Eternity Avowed - Obsidian's first person action-RPG in the Pillars of Eternity setting

[Lord_Potato]

So, Gamebryo/Creation till retirement it is

As much as I enjoy mocking Bethesda over Gamebryo, they have done a lot of iterative work on that engine. The file/data structure hasn't changed much since Morrowind (which is good as this is probably one of the best parts of the engine) but I'm sure the rest of the engine is mostly unrecognisable.

The most frustrating thing is how long it has taken them to improve/iterate over some very basic flaws in the engine. Framerate being soft-capped due to physics and script bugs for instance is something they only addressed with Fallout 76.

And in Fallout 4 you still can't enter most buildings without a loading screen. Hopefully they manage to 'overcome' this engine limitation for Starfield.

 

[Tacgnol]

So, Gamebryo/Creation till retirement it is

As much as I enjoy mocking Bethesda over Gamebryo, they have done a lot of iterative work on that engine. The file/data structure hasn't changed much since Morrowind (which is good as this is probably one of the best parts of the engine) but I'm sure the rest of the engine is mostly unrecognisable.

The most frustrating thing is how long it has taken them to improve/iterate over some very basic flaws in the engine. Framerate being soft-capped due to physics and script bugs for instance is something they only addressed with Fallout 76.

And in Fallouy 4 you still can't enter most buildings without a loading screen. Hopefully they manage to 'overcome' this engine limitation for Starfield.

They've allegedly "improved" the cell system, so who knows?

 

[Readher]

So, Gamebryo/Creation till retirement it is

As much as I enjoy mocking Bethesda over Gamebryo, they have done a lot of iterative work on that engine. The file/data structure hasn't changed much since Morrowind (which is good as this is probably one of the best parts of the engine) but I'm sure the rest of the engine is mostly unrecognisable.

The most frustrating thing is how long it has taken them to improve/iterate over some very basic flaws in the engine. Framerate being soft-capped due to physics and script bugs for instance is something they only addressed with Fallout 76.

And in Fallouy 4 you still can't enter most buildings without a loading screen. Hopefully they manage to 'overcome' this engine limitation for Starfield.

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

 

[Hobo Elf]

So, Gamebryo/Creation till retirement it is

As much as I enjoy mocking Bethesda over Gamebryo, they have done a lot of iterative work on that engine. The file/data structure hasn't changed much since Morrowind (which is good as this is probably one of the best parts of the engine) but I'm sure the rest of the engine is mostly unrecognisable.

The most frustrating thing is how long it has taken them to improve/iterate over some very basic flaws in the engine. Framerate being soft-capped due to physics and script bugs for instance is something they only addressed with Fallout 76.

And in Fallouy 4 you still can't enter most buildings without a loading screen. Hopefully they manage to 'overcome' this engine limitation for Starfield.

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

It's mostly an immersion thing. It would be nice, but I don't think it's ever going to change.

 

[Sòren]

LONG ROTTEN SUBSCRIBE TO MY PATREON (link to patreon HERE) for MORE SHORT STORIES

link doesn't work. highly unprofessional.

 

[Roguey]

Probably due to the reputation of the Codex as being too "extreme right"

Why that is seen as being the epitome of evil incarnate, who knows...

In 2006? No way. Likely just got too busy to read. Also Obsidian was well on its way to transitioning fully into console action games that had little appeal here (Alpha Protocol, Aliens)

 

[Cross]

It's tough to speculate what would happen to TES VI if it's released without modding support. I think if the stakes are like either you sell millions of copies or tens of millions, Bethesda will have to find a solution for making it moddable. By the time TES VI releases, TES V will be largely forgotten (by the tens of millions audience), so it's difficult to ride on past reputation. My feeling is that if it's not moddable word of mouth will destroy sales.

It's not particularly tough to speculate since Bethesda games have always been released without modding support - on consoles, where the majority of sales for Bethesda games occur. A lot of people who play Bethesda games on PC also don't use mods, as hard as that may be too believe.

 

[thesecret1]

it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events.

You mean from engine bugs, like falling under the map, shooting up in the sky, etc. That's what they should focus on with engine upgrades. Fucking Gothic 1 didn't have these issues.

 

[Butter]

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

Fallout 4 load times are atrocious, even with an SSD. There are multiple mods designed to address this specifically.

 

[Gargaune]

There is no problem to have a moddable Unreal engine game. The problems will be the learning curve for modding this engine, and of course the license for releasing the tools.

