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[Durante]

Honestly I can't really think of an Obsidian developed art direction that was great (or even good really) since they turned into Obsidian.

I really liked MotB's art. But yeah, I don't play Obsidian games to be blown away graphically.

Though I don't really understand the hate for DS3 in this area specifically, IMHO it's their most graphically impressive game -- and one of the nicest looking games in its genre overall, with some great animation, effects and lighting.

 

[Sentenza]

Though I don't really understand the hate for DS3 in this area specifically, IMHO it's their most graphically impressive game -- and one of the nicest looking games in its genre overall, with some great animation, effects and lighting.

I can't really say I liked, but at least it was somehow more lively than NWN2, which I always found extremely ugly.

About armor design, I'm all for "simple and cool". Just to give a reference, I can't stand wacky and cheesy stuff like the Draedric armor in TES.
Personally I would love something that could pair style with practicality, like The Witcher 2.

Or something like this

(...Can I post all these images at once or i'm going to get banned?)

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I'll always hate the "it's not relatable" excuse as to why so-called visionaries refuse to try something new, and usually its the reason why we end up with so many boring dull human characters in Fantasy and SciFi settings.

The reason why they are visionaries is because they have a vision.

That is not mutually exclusive with risk.

 

[zkylon]

I can't really say I liked, but at least it was somehow more lively than NWN2, which I always found extremely ugly.

About armor design, I'm all for "simple and cool". Just to give a reference, I can't stand wacky and cheesy stuff like the Draedric armor in TES.
Personally I would love something that could pair style with practicality, like The Witcher 2.

Or something like this

(...Can I post all these images at once or i'm going to get banned?)

What's that from? It's great.

 

[Nirolak]

What's that from? It's great.

I think it's Lord of the Rings: The White Council.

Edit:

Well, it's something LotR, but I can't quite figure out which game.

 

[Sentenza]

What's that from? It's great.

Those are concept arts made by Wes Burt of Massive Black (a company that does art outsourcing for software houses) for Lords of The Rings Online.
More specifically for the new Rohan-themed expansion.

Which also gives me the chance to say that I find hilarious when people mix Tolkien with the "generic D&D crap", because despise spawning a shitload of very derivative copycats, Tolkien's work was anything but generic.

 

[SerRodrik]

I can't really say I liked, but at least it was somehow more lively than NWN2, which I always found extremely ugly.

About armor design, I'm all for "simple and cool". Just to give a reference, I can't stand wacky and cheesy stuff like the Draedric armor in TES.
Personally I would love something that could pair style with practicality, like The Witcher 2.

Or something like this



(...Can I post all these images at once or i'm going to get banned?)

An example I always go back to is the elite knight's armor set from Dark Souls.

It's one of my favorite armor designs in an RPG, and part of that is because it's so simple, believable, and realistic. I think that can lend a lot to a world, I don't think a fantasy world needs to be "weird" to be interesting.

 

[DTKT]

I think it's Lord of the Rings: The White Council.

Edit:

Well, it's something LotR, but I can't quite figure out which game.

Seems to be related to a dead(?) lotr MMO. http://cgcia.blogspot.ca/2012/01/wes-burt-mmo-lord-of-rings-concept-art.html

:beaten and salted

 

[Nirolak]

Oh right, Massive Black. They're amazing. They even made Dragon Age look incredible.

Andrew Jones of Retro fame (many of the amazing Metroid Prime concept arts) actually works there as a creative director now after he left Retro.

 

[Sentenza]

An example I always go back to is the elite knight's armor set from Dark Souls.



It's one of my favorite armor designs in an RPG, and part of that is because it's so simple, believable, and realistic. I think that can lend a lot to a world, I don't think a fantasy world needs to be "weird" to be interesting.

My favorite armor in Dark Souls is the Eastern Armor, and yes, there is a lot of cool stuff in that game.

But generally speaking it's a mixed bag, with both very simple and believable and very wacky armors and weapons.

 

[Lancehead]

I really liked MotB's art. But yeah, I don't play Obsidian games to be blown away graphically.

It's horrific how Kaelyn looked in the actual game after such beautiful art.

Like this:

The other companions were also pretty good; I especially liked Safiya.

