Update #82: Creatures

[Valmy]

Isn't the all fire,water, earth, air thing done with? I'd like to see more originality than that at least <.<

 

Done with?  Did we finish them in some way?  Anyway that is hardly the extent of the relevant creature.  Does nothing else satisfy the 'at least' requirement?

[Hormalakh]

3d art looks very good. It would be nice to see the "faces" on the blights a la the fear spell from BG2 (http://youtu.be/E9XnOkA31Hg?t=8m49s) or the very cool terminator 2 t-1000 death scene. That was always cool.

 

The other thing is that the rain blight really doesn't look like anything...it looks like a mirror. DO IT AGAIN!

[Luridis]

I'm going to assume you guys did custom shaders for Blight... Whomever did, awesome work that. The Earth one is like chocolate cake to the eyes.

 

Edit: Now I can't wait to see the effects around incorporeal undead. I love it when it looks like the shadowy material is moving inside them and flowing out the bottom.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Luridis

[Russellian]

Love the Mindfla... *cough* Vithracks :D

Beat me to it.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Wow, I looked at the Blight video and thought "duh, elementals, who cares", then read the actual text and am completely sold on them. Well done. 

 

(Xaurips are still boring pseudo-kobolds, though.)

[mesires]

Great news! Especially the news on beta testing.

I am one of the backers who pledged for the tier that includes beta testing.

Even better news for me personally is that August 18th is my birthday. It will be a nice gift

[Valmy]

Wow, I looked at the Blight video and thought "duh, elementals, who cares", then read the actual text and am completely sold on them. Well done. 

 

(Xaurips are still boring pseudo-kobolds, though.)

 

The dragon connection with kobolds was introduced only in 3rd edition (and it was just to give them sorcs I think) and I have never seen it done quite like this but fair enough.

[karelia]

Thanks - the elemental lore is interesting, though as another mentioned, the rain one is a bit hard to visually recognise as such without already knowing.

Nice to see even the common Kobold-like creatures are going to have in-depth lore - I hope that there will be books scattered around the game documenting creature  behaviour, maybe even anthropological style documents in diary format? The common "encyclopedia" style way of documenting creatures in games like Baldur's Gate with their myth-like tone always stuck me as a little disconnected from the creatures actually existing on the doorstep of human settlements.

[SnakeX]

Really enjoying the lore behind all of these. The tortured soul aspect makes Blights more than just elemental enemies and the Xaurips' cult/tribal-like devotion to their chosen dragons makes them more than just kobolds. And the Vithrack are nightmare fuel; hostile psionic spider people? Thanks, won't be sleeping much tonight! 

 

 

Jokes aside though, their low birth-rate in combination with their general hostility towards other races makes me wonder if it'll tie into a quest in some way. Finish them off or help them prosper? Either way, will be looking forward to encountering Vithrack (and Blights and Xaurips too!) once the game is out!

[PeterB67]

I would rather have a physical DVD than any downloads at all. Not everyone has lightning speed internet and especially anything above the 1GB is torture to me. And I presume a digital documentary will exceed this tortureous limit rather very nicely.

 

I would rather wait an extra month or two, three for the full package incl DVD docu instead of a rushed out game, digital documentary and propable some missing stuff there and there too, just to meet the promised deadline and to satisfy some impatient persons. I also don't mind to receive the DVD at a later stage, but I am not willing to pay for something I did not ordered nor do I want.

 

Those who ordered a physical tier choose so as backer, otherwise they would have chosen some digital tier in the first place.

 

You have been given the opportunity to create this game you were long time dreaming of, by this backing community whom you promised digital and/or physical rewards. This community backed you so by chosing one or more of these rewards. This same community has been given the opportunity to see the reincarnation of a game format we all have been long waiting for to see again and re-live, created by parts of a veteran & talented team who started it all in the first place.

 

So honor your promise to us and yourselves and reconsider the DVD/BluRay documentary again for those who ordered it...

[Lephys]

^You wont have to worry about their feelings, sounds like you will have to slaughter them all just to get to the dragon.

