Eternity Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Pre-Release Thread [BETA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Anthony Davis]

Can someone explain to me how this works? I mean, when they will reveal the stretch goals, they must be funded within the 30 ( cd already started) days to be effective?

It's a marathon, not a sprint. New information will be forthcoming almost every business day I believe. badler ?

 

[Anthony Davis]

Cool to see a proposed element of the Star Wars game pitch revitalized in PoE 2. Looking forward to face off against Darth Jaws.

Oh crap.

 

[ushas]

It looks like that Angler-fish has the symbol for Eothas on its head. Perhaps that's how Eothas is represented in this culture? The light in the dark abyss of the sea.

Haven't seen this one myself either. Also looks kind of like a fertility idol too.

fertility anglerfish idol?

Spoiler

When ceratioid males go looking for love, they follow a species-specific pheromone to a female, who will often aid their search further by flashing her bioluminescent lure. Once the male finds a suitable mate, he bites into her belly and latches on until his body fuses with hers. Their skin joins together, and so do their blood vessels, which allows the male to take all the nutrients he needs from his host/mate’s blood. The two fish essentially become one.

With his body attached to hers like this, the male doesn't have to trouble himself with things like seeing or swimming or eating like a normal fish. The body parts he doesn’t need anymore—eyes, fins, and some internal organs—atrophy, degenerate and wither away, until he’s little more than a lump of flesh hanging from the female, taking food from her and providing sperm whenever she’s ready to spawn.

 

[Infinitron]

Screenshot gallery:




^Can anybody find versions of these without the PoE2 logo?

 

[Arulan]

fertility anglerfish idol?

Well, there are some baskets, a knife, and another instrument of some kind. Who knows what these tribesmen(?) are up to.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Kind of funny that an improvised Kickstarter campaign illustration is now the whole premise for the sequel. I just hope InXile doesn't follow Obsidian's example for the next Torment game

Spoiler

 

[Kem0sabe]

Codexers proving that we are graphics whores above all else...

That being said, the upgraded visuals look very nice indeed.

Still it will have the same shit combat as before, to go hand in hand with the completely soulless class progression.

P.S 29€ minimum game pledge? Fuck no.

 

[Infinitron]

Gathering today's interviews.

http://www.pcgamer.com/obsidian-ann...nity-2-deadfire-crowdfunding-campaign-begins/

Obsidian announces Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
A crowdfunding campaign is underway on Fig.

Obsidian Entertainment's recent bout of Twitter teasing has now been officially unveiled as Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the sequel to the studio's hit 2015 fantasy RPG. The studio also launched a new crowdfunding campaign today on Fig, with an overall goal of $1.1 million.

Pillars 2 begins with the return of Eothas, the god of light and rebirth, who's not quite as dead as everyone thought. After inhabiting the stone titan buried beneath the keep at Caed Nua, he breaks free, trashes the places, and leaves you for dead. Naturally, there's only one thing to do: "To save your soul, you must track down the wayward god and demand answers—answers which could throw mortals and the gods themselves into chaos."

"Our goal for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is to improve on what fans loved about the original while adding features our fans want to see," Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said. "Truly living cities, more freedom to explore the open world, and pushing what we do best at Obsidian—letting players define and play the role they want to play."

Lead designer Josh Sawyer echoed that sentiment, saying that the focus of the new game will be on "refinement, pacing, and overall quality."

"We're still making a huge game, but it's more important for our content to be high quality than it is for us to have a gargantuan 200+ hour game," he said. "Many players criticized us for having too many mob/filler fights in Pillars. It's something we tried to address in patches, but it's a larger focus for the sequel. Not every fight is a setpiece encounter, but it's okay for us to have more areas that are simply for exploration, environmental storytelling, and down time."

Deadfire will feature familiar faces from the first game, plus new companions with their own unique stories that will change based on the choices you make throughout your journey. That's also true for quests, which may "present different opportunities depending on when and where characters and environments are approached."

