Project Eternity - Update #15, Classes, New Stretch Goals and More
 

In today's update for Project Eternity Josh Sawyer updates us on the following
The new stretch goals are:
More information.

At first, I was somewhat disappointed with the update as all these classes seem to remind me too much of D&D, (i.e. generic fantasy theme). Although after reading about them, I started to like them more as little by little my allergic reaction to the notion of D&D was wearing off.

I particularly welcome the idea that the classes are not artificially limted as in 2nd edition AD&D but instead they can adopt and develop skills that are traditionally belonging to other classes. But it is the Cipher class that has me especially excited and I really hope that we will see well developed non-combat uses such as mind reading and/or manipulation. (For me personally, it is the non-combat gameplay that makes a good RPG)

As for the artwork, I don't like it as it looks IMO too much like those typical generic high fantasy images…. in other words, plain boring and unimaginative.

you would almost think that there would be nothing in the game if it weren't for the stretch goals ;) What would really motivate me would be a screen shot!

@spiraling69

I suspect they are keeping the screenshot (they have at least one) for the last week.

The wallpaper is showing the 5 characters and we are supposed to play a 6 characters party. We can also see Cadegund, who looks a Priest, and Edain in it. The Dwarf was in the 1st concept art as well.

We are just missing info about the wizard/rogue and the monk.

Stretchgoal 3 million: They post a screenshot. ;)

Not bad goals/plans, I won't complain.
Although… I'm not seeing me playing a barbarian. Unless ofc it would be the only role to get Red Sonya. I mean… Under her skirt. Yea, she doesn't have one. :)

Love this update but then I like the standard high fantasy art style and the core classes. I happen to like the classics as well as newer games so happy to see they will keeping this closer to the classics.

The adventurer's hall teases. Are companions' generic, without any background or will every possible adventurer coming to the hall have a background, mini-quest associated to them? Will they be automatically generated or will they be hand made?

In the video he explained that the adventurer's hall would let you create the other party members if you wanted. Since these are user created characters I don't see them having any background within the game (besides what you might write in their character blurb.) Think of the party generation in IWD.

In the video he also explained that you could use a mix of these player-created party members and the fully fleshed out ones you find and meet in the course of the game. Part of the reason to do this was, as he said, so that if you just really hated some of the NPCs you didn't have to miss out on having that class in the party.

I think the Adventurer's Hall is possibly the biggest RPG innovation that has been announced in this project. It's one of those things that makes so much sense, you start wondering why nobody ever tried it before.

In classic party-based games, there is always a pre-generated party, which all true RPG gamers quickly delete and never give another thought.

Eventually somebody had the bright idea that those pre-generated party members could be made part of the story, with their own quests, sub-plots, etc. That's all very grand in its own way, but there's something really enticing about making the exact party you want, with the exact blend of character types and skills. That has been lost for a long time, with Wasteland 2 being the only big project to fully embrace that concept again.

What the Adventurer's Hall is proposing is the best of both worlds. You can take your pick between the game's normal companions and all the content they offer, or go your own way. It's kind of like a classic party-based game with the pre-generated party again, except that you find those party members over time and they are part of the story.

I can easily see myself playing through once as a single character and pursuing all of the possible story content with my companions, and then doing another playthrough where I experiment with my own party that has a bunch of different class combinations that I'm still curious about.

Great update….

It's not as innovative as you think. You could actually do the same thing in Baldur's Gate 1-2 even though it wasn't an advertised feature.

If I remember correctly one had to start a multiplayer game to get to pick all the characters, right?

I never had the patience to do this, but I know my brother did it.

Isn't it exactly the Adventurer's Inn from Might & Magic 8?

I like it.

Yep, and it's not very complicated. You just save your game after creating your party in multiplayer and then transfer the save file to the single-player directory. I think there's a few more steps in BG2, but it's not difficult to do.

It was not explained anywhere in the manual though. Only on the internets could you find info on this, I believe. I perceived it as a hack.

Not a hack, rather an easter egg for people who like to build the team by themselves. Building your own party made not as much sense, storywise. But I'm sure they knew it was possible, and didnt prevent it.

The way it was implemented is a hack though. And, it should have been explained in the manual. If its an Easter Egg, it's a poorly designed one. Starting a multiplayer game before playing a singleplayer is a screwy design.

I kept it as a multiplayer personally, the only difference is that going in the map/inventory didn't pause the game.

it's not innovative, unless you only consider games made in the last 15 years or so, but it's welcome anyway. Might & Magic games had that, I think Wizardry games too right? if your party got wiped you could get a group from the tavern and go to where the original group died and resurrect them or something.
I don't think I'll use it though, because I would be missing out on the NPCs stories/chatter probably.

Hell, that feature was even in the Gold Box games. Nice feature, nonetheless.