Pillars of Eternity (formerly Project Eternity)

[bp9801]

After a week of teasing, Obsidian Entertainment unveiled its new game called Project Eternity.
 

Project Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment.

Combat uses a tactical real-time with pause system - positioning your party and coordinating attacks and abilities is one of the keys to success. The world map is dotted with unique locations and wilderness ripe for exploration and questing. You’ll create your own character and collect companions along the way – taking him or her not just through this story, but, with your continued support, through future adventures. You will engage in dialogues that are deep, and offer many choices to determine the fate of you and your party. …and you'll experience a story that explores mature themes and presents you with complex, difficult choices to shape how your story plays out.

Why are we asking for your help?
We have wanted to go back to our roots and create an epic PC role-playing game adventure for years. But, it's been almost impossible to get funding through traditional methods for a game like this. The great thing about Kickstarter is that we can go directly to the people who love to play RPGs as much as we love to make them. Plus, we don’t have to make compromises with a publisher. We make the development decisions, we market the game, and we don't have to answer to anyone but you – our fans.

Our relationship with you can be even closer with Kickstarter. We can be more transparent with development and give you an inside look to what goes on day-to-day with the programmers, artists, and designers of Project Eternity. We want to give you a behind the scenes look at the game's development, and we have fun stuff planned like developer blogs, web broadcasts, dev chats, and much, much more.

A Kickstarter page has been set up to raise the $1.1 million needed to see Project Eternity become a reality, with 32 days to obtain it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC4w9GdFPrg

 

[rivalary]

I'm not sure I understand. They don't have the money to fund the project? I could see kickstart being used for an indie game, but Obsidian has been around for some time. Granted, I didn't check out the links and see what the deal is, I only watched the intro to the video without sound as I am at work.

[bp9801]

I'm not sure I understand. They don't have the money to fund the project? I could see kickstart being used for an indie game, but Obsidian has been around for some time. Granted, I didn't check out the links and see what the deal is, I only watched the intro to the video without sound as I am at work.

 

Added what Obsidian said on the subject to the original post. Basically, they want to return to their roots of the RPGs they use to make. Isometric view, party-based, that kind of stuff. Publishers apparently don't want that, but plenty of fans do considering over $500,000 have been pledged already.

[rivalary]

Ahhh gotcha... I guess Obsidian is a developer, not a publisher. Cool.

[bp9801]

Goal already reached after a day!

 

@rivalary, yeah, Obsidian is a developer. Crowd-funding, like from Kickstarter, means they can make whatever they want without having to appease a publisher.

[rivalary]

Goal already reached after a day!

 

@rivalary, yeah, Obsidian is a developer. Crowd-funding, like from Kickstarter, means they can make whatever they want without having to appease a publisher.

 

I thought more about it and they'll be able to make the game the way they want to without publisher pressure. Sounds awesome. Generally, the developers are more in tune with what players are after. However, they will not feel the pressure of the developer to release. Hopefully it won't turn into a Duke Nukem Forever.

[bp9801]

I thought more about it and they'll be able to make the game the way they want to without publisher pressure. Sounds awesome. Generally, the developers are more in tune with what players are after. However, they will not feel the pressure of the developer to release. Hopefully it won't turn into a Duke Nukem Forever.

 

Yeah, this way they can make it how they and the fans want, rather than how a publisher thinks it will best sell. Not saying every publisher is like that, but they do pull the strings.

 

 

Obsidian also added the stretch goals for Project Eternity, which I amended into today's news post.

 

We are excited to announce the first stretch goals for Project Eternity!

 

1.1 million, Base Goal – Achieved!

Base game includes three races, five classes, and five companions. We have ideas for these, but we want to hear your opinions on what you'd like to see. Stay tuned to Kickstarter, our website, and our forums to join in on the conversation.

 

1.4 million, New Playable Race, Class, and Companion!

Expands your options for character creation and adds a companion of the new class.

 

1.6 million, a Mac Version of Project Eternity and The Story Grows!

We've listened and we’ll make a Mac version of the game at this tier. We're also going to add a new major storyline along with new quests, locations, NPCs, and unique loot (special histories everyone?).

 

1.8 million, New Playable Race, Class, and Companion!

The options grow for your main character and the roster of your motley crew expands with the addition of a new companion from the selected class.

 

2.0 million, Player House!

Get your own house in the game that you can customize, store equipment in, and where your companions hang out, or, as the elves say, "chillax".

 

2.2 million, a new Region, a new Faction and another new Companion! And, dare we say it... ? LINUX!

Great news, everyone! For the Tarball Knights of Gzippia out there, we'll be adding Linux support!

Also, the world of Project Eternity grows in a major way with the inclusion of a whole new faction and the territory it holds. This adds new NPCs, quests, magic items, and hours of gameplay. And yes, you got it, another companion.

 

2.4 million and beyond! Coming Soon!

 

We've been listening to your feedback, and have the following announcements:

 

DRM Free: We are looking into it! Please check back for updates.

