Pillars of Eternity Beta Discussion [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Zed]

The collector's edition will hopefully have a "book box."

Who gives a crap about the pleb edition.

 

[tuluse]

Box doesn't even have a flap on the front. 0/10

 

[Sensuki]

So does that ad mean they managed to get this to fit on one disc, that's impressive considering Wasteland 2 needed two.

All retail non-backer discs use steam, which means they do not have to store all of the files on disc.

 

[ushas]

BTW, Athelas et al. I think we do need to say something about the Combat Only stuff, because even with stuff like some instant pre-buffs like the Fighter's Disciplined Barrage, you have to 'game the system' to be able to use that ability on the first attack of an encounter if you attack from Stealth or attack a neutral NPC.

For instance if you want to hit someone with a Disciplined Barrage boosted Knockdown, you have to attack with another character just so it triggers the combat state, THEN you can attack with your Fighter with those abilities. I also think it's a bit of a *gotcha*.

I remember you did a thread on it a while ago but it didn't have too much impact. I think if we can put some solid cases for that shit to be revisited we can probably get it looked at in a post-release patch. Something to think about down the road, although not super critical ATM. If they untick combat only on some of the passives and the modals it should be better.

I'd say it's pretty critical, as exhibit A demonstrates: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ta-release-thread.93694/page-280#post-3663151

The combat state appears to be a programming shortcut to prevent lots of bugs and polish issues (I believe they said as much), but it might also be motivated by the desire to split up the combat into bite-sized chunks that are easier to 'consume'.

Does it feel like a temporary precaution? In that case, they will probably solve it in patches, but pressure will help to keep it as a high priority and make them not forget...

The start and end combat situations and connected bugs are the most jarring. Besides the offensive stuff, in case you need other less important arguments: Why couldn't we use all the buffs for adventuring overall? The game is illogical with itself anyway. You have to remember which buffs are out of combat and which not, artificially increasing strategy burden.

Some examples (not elaborated):

There is a priest spell Holy meditation giving the Will and concentration bonus, which you can use any time. And then the a combat only priest spell Armor of Faith giving bonus to the DR (small sadly), but still you cannot use it for boosting DR before a trap triggering, for example. The wizard buffs can be handy here, as well as Druid spell Beetle shell, but combat only. Of course, you have equivalent spell scrolls and potions not to waste a daily spell slots for that, but still combat only (chants too if I'm not mistaken).

As a side note, actually the wizard's selfbuffs are more handy as a potions, as anybody can use them (I think they should make it one target buffs)

Also, why we cannot think about to boost Might by any of the spells/scrolls/potions before the scripted interactions to move the boulder? We already can use the inn resting and food, giving similar bonuses (but no food boosting for Dexterity?). Also Holy Radiance buff works out of combat. There is a scroll spell giving +3 to athletics for ~100sec (I think I found one boosting mechanics too)...

It's not that I cannot go around it and powergame anyway. Just we were happy not to have class and level restrictions on equipment. Now we have combat only stop restricting player's creativity.

 

[Ellef]

I imagine there are going to be lots of bugs due to their insistence on rigid combat states.

Is there still that scenario mentioned previous where you can charm an animal, which leads to combat ending and therefore the charm expiring?

 

[ushas]

Is there still that scenario mentioned previous where you can charm an animal, which leads to combat ending and therefore the charm expiring?

Yes. At least in case of Druid charm and if there are not other hostile targets in the fight. You have like under 1 sec before they switch from friendly to hostile again. And it's not restricted combat only, you can cast it before start of combat, basically wasting your daily spell limit.

Hm, so some of the spells work only in combat even when not restricted. This one for example should last ~30sec. So that would be perfect explorational spell to calm animals and move party out of their sight before they change their minds --> no need for fighting. But unfortunately, the charm lasts 30sec only in combat. I'm not sure what are bugs or features any more...

 

[Grotesque]

That is not real box art.
Because I do not conceive that Obsidian will prove to be so amateur in this regard by using and old, mediocre, obsolete and out of place wallpaper for their boxed game art.

Oh God, please tell me this isn't so.
Some of the devs that lurk around here should bring some clarifications as soon as possible

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

That is not real box art.
Because I do not conceive that Obsidian will prove to be so amateur in this regard by using and old, mediocre, obsolete and out of place wallpaper for their boxed game art.

Oh God, please tell me this isn't so.
Some of the devs that lurk around here should bring some clarifications as soon as possible

I don't think that they'd bother to put all this Polish shit on a cover if it wasn't the final design. I mean it's going to come out in just over a month. They have to print all this shit some day.

 

[leferd]

That's Kieran Yanner's art, right? I don't think his work is amateur or mediocre at all.

It's a bit stylized comic art, but more than serviceable.

 

[Grotesque]

That is not real box art.
Because I do not conceive that Obsidian will prove to be so amateur in this regard by using and old, mediocre, obsolete and out of place wallpaper for their boxed game art.

Oh God, please tell me this isn't so.
Some of the devs that lurk around here should bring some clarifications as soon as possible

I don't think that they'd bother to put all this Polish shit on a cover if it wasn't the final design. I mean it's going to come out in just over a month. They have to print all this shit some day.

Oh fuck!

http://buy.pillarsofeternity.com/

it's even on the official page!

they should have use the art and layout that's on the manual

NO. This is not true.
It's a mistake somewhere

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

That is not real box art.
Because I do not conceive that Obsidian will prove to be so amateur in this regard by using and old, mediocre, obsolete and out of place wallpaper for their boxed game art.

