Thoughts on Gamescon Stream

[Koshelkin]

The Gamescom Stream finally made me place my pledge + beta access + almanach. I was very happy to see the beta build and with all honesty it certainly made my eyes moist from nostalgia. I'm into RPGs since I'm 13/14, first Pen and Paper, then of course BG,PS: T and everything which came thereafter. Keep up the good work Obsidian I can't wait to see the final product. Thanks for being an awesome game developer and a crowd of dedicated cRPG Nerds. 

[Silent Winter]

is that level 12 for the overall game or is that level 12 for the beta? If it is level 12 for the overall game, that is quite interesting. it would put much more emphasis on every level and how the choices you make affect your character. But at the same time, it does make you wonder just how much vertical content is available. Does anyone remember what levels were actually attainable in BG1, BG2, and IWD2?

It's level 12 for the game

(BG was 6-8, BG2 was up to 40 with TOB (not sure on that one))

 

But one level in PoE might not equal one level in D&D since it's a different system with differently powered abilities, HP etc.

12 levels should be plenty for progression of characters over this size of game though.

[Volourn]

You mention TOB but TOTSC...

[PrimeJunta]

It's level 12 for the game

(BG was 6-8, BG2 was up to 40 with TOB (not sure on that one))

 

But one level in PoE might not equal one level in D&D since it's a different system with differently powered abilities, HP etc.

12 levels should be plenty for progression of characters over this size of game though.

 

IIRC Josh said somewhere that the system is supposed to scale up to level 50. That'd leave room for a high-powered sequel, with levels roughly analogous to (A)D&D. 

 

The abilities the characters showed off looked very similar to what a level 5 D&D character would have, too. Allowing for adjustments like making the lowest levels somewhat less fragile and nerfing high-level spellcasters somewhat to keep rough parity with non-casters, I think D&D levels give a pretty good idea of what to expect with P:E levels.

[Silent Winter]

You mention TOB but TOTSC...

^er...ok.

BG 7

TOTSC 8

Better?

Edited August 15, 2014 by Silent Winter

[Volourn]

But, rogues and other classes can reach as high aslevel 10...

[Silent Winter]

But, rogues and other classes can reach as high aslevel 10...

So why not post that rather than asking me for more detail?

 

I was going by averages - it's an xp-cap rather than a level cap so D&D level rates affect it

[Volourn]

cause I was using my superior Bg knowledge to outgeek you. <> That's why.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I just thought id bring this up here, and keep in mind I will be  playing this but after playing Divine Divinity Original sin and seeing what they did with only 900k and seeing the 4 million spent on this and backed I hope the content is alot longer then Divine Divinity. After seeing the graphics and hearing the Sound track in that game along with the environmental combat say if you casted rain, all the mobs would have wet status and same with your party but you could freeze the mobs alot easier with wet status and ect. If you guys get the chance play Divine divinity original sin if you haven't.

 

ps i love obsidian and the idea bringing back the old BG games but I still have some questions. 

Yes, Divinity: Original Sin's consisted of only the 900k they raised during their Kickstarter campaign. You know, the same Kickstarter campaign that showed off an already fully functioning game. 

Edited August 15, 2014 by Quetzalcoatl

[ryukenden]

 

I just thought id bring this up here, and keep in mind I will be  playing this but after playing Divine Divinity Original sin and seeing what they did with only 900k and seeing the 4 million spent on this and backed I hope the content is alot longer then Divine Divinity. After seeing the graphics and hearing the Sound track in that game along with the environmental combat say if you casted rain, all the mobs would have wet status and same with your party but you could freeze the mobs alot easier with wet status and ect. If you guys get the chance play Divine divinity original sin if you haven't.

 

ps i love obsidian and the idea bringing back the old BG games but I still have some questions. 

Yes, Divinity: Original Sin's consisted of only the 900k they raised during their Kickstarter campaign. You know, the same Kickstarter campaign that showed off an already fully functioning game. 

 

Also D:OS was budget 4million dollar (of their own money and 900k of backer money) so yeah.....

[Co0n]

About the Inn... when the Inn is a little Inn of a village that has no connection to a major road or is used as some sort of resting place for lots of caravan people then it should not be too overcrowded. Wouldnt make much sense to throw all village people in it because who would work then out on the fields... do the homestuff etc... just what medieval people had to do at day. What I like are taverns that have more people in by the evening and no real activity during the day... realy depending on what kind of Inn/ tavern it is.

 

Thats a problem with the size of the inn, it should be smaller if it only has that few customers. anyways, a few more tables and chairs would make it look much more crowded. No inkeeper would use that much room for... nothing.

 

There should be drunks and good-for-nothings hanging around. It should look like a place where people actually go too and that is not setup for that 1 NPC and the party to have a resting place.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Co0n

[Panteleimon]

 

 

Yes, Divinity: Original Sin's consisted of only the 900k they raised during their Kickstarter campaign. You know, the same Kickstarter campaign that showed off an already fully functioning game.

