Project Eternity - Interview @ GameBanshee

Josh Sawyer is interviewed by GameBanshee on Project Eternity and they even managed to pop in a question on Icewind Dale 3.

Buck: Will there be some sort of damage type system in play (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing), and what steps are you taking to ensure that all weapon types (two-handed, sword/shield, dual-wielding, and ranged) are balanced and, ultimately, viable pursuits?

Josh: I'm not sure if there will be or not. I don't want to introduce so many moving parts to the damage, weapons, and armor systems that we become unable to present player choices that are meaningful and coherent. That is, depending on how many factors the player is expected to analyze when selecting a weapon for any given task, we need to make sure that the range of choices the player can make feel like they have clear, solid benefits and drawbacks instead of coming across as a bunch of "mush".

The first step in ensuring that weapon types/combat styles are viable pursuits is saying, "All weapon types and combat styles must be viable pursuits." If that's your high-level goal, design decisions should always be framed in that context. If someone says, "Daggers are the bad weapons for characters who suck!" that clearly flies in the face of the stated goal.

I think some editions of AD&D have really struggled with this. The rules seem to want to structure weapons in a certain way that promotes trade-offs, but mechanics are in conflict and produce a bunch of choices that feel dead in the water outside of niche circumstances. If you ever look at a choice and say, "Obviously everyone should take this," or "I would never take this," there's probably something wrong with how they've been balanced.

And the IWD3 question answered by Feargus:

Buck: I know that Obsidian Entertainment owns the Icewind Dale franchise assets and that you've approached publishers in the past about the prospect of pursuing Icewind Dale III. Given the success of your Project Eternity Kickstarter, what are the odds that we may yet see an ID3 in the near future, crowd-funded or not? Hypothetically, what direction would you take a third entry in the series?

Feargus: You are correct, we approached Atari a number of times about doing Icewind Dale 3. We hope that with the success of Project Eternity that it might be possible to talk to Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast about those games again. However, our focus right now is Project Eternity. We would not want to start working on something like IWD3 soon, since we don’t want anything to compromise Project Eternity at all. If we were to do IWD3, I think we would continue the focus of what the IWD series was all about – a great dungeon crawling counterpoint to Baldur’s Gate and Torment.

More information.

Ah, be still my beating heart!!! IWD3!? (get the defibrillator!) *whew* Wonder what rule set they would use? Hopefully not 4th Ed…But of course this is still way in the future, but something else to look forward too! Busy having a romp through IWD right now and loving it (when I'm not cursing the rules etc etc…but I'm like that).

meh, never liked Icewind Dale, too much focus on combat

Originally Posted by wolfing
meh, never liked Icewind Dale, too much focus on combat

I agree it was nothing but combat with a character generator.

I adored Icewind Dale. They managed to weave a terrific story into the fabric of a fun dungeon crawler. I put my playthrough of The Severed Hand up on the same pedestal as TotSC; it was just incredible to discover the lore of that place and its failed Mythal.

The sequel, of course, suffered from being rushed - especially with recycled art assets - but it was still a notable title for its migration to 3.5e rules. The highlight for me was the detour into Chult.

I hope Feargus does indeed finally manage to get funding for an IDIII; the ruleset that WotC would impose would definitely make me leery, however.

Edit: You know, with all my talk of Mythals… Obsidian could try remaking The Ruins of Myth Drannor !!

I loved both IWD games. I actually enjoyed them more than PS:T and almost as much as BG 1&2. They're worth playing just for the soundtracks and atmosphere alone.

Trials of The Luremaster is still the best free DLC/expansion I've ever played.

Another sincere vouching of aesthetic joy for the Icewind Dale games, particularly the first game and Heart of Winter. Just gorgeous environments and atmospheres, beautiful music and a truly engaging experience with all of the expansions installed. Over the years I've probably created more parties in Icewind Dale than I have the BG series to be honest, since the games hearken back to the Gold Box series in terms of having full party control and the variety of design possible.
I always thought it was a shame that IWD II didn't get an expansion like the first game did.

Great to hear about them mentioned in this interview and I also recall Feargus talking about them earlier in the year.

IWD's were my favorite IE games. I'm a combat first kind of guy though.

Icewind dale brings fond memories to me, I don't agree it was just combat, the story and atmosphere distinctly pulled me into the game and the ambiance was superb. Of course the masterful soundtrack didn't hurt either.

Loved IWD. PS:T remains my favourite but IWD's art, music and atmosphere were miles ahead of BG.

I still see IWD as having the best dungeons and encounter design of all RPGs I played (and that is a lot).

IWD was good old-fashioned adventuring fun. Thought Storm of Zehir tried to tap into the same thing as well, and the music was excellent.

I liked IWD, but never really had a desire to play it again. IWD2 took me two tries to get through and I didn't really enjoy it that much. I don;'t mind a heavy action, linear game, but the plot on IWD2 just seemed jumbled. The first time through, I got to the monastery and realized I had zero clue what the story was about anymore.

I'd give IWD3 a try though for sure.

Originally Posted by Arkadia7
Icewind dale brings fond memories to me, I don't agree it was just combat, the story and atmosphere distinctly pulled me into the game and the ambiance was superb. Of course the masterful soundtrack didn't hurt either.

That's the memory I have, but it's from so many years ago and I never played the expansion for some reason.
But reading this thread made me pick up Icewind Dale Complete from GOG this morning, now just adding all the mods like I did for BG.
These games are true classics as I'm just as pumped to play this as any newer game.