392 Discussion

[Osvir]

How would it look like if the Beetles were like... you know... beetles. They are HUGE in Pillars of Eternity, magically radiated. Like Molerats in Fallout, mutated, big.

What if the beetles were like... small. Like beetles. Maybe not authentic sized beetles but, "bigger than feet"-beetles. Same thing with Spiders imo. Some times there doesn't have to be a "Special Spider"+"Big Spider"+"Some smaller spiders" in an encounter, some times something simple like "Lots of small spiders" can be an interesting and fun encounter in itself.

I'd like to see smaller ones that are weak, but they come in a pack. Harmless one by one. No Adra or Wood Beetles in the composition, only like 10-15 "smaller than gibberlings" beetles that charge at you.

Then again... in real life, the smaller the insect/animal, the more poisonous it can be (one of the deadliest poisonous snakes, tiny. Poison Spider? Tiny. Poison Frog? Tiny etc.)

EDIT: Small doesn't have to mean "This thing is harmless" is what I'm saying. 1 Small Wood Beetle could be extremely poisonous, it dies in 1 successful Hit, or 2-3 grazes, but if it hits you you'll be poisoned hard.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Osvir

[Thundercat710]

How would it look like if the Beetles were like... you know... beetles. They are HUGE in Pillars of Eternity, magically radiated. Like Molerats in Fallout, mutated, big.

 

What if the beetles were like... small. Like beetles. Maybe not authentic sized beetles but, "bigger than feet"-beetles. Same thing with Spiders imo. Some times there doesn't have to be a "Special Spider"+"Big Spider"+"Some smaller spiders" in an encounter, some times something simple like "Lots of small spiders" can be an interesting and fun encounter in itself.

 

I'd like to see smaller ones that are weak, but they come in a pack. Harmless one by one. No Adra or Wood Beetles in the composition, only like 10-15 "smaller than gibberlings" beetles that charge at you.

 

Then again... in real life, the smaller the insect/animal, the more poisonous it can be (one of the deadliest poisonous snakes, tiny. Poison Spider? Tiny. Poison Frog? Tiny etc.)

 

EDIT: Small doesn't have to mean "This thing is harmless" is what I'm saying. 1 Small Wood Beetle could be extremely poisonous, it dies in 1 successful Hit, or 2-3 grazes, but if it hits you you'll be poisoned hard.

 

 Josh Sawyer gave a talk at GDC in which he discussed how game difficulty setting determines the types of encounters you have (many small spiders, some small ones with a big spider etc).  It's a cool vid even if it's a bit old now.  His line at around 40 seconds makes me laugh out loud.  Ok bye.

[Leferd]

 

 

Anyone else would like to see Sensuki as a killable npc in game?

Is it bad that I would love to see something similar to what they did with Lanfear?

I think it's safe to say that Sensuki has both a better sense of humor and thicker skin than Lanfear ever did. That lady was nuts.

[constantine]

 

 

Anyone else would like to see Sensuki as a killable npc in game?

I would like to see him as either a really boss antagonist or as a Master of Technology who sends you on a quest to find some exotic part and rewards you by increasing your mechanic skill. Character to be voice by...Sansuki.

 

I too think some people here deserve an easter egg in the game !

 

How about two guys in a tavern picking up a fight- Sensuki & Shevek !

 

 

In general, I hope Pillars gets many easter eggs, being the game that it is. And I see we have already started getting them:

 

*Giant Miniature Space Piglet*

 

[Sedrefilos]

 

 

Anyone else would like to see Sensuki as a killable npc in game?

I would like to see him as either a really boss antagonist or as a Master of Technology who sends you on a quest to find some exotic part and rewards you by increasing your mechanic skill. Character to be voice by...Sansuki.

 

I too think some people here deserve an easter egg in the game !

 

How about two guys in a tavern picking up a fight- Sensuki & Shevek !

 

 

In general, I hope Pillars gets many easter eggs, being the game that it is. And I see we have already started getting them:

 

*Giant Miniature Space Piglet*

 

 

Bad idea if Obsidian interferes in the relations of two people by "eastereggfying" it.

