Obsidian Entertainment - Project Eternity Kickstarter Launched

RPGWatch · Fri, 14th Sep '12, 11:31pm

Obsidian has unveiled a Kickstarter campaign for Project Eternity, an "isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world". The Kickstarter video highlights the talents of designers like Josh Sawyer (Project Director), Tim Cain (Senior Programmer, who points out this is his first "pure" fantasy game) and Chris Avellone. Dialogue and companions are highlighted as key features. They are looking for $1.1M in funding over the next 32 days, with $582k already on the board:

Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPGs that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back... and that's why we're here - we need your help to make it a reality!

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.

We are excited at this chance to create something new, yet reminiscent of those great games and we want you to be a part of it as well.

The first interview is up at Gamebanshee:

Buck: Let's talk mechanics. While the game is certainly far from completion, what are your goals for the character creation and advancement system? Will progression be a standard affair with attributes and skills/perks/feats, or will you be treading into unknown territory? Finally, will there be a major focus on the non-combat abilities that are often overlooked in modern RPGs?

Feargus: Yes, yes and yes - we are still rolling up the system, but our goals are very much along the lines of creating a robust and multi-faceted RPG system. That means having a huge focus on support abilities and not just combat ones. Josh has been whiteboarding up a system for a number of months now for the support ability system and it's looking very, very cool.

Buck: As you're going with a fantasy world, one would assume that there will be a magic system of some kind. What are your goals for the game's magic system, and will the spells that we gain access to be reminiscient of the D&D-based arsenal we had in the IE games?

Feargus: We will be talking about the magic system more in the coming week and months, but we are tying magic and overall potential of all characters to the power of a character's soul. Player characters and companions are among the people in the world with great potential, those with "unbroken" or "strong" souls. As for the spell types, we'll definitely see spells that give that us that D&D feeling. But, we want to use the connection between power and the soul as an added factor into every part of the character development system - including magic.

Marceror · Sat, 15th Sep '12, 7:17am

Highly groovy.

Paracelsi · Sat, 15th Sep '12, 12:09pm

If I were to name the top 5 things that make the classics what they are dialogue and companions would be only be top 4 and 5. First and most important would be the general mood of the game (what is this game about? setting, music, theme, overland, border, goal/lack thereof), second would be the lore (consistency- in BG2 you could be reading item descriptions, random books, spell scrolls, NPC backgrounds or spending your time talking with random NPCs and still have fun), third would be the balance between the complexity of game mechanics and the ease with which the player can navigate through them. Fourth would not only include dialogue, but how well the player is able to interact with the world created by the game (and is related to #2) and NPCs are a mere fifth because if the previous four suck...

The way the game is being described atm makes it seem too formulaic for me. Though to be fair, it's much too early to tell conclusively.

Maertyn · Sat, 15th Sep '12, 10:31pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paracelsi

It's much too early to tell conclusively.

And it's definitely not too early to be enthusiastic!

Darion · Sat, 15th Sep '12, 11:35pm

They already reached the founding goal.

Kinda scary how fast they hit $1,116,175.
Wish people would kickstart me! LOL

Anyway! Looking forward to the stretch goals!

Barmy Army · Tue, 18th Sep '12, 11:56am

What happens to peoples money if the project falls on its arse? I very much doubt it would get refunded.

Taluntain · Tue, 18th Sep '12, 5:14pm

Money's not actually taken until a project is funded, so until then all you're basically doing is pledging that you'll support it financially. And you can always revoke your pledge until the end.

