Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Sentinel]

You should consider that whatever this game is, it's something that a guy who worked on Diablo 3 for a decade chose to take on for a change of pace. Generic fantasy may be unlikely.

Indeed, he didn't mind spending 10 years on just one popamole fantasy RPG.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...unity-interview-with-leonard-boyarsky.111252/

Any idea when the Sawyer interview is coming out?

 

[Trodat]

You should consider that whatever this game is, it's something that a guy who worked on Diablo 3 for a decade chose to take on for a change of pace. Generic fantasy may be unlikely.

10 years? He was the world designer and IIRC he didn't even have any credits in the expansion. He probably left Blizzard for Obsidian mostly because they had no interesting projects for a cRPG guy such as Leo, not because he was offered a radically unique project to work on along with Tim Cain. The fact that it's not being crowdfunded (at least there were never public mentions of it) means that there's a publisher behind it, and if it is a Triple A game then the publisher isn't a small one. Publishers usually don't like unique stuff.
Who would even be the publisher? If it's a Triple A console game, I doubt Paradox is the one greenlighting it. I think that'd be a first for them.

What about THQ Nordic? They are publishing ELEX and other PC centric titles.

 

[Latelistener]

What about THQ Nordic? They are publishing ELEX and other PC centric titles.

It could be anything, including a PeasantStation timed exclusive, published by Sony.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

http://www.obsidian.net/jobs/open-positions/art/930-lead-character-artist

Obsidian Entertainment is looking for talented, self-motivated Lead Character Artist to join our growing team of RPG developers.

The Lead Character Artist position requires a solid understanding of current AAA-quality art, consistent character design, art pipelines, and current game console criteria and their limitations on memory and performance. This person understands the value of the production schedule and how to fit project goals within it. This is a hands-on position, by which he or she will set an example through exceptional asset creation, understanding current character art technologies, tools pipelines and interdepartmental dependencies. The Lead Character Artist will help to implement required production methods to guarantee the highest quality result, in an efficient and timely manner.

Experience with Epic's Unreal Engine 4

This is for Tim and Leonard's game.

Are you sure? We cannot be 100% sure if there is not another secret game in development. If it is a publisher title, we won't have any info on it earlier than a year before a release.

 

[Infinitron]

Are you sure? We cannot be 100% sure if there is not another secret game in development. If it is a publisher title, we won't have any info on it earlier than a year before a release.

Probably: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...discussion-thread.84849/page-134#post-4539217
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...discussion-thread.84849/page-135#post-4543549

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

No
I seriously hoped for Tim and Leonard isometric turn based game on Pillars engine.
My hoped just plummeted. Very painful

 

[Trodat]

VTMB style first / third person game on UE4 doesn't sound too bad.

 

[Rev]

No
I seriously hoped for Tim and Leonard isometric turn based game on Pillars engine.
My hoped just plummeted. Very painful

From your interview, it doesn't sound like Leonard is too much a fan of isometric games, although the fact they're using UE4 doesn't mean it will necessarily be in first or third person.
Still, he said it's his dream project and that, coming from a man who worked on Fallout, Arcanum and Bloodlines, is rather exciting, I'd say.

Btw, good work with the interview (and the previous ones), man.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

True, but the first ever specific informations about the project are quite negative. Consoles, 3d. Good only for melee action RPGs. And i don't expect melee action RPGs from Tim and Leonard

 

[Rev]

Well, last time they worked on a 3D game with first person view they gave us Bloodlines, so it's not all bad.

 

[Neanderthal]

Steel yourselves and admit that there is no hope left. No developer, no publisher, no crowdfunder, no industry legend will give us what we search for, there is no perfect RPG being developed, nor will there ever be. That is the only truth, and you must embrace it and find a way past it.

Then...and only then can you find a quest worth pursuing. Seek the Grail in a land benighted and godless, seek Jerusalem in a world that has fallen, seek the Maltese Falcon that was never lost. Look past hope, dreams, aspirations and embrace your pariahhood. Quest even though you know that your travels are futile. Every disappointment shall be a blow upon the iron of your soul, tempering you to a keener edge, and you shall come to enjoy the pain, to need it even. In this stubborn resolve not to bow to reality or sense, find yourself grinning back at the world through broken teeth and bloodied lips, and know that you are worthy.

Or get pissed senseless an write weird shit like I do, cheers.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

there is no perfect RPG being developed, nor will there ever be.

In RPGs there are so many systems that any hope for perfect RPG is crazy and meaningless. We don't need perfect RPGs, we never had them and never will. Rather than hoping for some masturbatory Planescape Torment with Baldurs Gate 2 combat (but turn based!) and Fallout's 2 choice and consequences, better to enjoy each of those games separately.

 

[Neanderthal]

No I tilt at windmill, even though I see no dragon.

 

[Latelistener]

Steel yourselves and admit that there is no hope left. No developer, no publisher, no crowdfunder, no industry legend will give us what we search for, there is no perfect RPG being developed, nor will there ever be. That is the only truth, and you must embrace it and find a way past it.

