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

[Sentinel]

Yes. There's a scenario at the beginning where you can simulate choices from PoE1 to port into PoE2. Kinda like Dragon Age Keep or whatever the fuck that was for DAI.

 

[FreeKaner]

Naval combat in that vid took nearly 10 minutes. That's probably too long if they don't want it to be boring/a hassle to engage in.

It's because he had no idea what he was doing, he should have just closed, turned one side and fire cannons, jibe and fire cannons. He couldn't even figure out that he can change cannoneers with having crew members report and instead kept shooting with only 2 cannons from one side. It was at least 3 times longer than it needed to be. Some more strategic depth in terms of ammunation, cannons and crew members could add a lot to it, so could some options regarding wind and angle of the ship. However the basis and UI is very good it only needs improvement in quantity.

What I am afraid of is however this will be all ship interaction, there really needs to be FTL and Sunless sea style inspection and interaction choices.

 

[Sizzle]

 

[Jezal_k23]

What I am afraid of is however this will be all ship interaction, there really needs to be FTL and Sunless sea style inspection and interaction choices.

That would be great, but it's unlikely they have time to implement that at this point, if they haven't planned it from the start.



Seems like they have changed their minds about maintaining a default and unchangeable combat speed.

 

[Jimmious]

That's awesome.

 

[Daedalos]

Anybody other than me getting shit fps and performance from the beta?

i7 4970k and 1070ti, so fairly powerful system i have.

he starter areas is like 50-55 fps not even maxed at 1200p.

What u guys have?

 

[Kem0sabe]

I don't like the mini game, looks basic and doesn't add anything to the fame beyond another check on the bullet point feature list.

At most the game should have boarding combat random encounters at sea.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Seems like they have changed their minds about maintaining a default and unchangeable combat speed.

Nice to know they spent all that development time changing the mechanics of every ability in the game to 'fix' the combat speed, breaking a few classes along the way, before giving the slider a try.

 

[FreeKaner]

Seems like they have changed their minds about maintaining a default and unchangeable combat speed.

Nice to know they spent all that development time changing the mechanics of every ability in the game to 'fix' the combat speed, breaking a few classes along the way, before giving the slider a try.

I don't think they are at all related, the slider is universal and not related to slowing down combat speed relatively. PoE1 combat is fast and hectic even if you slow it down to 0.1x speed because that's relative.

 

[jungl]

The worst thing they can possibly fuck up in this sequel is not giving you all the talents from the previous game. Forcing you to replay the pillars 1 if you a min maxer. You shouldn't even get anything from the previous game. It be best if they do away with the bioware route of choices from the previous game affecting the sequal. I don't know if they catched the memo but Bioware was a complete and utter failure in this. Your choices in the first mass effect were literally all text messages LOL you get in the mass effect 2. Would be far more productive if time was spent creating new quest/dungeon content or anything else really like adding minor sounds into the game. Caring about choices from previous game affecting a sequel is more cancerous nu-gaming shit then romances.

 

[Urthor]

The worst thing they can possibly fuck up in this sequel is not giving you all the talents from the previous game. Forcing you to replay the pillars 1 if you a min maxer. You shouldn't even get anything from the previous game. It be best if they do away with the bioware route of choices from the previous game affecting the sequal. I don't know if they catched the memo but Bioware was a complete and utter failure in this. Your choices in the first mass effect were literally all text messages LOL you get in the mass effect 2. Would be far more productive if time was spent creating new quest/dungeon content or anything else really like adding minor sounds into the game. Caring about choices from previous game affecting a sequel is more cancerous nu-gaming shit then romances.

or you just borrow a perfect save off someone and then rename/remake your character???

 

[Ulfhednar]

I don't think they are at all related, the slider is universal and not related to slowing down combat speed relatively. PoE1 combat is fast and hectic even if you slow it down to 0.1x speed because that's relative.

Right, but you can't change the relative speed without changing every other combat value in the game (damage, armor, accuracy, etc.) if you want to keep things balanced. It's literally a completely new system.

