Pillars of Eternity - New Backer Beta Patch

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Brian Adler of Obsidian posted some information about a new Backer Beta patch.

Hey, guys. It has been a while so I wanted to let you know that we are still working on a new patch for you guys. There are still some issues we want to iron out, but we are hoping we can put a new patch out sometime in the next few days. Once things look a little more locked down I will add more info.
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Based on information from a few posters here are some the upcoming fixes.

Improved AI - David Szymczyk assigned to write new AI clauses

Health system changes

Fog of war will be closer

Possible Attributes change

Larger Quest and Stash UI windows

Targeting Reticles

Major clothing color for NPCs in combat log

Gibs and hit effects
Click to expand...
More information.
 
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The patch was officially released, and the change log is massive. I will post the link and the entire post in a new spoiler tag for everyone's convenience.

Link - http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68689-backer-beta-build-301-is-live/

Hello, everyone. We have released an update to the backer beta on Steam. We are still working on the Mac and Linux builds, so they are not currently up there (we are working as fast as we can on them, I promise). We have lots of new changes and fixes. As always, please play the build and give us feedback on our forums.
Here are the patch notes for the newly released Backer Beta Build 301.

Important Information Regarding Saves
Saved game location has changed. You can now find your saved games located in C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity. Keep in mind that old saved games will not be automatically moved to the new location and it is suggested that users start new games instead of trying to load old ones. Loading old games on the new build may cause undesirable behavior.


New Features

Rebalance to Attributes:

  • Might: Damage and Healing
    • Every point of Might over 10 increases a character's base Damage and Healing by 2% (penalties if under 10).
  • Constitution: Stamina and Health
    • Every point of Constitution over 10 increases the character's base Endurance and Health by 2% (penalties if under 10).
  • Dexterity: Action Speed
    • Every point of Dexterity over 10 increases Action Speed by 2% (penalties if under 10).
  • Perception: Accuracy and Range
    • Every point of Perception over 10 increases Accuracy by 1 and Range (for non-melee) by 5% (penalties if under 10).
  • Intellect: AoE Size and Deflection
    • Every point of Intellect over 10 increases the character's AoE sizes by 5% and Deflection by 1 (penalties if under 10).
  • Resolve: Concentration and Duration
    • Every point of Resolve over 10 increases a character's Concentration by 3% and Durations by 5% (penalties if under 10).

Stealth has been revised:

The new stealth system relies on the distance of a scouting character from an NPC to determine how quickly the creature will enter Alert and Combat states. A comparison of characters' individual Stealth skill ratings and creatures' levels modifies this rate. N.b.: A character that does not have LoS on the creature is not considered to be "inside" their radius.

When characters enter the scouting state, they gain a Stealth Meter. Currently, it's simply a solid circle completely filled with color (green or, if in colorblind mode, blue). This is a basic implementation and the art will change. Every NPC in the world has one of five stealth detection ratings (from Oblivious to Supernatural) that correspond to radii in the game.

When a scouting character gets into a creature's stealth detection range, their Stealth Meter will start filling from green/blue to yellow. This informs the player of how much time they have before the creature will enter Alert and Combat states. If the meter fills completely yellow, the creature will move up to a constant-defined max distance toward the character (e.g. 3m). At the same time, the yellow meter will begin to fill red. If the meter reaches full red, the scouting state is dropped, the character is detected, and hostile creatures enter Combat.

We will have a base rate at which these fills occur, but they can be modified by two elements: 1) the relationship between the character's Stealth and the target's level 2) the character's proximity to the target within the radius. The two modifiers both directly multiply the standard rate.
While this system is fully implemented, it has not been tuned and does not have final art.

Stamina is now called Endurance:

The stat previously known as Stamina is now called Endurance since that seems clearer to more people. Additionally, we are no longer doing the behind-the-scenes conversion of a percentage of received Stamina damage into Health damage as the system was opaque to players. Now, Max Endurance is multiplied by a factor determined by class to arrive at Max Health. This does mean that Health values are much higher than a traditional "D&D range", but in practice these values were already used in the background. In this update, when a character receives damage, it's applied equally to Endurance and Health.