 

[Lancehead]

I don't really have an issue with what Sawyer wrote or what they seem to be going for. Because when it comes to weapon and armour design I look for two things:

Functionality
Beauty

And in that order.
Conservative design can achieve both. If you want something unusual, weird or alien, sure you can have, but it'll be unusual, weird or alien, not necessarily more functional or more beautiful. And if Obsidian can't make conservative designs functional or beautiful, there's no guarantee they can do it with other type of design.

So to me the worry would be, as duckroll said, how art translates into the game. But Eternity is isometric so there's less chance of that happening poorly.

I also think Alpha Protocol had pretty good art. Especially the safe houses. I think we have the safehouse artist on GAF.

 

[water_wendi]

It's horrific how Kaelyn looked in the actual game after such beautiful art.

Like this:

Really? Seemed fine to me.

 

[subversus]

Now we need to see architecture...

 

[Castor Krieg]

Why people assume that fantasy=weird worlds, bombastic armors and shit ?

Fantasy created for sake of fantasy is bad fantasy in my opinion. Just look at WoW and other countless MMORPGs. Gigantic nonpractical armors, dumb swords, oversized hammers buildings with wings and creatures which whole existance is to be killed by player.

Welcome to 99% of modern fantasy. Face it, generic variety a la LotR sells, and that what publishers and developers to lesser extent are interested in.

 

[EVOL 100%]

Yeah, safe art direction doesn't necessarily mean generic or bad.

The art that you guys posted are brilliant, and if this game looks like that I'd be more than happy.

I'm not holding my breath though

 

[Kurtofan]

^^^And the three races are probably Human, Elf and Dwarf right?

Blech. I don't want another Tolkien/Dragon Age lookalike

There are already two more races.

 

[foobarry81]

A 'measly' 5,5k and we're all getting our own houses in PE.

 

[subversus]

There are already two more races.

orcs and dark elves!

 

[michaelius]

lol, it would be smart if there were Polish and Russian translations - the countries where people still care about this kind of game. What will earn them Spanish translation? Puny CRPG market in Spain? People in US who don't speak English? Yeah, I see a huge potential in this audience. Meanwhile people who still buy localized Baldur's Gate in stores are cockblocked by language barrier. Smart.

That's hardly a problem - Cenega (part of 1C group) or CDP will probably buy rights for boxed release of this game and do translation for it in Poland.

 

[Fjordson]

LTTP here, but happy with all these updates. That novella from MCA will be an interesting read.

 

[whalleywhat]

Welcome to 99% of modern fantasy. Face it, generic variety a la LotR sells, and that what publishers and developers to lesser extent are interested in.

I don't think that was his point. He was saying the attempts to be 'different' can be just as crappy. At least this game won't have pandas.

 

[subversus]

That's hardly a problem - Cenega (part of 1C group) or CDP will probably buy rights for boxed release of this game and do translation for it in Poland.

I hope it's CDP.... 1C SUCKS

 

[Perkel]

That's hardly a problem - Cenega (part of 1C group) or CDP will probably buy rights for boxed release of this game and do translation for it in Poland.

They will probably also promote this as second BG2.

I hope it's CDP.... 1C SUCKS

Yeah Cenega translations are hit or miss. CDP are mainly very good.

 

[Sentenza]

orcs and dark elves!

Hey, orcs are awesome [well, they can be awesome, at least]. I would take them over elves any day.

 

[exmachina64]

A 'measly' 5,5k and we're all getting our own houses in PE.

Can't wait!

 

[subversus]

Hey, orcs are awesome [well, they can be awesome, at least]. I would take them over elves any day.

I would take neither.

 

[Sentenza]

I would take neither.

Enjoy you insect race then, Mr. Picky & Quirky.

Spoiler

I have nothing against insect race neither, actually.

 

[Lancehead]

Really? Seemed fine to me.

Horrific because the realisation of the portrait to in-game model is so very off. If it was just a concept art it may have been better. But you see her portrait all the time on the screen.

Edit: subversus, what's the story behind your tag?

 

[subversus]

Edit: subversus, what's the story behind your tag?

lol, I wish I knew.

 

[Lancehead]

So we should be getting this update today (from Sawyer):

N.B.: I know I said I'd talk about mechanics today. I forgot that I had already said I'd talk about technology earlier. Sorry! The next update I do will talk about non-combat skills the nature of classes in Project Eternity.