Other than that, easter eggs are funny sometimes if they're done and placed well. Wasteland 2 is full of easter eggs, most of them being cool, but maybe they've overdone it

[Lord Wafflebum]

If I saw characters named Sensuki and Shevek arguing in a tavern in-game I would laugh so hard I would pee all of my pants. 

[constantine]

 

 

 

Anyone else would like to see Sensuki as a killable npc in game?

Is it bad that I would love to see something similar to what they did with Lanfear?

I think it's safe to say that Sensuki has both a better sense of humor and thicker skin than Lanfear ever did. That lady was nuts.

What's the deal with Lanfear ? I've never heard the story before, but the name rings a bell.

[Leferd]

I would hesitate in petitioning Obsidian to include people, places, memorials etc., as lots of backers pledged good money for these rewards.

 

That being said, Obsidian can add whatever and whoever they want as Easter Eggs or memorials. Visceris in particular comes to mind.

[Leferd]

Lanfear was a German poster who was active in the Black Isle boards during the development of BG2.

 

She was absolutely in love with Coran. Well, Dave Gaider wrote a story arc involving a love triangle involving Coran, Safana, and Lanfear. The quest line essentially ended up with Coran getting murdered. When the real Lanfear found out, she threw a big hissy fit and left the boards dramatically.

 

Personally I though it was hilarious -both the inside joke quest and the ensuing board drama.

[constantine]

 

Coran can get murdered in BGII ?!

 

Now either I have never seen this, or I did in one of my really old BGII playthroughs and I don't remember that

[Cubiq]

You can save Coran if you're fast enough in killing/intercepting the enemy.

[Lord Wafflebum]

Some people contribute to the game fiscally and some people contribute through hard work on feedback and testing. Both are equally valuable and deserving of in-game recognition if the devs so decide, no?

[Nakia]

Both Sensuki and Shevek have made major contributions to the game and forum in my opinion.  Even their disagreements are productive and thought provoking.  I suspect they look at the game and gaming in different ways.  High level contributors get their rewards so why shouldn't a couple of guys who have added so much of interest be rewarded?  Who would even realize that they had been except those of us active on the forum?  Of course it is Obsidian's call.

[archangel979]

I would add a Sensuki NPC that follows you around like Noober in Bg1 and pesters you about movement during combat :D

[Osvir]

I would add a Sensuki NPC that follows you around like Noober in Bg1 and pesters you about movement during combat :D

Or a wise & stubborn master acrobat that is impossible to hit because he's got the moves during combat

Edited December 26, 2014 by Osvir

[Nakia]

I envision an argument between the two with Sensuki as a master of the Rapier explaining all the correct and proper ways to fight and Shevek as either a barbarian or a rogue arguing that their style of fighting is more efficient and gets the job done faster.

[Sensuki]

The performance in this build is disgusting, and the game balance is warped as after the armor changes among other things. Probably the worst build for actually playing the game since v257.

 

There's a few people saying v392 is good - there's definitely some good things about it, but other than that - seriously wtf @ that.

 

Area Design on Hard seems really slap dash. IIRC the game was supposed to be designed on Hard and then toned down for other difficulties, but I'm guessing since that most of the devs themselves probably play on Normal, that's the difficulty that gets the best testing/balance.

 

Also the complete lack of documentation on balance changes is really annoying.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Sensuki

[Quantics]

The game is definitely enjoyable on Normal. 

 

I couldn't play the previous build as it wasn't available on OSX, but with v392 for the first time I feel I have some control over combat.

 

Medreth was reasonably easy, so were Lions and beetles. Beating the Feral druids, however was another story. Had to give them several tries. 

 

I haven't tried other difficulty settings though. 

[Nakia]

Easy is easy although I haven't tried the wild druids.  I think even players new to this type of game would have no real problem with the easy setting.  I haven't tried hard yet.

[morhilane]

Looks like setting traps while in stealth cause enemies to aggro the trap in visual range and setting the party in combat despite still being in stealth (didn't saw the discovered state but the beetles moved to the party after walking in the trap).