Sawyer said that it's too early to commit to anything specific, but "broadly speaking," Pillars of Eternity 2 will be comparable in size to the original. Players who come into Deadfire without prior Pillars experience will be given a recap of events, but "there's no substitute for playing through the first chapter," he added. And if you did, you'll have the option of carrying your progress over into the sequel.

"You will be able to import your endgame saves from Pillars of Eternity—at the very end of the game, Pillars creates a 'complete' savegame," Sawyer explained. "However, if you don't have a save to import or if you simply want to set your own start states, there will be a cool way for you to do so."

http://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2/pillars-of-eternity-2-release-date-story-setting

Pillars of Eternity 2: story, setting, companions and more - everything we know

A few years ago, Obsidian designer Josh Sawyer flipped a map of the Forgotten Realms’ Dalelands, stuck some different labels on it and named it the Dyrwood. One record-smashing Kickstarter later, he and his team had revived the spirit of the Baldur’s Gate games, with the wilderness exploration and spacebar-thwacking tactical combat intact.

Fresh from another isometric RPG, Obsidian now intend to fold some of Tyranny’s reactivity and unfamiliarity into Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - a sequel as ambitious as Baldur’s Gate II was.

When is the Pillars of Eternity 2 release date?

That's the multi-million crowdfunded dollar question.

“Most of the people who worked on [Pillars expansion] The White March have rolled over,” says Sawyer of the Pillars 2 dev team.

The White March Part II shipped in March 2016 - from which we can extrapolate that the sequel team have been at full strength a little under a year.

From Kickstarter to release, Pillars 1 was turned around in two and a half years - though it's worth noting that Obsidian have already built the tech to power this isometric follow-up, so Pillars 2 may well be with us faster.

What’s the story in Pillars of Eternity 2?

We’re going god-hunting. Eothas, the Eoran deity of light and rebirth, has inhabited the stone titan buried beneath the player stronghold Caed Nua for millennia. But now he’s awoken, tearing up through the earth, destroying the keep and half-killing you in the process.

The story of Deadfire, then, is a personal quest: to chase down Eothas, save your soul and find answers - answers which could “throw mortals and the gods themselves into chaos,” according to Obsidian.

Where is Pillars of Eternity 2's setting?

“If you’ve gotten tired of seeing temperate forests and meadows for 80 hours,” Josh Sawyer tells us, “Let’s take a look at something else.”

Pillars II takes place in the Deadfire Archipelago - a smattering of small volcanic islands far to the south of the Dyrwood. Where Pillars 1 had a Middle Ages European vibe, the Deadfire more closely resembles the southern Pacific island chains of Asia.

“It has more of a Polynesian flavour, overall,” confirms Sawyer. “The climate is much different, the foliage you see is much different.”

The archipelago is in the process of being colonised, however, so you will see familiar faces and races - the humans and dwarves of Old Vailia, plus the Aumaua of Rauatai. Here be monsters, too: out on the ocean to the east, terrible sea creatures cut short any explorative excursions. Not that players are likely to want for space to wander.

“It's a big archipelago,” notes Sawyer. “It’s full of sea monsters, pirates and volcanoes, all sorts of crazy, crazy stuff.”

What factions are in Pillars of Eternity 2?

Naasitaq, made up mostly of Boreal Dwarves and Aumaua, is the largest and most stable nation in the Deadfire islands. But a number of empires are at loggerheads over the archipelago, presenting Obsidian with plenty of opportunities to ask the player to take sides.

As for what form those faction decisions will take, the dev team are looking toward the example set by last year’s Tyranny.

“In Pillars 1, we dropped the factions at the end of Act 2, and so [players] didn't really feel like their choices were super significant,” admits Sawyer. “Something that I think Tyranny did much better, and something that we want to do for Pillars II, is really establish the factions much more clearly - give the player clearer choices, and let them know when they’re approaching consequences for the choices they made.”

Who are the Pillars of Eternity 2 companions?

There will be companions, that much we know - although players have the ability to forego scripted chums and build out their own party from scratch should they desire. This time around, Obsidian are cognisant of the need to allow companions time to develop - giving them a longer stretch of the game to mature in their characters and relationships.