Yes, technical solution aside, the learning curve would be the major issue in the modding scene because it would deprecate the existing knowledge base and disincentivise migration to the new title. Already Fallout 4 had a noticeably less productive mod scene, plenty of modders just carried on with Skyrim, and that's just over habit and the flavour of fiction. You tell those guys they gotta go back to square one (Morrowind square one, to be precise) for TES VI and they'll nope right out.

It's tough to speculate what would happen to TES VI if it's released without modding support. I think if the stakes are like either you sell millions of copies or tens of millions, Bethesda will have to find a solution for making it moddable. By the time TES VI releases, TES V will be largely forgotten (by the tens of millions audience), so it's difficult to ride on past reputation. My feeling is that if it's not moddable word of mouth will destroy sales.

It's not particularly tough to speculate since Bethesda games have always been released without modding support - on consoles, where the majority of sales for Bethesda games occur. A lot of people who play Bethesda games on PC also don't use mods, as hard as that may be too believe.

I guess it's time to beat this drum again - the modding scene provides staying power, a minority of the initial customer base keep talking about the game long after release, maintaining its public profile and attracting continued sales, regardless of whether those new customers are interested in mods themselves.

 

[Readher]

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

Fallout 4 load times are atrocious, even with an SSD. There are multiple mods designed to address this specifically.

You just probably have capped framerate. With unlocked framerate they're almost instant. It's true that you de facto need mods to do this, since unlocking framerate itself will cause physics to go haywire and the game logic will run faster (which mods fix). They already fixed that engine issue in FO76 though, so Starfield shouldn't have that problem.

 

[Delterius]

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

Fallout 4 load times are atrocious, even with an SSD. There are multiple mods designed to address this specifically.

You just probably have capped framerate. With unlocked framerate they're almost instant.

what

 

[Butter]

It's intentional, as it allows the interior to be larger than the exterior. Plus, it's good for containing certain people in an area where they're safe from some random events. The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era. My heavily modded Skyrim loading screens are so fast that I can maybe read 3 words from the lore screen, and I'm a fast reader.

Fallout 4 load times are atrocious, even with an SSD. There are multiple mods designed to address this specifically.

You just probably have capped framerate. With unlocked framerate they're almost instant.

what

It's true. Bethesda's engine is so fucked that increasing the frame rate speeds up loading. But then that would fuck up the physics.

 

[Perkel]

There is no problem to have a moddable Unreal engine game. The problems will be the learning curve for modding this engine, and of course the license for releasing the tools. For someone as big as Bethesda, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Epic release a cut down version of their toolset specifically for modders. :It is a mystery:

There is actually a problem.
UE5 has a lot of third party tools and parts that are integrated and don't allow developers to create mod tools if they want to use those parts of engine.

This is the same reason why CDPR RED engine doesn't allow to modify game map at all as it was made with separate tool which CDPR can't distribute to modders.

UE5 is like that times 10. Hell if you want to use it in any proper way you have to use Houdini with it's own $$$.

 

[Orud]

It's true. Bethesda's engine is so fucked that increasing the frame rate speeds up loading. But then that would fuck up the physics.

Because there is no incentive to fix that as long as consoles can't run any game decently above 30 fps (which is still the baseline). The second more horse power is added to consoles, AAA gamedevs immediately throttle it by more fancy graphics.

 

[Kem0sabe]

 

[HoboForEternity]

p good video and explained nicely the corporate speak bullshit about this game they use in the interview. i want this game to be at least decent since i like PoE, but eh not betting any chips on it.

 

[Fedora Master]

What expectations?

 

[luj1]

ahahahaha

Game will have 2 races, Human and Elves

 

[tastywaffles]

The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era.

There are Fallout 4 loading screens that can take literally 5-10 minutes to load. Multiple minutes per was common, was typical.

 

[copebot]

The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era.

There are Fallout 4 loading screens that can take literally 5-10 minutes to load. Multiple minutes per was common, was typical.

Not with the mod that fixes it. The game is broken on PC and was broken on PC in that respect from the moment it released.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

The loading is really non-issue in an SSD era.

There are Fallout 4 loading screens that can take literally 5-10 minutes to load. Multiple minutes per was common, was typical.

That has never happened to me. And it's on an SSD, btw.

 

[AwesomeButton]

"Obsidian: lower your expectations". It's sad.

 

[thesecret1]

Should be the official sub-title. "Avowed: Lower Your Expectations". Has a nice ring to it.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

"Obsidian: lower your expectations". It's sad.

When was it not like that, though?