Digital Only Tiers are coming!

PayPal is coming asap. Please be patient!

New $5k Tier. We are looking into a new $5k tier since it sold out so quickly! We are looking into equivalent alternatives.

Thank you fans!

 

Obsidian

[bp9801]

Some details on Project Eternity provided by Obsidian's Josh Sawyer.

 

Full list in spoiler tags since it's rather large.

 

 

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!

 

 

 

Dwarf ranger concept

[rivalary]

I thought more about it and they'll be able to make the game the way they want to without publisher pressure. Sounds awesome. Generally, the developers are more in tune with what players are after. However, they will not feel the pressure of the developer to release. Hopefully it won't turn into a Duke Nukem Forever.

 

I read through this thread again and facepalmed when I read my response with BP's quoted. I must have read his reply and waited a bit while thinking about it before posting my reply without realising that he put the idea in my head. Too funny. Ah well.

[bp9801]

Huge update posted covering souls and technology in Project Eternity.

[bp9801]

Q&A session with senior programmer Tim Cain.

 

AtheistBots asks...

Class vs. Classless systems You're most famous for classless systems involved in Fallout and Arcanum. It sounds as if Obsidian will be using a class based system. What do you see as being the advantages of a class based system that you're hoping to leverage in Project Eternity?

 

Answer: We are designing a class-based system because we want the different characters in your party to fill different roles, and classes are the best way to achieve this goal. In a skill-based game, it's harder to tell if a companion gives you the skills you are looking for, especially before you recruit them. In a class-based game, you know what each class can do, so you can decide that you want a particular class even before a potential companion offers to join you. And when you have a lot of companions and can choose which ones you want to take on a particular adventure, classes make it easier to form the group and be assured that you have your skillsets covered.

 

Bonus question: Are you considering multiclassing?

 

Answer: Bonus questions are cheating…but yes, we are considering adding multi-classing to the game. A better way to put this answer is that we are not ruling them out at this time. If they work well with our final system, we will offer them.

 

Kaaaboom asks…

I was a bit discouraged when I heard that the combat was going to be RTwP (real time with pause), myself being a big fan of TB (turn based) and the possibility of tactical combat that it lends to a game. My question is then: how are you going to make the combat in P:E tactically interesting despite it being RTwP?

 

Answer: Hmm, this is a bit of a loaded question, as it implies that real-time games aren't tactically interesting while all turn-based games are. Believe me, I have played plenty of dull turn-based games with very few options on what to do on each turn, and there are lots of real-time games that are incredibly tactically rich. Look at all of the real-time strategy games out there!

 

So to answer your question, we are going to make sure that the distinct abilities that our classes will have will each provide different roles to those characters in combat, and that you will always have choices to make in combat about how to best position yourself and use your attacks. In addition, we are going to design the enemy encounters to be ever-increasing challenges, so that one way of fighting won't carry you through every encounter. You will be forced to mix it up a bit, tactically speaking, and use all of your combat skills to make it through to the end of the game.

 

Let me add that as an Infinity Engine inspired game, our pillars of design include isometric exploration of a fantasy world, a reactive storyline with interesting and believable characters, and real-time with pause combat. Those elements are expected in our game, and we feel strongly about providing them.

 

Elthosian asks…

How much reactivity can we expect from the world based in our character's race and sub-race?

 

Answer: We will provide a lot of reactivity in our game to your choice of race. We are planning on giving each race a set of traits that the player can pick from, and those traits affect everything from dialogs choices to skill bonuses to what kind of options you will have to finish some quests. There probably won't be quests that are just for one race, but one thing we are not going to do for certain is make race-restricted items. While many items have a cultural connection to some races, they will still be useable by members of other races. It might be unusual to see humans in elven chain, but they can wear it.

 

NeuroArcanist asks…

What aspect of cRPGs missing from modern games do you most want to recapture with Project Eternity?

 

Answer: I can answer that in one word: parties. I like playing cRPG's that allow the player to control big parties of characters, and by control, I mean you can pick the actions of each party member if you want. We will have lots of pause conditions in our combat, and if you want to have the game pause whenever a party member can perform a new action, you can do that. Most modern games only let you control one character, or if they give you a party, you only control one member of that group. In this game, I want to control all of them.

 

Zinicel asks…

Will there be modding capabilities for this game? I know it's a tall order for this style of game, but I've wanted a definitive answer to this question. Knowing Unity, I know it's somewhat unlikely to offer this. But it'd still be nice to know for sure.

 

Answer: That is a very good question, but unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you. We are still looking at Unity and how it bundles up content in the shipped game, and we will have to see how much of that we can make available to the player. I can say that we want you to be able to mod the game, and if it's possible, we will allow you to do it. It's not our primary focus, which is to give you an amazing single player experience with our game, but we know a lot of people will want to tinker with the game and make their own content, so we will let you know how this objective is faring when we are further along in development.

[bp9801]

New developer update shows off some of the in-game environments.