Tim's already talked about non-combat skills, so we should be getting info on classes.

lol, I wish I knew.

As long as the tag is accurate...

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

I like the translation thing (we are going to get spanish so thats good) but I dont understand why they left italian when its the typical pal 5 when games translations are done in europe.
Also I hope they get someone good to translate in spanish like the guy who translates the Geralt saga books (the witcher), as its one of the best translations I have ever seen, becuase the work of the one that translates the games is underwhelming.

 

[dude]

We're a 1000$ from 2 million! So exciting. I think it's pretty sure to pass 3 million.

 

[Kurtofan]

Just need 698$!

 

[Lime]

I don't get why they are playing it safe in terms of art-style, when the whole Kickstarter is about finally being allowed to take risks and innovate the genre, not only in a mechanical and narrative sense, but also in an aesthetic sense. Of course Obsidian are allowed to do what they need to do, but making uninspired and tired concept art isn't what I would find appealing for a fan-funded Kickstarter project.

Or maybe their concept artists are simply not capable of anything better than producing what we have seen and Sawyer & Co. have to make an excuse for them.

 

[Kurtofan]

Woot!!!!!! 2 MILLIONS

 

[EviLore]

Shame they don't have Justin Cherry anymore.

 

[_machine]

I don't get why they are playing it safe in terms of art-style, when the whole Kickstarter is about finally being allowed to take risks and innovate the genre, not only in a mechanical and narrative sense, but also in an aesthetic sense. Of course Obsidian are allowed to do what they need to do, but making uninspired and tired concept art isn't what I would find appealing for a fan-funded Kickstarter project.

Or maybe their concept artists are simply not capable of anything better than producing what we have seen and Sawyer & Co. have to make an excuse for them.

I don't think it's about playing it safe, they probably just want to focus on realistic design (which doesn't need to be boring).

 

[EatChildren]

Two million dollars worth of visceral, mature, cinematic, romance laden role playing.

 

[Lime]

I don't think it's about playing it safe, they probably just want to focus on realistic design (which doesn't need to be boring).

I interpreted this comment as them not wanting to upset other people, but I may be incorrect:

I agree that a realistic art style doesn't need to be boring, though. I'm just afraid that they'll play it too safe and we'll get something along the lines of Risen or Two Worlds, when something like Dark Souls or The Witcher 2 have proven that unusual aesthetics are able to improve the experience dramatically.

 

[foobarry81]

Two million dollars worth of visceral, mature, cinematic, romance laden role playing.

...and a house.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

...and a house.

...and don't forget the inn!

 

[DTKT]

I interpreted this comment as them not wanting to upset other people, but I may be incorrect:

I agree that a realistic art style doesn't need to be boring, though. I'm just afraid that they'll play it too safe and we'll get something along the lines of Risen or Two Worlds, when something like Dark Souls or The Witcher 2 have proven that unusual aesthetics are able to improve the experience dramatically.

I'm sure it's possible to strike a nice balance between the two. Sure, let humans be pretty normal looking but have some more strange and weird stuff for other races or some locations.

 

[xenist]

This "artstyle" argument has been repeated ad nauseum about DA:O too and it pissed me off back then as much as it does now. There is a huge variety of realistic and aesthetically pleasing combinations or armor and equipment to be used. I don't see why a bunch of spikes and stupidly large shoulder armor are better looking than a Lorica Segmentata or the beautiful plate armor used in the late Middle Ages-Early Rennaisance era.

And The Witcher 2 had an extremely realistic artstyle.

 

[Lancehead]

I interpreted this comment as them not wanting to upset other people, but I may be incorrect:

And that's just what it is - not an excuse.

 

[EatChildren]

...and a house.

...can I romance the house?

 

[EndcatOmega]

...can I romance the house?

only if you hit enough paragon interrupts

 

[Lancehead]

...can I romance the house?

Sure. It wouldn't be weird after we all romanced the Light Switches in The Sink.

 

[Midou]

While I do love the rag tag team you can get in Planescape, I'm okay with this just being an awesome more traditional medieval fantasy game. I assume from their initial description and because of who they are, it will not just be a generic romp anyways.

 

[dude]

Is the house bisexual though?