They could have added this slider into PoE 1 at anytime during it's development or any of its bajillion patches as a cheap fix to try and stop the complaints about game speed. And two months into a beta that changed the action and recovery time of every ability in the game, and took away slow mode in combat... lo and behold... our first mention of a combat speed slider.

 

[Prime Junta]

Sounds like development is going well, if they're adding QoL chrome like a combat speed slider, with two whole months left until release.

 

[Infinitron]

Just because they're adding a speed slider doesn't mean there's still not a default speed that's recommended for play, and it doesn't obviate any work they've done to rebalance the game around that default speed.

 

[aweigh]

problem isnt with the overall combat speed but the fact that with large numbers on-screens abilities go off in tandem or too quickly one after the other and the down-time in-between actions is never long enough to give you enough time to queue up actions for everybody.

when you slow the combat down the down-time becomes too long without solving the problem.

other than making it turn-based the only way to properly play on higher difficulties is with constant pausing to manage units, something that isnt inherently wrong but it can become tiresome because you fight too often enemies that are too trivial to your success yet require the same amount of pausing to properly dispatch as enemies who actually do count.

one way of alleviating the need to pause is to do something Tyranny did which is slow everything down, the down-time between actions and the actions themselves all animate much slower in Tyranny, and since you only have 4 units there, and most Tyranny encounters feature less numbers than PoE 1, i found that in Tyranny there wasnt as pressing a need to manage my units or pause and look at the log as in PoE 1.

however while this alleviated the frantic micro management of PoE 1 by no means does this mean that doing things like Tyranny (slow everything down including action animations, slice the ampount of on-screen units by half or more)-- that doing things like Tyranny is the correct way and to many it was less enjoyable than PoE 1 for these very reasons.

Since they will never move this to turn-based the best way is unknown to me. Slowing things down is the correct approach IMO, but by how much and what things should be slowed down will always be subjective; as for amount of on-screen units? some people prefer the large numbers of PoE 1 and some prefer the more structured encounters of Tyranny (at least its Act 1 encounters)... again, subjective as well.

one thing i've never understood is why they can't allow queued actions visible like in NWN 1 and 2 (and Kotor too, for that matter). Is that so hard?

 

[FreeKaner]

Why do you need to alleviate the need to pause? I played on slow speed in PoE with auto-pause on combat start and enemy down, while still occasionally pausing myself to set up spells and such. Combat speed in itself (not the slow-mo slider) changes how frequently you need to pause not whether you need it or not. If people are aiming to play without no pauses whatsoever well they better get really good at micromanagement. Also you can queue actions in PoE with shift and I did it often, especially with a priest and druid since their AoE is rather large for most spells.

 

[Elex]

Seems like they have changed their minds about maintaining a default and unchangeable combat speed.

Nice to know they spent all that development time changing the mechanics of every ability in the game to 'fix' the combat speed, breaking a few classes along the way, before giving the slider a try.

also they removed the slow mode.

 

[LESS T_T]

Wave of previews are coming out...:

https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of...lars-of-eternity-ii-ship-combat-customisation
https://www.mmorpg.com/previews/pil...w-it-may-be-obsidians-best-rpg-yet-1000012453
http://news.softpedia.com/news/pill...iew-ships-pirates-and-dice-rolls-519700.shtml
http://expansivedlc.com/pillars-eternity-2-deadfire-preview/
https://www.finder.com.au/pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire-review

Also interview with Sawyer: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...t-from-studio-for-hire-to-building-its-own-ip

Pillars of Eternity II director on Obsidian's shift from studio-for-hire to building its own IP
Working on your own IP is "less about the freedom and more about the institutional knowledge to understand what the IP is"

Obsidian Entertainment currently finds itself in an unusual position as, for the first time in its 14-year history, the studio is making a sequel to one of its own games, rather than someone else's.

After having raised $4.4 million on equity crowdfunding platform Fig earlier last year, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is scheduled for release in early April 2018.

