Game News Project Eternity Kickstarter Update #3

[Zed]

Tags: J.E. Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity

This time the update is brought to you by Josh Sawyer, and contains more information on some of the fundamentals of the game: player character, story, party and races. While still not being very specific, at least we now know that party sizes and formations are going to be like they were in the Infinity games (with the addition of being able to configure your own formations). Besides the blog post, there's also a video with Sawyer explaining some of this stuff.

Here are some of the topics discussed:

Character Creation
At a minimum, players will be able to specify their main character's name, sex, class, race (including subrace), culture, traits, ability scores, portrait, and the fundamental starting options of his or her class (gear, skills, and talents). We have not worked out customization details of character avatars, but we believe those are important and will be updating on these specifics in the future.

Your Party
The maximum party size is the player's main character (PC) and up to five companions for a total of six characters. This does not preclude the addition of temporary characters in special circumstances. Companions are never forced on the player. Players can explore the entire world and its story on their own if they so choose. We feel companions are excellent sounding boards for the player's (and other companions') actions, but the story is ultimately about the player's personal conflict among the larger social and political complexities of the world.

The Set-Up
The player witnesses an extraordinary and horrific supernatural event that thrusts them into a unique and difficult circumstance. Burdened with the consequences of this event, the player has to investigate what has happened in order to free themselves from the restless forces that follow and haunt them wherever they go.​

There's more though, so make sure to read the entire Kickstarter update.

The update also included this piece of character concept art:

Stout women with face-tats and snowy landscapes confirmed!​

Future updates will discuss the soul/magic thing and the technology level of the world.

 

[CrustyBot]

Some nice info by Sawyer there. Party formations and 6 man party were pleasant surprises.

 

[Zed]

I'm definitely upping my pledge again. It sounds mostly like Baldur's Gate and that's my favorite of the IE games. The addition of player backgrounds and stuff sounds like a Tim Cainish ways of adding even more re-playability, love it.

By the way, "we already have that in the game working" - on the custom party formation thingy. How much have they actually done already? I wanna see tech demos!

 

[Duckard]

Elves.

All seriousness aside, the fact that they confirmed 6 character party is good. A good amount of information revealed and it seems like race and culture will play a major role in the game, so I await the people bitching about the "multikult PC crap". I wish they had gone with more interesting races, though, considering how few there are. Story seems like it will be good, and not information on the combat other than customizable formations, which are pretty pointless unless they actually make it so that enemies can't simply walk past your fighters. I like the update. Actual information about the game.

 

[Infinitron]

If they like formations that much, they ought to make them affect combat rolls. Like letting you form a phalanx or a schiltron or something. And make it more feasible to block off areas with them.

 

[Duckard]

Actually, I wonder how they will scale the difficulty based on how many party members you have. The update makes it seem like you can solo the game relatively easily.

 

[Cynic]

If they like formations that much, they ought to make them affect combat rolls. Like letting you form a phalanx or a schiltron or something. And make it more feasible to block off areas with them.

This is a really cool idea, but I don't know how feasible it will be without a TB system. Too much shit going on in RTwP to allow the player the time to calculate for all the possibilities.

If this game looks as good as ToEE, I'm going to be very fucking happy. So far lots of good stuff being hinted at. I would love the option for full party creation to be a stretch goal though.

 

[Infinitron]

If they like formations that much, they ought to make them affect combat rolls. Like letting you form a phalanx or a schiltron or something. And make it more feasible to block off areas with them.

This is a really cool idea, but I don't know how feasible it will be without a TB system. Too much shit going on in RTwP to allow the player the time to calculate for all the possibilities.

I don't know, it works well enough in Total War...

 

[Shadenuat]

Somehow I feel formations would be purely cosmetic feature, like in BG.

 

[Cynic]

I don't know, it works well enough in Total War...

Oh right, I am not an RTS gamer at all, so basically is this like certain formations give your party flat pluses and minuses to certain stats?

 

[dbx]

First comment on the kickstarter page: "For me, I'd like to see cat people" ... Hitler was right... Retards (and furries) should be put in the oven...

 

[Baron]

I understand that, for simple sales figures, devs will always go the path of 'Our races will be different, and yet familiar'...

This translates to Humans, Dangels and Aemons, Delves, and Ewarves.

I'd really love if devs developed diverse fantasy cultures of humans. Or human-like; no lazy blue skin, no fucking wings, no demons who suffer the cruel burden of society's prejudices. Or go the opposite with completely new races! (KROGAN FTW!) I mean, would Star Wars would have been improved if Chewbacca was an elf and Han Solo was frozen in carbonite by Jabba the Dwarf? It's suppose to be fantasy... why add ELVES?! At this point Elves aren't fantasy, they're historical non-fiction. I've met more fucking Elves than I have Belgians. Let me play a Belgian. That would be a god damned fantasy!*

"One race has feathered wings and is pious. This other race has a mean height 23 inches shorter than Humans!"