Oh God, please tell me this isn't so.
Some of the devs that lurk around here should bring some clarifications as soon as possible

I don't think that they'd bother to put all this Polish shit on a cover if it wasn't the final design. I mean it's going to come out in just over a month. They have to print all this shit some day.

Oh fuck!

http://buy.pillarsofeternity.com/

it's even on the official page!

they should have use the art and layout that's on the manual

NO. This is not true.
It's a mistake somewhere

Yes. It was a mistake to trust Obsidian in the first place. Ha ha ha.

 

[Grotesque]

 

[Sensuki]

note to self for when I get home: investigate disappearing camping supplies at max cap

Bobby Null on Chant VO

This is something we are currently looking at. There are chant vocalizations in the current internal build, but Justin, Jorge and myself have found them to be a little... overbearing. We were just discussing this today. Since these fire when combat begins (which is often), they are going to need a little tweaking and Justin is looking into it. Not sure what the final result will be and it is possible they get cut if we can't find a happy medium of audio feedback without sounding too repetitive/annoying.

 

[dukeofwhales]

Collectors edition looks good. Hopefully it's the same size as my IE game boxes.

 

[aeonsim]

As a side note, actually the wizard's selfbuffs are more handy as a potions, as anybody can use them (I think they should make it one target buffs)

Also, why we cannot think about to boost Might by any of the spells/scrolls/potions before the scripted interactions to move the boulder? We already can use the inn resting and food, giving similar bonuses (but no food boosting for Dexterity?). Also Holy Radiance buff works out of combat. There is a scroll spell giving +3 to athletics for ~100sec (I think I found one boosting mechanics too)...

I agree for the most part though it doesn't hugely bother me (except around the Rogues backstab and that's more of a problem with the Stealth system), however for long term bonuses out side of combat there is Food & Drink plenty of those give +1, +2 to an Attribute (min 3min duration, longer with Survival), which you can combine with Resting to get upto +4 on most attributes, I'm not sure if the food bonuses can be stacked.

The Scroll spells give boosts are the Ritual Scrolls/spells and I thought they were usable outside of combat...

 

[Sensuki]

The hilarious thing IMO is that having Lore on a Wizard is actually pretty redundant.

 

[J_C]

Bobby Null on Chant VO

This is something we are currently looking at. There are chant vocalizations in the current internal build, but Justin, Jorge and myself have found them to be a little... overbearing. We were just discussing this today. Since these fire when combat begins (which is often), they are going to need a little tweaking and Justin is looking into it. Not sure what the final result will be and it is possible they get cut if we can't find a happy medium of audio feedback without sounding too repetitive/annoying.

I haven't played the beta, so maybe I'm not getting this right, but when a chant is starting, the character actually starts chanting/singing and does that throughout the battle? And the problem is that tha chanting might become repetitive/annoying? In that case, let the character just chant some stuff in the beginning once, there is no need to chant for minutes. We didn'T have to much bard singing in the IE games IIRC.

 

[Abu Antar]

Anyone of you guys know if the game will be at Rezzed like last year? I mean, Josh is in Europe, so it could be.

 

[Roguey]

So does that ad mean they managed to get this to fit on one disc, that's impressive considering Wasteland 2 needed two.

All retail non-backer discs use steam, which means they do not have to store all of the files on disc.

While that's true, Wasteland 2 also came bundled with Steam and they used two discs anyway.

 

[Infinitron]

So does that ad mean they managed to get this to fit on one disc, that's impressive considering Wasteland 2 needed two.

All retail non-backer discs use steam, which means they do not have to store all of the files on disc.

While that's true, Wasteland 2 also came bundled with Steam and they used two discs anyway.

What you need to find out is how much additional gigabytes had to be downloaded for each. You do dislike large downloads, after all...

 

[Roguey]

What you need to find out is how much additional gigabytes had to be downloaded for each. You do dislike large downloads, after all...

Obsidian plans to host the DRM-free patches themselves so I imagine they don't want to release gb+ patches like Wasteland 2.

Though as I understand it, the reason why Steam patches are so big is a combination of how Unity handles files and Steam handles patching, so they might not have those problems.

 

[Sensuki]

Yeah, because if they use Assetbundles, then a single change to something in resources.assets will cause you to download the whole file again.

 

[ushas]

I agree for the most part though it doesn't hugely bother me (except around the Rogues backstab and that's more of a problem with the Stealth system), however for long term bonuses out side of combat there is Food & Drink plenty of those give +1, +2 to an Attribute (min 3min duration, longer with Survival), which you can combine with Resting to get upto +4 on most attributes, I'm not sure if the food bonuses can be stacked.

The Scroll spells give boosts are the Ritual Scrolls/spells and I thought they were usable outside of combat...

You are right, I think resting in inn and food bonuses stack, just not food and drinks together (the biggest number is used). Indeed, the ritual spells work out of combat. But most probably not the normal spell scrolls, which are giving different bonuses, as well.

Well I'm pretty much adaptable myself. Nothing game breaking, it's just like having two different rulesets for similar situations. Futhermore, with ongoing changes and bugs, you can still use some of the spells, and others not, so feels illogical. But I probably notice such things too much as a fan of Quest for glory type of games, so don't take me too seriously

 

[Abu Antar]

BAdler said:

Right now the game is at around 14 GB installed.

Each installer is different, so I am not sure I can give you specifics. Right now the Steam installer is around 6 or 7 GB. Our physical disc installers are around the same. I would hope that GOG ends up being similar.

 

[SCO]

Lol, fucking multiregion releases. First mod i want is the mod that removes the french/german/russian/jap/.../tibetan voices.