Pillars of Eternity

[Jacker]

Obsidian Entertainment täckte idag av sitt Kickstarterproject - Project Eternity.

"Project Eternity is an isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world developed by Obsidian Entertainment."

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity

Obsidian är studion bakom bl.a. KotOR II, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, m.m. Några av nyckelpersonerna i projektet är Chris Avellone, Tim Cain och Josh Sawyer, som tidigare (förutom ovan nämnda spel) varit hjärnorna bakom bl.a. Fallout 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale och Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.

Om inte detta får er att komma i brallan och donera en mer än generös summa, samt en bit av er vänstra hjärnhalva, så kommer jag leta upp varenda en av er och slå ihjäl er med min (nu tomma) plånbok.

[Jacker]

$900,000 på mindre än 24 timmar!

[Crusader]

Vad bra! Önskar bara de gav lite mer information om spelet de planerar. Som om det kommer vara i klassisk stil liknande Baldur's Gate eller en mer uppdaterad 3D stil liknande Dragon Age: Origins.

[Jacker]

1 miljon, på 24 timmar!! (w00t)

[Crusader]

Undra just vad de kommer bjuda på med de extra pengarna. De lär komma betydligt högre efter 1 månad.

[Jazz]

Alltså, vad är det för snubbar som har råd att stödja med 10000 dollar? Vad är det för gamers som har så mycket cash?

[Jacker]

Undra just vad de kommer bjuda på med de extra pengarna. De lär komma betydligt högre efter 1 månad.

De har sagt att det först och främst kommer gå till att expandera/fläska ut spelvärlden och karaktärerna.

[Crusader]

Alltså, vad är det för snubbar som har råd att stödja med 10000 dollar? Vad är det för gamers som har så mycket cash?

De som har ett välbetalt jobb och är stora fans av de klassiska RPG spelen.

[simonracer]

Blir till att rektrytera polarna och ge dom 25$ var. Det känns väldigt bra!

[Jazz]

De som har ett välbetalt jobb och är stora fans av de klassiska RPG spelen.

Men... liksom... civilingenjörer? Som har tid för gaming? Högt uppsatta kodare? Chefen för Valve?

[Jacker]

Kan vara folk som donerar i grupp, andra spelstudios, m.m.

[Siana]

Men... liksom... civilingenjörer? Som har tid för gaming? Högt uppsatta kodare? Chefen för Valve?

Notch har väl gjort en del höga donationer till Kickstarter-projekt och liknande har jag för mig.

Sedan har du gamerkids med löjligt rika föräldrar. Det var ju någon kille som köpte världens första WoW-karaktär med twinblades för cirka $10,000, det ryktades att han var son till en oljeshejk eller något.

Det var även någon tråd på reddits diablodel där man frågade vad det var för sorts folk som lade riktiga pengar på att köpa items i spelet. Det var advokater, civilingenjörer, egenföretagare och andra rika personer som inte har tid till att spela så mycket men ändå uppskattar spelen väldigt mycket.

[Jacker]

DET ÄR FINANSIERAT!!!! :D

[Siana]

DET ÄR FINANSIERAT!!!! :D

Bara att börja vänta typ 1 och ett halvt år då.

[Jacker]

Bara att börja vänta typ 1 och ett halvt år då.

Är glad över att Obsidian får den tid de behöver till att utveckla spelet; både KotOR II och New Vegas blev mer eller mindre ofärdiga p.g.a. utgivarna inte gav projekten den tid de behövde.

[Crusader]

När det gäller KotOR II så kom ju dessutom Lucas med en stor lista med grejor de skulle klippa bort i sista stund för hans barn tyckte de var för mörka eller läskiga. :/

[Umberto]

Jag bidrog med $35 dolares, min sjätte kickstarter-donation. Kan inte påstå att jag är supersugen på ett nytt fantasy-rpg men eftersom det är Obsidian och oldschool-isometriskt är det ju svårt att tacka nej.

1 miljon, på 24 timmar!! (w00t)

De gick precis över 1,5. Ska bli intressant att se om de slår DoubleFines rekord.

[Crusader]

Jag känner som dig, fast inte alls likadant.

Jag skulle älska ett nytt Fantasy-RPG men är inte precis supersugen på oldschool-isometriskt spel men eftersom Obsidian gör det så är det svårt att tacka nej.

