Kingmaker - Preview @Keen Gamer

I do have to agree with Purpleblob that the harshness seems a bit too high. It should have some impact but not be a viscous circle that just becomes frustrating.

Well hopefully they will balance it to be important but fun and have options to disable it for those who don't care for weight or inventory management.

purpleblob said:

There is an option to turn off the reduced movement speed due to encumbrance in the local map - very handy - but you still get immobile if you are heavily encumbered.

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Yea but does it also remove reduced movement during combat? If it has no penalty during combat I would probably not use that option.

Becoming immobile because of reaching max carry limit is OK, game should have that.

Well, if they have Bags of Holding - problem solved! (eventually) That's what we used in IE games and NWN etc...I have no issue with carry limits and fatigue etc (those are part of D&D & PF mechanics, and stop ludicrous hoarding), but there need to be reasonable ways of mitigating them. I accept that I can't carry ever shiny piece of loot, much as I hate leaving even a copper behind...

Have beta players given feedback on this?

Bah I'll just use my custom game trainer to remove encumbrance.

Anyway I hope this game sells better then PoE 2.

Archangel said:

If game is just going to add pack mules with 0 downside then inventory limits are pointless.

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Well, no, they're not pointless. This gives the player choice. I'm not fond of inventory limits. I find them often annoying. So I can grab a pack mule and avoid some of that pain. If you like inventory limits, or want to make the game harder in that respect, then don't use a pack mule in the game. Now the game can cater to both our preferences.

What bugs me often in discussing game design, is you get players who like a game to implement (or not implement) a certain feature and don't want the option of choosing to enable or disable that particular feature in the game. This often seems to be players who want something a bit more "hardcore" in their game… no multiple saves, no pause to issue commands, no pack mules.

I say add those things in and players can choose how they prefer to play the game… don't use multiple saves, don't pause your game, etc. But then those same players complain and scream "no"… if you put those features in the game I'll use 'em (even though I say I don't want to). And I say, don't make me pay for your weak will… if those features are there and you can't resist using them, then maybe you need to take a closer look at what you really like in playing games.

Archangel said:

Yea but does it also remove reduced movement during combat? If it has no penalty during combat I would probably not use that option.

Becoming immobile because of reaching max carry limit is OK, game should have that.

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If my understanding is correct, the penalty during combat only applies if individual is encumbered. The option to turn off movement speed in the local map is more of a group encumbrance thing. So as long as each party member isn't encumbered it's all good during combat even if you are encumbered as a party.

booboo said:

Well, if they have Bags of Holding - problem solved! (eventually) That's what we used in IE games and NWN etc…I have no issue with carry limits and fatigue etc (those are part of D&D & PF mechanics, and stop ludicrous hoarding), but there need to be reasonable ways of mitigating them. I accept that I can't carry ever shiny piece of loot, much as I hate leaving even a copper behind…

Have beta players given feedback on this?

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So many beta players want the pack mule or bag of holding. I reckon more than half of feedback in beta forums is regarding encumbrance/fatigue issue.

As Wolf said, I don't want the system gone, but modified to become more manageable.

I think Purpleblob's post sounded like a very good analysis of that system, and the devs should pay attention and take it as good feedback for the beta.

The encumbrance system does sound very heavy handed, to me. Not sure what they are thinking, but hopefully they will take constructive criticisms like Purpleblob's (and others in this thread made good comments as well) on board.

Yeah, I guess I will post my feedback on beta forums. All in all, I'm finding Kingmaker enjoyable despite the encumbrance issue. Sunk in 40+ hours now. Still in Chap 2 lol.

I'm curious what sort of companions are being created here and what things weigh. I've played a *lot* of Pathfinder. A Strength of 10 is more than enough to wear light armor, carry a couple of weapons, and still be able to have a few potions or alchemical items in reserve. Are they creating Strength 10 warriors that want to wear heavy armor and carry two handed weapons? Also, in Pathfinder, your combat speed is reduced by medium and heavy armor even if you aren't encumbered... well, unless you're a Dwarf... so why is that a surprise? Or is it just a surprise to non-Pathfinder folks?

I know they aren't porting the TT rules 100%, but creating companions that are encumbered by their starting equipment seems really wrong. As someone else asked, will there be bags of holding or handy haversacks? Better yet, what about armors made from lighter materials? Celestial chain shirts and breastplates? Spells like ant haul, bull's strength, bear's endurance? If they're just saddling players with a punitive system to prevent them from money-ing the system, then remove the excessive loot and save us all the pain. Otherwise, yeah, everyone is going to favor physical characters and a third of your NPC roster will go unused by the majority of the player base.

@Darkbridger;

I'm hoping Owlcats will re-adjust the weight of all items because it was much better in beta 1. In saying that, things get better as you level up + gold to buy items which gives boost to your attributes.