Or just say "Hey guys! Aren't you late for the ritual?!" and watch them fear displeasing their superiors so much that they just assume it's self-snackrifice time.

 

Also...

 

"That's a lovely rack you've got there."

*receives a furious slap*

"Oww! I was just admiring your Vithrack companion there, geez!"

*receives additional slap from female Vithrack companion*

[PennStater]

Regarding the DVD/Blu-ray, if backers really want a physical copy in a set-top playable format, that's easy enough to do. Go ahead and master the DVD/BD that you otherwise would have released if timing wasn't the issue; but instead of (or in addition to) an MP4 or whatever you plan to release, make the disc ISO available for backers to download.  Even a printable cover and disc label would be very cool (or let the fanbase make them for you). That way, if backers really want a DVD/BD as expected, they can create their own from an ISO that you provide: the same content that you would provide as a file but in a disc-ready ISO format.

[Bryy]

Isn't the all fire,water, earth, air thing done with? I'd like to see more originality than that at least <.<

More original than... the base elements?

[Jajo]

Wut?

 

How does one vivisect a blight? Are lightsabers involved? Is KOTOR3 confirmed?

[ryukenden]

 

We also wanted to let all of our backers know about a decision we'd recently come to about our Documentary DVD/Bluray item. We were faced with a bit of a dilemma when it came to the full documentary footage. In order to provide a physical copy of the documentary when the game shipped, we would be unable to show the final leg of production in order to have time to print all of the discs and packaging. We want our backers to be able to share the entire experience of making this game with us - from the earliest beginnings to the very end. To do this, we've decided to forgo making a physical copy of the documentary, and will instead release a digital downloadable extended version. We recognize that some of you may be upset by this decision, but we hope that you'll understand our reasoning.

 

We will be replacing the DVD/Blu-ray with another reward though. Stay tuned for a future update to find out all of the particulars.

 

Yeah I think most of us would prefer DVD/bluray at a later date rather than digital download.

Edited July 9, 2014 by ryukenden

[Lephys]

The thing about the discs is that, if they ship them with the other rewards, they can't put the last stretch of the development on there. It's not just an arbitrary "we don't like physical discs, so we're going with digital" choice.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Little disappointed with the dvd documentary not being a physical dvd in the box set. Hope there will be different containers for the digital documentary that we can choose from and not just one container.

[Wasabi]

Awesome work! 

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Wut?

 

How does one vivisect a blight? 

 

Very carefully.

[Quadrone]

I would rather have a physical DVD than any downloads at all. Not everyone has lightning speed internet and especially anything above the 1GB is torture to me. And I presume a digital documentary will exceed this tortureous limit rather very nicely.

 

I would rather wait an extra month or two, three for the full package incl DVD docu instead of a rushed out game, digital documentary and propable some missing stuff there and there too, just to meet the promised deadline and to satisfy some impatient persons. I also don't mind to receive the DVD at a later stage, but I am not willing to pay for something I did not ordered nor do I want.

 

Those who ordered a physical tier choose so as backer, otherwise they would have chosen some digital tier in the first place.

 

You have been given the opportunity to create this game you were long time dreaming of, by this backing community whom you promised digital and/or physical rewards. This community backed you so by chosing one or more of these rewards. This same community has been given the opportunity to see the reincarnation of a game format we all have been long waiting for to see again and re-live, created by parts of a veteran & talented team who started it all in the first place.

 

So honor your promise to us and yourselves and reconsider the DVD/BluRay documentary again for those who ordered it...

 

Oh please, get off your soapbox and stop being so dramatic.

Just say what you don't like and stop invoking "the community", you don't speak for me.

[Flow]

 

Oh please, get off your soapbox and stop being so dramatic.

Just say what you don't like and stop invoking "the community", you don't speak for me.

 

 

True, he's being too dramatic. But I think it's fair for someone who specifically wanted physical rewards to be annoyed when one of the items is changed to digital. I feel Obsidian & Paradox could work this out. Just ship the DVD/Blu-ray later.

