Project Eternity – Key Features Revealed To Date - **Outdated**

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With just about another week to go left in the Kickstarter campaign for Project Eternity, and so much information having been shared by the developers since it began, I thought I'd try my hand at organizing it all into a single post here. I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you feel that I missed something!

Background

Project Eternity is a roleplaying game being developed by Obsidian in the much loved style of the Infinity Engine games (i.e. Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and Torment). The intent of the developers is to create a game that has an epic story, a rich world, and deep, memorable characters. The camera view is isometric, to support strategic, party-based combat for a party of up to 6 members. The combat style will be real-time with pause, but we are told that there will be a number of options to go through the game with very little combat, if that’s what you prefer.

The game is using Kickstarter to fund the project, which means that this time the fans are effectively the funders and bosses, rather than some big publishing house. That can only be a good thing, considering the seasoned game development veterans who are at the helm of this project.

Details

• Game Basics: Your Party, Your Characters, and More

Spoiler

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.

• Souls: Souls are A Big Deal in Project Eternity's world.

Spoiler

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 Level: Late middle ages (swords and shields with some gunpowder weapons, seafaring ships, and of course there is magic).

Spoiler

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.

• Races: 6 confirmed (3 added by stretch goals) – They include:

1. Humans
2. Elves
3. Dwarves
4. God-like (think DnD Planetouched, added via a stretch goal)
5. 2 as of yet unannounced

• Classes: 9 confirmed (4 added by stretch goals), with 2 additional pending as a stretch goal reward – They include the core 4:

Spoiler

Classes in Project Eternity are meant to provide a general framework for character types. Different classes excel in different areas, but the framework can be extended and elaborated on in a multitude of ways to create characters with unique capabilities. If you see a fighter, chances are good that he or she is going to be able to take a lot of damage, but that's about all you can be sure of. If you see a wizard, he or she probably has some hard-hitting spells that can cover a large area, but his potential list of capabilities is vast.

If you want to create a wizard who wears plate armor and hacks away with a broadsword from behind a heavily-enhanced arcane veil, we want to let you do that. If your idea of the perfect fighter is one who wears light armor and uses a variety of dazzling rapier attacks in rapid succession, we want to help you make that character. So it's good to think of Project Eternity's classes as being purpose-ready but not purpose-limited.

• Fighter
  Spoiler

  Fighters are men and women trained to use a wide variety of traditional weapons in brutal combat. They are often put in -- or put themselves in -- harm's way and are built to take an extraordinary amount of punishment. Though not traditionally as mobile as the monk nor as likely to dish out individually withering attacks as a rogue, fighters are dependable and flexible, able to shift between a variety of attack modes that alternate between high damage, maintaining a strong defense, weakening opponents, and dealing harsh retribution to those who attack his or her allies. Some fighters build up arsenals of feints, knockdowns, and special attacks rather than rely on the “slow and steady” approach.
  
  And while fighters are often thought of as being primarily melee-based, they can specialize in a variety of weapons, including bows, crossbows, and even firearms. They're unlikely to outclass rangers at their own game, but fighters can be almost as dangerous at a distance as they are up close. Though it may not look like it to see them in battle next to wizards and priests, fighters are just as able to tap into the power of their souls to devastating effect: accelerating their attacks to a superhuman speed, striking foes with such power that nearby opponents are knocked off their feet, and maintaining a phenomenal endurance that allows them to rapidly bounce back from even terrible wounds.
  
  When they aren't locked in life and death struggles, fighters are, unsurprisingly, often quite athletically capable. Even so, it's not uncommon to find fighters who are stealthy and well-educated. Moving unseen and knowing how to get out of a jam can come in handy even for them.
• Priest
  Spoiler

  In a world with many gods, there are many different types of priests. Though the majority of priests spend their time tending to worshipers or engaged in relatively peaceful pursuits, there are ranks of dedicated adventuring or mercenary priests who have turned the flame of their faith into a spark to ignite the power of their souls. Such men and women have found a divine link to their chosen deity, but their abilities stem solely from within.
  