While Obsidian is more than well versed in what it takes to craft a pitch-perfect sequel for an IP it doesn't own, it's now faced with the new challenge of delivering a worthwhile second installment for one of its own properties.

Obsidian is a name that carries a certain weight among fans of RPGs. Founded in 2003, the studio's first game was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II which was launched just 18 months later. It was, by all accounts, rushed out by the publisher in time for Christmas, leaving vast swathes of the game unfinished. But, to Obsidian's credit, it was met with a positive reception from both fans and critics and remains a classic to this day.

Since then, Obsidian has only solidified its position as a studio of calibre and talent, with titles like Fallout: New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth, to its name. All of this, coupled with a genealogy dating back to the old Infinity Engine games and the original Fallout series, has inspired a great deal of confidence and loyalty from fans.



Josh Sawyer, Obsidian Enterainment


Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz Josh Sawyer, creative director for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, explored the challenges and advantages of working on a sequel to your own IP.

"The pressure is sort of the same in that I know what the expectations of people who like the Infinity Engine games are, and it's why I can design for them," he says. "But working on someone elses' IP you also have preconceived expectations. Working on Star Wars, for example, there is certainly no shortage of fans that have opinions on how everything should be in the universe.

"It's more nerve-wracking [working on Pillars of Eternity] in the sense that it's all our responsibility, but there's no pressure in the sense that I feel like I can do a good a job on this as someone elses' IP. So from that perspective I feel totally fine working on it, it's just knowing that I don't want to let the company down, I don't want to squander the chance I've been given to make something for the fans.

"Because this is an intellectual property that Obsidian wants to continue to develop, both in games like this and potentially other spin-off games, we want to make sure that it remains very healthy and popular and continues to grow over time. Because for an indie developer, being able to own your own IP is a blessing, and if your IP actually gets traction that's a double-blessing so we can't squander this."

Sawyer has years of experience working on properties from Fallout to Dungeons & Dragons. While he's acutely aware of how important it is to get entries into these series right, he alludes to the frustration of working with IP holders who are - understandably he admits - protective of their brand.

"For the big IPs like Star Wars there are legions of people at Lucasfilm, and now Disney, who are responsible for maintaining the DNA of that and it can be frustrating to run afoul of that," he says. "They just want something that fits, and that's totally fine for them to do that, but it's a much more difficult process because what you think is cool and exciting and interesting - that has to go through another party to figure out if it really applies."

Additionally, when you don't control the brand, its gradual evolution is thrust upon you, rather than being shaped by you. For Sawyer, who cut his teeth developing these games, Dungeons & Dragons typifies the problem and what makes working on an IP owned by Obsidian an exciting opportunity.

"That's a game that has changed franchise holder over the years, and what goes and what doesn't go has changed a lot over those years too," says Sawyer. "That was really weird because the IP holder... changed a lot of the focus over time so even when you think you have your head around an IP, the holder can go in another direction and then you have to reconceive all of this stuff.

"But when it's your IP, you're the ones deciding to take it in a new direction, and it's less about the freedom and more about the institutional knowledge to understand what the IP is really about, that gives you the power to hopefully grow it in ways that feels organic and natural."

Obsidian is changing the scope the sequel with the inclusion of ships and seafaring


Growing the game and IP in an organic way lies at the core of Obsidian's development approach to Deadfire. The team knows exactly what game it is trying to make, and with a host of veterans from the Infinity Engine games onboard, it no doubt has the talent required.

But of course, as a crowdfunding project with an established fanbase, it also has the will of its supporters to contend with. This can put a studio at odds with its own creative vision if not kept in check, but it's something Sawyer and the development team have approached with consideration.

"We try to listen to everyone but obviously we don't do everything they suggest," he says. "So we do have to rely on our experience, and we do have to read between the lines. One thing that we're also doing is relying both on qualitative feedback from individual backers, as well as quantitative feedback from telemetry."

With the launch of Deadfire rapidly approaching, telemetry data from beta players is essential for honing down those rough edges. While the sheer volume of data harvested from volunteers can hold the secret to ensuring the final product hits its mark, it can be a double-edged sword if you don't know what answers you're looking for.