 

Yes, there's an extra cost, but I'd say it's worth it for them to stick to what they said they'd deliver.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Oh please, get off your soapbox and stop being so dramatic.

Just say what you don't like and stop invoking "the community", you don't speak for me.

 

Well for me who has bought Collectors Editions over the last 15+ years, it is disappointing to see a physical reward changed to a digital reward. It would be similar to other companies changing their documentaries at the last minute to a digital download a few months prior to a collectors edition being released. Other companies have released their dvd documentaries with their boxed collectors editions. This sort of thing would have been handled by a publisher. I get the feeling Obsidian are trying to do too many things at the last minute which they normally wouldn't be doing as a developer and trying to get this out for a Christmas release. So something like this falls by the wayside and is released later as a download.

 

In saying that, I don't want to see a rushed documentary to be released with the physical goods. I'd rather see a great documentary released later as a digital download than a rushed documentary released with the game. It's understandable given Obsidian are not a publisher and this is their first Kickstarter.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Hiro Protagonist II

[ManifestedISO]

Say we sneak past the xaurip horde and kill the dragon without them knowing ... whew, imagine the look on their faces.

 

Your god is dead, you little badswords, now come work for me ... said my dark paladin. 

[GhoulishVisage]

Love getting some lore on the creatures of the world.
 
Especially love the Vithrak due to my fondness of Mindflayers.
I personally think that it would have been cool for them to live in a matriarchal society with one or two large, bloated queens that preside over the other Vithrak. This would provide a nice parallel to real-life spiders, where the female is often far larger than the male.
But that was just my imaginings since they were first announced.





And because I know y'all share my views on awesome spiders are here's a bonus mommy spider with babies:
 
 

 
Your group are nervous. This is the first time the Vithrak have agreed to meet with representatives of the civilized races in many years.
You have entered the court of the Matriach. She presides in her deep hall sitting on a throne spun from bones and silk, and her long flowing robes of midnight blue cover the dais her seat rests upon. Even seated she is taller than the Aumaua standing to your left.
Her many eyes shine like orbs of obsidian as she surveys your party. Their alien gaze impenetrable. You've been led here by four of their most powerful psionics, and the wide floor is host to a dozen of their ruling party. They seem to form a council. Advisers, maybe?
Chittering begins. A high sound that sets the hairs on the back of your neck on end.
The twelve figures seated before the dais seem trepidatious of your arrival. The chittering is not how they communicate, as they have no need for vocalization. It seems to be a way of expressing emotion. This is an unusual event for them.
The Matriarch stands silently and the chittering dies. She looms over everything in the cavernous room.

Is this it? Will she now address your group as ambassadors?
She raises her arms to her chest and she opens her robe to reveal a swarming mass of spiderlings.
 
That sounds like a memorable NPC to me.
 
 
 
 
Onto a different subject I'm a bit disappointed that we haven't had any updates on the Aumaua yet.
I remember there being murmurings about some Aumaua info "soon" in a lore update back in Update 74. Still looking forward to that one.

[Lephys]

Yes, there's an extra cost, but I'd say it's worth it for them to stick to what they said they'd deliver.

Then you have two factions:

 

A) The "You never said there'd be an extra cost for the physical copy of the documentary! Honor your promise, Obsidian, by doing what you need to such that there's no extra cost!" (basically, "ship it early without the last stretch included, because I'm not paying more money for it!"

B) The "Hey, you said we'd get a physical DVD! I don't care if it costs more money, just ship it later anyway!"

 

What's the solution, then? Make two versions of the documentary? A short one and a long one, so that people who don't mind can get their short one without paying extra (and get it earlier), and people who DO mind can get their longer one, later, and just pay a bit more for shipping?

 

What about the leftover folks, who want the long one but don't want it shipped any later and don't want to pay any extra?

 

See, it's easy to just look at the choice in relation to a single perspective. Not so easy to make the choice when you consider that there's no way to make everyone happy.

 

 

Also, thanks for those super-pleasant images, GhoulishVisage. I'm gonna go to my panic room now, and take a shower in bleach.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Lephys