  Dedicated to spreading the news of their gods' dominions in the realms of mortals through their own deeds, adventuring priests thrust themselves into lethal conflict to prove their worth. Often trained to fight alongside soldiers of their respective churches, priests are capable in the fray (and near the fray, for those who follow less melee-oriented faiths), but their true power comes from their prayers, faith-inspired miracles that aid their allies and punish their enemies. These miracles range from combat blessings, weapon enchantments, and protective barriers to divine summons, sanctified wards, and crippling curses. In many ways, the prayers of priests have almost as much variety as wizards spells, though priests are restricted to invoking prayers that are aligned with their faith. Additionally, priests often specialize in the weapons, armor, and litanies of prayers most beloved by their church. Thus, the multitude of gods produces a multitude of different priests, each with their own unique array of abilities.
  
  Most priests are church-educated and are widely versed in many types of lore. However, some priests get by on pure faith alone, having little knowledge of the world around them. Such battle priests often lean more heavily on their athletic abilities when they are in the field.
• Rogue
  Spoiler

  Contrary to what their name might imply, rogues come from many walks of life. They are cutpurses, thugs, and courtesans but also aristocrats, diplomats, and personal guards. Often separated by station in life, they are united by their reliance on wits, speed, and subterfuge to achieve their goals. The way of the rogue is not to stand toe-to-toe with the biggest brute in the room and exchange body blows, but to glance away in feigned confusion and slip an unseen blade between the brute's ribs as he turns his attention. When a room explodes in a storm of fire, the fighters grit their teeth, the priests pray for salvation, and the wizards fumble to find a spell to protect them, but the rogues just... disappear. They excel at being in the one place where no one's looking, at kicking people when they're down, at taunting a foe into turning its back on the rogue's ally while he or she nimbly skips away, and at being just too damned slippery to pin down.
  
  Whether they pack a pair of daggers, a fine rapier, a slim bow, a stubby pistol, or a brutish club, rogues haul a carnival of pain with them wherever they go. If their natural tendencies weren't dangerous enough, their affinity for skullduggery allows some talented rogues to tap into their souls to perform amazing stunts: fading from view in plain sight, briefly cloaking their allies in a veil of shadow, imbuing their weapons with a soul-eating venom, or even becoming so insubstantial that blades barely hurt them.
  
  While rogues are known for their stealthy nature both in and out of battle, many of them are quite talented with machines and contraptions of all sorts. High-born rogues are often very knowledgeable about esoteric, while many low-born rogues are well-equipped to survive in the wild.
• Wizard
  Spoiler

  Widely respected in most societies, wizards of Project Eternity are men and women of high education and extreme mental discipline, if not always outright intelligence. Wizards are sometimes called navigators of the mortal soul, charting out and practicing the precise ways in which “ordinary” people can unlock the power inside of themselves. Using their knowledge to truly spectacular ends, wizards rely not only on ancient practices but also their own research to propel them forward. Far from being occult or protected knowledge, most wizards' spells are just so incredibly complex and physically demanding that even practiced wizards cannot invoke them without the use of expensive, specially-enchanted tomes.
  
  And what do the tomes contain? Instructions on ways to use one's soul to alter reality, to warp time around enemies, to make skin as tough as stone, to counter even the most powerful magic, to invoke balls of flame, bolts of lightning, gouts of acid, to conjure nightmares out of thin air. Truly, the possibilities open to wizards seem to exceed even those of what priests can call upon through their faith. And though any wizard may prepare several tomes, an inexperienced caster is not capable of channeling power through the log-thick, anvil-heavy, dog-eared grimoires of wizened archmagi. Such novices must alternate between more modest selections, relying on their less demanding spells and talents when they are unable to call upon their tomes.
  
  Wizards are often assumed to be masters of occult lore. While this certainly applies to their knowledge of spells, many wizards are so narrowly-focused that they are ignorant of outside culture and history. It is also not uncommon for wizards to delight as much in mechanical curiosities as rogues. Because their powers make them targets in battle, a surprising number of wizards are quite fit, even if they aren't particularly strong.