Mycket av det beror på att jag har runt 20 oldschool-isometriska spel hemma och har bara spelat runt 1/4 av dem. Med andra ord, jag har tillräkligt sånna att spela redan som det är och börjar tröttna rätt ordentligt.

Vad jag därimot skulle älska är 3D spel som använder sig av samma regler och frihet som de gammla, liknande Dragon Age: Origins, men tyvärr så verkar allt gå åt action hållet nuförtiden. DA:O är nog tyvärr både det första och sista av sitt slag, är jag rädd.

Jag tog $20 extrapriset medans det fanns men jag har funderat på höja till $35 senare. Soundtracket och framförallt boken verkar intresant

$100000 till och vi får en extra major storyline!

Redigerad 17 september, 2012 av Crusader

[Jacker]

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.

***

That's all for today's update. We'll have more information on the world and systems in the near future. Please give us your feedback and thank you for all of the ideas and support you've given so far!

[Crusader]

$1,8 milj. är nu avklarad så vi får yttligare en Ras, Klass och Companion till spelet.

Souls

As we hinted at in our pitch videos, souls are A Big Deal in Project Eternity's world. The mortal world has not unlocked all of the secrets of how souls "work" and differing schools of metaphysical philosophy can be found in virtually every culture. What is known is that sapient souls move through an endless cycle of waking life and purgatorial slumber among the gods. Often this slumber lasts for years of "real" time, but occasionally it is brief, with a soul immediately moving on to a new life.

Far from being a flawless process, souls are subject to "fracturing" over generations, transforming in myriad ways, and not quite... working right. Some cultures and individuals place a high value on "strong" souls, souls with a "pure" lineage, "awakened" souls that remember past lives, "traveled" souls that have drifted through the divine realms, or those that co-exist with other souls in one body. However, the opposite is also true, resulting in negative discrimination and sometimes outright violence.

Through a variety of techniques (e.g. martial training, meditation, ritualistic evocation, mortification of the flesh), some individuals are able to draw upon the energy of their soul to accomplish extraordinary feats. These abilities range from the mundanely superhuman to the explosively magical. Having a strong soul seems to make this easier, but sometimes even people with fragmented souls are able to accomplish the extraordinary. The individual's body seems to act as a conduit and battery for this power, drawing in replenishment from seemingly omnipresent "fields" of unbound spiritual energy in the world around them.

Thinkers, spiritualists, and scientists of the world have theorized for thousands of years about the nature and purpose of this process, but others have turned to prayer for answer. Rather than illuminate the presumed higher purpose of this cycle, the gods have obfuscated the truth, at times spreading cosmological lies, pitting believers and empowered chosen agents against each other, and tacitly approving the prejudices of their followers to maintain power.

Whatever the fundamental nature of mortal souls is, the people of the world accept the reality of what they have observed: that all mortal bodies contain perceptible energy bound to the individual, and that once they die, their energy will move forward in the eternal cycle that they are all a part of -- that as far as they know, they have always been a part of.

Technology

The cultures of Project Eternity are in a variety of different technological states. Though some remote civilizations are still in the equivalent of Earth's Stone Age or Bronze Age, most large civilizations are in the equivalent of Earth's high or late Middle Ages. The most aggressive and powerful civilizations are in the early stages of what would be our early modern period, technologically, even if they are not culturally undergoing "Renaissance"-style changes.

For most large civilizations, this means that all of the core arms and armor of medieval warfare have reached a high level of development: full suits of articulated plate armor, a variety of military swords, war hammers, polearms, longbows, crossbows, and advanced siege weaponry. Architecturally, these cultures also employ technologies found in Earth's Gothic structures, allowing them to create towering vertical structures.

The most recent technologies seeing use in the world are ocean-going carrack-style ships and black powder firearms (notably absent: the printing press). Cultures with large navies and mercantile traffic are exploring the world, which has led to contact with previously-unknown lands and societies and settlement in new lands. Despite their intense drive, these explorers have been restricted from aggressive long-range exploration by monstrous sea creatures that pose a lethal, seemingly insurmountable threat to even the stoutest, most well-armed ships.

