Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Isometric RPG Kickstarter) -…

On September 16 2012 17:38 Chillax wrote:
Personally Im concerned about the limited number of party members, given that we dont know the party size it may not be such a big deal, although i was hoping for a 6 man team.
Then again maybe this is Planescape where you just take everyone you can with you.

On September 18 2012 00:17 Dfgj wrote:

You couldn't bring everyone in Planescape (or in Mask of the Betrayer), but neither game was hurt by low amounts of companions. Each one was written to be integral to the theme of the story and had more weight than most of the BG2 companions, which built the world well but had little relation to the main plot.

On September 18 2012 03:09 Yacobs wrote:
Well, for those of us who play games for gameplay and not for "main plot," having only 3 or 4 characters in your party is simply insufficient and disappointing.

On September 18 2012 04:07 TheYango wrote:

If you're not playing for the plot, then what you are looking for is not an Obsidian game.

The gameplay in Obsidian games is generally fairly mediocre. It's the industry-best quality of writing and character development that makes their games stand out.

On September 18 2012 06:19 andrewlt wrote:


They are the former Black Isle developers and I did enjoy Icewind Dale 2. I preferred BG's and ID's more combat focused gameplay than Planescape: Torment's style. Torment took forever to give you more characters in your party and the combat was just terrible. I actually enjoyed BG's and ID's combat for the most part.

On September 18 2012 06:19 andrewlt wrote:


They are the former Black Isle developers and I did enjoy Icewind Dale 2. I preferred BG's and ID's more combat focused gameplay than Planescape: Torment's style. Torment took forever to give you more characters in your party and the combat was just terrible. I actually enjoyed BG's and ID's combat for the most part.

On September 18 2012 10:43 beef42 wrote:
I'm saddened by the downplay of combat aspect ITT. I love D&D style party battles and I especially enjoyed the Icewind Dale series for this reason.

IWD had a lot of replay value since you designed every character yourself, so you could try a lot of different stuff (6 wizard team, assemble!). It even had a Diablo-style hard difficulty designed to be played with a party that had completed the normal difficulty. I think this is a great idea because it pretty much doubles the length of the game part of the game, but without double the work from the devs.

That being said, I was as swept away by PS:T as anyone else, and I do think it was overall a better experience than IWD despite its lacklustre combat. I think that was mostly due to experiencing the setting for the first time, and the memorable and unique characters. I will be remembering Dak'kon until I am a wizened old man. He is probably the coolest thing in any game ever.

On September 18 2012 10:53 beef42 wrote:
Why not? He didn't work on the IWD's or something?

Game Basics - Your Party, Your Characters, and Races, Update #3
Update #3 · Sep. 17, 2012 · 110 comments

We've hit our first stretch goal and surpassed $1.5 million! Thank you to everyone who has made this all possible. And now, some info...


Project Eternity is still early in development and we are still working on many of the cultures, factions, and ethnic groups of the world and debating many of the system concepts. However, there are certain fundamental things we want to let you know about the game and the setting for Project Eternity.

Your Party
The maximum party size is the player's main character (PC) and up to five companions for a total of six characters. This does not preclude the addition of temporary characters in special circumstances. Companions are never forced on the player. Players can explore the entire world and its story on their own if they so choose. We feel companions are excellent sounding boards for the player's (and other companions') actions, but the story is ultimately about the player's personal conflict among the larger social and political complexities of the world.


Formations
A key element of the classic party-based tactical combat that we are developing is the use of party formations. As in the good ol' games, you can arrange your party in a large number of set formations. You can also construct your own formations if you want to get fancy. When moving companions, you have the ability to rotate formations for more precise positioning.


Character Creation
At a minimum, players will be able to specify their main character's name, sex, class, race (including subrace), culture, traits, ability scores, portrait, and the fundamental starting options of his or her class (gear, skills, and talents). We have not worked out customization details of character avatars, but we believe those are important and will be updating on these specifics in the future.


Companions
In Project Eternity, companions exist for both narrative and mechanical purposes. Companions are designed to have a driving interest in the player's central conflict. Their personalities and motivations open plot branches and generate conflicts for players to resolve over the course of the story. They are highly reactive to the player's actions and to the world around them. Additionally, companions exist to give players strategic management options in party composition that expand the party's capabilities in exploration, combat, and quest resolution. It is no coincidence that there are at least as many companions as there are classes. As stated above, companions are not required to play through Project Eternity's story, but we feel that they can add greatly to the experience.


The Set-Up
The player witnesses an extraordinary and horrific supernatural event that thrusts them into a unique and difficult circumstance. Burdened with the consequences of this event, the player has to investigate what has happened in order to free themselves from the restless forces that follow and haunt them wherever they go.


The Nature of You
Your character is not required to be of any particular race, cultural background, sex, class, moral outlook, personality, organization, etc. The premise is that you are a victim of circumstance. How you choose to deal with your situation is up to you. You can bear it with stoicism and restraint or fly off in a rage at anyone who gets in your way. The world will react to your choices, but the game is designed to give you the freedom to play your character the way you want to.


Races
We are still developing the races of Project Eternity, but we are creating a range that encompasses the recognizable (e.g. humans, elves, dwarves), the out-of-the-ordinary (e.g. the so-called "godlike"), and the truly odd (?!). Races and subraces differ from each other culturally, but the races also have different physiological factors that can contribute to friction and confusion between them.


Within even the recognizable races (including humans), we are creating a variety of ethnic subtypes and nationalities. This world's races did not all spring forth from the same place, and millennia of independent development have resulted in distinctive and unconnected groups. For example, the dwarf ranger below, is originally from a southern boreal region that is quite different from the temperate homes of her distant kin to the north.


Additionally, Project Eternity's world contains some isolated races and ethnicities, but transoceanic exploration and cultural cohabitation have heavily mixed many racial and ethnic groups over time. This mixing is not always... peaceful. At times it has degenerated into genocide and long-standing prejudices are ingrained in many cultures.

On September 18 2012 14:54 Chillax wrote:
The Set-Up
The player witnesses an extraordinary and horrific supernatural event that thrusts them into a unique and difficult circumstance. Burdened with the consequences of this event, the player has to investigate what has happened in order to free themselves from the restless forces that follow and haunt them wherever they go.

On September 18 2012 08:18 Boblion wrote:

Whereas in IWD you could just make your whole filler team with no personality ! Also IWD2 is pretty mediocre, worse than IWD1 (The wood, fucking wood lol).