Additonally, we have (4 of these were added through stretch goals):

• Druid
• Ranger
• Monk
• Barbarian
  Spoiler

  Barbarians come from many of the more remote cultures found across the world. In the Dyrwood, they are commonly found among Glanfathan elf communities. They are distinguished from fighters by their recklessness, ferocity, and their predilection to substitute raw aggression for discipline. Barbarians are a challenge to deal with on a battlefield, though they are vulnerable to exhaustion if they don't pace themselves.
• Cipher (think DnD Psionicist)
  Spoiler

  Ciphers are uncommon and often misunderstood individuals with extraordinary mental abilities. Like wizards and priests, they have many talents that draw directly from their souls, but ciphers have the unique ability to peer through the spiritual energy of the world to manipulate other souls. While wizards use complex formulae in large tomes and priests tap into the passion of their faith, ciphers are able to operate directly through the power of their minds... and yours.

If we hit the 2.7million stretch goal we will also get the:

• Paladin
  Spoiler

  Paladins are extremely devoted, often fanatical, soldiers who have pledged themselves to a chosen cause, combining the zeal of a priest with the ascetic discipline of a monk. They have founded many elite fighting forces, from the original Darcozzi Paladini, a two thousand year-old order of palace guards, to the fledgling Fellows of St. Waidwen Martyr, zealous defenders of the Godhammer pilgrim trail. Often found at the vanguard of many conflicts, paladins are natural leaders and have the ability to quickly assist their allies with targeted commands. A paladin's commands can stave off impending death, overcome fatigue, or hasten the charge to close breached defenses. And though they are not always pledged to the service of a god or gods, paladins are so singularly focused on their chosen cause that their souls are continually creating a wellspring of spiritual energy from which they can blast groups of foes in their immediate vicinity. Despite their often stoic presence and explosive combat style, paladins work best alongside allies. When isolated, they can be vulnerable, especially against singular powerful foes.
• Chanter - This is effectively a bard that chants rather than sings or plays an instrument.
  Spoiler

  Chanters can be found in almost any culture, but are most often seen in communities with a strong oral tradition. They are repositories of folk knowledge and common wisdom, tellers of tall tales and hallowed legends. Though chanters have a bit of minor talent in traditional arts of combat and soul-based magic, their true power lies in their chants. Chanters construct chants from individual iconic phrases and rhyming couplets they have memorized from hundreds of stories and poems, creating a chain of magical effects that plays out over time. While chanters do use the power of their souls to work their magic, chants are exhortations to the unconscious memory of wayward souls and the diffused spiritual energy of the world. That is, ambient spirits respond to the evocation of ancient, common story elements and play their part in reconstructing the chanter's tales. While a chanter's magic may seem modest compared to that of a wizard or a priest, chanters are able to recite their chants while occupied with other activities, making them extremely versatile.

• Recruitable Companions: 8 total companions have been confirmed, though not all have been introduced yet. You can have up to 5 of these companions in your party at once, which makes a party of up to 6 members including your own character, which you will create from scratch.

1. Edair, a Human Fighter
   Spoiler

   
2. Cadegund (apparently a human priestess, who wields an arquebus)
   Spoiler

   
3. Aloth, an Elven Wizard
   Spoiler

   
4. A (Human?) Monk
5. A Dwarven Rangeress
   Spoiler

   
6. And 3 others that haven’t yet been introduced

• The Endless Paths of Od Nua (aka The Mega Dungeon): It seems that this dungeon will be the Watcher's Keep or Durlag's Tower of Project Eternity. It is a large dungeon, the size of which will be determined based on the number of financial backers (+1 level per 2500 backers above 50k) and the amount of Facebook support for Obsidian (+1 level per 20k likes). There are currently 5 subterranean levels in the dungeon, and 1 more is very soon to be added. Here's some more details:

Spoiler

In the western reaches of the Dyrwood lies the Endless Paths, an ancient network of cobbled trails that wind through arches of dense overgrowth, twisting within the confines of a high castle wall as they make their way to the gates of iron-shuttered towers that jut forth from the interior. In ages past, the towers rising from the gardens to pierce the canopy of the forest once marked the dominion of the castle's relentless, crazed builder: Od Nua. But the courses of Od Nua's madness run far below the surface, stretching forever deeper into wandering catacombs and bone-cramped oubliettes unseen by living eyes for centuries. The Endless Paths, as the old Glanfathans call them, cannot be walked by the living, but the storytellers say with certainty that many strong souls have found a permanent home beneath the grieving creator's estate.

