Pillars of Eternity

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Pillars of Eternity
Studio Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher Paradox Interactive Versus Evil (Nintendo Switch)
United StatesUnited States
Senior Developer Joshua E. Sawyer , Chris Avellone , Tim Cain
composer Justin E. Bell
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 world March 26, 2015
Windows, macOS, Linux August 29, 2017 PlayStation 4, Xbox One August 8, 2019 Nintendo Switch
world

world
platform Windows , macOS , Linux , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch
Game engine Unity
genre role playing game
Game mode Single player
control Mouse and keyboard , gamepad
system advantages
preconditions
  • OS: Windows Vista / 7/8 64-bit
  • CPU: Core i3 -2100T @ 2.50 GHz / AMD Phenom II X3 B73
  • Graphics card: Radeon HD 4850 or GeForce 9600 GT
  • RAM: 4 GB of RAM
  • Hard disk: 25 GB of free space
  • Sound card
  • permanent broadband internet connection (Steam)
medium Download , DVD-ROM
language Multilingual
Current version 2.0
Age rating
USK approved from 16
PEGI recommended for ages 16+

Pillars of Eternity (dt. Pillars of Eternity ), in the preliminary reporting under the working title Project Eternity called, a is computer role-playing game of the American game developer Obsidian Entertainment , the development using a crowdfunding campaign was funded. In the financing period from September 14, 2012 to October 16, 2012, the company received around four million US dollars from 74,000 supporters via the online platform Kickstarter.com . Until the funding of the role-playing game Torment: Tides of Numenera , it was the highest game software project funded by Kickstarter and, for a short time, the highest total computer game fan funding, replaced on November 19, 2012 by Star Citizen .

action

Pillars of Eternity takes place in the fantasy world Eora, specially devised by Obsidian, which is technologically based on the European Middle Ages and the early Renaissance period , but in which magic is also possible. The world is also characterized by a permanent cycle of death and rebirth of souls. However, if a soul reincarnates in a new body after a short interim phase, it can usually neither remember its past lives nor the phase since the last physical death.

At the beginning, the player character is on a journey to a village called Goldtal (English Gilded Vale ), which is located in Dyrwald (English Dyrwood ), a former colony of the Aedyr Empire. His caravan is attacked, his fellow travelers are killed and he gets caught in a magical storm that awakens a special ability in him. He becomes a watcher who can read the souls of other living beings and thus explore their past. At the same time, however, he is also assaulted by the memories of his own soul, which threaten to plunge him into madness. Following the instructions of another guard, the player character goes on a search for the background and the person responsible for these events. He encounters great suffering among the inhabitants of the Dyrwald, which is caused by the so-called hollow births, children who were born without a soul and are therefore dull and apathetic.

Gameplay

Character creation

Similar to Baldur's Gate , Pillars of Eternity is a classic role-playing game with a group of up to six heroes. At the beginning, the player creates a player character for whom he can choose between six races, eleven classes, seven backgrounds and several cultures as well as determine the gender. Each character is defined by six attributes (power, constitution, dexterity, perception, intelligence, determination) and five skills (stealth, athleticism, knowledge, mechanics and survival), which ultimately influence the character's possibilities in combat, dialogue and similar actions. As the game progresses, as in Baldur's Gate , the player can add accompanying characters to his group who have their own backgrounds and B. interfere with comments in the game. Alternatively, as in Icewind Dale , the player can create additional characters without a predefined personality. It is also possible to play the game without any other companion.

Game setup and controls

The game world is made up of several levels that can be accessed via a world map. These cards consist of two-dimensional, pre-rendered screen backgrounds, which are presented to the player from an isometric overview perspective and in front of which the game figures calculated in 3D act. There are also other effects calculated in real time (e.g. water animations and lighting effects). The characters are controlled via a graphical point-and-click user interface. The player explores the cards, has conversations with other characters, solves tasks and fights. Similar to the playful model Baldur's Gate , the battles are carried out in real time, but can be paused at any time at the push of a button in order to give the characters tactical instructions. For successfully solving tasks and, to a limited extent, also for killing enemies, the player receives experience points that can lead to level up and thus to improvement opportunities for the hero characters.

development

In advance

Many of Obsidian's employees were previously employed by the role-playing game developer Black Isle Studios . Together with the Canadian developer BioWare , they were responsible for the development of the Infinity games, which made a decisive contribution to the revival of the role-playing genre at the end of the 1990s. However, due to the further development of the market, Obsidian saw no possibility of finding a financing partner for the development of a similarly designed game, since such a project did not fit into the blockbuster concept of the prevailing publisher model. Corresponding exploratory talks met with little interest, and talks with investors also remained fruitless.

