would be a pretty hard sell, I can't imagine myself pledging to something like that though I'll keep an open mind. And I'm not sure I want them to move away from the pre-rendered stuff - Eternity looks so very beautiful, I'd like more of that. Though again I value an open mind, and besides this isn't THE vision but simply one of many options they are exploring. There is also the mystery licensed property and the less likely proposal they received, at the very least. I'd hesitate to believe that these are the only ideas Obsidian are contemplating; Feargus is not the entirety of Obsidian and that article wasn't exactly informative, more of a PR stunt.

 

I am happy that Obsidian seems pretty sure to kickstart again; I want to help them become independent and I doubt they'll be able to do that off the back of Eternity alone, though that would be truly awesome.

[Wolfenbarg]

"It was enriched from a Bethesda game."

 

Well, that's not saying much.

And no, I'm not that fond of Fallout: New Vegas.

I'm pretty sure he meant compared to Bethesda's Fallout. It makes 3 look like a dud.

[nikolokolus]

I feel like I waited for this interview like a little kid waits for Christmas morning and unwraps his first gift and finds a pair of argyle socks and a half-eaten cookie.

 

Love ya' Feargus baby, but what in the blue hell are you talking about?

Edited December 15, 2013 by nikolokolus

[Karkarov]

That article was confusing as all hell and the writer uh... no clue what he is talking about.  PC gaming has been dominant for the last few years, I can count the number of console exclusives I have bought in 3 years on one hand.  Not the same for PC, and anyone with a good gaming PC will buy PC over console pretty much every time.  Triple A console graphics?  Until the PS4 came out consoles couldn't exceed 720p, PC gaming has been the best graphics for at least 3-5 years now.  Also Skyrim is a PC first game, yes it's UI works well on a controller, that doesn't make the reality that the PC version is ridiculously better than the 360 or mostly broken PS3 version any different.

 

Meanwhile the actual "new kickstarter" is just a bunch of vague ideas and excitement not an actual new kickstarter.  *shrug*

[Helm]

A Skyrim-like with the PoE-Engine? lol

 

 

Skyrim is badly designed! It has terrible content, terrible quest design, boring and completely forgettable NPCs, extremely bad and amateur voice acting, horrendous writing, ridiculously stupid and broken RPG mechanics, a broken economy, an unreactive world, boring and empty area design, 99% of the dungeons and caves are completely linear and tunnel-like, uses level scaling excessively, is overly simplified and is unchallenging. And that list is way too short. And to top it off, the user interface is freaking horrible. In other words, it is an extremely boring and bad game. How could you want to copy that and stuff it in the PoE engine? Jeez.

If you said you wanted to make a GTA5-"RPG" or something then I might understand, but SKYRIM!?!?! lol

 

 

Don't go down that path Feargus. If you put that on Kickstarter, you will regret it.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Helm

[Abel]

A Skyrim-like with the PoE-Engine? lol

 

 

Skyrim is badly designed! It has ... extremely bad and amateur voice acting...

 

 

héhéhééééé... I believe you, my friend, no problem. But, really, just try the french voice acting of many US games (Skyrim, New Vegas and some even worse). It's easy with steam if you save your orignal voices.bsa before switching language. It's just... well, my baker may voice the game the same way. Truly, i play these games with US voices and french subs (pity that the NV radio is not subbed :s). The only way not to be disgusted.

 

But i agree with your entire post. All is true. And more. Hum, Skyrim can eventually become a great game, but needs at least 60 mods well picked. Strangely enough, New vegas needs less of them. The VERY WORSE was the UI.. PAD UI, Atrocious UI... Unmanageable UI...

