Adam at Work

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Any word on who's going to GDC next week?

[Valsuelm]

I noticed on reddit that you guys had an AMA 2 weeks ago. But i didn't find any information about this on the official forums.

Is there a single website that keeps track of all these events?

 

There was a thread put up, albeit not by a Dev or Mod so perhaps that's why you missed it.

 

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65209-reddit-ama-2262014-discussion-thread-c2b-approved/

 

To the Devs: Thanks for all of the information you've shared so far! In this thread and others.

 

For Adam, Josh, or whomever, I'm curious what you would you say has been the most challenging aspect to designing the game so far?

[Leferd]

Will priests and/or paladins have inherent bonuses/penalties/traits based on their chosen deity/cause? If so, are they active on character creation or during the level up progression?

 

Additionally, how are weapon proficiencies handled? Do characters learn or master weapon groups or individual weapon types?

Edited March 11, 2014 by Leferd

[J.E. Sawyer]

We're doing some RP-related bonuses for paladins and priests but I'd rather wait to go into detail with them.  They're not as in-depth as custom abilities for each order/deity.  That's just too much work for us along with all of the other classes/races.

 

Weapon specializations are grouped together by themed category: e.g. Knight, Noble, Soldier, Ruffian, etc.  Only fighters gain access to WS.

[Stun]

Weapon specializations are grouped together by themed category: e.g. Knight, Noble, Soldier, Ruffian, etc.  Only fighters gain access to WS.

Interesting. I don't think you guys have ever discussed the weapon specialization system for PoE before.

 

So.... I've got a ton of questions. What do you mean by themed category? Does each one of those categories contain a list of weapon types and then when the fighter chooses a category he becomes specialized in all the weapons in that group? Or is it something else entirely?

 

And what kind of bonuses are we looking at?

Edited March 11, 2014 by Stun

[ItinerantNomad]

the weapons, their mechanics, and their specialization sound very much more complex and interesting than previous IE games. I approve.

Edited March 11, 2014 by ItinerantNomad

[ManifestedISO]

Sworn Enemy. Flames of Devotion. Knight category morning star, piercing and crushing ... oh, it is on, man-cats.

 

 

 

Can't wait to play, thanks everyone.  

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Weapon specializations are grouped together by themed category: e.g. Knight, Noble, Soldier, Ruffian, etc.  Only fighters gain access to WS.

Is there any overlap between these groups? For example, would Longsword be for both Knight and Soldier?

 

Is Weapon Specialization closer to the BG implementation or 3.Xe/PF? If the later, is an analogue of Weapon Focus universally available?

 

From what information I can gather, the PoE Paladin is a warrior with several abilities that boost the defenses and general prowess of the party and has a few smite-ish abilities, similar to the 3.Xe/PF Paladin. Is this accurate?

[IndiraLightfoot]

Will PE start with a tutorial area like NWN2 vanilla, a lobby like in NWN2 MotB, or a plain character creation screen?

 

Nobody answered my question...     *Crybaby boohoos in a corner*

 

Seriously though: I love all the new questions, and getting answers from a number of devs! :D

 

Josh's answer on weapon specialization really did get me excited. Oh, this is going to be such fun! And add to that the tactics Adam mentioned - lots of pausing, positioning and spell/attack selections - and we're approaching the time where my anticipation meter explodes.

[WorstUsernameEver]

They've kept info on the beginning of the game safely under wraps. You shouldn't really be surprised they decided not to reply to that.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Interesting. I don't think you guys have ever discussed the weapon specialization system for PoE before.

So.... I've got a ton of questions. What do you mean by themed category? Does each one of those categories contain a list of weapon types and then when the fighter chooses a category he becomes specialized in all the weapons in that group? Or is it something else entirely?

 

And what kind of bonuses are we looking at?

 

I'm sure I have but it's been a while.  Themed categories contain groups of weapons, like Cowboy in Fallout: New Vegas.  E.g. specializing in Soldier weapons gives a % damage bonus with great swords, pikes, war hammers, arbalests, and arquebuses.

 

Most of the weapons in each category are exclusive to that category, but some (like the war bow and crossbow) appear in multiple lists.

[J.E. Sawyer]

From what information I can gather, the PoE Paladin is a warrior with several abilities that boost the defenses and general prowess of the party and has a few smite-ish abilities, similar to the 3.Xe/PF Paladin. Is this accurate?

 

Fairly accurate.  They have modal close-range buff auras and a targeted commands to give powerful short-term boosts to individual targets.