Selling the common loots isn't the best way to make money in Kingmaker (items don't worth much + heavy), therefore, being a pack rat doesn't really make sense Selling interesting artifacts to an appropriate person yields a solid profit + interesting story/lore.

Yes, buffs help too but only in the local maps only as the buff wear off quickly as you travel in the world map.

Would love to write a preview but a few things are preventing me:
1. I don't use FRAP or any other tools to take screenshots - currently, screenshot function don't work with beta.
2. Either things will change before the release (thus making my preview moot) or I will end up repeating same points in my review after the release.
3. Feeling rather lazy It's a huge game, I played 50+ hours and still feel like I barely scratched the surface…

Is there some kind of permanent home stash where you can store stuff that doesn't count towards your characters'/party's weight limit?

I saw a stash at my barony main hall but for some reason I can't interact with it - which I assume is a bug…

After sinking in 68 hours into beta 2, my Kingmaker journey has come to an end due to a game breaking bug. I'm really sad, I was having so much fun Still haven't even finished the Chapter 2, so you can guess just how massive this game is!

All in all, I'm in love with this game even with encumbrance/fatigue issues + bugs.

I found the story quite engaging. The first chapter involves claiming your own barony, while the second chapter lets you concentrate on strengthening the barony, which leads you to make the land safe, building up the relationships with other lords in neighboring regions, finding out the source of curse etc.. lots of diverse and interesting quests!!!

Stolen Lands is a harsh place - once you step out into the wilderness, there are so many monsters waiting to… send you to a better place I've been zapped, poisoned, mauled, crisped to death by so many different creatures like Will-o'-Wisp, giant centipede, owlbear, Linnorm…. good fun!

The combat requires a bit of micromanagement since it is fast paced and one wrong move can be the end of you… This game definitely has a steep learning curve, especially for people who haven't played other D&D or Pathfinder games imo. A lot of time, you will have to get correct spells and/or potions ready to win the battle, which mean you will also have to rest quite frequently.

As I said before, I love the camping system. This is where you refresh your health and spells, buff your party by cooking an excellent meal for the next day while you bond with the companions.

One thing I find a bit underwhelming is party banter… I didn't find it all that engaging… or maybe the Rusky humour isn't getting through to me So far I found Linzi, Harrim and Jubilost most fun to have around. Unfortunately, they aren't in my party often due to low strength/constitution I should add though, encumbrance/fatigue system becomes more manageable as you progress the game as you gain more stats via level up + magical items. Still haven't found Nok-Nok, I think he's the only one I haven't met yet. There are 11 companions in total - Linzi, Jaethal, Harrim, Valerie, Amiri, Tristian, Octavia, Regongar, Jubilost, Ekundayo and Nok-Nok.

Obtaining companion is important for your Kingdom building too as they act as your advisors and without them, kingdom events and project cannot be done. I also enjoyed the kingdom building aspect a lot. A successful completion of event and project will boost your kingdom stats, provide additional building points, and may also lead to adventure quest to progress the main story. If you fail or neglect certain events, it will result in reduction in your kingdom stats and eventually will end in game over (or so I heard).

I didn't find it too difficult to juggle the kingdom building and adventuring - the new kingdom events/projects pops up at the beginning of the month, so make sure you are back at your barony to pick the advisors, start the event and off to adventure! As long as you visit your barony hall every once/twice a month, it should be fine.

Well, that was a lot longer than I intended I'm so eager to experience the whole game, will definitely write a review on this game once I'm done playing it through fully.

Sounds awesome. I expect a lot of fun from this game once it releases.

Nice write-up, thank you Purpleblob!

Is loot - specifically weapons and gear - unique and placed by the game designers, or is it randomly generated like DoS2?

It sounds like Pathfinder: Kingmaker is the real most valuable player. Can't wait to get my hands on it and playthrough. Now I want a physical copy of it with map and manual.

I'm getting excited from what purpleblob wrote.
It seems the game includes everything i want from a video game rpg. And since i dropped POE 2, tired from the combat, i'm expecting Kingmaker.

bizorker said:

Is loot - specifically weapons and gear - unique and placed by the game designers, or is it randomly generated like DoS2?

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From what I can tell, it's hand placed but I haven't seen many "special/named" items at this stage.

Silver said:

It sounds like Pathfinder: Kingmaker is the real most valuable player. Can't wait to get my hands on it and playthrough. Now I want a physical copy of it with map and manual.

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akarthis said:

I'm getting excited from what purpleblob wrote.
It seems the game includes everything i want from a video game rpg. And since i dropped POE 2, tired from the combat, i'm expecting Kingmaker.

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One thing I'm concerned is the amount of bugs I encountered - I really hope they will delay the release if necessary and iron out most of bugs.

purpleblob said:

One thing I'm concerned is the amount of bugs I encountered - I really hope they will delay the release if necessary and iron out most of bugs.

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I said it since even before the KS started: Russian developers = mega buggy game.