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Some details on Avowed

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member





Will add this here as well




https://www.windowscentral.com/deta...-obsidian-outer-worlds-meets-medieval-fantasy

Sources familiar with internal plans have reached out to us in recent months offering details on Avowed, now deep into pre-production at Obsidian Entertainment. The studio is close to having a working early version of the game, with many mechanics and core gameplay pillars already implemented.
For those who don't know, we've only seen Avowed in a pre-rendered CGI trailer thus far. The game is set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, known as the World of Eternity, and utilizes a first-person viewpoint similar to Obsidian's The Outer Worlds.
The Outer Worlds fans already have plenty of reasons to be excited about Obsidian's upcoming slate, given that The Outer Worlds 2 has been confirmed. Avowed seems to be based on a similar, albeit enhanced engine from The Outer Worlds, complete with action-oriented first-person combat and deep RPG exploration and narrative systems. We were told Avowed will feature multiple class playstyles and borrow from Skyrim's two-handed combat system. You could wield two daggers and be a stealthy rogue, or dive into archery with a two-handed bow. You could use a combination of swords and magic, or go full two-handed magic, which is required to wield some of the game's more potent spells and abilities.
Avowed Trailer LandscapeSource: Xbox Game Studios
Avowed will feature many elements Pillars of Eternity fans will be familiar with. Wizard spells like Jolting Touch, which can fry enemies with forks of lightning, will be present. Two-handed spells like Fireball are conjured using complex-looking hand gestures, but decimate enemies in a storm of magma and fire. I also saw status effect spells like Fetid Caress, imbuing enemies with corrosive poison. Weapon enchantments seem to be a big feature too, with magically enchanted swords and frozen arrows, as examples. Pillars-style guns may also appear in the game, similar to the muskets and arquebuses found in the original two titles. Familiar creatures such as the lizard-like Xaurips will appear, alongside much larger and deadlier threats, all the way up to wyverns and drakes.
The combat seems to be more loadout-based than The Elder Scrolls, which gives you mountains of spells in a gigantic list. Warriors will get access to more physical attacks like swordplay, powerful kicks, and shield bashes, while casters will be given a range of spellbook options to customize and tailor their combat style, with attacks bound to specific buttons.
I am a huge Pillars of Eternity fan and seeing stills of Avowed's early builds filled me with a ton of excitement. As much as I love the tactical combat of Pillars, seeing the classic CRPG add new dimensions with action-oriented combat is undoubtedly going to bring in a whole legion of new fans to the franchise. I think fans of The Outer Worlds should be particularly excited, too.

The Outer Worlds meets Pillars of Eternity​

AvowedSource: Xbox Game Studios
If The Outer Worlds was Obsidian's take on a Fallout-style game, Avowed is undoubtedly Obsidian's take on The Elder Scrolls. The two-handed, first-person combat style is unmistakable, but there are obvious differences in early documentation.
At least directly compared to the likes of Skyrim and Oblivion, Avowed seems to be a far more colorful game, reminding me far more of The Outer Worlds. Luminescent cave mushrooms, verdant forests awash with gigantic flora, and hulking sunlit temples complete with skeleton-infested depths and tombs are plentiful. It came as a bit of a surprise given the game's original trailer, which seemed like it was trying to strike a much darker tone, save for the neon spell effects.
Pillars of Eternity does seem to take environmental interactivity a bit further than The Outer Worlds too, complete with swimming capabilities. We've even heard of destructible environments, using lit torches and fire spells to burn down blocked entryways too. Fire spells leave areas coated in flames too, which cascade against walls and floors.
Avowed Trailer FortressSource: Xbox Game Studios
The content I saw does represent a pre-alpha state with certain aspects like lighting and textures not fully implemented, which is one reason I'm not sharing the documentation I've been shown. The finished art style is expected to elevate what we saw in The Outer Worlds, though, with a brighter, more lively color palette, although it could end up looking a bit darker akin to the debut trailer. I only saw a couple of areas, although it could represent the diversity of locale styles Obsidian aims to deliver.
As for the story and layout, I can only speculate. I'm not sure whether it will go full-blown open world like the modern Elder Scrolls games or utilize something more like The Outer Worlds' hub system, which connects large areas with an overworld map, complete with interior areas and dungeons. I expect it to be the latter, as it gives Obsidian greater control over the pacing of the narrative, which is one of the studio's biggest strengths.
Even in its pre-alpha state, Avowed looks like it plays extremely well, with refined action RPG combat set in a vibrant, medieval fantasy world I cannot wait to explore.

