Obsidian Shows Off Project Eternity Environments In Action

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Obsidian Shows Off Project Eternity Environments In Action

The first look at the animated world of Project Eternity is nothing short of glorious.

"I don't want to oversell this, but you might want to pressurize the room that you're in because your head could explode from what you're about to see," Project Director Josh Sawyer says in the opening of the latest Project Eternity trailer. Fair warning, then, and while I'm pleased to report that my skull did not in fact pop like a zit upon viewing this trailer, I do appreciate the heads-up, and I can't honestly say it's an oversell at all.

The video is purely environmental, with no gameplay or interface components on display, but it's nonetheless absolutely stunning. Sawyer says the backdrops are designed to capture an aesthetic similar to that of games like Icewind Dale but with greater "dynamism" than what was typically seen in Infinity Engine games. Dynamism, which includes movement of objects like trees and grass within the scene, flowing water and day/night cycles with real-time lighting, is the big seller here - "it's pretty cool," as Sawyer puts it - and based on this little clip, I'd say the team has nailed it.

The in-game action starts at the 1:47 mark if you want to get right to it, but Sawyer's prelude is certainly worth two minutes of your life. Making it all even cooler is the conclusion, when he explains that the whole thing is 2D and then shows the level, completely without depth, in Unity. Amazing stuff indeed.

Source: Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/posts/450388]


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IndomitableSam

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I know "Wow" is too low content... so... my response still is "Wow." Because there's not much else to say so that, especially with the 2D reveal.
 

BrotherRool

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I need this game so much. This environment is actually more stunning to me than even some of the better graphics pushers nowadays because every element looks so right... when things are in 3D even in Uncharted stuff like ray-tracing matters and spoils a touch of the beauty, here it's almost like a painting
 

Rituro

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Sep 18, 2008
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As if I wasn't sold enough by the whole "Infinity Engine Part Deux" aspect of this project, that tech demo? Me likee. Me likee very much. Kickstarter money well spent.
 

Anachronism

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And this is why 2D is a great thing: because you can get your game looking that beautiful on a budget of $4 million. To me, that looks just as good as your average big console release; I know it doesn't come close technically, but the quality of the art is pretty outstanding, and that makes a huge difference. 2D means your game is a hell of a lot cheaper to produce, can look fantastic in spite of that cheapness, and you can get a lot more content in there because you're not blowing all your money on 3D assets.

I'm looking forward to this quite a bit. I'm in the old-school RPG mindset having gone through Icewind Dale II recently, and this looks to be basically that but prettier. Sign me up.
 

Entitled

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Anachronism said:
And this is why 2D is a great thing: because you can get your game looking that beautiful on a budget of $4 million.
Actually, in this particular case, the world is still built through 3D renders, that are then converted into 2D, so it's not that much more cost-effective. You could as well build a top-down view RPG for a few million dollars in 3D, just as Wasteland 2 is doing.

It's more of a stylistic choice, than a cost-cutting measure.
 

Elate

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Nov 21, 2010
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And.. This is amazing, why?

That's a real question, I understand it's 2D, and pretty. I just.. Don't see why it's apparently so amazing.
 

Anachronism

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Entitled said:
Anachronism said:
And this is why 2D is a great thing: because you can get your game looking that beautiful on a budget of $4 million.
Actually, in this particular case, the world is still built through 3D renders, that are then converted into 2D, so it's not that much more cost-effective. You could as well build a top-down view RPG for a few million dollars in 3D, just as Wasteland 2 is doing.

It's more of a stylistic choice, than a cost-cutting measure.
Huh. On reflection, he did mention that in the video, I just didn't register it for some reason. I have to say, that strikes me as a little odd, but when the results are this good I'm not going to complain. I mean, I know they want to do it 2D to reflect the Infinity Engine games, but I'm a bit confused about why they don't just make it in 2D in the first place.
 

kael013

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Elate said:
And.. This is amazing, why?

That's a real question, I understand it's 2D, and pretty. I just.. Don't see why it's apparently so amazing.
When was the last time you played a 2D game that was this pretty that also had flowing water, a day/night cycle, and moving plants and shadows on a [i/]HAND-DRAWN[/i] background?
 

Elate

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kael013 said:
Elate said:
And.. This is amazing, why?

That's a real question, I understand it's 2D, and pretty. I just.. Don't see why it's apparently so amazing.
When was the last time you played a 2D game that was this pretty that also had flowing water, a day/night cycle, and moving plants and shadows on a [i/]HAND-DRAWN[/i] background?
You sure about that last part? It's pre-rendered background, with 3D models ontop of that. As far as I understand from various posts anyway.

But that isn't my point, I don't understand what makes it so amazing. What sets it apart? 3D games have dynamic shadows, flowing water, day night cycles, moving plants and shadows.. Why does being 2D make it special now? Just seems like a lot of people are getting pumped up on nostalgia.
 

Candidus

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Elate said:
And.. This is amazing, why?

That's a real question, I understand it's 2D, and pretty. I just.. Don't see why it's apparently so amazing.
Water that rises and falls to different depths horizontally on a 2 dimensional surface. You don't think that's amazing?

Well I'm impressed.

I'm not looking forward to anything as much as I'm looking forward to this. That glimpse has made my week.

Elate said:
You sure about that last part? It's pre-rendered background, with 3D models ontop of that. As far as I understand from various posts anyway.
Wrong. Watch again. The only standing model on that plane seems to have something to do with the cliff.
 

cerebus23

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i think it is amazing because everything appears to have depth, the shadows even seem to follow the "contours" of the land, which is nothing but a flat sheet.

i imageins ince it is taking 3d stuff nd chanelling it down into 2d panels the whole thing should run very well on any rig just about. compared to a 3d game that would would need to draw every pixil every rock would be a model, grass, trees would all have their own models that would need to be drawn in have textures applied and shader effects rendered.

less i am misunderstaing the tech involved here, but in that light i find it pretty impressive.
 

Abomination

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FavouredEnemy said:
I am not certain why the waterfall got quieter at night.
It's a POLITE waterfall, it knew you were trying to sleep.

Common huma-- mother nature decency.

Looks pretty nice, I mostly hope the story is up to scratch.
 

CharrHearted

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Oh look the sims 1- oh wait, it's that game project eternity... so, I heard this thing has multiple races, I think... what were they again? Oh yes, Human, human, human, hu- you get the point -sighs-

call me an ass, i'm just not impressed.
 

Elate

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Candidus said:
Elate said:
And.. This is amazing, why?

That's a real question, I understand it's 2D, and pretty. I just.. Don't see why it's apparently so amazing.
Water that rises and falls to different depths horizontally on a 2 dimensional surface. You don't think that's amazing?

Well I'm impressed.

I'm not looking forward to anything as much as I'm looking forward to this. That glimpse has made my week.

Elate said:
You sure about that last part? It's pre-rendered background, with 3D models ontop of that. As far as I understand from various posts anyway.
Wrong. Watch again. The only standing model on that plane seems to have something to do with the cliff.
Just gone and looked over some more dev interviews, and from what I can tell, I was correct. Perhaps you should check your facts, before telling people they're wrong. To my main point, it most certainly is not hand drawn as was claimed.
 

Sartan0

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CharrHearted said:
Oh look the sims 1- oh wait, it's that game project eternity... so, I heard this thing has multiple races, I think... what were they again? Oh yes, Human, human, human, hu- you get the point -sighs-

call me an ass, i'm just not impressed.
Not for you? That's just fine. As for me I am happy I kickstarted it. I am glad for the different style given that I backed Wasteland 2 and Torment as well.