Pentiment - Josh Sawyer's historical mystery narrative-driven game set in 16th century Bavaria

[Zombra]

Suit yourself.

I tell ya, this thread is one hell of a roller coaster x 1

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Wait did Saywer accidentally start a new genre?

 

[Maxie]

Wait did Saywer accidentally start a new genre?

well yes he's invented Fallouts

 

[mediocrepoet]

Wait did Saywer accidentally start a new genre?

Running left to right and right to left simulator, with dialogue?

It's a new breakthrough in sleep aid technology.

 

[Andronovo]

Pentiment surpassed once again

Damn, that looks really good. Artstyle of Pentiment is superior though.

 

[KVVRR]

Pentiment surpassed once again

Damn, that looks really good. Artstyle of Pentiment is superior though.

Pentiment's style fits for what it's trying to do and it's more unique overall (besides how Scarlet Deen Inn is animated, of course) but going from that teaser SDI just looks, well, prettier. Just a personal preference, though.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[whydoibother]

My vote got it back to 50:50

 

[Infinitron]

 

[mediocrepoet]

Man, you're not getting me to watch Soyer's masturbation stream.

EDIT: Put in the screencap of what it was showing me when I replied.

 

[whydoibother]

Andrei Rublev confirmed.

 

[Viata]

Andrei Rublev confirmed.

Great movie. Rewatched it again this year.

 

[Dreed]

 

[Alienman]

He is really milking this non-game.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Probably burn out. And a realization that that TTRPG thing that he was working on was even less in demand than his non-games, so might as well do other stuff to obscure it being shitcanned. (Or did it come out? Meh. Just seemed like he was posting about it every other second and then it went to the void.)

 

[whydoibother]

Probably burn out. And a realization that that TTRPG thing that he was working on was even less in demand than his non-games, so might as well do other stuff to obscure it being shitcanned. (Or did it come out? Meh. Just seemed like he was posting about it every other second and then it went to the void.)

Josh is a labour-of-love kind of guy. He did a lot of travel and gun range testing for New Vegas, then learned old languages and how to construct languages for Pillars, and now learned much about medieval "justice" and saw a dozen period films and books.
Not sure that New Vegas is seen as a great game because of its guns, or that Pillars is seen as a good game because of its weird words in the text boxes, but that's what he valued about these projects. Its what he most talks about.

Whatever his next game will be, we should be able to tell by his tweets. He will get autistic about something during development, which will play a small role in the final product.

 

[Axie]

Not sure that New Vegas is seen as a great game because of its guns

 

[Viata]

What he needs is a better team made by people that know how to make good games and love making games, not whatever is working at Obsidian now. There is no reason for him to waste all that time in those things if the end result is not good. It's sad, in fact.

 

[whydoibother]

What he needs is a better team made by people that know how to make good games and love making games, not whatever is working at Obsidian now. There is no reason for him to waste all that time in those things if the end result is not good. It's sad, in fact.

I think he WANTS to waste his time with all these things. These are the things he likes.
So, if I am correct in this assumption, what he needs is someone else at the wheel. He should be the guy working on a few select systems, that he likes and wants, so he can go full autismo on them. Meanwhile, a more sober generalist should be working on the overall design and direction.
If you listen to his lecture about being the Head Man on Pentiment, he talks about how hard it was to just say NO to people. No, this isn't going in the game. No, we won't work on that system anymore. No, don't try to perfect this, just leave it crude. He doesn't have the evil to tell people their work is wasted and thrown in the garbage. Maybe has memories of being on the other side of such exchanges.
Though, to be fair, people with Black Isle/Troika related PTSD should be hardened enough for such decisions. Still some left at Obsidian?

 

[Alex]

I think gun range testing and other similar studies could have made New Vegas a better game, actually. But it is kind of pointless work if, when you are done with your study, you also have to:

1. Make guns balanced with all other types of weapons (melee, thrown, heavy, etc).
2. Consider a huge variety of imaginary guns that don't fit those parameters. In theory, this needed not to be a problem if you are willing to let your different guns work very differently, but because of 1, that is not the case.
3. You have to adapt all you've learned about how different guns work to a sub-par combat system like F3 Vats or whatever it was called.

Trying to make aspects of the real world shine through in your game can lead to some very good design. But the primary way this will work is through gameplay, and Sawyer has very specific hangups about that that get in the way.

 

[agris]

The biggest issue with his deep dive on firearms was, at the end of the day, weapon damage scaled with weapon skill.

That stupid mechanic ruins any semblance of lethality or meaningful itemization

 

[Alienman]

The biggest issue with his deep dive on firearms was, at the end of the day, weapon damage scaled with weapon skill.

That stupid mechanic ruins any semblance of lethality or meaningful itemization

I guess it was more for the look and feel, and maybe the mechanics of the weapons.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

What he needs is a better team made by people that know how to make good games and love making games, not whatever is working at Obsidian now. There is no reason for him to waste all that time in those things if the end result is not good. It's sad, in fact.

It's far preferable for Josh Sawyer to waste his time at Obsidian than for him to find a position at a developer that might actually produce good games. Quarantining Sawyer is the best that Obsidian in its current state can possibly accomplish.

 

[Haplo]

What he needs is a better team made by people that know how to make good games and love making games, not whatever is working at Obsidian now. There is no reason for him to waste all that time in those things if the end result is not good. It's sad, in fact.

It's far preferable for Josh Sawyer to waste his time at Obsidian than for him to find a position at a developer that might actually produce good games. Quarantining Sawyer is the best that Obsidian in its current state can possibly accomplish.

I disagree. He has done some fabulous work in the past.
His masterpieces were flawed... but still better then 95% of other games.

 

[Haplo]

Citation? Well, more like my opinion maybe.

Well, New Vegas is deeply flawed (partially inherittance from Fallout 3 I guess), but is rather highly regarded overall (though personally I don't love it).
NWN2 was seriously flawed... but Mask of the Betrayer, while still having issues... particularly with engine and... Balance - is a great epic adventure.
Icewind Dale 1+2 have heavy combat focus... but again, are regarded pretty high.
Alpha Protocol was pretty creative in what it has achieved.

Pillars of Eternity and Deadfire also have their issues, particularly with pacing, but are still IMO some of the best isometric games since Planescape: Torment and mostly on a similar level as Owlcat's work.

Along with Owlcat, he's one of the few developers I still believe to be capable of making great AA crpgs.
Although Larian surprised me by also making a pretty great one (though on an AAA budget, I guess).