Fri, 14th Sep '12, 11:31pm	#1
RPGWatch SPS Account Holder Watching... Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 3,495 Like: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Obsidian Entertainment - Project Eternity Kickstarter Launched Obsidian has unveiled a Kickstarter campaign for Project Eternity, an "isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world". The Kickstarter video highlights the talents of designers like Josh Sawyer (Project Director), Tim Cain (Senior Programmer, who points out this is his first "pure" fantasy game) and Chris Avellone. Dialogue and companions are highlighted as key features. They are looking for $1.1M in funding over the next 32 days, with $582k already on the board: Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPGs that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back... and that's why we're here - we need your help to make it a reality! 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. We are excited at this chance to create something new, yet reminiscent of those great games and we want you to be a part of it as well. The first interview is up at Gamebanshee: Buck: Let's talk mechanics. While the game is certainly far from completion, what are your goals for the character creation and advancement system? Will progression be a standard affair with attributes and skills/perks/feats, or will you be treading into unknown territory? Finally, will there be a major focus on the non-combat abilities that are often overlooked in modern RPGs? Feargus: Yes, yes and yes - we are still rolling up the system, but our goals are very much along the lines of creating a robust and multi-faceted RPG system. That means having a huge focus on support abilities and not just combat ones. Josh has been whiteboarding up a system for a number of months now for the support ability system and it's looking very, very cool. Buck: As you're going with a fantasy world, one would assume that there will be a magic system of some kind. What are your goals for the game's magic system, and will the spells that we gain access to be reminiscient of the D&D-based arsenal we had in the IE games? Feargus: We will be talking about the magic system more in the coming week and months, but we are tying magic and overall potential of all characters to the power of a character's soul. Player characters and companions are among the people in the world with great potential, those with "unbroken" or "strong" souls. As for the spell types, we'll definitely see spells that give that us that D&D feeling. But, we want to use the connection between power and the soul as an added factor into every part of the character development system - including magic.
	__________________ RPGWatch - http://www.rpgwatch.com Last edited by Taluntain; Sat, 15th Sep '12 at 2:16am.

Sat, 15th Sep '12, 12:09pm	#3
Paracelsi Gems: 14/31 Latest gem: Chrysoberyl Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: East Coast Posts: 612 Like: 5 Liked 39 Times in 37 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,423 Level: 12 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 78.88% Daily Activity 2.21% Weekly Activity 0.95% Monthly Activity 13.16% Achievements Awards	If I were to name the top 5 things that make the classics what they are dialogue and companions would be only be top 4 and 5. First and most important would be the general mood of the game (what is this game about? setting, music, theme, overland, border, goal/lack thereof), second would be the lore (consistency- in BG2 you could be reading item descriptions, random books, spell scrolls, NPC backgrounds or spending your time talking with random NPCs and still have fun), third would be the balance between the complexity of game mechanics and the ease with which the player can navigate through them. Fourth would not only include dialogue, but how well the player is able to interact with the world created by the game (and is related to #2) and NPCs are a mere fifth because if the previous four suck... The way the game is being described atm makes it seem too formulaic for me. Though to be fair, it's much too early to tell conclusively.
	Last edited by Paracelsi; Sat, 15th Sep '12 at 12:26pm.

Sat, 15th Sep '12, 11:35pm	#5
Darion Gems: 13/31 Latest gem: Ziose Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Baldur's Gate Posts: 581 Like: 4 Liked 19 Times in 15 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,653 Level: 13 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 65.79% Daily Activity 2.21% Weekly Activity 7.25% Monthly Activity 4.34% Achievements	They already reached the founding goal. Kinda scary how fast they hit $1,116,175. Wish people would kickstart me! LOL Anyway! Looking forward to the stretch goals!
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Tue, 18th Sep '12, 11:56am	#6
Barmy Army Simple mind, simple pleasures... Join Date: May 2003 Location: England Posts: 6,546 Like: 15 Liked 48 Times in 32 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 16,320 Level: 36 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 61.08% Daily Activity 46.36% Weekly Activity 7.25% Monthly Activity 10.22% Achievements	What happens to peoples money if the project falls on its arse? I very much doubt it would get refunded.
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Tue, 18th Sep '12, 5:14pm	#7
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Sat, 15th Sep '12, 7:17am	#2
Marceror SPS Account Holder Editor Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sword Coast Posts: 2,395 Like: 21 Liked 92 Times in 75 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 5,828 Level: 23 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 67.34% Daily Activity 2.21% Weekly Activity 0.95% Monthly Activity 1.4% Achievements Awards	Highly groovy.
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