Most else that is said and written of the place is fiction or conjecture, more likely to have sprouted from the svef-enhanced imaginations of bored and boasting mercenaries than from any seed of truth. Hosts of lost souls that relentlessly stalk the living, cathedral-sized tombs overflowing with the restless victims of a horrific plague, lightless chambers sealing in the remnants of Od Nua's failed experiments. Most legends converge on a common theme: that under the castle rest myriad forgotten vaults of death and darkness glittering with Od Nua's enchanted creations and the abandoned treasure of ill-fated interlopers. So great is the fear of the castle's denizens that even drunken and drug-cheered adventurers do not joke of setting foot on the paths, lest their souls join the eternal ranks of those that have gone before them.

• Adventurer's Hall: Will be unlocked at $2.6m. Like how parties were created in Icewind Dale? This option is for you then!

Spoiler

In the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood, adventurers and mercenaries from across the world are often employed as personal bodyguards, elite security, or salvage (plunder) teams that venture into the forgotten corners of Eír Glanfath. A lot of the folks who hang out as such places are robbers and miscreants, but reliable agents can be found and employed with a bit of patience.

What does this mean for you? It means that if you don't like a companion, or if you don't like any of our companions, you won't be cut off from having characters of their classes. Over time, you can build your own custom parties to play through the game. If you want a party of monks or all casters, this gives you the ability to do it within the game while still maintaining the pacing of the standard PC + companions play style.

• Game Modes: Even among the ranks of RPG superfans, there exists a subset of players who can't get enough challenge. They want all of the difficulty features set to "I am pro." Collectively, we've worked on a bunch of these challenge modes in the past and enjoyed the results. Project Eternity seems like a very appropriate place to highlight suites of these difficulty options as distinct gameplay modes that players can opt-into at the beginning of any game. We've come up with three modes we'd like to support, which also includes the ability to turn many of their sub-features on and off on an individual level in an ordinary game: Expert Mode, Trial of Iron, and Path of the Damned.

Spoiler

Expert Mode will disable all of the common ease-of-use / in-case-you-missed it gameplay elements like the display of skill thresholds, influence/reputation modifiers, and similar "helper" information. In a fashion similar to Fallout: New Vegas' Hardcore Mode, Expert Mode will also enable more punitive and demanding gameplay elements, in and out of combat. We're not saying we're going to have weighty gold (for real, we're not saying that), but if we did, you can bet that would be automatically turned on by Expert Mode.

If you guessed that Trial of Iron is like Temple of Elemental Evil's Ironman Mode, you guessed right. When you start a Trial of Iron game, you have one save game that persists for the entire campaign... or until you die. And if you die, your save game is deleted. Enjoy!

Path of the Damned is a spiritual successor to Icewind Dale's Heart of Fury mode. In our encounters, we like to turn individual combatants on and off based on the level of difficulty. If you come into an area on Easy, maybe casters are replaced with weak melee enemies. If you come in on Hard, maybe the casters are augmented by a tough melee enemy or two. With Path of the Damned, that goes out the window. All enemies from all levels of difficulty are enabled and the combat mechanics are amplified to make battles much more brutal for everyone involved.

The first question you may have is, "Can I enable multiple challenge modes at once?" Yep, you sure can. They have to be selected at the beginning of the game, but if you want to play with two or all three at the same time, you can certainly can do so. If you're not quite sure you want all of the elements that come along with a given mode, this funding level will also cover implementing the ability to enable and disable the individual sub-features.

