The game looks and feels abysmal in every way

[Malignacious]

Honestly I hope the game does have decent death animations and enemies stay on the ground and expire some time after death and not like ghosts...

 

Also many others have been annoying by the idle characters and have state numerous times that the game needs more combat animations and "busy" animations. As it stands now it looks pretty lame without hit reactions or any sort of filler animations and no "guard" animation to show a readied state.

 

They've done all of that in KOTOR2(except for vanishing corpses), but that was a 3D game, and they might not rank this project important enough because the annoying nostalgia people are constantly hounding them that the game should look as decrepit as possible, just like those old BG-type games.

 

So, we'll see.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Malignacious

[Calmar]

I don't agree with the OP, but I like Titan Quest and the video he posted is misleading. Normally, defeated enemies don't fly around much, only a critical hit sends them flying *a bit*. In the video, however, we see a powerful high level character fighting very weak low-level enemies. Naturally he does overwhelmingly high damage to them, causing to be hurled away for unusual distances. 

[TMZuk]

Oh please. He's not a backer. How does he even have access to the beta?

 

Don't feed the troll.

[Malekith]

Oh please. He's not a backer. How does he even have access to the beta?

 

Don't feed the troll.

You can quess how...

[Azrael Ultima]

They've done all of that in KOTOR2(except for vanishing corpses), but that was a 3D game, and they might not rank this project important enough because the annoying nostalgia people are constantly hounding them that the game should look as decrepit as possible, just like those old BG-type games.

 

So, we'll see.

Well, your avatar and name is definitely fitting.

[rjshae]

Have a look at 'Manage Ignore Prefs' under your user settings....

[Quantics]

Have a look at 'Manage Ignore Prefs' under your user settings....

 

Thanks ! Was looking for this.

[Lephys]

 

Polishing animations

You mean creating animations from scratch...

 

Negative. Just because something's not in the current beta build doesn't mean it hasn't even been worked on yet. Hey, everything but those ~5 quests is not in the beta. Guess they've got an awful lot of stuff to make "from scratch." *chuckle*

[simpkins]

 

Polishing animations 

You mean creating animations from scratch...

 

 

As much as I don't want to feed his blatent trolling I must wade in with my 2 cents worth.

 

Most of what you are asking of the development team at this point in time (such as the raglol physics) is never going to get implemented. They have a clear, defined idea of how this game will work mechanically and are allowing us to test the game against these pre defined criteria(see the kickstarter page for more details). Most Beta programs are essentially there to test a certain area of the game and acquire relevent feedback.

 

The best I have seen on this forum currently is Sensuki's Suggestions videos that I watched last night(Only recently joined so apologise if there have been more similar to his that I have not yet seen). He's given alot of constructive criticism that Obsidian can actually use. He's has tested this game very thoroughly, which is what everyone who is in on the beta should be doing. Not spouting out things they wish were in it and trying to enlist people for their personal agenda.

 

Now my perspective on this is somewhat legitimate as I work within the games industry and know full well how Alphas, Betas and releases of current games work. This is mearly a way of allowing the fans to have an early look at the game and critique it FAIRLY, within the said parameters I mention above. Most of what you are seeing is THE GAME, feature complete. This is how it will function, this is how it will look and play out but the polish isn't there. They've held back on certain "features" until they are ready to be shown as, believe it or not, they are still working on this game!

 

As this game is a story driven, role playing experience, the only thing that would be nailed down prior to an alpha build is the Story and basic game functionality. The backer Beta is a much more fleshed out experience than of typical "Beta" quality builds because Obsidian wanted people to play test the game and just get a general feel for it. If there was an outcry of "This game sucks! It isn't a faithful IE remake, gimmie my money back!" or similar they may have to go back and redo alot of the game. But this is not the case, they are delivering on their promise, whether you like it or not.

 

Ultimately, you chose to back this without the pertinent information at hand and are now whining that it isn't what you "signed up for". Please, people are fed up of your Titanic Quest to Dungeon Siege Pillars of Eternity...

 

On a positive note, thank you Obsidian for "hopefully" delivering on your promise to us. Can't wait to pre order my copy! )

[PrimeJunta]

What's particularly endearing about Malignacious's <cough> critiques is that most of them go directly against the concept of the game. This was made for us annoying nostalgia people, and at least I'm enjoying his upset at us a great deal. We've had enough ragdolls thrown at us at the expense of choice and consequence, writing in both quality and quantity, depth and breadth of lore, variety in bestiary, number and variety of classes and so on and so forth that it's positively delicious to have the boot on the other leg for once.

 

As to the IE-ness of the game... I think a lot of us are a bit myopic about this. Think about it folks. Three years ago, if someone had told you that a party-based, class-based, 2D-isometric, sprawling, richly written, fantasy RTwP game inspired by the Infinity Engine would be coming out from a major studio, how many of you would have even believed it?

