Update #45 - Sailing the Deadfire Archipelago

Mikey Dowling · February 23, 2018

Greetings, Backers!

We wanted to start this update with an important message: if you have yet to complete your pledges and surveys, please do so! Completing your pledge helps us get you your copy of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on launch day. If you have not completed your survey by this time, we cannot guarantee that it will make it into the game when Deadfire launches. We will get late surveys in through patches, but will be unable to do so on release. To fill out your survey, head over to your Eternity Account Profile and to the Surveys Page.

The High Seas

With that out of the way, on to the update! Producer, Katrina Garsten, and Design Director, Josh Sawyer, are both here to teach us about the ship crew system, ship combat, and how you backers can help us improve these features even more with your feedback. Take it away, team!

Extended Coverage

Along with the informational video above, there has been a lot of coverage this month for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire! For starters, we got on the cover of PCGamer and Gamestar!

PC Gamer Cover

Online article - Watch Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's ship combat in action

Gamestar Cover

Online articles:

The covers came along with a great amount of coverage from many sites. We've put a lot of them in one place for you to go through, so you don't have to hunt around.

IGN - "When setting sail, Deadfire is a totally new animal that has me excited to captain my own ship, seek out quality crew, and look to the health and welfare of a large company of waywards. Going ashore, it’s basically more Pillars of Eternity, exactly as I remembered it but with a shiny new coat of paint. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I look forward to charting a course for further horizons when the full game launches this April."

MMORPG.com - "Obsidian has expanded the IP with an amazing story, detailed and nuanced customization that will appeal to both the hardcore cRPG fanatic and new players to the series and genre. It is literally the best of all worlds."

PCGamesN (focus on ships) - "Pillars of Eternity II needs to offer something much more than high-definition nostalgia in order to succeed in 2018, and it looks like that could well be found in its dedication to seafaring and tactical battles. By expanding into new and strange directions, Obsidian are not only honouring the expectations of players, but the lineage of Baldur’s Gate and its inspired, bold sequel too."

PCGamesN (focus on AI customization) - "From just a few hours of hands-on time with Deadfire it is evident that the new AI rules and combat changes have produced a far more enjoyable experience than seen in its predecessor."

The Sixth Axis - "What’s great is to see that they’re not merely resting on their laurels, but actively going back and looking at what worked and what didn’t, taking feedback from the community that’s helped to crowdfund this game as they reshape those ideas into something even more compelling."

Be sure to check out the rest of the coverage as well and dive into the Deadfire full on!

Coming This Holiday Season!

In case you missed it during the coverage earlier this month, we are excited to announce that thanks to our publishing partner, Versus Evil, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch this holiday season. Red Cerberus is going to be handling the port of the game so the Deadfire team can remain focused on wrapping up the Windows PC, Mac, and Linux version of the game.

But, jumping back to the PC version: in a few weeks we'll take a look behind the scenes with the audio team and dive into what it means to bring sound to the Deadfire. In the meantime, don't forget to get those surveys filled out if you have them!

If you missed Update 44, check it out here!

Ethics Gradient · February 23, 2018

If anyone makes it to the end of that video and is like:

"Whats' up with that weird code? Who's this Manifest chap askin' about stuff?"

Join us here.

We can figure it out together.

the_dog_days · February 23, 2018

Despite primarily playing on the PC, the possibility of playing Deadfire on the go with the Switch has got me excited.

Nanawatzin · February 24, 2018

Ahhhh this whole sailing will be a really nice part of the whole game. Add to that roleplaying and relations between Watcher and companions (and between companions and companions). Can't wait, good that April is closer and closer with every passing day. :3

Edited February 26, 2018 by Nanawatzin

Silent Winter · February 24, 2018

Okay, that looks fun :yes:

Boeroer · February 24, 2018

See shanties! Now that's a cool nice addition. Maybe I will come around and like the ship stuff after all.