"I think what a lot of people who get telemetry data find out is that you can ask for more and more of it, then it actually lands on your desk and you don't know how to make sense of it," says Sawyer.

"Data is not a solution, data is another tool to understand things. You have to ask the right questions, and you have to always put the data in context. It doesn't just answer things for you.

"You can look at data to either compliment or contrast the game. If you hear a lot of people saying something [about the game], but you see data that contradicts that, then you have to start asking why? Are there other data elements that go into this that aren't telling the whole story."

With Deadfire, Obsidian's legacy is arguably at stake. It's a studio which has demonstrated that, despite having been forced to release games prematurely in the past, it can still develop first-class titles. As an independent studio with its own property to protect, it's also showed willingness with the launch of the prequel to delay a game, not just for the benefit of the consumer, but for the health of the studio's reputation and IP.

"I've worked on a lot of games that for one reason or another, wound up being rushed, and I know they were rushed, but I don't necessarily have a lot of control over when they come out," said Sawyer. "With Pillars of Eternity I we were supposed to ship in the winter prior but it wasn't ready. It was technically done in the sense that all the stuff was in the game, but it played like junk and was really buggy.

"This is our IP, something we made for fans, who were telling us to take our time. We don't want to waste time, we don't want to just sit here and spin our wheels on dumb crap, but we recognise that we had one chance to make a good impression with this franchise, so let's take some more time. So we took several more months and the game was vastly better, it still had some problems on launch, but it was way better. You would not have want to seen it before it launched."

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/watch-pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfires-ship-combat-in-action/

Watch Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire's ship combat in action
Ship-to-ship combat in the RPG sequel's archipelago.

At the end of Pillars of Eternity, after slaying Thaos and restoring the natural cycle of life and death to the Dyrwood, the Watcher settles down in their stronghold of Caed Nua. But any hopes of a peaceful life are dashed when, in the cavernous dungeons beneath the fortress, the god Eothas awakens. The deity, taking the form of a giant stone titan, breaks free. Caed Nua is destroyed and the Watcher is badly injured. But they survive and so begins a quest for vengeance as our hero travels to the exotic Deadfire Archipelago in pursuit of the rampaging god that destroyed their home and left them for dead.

Deadfire is a direct sequel to Pillars of Eternity, the crowd-funded RPG that took the best bits of classic Infinity Engine games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment—deep systems, rich worlds, reactive stories—and confidently retooled them for a modern audience. You are, once again, the Watcher: an individual blessed (or cursed, depending on who you ask) with the ability to look into people’s souls and relive the past lives of their ancestors. The character you created in the first game can be imported, or you can make a new one.

The ragtag islands of the Deadfire Archipelago are scattered across a great expanse of ocean spanning thousands of miles. Some of these islands have been inhabited for generations by indigenous tribes, or have recently been colonised by foreign explorers. But many remain uncharted, home to rare treasures, forgotten dungeons, and fell beasts. Developer Obsidian (Knights of the Old Republic II, Fallout: New Vegas) is promising a variety of terrain, including lush jungles and barren deserts: a far cry from the temperate forests of the Dyrwood, which was a fairly typical fantasy setting in most respects.

The lawless Deadfire Archipelago is like a watery Wild West, and someone is always looking to scrap. Pirates roam the seas, looking for passing ships to plunder or just blow out of the water for sport. And this is the thing that really sets Deadfire apart from its predecessor. As well as the traditional RPG stuff you’d expect from a Pillars game, you’ll also be spending a lot of time at sea, exploring, travelling, and trying not to end up as a pile of smouldering driftwood.

Freedom of expression is a big part of the Infinity Engine lineage of RPGs, and Deadfire is no different. The Watcher doesn’t have to be a hero, and there are plenty of ways to cause trouble in the archipelago. As well as pirates you’ll see defenceless merchant ships on the world map, and you can attack and loot them if your black heart desires it. But repeatedly sinking civilian ships will give you a bad reputation, and people you meet can react to it.