Avowed fan of Avowed​

Avowed Trailer UndergroundSource: Xbox Game Studios
I feel like there's a good chance we'll see Avowed in a playable state by E3 2022 at the latest given the quality of the content I've seen, which may even be several months old at this point. Perhaps there's even a small chance we'd see it at The Game Awards at the end of the year. I teased on my podcast recently that I'd bet money that we'd see another Xbox exclusive, Hellblade II, at The Game Awards this year — since I've indeed heard that this is the plan. Perhaps we could get a two-for-one deal and see Avowed show up there too, but it may be too early just yet.
Either way, Avowed went from relative obscurity in my list of most anticipated Xbox games to sitting near the top, especially as a big fan of The Outer Worlds. Obsidian's excellent character writing and penchant for branching narratives, combined with the rich World of Eternity gives Avowed some seriously huge potential, and I can't wait to see the game fully revealed.
While you're waiting, if you haven't already, I recommend giving The Outer Worlds on Xbox Game Pass a try to get an idea for how Obsidian can pull together a modern action RPG. If you're a fan of classic-style tactical CRPGs, I also cannot recommend Pillars of Eternity enough too. It's hard to get into if you're unfamiliar with the gameplay style, but if you can get to grips with it, it's one of the most rewarding RPGs I've ever played.
 
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Draugoth

Gold Member
I feel like there's a good chance we'll see Avowed in a playable state by E3 2022 at the latest given the quality of the content I've seen, which may even be several months old at this point. Perhaps there's even a small chance we'd see it at The Game Awards at the end of the year
Dragon Age 4, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Bayoneta 3 were also revealed super earlier and it took years to see something again from these games.

I doubt we are seeing Avowed anytime soon if anything from this is true.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
If The Outer Worlds was Obsidian's take on a Fallout-style game, Avowed is undoubtedly Obsidian's take on The Elder Scrolls. The two-handed, first-person combat style is unmistakable, but there are obvious differences in early documentation.
At least directly compared to the likes of Skyrim and Oblivion, Avowed seems to be a far more colorful game, reminding me far more of The Outer Worlds. Luminescent cave mushrooms, verdant forests awash with gigantic flora, and hulking sunlit temples complete with skeleton-infested depths and tombs are plentiful.

Jesus dude.. at least play Oblivion or Skyrim before comparing them to something else lol

Game journos are such hacks.

Thanks for posting, but this is just a fluff piece on an alpha.. so I'll wait.. years.. to see real material before getting hyped.
 

Mozzarella

Member
I hope its not similar to The Outer Worlds, that game was souless mediocrity, the only thing they do well is making a lot of dialogue options based on your skills/perks. Outside of that i dont really find the new obsidian good, their stories are very predictable with generic topics, the gameplay combat wise is mediocre as well. Character design is awful imo their designers have no taste, It seems im harsh on this game but i expected a lot from The Outer Worlds but it turned out very disappointing and mediocre, all the fake praise to spit on Bethesda? lol.
I still have interest to see what they are doing with Avowed but until i see a gameplay footage im not going to get hyped, really. Obsidian has a long road ahead.
 

Chukhopops

Member
I really like that it’s using the PoE universe, there’s a ton of lore to reuse with the different gods and castes.

For the rest it seems heavily inspired by Skyrim with the magic system of PoE. I think it has potential but it’s still a year or two away imo.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole

Jez has seen some screenshots and some design docs, has no idea how old any of it is... and is writing an article like he got a preview of the game.

Typical game "journalist."

We really should just ignore info on games until they are actually out lol
 
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Hunnybun

Member
How many fucking games does Microsoft have that they're really seriously *honestly* just about to start making?

This, Everwild, Hellblade II, Perfect Dark, maybe even Fable - all basically seem to have been revealed at concept stage.

Man they really did get themselves into a right mess with their pipeline of exclusive software.
 

iHaunter

Member
I WANT VIDEO. Only Microsoft game so far I'm really excited for, that and Fable. But that's 5 years + sadly.

I wish they didn't pull a Bethesda and reveal these games so early.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
How many fucking games does Microsoft have that they're really seriously *honestly* just about to start making?

This, Everwild, Hellblade II, Perfect Dark, maybe even Fable - all basically seem to have been revealed at concept stage.

Man they really did get themselves into a right mess with their pipeline of exclusive software.
They bought mostly a bunch of small/medium sized studios, who had mostly all just released games.

They then tasked some of them w/ growing, and creating their first AAA games.

That all happened 2018-2020. W/ AAA games taking 4-6 years to make.. none of this is shocking. They also had JUST cancelled some of their internal studios games. But Avowed is not really in "pre-production".. read between the lines, Jez is wrong.

What's sort of shocking is to imagine the "what if" of MS never buying all of those studios.. they'd have had almost nothing... and honestly, when you look at that.. I kinda believe Xbox was on the chopping block before Phil got them to open up their checkbook. They cancelled some internal games right before that too. Almost HAD to be what was on the table.
 
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Godot25

Banned
I'm so hyped for 2023 as a GamePass subscriber...
Contraband, Hellblade II, Avowed maybe Fable, Compulsion next game and Perfect Dark...

