Preview Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter Update #3: Building the Kingdom + Gameplay Videos at IGN

[Infinitron]

Tags: Alexander Mishulin; Owlcat Games; Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Owlcat have published another Kickstarter update for Pathfinder: Kingmaker. This time it's about their plans for the game's kingdom management mechanic. Unlike the previous update, this one is conveyed in video form, with a six minute explanation from creative director Alexander Mishulin. Unfortunately, he isn't any more comprehensible than he was in the pitch video, so I'm not sure I could give you a summary.

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Luckily, there's more. Over at IGN, there's a preview of Kingmaker by Rowan "Poor Man's Cobbett" Kaiser. This one includes for the first time full-length gameplay videos from the prototype that was shown at Paizocon. They reveal a game that has been undeniably inspired by Obsidian's recent RPGs, with scripted interactions, use of prose in dialogue, and even Tyranny-style lore tooltips. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

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Looks pretty fun. Character movement/animation is a bit off, but that can be excused at this early stage.

 

[V_K]

You're seriously going to cover this piece of crap in-depth?

 

[Abu Antar]

I hope the do. I backed this "piece of crap".

This game sounds better than a lot of games announced lately. It might crash and burn, but such is life. We're used to it.

 

[Otree]

Not impressed by the gameplay videos.

 

[Shin]

well, I hope it turns out to be good

i really can't tell from 'zee videos'

 

[PrettyDeadman]

This looks brilliant!

 

[PrettyDeadman]

hire a spokesman who's half proficient in spoken English, have the rest of the team speak subtitled Russian

that'll be $10 for a PR advice

Those guys were able to talk Chris Avellone into this project.
I doubt that you professionally give PR advices.

 

[vortex]

Looks cool only I would prefer more fantastical setting and environments.

 

[Shin]

hire a spokesman who's half proficient in spoken English, have the rest of the team speak subtitled Russian

that'll be $10 for a PR advice

Those guys were able to talk Chris Avellone into this project.
I doubt that you professionally give PR advices.

Chris Avellone can be coerced into writing for a tetris clone at this stage of his career

he'd probably end up writing only some dialogue for the L block or something :/

 

[Vault Dweller]

A tragic tale of an L block that identified itself as J-block and its silent struggle to fit in.

 

[TT1]

I'm already sold for this project. It seems fun, with good elements and complexity of character development.

 

[V_K]

I wonder how would Sword Coast Legends be perceived on the Codex if the devs had Avellone write a minor character...

 

[Infinitron]

I wonder how would Sword Coast Legends be perceived on the Codex if the devs had Avellone write a minor character...

I wouldn't be posting about this game if I hadn't verified that it wasn't like Sword Coast Legends.

Look at the videos man, it's plainly obvious that what they're making is effectively a Pathfinder total conversion of Pillars of Eternity.

 

[V_K]

effectively a Pathfinder total conversion of Pillars of Eternity

And this is supposed to be better than SCL how?

 

[Ulfhednar]

effectively a Pathfinder total conversion of Pillars of Eternity

And this is supposed to be better than SCL how?

In every way? I'm genuinely confused...

 

[Oasis]

The IGN article says the release date is roughly nine months from now. As someone looking forward to both this and Deadfire, I would rather they didn't come out around the same time of year. First world problem I guess, but is this a strategy? Seems like they'd eat into each other.

 

[Infinitron]

The IGN article says the release date is roughly nine months from now. As someone looking forward to both this and Deadfire, I would rather they didn't come out around the same time of year. First world problem I guess, but is this a strategy? Seems like they'd eat into each other.

They're mistaken, the Kickstarter says August 2018 and even that is highly tentative as you should be aware by now.

 

[V_K]

I'll mark that date in my calendar so that I won't forget to gloat.

 

[Mightmagic]

Is it normal that HUD is similary to PoE?

 

[Quantomas]

I wonder how would Sword Coast Legends be perceived on the Codex if the devs had Avellone write a minor character...

I wouldn't be posting about this game if I hadn't verified that it wasn't like Sword Coast Legends.

Look at the videos man, it's plainly obvious that they're making what is effectively a Pathfinder total conversion of Pillars of Eternity.

The competiton between Deadfire and Kingmaker might get interesting.

Not only has Kingmaker MCA while Deadfire has not.

PoE uses preprocessed backgrounds and I always found Obsidian's argument flawed that this is more economic. The rationale is that the artists can add more detail, but if you look at the workflow they still start out with a 3D model of the scene and have to go through an entire preprocessing pipeline. The argument hinges mostly on whether the finishing touches of the artists and the added detail is worth the effort, which never has been proven.

On the other hand Kingmaker uses persistent 3D modelling in the game and if you look at the videos on IGN, which contain a good mix of indoor and outdoor areas, the level of detail is perfectly good for a game of this type. The devs at Owlcat have ten years experience with tools for the generation of landscapes which combine handcrafted and procedural elements. If I am not mistaken, they also have a large library of 3D assets for the bestiary.

It might end up in a competition who can build the more rich and rewarding game. PoE fell short in so many areas, including encounter design and the weak stronghold features, the lacklustre mega-dungeon is a major missed opportunity, Twin Elms is scaled down. It is not far fetched that these elements just lacked some more work, which is essentially a budget and efficiency issue.

If Kingmaker raises a comparative amount of funds, we may be in for a real treat, hopefully.

Whether it will be great though may depend on other issues, like whether MCA will have enough freedom to establish a process to do the lore of Pathfinder justice.

 

[twincast]

Is it normal that HUD is similary to PoE?

What is normal? However, I seem to remember Obsidian making a big deal during PoE's production - or rather as far back as the Kickstarter campaign - about having purchased the rights to the proprietary Infinity Engine GUI elements just in case they ever got to make a successor (spiritual or otherwise), specifically the "go here" circle arrows, so seeing such in this game surprised me.

 

[Rivmusique]

Was sort of expecting an SCL-like. Pleased enough to keep an eye on this.

 

[Excidium II]

Looks p. banal. We've all already played it.

 

[Forest Dweller]

hire a spokesman who's half proficient in spoken English, have the rest of the team speak subtitled Russian

that'll be $10 for a PR advice

Agreed. I couldn't bring myself to watch the whole video.

I'd rather read subtitles.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I wonder how would Sword Coast Legends be perceived on the Codex if the devs had Avellone write a minor character...

I wouldn't be posting about this game if I hadn't verified that it wasn't like Sword Coast Legends.

Look at the videos man, it's plainly obvious that they're making what is effectively a Pathfinder total conversion of Pillars of Eternity.

it looks more in line with baldurs gate than PoE even though PoE was supposed to be based on baldurs gate. Both obviously are very similar-but so far kingmaker seems even more so, with the sounds, voices, footsteps, music and monster types and of course even rule set. Honestly it looks better to me, but I am clearly a fan of the D&D rule-set and game world over PoE. PoE probably does have superior art direction overall, but for what they are designing this works just as well to me even if it does have some of that goofy pathfinder art.