Project Eternity Unveils "Mega-Dungeon"

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Project Eternity Unveils "Mega-Dungeon"


"The Endless Paths of Od Nua" is a multi-level dungeon that will get bigger as the number of backers continues to grow.

Most Kickstarter "stretch goals," at least as I understand them, are based on money: the more people pledge, the more stuff they get. But for "The Endless Paths of Od Nua," Obsidian took a bit of a different approach, adding it to the Project Eternity RPG as a reward for hitting 50,000 backers.

"Most that is said and written of the place is fiction or conjecture, more likely to have sprouted from the svef-enhanced imaginations of bored and boasting mercenaries than from any seed of truth. Hosts of lost souls that relentlessly stalk the living, cathedral-sized tombs overflowing with the restless victims of a horrific plague, lightless chambers sealing in the remnants of Od Nua's failed experiments," the dungeon's description reads. "Most legends converge on a common theme: that under the castle rest myriad forgotten vaults of death and darkness glittering with Od Nua's enchanted creations and the abandoned treasure of ill-fated interlopers. So great is the fear of the castle's denizens that even drunken and drug-cheered adventurers do not joke of setting foot on the paths, lest their souls join the eternal ranks of those that have gone before them."

The Endless Paths will go three levels down to start, but another level will be added for every 2500 new backers. If Project Eternity hits 60,000 backers in other words, Od Nua's catacombs will be seven levels deep. That sounds incredibly hot.

Obsidian has also added a new "crafting and enchanting" stretch goal at $2.4 million, which will allow players to use items found in the game to create potions, scrolls and gear upgrades that won't be available through other means. The $2.2 million stretch goal, which adds a new region, faction and companion, was passed earlier this morning.

The Project Eternity Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity] runs until 9 am EDT on October 16.


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Rabid Toilet

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I think they're underestimating how many backers they're going to get in the last few days. This is going to be one hell of a dungeon.
 

Fappy

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I'd like to see this be some kind of ultra-endgame challenge. Super crazy boss battles one floor after the next.
 

Jamane

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Honestly I might back this I could use me some more fantasy epicness, and the more I hear about this the more I like it.
 

Zhukov

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I am going to laugh so very hard if this ends up as an incomplete mess riddled with bugs like virtually every other Obsidian game.

Their defenders always blame the publishers, despite the fact that Obsidian have worked with multiple different publishers, all of whom have managed to extract stable functioning games from other developers.

I guess this is their chance to prove those people right.
 

Terrible Opinions

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Dungeon Siege 3 wasn't buggy. Apparently. It just had the unfortunate malady known as "being a Dungeon Siege game", and therefore was something I completely ignored.

I'm loving the amount of PE coverage Escapist is doing, at least.
 

Berenzen

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Zhukov said:
I am going to laugh so very hard if this ends up as an incomplete mess riddled with bugs like virtually every other Obsidian game.

Their defenders always blame the publishers, despite the fact that Obsidian have worked with multiple different publishers, all of whom have managed to extract stable functioning games from other developers.

I guess this is their chance to prove those people right.
Yet they've already made a non-buggy game using an in-house engine, and they're using the very stable Unity engine. New Vegas was no more buggier than Fallout 3- and it was built on Gamebryo, so you can't make that claim there. NWN2 was no more buggier than NWN1- not to mention that the Aurora Engine is incredibly unstable to begin with. So the two games that are considered to be the source of their 'issues' are Alpha Protocol and KotOR 2, the second was definitely the publisher's fault- knocking off 3+ months of development time hurts- and AP had it's problems, but it wasn't that it was buggy, it just needed more polish in it's AI and it's combat mechanics, which could be hammered out with more time.
 

Ralen-Sharr

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this game is starting to sound like something made by Peter Molyneux

they sure are making a lot of promises... I hope they can fulfill them
 

LokiSeto

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Jan 25, 2008
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Wait a sec... if it starts at 3 levels and gains a level every 2,500 backers but the max is 7 levels deep??? I think that is a typo.
 

Sight Unseen

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Nov 18, 2009
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LokiSeto said:
Wait a sec... if it starts at 3 levels and gains a level every 2,500 backers but the max is 7 levels deep??? I think that is a typo.
It was an example. The author said that if the project ends with 60k backers that it would get an additional 4 levels, hence 7 total. If they end up with 100,000 backers by some black magic and voodoo then they'd have to add 20 new levels which would make it 23 levels deep.

^ That just made me excited lol...
 

GamemasterAnthony

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Show of hands: Who here is reminded of that Megadungeon module (which I forgot the name of) you saw in your local gaming store?
 

UnderGlass

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I think this is a really fun idea and very in keeping with the theme of the 'classic' fantasy rpg, they're hoping to evoke.

Definitely an endgame challenge. Completing this dungeon should be a mighty undertaking.
 

Genocidicles

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I assume that's official concept art? Looks like we might be getting guns. Good, means it wont be 100% clichéd high fantasy then.

As for the mega dungeon, I think this could be amazing, but I wont be too fussed if it doesn't come to pass. Optional dungeons are all well and good, but I rarely do them more than once unless there is a good storyline attached to them.
 

Darmy647

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Dear god....I already gave them 50. There goes more. Now if only i could convince them to make another kickstarter for KOTOR3 (impossible i know). If only....
 

Fappy

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SaintlyTurkey said:
I assume that's official concept art? Looks like we might be getting guns. Good, means it wont be 100% clichéd high fantasy then.

As for the mega dungeon, I think this could be amazing, but I wont be too fussed if it doesn't come to pass. Optional dungeons are all well and good, but I rarely do them more than once unless there is a good storyline attached to them.
They discuss setting specifics on the kickstarter page including discussion about guns. I generally don't like guns in high fantasy settings, but it sounds like they are going about an interesting way in handling them.
 

UnderGlass

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Zhukov said:
I am going to laugh so very hard if this ends up as an incomplete mess riddled with bugs like virtually every other Obsidian game.

Their defenders always blame the publishers, despite the fact that Obsidian have worked with multiple different publishers, all of whom have managed to extract stable functioning games from other developers.

I guess this is their chance to prove those people right.
I think so. They're setting their sights lower than the majority of the triple-A franchise hand-me-downs they've dealt with in the past. It's also a game-style they have a very comprehensive, collective experience with.

As for their defenders: It seems less about justifying the undeniable problems, as loving the games the company makes despite them.

For those with no patience for expensive games released with so many immersion-breaking imperfections, Obsidian is unquestionably a developer to be wary of. At worst, it's ineptitude at managing their timetable/resources, at best their aspirations exceeded their means of realising them. On this score though they do have a good track record of supporting their games as long as they can. NWN 2 for example; thanks to expansions Obsidian was releasing tweak and performance patches years after its release.

If you're like me though, you have a high tolerance for bugs provided the story and world are compelling. Then you simply laughed your head off the first time you saw a floating radscorpion, or Sunny Smile's eyeless dog and got on with it. I mean love or hate the story and characters of KOTOR 2, it was an extremely ambitious tale to set in the SW universe and I love them for trying to tell it. The same goes for the majority of their games.