We can't even have a PC-oriented middle budget 3D RPG. The last one was Bloodlines I think, and it was 12 years ago. Let's start with that.

 

[Infinitron]

After working on Diablo 3 for so many years, I'm not sure it would come as a surprise that Boyarsky chose not to work on a point-and-click isometric game.

 

[vortex]

Judging by Feargus Urquhart words about making "his Skyrim", this project with Boyarsky will be first person RPG. Camera view does not determine my choice about the game.
If the gameplay feels right imbued with compelling story, camera view does not bother me.
With Boyarsky onboard, this could be Arcanum/Fallout spiritual succesor.

 

[Sentinel]

Judging by Feargus Urquhart words about making "his Skyrim", this project with Boyarsky will be first person RPG. Camera view does not determine my choice about the game.
If the gameplay feels right imbued with compelling story, camera view does not bother me.
With Boyarsky onboard, this could be Arcanum/Fallout spiritual succesor.

Urquhart said that he'd like PoE to become Obsidian's "Skyrim" (by Skyrim he meant Elder Scrolls).

 

[vortex]

Urquhart said that he'd like PoE to become Obsidian's "Skyrim" (by Skyrim he meant Elder Scrolls).

Ah yes, he also wants Pillars to reach similar importance.

I was refering this one
http://kotaku.com/a-sci-fi-skyrim-was-in-development-at-obsidian-it-ha-736060432
Maybe this project Backspace will be revamped in some way or maybe something completely new.

 

[Lacrymas]

He'd like "PoE to become Obsidian's Skyrim"? What does that mean? Being a never-ending franchise? An "open world" hiking simulator? Being as popular as Skyrim (hint: not gonna happen)? No thought put into it whatsoever? Inconsequential to anyone with a few brain cells? He wants it to reach "similar importance"? What does THAT mean? Skyrim isn't important to anything, apart from Bethesda's pockets, it's certainly not important to gaming as a whole. Unless you view "gaming" as only the business part of it. Maybe he means similar profit margins.

 

[Infinitron]

He'd like "PoE to become Obsidian's Skyrim"? What does that mean? Being a never-ending franchise? An "open world" hiking simulator? Being as popular as Skyrim (hint: not gonna happen)? No thought put into it whatsoever? Inconsequential to anyone with a few brain cells? He wants it to reach "similar importance"? What does THAT mean? Skyrim isn't important to anything, apart from Bethesda's pockets, it's certainly not important to gaming as a whole. Unless you view "gaming" as only the business part of it. Maybe he means similar profit margins.

Skyrim is hugely important to gaming, since it decisively buried the BioWare-style "story RPG" genre and made open world the law of the land. You can't understand the modern AAA landscape without understanding Skyrim.

But what Feargus really means by "Skyrim" is "New Vegas, but owned by us".

 

[Bubbles]

He wants it to reach "similar importance"? What does THAT mean? Skyrim isn't important to anything, apart from Bethesda's pockets, it's certainly not important to gaming as a whole. Unless you view "gaming" as only the business part of it. Maybe he means similar profit margins.

Skyrim changed the landscape for role-playing games completely. I mean Oblivion probably sold six million units, basically that range, Skyrim sold 20 million. So that, to some degree, changes everything. Now the expectations of your other fans, they’re changing too. People age, they typically have less time for games, so it changes their expectations in terms of gameplay segments. It also results in some nostalgia. so they may become even more firm in their attachment to previous features. Now suddenly you have 15 million people that have basically had the first RPG they’ve ever played as Skyrim. They have totally different expectations of what storytelling is, what exploration is, and I think exploration is really where we’ve seen the biggest change.

What we’ve traditionally seen is that as a console generation turns over the dominant genre has changed. Shooters weren’t the dominant genre a generation ago, it was racing games. If you go back before that, to the PlayStation 1 era, it was actually role-playing games. I think that’s what we may be seeing here. I don’t know that role-playing games will be necessarily dominant but I do think we may see open-world exploration games being the dominant genre of this generation.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-11-03-biowares-inquisition

 

[Lacrymas]

So, yeah, basically only the business part of it, like I said. Skyrim didn't revolutionize gaming, it just became popular enough so that other companies want a piece of that pie. There were "open world" games (and much better ones) before it. This has been happening to entertainment for ...forever. This doesn't explain what he means by "Obsidian's Skyrim".

 

[Infinitron]

I believe it's Unkillable Cat who says that The Lemmings is the last time anybody actually invented an entirely new game concept.

 

[Lacrymas]

You don't need to create new genres or concepts to be revolutionary, but Skyrim brought nothing new (or even twist the old) to the table, it even dumbed down everything else it brought. Why certain things achieve mainstream popularity has always been a mystery to me.

 

[Lacrymas]

This thing also kinda contradicts the whole sales pitch of PoE, which promised "old-school gaming" and you can't get any farther than that than Skyrim. It's also fundamentally contradictory because he wants to use a new game as a model for an "old-school" one. Shooting himself in the foot?