Here are the current Endurance to Health multipliers for each class. "Front line" classes tend to have more Health as they are expected to be damaged and healed in combat with much greater frequency.

Barbarian - 6
Chanter - 4
Cipher - 4
Druid - 4
Fighter - 5
Monk - 6
Paladin - 5
Ranger - 4
Rogue - 4
Priest - 3
Wizard - 3


  • UI arrows have been added to show active engagement. We are still evaluating their appearance and functionality internally, so please give us feedback on their usefulness.
  • Hit effects for elemental damage, blood, and gibs have been added. Fire, shock, corrode, and frost damage will display visual effects on hit. Some creatures will gib when critically hit on death.
  • Dead bodies now turn into loot containers and can be looted directly.
  • New Talents.
    • This is the first batch of new talents more will be added in the coming weeks. All icons for the new talents are temporary.
  • New icons.
  • New sounds.
  • New portraits.
  • Many, many rules fixes and bug fixes for class abilities.

Fixes

  • Spells: many spells have been tuned to have faster casting times, shorter ranges, do/heal more or less damage, apply different effects, attack different defenses, or do different damage types. Of note: Fireball, Jolting Touch, Minoletta's Bounding Missiles, Winter Wind, Talons' Reach, Returning Storm, all Restore ____ Stamina spells, Vile Thorns, Lay on Hands, and many others.
  • Renormalized all attributes scores to 10 in character creation.
  • Enemy AI will now scan for new targets when path is blocked.
  • Caster AI can now investigate stealth.
  • Improvements to AI instruction sets. Most enemy AI can now target specific party members, including back line characters and casters.
  • Engagement is now cancelled on knockdown.
  • Fixes to stat calculations in character sheet.
  • Many fixes and adjustments to the combat log, including improved performance.
  • Added many improvements to "feels" of action bar.
  • Ranger animal companion, summoned creatures, and newly hired adventurers will not stomp on existing party members.
  • Sound effects and music should not cut out during combat or during long play sessions.
  • Improved footstep sounds.
  • Improvements of character models and textures.
  • Added highlight effect on mouseover for 3D objects, including doors and plants.
  • Added 'G' for opening Chant Editor and Grimoire.
  • Added exit button for character creation, level up, and adventurer's hall.
  • Improvements to loot tables.
  • Added notification for when stash can be used.
  • Adjusted fog of war and view distances.
  • Max wounds is now 10.
  • Intellect deflection bonus is applied to Ranger animal companion.
  • Changed many spells/abilities to be combat only.
  • Many more fixes too numerous to mention.

Known Issues

  • Placed traps do not work as intended.
  • Perception does not currently increase the range of attacks and spells.
  • Three of the new talents are not working correctly: Resilient Companion, Faithful Companion, and Painful Interdiction.
 
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Sacred_Path said:
finally we'll learn wether design by committee is actually a good thing.
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I tend to think of forum comments more as 'nudging' - I don't think J Sawyer is one to be easily swayed. If I had my way they would use an existing attribute system (similar to DnD, or one from FO etc) - and get rid of Might, for example, which still seems very contrived. But clearly he's only prepared to tweak his system so much. Also, D:OS had very acrive forums and they took on relevant feedback, and I found that game brilliant - I put in way less money into that KS too. So I think they should listen to their backers. He has bought any criticism on himself, by moving very far away from certain elements of the old IE games.
 
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booboo said:
I tend to think of forum comments more as 'nudging' - I don't think J Sawyer is one to be easily swayed. If I had my way they would use an existing attribute system (similar to DnD, or one from FO etc) - and get rid of Might, for example, which still seems very contrived. But clearly he's only prepared to tweak his system so much. Also, D:OS had very acrive forums and they took on relevant feedback, and I found that game brilliant - I put in way less money into that KS too. So I think they should listen to their backers. He has bought any criticism on himself, by moving very far away from certain elements of the old IE games.
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His mindset seems to be that of an engineer, so to me the game system looks more like a bridge design than an accurate simulation. Take, for example, the skills system—it was weaned down to just five skills, all in the interest of making them "equally useful". It probably works to that purpose, but it doesn't seem nearly as much fun. I guess we'll find out how well his approach works once the game is released…
 
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rjshae said:
His mindset seems to be that of an engineer, so to me the game system looks more like a bridge design than an accurate simulation. Take, for example, the skills system—it was weaned down to just five skills, all in the interest of making them "equally useful". It probably works to that purpose, but it doesn't seem nearly as much fun. I guess we'll find out how well his approach works once the game is released…
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If that is true then he must be good and have done a good job. A competent engineer always spend a significant time on the design, and I think that shows in their previous games. Engineers also think of efficiency (material, cost, time .. etc.) and probably that is why he focused on few skills that are important.
 
