Vapourware Seven Dragon Saga - Gold Box spiritual successor from SSI veterans

[getter77]

Everything essentially went utterly silent after that Matt Chat episode---you'd think if anything they'd have gotten more vocal after that bit of visibility and a platform but...

 

[Jaesun]

So a studio is very busy. MUST BE A CONSPIRACY!!!!111!!

 

[Alchemist]

I wouldn't worry about it yet. I'm sure they realize that this time of year people are focused on what they can buy now - not a potential Kickstarter coming in 2015. Most likely they are working hard and putting stuff together for the KS, a gameplay prototype, more visuals etc.

 

[LESS T_T]

TSI End of 2014 Update

Since we last gave an update, we've made design changes to our art style and achieved some terrific progress.

Paul Murray is our team's Systems Designer, focused on the algorithms to make the world balanced and tactical combat challenging. He was the first engineer at SSI in the early 80s and stayed with that company well into the 90s finishing up with the extremely successful Panzer General series. We asked Paul to comment on some recent games, to help give our fans some insight in what he seeks out in play and, by extension, what items he will emphasize in Seven Dragon Saga.

His first review is a two-parter on Dragon Age: Inquisition. Paul has already spent numerous hours on the first two games of the series. Here is Part 1

Reflections on DAI on the PC

Since all reviews are done with a bias, I will tell you a little about the kind of gaming I like.

First of all I am not a dextrous player… I am not great at timing defenses and I like a game that provides me a challenge without making me go to extensive effort. Assuming I can trust the AI, I like to run mostly from my character’s perspective, with occasional pauses to give special orders to companions… I have never found an AI that I can really trust.

Secondly, I play games that I like to death (and beyond). I am an incurable character tinkerer and will play the first quarter of a game about eight times as much as the rest of a game, trying out this character’s skill combinations or companion combinations. Despite that (or because of it?) I think the first part of most games lack much flavor. It seems strange to me that a starting character with a background that indicates he has been training since a boy can barely swing a sword, and yet a month later (after gaining 7+ levels) he will have achieved his core ability set. Why not start that way, and then go up a bit from there?

And that is how we intend to start out Seven Dragon Saga. Our party of heroes is supposed to be experienced, so they will have a rounded set of abilities, and advance from there. There are some technical reasons games start players as wimps, such as introducing one ability at a time, and giving starting players fast rewards -- ding! another level. But we overcame this problem back at SSI when we did games in series, like Curse of the Azure Bonds.

Next, I am a semi-immersive player. I choose a character’s personality, goals, and ethics when I start a game and try to stick to it. Semi-immersive because I will give in and make out of character decisions if it will nerf me not to. (I have never gotten through Lothering without asking for rewards from Bodhain, Sir Bryant, and the Redcliffe Knight).

Lastly, I still play table top RPG with miniatures, etc. I really like the tactics.

Okay, to my thoughts on DAI. Note that I have played the first 6 levels about 7 times, so don’t have a full perspective of the game. But I can tell things that I like and don’t like about it.

Things I Like

It is beautiful, it feels real to me. Good job! On the other hand I miss the slightly cartoonish but truly beautiful characters I had in DA2.

While it still has a basic plotline you need to follow, the world is really big and fairly open. This is not Skyrim, but close. It also has an open structure so it doesn’t feel like you are being channeled at all. Way, way, way, way better than DA2. I am going to see what happens in some play through if I ignore the plotline and just adventure. Since things respawn, I should be able to keep adventuring for a long time. I expect I will hose myself.

Talking of spawning. The spawning rate of monsters is pretty good. Not like an MMO where things spawn so fast that you don’t feel you are accomplishing anything, but fast enough for continuous random encounters. Exception: I really hate that if you load a saved game in the wilderness you are likely to reappear amid enemies!

Bioware surpassed itself with NPC personality development and conversation. I know this is a minority opinion but I love Cass. She has (eventual) fairness, integrity and a sense of humor (even if she doesn’t crack jokes).

