Adam at Work

[Cubiq]

This is sort of a dumb question because i have no idea about programming, but since you're a programmer and answering questions...

About 2 years ago i read on a different forum that C# might replace C++ in popularity soon for working on more processor heavy software. Coincidentally I read recently that Unity uses C#, so i'm wondering do you think that that might be the case as well, and if it is what do you think is the reason for it?

Edited March 9, 2014 by Cubiq

[ZornWO]

Just to piggyback on the AI question, but will there be any randomization to enemy types or their abilities?  There's a mod to BG2 (SCS) that randomizes wizards' spell books from a set of handcrafted spell books each time you install, and so I only ever play on fresh installs.

 

Also, will there be any classes that have sequencer/contingency type spells?  That's a huge thing for me.

 

I was looking at the art for scripted interactions; are they in an in-world style, i.e., are they how Dyrwoodians (sp?) or whoever illustrate manuscripts?

[Hassat Hunter]

Keeping in line with... me...

 

Any funniest bugs you can share with us?

Also, are you doing VO here too? (thanks for that btw)

[Adam Brennecke]

What was the most challenging thing to implement so far?

 

I suppose this is a design question, but: what do you think is the biggest thing PoE has over the original Infinity Engine games?

 

Do you already have a decent idea of the things modders will be able to edit *for sure* in the finale title?

 

Your expectations for the True Detective finale?

 

Everything has it's unique challenges. I wouldn't say that any one thing on this project has been more or less challenging than anything else.

 

things: ruleset made for rtwp, higher fidelity art/tech, Tim Cain, more experienced dev team, better tools

 

No, sorry. I can't say anything *for sure* at this time.

 

So I've only seen the first episode of True Detective. I do hope that people enjoy the finale and it lives up to people's expectations, and I'm looking forward to watching the season once I finish House of Cards and ST:TNG.

[Adam Brennecke]

When do you start getting voice actors in, or have you already done so? How is the music going as well?

 

We have started to prepare for VO sessions, but not have recorded any final VO yet. The music is going well.

[TrueMenace]

Can you go into brief detail on how a semi-difficult encounter will play out in a battle in PoE? I'm anxious for a video, but I know that won't happen for a while. I'm just trying to imagine how the classes will play out.

 

Could you give us a text description of a, say, memorable encounter you had so far playing the game? Your tactics, etc. 

 

That could be amazing.

 

Thanks!

[Ffordesoon]

Yo, Adam! Just fired up Stick Of Truth, and I'm really digging it so far! Also showed it to a friend who's not the insane Obsidian fanboy I am, and he dug it too, which bodes well for y'all.

 

Hmm, questions... Man, you know, I always have so many until a Q&A thread or an AMA actually happens. Let's see here...

 

1. This may be more of a Josh question, but I didn't stumble into a Josh Q&A thread, now did I? So I'm playing through BG1 for the first time (Enhanced Edition), and I'm really liking it, but one thing that I notice is that it's often unclear what killed a given party member and why, particularly where magic is concerned. This annoys me, because if I can't figure out why I'm dying and learn from it, I can't rectify the problem. What is being done to counteract this in PoE?

 

Also, cats or dogs?

[Adam Brennecke]

 

 

We are still in production, and hope to be at Alpha soon.

 

 

You probably can't say and I was going to ask if you could do a current play through of the game now, or at least the main quest. I'm guessing this kind of answers my question.

 

 

I can say. You can't do a complete play through yet. We are currently focused on the main quest and getting a complete crit-path play through. From character creation - to end game slides. We want to make sure that everything in the middle is in place for our alpha.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Have there been any ideas that had to be abandoned or drastically changed? Was there any features you really liked but had to give up because it didn't fit into the game world?

 

Further to this. Do you guys make random funny stuff for the hell of it? We saw the +3 medicine ball flail during the Kickstarter campaign. Can you tell us any other funny stuff you made as well that obviously won't be in the game?

Edited March 10, 2014 by Hiro Protagonist II

[Adam Brennecke]

random question:any beholder-like monster?

 

The beholder is such a great iconic monster - don't you think?

 

We do have a few "Aberration" like monsters in Pillars. Production wise, they are the most expensive to make because they have such strange rigs (like tentacles, lots of limbs) and animations. Also they aren't a good candidate that could be reused for another creature or rig.

[Gumbercules]

Thanks for answering questions.

 

Does Unity have underlying problems that make large, open areas difficult to do or is it just a design issue for the RPGs that seem to be having trouble with this recently? I've been noticing a lot of funneling paths in Wasteland 2 for example. If it is a technical problem, PoE's pre-rendered backgrounds should eliminate the issue, so I'm wondering if you'll have plenty of areas with more than just a few obvious routes to move in?

[Adam Brennecke]

Any potential future updates from MCA?

 

I don't see why not. He does have a lot on his plate right now.

[Adam Brennecke]

another Adam works late thread! yay!

 

have You come around to program the encounter AI yet? how advanced do You intend to make it? will it differ from creature to creature and/or culture to culture? will PC group vs NPC group encounters feature any special tactics?