ShadySands · February 24, 2018

That was awesome! Probably my second favorite update after the Valentine's day one

Xv0st · February 24, 2018

During the "aimless wanderings" :dancing: by sea, should we avoid shoals or rocks? Is it possible to damage the ship by heading on them or it will only stop the movement?

Valmy · February 24, 2018

Eora themed sea shanties? Now that is a crazy level of love and world building. This is why I keep playing your games.

Ogi79 · February 24, 2018

AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA... I have a fear from puppet dolls!!! WTF?! OBS! WTF!? pls dont do that again.

blindinkpoet · February 24, 2018

Can we get full-art versions of the covers, please?

Silent Winter · February 24, 2018

Eora themed sea shanties? Now that is a crazy level of love and world building. This is why I keep playing your games.

Ooohh... what shall we do with the drunken Orlan?

what shall we do with the drunken Orlan?

the one from Cragholdt bluffs

Sneak up and kill him while he's sleeping,

because he's got the key...

etc etc

edit: along with such other favourites as "Blow the aumaua down" and "Rollin down to old Valia"

Edited February 24, 2018 by Silent Winter

Gromnir · February 24, 2018

feedback regarding ship combats:

--enemy ships have a tendency to blow up ignominiously. were mentioned in a chat, so developers is aware.

--jibe is odd. am knowing the absence o' wind direction makes any number o' actions difficult to implement accurate, and w/o a more complex 2d map, wind direction no doubt becomes a prohibitive complex. nevertheless, jibe-fire-jibe-fire should not be start and end o' tactics once in range. but again, jibe were also mentioned in chat by josh as an issue o' awareness on the developer's part.

--need make more clear the full sail v. half sail advantages and drawbacks. get three actions during a turn, but 'cause o' crew skill am only able to get one full sail action as 'posed to two half sail. will cover more distance with half sail than full sail using standard crew at start o' beta. such info is not intuitive.

--is likely too late, but would be fun to add wheel and rudder slots to the ship management interface. find/buy magical or superior sails, hull cannons, wheel and rudder during the course o' deadfire adventuring would help make the ship game more involved. perhaps add a few crafting recipes specific for ship items as well.

--am knowing the ship stuff is 'posed to be a gold sink, but it does appear to be mighty expensive to maintain a ship, much less a fleet o' ships. nevertheless, am not able to judge economics based on beta... just seems expensive.

suggestion: would be nice if we could choose intent to board at start o' a ship-to-ship combat encounter. allow for option of ai to determine if enemy ship gets away or not, and rather than spending a dozen turns to get to boarding action, maybe simple skip ahead to the actual traditional squad-based tactical combat. sure, am suspecting one would want a warning if during attempt to close, your vessel were taking excessive damage and were in danger o' being sunk-- perhaps allow opportunity to halt ai and retreat from combat if ship takes X% damage?

suggestion: skull and shackles pathfinder adventure path has a few nifty pirate/nautical quests and encounters. highly recommend for developer reviewing at least if only to consider dlc or expansion content. island of empty eyes is a particular well designed adventure, but am gonna specific note the free captains' regatta from tempest rising as something deadfire's current ship combat mini-game could handle. would be nifty to have a ship race implemented in deadfire with numerous cutscene and standard deadfire combat events occurring during the course o' the race.

am understanding the ship combat is not the game but rather a mini-game. is unlikely the ship stuff becomes too robust and is actual quite involved in its present state. currents? no thanks. start getting into complexities such as ship speed on a close haul v. a run is gonna be unnecessarily difficult to implement and even more difficult for players to understand, particularly without a map showing relative position o' ships and wind direction. am thinking the ship combat, as a mini-game, is okie dokie as-is... just so long as a few o' the already mentioned issues is cleared up a bit.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited February 24, 2018 by Gromnir

Aarionn · February 24, 2018

First of all, backer update no. 45 was great!

Second, Obsidian do not dare to make your next game without support from your loyal community! I don't care if you have enough money to make your next game. I want my signed CE of your next game!

Third, that Josh muppet.... It must be in the backer rewards or as a stretch goal for your next project!!!!

Please, please...?