Ship combat, which is turn-based, takes place on a separate screen with its own dedicated interface. There’s a circle showing you which way your ship is facing relative to the enemy, and you command your crew by selecting items on a menu. You can use a turn to reposition your ship, speed up to get closer to your opponent, slow down to create some distance, or fire your weapons. Your cannons are only effective at specific ranges, however, which makes positioning important. If you’re trading paint with the enemy, your long range guns will be useless. An illustration showing the enemy ship, its distance, and its current level of damage is an at-a-glance way to see how the battle is going.

This is an elegant way of representing naval combat, rather than trying to make it occur in real-time, which Pillars’ engine just wasn’t designed for. Wind was originally going to be a factor, but Obsidian decided it simply wasn’t fun having to manage that on top of everything else. The studio is still refining the system and it may change again before release, but what’s in place now is a fine way of getting across the idea of fighting at sea.

If this all sounds a bit ship-heavy, don’t worry: there’s plenty of traditional RPG stuff in Pillars II, including wizards, dungeons, and dragons—whose skulls you can decorate your quarters with. While investigating an uncharted island I stumbled into a sand-blasted ruin guarded by an immense titan quivering with magical energy. So while it is indeed very big on pirates and sailing, it’s still fundamentally a fantasy game. And it won’t all be small, isolated islands either: Neketaka is a huge city and cultural hub where you’ll probably spend hours completing quests and talking to the locals.

Obsidian could have just made Pillars again with a new story and setting, and a lot of people would’ve been happy. But it’s exciting to know that Deadfire is so much more, bringing a thrilling seafaring element to the familiar fantasy role-playing. Naval combat, crew management, ship upgrades, and piracy are just a few of the tantalising new additions to the Pillars formula, and it’ll be fascinating to delve into the strange culture, rituals, and history of this vivid new setting.

You can read more about Deadfire, and get a code for an exclusive in-game pet, in the next issue of PC Gamer, which hits UK shelves on Feb 8.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfire/pillars-of-eternity-setting

Josh Sawyer says Pillars of Eternity's appeal was built on its nostalgic setting

Pillars of Eternity’s game director says that the decision to set the game within a very normal, or even boring, RPG setting was intentional. In an interview with Josh Sawyer, he told us that the standard setting was “intentional.”

Sawyer says “I made no secret about the fact that the first place you go to in Pillars of Eternity is very standard fantasy. It’s western European, there’s forests, there’s meadows, there’s people that seem vaguely English.” That setting, despite some criticisms “was very intentional.” Sawyer says “a lot of the appeal of Pillars was built on nostalgia, and The Forgotten Realms [the world of Baldur’s Gate] was a very standard fantasy setting. We wanted people to feel at home when they came to it.”

Sawyer says that Obsidian continued to follow the example set by Baldur’s Gate with Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire; “just like BioWare did with Baldur’s Gate 2, they shifted the focus a little bit, they went with something that was a little less standard. It was always our plan that if Pillars did well, let's take it some place that's a little more interesting, that isn't done so much in fantasy. So doing something that feels more like Pacific Islands with an emphasis on sea exploration was really what people where the most excited about.”

 

[ga♥]

Only two more months until the Boredom Experience™

 

[Infinitron]

Moar previews:
https://www.gamespace.com/featured/pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfire-hands-on-preview/
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2018/02/06/taking-to-the-high-seas-in-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/
http://www.shacknews.com/article/10...ity-2-deadfire-hands-on-establishing-a-series

 

[FreeKaner]

There is a lot of video game sites huh.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Adding a slider for everything is well and fine, but where is your role as a designer? I think there is a limit to how much customization you can allow before your efforts to make it possible for "everyone to play as they want" start hurting the quality. Let's see how this plays out.

I know the IE games didn't have any speed sliders or modes, and combat is playing out quite smoothly. Why should it have to be so difficult?

 

[Prime Junta]

i hate that ship