 

edit question: will AI take game difficulty into account?

 

Yes, we have a system in place for encounter AI. I would say it's "advanced" but not "fancy" - and designers can customize the hell out of it. Advanced is a bit of a loaded term methinks. It can mean different things to different people. Good game AI isn't smart. Good AI is predictable and deterministic.

 

I'm not sure if the AI has hooks into the difficulty yet. I do know that encounters can change depending on the difficulty.

[Adam Brennecke]

Bit of a lore question if you don't mind Mr Brennecke: With the Dyrwood having no laws against Animancy are there a number of charlatans trying to make a quick coin on the back of the real Animancer's research? How would such a crime be treated in a setting where the immortal soul is perhaps regarded as more important than the flesh? Are there laws governing such matters or is this the domain of the Clergy?

 

Addendum: Playing the Stick of Truth currently, bravo Sir, please pass on my congratulations and thanks for such an enjoyable and rib tickling experience.

 

You bring up some interesting ideas. That's why I enjoy our setting.

 

Thanks for the kind words - I'll pass them on to the South Park team.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Hey Adam, that's super of you to offer your time like this. I watched a pal play South park and I feel like the execution was amazing. One thing though I hope doesn't translate into Pillars of Eternity was the amount of choices to have in combat felt way too samey throughout the game. The attacks are kind of fun to watch once in a while but not hundreds of times. If there is not a budget for a lot of tactics, is there anything you guys can do so each encounter feels unique? Whether it be quips by the npc's like you did in south park, or some randomness. Maybe Enemy's can swap weapons in battle to change tactics or something? 

[Gumbercules]

Thought of another question.

 

Has work started yet on any of the Kickstarter rewards that aren't part of the actual game? For example the campaign almanac or the novella. Will those be released with the game or before/after?

[Adam Brennecke]

This is sort of a dumb question because i have no idea about programming, but since you're a programmer and answering questions...

About 2 years ago i read on a different forum that C# might replace C++ in popularity soon for working on more processor heavy software. Coincidentally I read recently that Unity uses C#, so i'm wondering do you think that that might be the case as well, and if it is what do you think is the reason for it?

 

I haven't read that. If I had to speculate on why someone would say that, I could think of a few reasons. First, C# has some fancy multithreaded things like concurrent collections and parallel loops that are built in and don't require a library. It's pretty easy to make your program take advantage of multicore/cpu machines. Secondly, C#, like Java, uses a runtime framework that theoretically can run better on a variety of hardware.

 

Line-for-line C++ is always faster than C#.

[Monte Carlo]

Hello Adam, thanks for taking time to answer questions.

 

Can you tell us anything cool about the mega-dungeon?

 

No problems if you can't.

 

Best,

 

MC

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Can you give us an example of an idea for game play mechanic that was implemented that you either brought into this game that is unique, or maybe something you liked in another game and you borrowed it to fit into your game? An example might be how Gears of War introduced cover based shooting in a way that was unique at it's time, and since then other games use that tactic now. Similarly in that context, is it possible to use the environment for strategic use in combat? Such as maybe an archer or mage can attack a bunch of barrels that explode, or shoot down a hanging lantern that would catch something on fire...

Edited March 10, 2014 by Falkon Swiftblade

[AGX-17]

Are you getting overtime pay for this?

[insidious89]

Yeah, I played Stick of Truth a tad bit, pretty fun game - But it's really waaaaaaaay too easy on you, I think I lost three battles, the rest were a cakewalk, In my opinion. In any case, it's a pretty brilliant game.

Question to you: Is PoE beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaautiful? Or a Frankenstein monster waiting to be electrocuted and awoken? (uhmm)

[Adam Brennecke]

Just to piggyback on the AI question, but will there be any randomization to enemy types or their abilities?  There's a mod to BG2 (SCS) that randomizes wizards' spell books from a set of handcrafted spell books each time you install, and so I only ever play on fresh installs.

 

Also, will there be any classes that have sequencer/contingency type spells?  That's a huge thing for me.

 

I was looking at the art for scripted interactions; are they in an in-world style, i.e., are they how Dyrwoodians (sp?) or whoever illustrate manuscripts?

 

There will be some randomization on ability selection. We don't have plans for completely randomizing spell books however.

 

We currently don't have plans for sequencer/contingency spells, sorry.

 

The art for the scripted interaction scenes fit the world - I don't know for sure if an artist in the world would use a similar style. All of the interface art follows a similar sensibility.

[ZornWO]

Thanks for the reply.

[rjshae]

Hi Adam,

 

I'm curious to find out how the integration of the KS contributor NPC designs have been coming along? I'd imagine you're getting quite a few unusual ideas, which I'll bet are a challenge to adopt into the setting. Could you speak to that? Thank you.

[Ffordesoon]

Hi Adam,

 

I'm curious to find out how the integration of the KS contributor NPC designs have been coming along? I'd imagine you're getting quite a few unusual ideas, which I'll bet are a challenge to adopt into the setting. Could you speak to that? Thank you.

Second.