Not every companion from Pillars of Eternity will return - “We didn’t want to go really overboard” - but there are a few original cast members on the archipelago. The first confirmed is statuesque former farmer Edér.

“A lot of people have speculated that if Edér came back, how would he fit into the story? It works very well. The story makes sense for him to be there,” says Sawyer.

It’s very possible he’s not going to be there in your playthrough, however. Should you import a save in which Edér was killed, that consequence will remain in Pillars II. By the same token, all returning companions will have different starting states depending on how you treated them in the original game.

As Sawyer puts it: “If you made certain choices with them that took them in a bad direction, when they come back, they’re kind of screwed up.”

On the mechanical front, Pillars II won’t make use of the party combos that featured so heavily in Tyranny combat. There’s a reason for that: while Tyranny introduced a small number of companions who interlocked in very specific ways, Pillars will instead encourage players to experiment with its 11-class spread of abilities.

Pillars of Eternity 2 gameplay

Remember the promises of Oblivion’s Radiant AI? We’re getting flashbacks. Obsidian say the people of Deadfire will have their own lives to live, jobs to carry out and appointments to keep - whether you’re there to precipitate events or not. Most intriguingly, they suggest that some quests will play out differently, depending on when and where their principal characters are approached.

Combat-wise, Pillars II is set to offer a little more tactical challenge than its predecessor - which was, frankly, more than tough enough for anyone without a solid grounding in the Infinity Engine games of old. Newcomers need not fear, though, since Obsidian plan to do a better job of communicating and tutorialising combat mechanics.

“With tabletop-style rule systems like this, there are so many layers of mechanics going on that are not visible by looking at the screen,” Sawyer explains. “It can be very hard for players to understand what is going on.

“We're trying to make it easier to understand: clearer, better language. We're just focusing on making sure that if you're not familiar with this type of game, we'll introduce concepts that are easy to absorb.”

In fact, those who really can’t stomach the battles can always retreat to the gentler Story Time mode, which makes a return for the sequel. That said, the team have no intention of reducing the statistical complexity that experienced Icewind Dale tacticians so love to sink their teeth into.

One shift that will be immediately noticeable to everyone is the pace of combat. Pillars 1 included an option to slow down time to fight through some of the more intricate scenarios - and Obsidian have now made that the default speed, deeming it “more natural”. Players will, however, be able to toggle faster speeds for any battles they deem to be foregone conclusions.

Pillars of Eternity 2 stronghold

A stretch goal for the Project Eternity Kickstarter promised a stronghold that players could take control of as a part-time baron. And while that did appear in Pillars, the team felt frustrated they didn’t have more resources to dedicate to that corner of the game.

Obsidian have chosen to blow up that stronghold in the prelude to Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and come up with a mysterious new equivalent instead.

“We do have something to replace the Stronghold that I think people are going to enjoy,” says Sawyer. “It has a lot more customisation and it’s very fitting for the setting of the game. It’s going to be really nice.”

Although the details remain secret, the studio say we’ll travel around the islands “by land and sea”. Could we be getting our very own pirate ship?

Pillars of Eternity graphics

Pillars of Eternity found the Black Isle veterans at Obsidian relearning the art of 2D backgrounds - much like Disney, digging out the mothballed tools of traditional animation for The Princess and the Frog. Now, though, they’ve hit their stride.

“There’s so much stuff we're pushing in terms of new 3D stuff within that 2D space,” Sawyer expands. “It’s crazy sometimes now to go back and look at the stuff in Pillars 1, which I still think looks nice, but looking at Pillars II and the technological jumps that we’ve done is pretty incredible. We’re just doing stuff that no one else is doing.”

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/26/p...-obsidians-first-stab-at-crowdfunding-on-fig/

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is Obsidian’s first stab at crowdfunding on Fig

Pillars of Eternity is getting a sequel — and just like the first time, fans can help bankroll its production. Or in this case, earn a piece of it.