 

I'm not found of the ideas i read on the interview too. But i prefer to say wait and see, i may be surprised (well, i would be very surprised if such a game eventually comes to be great). The only way is that such a game uses 3D not just for 3D but in order to serve a deep purpose. And to achieve that, devs need to rework from scratch the entire concept of using full 3D... A brand new way to think the entire game experience.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Abel

[Helm]

 

 

A Skyrim-like with the PoE-Engine? lol

 

 

Skyrim is badly designed! It has ... extremely bad and amateur voice acting...

héhéhééééé... I believe you, my friend, no problem. But, really, just try the french voice acting of many US games (Skyrim, New Vegas and some even worse). It's easy with steam if you save your orignal voices.bsa before switching language. It's just... well, my baker may voice the game the same way. Truly, i play these games with US voices and french subs (pity that the NV radio is not subbed :s). The only way not to be disgusted.

 

But i agree with your entire post. All is true. And more. Hum, Skyrim can eventually become a great game, but needs at least 60 mods well picked. Strangely enough, New vegas needs less of them. The VERY WORSE was the UI.. PAD UI, Atrocious UI... Unmanageable UI...

 

I'm not found of the ideas i read on the interview too. But i prefer to say wait and see, i may be surprised (well, i would be very surprised if such a game eventually comes to be great). The only way is that such a game uses 3D not just for 3D but in order to serve a deep purpose. And to achieve that, devs need to rework from scratch the entire concept of using full 3D... A brand new way to think the entire game experience.

Yeah, with a boatload of mods Skyrim might be playable, but vanilla Skyrim is pretty terrible. Bethesda should be happy that there are so many modders out there willing to fix their game.

 

Anyway, If Feargus wants to make an openworld like game with a lot of exploration and what not, then that might be fine, I am not sure. But Obsidian should not copy Skyrim and stuff it into the PoE engine and most defintely not market it as a isometric Skyrim game - that would be a death sentence for the title.

[Abel]

I think Obsidian just CAN'T copy Skyrim. I'll try to explain it...

 

In New Vegas, i felt that the plot was weird. If i was shot in the head and barely survived after having watched the guys digging my own grave, i would be just in kind of trauma state, and run away very very far from them. But no choice, my character wants to pursue them, and... well strange. He's just a longtime postman and becomes a hero just because of this headshot. Strange too.

 

Games like Skyrim are just something like the result of Bethesda applying numerous mathematic formulas in all the aspects of the game. It's impersonnal, and if it was a car, it would be a Volvo... No place for mistake, nor fun, nor wacky things or out of place... It's just... a grey and flat mathematic world, and even the emotions are scripted... beark...

 

The plot of New vegas was just so wacky that i said "well, no choice, but... quite fun! These guys are crazy and their brain is just ****ed of. I love that." New Vegas has a soul... Skyrim has one just because of its artistic direction.

 

Just examples: the way games are designed is hugely different from the start. But i'm kind of worry that Obs speak about the Skyrim example. It's just not them from the very start. That's all.

[WotanAnubis]

Do wonder what the licensed property they might KS would be though. D&D seems too similar to PoE, Star Wars seems unlikely for numerous reasons, it isn't Alpha Protocol*, I doubt Wheel of Time would be a realistic prospect. Nothing else I can come up with seems likely either- System Shock, Gothic while PB is busy with Risen etc are all pie in the sky and I struggle to think of any TV/ film stuff that would be suitable/ realistic (The Wire The RPG seems... unlikely, unfortunately)

 

I can only hope CCP has finally decided that it's probably important to keep White Wolf and/or World of Darkness alive in the popular consciousness if they ever want their MMO to be anything other than a giant money sink.

 

Beyond that frankly unrealistic hope I've got a bunch of other unrealistic hopes. Like an X-Men RPG that's actually an RPG because Legends wasn't really.

[Rosveen]

Stop ruining good story based game with that open-world BS.

 

Arkham Asylum

The Witcher

And now this? Open-world is so overrated, and waters down plots :/. Not exactly the direction I want Obsidian to go...

And you know it was ruined because you already played The Witcher 3, yes?

 

I don't know why everyone jumped on the open world, imo it's the least worrying thing Feargus mentioned, considering that they made a great open world RPG not so long ago.

[Skyleaf]

Please do a steampunk RPG. We don't have one of those yet. Something like The Last Exile.

