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

[Zed]

how can that flow-blown retard say that time-of-day features don't add anything to the game

are there any assassins on the codex for hire

 

[Fry]

Bitching about sidekicks and a fantasy city design that doesn't respect realistic tide boundaries.

Slow night on the Codex?

 

[2house2fly]

Neketaka looks amazing, not sure what's the point of sidekicks though. Seems like it will just create confusion.

straight from the horse's mouth:

A lot of people want more companions (especially more colorful companions), but do not understand the actual cost of creating more companions with the same level of depth as the rest of the cast. There can also often be a multiplicative cost if companion reactions always ping off of other companions. The actual node count and content of a BG2 companion could vary wildly, but the player wouldn't know that before taking them unless they saw someone make a node breakdown somewhere online.

Another route we could have taken would be to bullshit everyone and say that we're going to have 16 companions but write 6 of them with full node counts and the other 10 with a fifth of the node count, but obviously I don't think that's acceptable.

Yeah, weirdly liking this idea. They should add even more of those.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind if there were a dozen or more of them. More room for weird character concepts that a lot of people wouldn't like because they're more optional. Then again, I kind of hope there's so few of them because they get their own ending slides.

 

[Kem0sabe]

What did Sawyer say about the original PoE companions? I mean, they were marketed as fully fleshed companions, only for that depth to be skin deep.

 

[TT1]

I really hope they create a tier "create a sidekick". Easy way to increase sidekick numbers and the money.

Win-win situation.

 

[Lacrymas]

What did Sawyer say about the original PoE companions? I mean, they were marketed as fully fleshed companions, only for that depth to be skin deep.

To be fair, almost everything in PoE1 was undercooked.

 

[TT1]

What we were working on was the comments that a lot of people had where they wanted more characters we put into the world to join their party. We have the issue that full companions are very, very intensive - months and months of time to do right. We looked back at BG 1 and BG 2, and found that some of the companions don't have the bredth of content that other companions have. So, we thought why not take characters that we are putting into quests that you will have already interacted with a fair amount, and then give you the option to join your party as a different type of companion. They get their own voice set, and will react to things in the world and enter into some banter. They will absolutely have personalities that come through from their look, portrait, and their VO / dialog.

 

[Zed]

I really hope they create a tier "create a sidekick". Easy way to increase sidekick numbers and the money.

Win-win situation.

I think you underestimate the sidekick feature. There's still a unique VA (although not as much spoken dialogue as a regular companion), portrait and quest.
Also everything player-created in PoE sucked ass. The less the better.

What they could do is add more goodies and new tiers between 200-500 dollars.

 

[TT1]

I really hope they create a tier "create a sidekick". Easy way to increase sidekick numbers and the money.

Win-win situation.

I think you underestimate the sidekick feature. There's still a unique VA (although not as much spoken dialogue as a regular companion), portrait and quest.
Also everything player-created in PoE sucked ass. The less the better.

What they could do is add more goodies and new tiers between 200-500 dollars.

I agree with you. But I think this time they will know better how to work with backers. I hope.

 

[Iznaliu]

To be fair, almost everything in PoE1 was undercooked.

Was this something to do with the fact that Obsidian had to create an engine from scratch and ran out of time?; No, it can't be; Obshitian purposely fucked up the game to spite the Codex! I know that's true since I looked into MCA's eyes and saw an image of a cackling Josh Sawyer.

I agree with you. But I think this time they will know better how to work with backers. I hope.

Obsidian likely doesn't want to bother with working with backers.

 

[Maculo]

vinirsouza
@Feargus what about a "create a sidekick" tier?

Feargus
developer
I'll chat with the team.
Feb 17, 2017 | 07:38 PM

Alright, if this comes to pass, we have to make Darth Roxxor or Sensuki into a side-kick. Their side-quest will be to hunt down Prime Junta.

 

[TT1]

People are creating NPCs, pirates, pets, etc. From this point, create a sidekick is not much different. I think its easy money to obsidian.

 

[TT1]

vinirsouza
@Feargus what about a "create a sidekick" tier?

Feargus
developer
I'll chat with the team.
Feb 17, 2017 | 07:38 PM

Alright, if this comes to pass, we have to make Darth Roxxor or Sensuki into a side-kick. Their side-quest will be to hunt down Prime Junta.

Oh, this is me, actually. You can blame me next year.

 

[Lacrymas]

Was this something to do with the fact that Obsidian had to create an engine from scratch and ran out of time?; No, it can't be; Obshitian purposely fucked up the game to spite the Codex! I know that's true since I looked into MCA's eyes and saw an image of a cackling Josh Sawyer.

They didn't create a new engine lol, they used Unity. Everything is undercooked because it was too much and nothing was given enough time.

 

[Iznaliu]

They didn't create a new engine lol, they used Unity. Everything is undercooked because it was too much and nothing was given enough time.

I meant they had to create everything from scratch as a game like this hadn't been made in 10 years, but who demanded all this crap? Clue: fans who wanted BG1, BG2, IWD, and PS:T all in one package.