Obsidian Entertainment will crowdfund Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on Fig, a rival to Kickstarter and Indiegogo where those who make pledges can also snag equity in the project. It will release on PC, Mac, and Linux, and the role-playing game studio is setting a campaign goal of $1.1 million … and if it hits $2.25 million, it’ll issue equity to backers. The first Pillars of Eternity was one of the first big video game projects on Kickstarter, raising $3,986,929 in 2012 (it’s still the No. 2 RPG project and No. 4 game in its history).

Fig seems like a natural choice for any Obsidian project, since chief executive officer Feargus Urquhart is one of the platform’s partners (along with Double Fine’s Tim Shafer and Inxile’s Brian Fargo). But Urquhart notes that the RPG studio has other reasons for choosing this Kickstarter alternative for the Pillars of Eternity sequel.

“There are a lot of reasons we are going with Fig, but they really come down to us wanting to build up our ability to get games financed differently and to let our fans share in the success of the games if they want to invest,” he said over email. “Many developers, including Obsidian, have had few options in the ways to get their games funded. Our hope is that with Fig, we can grow a group of investors who trust us and will help us realize even bigger games in the future.”

Pillars of Eternity II returns to the world of Eora, heading to the Deadfire Archipelago (a new region we don’t know anything about yet). It’ll have a similar sort of smart-looking art and tactical combat. From some of the images, you could get a Lovecraft vibe — those tentacles belong to some monster in the main image, I’d bet, and that fish being in the statue below sure looks like something that would fit into a Cthulhu story.

The biggest change from the original is that Deadfire will have a five-character adventuring party. The original had six players, and Obsidian’s 2016 RPG Tyranny had four. How did the designers decide that five is the magic number?

“We’ve been playing with a five-character party for most of development and really like how encounters work with that size,” Urquhart said. I can see how this came about — six characters can be cumbersome, while four can seem … limiting. Five enables for you to cover every major RPG role — tank, damage-dealer, ranged, magic, and healing — while still giving the player room to experiment with character builds.

The studio said you’re be playing out the story of the characters fighting “for their souls as they hunt down a god.” Pillars also had a different approach to armor than other RPGs, one that sounds more Star Trek than D&D.

The original Pillars was my No. 2 game of 2015, and I gave it a 95/100 in my review.

“We are so thankful to our fans, who believed in us and made the original Pillars a huge crowdfunding success. For the sequel, we have turned to Fig for our fan-funding needs because we not only wanted our fans to help shape Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but to financially share in its potential as well,” said Urquhart in a canned statement. “Pillars of Eternity set the standard for quality among fan-funded games by not only delivering an amazing game, but also making good on everything we promised to our backers. Our goal for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is to improve on what fans loved about the original while adding features our fans want to see, truly living cities, more freedom to explore the open world, and pushing what we do best at Obsidian — letting players define and play the role they want to play.”

http://www.mmorpg.com/pillars-of-et...ternity-ii-welcome-to-the-deadfire-1000011505

Interviews: Pillars of Eternity II: Welcome to the Deadfire

Josh Sawyer was is one of the many behind Pillars of Eternity, and now he is here to talk about the future of the franchise with the upcoming sequel for the game. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire takes place about three to five years after the first game. Josh explained that any player can jump right into Pillars II, if you played the original you will get a lot of the references, however, the game stands on its own. You begin as a Lord or Lady of the holdings from the first game, however it is now time for consequences of the first game's actions. Josh mentioned that choice and consequence are really important at Obsidian when designing RPGs and Pillars II will be flooded with them.

The game kicks off with your castle at Caed Nua under attack vaulting you into a new adventure. This time around the team wanted to introduce new companions for players as well as bring back some of the older ones from before. However, several of the older characters may show up as NPCs along the way. It is a mix, but more choice was what the team decided on, so the new characters will be more prevalent.

One of the areas the team has been looking to improve based on player feedback is in Stronghold. Josh explained that people had a right to complain about the system and so they went back to the drawing board to make things better this time around. Feedback is something the team takes very seriously. He did not want to give too much away, but players will have a lot to look forward to in this aspect of the game. He did say that factions would have a much bigger focus in the sequel. Again, learning from the first game, they are looking at more options for the player’s story. Factions are a great mechanic to move the needle in terms of lore and ideas.

