Obsidian's Project: Eternity

[Sammael]

Why is this not on the main page yet?

Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment — Kickstarter

 

[Felon]

Backed it. Thanks.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Holy...

It's about time someone did this. Too bad it's not turn based, but I'll take rtwp.

Thanks for the link!

 

[Cergorach]

Mixed feelings about this, with Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition coming out in November 2012, Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition following in 2013, plans for remakes for Icewind Dale & Planescape Torment, and sequels for all of them. Do we really need another such title for April 2014.

Then we also have Obsidian, not exactly well known for great sequels or polished stable releases.

Projects like Shadowrun Returns and Planetary Annihilation were filling voids in the gaming market and don't have development cycles of 18+ months.

 

[messy]

Do we really need another such title for April 2014.

considering that they met their goal with 29 days left, it seems that a lot of people think so.

 

[Sammael]

BG: Enhanced is nothing more than a cheap-ass cash grab. You can buy BG for peanuts on GOG.com and download the bazillion mods that enhance its resolution, streamline gameplay, add more companions, toughen up the enemies, etc.

This is going to be an actual NEW game inspired by the old IE games, created by some of the most talented people in the industry, without publisher-imposed deadlines and limitations - and you can have it for $20-$25. That's pretty damn amazing.

 

[trancejeremy]

I just wish it were turn based. I own all the Infinity Engine games, but can't get into them.

(So why do I buy them? Because I keep telling myself I should be able to handle the real time combat, but in practice, I can't)

 

[Cergorach]

BG: Enhanced is nothing more than a cheap-ass cash grab. You can buy BG for peanuts on GOG.com and download the bazillion mods that enhance its resolution, streamline gameplay, add more companions, toughen up the enemies, etc.

So cheap ass it isn't. BG was $9.99 for the longest of times, only recently did they decrease the price to $6.99. Which is still a lot for a 14 year old game. 'Enhancing' the resolution of BG might be possible, but in a very limited way only, the graphics are still very much 1998. BGE redid all the graphics, they look sharp again. As far as I know, most of the mods should work. $20 for all the improvements is reasonable, only $13 more then the 'classic' version. More importantly, they'll have an iPad version for only $9.99 which allows us to play with folks across all platforms (Windows/iPad/MacOS/Android eventually). I still have BG and expansion sitting on a shelf behind me, but I'll buy the iPad version...

This is going to be an actual NEW game inspired by the old IE games, created by some of the most talented people in the industry, without publisher-imposed deadlines and limitations - and you can have it for $20-$25. That's pretty damn amazing.

Assuming that Obsidian's short comings with their previous releases lies with the publishers might just be wishful thinking. Because Bioware could work well with Lucas Art for KotoR1, and KotoR2 was buggy as hell. Bioware made an excellent NWN1 series of releases, NWN2 was also a buggy mess. Remember Alpha Protocol, buggy mess. Dungeon Siege III's design direction might be due to decisions from Square Enix, but the lousy PC port (was essentially a console game) is squarely on Obsidian's shoulders. Fallout New Vegas is viewed by many as better then Fallout 3, but again a slew of technical issues.

Don't get me wrong, I own most of the Obsidian titles and those I don't own are on my wanted list (except the upcoming Southpark title). But blindly giving Obsidian money and hoping for the best, in a market which imho isn't all that lacking, is not what I'm going to do. I do understand people's desires that they can go back to the CRPG peaks of BG and PS:T, but honestly I think it'll fall short of the massive expectations.

I must note that I generally don't buy titles at full price, the last I did was Diablo 3 CE and that's the last time I'll do that. The one before that was SC2 CE. Most of the rest of the games are either budget titles and/or bought during Steam sales. So spending €20 for a game I'll have to wait for atleast 18+ months, have experienced issues with previous publisher titles, and (will) have enough of other CRPGs in that genre/style, is more then I spent on most titles.

Now, if they made BG3 I might have considered it. After the Planetary Annihilation intro for it's Kickstarter campaign I might have become spoiled ;-) I expect more work up front from a publisher like Obsidian. We have a map and an intro screen, and a update after $1.5M shows a dwarf concept. Call me disappointed and clueless...

I'm not saying folks shouldn't preorder, heck $25 for a new game is not bad at all! But please keep in mind that many good new titles are also indie priced, Torchlight II is only $20 for example. I'm just trying to point out some of the caveats concerning Obsidian and the project.

 

[Sammael]

So cheap ass it isn't. BG was $9.99 for the longest of times, only recently did they decrease the price to $6.99. Which is still a lot for a 14 year old game.

Wow. I'm from Serbia, the country with what is very likely the lowest GDP in Europe, and I wouldn't call $6.99 "still a lot." It's the price of a movie ticket and a large popcorn, and probably less than half the price of a single movie ticket in Western Europe.

'Enhancing' the resolution of BG might be possible, but in a very limited way only, the graphics are still very much 1998. BGE redid all the graphics, they look sharp again.

AFAIK, they did not manage to do that because they found out the original 3D models for the backgrounds were lost. BGE will look the same as BG with BG2 interface improvements and high-res mods.

$20 for all the improvements is reasonable, only $13 more then the 'classic' version.

How is $20 for a rehash of an old game reasonable and $20 for a brand new game isn't?

<snip>

I do understand people's desires that they can go back to the CRPG peaks of BG and PS:T, but honestly I think it'll fall short of the massive expectations.

<snip>

I'm just trying to point out some of the caveats concerning Obsidian and the project.

These are some excellent points. My expectations are realistic as I am very familiar with the team making the game and I'm not expecting a miracle, especially on that budget (my conservative estimate for a realistic budget for Eternity is $5 million, which I think they will manage to achieve; $1.1 doesn't even cover their annual salaries).

I am willing to gamble $20 (or more) based on the reputation of the people developing the game alone. I don't need fancy videos to convince me, when I know these people made Fallout 1 & 2, Torment, KOTOR2, and so on.

 

[Cergorach]

I'm picking up 7 month old AAA titles for around $8, 8 year old AAA titles with expansion(s) for around $3. BG is a 14 year old game... In the last fifteen years I went six times to the theater, the new Star Wars movies and the LotR movies.

$20 or $25 is a very reasonable price for a good new game, especially if it's the length of BG. The problem I have with it is not the price, although it is more then I generally spend on games, it is 18+ month wait and the unknown factor. Do you know what Obsidian will make? An isometric view CRPG, 'which is the spiritual successor of BG', a claim which Bioware also made in regards to Dragon Age: Origins. There is a big difference between claiming and actually delivering, and Obsidian has a mixed track record to say the least...

Obsidian did create KotoR2, some of the people there made Fallout 1 & 2, Torment, etc.

Does the resolution mod make the game look this decent (can't call it good):
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

If so, I'll eat my words on the PC version, an iPad version is welcome though...

I think my issue has also to do with exitement. With Shadowrun Returns, I knew "It's Shadowrun!", the folks that made the original pnp are leading the project. The video was enjoyable and made me excited for the project. With Planetary Annihilation the concept was certainly interesting, especially after my experience with Supreme Commander, but without that video were they showed us what they wanted to achieve I doubt I would have pledged. With Project Eternity we have an isometric CRPG, 'which is the spiritual successor of BG', something with souls, adult concepts, etc. No specifics, no content, no direction. Even the video wasn't all that interesting because the developers were extremely vague about the game. I don't think, nor want to give devs money on such vague promises, I think that is dangerous for Kickstarters. And with more and more KSs that aim at games I want to be more careful where I spend my money, so that when something interesting comes along (Reaper Bones, Dreamforge plastics, CMON, etc.) I have money to spend.