[Darth Trethon]

Please do a steampunk RPG. We don't have one of those yet. Something like The Last Exile.

You might be interested in Steampunk Cyberpunk 2077 from CDPR(makers of the witcher series). It's in development and I think they plan to release it in 2015. Even if Obsidian does go for a Steampunk Cyberpunk CRPG with their next KS this upcoming March/April it won't likely see a release until sometime in 2016 so look up Steampunk Cyberpunk 2077 and see if it catches your eye.

 

Edited to correct embarrassing mistake.....err....to make the post more awesome that's why.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Darth Trethon

[Skyleaf]

 

Please do a steampunk RPG. We don't have one of those yet. Something like The Last Exile.

You might be interested in Steampunk 2077 from CDPR(makers of the witcher series). It's in development and I think they plan to release it in 2015. Even if Obsidian does go for a Steampunk CRPG with their next KS this upcoming March/April it won't likely see a release until sometime in 2016 so look up Steampunk 2077 and see if it catches your eye.

 

 

Errr...

 

You sure you're not talking about Cyberpunk 2077?

 

Wait a minute, are you pulling my leg? 

[Darth Trethon]

 

 

Please do a steampunk RPG. We don't have one of those yet. Something like The Last Exile.

You might be interested in Steampunk Cyberpunk 2077 from CDPR(makers of the witcher series). It's in development and I think they plan to release it in 2015. Even if Obsidian does go for a Steampunk Cyberpunk CRPG with their next KS this upcoming March/April it won't likely see a release until sometime in 2016 so look up Steampunk Cyberpunk 2077 and see if it catches your eye.

 

Edited to correct embarrassing mistake.....err....to make the post more awesome that's why.

 

 

Errr...

 

You sure you're not talking about Cyberpunk 2077?

 

Wait a minute, are you pulling my leg? 

 

lol....you're absolutely right. What can I say? Embarrassing brain-fart? I suppose the only excuse I have is that Cyberpunk is just about the same thing as Steampunk....it's basically a synonym as far as I'm concerned. But no that was a genuine blunder....not an intentional one lol.

 

Aaaaand fixd.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Darth Trethon

[Osvir]

An idea:

Imagine a game like Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity or Tides of Numenera as a First-Person cRPG. Built with the same mechanics, either in TB (with AP like Fallout, or ToEE), or RTwP.

Real-Time with Pause would be most interesting, in my opinion. Fight enemies like Skyrim, but more important with parry + block rules. Adaptable AI, if you block correctly more, they will block correctly more when you play another class/character. Pause mid-swing, switch to your Wizard, cast or chant some spells, switch character. A little bit more "actiony" than Baldur's Gate but still tactical and similar. Be directly in control of one character at a time, yet control your entire party as well.

Adaptable AI positioning. Basically recording Player moves and adapting itself to it. If you cast a certain spell against a certain enemy a number of times, the AI will begin to do the same on creatures bearing similar traits.

Could this work for PoE by the way? Adaptable AI that is.

[C2B]

An idea:

Imagine a game like Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity or Tides of Numenera as a First-Person cRPG. Built with the same mechanics, either in TB (with AP like Fallout, or ToEE), or RTwP.

Real-Time with Pause would be most interesting, in my opinion. Fight enemies like Skyrim, but more important with parry + block rules. Adaptable AI, if you block correctly more, they will block correctly more when you play another class/character. Pause mid-swing, switch to your Wizard, cast or chant some spells, switch character. A little bit more "actiony" than Baldur's Gate but still tactical and similar. Be directly in control of one character at a time, yet control your entire party as well.

Adaptable AI positioning. Basically recording Player moves and adapting itself to it. If you cast a certain spell against a certain enemy a number of times, the AI will begin to do the same on creatures bearing similar traits.

Could this work for PoE by the way? Adaptable AI that is.

That sounds horribly confusing for party management. Where's the overview?

[Karranthain]

I don't care how many cookbooks Tim Cain has to sell to fund Arcanum 2 - make it happen!