[Karkarov]

I don't know, this build seems pretty good.  UI is generally better, leveling up is vastly improved, I am not having any performance issues (but that proves nothing considering my pc specs), challenge is maybe ever so slightly harder than it should be, and there are still some weird bugs/balance issues.  For the most part it is a step in the right direction though and a big improvement over the last couple builds.

[Luckmann]

Looks like setting traps while in stealth cause enemies to aggro the trap in visual range and setting the party in combat despite still being in stealth (didn't saw the discovered state but the beetles moved to the party after walking in the trap).

 

Should probably report that as a bug, if you haven't already. Could just be an oversight.

[PrimeJunta]

Hello again. Been a while. I got a bit burned out on the beta and skipped a couple of updates before firing up 392.

 

First impression: man, it's come a long way. Thanks for bringing back point-buy skills. The level-up UI is much nicer, as is the loot UI. Everything feels a lot more polished and "finished."

 

And... combat is finally starting to feel "right." It's no longer a chaotic dogpile, but you can actually tell what's happening and react to it. A lot of it has to do with movement speed. The updated icons make a lot of difference too. Normal difficulty feels about right to me, it's fairly challenging but not murderous. This is actually going to be a fun game, and not just for the writing and exploration! -- This was the one area that was starting to worry me as combat seemed to have been treading water for a while when I last played it. So I'm feeling both relieved and happy about this.

 

I'm still firmly in the pro-engagement camp, and now it's finally starting to work like I was hoping it would. It gives the game an RTS-ey feel of being able to control the battlefield even when there aren't obvious choke points, in a way that just wasn't there in the IE games. With the UI improvements it's finally possible to see who's engaging whom, and having to deal with that adds a nice dimension to the combat. I also like the various methods there are to break it. I (successfully) used Arcane Veil plus run away when a nasty engaged BB Wizard, Repulsing Seal on another occasion, and Knockdown on a third. These were all much more interesting than simply buggering off like in the IE games.

 

But... way too many beetles in Dyrford Crossing. Srsly

 

Not impressed by the voice sets. They sound fairly uninspired and amateurish, and there's a lot of repetition. The standard to aim for IMO is Planescape: Torment, but this isn't even Baldur's Gate level. Also some of the NPC's have too much voice; an entire paragraph is too much. This is obviously not a make-or-break thing, but IMO if voice is worth doing at all, it's worth doing well, plus less is more.

 

There are also issues with voice FX; the combat barks have an echo like they were indoors even when we're outdoors.

 

Tried playing with a ranger again, now that it works properly. I like the animal companion synergies you get with the perks and feats, but (still) dislike the shared health pool. It just feels gimmicky, and also seems to heavily favor getting as durable a companion as possible, especially with mob fights where there's often more than one enemy engaging each frontliner. It "feels" like the logical way to play a ranger is to park the beast in the frontline and deal damage at range, using the synergies to the max. So between an invulnerable animal that deals no damage and a vulnerable one that deals a ton of damage, why would I ever pick the second one? But perhaps I'm just missing something obvious. I played with an antelope and it worked OK enough.

 

But all in all this is starting to feel like a real game. If everything is at this level of readiness and it was released now, it'd already be better than most I've played.

 

I've had no framerate issues bothersome enough to notice, but then I'm not all that sensitive to them.

 

Ran this on the OS X side of my Mac for the first time, by the way, and it crashed the first time I exited the Dyrford map to go to Dyrford Crossing, but restarting and reloading worked fine.

 

Summa summarum, Obsidian have clearly been working their donkeys off on this one, and it finally feels like they've been playing it too. Couple more months and this is going to be awesome.

[Sensuki]

:|

 

Although I do agree about the voice sets, very sub-par.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Sensuki

[morhilane]

 

Looks like setting traps while in stealth cause enemies to aggro the trap in visual range and setting the party in combat despite still being in stealth (didn't saw the discovered state but the beetles moved to the party after walking in the trap).

 

Should probably report that as a bug, if you haven't already. Could just be an oversight.

 

 

I need to do more testing, I tried it twice to see if it was a fluke. The problem might just be one of feedback, maybe the beetles did discover the group the feedback reflecting that is just bad.