In March 2012, Obsidian had to lay off several employees after discontinuing a contract project. Without a follow-up project, the company was threatened with closure. In the same month, the US development studio Double Fine Productions was able to raise 3.3 million US dollars in the financing of the so-called Double Fine Adventures via Kickstarter. It thus demonstrated a possible alternative to the previous financing model by a software publisher and thus triggered a boom in computer game financing that attracted numerous imitators. Among other things, the role play projects Wasteland 2 , which Obsidian was supported both technically and in design by Obsidian's Creative Director Chris Avellone , and Shadowrun Returns achieved seven-figure sums. In the course of this, Obsidian also had concrete plans for a crowdfunding project. After a first survey by Avellone in the company's own online forum, he, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart and Obsidian employees Tim Cain , Joshua E. Sawyer , Adam Brennecke developed a game concept that was based on the Infinity games. Over a period of two months, Brennecke prepared the pitch of the game as the main person in charge. At the time the project was announced, Obsidian was the largest game development company to seek funding for its project on Kickstarter.

Project goals

The aim of the project is to develop a computer role-playing game in the tradition of the so-called infinity games ( Baldur's Gate , Icewind Dale , Planescape: Torment ). As with these titles, the game is supposed to be a group-based fantasy role-playing game with tactical battles. The fights should be carried out in real time, but can be stopped at any time by pressing a button. The end product should unite the different focuses of the three main game series. The overall design should therefore mainly be based on Baldur's Gate , including extensive interactions with and between the pre-generated accompanying characters. The design of the locations and the design of the fights, on the other hand, should be based on Icewind Dale , while the themes and motifs of the plot dealt with in the game should be multilayered and, in this sense, grown-up, similar to Planescape: Torment .

Funding campaign

The funding campaign on Kickstarter started on September 14, 2012 and ended on October 16, 2012. The funding goal was a minimum of $ 1.1 million. This sum was reached in just over 24 hours. In fact, Kickstarter raised $ 3,986,929 from 73,986 supporters. In addition, 3,681 additional supporters received 176,279 US dollars via the alternative payment method PayPal , so that the total amount at the end of the Kickstarter campaign was 4,163,208 US dollars, the total number of supporters was 77,667. At the time, it was the highest successful funding campaign for a game software project on Kickstarter, until the amount was discontinued on April 5, 2013 by inXile Entertainments Torment: Tides of Numenera (4.19 million US dollars). By December 3, 2012, this sum could be increased again to over 4.3 million US dollars via PayPal. Through crowdfunding , it was possible obsidian to be able to retain all trademark rights to the developed game and the game world. In the company's history, after the Alpha Protocol designed for Publisher Sega, it was only the second in-house development that was not based on a license. By owning the trademark rights, Obsidian was also able to build up accompanying products and merchandising around the game and the game world.

Despite the two-month preparation time, Obsidian said that it was surprised by the fact that it reached its funding target early. Due to the considerable additional income, significant expansions of the original project scope through so-called "stretch goals" were announced several times during the financing campaign. The game world has been enlarged, the options for character creation have been expanded several times, text translations (German, French, Spanish, Russian, Polish) and game versions for the Mac OS and Linux operating systems have been added. The development of a larger expansion after the end of the game was also announced in advance. Furthermore, Obsidian announced a documentation of the development process.

In return for funding, Obsidian offered supporters different rewards depending on the contribution amount. Starting at US $ 25, all supporters received a digital copy of the finished game. In the case of higher amounts, this was gradually expanded to include additional physical and digital bonuses, including the ability to help design game content (objects, characters, locations) for the game. For the entire development process, Obsidian also promised the integration of community feedback and regular information about the progress. The latter take place in the form of weekly workshop reports, among other things.