 

Compared to that, the fiery disagreements about XP, health/stamina, rest mechanics, per-rest vs per-encounter, healing etc. are ripples on a pond. We're getting something really big and really cool here, which has huge overlap with the IE series. It's just that after a while it becomes easy to take the similarities for granted which makes the differences stand out more.

[simpkins]

 

What's particularly endearing about Malignacious's <cough> critiques is that most of them go directly against the concept of the game. This was made for us annoying nostalgia people, and at least I'm enjoying his upset at us a great deal. We've had enough ragdolls thrown at us at the expense of choice and consequence, writing in both quality and quantity, depth and breadth of lore, variety in bestiary, number and variety of classes and so on and so forth that it's positively delicious to have the boot on the other leg for once.

 

As to the IE-ness of the game... I think a lot of us are a bit myopic about this. Think about it folks. Three years ago, if someone had told you that a party-based, class-based, 2D-isometric, sprawling, richly written, fantasy RTwP game inspired by the Infinity Engine would be coming out from a major studio, how many of you would have even believed it?

 

Compared to that, the fiery disagreements about XP, health/stamina, rest mechanics, per-rest vs per-encounter, healing etc. are ripples on a pond. We're getting something really big and really cool here, which has huge overlap with the IE series. It's just that after a while it becomes easy to take the similarities for granted which makes the differences stand out more.

Just because the game is "party-based, class-based, 2D-isometric, sprawling, richly written, fantasy RTwP game inspired by the Infinity Engine" does not mean it will be good. So concerns about mechanics, gameplay, bugs etc. are a legitimate concerns.

If PoE will fall flat then we will never get a good game like that in a long time.

 

 

I genuinely feel your concern about this game falling flat is a misnomer. There is a proven audience here that love these old school games and games of a similar ilk that harken back to those good old days. With that in mind, you will have people who will just go out and buy the game regardless of what features the game provides. I understand that people want to make the game as good as possible, but within game development you have to reach a point where you say, "That's it guys, this is the game we are making in all it's splendor!" and any other features that were considered borderline unfortunately get binned or put on hold to be discussed at a later date.

 

It wouldn't surprise me that most of the feedback with bugs and inconsistencies with the old IE games they are getting, they already know about and have fixes in the pipeline waiting to go in the release candidate, or they may already be in the internal build being tested as of this minute.

 

Ultimately, they know what they are providing and are good for it, just have a little faith that the game they are making will be good even though it doesn't feel as if it's progressive enough for you. Sometimes, just being old fashioned breathes a breath of fresh air into a stagnate genre where its all action focused(Not saying that I hate aRPGs but there are loads of them around and some pretty awesome ones coming out in the next 6 months).

 

Also, as a side note; After World of Warcraft hit, countless copycat MMOs came out that tried to piggyback on its sucess. Copying alot of its mechanics, look and feel, quest design, loot allocation etc. Copying that game didn't make the copies any less successful, just no where near the success that WoW was.

 

Reinventing the wheel each time is not always feasible when you could learn from the past and bring back a design that was beloved and worked for the game you were creating.

[Namutree]

To be honest; I am only expecting poe to be mediocre. It's the potential of poe2 that really interests me.

[Fatback]

In the world of game design you never finish a game only abandon it.

[Darth Trethon]

 

What's particularly endearing about Malignacious's <cough> critiques is that most of them go directly against the concept of the game. This was made for us annoying nostalgia people, and at least I'm enjoying his upset at us a great deal. We've had enough ragdolls thrown at us at the expense of choice and consequence, writing in both quality and quantity, depth and breadth of lore, variety in bestiary, number and variety of classes and so on and so forth that it's positively delicious to have the boot on the other leg for once.

 

As to the IE-ness of the game... I think a lot of us are a bit myopic about this. Think about it folks. Three years ago, if someone had told you that a party-based, class-based, 2D-isometric, sprawling, richly written, fantasy RTwP game inspired by the Infinity Engine would be coming out from a major studio, how many of you would have even believed it?

 

Compared to that, the fiery disagreements about XP, health/stamina, rest mechanics, per-rest vs per-encounter, healing etc. are ripples on a pond. We're getting something really big and really cool here, which has huge overlap with the IE series. It's just that after a while it becomes easy to take the similarities for granted which makes the differences stand out more.

Just because the game is "party-based, class-based, 2D-isometric, sprawling, richly written, fantasy RTwP game inspired by the Infinity Engine" does not mean it will be good. So concerns about mechanics, gameplay, bugs etc. are a legitimate concerns.

If PoE will fall flat then we will never get a good game like that in a long time.