If Publishers didn't exist it would be necessary for Obsidian to invent them.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't know, it works well enough in Total War...

Oh right, I am not an RTS gamer at all, so basically is this like certain formations give your party flat pluses and minuses to certain stats?

Something like that. Granted, it would more difficult to calculate these when you can control each member of the party individually.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Let me play a Belgian.

 

[CrustyBot]

I don't know, it works well enough in Total War...

Oh right, I am not an RTS gamer at all, so basically is this like certain formations give your party flat pluses and minuses to certain stats?

It also changes how they are able to fight.

For example, the Testudo (turtle) formation makes a unit basically impervious to arrows, but mobility and ability to attack is significantly hampered. With the Phalanx, it makes front assault ridiculously difficult and is deadly against cavalry attacks but the lack of mobility also opens up the flanks and rear of the formation.

Total War is actually a p. good model for RPGs to look at when making RTwP combat, but it's a lot harder to implement and scale down considering that TW uses thousands of soldiers grouped into units of 100+ whereas you only have a party of 6 which you control individually here.

You'd probably have to apply the bonuses only if you issue out a party-wide Hold order if they're in formation, or accurately scale the bonuses if a number of party members leave the formation. Or something.

 

[FeelTheRads]

That "portrait" looks very Icewind Dale-ish. I wonder if it's by the same guy.

 

[Volourn]

"We are still developing the races of Project Eternity, but we are creating a range that encompasses the recognizable (e.g. humans, elves, dwarves)"

CONFIRMATION OF DWARVES? Let it be so.. OR FUKKIN' ELSE.


P.S. How the hell can you really do a pary of 6 when you will only have about 8 joinable npcs according to the kickstart add ons? WTF?


P.S.S. Just read some more - DWARVES ARE FUKKIN' IN! FUCK YEAH!!!

 

[Tigranes]

I'm actually happy with pretty much everything they revealed. And of course, pretty much all the core stuff is no surprise, if you know Obsidian's games or the devs at all - we all know roughly what their ideas on 'good ol' games' are.

I like the idea of having hotkeys to quickly rotate your formation, that was the major thing that made them not very relevant in the old IE games. To me that suggests that formations and positioning will play at least a more important role than BG/IWD, though maybe that's just the optimist in my head talking shit.

Don't understand the shit about the races. :yawn: They shouldn't have anything called Elves at all? Who cares what they're called as long as they're well written into the setting? The Elves will just be 'Normal Elves with a DARK and EDGY twist'? Sounds like... sounds like... oh, sounds like people making stuff up in their heads when there's no information available. Personally, the most important thing is what they do with the elves or dwarves or neanderthals or monkeymen. Elves are detached superior pricks? Fine! Elves are actually second class citizens in ghettos? Fine! What matters is how much their reality, their dialogue, their quests, their architecture, their place in the story, makes sense in well thought-out ways relative to that. After all, Torment was full of Angels and Demons, EDGY 'not-evil' Succubi, 'oh-so-original' logical machines that predate WALL-E, etc. They turned out alright.

Two negatives though, for me. Firstly, most of it seems pretty close to the IE legacy, and obviously that's the idea, but I do want to see fairly significant innovations, not a copy. Secondly, the portrait is just meh - and the map was meh too, so all the pieces of 'art' we've seen so far haven't been great, though it's all early.

 

[FeelTheRads]

P.S. How the hell can you really do a pary of 6 when you will only have about 8 joinable npcs according to the kickstart add ons? WTF?

8 - 6 = 2.

Volourn cannot into math.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

That "portrait" looks very Icewind Dale-ish. I wonder if it's by the same guy.

Was wondering the same after having spent about 1 straight hour building IWD characters last night. Heh.

 

[Volourn]

"8 - 6 = 2."

You miss the point, idiot. It doesn'ty give the player a lot of options in regards to party make up. 8 joinable + 5 open party slots = not a lot of variety.

 

[Infinitron]

It does look Icewind Dale-ish at first, but have a closer look, it's not really.

But, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. JUSTIN SWEET STRETCH GOAL!

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

P.S. How the hell can you really do a pary of 6 when you will only have about 8 joinable npcs according to the kickstart add ons? WTF?

Yeah man. That's only 1 more than Planescape: Torment had and it only had a party size of...wait what? 6? Really? Why the fuck is everyone bitching about this then?

 

[Jaesun]

SO......... basically this is The Black Hound, removed from the (limited) D&D setting and now told in Obsidian's own new IP?

Will up my pledge. And FUCK YES. party of 6 and NO mandatory Companions.

 

[Tigranes]

SO......... basically this is The Black Hound, removed from the (limited) D&D setting and now told in Obsidian's own new IP?

Will up my pledge. And FUCK YES. party of 6 and NO mandatory Companions.

Don't say that, man! Do you want this thing to never be released?