In December 2013, Obsidian finally announced the game's final title, Pillars of Eternity .

publication

On March 17, 2015, the completion of the development work and the start of the conception phase for an add-on were announced. After the release, several patches were released which fixed bugs in the game. In addition, there is a fan patch which corrects remaining localization errors in the German translation. The add-on The White March was released in two parts on August 25, 2015 and February 16, 2016.

reception

reviews
publication Rating
4players 90%
Game Informer 9.25 / 10
GameSpot 8.0 / 10%
GameStar 92%
Games world 9/10
IGN 9/10
PC Gamer US 91%
PC Games 91%
The Escapist 5/5
Meta-ratings
Metacritic 90%

financing

The project received a lot of press coverage. The financing campaign was the subject of numerous specialist publications and in parts also by the daily press and accompanied by reports. Project Eternity is part of the Kickstarter boom in 2012 and was instrumental in the significant increase in game financing on Kickstarter. This rose from 3.6 million US dollars in 2011 to 83.1 million and was thus able to book by far the most funding of the total of 319 million US dollars made available in 2012 among the 13 project categories.

Brad Reed said on Yahoo! News hoped that the success of Project Eternity, similar to the series Die Sopranos , would prove "that there is a vital market for intelligently written content that relies less on action and more on original storytelling and engaging characters for entertainment." For Golem.de , editor Peter Steinlechner judged: “The success of Project Eternity could have long-term effects on the financing of games. Ultimately, Obsidian has shown particularly clearly that a well-known development team with an interesting project tailored to the target group can receive sums for production that are equal to the budgets of the major publishers. "

Ratings and sales figures

The game received very positive reviews ( Metacritic : 90 out of 100).

"Pillars of Eternity is the Baldur's Gate 3 we never got, returning to the Infinity Engine style of role-playing with flair."

"Pillars of Eternity is Baldur's Gate 3 that we never got, a return with flair to the role-playing game in the style of the Infinity engine."

- Richard Cobbett : Eurogamer UK

In total, Pillars of Eternity had sold over 500,000 times by October 2015. 700,000 copies were sold by February 2016.

Companion products

With the support of Obsidian Entertainment, the American game publisher Zero Radius Games initiated a crowdfunding campaign for the strategic card game Pillars of Eternity: Lords of the Eastern Reach on May 28, 2015, also via Kickstarter . The funding goal of $ 30,000 was met in one day. At that time, the game had been in development for two years, under the direction of game designer and ZRG founder Christopher Taylor ( Fallout ).