Black powder firearms are of the single-shot wheellock variety. Largely considered complex curiosities, these weapons are not employed extensively by military forces. Their long reload times are considered a liability in battles against foes that are too monstrous to drop with a single volley, foes that fly or move at high speed, and foes that have the power of invisibility. Despite this, some individuals do employ firearms for one specific purpose: close range penetration of the arcane veil, a standard magical defense employed by wizards. The arcane veil is powerful, but it does not react well to the high-velocity projectiles generated by arquebuses and handguns. As a result, more wizards who previously relied on the veil and similar abjurations have turned to traditional armor for additional defense.

Goda nyheter för de som vill spela storyn men undvika strider så mycket som möjligt.

Most role-playing games can be divided into two sets of mechanics: those rules you use in combat and those you don't. For many people, an RPG is really defined by its combat. These people spend most of their time killing things and taking their loot, and leveling up is just a means to kill bigger things and get better loot. But for other people, an RPG is about the elements of the game they experience when not in combat. It's about the NPC's they talk with, the places they travel to, and the choices they make, including the choice to avoid combat altogether.

Non-Combat Abilities

Let's talk first about your goals as a player, about the things you would like to do besides fighting. Then I'll talk about our design goals and explain how we are putting the non-combat systems together.

Player Goals

When you are not fighting, that's when non-combat abilities come into play. We plan to add abilities that will let you become better at achieving four different non-combat goals.

Learning new things. This includes finding out previously unknown information, like the location of town or a hidden door, or uncovering secret knowledge, like a potion recipe or the true name of a demon. Or maybe you just want to know a good place to gather materials like ore or herbs. We will make abilities that let you find things out.

Traveling around the world. You will want to improve your movement capabilities (such as sneaking around some ruins), or traveling across the world map faster or more safely, or even teleporting directly to your destination. And sometimes movement requires removing barriers like locks or traps, so you will need some way to unlock and disarm. We'll add abilities for these actions.

Getting new items. If you are not going to kill a creature to take its things, then we will give you the means to make new items, buy them, or steal them. Or maybe you will choose to support NPC's by bringing them the materials or the recipes needed to make new items for you. We congratulate you on your non-violent and cooperative plans of wealth acquisition, and we'll give you the means to do it.

Interacting with companions. Once we have added many interesting and useful NPC companions, we will have to give you ways to recruit them, improve their usefulness, and keep them from dying (or even worse, disliking you!). We will make non-combat abilities that interact with your companions, so you can keep them alive and filled with a grudging respect for you.

Now each of these goals represents a whole slew of related non-combat abilities. For example, for player traveling, we could have all kinds of abilities, including stealth and teleport abilities, as well as abilities to make world map travel faster, less likely to have encounters, and able to make use of alternate transportation routes such as over mountains using passes or over water using ships.

Design Goals

In putting together our non-combat system, we have made a list of goals for the design of these skills and the rules they need to follow.

Non-combat skills are gained separately from combat skills. You shouldn't have to choose between Magic Missile and Herbalism. They should be separate types of abilities, and you should spend different points to get each one.

Non-combat skills do not use the same resources as combat skills. You don't spend the same stuff for a non-combat skill as you do for combat skills. Some don't use anything at all to use, so you will never find yourself unable to blast an opponent if you get caught sneaking.

All non-combat skills are useful. If we add lockpicking to the game, we will make sure that there are locks to pick and worthwhile rewards for getting past them.

All non-combat skills can be used frequently. If you take disarm traps as a skill, you should expect more than two traps in the entire game world. Frequency of application has a large impact on how useful something is.

Combat can be avoided with non-combat skills. There will often be ways to avoid fighting. Yes, we will have the standard methods of talking your way out of a fight or sneaking around an encounter, but there will be other ways too. Perhaps you can re-sanctify a desecrated cemetery to prevent any further undead from rising, or maybe figuring out a way across a ruined bridge will always avoid the bandits on this side of the river.

Avoiding combat does not lead to less experience gain. You shouldn't go up levels any slower by using your non-combat skills rather than your combat skills. We plan to reward you for your accomplishments, not for your body count.

We are still in the early design stages, but our plan is for non-combat abilities to make the game as fun and enjoyable outside of combat as it is in the heat of battle.

De har också postat artwork på en Human Fighter karaktär som kommer ha en väldigt viktig roll i spelet.

Chris Avellone kommer skriva en novel som utspelar sig i spelvärlden och man får den om man ger $50 eller mer.

Redigerad 25 september, 2012 av Crusader