[Quadrone]

So,... all of a sudden no update today, huh?

What happened?

[Falkon Swiftblade]

I'm curious was the decision to have 6 party members strictly because of the old IE games, or is there a genuine benefit to doing so? Why not use 2-3, or squads of up to 3 each and have like party's of 6-9? Not that I'm saying you should, I was just wondering tactically would it matter one way or the other? Especially since the game seems very combat and tactics based. It sounds like we're going to have to pause and reposition a lot anyway in combat. Having a squad system almost seems more natural fit.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Falkon Swiftblade

[Falkon Swiftblade]

Can we have a place to display our armor and weapons in our homes like you see of the old knights suits of armor in hallways in castles today instead of just putting it into an inventory box? 

Will there be a weather system in game? I don't know why, but I feel like it would be cool to have snow, and our heros have little breaths coming out from their mouths showing as they march through a cold region in the game. Of course rain and lightning is always fun. I'm picturing a big battle with thunder snow on a mountain peak that would be fun.

[ItinerantNomad]

you have talked about weapon specialization in the past Josh, I just can't remember where.

 

Any word on the finalized armor mechanics? There was a time where you were still figuring out all that stuff. Any new info on that end?

[rjshae]

Will there be a weather system in game? I don't know why, but I feel like it would be cool to have snow, and our heros have little breaths coming out from their mouths showing as they march through a cold region in the game. Of course rain and lightning is always fun. I'm picturing a big battle with thunder snow on a mountain peak that would be fun.

 

I'm not sure whether you would see cold breath at this scale. But having the lighting and visibility change with the weather would be a nice touch.

[Lephys]

E.g. specializing in Soldier weapons gives a % damage bonus with great swords, pikes, war hammers, arbalests, and arquebuses.

So the specilizations strictly affect damage? Or will they ever produce any other kind of bonus (accuracy, effect duration [of the weapon type -- estoc's armor breach, sabre's DOT, etc.], that sort of thing)?

 

And, if not specifically weapon specializations, will other talents/choose-able character improvements allow us to boost aspects of weapon effectiveness other than damage? For example, maybe you have the Knight specialization, but then you've got some sort of Greatsword-only talent that grants +5 Accuracy to Greatsword attacks, or a bonus to Greatsword attacks in a certain stance or something tactically interesting.

[JFSOCC]

Haven't played Stick of truth yet, I think I'll wait for the price to drop a bit before I buy it.

 

Question of a different kind:

Will we see Chris on these boards sometime? I know he does a ton of communicating via other channels but it'd be nice to be able to ask him questions on here as well?

Edited March 11, 2014 by JFSOCC

[Stun]

Btw, How can anyone read this and not jump for joy?

 

Including firearms and magical implements, there are 28 base weapon types with two unique (mid power and high power) versions for each base type.  Additionally there are "ordinary" Fine and Exceptional quality variants for each base type.  The uniques and base types have all been designed and (mostly) implemented, though we've only placed a few of them in the world so far.

28 base weapon types? That's.... a lot. That's more than BG2! (9 more, to be exact) The mind boggles.

 

Actually, that's about as many as TOEE had, But TOEE didn't even bother to include masterwork or magical versions of half of those weapon types into the game.

 

So this is, like, perfect good news.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Stun

[Bill Gates' Son]

I'm a bit disappointed there is no Linux version of stick it to the truth, but I guess it couldn't be made for a variety of reasons.

 

Anyway, my main question is: Will all future Obsidian titles support Mac and Linux now that they we're getting a Mac & Linux version of PoE?  Also, is it actually possible for Obsidian to port their in-house engine (Oynx) to Mac and Linux?

[Infinitron]

Obsidian's in-house engine has been abandoned: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/111519-feargus-urquhart-talks-future-of-the-industry-and-obsidian-at-kri-2013.html

 

First of all, the company won't devote any further resources in developing their own engine, Onyx (which powered Dungeon Siege IIIand the upcoming South Park: The Stick of Truth, and which was also used as the tech backbone for the ill-fated Aliens: Crucible), and will instead license third-party tech like CryEngine 3 and Unity. 

 

[MotelOK]

How has development been without being able to use middleware programs? Do you guys really wish you could afford Havok and Speedtree, or you have you been able to get by just fine without them?

[drake heath]

What's the music thematically similar too? Is it based off some specific cultural music or like more traditional high fantasy?

[Cubiq]

Who's composing the music?