As one of the first successful Kickstarted RPGs, we asked how the team is approaching the campaign with Fig. Josh said that they take nothing for granted. No assumptions are made about how the campaign will perform. The team respects their very smart gamer audience so they want to do the best for them. It really is work to find that successful campaign a second time. He's hoping the first game made enough fans to help them make the sequel a reality without needing to go find a partner publisher.

In terms of gameplay, the team has made some simple tweaks which will be much more visually easier on the player. Spacing of characters is a little more spread out. They also have enhanced visual effects on attacks and spells to make them more obvious. Combat has been slowed down only slightly to make it easier to follow. They have also simplified the stacking rules so it is easier for players to know the best combinations.

Obsidian is excited for Pillars II, as are all the fans of the original. Much of the feedback from the first game has made its way into the new sequel and fans will be excited with the end results. More interaction, stronger scripts, and a bit more fun with the world map elements have really pushed the team on design. It opens the doors for more freedom to do a sequel and add in elements you have always wanted from a CRPG. As huge fans of the genre we are very excited with what is about to happen in the Pillars universe. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we reveal more information here at MMORPG.com. If you're keen on supporting Obsidian, head to FIG and do the whole backer thing.

 

[LizardWizard]

P.S 29€ minimum game pledge? Fuck no.

5 Trump dollar discount from backing POE so check KS email if you're going to pledge.

 

[Merlkir]

Supposed Avellone from his FB (can't confirm):

"There are new frontiers and PoE feels like a step backwards in some respects. Wish them all the best, though!"

aka "Good luck with that lame backass bullshit, you idiots!"

:D pure lol.

 

[Mazisky]

NPC with schedules and a relative full day night cycle is a wonderful feature, i'm so glad they are doing this

 

[Infinitron]

Got an email:

Greetings, Citizens of Eora,
Thanks to your support, Pillars of Eternity is one of the highest-rated crowdfunded games of all time! Your early support and feedback shaped the game to exceed all our expectations. Now we're back with Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Find out more at Fig.co and redeem your $5 off code available on any tier $29 and above.

Fig is the only place where you’ll not only be able to get the Backer exclusive collector’s edition of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but also have the chance to invest in the game and share in the success of Obsidian’s first sequel.

We can’t thank you enough for your support of Pillars of Eternity. Because of you, our team is getting further than ever before by making our own sequel. This is an incredible opportunity and an honor for our team. Thank you!

See you in Eora once again,
-The Deadfire Team

 

[Sentinel]

NPC with schedules and a relative full day night cycle is a wonderful feature, i'm so glad they are doing this

A completely worthless feature if it has no consequence on gameplay or quests.

 

[ushas]

Obsidian say the people of Deadfire will have their own lives to live, jobs to carry out and appointments to keep - whether you’re there to precipitate events or not. Most intriguingly, they suggest that some quests will play out differently, depending on when and where their principal characters are approached.

will see then

 

[CyberWhale]

NPC with schedules and a relative full day night cycle is a wonderful feature, i'm so glad they are doing this

A completely worthless feature if it has no consequence on gameplay or quests.

Having real consequence is definitely better, but even a cosmetic implementation adds to the most important thing ever - IMMERSIONUH!11

 

[Infinitron]

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/156418633361/hi-josh-deadfires-fig-page-says-help-to-resolve

Hi Josh! Deadfire's Fig page says "Help to resolve a multi-layered conflict between the locals, ambitious trading companies, and bands of fierce pirates while following in the footsteps of Eothas." My assumption is that the player will have to manage relations with major factions of Deadfire and they will be more central to the plot than the factions of Defiance Bay. Can you confirm or deny this, without revealing stuff you don't want to reveal?