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rjshae said:
His mindset seems to be that of an engineer, so to me the game system looks more like a bridge design than an accurate simulation. Take, for example, the skills system—it was weaned down to just five skills, all in the interest of making them "equally useful". It probably works to that purpose, but it doesn't seem nearly as much fun. I guess we'll find out how well his approach works once the game is released…
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Yeah, I really don't like that part. Five skills just sounds wrong. My worst fear is that we end up wuth a system as bland as the one in Dragon Age, but I really don't want to spoil this game for myself by playing early. Time will tell.
 
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What are the 5 skills in PoE and didn't Baldur's Gate only have a few actual skills in terms of upgrading per level up (Set Traps, Pick Pockets, etc.)?
 
Fluent said:
What are the 5 skills in PoE and didn't Baldur's Gate only have a few actual skills in terms of upgrading per level up (Set Traps, Pick Pockets, etc.)?
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True, but also remember that IWD2 had sixteen skills from D&D v3. It meant I could design a pretty detailed character type, even if the actual role-playing opportunities were small. The PoE game is supposed to represent a rebirth of the IE line; not just BG. So… regardless, I remain a little disappointed by the design decision.

The PoE skills are: Athletics, Lore, Mechanics, Stealth, and Survival.
 
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More skills are usually better in my book, but I like the descriptions of the 5 that are in PoE and I think they will offer good opportunities for fun moments.

That said, more definition between the skills would have been better, IMO. I would have broken them up into separate categories to allow for more specialization and unique builds...but that's just me. :)
 
To me, the skills aren't the problem - it's the seeming lack of feats. Though, I can't be sure until the full version is released.
 
To be perfectly honest, it's possible to narrow down D&D skills to about 5 as well, at least the way they're used in most RPGs. Persuade is actually enough for most characters, but casters also need Concentration and Spellcraft. The rest are decent at best.

Unless it's Storm of Zehir. I don't think I've ever seen a game with a more masterful use of D&D skills. However, SoZ is the exception, not the rule.

At any rate, feats and spells are more important to me, and it'll be interesting to see what the game offers.
 
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DArtagnan said:
To me, the skills aren't the problem - it's the seeming lack of feats. Though, I can't be sure until the full version is released.
Click to expand...

They said they were going add in most of the Talents following the beta, so I don't think that current lack will be an issue.
 
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DArtagnan said:
To me, the skills aren't the problem - it's the seeming lack of feats. Though, I can't be sure until the full version is released.
Click to expand...

This patch had like 10 new none-class specific talent (feats) added in.
 
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I reinstalled and gave it about 20 min. I know it's an early beta build, but I can't help to feel negative with just about everything. One of my biggest issues is that it's difficult to see the characters. They blend in with the background art. Everything should be easy to see with clear and crisp characters and background art.

Combat is very sluggish and confusing. My fear is that their vision of the combat system isn't translating well to realtime/pauseable game play that worked so well for the infinity engine games. In most cases as soon as combat takes place all the characters huddle together and you can't tell who is who and what is going on, especially if they are fighting in grass!

Since the combat in Pillars is complex with timing delays for different spells and abilities, I'm starting to think that a turn base system is really the way to go. I'm really starting to worry. Release is just a few short months away...
 
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Something is definitely a bit awkward in combat. It's smooth while walking around town, but in combat everything seems so.. bland. It's hard to identify who's who and what's what, and things just sort of happen without much of an impact.

I think the overall system is fine, and I don't worry too much about balancing the stats and feats and what not. The concept and design is solid. However, the general look and feel of combat still needs adjusting, and unlike stats and so on it's not something that can simply be tweaked by changing a few numbers.
 
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