Update #36 - Deep Diving Into the E3 Video

Pillars II Executive Producer, Andy Brennecke!

 

FTFY.

 

Thank You for doing this, because we do like to hear interesting information from you all, but we will not get that from IGN.

 

"So is this like a dungeon?"

-- Professional Journalist

Deep diving into the video:

 

- Suspected this back when ships revealed...so why are we controlling whole party on board the "small" ship when there is no combat going on?

This is a good point. Could companions hang out on the ship in these situations? (Instead of following the Playr)

Am I the only one who thinks that the world map looks very bland? Water is so so, but land looks empty and in desperate need of details.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Aramintai

Am I the only one who thinks that the world map looks very bland? Water is so so, but land looks empty and in desperate need of details.

 

I'm hoping for something of similar quality to the global map in PoE I.

Deep diving into the video: 

 

- Suspected this back when ships revealed...so why are we controlling whole party on board the "small" ship when there is no combat going on? 

 

Yeah, that seems a bit silly, would be cool if the other companions hung out on the ship doing random (sometimes productive) things or chatting with others when it's just the ship and no combat going on.

Am I the only one who thinks that the world map looks very bland? Water is so so, but land looks empty and in desperate need of details.

I was assuming that it was still an early build of the map and would naturally be improved by the time the game releases, but I realise that this is an assumption of mine, so good job on raising this and count me as seconding this!

Loving the changes so far. Two things though:

 

- I love that the character on the overland maps looks like Gandalf the Grey. However I hope you'll animate him because it's kind of weird to see the figurine just moving but not being animated. Doesn't have to be high-resolution animation, just make the stick move or something (but if you can do more advanced stuff, by all means!).

- I think the remaining cast time isn't very clear. I mean the long-duration spells that we can see Aloth using. I think this indication should be crystal-clear, more than it is now, very obvious so you can't miss it in the heat of battle - and more importantly, you can clearly see that somebody's targeting your Wizard and is interrupting him. I play on Path of the Damned usually and that kind of quick, reliable, visual feedback is key to read the battlefield efficiently.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Furism

Awesome work with capes - no collision that's awesome.

Also animated character in the inventory menu looks amazing.

https://youtu.be/_Es15qyjoJ8?t=257 - at the bottom dual wielding warrior (I guess) strikes 3 times with right hand - is it a glitch or it's supposed to do so?

https://youtu.be/_Es15qyjoJ8?t=257 - at the bottom dual wielding warrior (I guess) strikes 3 times with right hand - is it a glitch or it's supposed to do so?

 

Interesting. Guess they gave barbaric blow(?) some flavor.

 

Ed: Same ability hits the titan twice without recovery also(with different hands) and hits twice with the pollaxe later on in the dungeon.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Quillon

I'm not fond of the sailing ship piece on the map. It just looks boring to me. It would be better if it looked like Sid Meiers Pirates somewhat.

I wouldn't have it at this angle but I hope you get the idea regardless. I want to see my ship move through the water and have island features come into focus as I get nearer.

Am I the only one who thinks that the world map looks very bland? Water is so so, but land looks empty and in desperate need of details.

 

I actually like their approach -- it looks very 'tabletop gaming' in style. If anything, I think they could go even more retro and make it look like a nice quality Portolan chart complete with Rhumb lines.

Few comments from me:

 

- Is the sailing world map final? It looks plain and maybe it can be polished and made more beautiful

- Inventory screen, the 3D character is too huge. maybe reduce it to suit the UI and look better.

That "Beyond" bit at the end begs the question: Can we push enemies off there or are in danger of getting pushed off? As there is a system for environmental hazards in place anyway, it would be pretty silly to have an invisible wall at those edges where characters get pushed against. The same obviously goes for all kinds of cliffs or walls without any protection against falling.

 

It would have to be balanced to not become trivial or frustrating. A high chance of success save roll maybe, or you only get pushed off if you're technically pushed X meters beyond the edge, or pushing off is only possible below some health threshold or some such. One would have to figure out what feels both natural and balanced, but I think it would make for a cool addition to the whole multi-layer and environmental hazard business.

Am I the only one bothered by that land party piece not walking, but sliding as if on wheels or ice?

Also, I'd like it to move slower, indicating that passing through jungles and terrain on foot is a lot more sluggish than going by a sailing vessel.

Am I the only one bothered by that land party piece not walking, but sliding as if on wheels or ice?

Also, I'd like it to move slower, indicating that passing through jungles and terrain on foot is a lot more sluggish than going by a sailing vessel.

 

It resembles a pawn, why shouldn't it slide?

Am I the only one bothered by that land party piece not walking, but sliding as if on wheels or ice?

Also, I'd like it to move slower, indicating that passing through jungles and terrain on foot is a lot more sluggish than going by a sailing vessel.

Slower, really? My first thought when seeing it in the video was "Well, I hope either you don't travel back and forth a lot or you get a speed-up button for that animation. It sure looks like something that gets tedious, quickly". Estimating what the cut removed, it's a travel time of maybe 10 to 15 seconds. That's 15 seconds of doing nothing. And then another 15 seconds to get back to your ship. And who knows how long for ship travels. It all depends on how much is going on during these travels, but for a pure location transition with the occassional event in between, it already is on the slow end, I think. If there's a lot to explore and get diverted, it might be okay, at least until you have to backtrack.

 

I like the board game-y feeling of the sliding. Plus it reminds me a bit of the first Total War games.

Well hopefully then Fast/Slow Mode will work with the overland map.

Am I the only one who thinks that the world map looks very bland? Water is so so, but land looks empty and in desperate need of details.

 

They could take a few design cues from Civilization VI as far as skeuomorphic cartographic design goes. I think it would also look better if it was zoomed out a bit, or the dead space was filled with more "here be dragons" iconography.

 

Deep diving into the video: 

 

- Suspected this back when ships revealed...so why are we controlling whole party on board the "small" ship when there is no combat going on? 

 

Yeah, that seems a bit silly, would be cool if the other companions hung out on the ship doing random (sometimes productive) things or chatting with others when it's just the ship and no combat going on.

This would be cool so long as there was still some way to simultaneously access the inventories of all companions while on the ship so that it is easy to (re)distribute items across everyone.

This looks like an improvement over the original, for sure. The apparent influence of Storm of Zehir is a major positive for me--something I was hoping to see more of in PoE 1. I may take a look at it when it's released; whereas before, I didn't care at all.

Hah form youtube comments someone noticed that the smoke from a guns barrel moves with the gun as you move after firing. I doubt they will make the smoke more elaborate, maybe cancel that animation upon a move command?

Was able to watch the video today, I only peek in on the information every once in a while.

I LOVE the player/npc picture frames and the "paperdoll" is GORGEOUS.

Somewhere in my post history is probably a post about me hating on the player models in PoE, guess I get to shut the f* up this time xD

As others stated the overworld probably needs something? (unsure what, not a game dev ).

Looking forward to it even more now

Oh, a new update! Is it just me, or are we not getting update emails anymore?

 

Am I the only one bothered by that land party piece not walking, but sliding as if on wheels or ice?

Also, I'd like it to move slower, indicating that passing through jungles and terrain on foot is a lot more sluggish than going by a sailing vessel.

 

It resembles a pawn, why shouldn't it slide?

 

Alright, let me put it this way. I don't want it to be some kind of chess piece, I'd love to see it a bit more animated when it traverses any landmass.

If you keep sailing in one direction, will you eventually run into the beer mug holding down the corner of the map?