• Combat Mechanics: The general combat dynamics will be, quote: "Close to BG2/IWD". It won't be based on D&D though, but rather a new realtime-with-pause ruleset developed from scratch.
• Crafting and Enchanting: The option for players to craft and enchant their own items was added at the 2.4m donation level.
• Player House – You will eventually have your own residence to store your equipment, let your companions take a load off, and of course, to make you feel special and prestigious!
• Worldmap (partial)

Spoiler

• Music with Soul - Here are links to 3 musical pieces associated with PE (I wasn't sure how to imbed these to play direct from the browser, so sorry for the links)

• Project Eternity Prelude
• Project Eternity Dirge Of Eir Glanfath
• Project Eternity The Road to Eternity

Spoiler

Souls, the supernatural, a fantasy setting, mature themes... These are just a few of the big ideas behind Project Eternity's story and world. As with any great CRPG story, music plays an important role in communicating those ideas. This was true for the Infinity Engine games as well. Looking back they all had one thing in common with regards to music: all are known for having strong and memorable soundtracks that drew you in as a listener and set fire to your imagination. That's exactly what we're aiming for with the music for Project Eternity.

So what will the music sound like? Great question! Describing music with words alone can be a tricky thing to do because so much of that is subjective and wide open for interpretation. Even still it's important to have some sort of plan in place before writing a single note. You need an idea that will guide you towards creating an effective score. To help paint that picture more clearly, here are three words that we believe best describe what the score will ultimately sound like:

Mystical

Ancient

Emotive

Now you might be wondering, out of all the possible descriptive words, why these three? The answer to that goes right back to those big ideas mentioned above.

We chose mystical because of the importance of souls and the supernatural in Project Eternity's world. Ancient because we want the music to be grounded and appropriate to the setting. Emotive because the role of music in any game is first and foremost to provide dramatic and emotional context for the player. At the end of the day, that's what we want out of Project Eternity's score. We want you to be swept away by the music and the imagery it evokes. By keeping these three descriptive pillars in mind while developing the score, we’ll be able to support and enhance the narrative goals of our game.

Of course these three words are not all the music will ultimately be. It'll also be adventurous, ethereal, and wondrous when appropriate. Ominous, dark, and mysterious when called for. Scary and horrifying at just the right moments. And yes, driving, bold, and colossal when absolutely necessary.

Along with defining what we do want the score to sound like, there are also some things we know we don't want it to sound like. It won't be overly heavy or oppressive, nor will it be bombastic and grandiose from beginning to end. We want the score to be as dynamic and nuanced as the story it serves, and the last thing we want to do is weigh that story down with leaden music.

As you can see Project Eternity's music will be many things when all is said and done. But perhaps most importantly, its music will have a unique and original voice that we hope will leave a lasting impression, the same way the music of those awesome Infinity Engine games did in the past.

• Graphics: Project Eternity will use high-quality isometric pre-rendered background graphics, like the Infinity Engine games (but at a higher resolution). The character models will be in 3D though, and also some special effects will use 3D technology where it makes sense. (Nothing that will require a very powerful or modern computer though.)
Rotating the camera will obviously not be possible, but zooming might be.
• Supported Platforms: Project Eternity is going to run on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. The game will be DRM free!
• Language Support: The initial release will be in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Polish. We are also looking for ways of translating the game for our fans all over the rest of the world. As we have more information and our funding increases, we’ll make sure to keep everyone update on what languages will be coming with Project Eternity.
• System Requirements: It's too early in development to give hardware requirements. Our target is to run on older machines and to support a wide variety of hardware. We will be announcing the system requirements at a later date so stay tuned for an announcement down the road.

 

Not bad. I like the class descriptions. The lineup still lacks the summoning/vicarious combat archetype though, assuming the savvy/manipulative/resourceful archetype already counts as a rogue.

 

I'm assuming the druid will be the summoner of the bunch, though no details have been shared about it yet. Stands to reason though.

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I'm considering using this post to add some of the more informative videos about Project Eternity. I'm starting by adding the most recent Matt Chat, where Matt Barton interviews Josh Sawyer about our favorite new CRPG in progress! Josh still seems to struggle with microphone issues, but the video is fully intelligible (still listening to it as I type). There is some great information about spell casting in the later part of the video.


Obsidian Video Updates

Project Eternity Update #1 - Obsidian Entertainment Presents Project Eternity
Obsidian first introduces PE to the world

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #2: Stretch Goals! (PayPal, Mac, Linux, and more!)
The Kickstart campaign has only just started and the $1.1 million goal has already been reached!