We will be eating.

Also I find it funny that Jez had to edit an article about preproduction stuff because concern trolls rose almost immediately 😂
 
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Being first person, my hype is near zero. But I'll play it day one. I've never played any PoE games, so I'll be doing that at some point in 2022.

If they want to emulate TES, they should give the option to switch to 3rd person.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Very excited for this game. Great info, OP. Also hope the rumor that more Hellblade 2 will be shown at the game awards is true, it's another game I can't wait to play.
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
How many fucking games does Microsoft have that they're really seriously *honestly* just about to start making?

This, Everwild, Hellblade II, Perfect Dark, maybe even Fable - all basically seem to have been revealed at concept stage.

Man they really did get themselves into a right mess with their pipeline of exclusive software.
This too^^ is wrong. You don't understand one thing you're talking about.. Keep quiet. Learn what the terms mean in the gaming industry.
 

3liteDragon

Member


Its Over GIF


Hope it's a real-time story trailer or a gameplay demo, been asking for this for ages.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Oh sorry. They've got some sketches of dragons and someone has written 'RPG??' on a board in the meeting room.
He said he saw actual footage of gameplay.

The game is not in "pre-production"... Jez even corrected himself and said pre-alpha.. and he has no idea how old what he saw was... nor do I think he knows what pre-alpha means lol

It's targeted for 2023 according to multiple sources.

Which means.. lets hope we get it in 2024.. it's a long way off, but games take ages to make these days. This game is based on an existing universe /lore though.. so it's not like they are creating totally new IP at least.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Hoping Avowed has more depth than The Outer Worlds. Not that TOW wasn't fun, it was, but it was a decent 40 hours that I played and then immediately forgot about the moment I started a new game. Maybe that is what they are striving for with the "Outer Worlds meets Pillars of Eternity" angle. Not bothered by however far along it is right now. I'd rather they get the early concepts thoroughly hammered out.
 
On the off chance that anyone from Obsidian is reading this, for the love of all that is good in this hobby: Take. Your. Time.

These days, I automatically add between 6 months and a year to whenever the safe estimate of a game's release is.

If this ends up shit, I think people should blame everyone piling pressure, trying to use this as a board piece in some bullshit console war proving ground. Who cares if it's in pre-production right now.
2023, 2025, 2026, doesn't matter.
I like Pillars games. Let them make a good one.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Well if it's like Elder Scrolls but with combat (specially melee) that isn't terrible it could be really cool.

Hopefully the production values and scope are way better than Outer Wilds though. Would be disappointing to get a medieval fantasy version of:
al2cf5ve6os31.jpg

The Obsidian purchase was billed as them wanting to become a AAA studio w/ big funding.. and that's what Avowed represents, their first big AAA game.

They have both massively grown internally and are using other studios to make the game.

Probably 3-4 times the level of effort at least than The Outer Worlds.
 
No third person option? Bah. It’s one of the things I didn’t like about Outer Worlds, that and the lack of voiced character/appearing in cut scenes.
 

CamHostage

Member
"Deep into pre-production"

Or in other words:

"We haven't really started making it yet."

I'm with you that it's ridiculous to hear over a year after releasing the "official announce trailer" of the game that it's still so. (It's also always infuriating to be on the backend of Microsoft's current method of announcements: "...And now, look at this exciting first trailer concept render of the new game we're hard at work thinking about making!" I personally like being in the know of what teams are working on even if they're years away from finishing, but MS is playing a dangerous game ala Sony 2005 announcing a huge product slate where so many titles are barely even off the drawing boards...)

...However, I think the modern version of development cycles (and especially a AAA, flagship RPG epic) now has skewed the terms previously used for game development states. Also, the advanced state of engines/development suites (which includes better ability to migrate WIP content into a modified or replaced engine, or more faith that a departments can work on elements of a production and trust that common APIs will help translate this work into the rest of the production whatever tech it may ultimately adopt) has made workflow more complicated to define.

(*EDIT - Also, there was a correction to what was meant by "pre-production", which isn't as bad or as far from a working state as it sounds)

What used to be Pre-Production is now something like "Conceptualization", where you try to figure out what the heck sounds like a fun idea to start making and how much it'll cost, then Pre-Pro is working on versions of that hoping to discover if it's fun or not and throwing stuff up on the walls or into prototypes to see if people like them, then pre-Alpha and Alpha are all work to get it into a tangible form that you can confirm if it's fun or not, Beta is polishing that to actually be certain that it's fun, and the final stages are tweaking it to make sure no bugs ruin the fun, with various milestones and other goalpoints in the middle.
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
I'm with you that it's ridiculous to hear over a year after releasing the "official announce trailer" of the game that it's still not really a game. (It's also always infuriating to be on the backend of Microsoft's current method of announcements: "...And now, look at this exciting first trailer concept render of the new game we're hard at work thinking about making!" I personally like being in the know of what teams are working on even if they're years away from finishing, but MS is playing a dangerous game ala Sony 2005 announcing a huge product slate where most titles are barely even off the drawing boards...)

