Gamers will be able to choose the characters that best complement their skills

Jul 24, 2013 17:31 GMT  ·  By

Video game developer Obsidian is delivering a new update for its classic role-playing game Project Eternity, focused on the companions that players will be able to work with in the game and the principles behind their design.

Chris Avellone, the leader of the team, says on the forums that there will be 8 pre-made companions and 8 hired adventurers that players will be able to recruit for a party which has a total of six slots, one of which is occupied by the player character.

The developer says that companions will be introduced early on because, “One issue we’ve found with introducing companions too late is that it doesn’t give players enough time to bond with them, and/or the player may have already formed a strong attachment to their other allies so much so there’s no physical or emotional room for more party members in their lives.”

Avellone then goes on to explain the core design decisions linked to companion creation and how Obsidian is trying to make all of them both interesting from a role-playing perspective and useful to the player.

He adds, “For all the characters I’ve seen or designed for games that don’t cater to at least one of the game’s primary challenge mechanics, those guys are often unpopular or unused because they’re not helping out with the systematic gameplay, regardless of how cool they might seem.”

Each Project Eternity companion has his own internal set of values and a quest that’s specifically designed to offer more insight into his past and beliefs.

The team is asking fans of the role-playing genre to offer feedback on the choices they have made so that they can improve the companion features as the game gets closer to launch.

Project Eternity will be launched on the PC in 2014.