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #3: Game Basics - Your Party, Your Characters, and Races
Josh Sawyer gives us some real details about the game for the first time.

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #5: Souls, Technology, and Adventuring Companies
A high level update on souls and some other game details, including some details about how people regard the gods, once again by Josh Sawyer

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #7: Non-Combat Abilities
Tim Cain gives a nice, detailed overview of non-combat abilities. It sounds like you can actually play much of the game by avoiding combat entirely.

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #9: The power of MODES and Godlike Races: Our $2.3M Stretch Goal
Josh gives another update and reveals game modes.

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #10: Characterization with Chris Avellone
A rather "goofy" update with Chris Avellone. I think that a few important tid bits about the game were included, but mostly this video shows us that Chris isn't always the most serious guy, and we get to find out who has problems with motion sickness!

Spoiler

Project Eternity Update #12: Reddit Q&A with Tim Cain
Tim Answers the top 5 voted questions of Reddit

Spoiler

Update 15: PayPal, 2.5M/2.6M stretch goals, new reddit QA, classes, and art!
Josh gives us the latest, including the annoucement of the Adventurer's Hall at 2.6 million (still not reached as of this posting)

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Project Eternity Update #16: Reward Updates, Combat with Tim, Mods, and the Mega Dungeon Grows!
Another Reddit Q&A with Tim Cain, focused on combat this time. Ability synergies will exist, grappling opponents won't.

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Project Eternity Update #18: George Ziets, Paladins, Add-Ons, Rewards, and More!
Adam Brenneke talks about the newest stretch goals, including some details on the new Paladin and Chanter classes (unlocked at 2.7m)

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@Marceror, nice write-up!

A tiny clarification:

• That map image does not actually show the whole world map, only the most important part of it (a full version has not yet been released).

Some additions:

• Combat mechanics:
  The general combat dynamics will be, quote: "Close to BG2/IWD". It won't be based on D&D though, but rather a new realtime-with-pause ruleset developed from scratch.

• Graphics:
  It will use high-quality isometric pre-rendered background graphics, like the Infinity Engine games (but at a higher resolution). The character models will be in 3D though, and also some special effects will use 3D technology where it makes sense. (Nothing that will require a very powerful or modern computer though.)
  Rotating the camera will obviously not be possible, but zooming might be.

• Platforms:
  Supported: Windows, Mac, Linux.
  Explicitly not supported: Consoles, tablets. (From reading between the lines, I guess they'll consider porting it to tablets after the PC release is out. Consoles will presumably never get support though, as the gameplay will be optimized for full tactical control over up to 6 party members with a mouse & keyboard, which does not translate into the console world very well.)

 

Good stuff Ineth. I had already added a point about supported platforms, but your other points made good additions. Updated!

 

Thanks for all the information, Marceror. Great work.

 

I think that Obsidian was worried they wouldn't bring in enough money initially, so they had their artists using 200 year old virtual paper, you know, to keep costs down. Then they probably realized it gave their game a cool "ancient" vibe, and just kept doing it.

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Well, it appears that I reached the character limit for a single post, and wasn't able to include the Chanter description. That's a first!

I will need to use a separate post for any additional content updates (unless Tal is willing/able) to give me some extra breathing room for my initial post.

 

Wow, thanks for the quick response Tal! Your idea has merit. I could see grouping similar types of details together in a single post. The challenge is I can only post 1 message in a thread per 24 hours, so doing it that way would take several days.

For now, I'm more than happy with the extra breathing room! Thanks again!

 

Tal, that's great. I'm thinking that if I keep updating this thing up until release, SP should have a pretty comprehensive repository about the game at launch. That could be cool, and I would enjoy doing it for a project like PE.

Or if I get hit by a bus before then (you never know), at least there will be a nice starting point that someone can pick up on, if they so desire.

 

There's at least 45k in Paypal donations, so we're more like 30k from the 2.7m stretch goal!

We get a stronghold at 3m, and a huge new city at 3.5m.

 

Well since the update went out a bit ago, we've had about a 10k spike on Kickstarter, so make that 20k until 2.7m! Yikes! Go, go, go!