Game News Project Eternity Kickstarter Update #44: On Melee Engagement

[VentilatorOfDoom]

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

The new Project Eternity Kickstarter update (#44) is up, topic is melee engagement. Snippet:

We want Engagement to be a mechanic that players and enemies can mess with using a variety of class Abilities and general Talents, so we will be experimenting with a variety of elements to that end:

• Fighters' Defender mode allows them to engage two additional targets and increases the range at which they engage targets. This gives fighters much greater capability to control the area around them.
• The limited-use Escape ability lets rogues break Engagement without provoking a Disengagement Attack. It is generally best used when the rogue's enemy is preoccupied with another target.
• Barbarians can use Wild Rush to temporarily ignore the movement stop and hit reactions from Engagement and Disengagement Attacks, respectively -- though they can still suffer massive damage while powering through.
• The wizards' Grimoire Slam allows them to attack an enemy in melee with their magically-charged grimoires, unleashing a concussive wave of energy on contact. If it hits, the attack knocks the target back, usually far enough to break Engagement in the process.

Video:

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[Tytus]

So they are basically implementing attacks of opportunity into the game. Cool.　

Though I wonder - it says the fighter can engage two additional targets. But let's say two character pass by the fighter from two sides at the same time. Their intent is to reach the caster at all costs. Does the fighter get attacks of opportunity on both of them? If so it would seem a little stupid. Melee character basically changes into The Flash and gets two instantaneous attacks. And I hope this ability is hindered by confusion, sleep and other spells like that.　

And about no kiting thing. That means you have to get into monster's engagement zone to get his attention? No line of sight mechanic?　

It raised more question than it answered.

 

[CappenVarra]

The wizards' Grimoire Slam allows them to attack an enemy in melee with their magically-charged grimoires, unleashing a concussive wave of energy on contact. If it hits, the attack knocks the target back, usually far enough to break Engagement in the process.

:facepalm: "Grimoire Slam"? What idiocy is this? Cleve should threaten litigation, he is the only one allowed to perform chaos slam dunks with Grimoire...

 

[Shadenuat]

Huhuhuhu, those miniatures and little dungeon are so cute.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Grimoire Slam... really? that just sounds stupid.

 

[laclongquan]

Mmmm~

 

[Lancehead]

Considering AoOs in NWN2 were a pretty annoying exercise to deal with all the space bar slamming, I remain sceptical as to how non-frustrating Engagement will be to deal with.

 

[Infinitron]

Fixed up OP a bit.

 

[Kz3r0]

Grimoire Slam... really? that just sounds stupid.

It's a cunning criticism of Bible thumping.
Seriously, has he gone full retardo?
In before Roguey.

 

[Gozma]

Sounds like a 4th edition D&D TB design that will eat shit in RTw/P - hey my infinity engine nostalgia!

AoO (and a thousand ways to "break the rules" MtG style) in a game with RT pathing and inconsistent jpeg backgrounds are gonna be a source of "oh this fight is harder than most... should I think or should I hit the spacebar 5x more often to methodically daub babyfood into the mouths of my RPG men"

 

[Infinitron]

should I think or should I hit the spacebar 5x more often

There is a third option.

 

[Gozma]

Ah, cutting the Gordion Knot of RTw/P design by dropping the P. I approve

 

[FeelTheRads]

should I think or should I hit the spacebar 5x more often

There is a third option.

Slow motion is not an idea. It's just retarded. It's trying to patch up a broken system.

Or, obviously, it's because they feel cool:

If any of you played games with slow motion you know how cool they feel!!!

!!!!!!!!!! It's so cool when everything is in slow motion!!!!!!!

As for Grimoire Slam... LOL The desperation to make each and every class redundant is hilarious.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Retarded shit instead of decent combat again. Fuck them all.

 

[Infinitron]

Slow motion is not an idea. It's just retarded. It's trying to patch up a broken system.

Speeding up and slowing down works very well in certain RTSes. I believe it will convert a lot of RTwP haters whose distaste for RTwP was primarily due to their tendency to "pause spam" (which is certainly no fun)

 

[FeelTheRads]

Speeding up and slowing down works very well in certain RTSes. I believe it will convert a lot of RTwP haters whose distaste for RTwP was primarily due to their tendency to "pause spam" (which is certainly no fun)

I believe it will not. You're a hardcore RTwP-er, or you're posing as one. Did you play Game Of Thrones? Did you enjoy that shit? I don't know, but seeing everybody moving like they're in a pool of molasses is absolutely incredibly annoying.
And this is something that came from retards like those who posted the idea on Obsidian's forums, retards who think that OMG ITS UNREALISTIC THAT EVERYBODY IS PAUSED LOLOLO. It's not a "solution". It's trying to please these fucktards.

 

[Infinitron]

I believe it will not. You're a hardcore RTwP-er, or you're posing as one. Did you play Game Of Thrones? Did you enjoy that shit? I don't know, but seeing everybody moving like they're in a pool of molasses is absolutely incredibly annoying.

I think the idea is that you only go into slow-mo when things are getting too fast-paced and you have a lot of decisions you need to make in a short time span.

I haven't play GoT. Doesn't it have only one or two party members? In that case, the slow-mo is indeed more of a gimmick. But when you have six party members, it becomes more necessary.

 

[Gozma]

Well I mean having no pausing analog at all would be even better, but taking out pause can't hurt. It is fundamentally broken and right out of the gate they lead with their chin and start replicating TB design shit like AoO in their obviously incompatible engine.

Go full MOBA already. I don't like using mice for non-FPS action games so I won't play it but at least they wouldn't have to design a square circle

 

[Scruffy]

grimoire slam?
i really should have gone with wasteland 2

 

[kaizoku]

It will suck unless you're able to grapple a turtle and toss her over slam her down.

SLAM DUNK!

 

[kaizoku]

The wizards' Grimoire Slam allows them to attack an enemy in melee with their magically-charged grimoires, unleashing a concussive wave of energy on contact. If it hits, the attack knocks the target back, usually far enough to break Engagement in the process.

 

[MicoSelva]

I can live with slo-mo if they decide to do that, as long as I can pause the game at any time by other means (like hitting the Escape key).

As for the update, I have mixed feelings. All this shit would be much easier if they went with turn-based combat. Melee engagement rules are just one of the problems that RTWP presents. There will be others.

 

[nihil]

Sounds alright.

 

[Infinitron]

I can live with slo-mo if they decide to do that, as long as I can pause the game at any time by other means (like hitting the Escape key).

They never said they were taking out pause

 

[Alex]

Grimoire Slam... really? that just sounds stupid.

It's a cunning criticism of Bible thumping.
Seriously, has he gone full retardo?
In before Roguey.

The grimoire bash thing reminds me of that old Dungeon Hack game. In it, you could throw any items you had in your inventory, and it would cause damage in what seemed to be proportional to its weight. So, I would always throw the wizard's spellbook on the NPCs right in front of me, because it was 100% guaranteed to hit, different from my melee attack. It was more powerful too.

Anyway, I don't really mind the idea of grimoire attack, even if it is a little silly. But having the escape ability be limited use sounds pretty silly.