Project Eternity Hits 50,000 Backers
Today, Obsidian’s “isometric, party-based computer RPG set in a new fantasy world” reached 50,000 backers. Obsidian is well known for many high quality games of the years such as Fallout 1 & 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Arcanium and its most recent project, “Project Eternity” is a game which will be playing homage to some of Obsidian’s successful RPG’s that they have made over the years that have run on the Infinity Engine, most notably Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.
“Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG’s that we enjoyed making – and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back… and that’s why we’re here – we need your help to make it a reality!”
For those who do not know, Project Eternity will be funded entirely out of ordinary people making a backing towards the game, due to the fact that it is impossible to get funding for a game like this via traditional methods. So on September 14th 2012, Obsidian launched a Kickstarter page for Project Eternity, where people can donate money and back the game in return for different rewards. For example a $5 pledge will get you a badge on the forums and the rewards keep on increasing up until an incredible $10,000 which will earn you and invite to the launch, an invite to Obsidian with a friend, everything in the $500 pack, 10 downloadable copies of Project Eternity and the chance to design and name an NPC and weapon for the game.
In addition, the more money Project Eternity raise, the more Obsidian will be able to put into the game. Today, Project Eternity hit 50,000 backers and so they have announced The Endless Paths of Od Nua to be included in the game, details below.
“In the western reaches of the Dyrwood lies the Endless Paths, an ancient network of cobbled trails that wind through arches of dense overgrowth, twisting within the confines of a high castle wall as they make their way to the gates of iron-shuttered towers that jut forth from the interior. In ages past, the towers rising from the gardens to pierce the canopy of the forest once marked the dominion of the castle’s relentless, crazed builder: Od Nua. But the courses of Od Nua’s madness run far below the surface, stretching forever deeper into wandering catacombs and bone-cramped oubliettes unseen by living eyes for centuries. The Endless Paths, as the old Glanfathans call them, cannot be walked by the living, but the storytellers say with certainty that many strong souls have found a permanent home beneath the grieving creator’s estate.
Most else 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. 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 next milestone for Project Eternity is at $2.4million, where they will include Crafting and Enchanting skills. With only 15 days to go and $300,000 to raise until that milestone, it will be very interesting to see where this leads. It is an incredible project that Obsidian has launched and has been very well received. If the game can live up to the expectations, Obsidian will be launching what sounds like to be an incredible game that all players can look forward to next year and as an avid RPG player, I for one am incredibly excited by this project. We look forward to more news from Project Eternity as it develops.