 

[Lacrymas]

I meant they had to create everything from scratch as a game like this hadn't been made in 10 years, but who demanded all this crap? Clue: fans who wanted BG1, BG2, IWD, and PS:T all in one package.

Not really, they themselves came up with those ridiculous stretch goals and promises. "Fans" didn't force them to do anything. Obsidian said that they wanted to make a mix of BG, IWD and PS:T.

 

[BlackGoat]

I like the idea of sidekicks, don't like the idea of flagging them differently than NPCs with arcs. Kills mystery. Wondering if every joinable NPC is deeper than they seem would add to the game. Knowing right away "Oh this guy is special and this guy is basic" takes away from the game.

 

[Azarkon]

I like the idea of sidekicks, don't like the idea of flagging them differently than NPCs with arcs. Kills mystery. Wondering if every joinable NPC is deeper than they seem would add to the game. Knowing right away "Oh this guy is special and this guy is basic" takes away from the game.

It's better that they know, because you don't want to go through a game thinking that one of these characters is a full companion, when they aren't. It'd lead to players complaining about not getting the experience the developers said they would.

But how are you going to make this obvious? Help text that comes up the instant a party member joins, telling you whether this companion is fully developed or not? That would be terrible, but the other direction leads to confusion.

 

[ushas]

Btw. what do you say to new scripted interactions? That's one thing I'm looking forward to, and really liked what they said in the second Q&A. I believe we got the first glimpse in this update's (#14) video.

Scripted interaction screen

Nice. However, for some reason those black & white frames feel too forced to me. Perhaps would be better if pictures of party members could hold the stronger impression that they belong to the book.

More in book feel (though it's just botched mock up, i'm not an artist):

Scripted interaction screen v2

Or at least in King of Dragon Pass, mentioned by Merlkir some pages back, the portrait incorporation felt less intrusive to me (they use white to highlight):

KoDP

 

[oldmanpaco]

So who in BG2 would be a sidekick?

 

[Rivmusique]

Minsc

 

[2house2fly]

I really hope they create a tier "create a sidekick". Easy way to increase sidekick numbers and the money.

Win-win situation.

It's probably a bit late in the campaign but that'd be cool. Who's your cool OC, race/class/background/dispositions, leave the dialogue to us, a bunch of fun characters to haul around.

Not really, they themselves came up with those ridiculous stretch goals and promises. "Fans" didn't force them to do anything. Obsidian said that they wanted to make a mix of BG, IWD and PS:T.

Yeah, if they'd advertised it as a spiritual sequel to just IWD or PST then expectations would have been different. I guess they wanted as much attention as they could get, but you make the bed you lie in it.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Minsc

Yeah besides him?

Yoshimo, Mazzy, Jan, and Korgan were not involved in a romance or stronghold. Imoen is a special case of course and you could add Yoshimo in that category as well.

So just those 4 or 5?


edit: Mazzy was part of the Ranger stronghold I suppose.

 

[Quillon]

http://www.mmorpg.com/interviews/how-weather-changes-the-game-in-pillars-of-eternity-2-1000011556

 

[Sentinel]

http://www.mmorpg.com/interviews/how-weather-changes-the-game-in-pillars-of-eternity-2-1000011556

TL;DR

MMORPG: How does this system (NPCs moving around according to the weather/time of day) tie into questing for the player?

BN: In various, if sometimes secret ways. We don’t want to force the player to follow someone home after dark as the correct, or only way, to finish a quest. As much as possible, we want the player to think about a logical way to approach a quest and not have the game tell them “No, you can’t do that”. The more we allow players to push the boundaries of how they want to accomplish quests, the more rewarded we believe they will feel.

Here are a few hypothetical examples of things designers can choose to implement for a single NPC. You might follow someone to the local bathhouse and steal a vital object from their unattended attire as they bath. Conversely, the bathing NPC might have a sensitive dialogue with a city official you can listen to if you sneak up on them undetected. Since this NPC is not home, you might find you can access a part of their home they previously would not allow you to, unless you feel killing them in their home is warranted. Killing them in their home may have consequences you were not expecting. Killing the NPC, or being caught picking their pocket, as they travel to the bathhouse will certainly alert the guards, or other onlookers. Waiting to rob/shank them in an alley can be done undetected.

MMORPG: Are there any other elements to the weather system which can impact the player?

AB: Right now we have the ability to add status effects to characters during different weather conditions, and we've been experimenting with what we want to do with it. It will allow the system designers to vary up combat encounters with an additional challenge or twist.

MMORPG: Do these two systems connect in game? Will farmers change their behavior based on rains?

AB: Yes, NPCs can change their daily behaviors during different weather conditions. For example, if it starts to pour, a farmer might consider going to the bar for an early drink instead of getting wet in the rain. It's not a long term impact on the NPCs - meaning that if it doesn't rain for days, the farmers are not going to change their harvest schedule or anything like that.

BN = Bobby Null
AB = Adam Brennecke