successor

In January 2017, a sequel to Pillars of Eternity was announced. Like its predecessor, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire was funded by a crowdfunding platform , in this case Fig . Pillars of Eternity 2 ended up with a figure of $ 4.4 million on fig, surpassing its predecessor. The history of the successor will be connected to the Pillars of Eternity and takes the player into the south of the Drywalds location and inspired by pirates and sea battles archipelago Deadfire. The game was released on May 8, 2018.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wot I Think: Pillars Of Eternity
  2. ↑ Matt Peckham: Project Eternity's Chris Avellone: ​​Pitching Publisher-Friendly RPGs 'Makes Me Want to Slit My Wrists' ( English ) In: Time . Time Inc . September 21, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b Craig Chapple: Shattering records: Obsidian's Kickstarter ( English ) In: Develop . Intent Media . October 22, 2012. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 18, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.develop-online.net
  4. ↑ Layoffs at Obsidian Entertainment
  5. ↑ Pillars of Eternity: RPG saved Obsidian from extinction
  6. ↑ a b Yancey Strickler, Fred Benenson: The Year of the Game ( English ) In: Kickstarter Blog . Kickstarter.com . September 6, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ Peter Steinlechner: Kickstarter, Krötentechnik and Konsolen ( English ) In: Handelsblatt . Handelsblatt publishing group . December 27, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  8. ^ A b c Heiko Klinge: Interview with Obsidians Chris Avellone and Adam Brennecke: Kickstarting Project Eternity . In: GameStar . IDG . January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ a b Robert Purchese: A Project Eternity recap: what $ 4 million has funded ( English ) In: EuroGamer.net . EuroGamer Network . October 17, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ Nathan Grayson: Obsidian On Project Eternity, Old-School Innovation ( English ) In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . EuroGamer Network . October 5, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ Eddie Makuch: Obsidian's Project Eternity RPG fully funded ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . September 18, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  12. ↑ Darren Monahan: Update # 27: How'd we do, and what's next? ( English ) In: Project Financing Page . Kickstarter.com . October 17, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  13. ↑ Robert Purchese: Obsidian's Project Eternity most funded video game ever on Kickstarter ( English ) In: EuroGamer.net . EuroGamer Network . October 17, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  14. ↑ http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/05/inxiles-torment-tides-of-numenera-is-the-most-funded-kickstarter-game-ever/
  15. ↑ Project Eternity: $ 4.3 million for the new Obsidian RPG . In: Buffed . Computec Media Group . December 4, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  16. ^ Ian Hamilton: OC Kickstarter successes hitting market ( English ) In: Orange County Register . November 28, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ Brendan Sinclair: Obsidian: Kickstarter the way to build a brand ( English ) In: Gamesindustry . Eurogamer Network . September 24, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  18. ↑ Kyle Hilliard: Obsidian Announces Stretch Goals For Project Eternity ( English ) In: Game Informer . GameStop . September 16, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  19. ↑ Dave Tach: 'Project Eternity' surpasses 'Double Fine Adventure' to become Kickstarter's most-funded video game ( English ) In: Polygon . Vox Media . October 15, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  20. ↑ Jonah Falcon: Obsidian adds one final $ 4M stretch goal for Project Eternity [UPDATE ] ( English ) In: Strategy Informer . September 16, 2012. Accessed on January 18, 2013.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.strategyinformer.com  
  21. ↑ Shubhankar Parijat: Project Eternity about to cross Kickstarter funding records ( English ) In: Gamingbolt . October 16, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  22. ↑ Matthias Dammes: Pillars of Eternity: New name, gameplay trailer and backer portal for Project Eternity . In: PC Games . Computec Media Group . December 11, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ Pillars of Eternity - Goldmaster status achieved; Development of the first extension started
  24. ↑ Julius Kahl: Pillars of Eternity: Fan-Patch fixes German translation errors . PC games hardware. March 31, 2015. Accessed on July 7, 2015: “ An unofficial patch was recently released for Pillars of Eternity, which is supposed to correct some German translations in the game - at least in Act 1. The spelling and display errors disturb the otherwise very dense atmosphere Apparently, developer Obisidian has not yet commented on the subject. The patch is around 381 kilobytes in size. "
  25. ↑ Pillars of Eternity's The White March Part One expansion is out this month. In: pcgamer. Retrieved May 21, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part 2 delayed until February. In: Eurogamer.net. Retrieved May 21, 2016 .
  27. ↑ Test: It crackles around the campfire
  28. ^ Pillars of Eternity: A Return To The Glory Days
  29. ↑ Pillars of Eternity: Racy RPG Revival
  30. ↑ IGN US : Pillars of Eternity Review: Beyond Infinity
  31. ↑ PC Gamer : Pillars of Eternity ( Memento from March 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  32. ↑ GameStar : Top game with a soul
  33. ^ Gamespot : Your reputation precedes you
  34. ↑ PC Games : Pillars of Eternity: Test with video: D&D RPG without D&D
  35. ^ Pillars of Eternity Review - More Than Homage
  36. ↑ a b Pillars of Eternity (PC) , accessed April 10, 2015.
  37. ↑ Markus Böhm: Netzwelt-Ticker: Blocked blogs, Austria condemned, Kickstarter record . In: Spiegel Online . SPIEGEL publishing house Rudolf Augstein. October 16, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  38. ↑ Crowdfunding success for role-playing game "Project Eternity" . In: derwesten.de . WAZ media group . December 4, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  39. ↑ Michael Graf, Dennis Kogel: The crowdfunding boom . In: GameStar . IDG . August 28, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  40. ↑ Sebastian Klix: Number of the day: $ 83 million for games on Kickstarter . In: Making Games . IDG . January 9, 2013. Accessed on January 18, 2013.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.makinggames.de  
  41. ↑ Brad Reed: Will 'Project Eternity' lead to a golden age of Kickstarter-funded games? ( English ) In: Yahoo! News . Yahoo . September 19, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  42. ↑ Peter Steinlechner: Almost 4 million US dollars for Project Eternity . In: Golem.de . Computec Media Group . October 17, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  43. ↑ Eurogamer : Pillars of Eternity review: To Infinity, and beyond!
  44. ↑ Pillars of Eternity has sold more than 500,000 copies. In: 4Players. October 23, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
  45. ^ Pillars Of Eternity Expansion Out, More Pillars Coming. In: Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved May 21, 2016 .
  46. ↑ Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About The Pillars of Eternity Card Game
  47. ↑ gamestar.de: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Crowdfunding cracks 4.4 million US dollar mark
  48. ↑ Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Release postponed by one month