 

Also D:OS was budget 4million dollar (of their own money and 900k of backer money) so yeah.....

4 million Euro, just to get it right. Edited August 15, 2014 by Panteleimon

[Justinian]

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

 

 

 

[Bli1942]

I meant the little circular map in the upper corner ala D:OS but I just remembered that those were not present in the IE games. Guess I just got used to them from other games.

 

I swear I saw a minimap in one of the videos but now I can't find it again...was it some other game?!?!?!

[Bli1942]

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

 

 

 

 

You could just leave big heads on all the time, that will make the characters more appropriately sized   

[beardedbrian]

You probably should specify why character creation looks crap, so that there is at least some chance that Obsidian will make changes on it to make it less crap looking for you.

 

 

im just surprised at how completely different the models are during character creation, compared to the content in game. from the character creation screens it looks like im starting a new game of The Sims, not some epic dungeon crawler. they just look poorly rendered, and of bad quality. I know it doesnt effect game play, but it is a sharp difference from the game world and honestly does not look good at all.

[Silent Winter]

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

1)The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

2) Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

3) Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

(Added numbers for ease of reply)

1) Clearly not since the building is bigger

But as for the trees - there are lots of trees plenty big enough for the longest cross-beams - though I agree the wheel itself does seem larger than average - it's fantasy though, maybe it's powering something really tough

2)not sure about the bricks/lamps (they look ok to me) - the railing on the bridge might be a perspective thing - looks a little shorter than the guard in that pic - or Aumaua built it

3) As for the door, in a world with Aumaua, you might simply make bigger doors.  Not seeing man-height grass - but some grass does grow pretty tall

[Bli1942]

I think they look a little small. Would slightly bumping up character size be hard to do? I have no idea about coding games

 

Anyone know if there is more streams today and in how long?

[Quetzalcoatl]

It looks fine to me, though I wouldn't be averse to bumping up the size of the characters a bit. It would also better show off all nice details on the armors.

 

Rendering the 3d models at a slightly bigger size should be doable. I think they're already doing that with some of the creatures - the piglet is probably just a smaller version of a regular pig.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Quetzalcoatl

[Justinian]

I think they look a little small. Would slightly bumping up character size be hard to do? I have no idea about coding games

 

Anyone know if there is more streams today and in how long?

 

I would imagine it's impossible actually. In one of Josh's pressos he said they made sure all the scaling for areas and characters were settled upon very early on to make sure movement/collisions were set before the rest of the gameplay was designed. He likened it to going into a Mario game after all the levels were created and changing the scale of characters - all the jumps and gameplay wouldn't fit anymore.

 

It's ironic that this is exactly where they stuffed up.

[Stun]

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

 

 

 

There's definitely something wrong with this screenshot. It's NOT how things looked in the gameplay demos.

 

Look at the door in that picture. Look at where the door knob is. It's above the people's heads. That can't be right.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Stun

[IndiraLightfoot]

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

 

 

 

 

Heh! On most points you seem to be correct!

Some can perhaps be explained by it being a fantasy setting, but that bridge balustrade is too high. Why did they go through all that effort? Perhaps ogres built it three centuries ago?

No, wait. There isn't any dirt, plant, goo, stuff in-between the cracks. It must have been built yesterday.

And that humongous wheel: It reflects light far too much - it almost shines. Going through water all day - it should be dark, murky and covered in algae. As for the wood they've sourced for it: It must have been redwood.

 

Come Monday, Obsidian will get plenty of tough love like this from all of us. This is a tide building up. I hope they are prepared, because we love this game, and we want most stuff to be reasonable, fun and fitting!

Edited August 15, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot

[Zinnwaldite]

 

The size scaling of the environment vs. characters is all wrong in Dyrford.

 

The watermill looks like the biggest man made thing in existence. Where on Eora did they find such huge trees?

 

Even simple things like the size of bricks, lamps and the height of the railings on the bridge...

 

Not to mention the massive door and the man-height grass. The party looks like a bunch of midgets.

 

Come on Obsidian, the Infinity engine games from 15 years ago had no issue getting stuff like this right.

 

 

 

There's definitely something wrong with this screenshot. It's NOT how things looked in the gameplay demos.

 

Look at the door in that picture. Look at where the door knob is. It's above the people's heads. That can't be right.

 

That seems to be an illusion.. Try measuring it..

[Endrosz]

Stun is right, that is a graphical glitch or something. The party members are blurred because of movement, but the NPC standing near the door clearly demonstrates that the problem only exists on the screenshot that Justinian linked.

 

[Labadal]

About auto attacks:

steve fixed the auto-attack bug in #pillarsofeternity btw. not sure if it will be in the initial backer beta release but it will be soonish.