I’ll be brief since I’m sure we’ll do a full update on this later, but yes, the factions of Deadfire are more central to PoE2′s plot than the factions of Defiance Bay were to PoE’s plot.

http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/156418902296/can-you-talk-about-the-inspirations-for-the-art

Can you talk about the inspirations for the art direction of Deadfire Archipelago material culture. E.g. for architecture, sculptures, weapons, nautical vessels etc. ? Certainly noticing quite a broad mix of real world correlates in elements from Indo-Islamic, Persian, South-East Asian, Polynesian, and even more.

I’ll be brief with this response as well because I’d hate to steal the limelight from our fantastic art team, headed by Kaz Aruga. We’ve tried to spread out our influences in the Deadfire, so we’re relying less on European sources of inspiration, much more on SE Asian, Polynesian (e.g. Māori, Balinese), east African, Indian, and other cultures.

 

[pomenitul]

We’ve tried to spread out our influences in the Deadfire, so we’re relying less on European sources of inspiration, much more on SE Asian, Polynesian (e.g. Māori, Balinese), east African, Indian, and other cultures.

The PoE IP's finally meet.

 

[ushas]

In addition to the rich and diverse environments, Pillars II will feature intense and immersive dynamic weather. Rains, fierce winds and sandstorms are among the harsher conditions that are commonplace in Deadfire. You’ll even hear the rain pounding on the roof when you go inside.

Graphical and sound effects and animations are great, but I wonder too, besides schedules, how does the weather influence the gameplay. I mean, for example what happens to the party in the sandstorm, what about the fighting under the weather conditions, or how would creatures react, etc.

Would be neat if Eothazilla can also manage some small earthquakes or tsunamis.
(though, something like ~15 floor building can be 50+ meters tall, not sure about the adra material)

Also beetles are in!

 

[Urthor]

Gotta admit that the classiest way to deal with a mediocre player stronghold is absolutely destroying it in the prologue of the sequel.

 

[Mazisky]

NPC with schedules and a relative full day night cycle is a wonderful feature, i'm so glad they are doing this

A completely worthless feature if it has no consequence on gameplay or quests.

They said it will reflect gameplay and quests!

 

[imweasel]

Deadfire sounds so lame and generic. Even Guido Henkel knows that (now).

Brofist my post if you agree.

I am harvesting brofists and will donate them to a good cause. I also accept trumpfists. :3

 

[HoboForEternity]

Gotta admit that the classiest way to deal with a mediocre player stronghold is absolutely destroying it in the prologue of the sequel.

have they confirmed that we will have cool ship yet?

 

[Fry]

Google translated from Krautish:

Hello Josh, it is rumored that for Deadfire the maximum number of possible companions was reduced to 4 (5 in PoE) and thus the maximum size of the group - including the guard - was reduced to 5 (6 in PoE). Is there any truth to it, or is it due only to a write error or an unfortunate phrase on the part of the press? Thanks in advance.
--
We have not said anything about the number of the companions, but the maximum size of the group is 5 (including the guard[PC?]).

 

[2house2fly]

Nice, and the ending deadline is well within my tax return window.

 

[Sherry]

Gotta admit that the classiest way to deal with a mediocre player stronghold is absolutely destroying it in the prologue of the sequel.

have they confirmed that we will have cool ship yet?

Hi.

okay. Okay. OKAY!

A lot of what I have been reading all day since the announcement is there certainly will be some form of ship travel based on the location. Two $5,000 backer options are Build a Pirate Party and Own an Island.

So I gather getting to these islands will have some form of boarding a ship and navigating to them via a world map or maybe we do sail and time goes by, the sun rises and falls, a storm comes along and we use this time to have conversations with our companions and get to know them. The Build a Pirate Party states that it would be "ready to ambush players when they least expect it".

GOSH! They better have some kicking ship battles with these pirates! Think Ultima 5 ship to ship combat screen. O.O

Or maybe a ship encounter from one of the sea creatures mentioned in the lore and its five individual massive tentacles that come out from the water along the sides of the ship and each tentacle has to be defeated for the sea creature to retreat before it causes damage to your ship. Waves crashing over the side and rocking the ship while a night storm rages and lightning flashes illuminate the dark sea around you where you see the large yellow beak of the sea creature snapping loudly.

Thanks,
Randal