Best,

AA

algroth · February 24, 2018

Man, I do hope we'll see more non-kith crewmembers to hire beyond the imp, xaurip and ogre. I'll be really disappointed if there is no vithrack crewmember to add to the party. (I'm also curious about the "known sailors" tab, does that refer to people you can hire, or enemy captains and the likes?)

Ogi79 · February 24, 2018

Man, I do hope we'll see more non-kith crewmembers to hire beyond the imp, xaurip and ogre. I'll be really disappointed if there is no vithrack crewmember to add to the party. (I'm also curious about the "known sailors" tab, does that refer to people you can hire, or enemy captains and the likes?)

Only if you have saved vitchrak then you can expect it to become crewmember

Edited February 24, 2018 by Ogi79

CottonWolf · February 24, 2018

Man, I do hope we'll see more non-kith crewmembers to hire beyond the imp, xaurip and ogre. I'll be really disappointed if there is no vithrack crewmember to add to the party. (I'm also curious about the "known sailors" tab, does that refer to people you can hire, or enemy captains and the likes?)

I'm 90% sure I spotted a vithrack in the known sailors tab during the video, and I was under the assumption that's people available for hire. But maybe I'm wrong on that front.

algroth · February 24, 2018

Man, I do hope we'll see more non-kith crewmembers to hire beyond the imp, xaurip and ogre. I'll be really disappointed if there is no vithrack crewmember to add to the party. (I'm also curious about the "known sailors" tab, does that refer to people you can hire, or enemy captains and the likes?)

I'm 90% sure I spotted a vithrack in the known sailors tab during the video, and I was under the assumption that's people available for hire. But maybe I'm wrong on that front.

It's why I was wondering. I know there's a captain on a different vessel who's a vithrack, so I'm not sure if those are simply "known sailors" including potential crewmembers, enemy salilors and captains and the likes, or actual hireable people.

Madscientist · February 24, 2018

I saw the interview video where Josh and the other guy did ship combat.

There I have learned what ships are missing now: SNIPER CANNONS

theBalthazar · February 24, 2018

Hum... For the time Being, I cannot enjoy all this stuff (Battleship etc.). But...

...I put my doubts aside, and I will tell you my final opinion at the release date of the game.

Ethics Gradient · February 24, 2018

Can we get full-art versions of the covers, please?

These are the largest cover images we’ve seen floating about the internets.

PC Gamer

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zEkLQ3a7ZAhCSh2mAJGLrW.jpg

Gamestar

http://9images.cgames.de/images/gamestar/211/gamestar-0318-abo_6022968.jpg

The Gamestar one in particular is 2520x3564 of awesome.

From Josh: “that art was done by german artist jana schirmer.”

Nanawatzin · February 24, 2018

Can we get full-art versions of the covers, please?

These are the largest cover images we’ve seen floating about the internets.

PC Gamer

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zEkLQ3a7ZAhCSh2mAJGLrW.jpg

Gamestar

http://9images.cgames.de/images/gamestar/211/gamestar-0318-abo_6022968.jpg

The Gamestar one in particular is 2520x3564 of awesome.

From Josh: “that art was done by german artist jana schirmer.”

It's interesting that on the PC Gamer's cover is Aloth, Pallegina, Maia, and Serafen. And on the Gamestar's cover is Xoti, Tekehu and Eder. :D

rjshae · February 25, 2018

But will there be pirate jokes? Arrrgh. :skull:

wahmann1 · February 25, 2018

I saw the interview video where Josh and the other guy did ship combat.

There I have learned what ships are missing now: SNIPER CANNONS

If you mean like a long nine in the forecastle, I am so for that. I want to fire at a ship when it is running away or when the broadside is out of range. Or put one in the aftcastle to discourage pursuit when you try to flee.

Pidesco · February 25, 2018

The cranky look of Katrina's puppet was outstanding. The eyebrows in particular are on point.

I say that whenever she needs to berate someone in the real world the puppet should be used.

Update #45 - Sailing the Deadfire Archipelago

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