 

But trying to make a big deal out of these so called concerns in early beta is pointless.....it's a beta, obviously it will have issues....and unlike most modern AAA betas, this is a real beta not a pre-release demo/trial that the publishers cash in on prior to the game's release by selling timed exclusivity for to a console manufacturer or something to hype the game with(which is more of a marketing gimmick)....and that's all the so called Betas for the AAA games are. This is a real Beta, which I can imagine must be a real culture shock for people who think rag-doll physics and particle effects should be the order of the day and never played a Beta that had more than 10 minor bugs.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Oh please. He's not a backer. How does he even have access to the beta?

Maybe someone gave him a key? I've given a key to someone on these forums who isn't a backer.

[TrashMan]

According to Wikipedia, Fallout's budget was $3,000,000 in 1997, which when adjusted for inflation gives us $4,445,831.

 

However, animating sprites takes a lot less work than trying to do the same thing with 3d models.

 

Incorrect.

For low-res, tiny sprites, it may not take long (but more than you'd think)

 

Large sprites are usually renders of 3D models (meaning you had to make and animate a 3D model anyway)

[Malignacious]

What's particularly endearing about Malignacious's <cough> critiques is that most of them go directly against the concept of the game. This was made for us annoying nostalgia people, and at least I'm enjoying his upset at us a great deal. We've had enough ragdolls thrown at us at the expense of choice and consequence, writing in both quality and quantity, depth and breadth of lore, variety in bestiary, number and variety of classes and so on and so forth that it's positively delicious to have the boot on the other leg for once.

 

This attitude greatly saddens me. It will lead to the complete failure of this game and any future classic RPG games with depth.

You can't have just story and deep combat mechanics, you have to have amazing animations, combat flow, physicality, and adequate graphics. 

 

And when you wonder in the future how come there are no deep RPG games anymore, you can think of the nostalgia idiots who worship at the altar of false dichotomy.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Malignacious

[Sensuki]

I dunno man, Knights of the Chalice is a pretty awesome RPG.

[Flow]

Troll. Why feed?

[simpkins]

 

What's particularly endearing about Malignacious's <cough> critiques is that most of them go directly against the concept of the game. This was made for us annoying nostalgia people, and at least I'm enjoying his upset at us a great deal. We've had enough ragdolls thrown at us at the expense of choice and consequence, writing in both quality and quantity, depth and breadth of lore, variety in bestiary, number and variety of classes and so on and so forth that it's positively delicious to have the boot on the other leg for once.

 

This attitude greatly saddens me. It will lead to the complete failure of this game and any future classic RPG games with depth.

You can't have just story and deep combat mechanics, you have to have amazing animations, combat flow, physicality, and adequate graphics. 

 

And when you wonder in the future how come there are no deep RPG games anymore, you can think of the nostalgia idiots who worship at the altar of false dichotomy.

 

 

So I'm guessing that you think Minecraft is a terrible game and considered a failure in it's genre? Also, would you consider Peggle a better puzzle game than Tetris just because its modern? Or how about the new and "improved" Monopoly board games that don't come with paper money any longer?

 

Modernising something doesn't necessarily make it better or worse. If the core of the game is intact people will still appreciate it regardless. These are the people you are trolling, we do not care about your trivial desires for this game. If it really bothers you, you may as well end your interesting in this product as it's not going to change their mind.

 

If not, keep trolling and keep getting rebutted by genuine fans of the genre.

[rjshae]

What, this hasn't turned into a romance thread yet? What's wrong with you people?

[PrimeJunta]

This attitude greatly saddens me. It will lead to the complete failure of this game and any future classic RPG games with depth.

You can't have just story and deep combat mechanics, you have to have amazing animations, combat flow, physicality, and adequate graphics. 

 

And when you wonder in the future how come there are no deep RPG games anymore, you can think of the nostalgia idiots who worship at the altar of false dichotomy.

 

As much as I resent it, we live in an economy of scarcity with this thing called "money" used to ration goods. Capitalism stinks but there you are.

 

With a limited amount of money, developers will have to make choices. For example, for a given amount of money, they can choose to make a few different kinds of monsters with highly-refined models and polished, varied animations, or lots of them with cruder models and limited animations. This is not a false dichotomy; it is a genuine trade-off.

 

So keep going, Malignacious. Your tears are delicious.

[Sensuki]

Other indie studios have been able to achieve better animations than PE has with less money though.

 

I hope some of the animations get more polish over the coming months, but it's hard to know how many animators they have left on the project.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Sensuki

[Azrael Ultima]

Troll. Why feed?

Well, the game's still some time out, and we need to entertain ourselves somehow.

What, this hasn't turned into a romance thread yet? What's wrong with you people?

Nah, no need, Malignacious provides sufficient entertaining drama on its own.

[PrimeJunta]

@Sensuki true, but most of those projects have had a good deal smaller bestiaries, or many of the beasts have shared rigs (e.g. small, medium, large humanoids).