...However, I think the modern version of development cycles (and especially a AAA, flagship RPG epic) now has skewed the terms previously used for game development states. Also, the advanced state of engines/development suites (which includes better ability to migrate WIP content into a modified or replaced engine, or more faith that a departments can work on elements of a production and trust that common APIs will help translate this work into the rest of the production whatever tech it may ultimately adopt) has made workflow more complicated to define.

What used to be Pre-Production is now something like "Conceptualization", where you try to figure out what the heck sounds like a fun idea to start making and how much it'll cost, then Pre-Pro is working on versions of that hoping to discover if it's fun or not and throwing stuff up on the walls or into prototypes to see if people like them, then pre-Alpha and Alpha are all work to get it into a tangible form that you can confirm if it's fun or not, Beta is polishing that to actually be certain that it's fun, and the final stages are tweaking it to make sure no bugs ruin the fun, with various milestones and other goalpoints in the middle.

Like, outside of the board room where the bosses are still deciding on the themes and playstyle and storyline and other (a whole year after releasing a video that seemed to show all those decisions having been made...) there still are people in various departments creating some version of code and assets that they consider to be "work on the videogame Avowed". I would assume I take their word that there are some rough, maybe even unrecognizable set of prototypes marked "Avowed v0.0#" floating around the office. (Maybe a hacked-at Pillars environment, or some bare-bones Unreal Engine thing with entirely Quixel scans or whitebox space, something to drop a character into with an application of the types of encounters and logic concepts they'd like to test.) Whether the final game contains or looks like 0% or 0.005% or 20% or so in today's project files compared to what we finally play in the year 20XX, even the developers working on Avowed don't know for sure because there's so much further to go...

...But yeah, still, "Pre-Production", WTF?

If only you’d read further into the thread instead of rushing off to comment after the OP. Ah well.
 
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ANDS

King of Gaslighting
TOW just didn't have the scale that I was expecting from Obsidian given PoE I/II and Fallout New Vegas. Like I understand they weren't going for the scale of FNV, but even the world of PoE felt bigger than what we got from TOW; bigger and more lived in.

. . .definitely more looking forward to AVOWED than anything else from OBSIDIAN/BETHESDA.
 

KAL2006

Banned
Deep into pre production damn I thought this was further than that. It seems Microsoft showed all there cards early, with Everwild not having a gameplay loop, Hellblade 2 tech demo, Perfect Dark now working with Crystal Dynamic and now this. I guess it makes sense to just show most of your games in one go and early but it could backfire if Microsoft don't have more new game announcements and Sony just keep having a new thing announce every year.
 
Only Xbox game I follow. I hope its a not “AA” game. Deathloop felt like that. Not that I will buy it, but I will be happy it exists.

I always wondered why there isnt a AAA wizardry game that you draw spells on touchpad.
 

CamHostage

Member
If only you’d read further into the thread instead of rushing off to comment after the OP. Ah well.

Hey, thanks for the note that I missed a post... though there's more helpful ways of saying it.

When I take the time to compose a thought on a thread, I run the risk of falling out of step of the conversation. This morning, I was still writing (off and on during work breaks) and didn't catch that HeisenbergFX4 dropped in Jez's updated tweet correcting his term "Pre-Production", (I also flat-out lost track of the original article in the meantime as well where he talks about what he's seen and supposedly saw played, beyond the feature descriptions and the art.) My bad.

I'll try to fix up the context, but I think it's still helpful that people get an understanding (whether they take it from me or not,) of what Pre-Production, Alpha, Beta, and other steps in a development cycle mean in game development. (Basically, I was saying what Jez was about to say about the state of the game's development before I even knew he had corrected himself.) I also still stand by my comments that MS is treading a line in how early it early teases of products that are not yet solidified in production.

And since others have also caught that term "Pre-Production", hopefully it'll help the thread to repost his correction:

=> Avowed is not as far back in development as what most of us probably think of when we hear the term "Pre-Production". <=

 
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Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Considering this is next gen only I hope the visuals are at least as good as demon souls remastered.
 

demonstr8

Member
Please don't be like The Outer Worlds. That game was boring, soulless, mediocre, forgettable stuff. One of the biggest disappointments I've had with an RPG in ages. The more they compare Avowed to it the less interested I am in Avowed.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
The titled always makes me think of a game that’s about something like this guys fiancé gets murdered while they were standing at the alter about to be married. Now instead of saying his vows to her .. he vows to avenge her… AVOWED!! Duhn Duhnn duuuhhnnn!!!…
 
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