I like that your decisions mean something. From reading the forums, this appears to be at about the same level as DAO… your decisions make a difference, but you are still led through chapters to the end game. Meaning you can’t just kill an annoying cleric early on, and damn the consequences. On the other hand it does not appear that you are forced to do things that are against your code to progress in the game.

Combat is interesting with cross class combos that work a bit better. Some classes are much harder to play than others, until you get to high level and have super customized equipment.

Characters have a decent set of abilities, no one best build and room to tinker. They introduced guard and barriers which act as temporary hit points, a really good idea.

Next time, I’ll go over the areas of DAI, which I find detract from the overall experience, and how we might address them in SDS. In the meantime, I’ll be playing more DAI, and trying the master the game.

It's hard to believe 2104 is already coming to a close. However, we're very excited to be providing part 2 of Paul's thoughts on DAI and sharing more about our work in 2015!

On behalf of the entire team at TSI, we would like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!

"Since we last gave an update, we've made design changes to our art style and achieved some terrific progress. "

"On the other hand I miss the slightly cartoonish but truly beautiful characters I had in DA2."

Ugh, don't say you've changed the art style to look cartoonish.

 

[Transfiguring Roar]

Yeah, I'm really hoping they don't go with a cartoony look too.

Very nice to hear from TSI, looking forward to hearing more in the new year.

 

[Zombra]

At first, I was OK with their schlocky, chlidish D&D manual type art, not because it's good, but because it makes me nostalgic for RPGs with embarrassing but fun drawings.

Hearing that they are going to attempt an actual art style instead of this generic dreck is great news as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Siveon]

They finally manage to update, and they start talking about DA:I of all things.


Ah well, at least they aren't dead. Enjoying one game (albeit a pretty bad one) doesn't mean their game will automatically be shit.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I simultaneously want this game so much, and yet have absolutely no faith that it will actually make it out of pre-prod. Prove me wrong TSI.

(Please... I'm begging you).

 

[DeepOcean]

Why RPG developers have such a bad taste? No wonder most gameplay systems on RPGs are broken or barely functional, complementing DA:I combat is very strange, that abomination is the single worst part of the game. Common...

 

[Telengard]

Game developers (and any entertainment group, really) are all one big huggy community. You praise each other, for one, so you don't look like a dick and offend any of the public (your audience). You praise everyone else working in the community because the public likes to feel you're all chums. You praise the big boys with all the sales so some of their fans might look well on you and take a look at your stuff. (1% of Bioware fans is still a nifty number of people.) And you praise anyone and everyone in the world in the lead-up to an announcement, so the community knows who you are and that you like what they like. (Even if you don't really.)

If you're looking for real opinion, trash talking, and dirt, you have to wait for the tell-all after someone retires and isn't earning any money from the industry anymore.

 

[Transfiguring Roar]

Haha, brilliant!

 

[Infinitron]

Some interesting stuff in TSI's forum: http://www.tsi-games.com/Community/forum/ssi-and-other-games-discussions/

http://www.tsi-games.com/Community/topic/phantasie/

What a great question.

SSI was responsible for several classics including the Phantasie series. As it happens, we’ve been in touch with the creator of Phantasie and a few ideas have been tossed around for a potential continuation of the series. Although, that’s being weighed along with several other projects we’d like to do down the road.

 

[Kem0sabe]

At this point in production Torment had shown more stuff than these guys. I don't hold much hope that this will ever come out in the form they describe if at all.

 

[mondblut]

Game developers (and any entertainment group, really) are all one big huggy community. You praise each other, for one, so you don't look like a dick and offend any of the public (your audience). You praise everyone else working in the community because the public likes to feel you're all chums. You praise the big boys with all the sales so some of their fans might look well on you and take a look at your stuff. (1% of Bioware fans is still a nifty number of people.) And you praise anyone and everyone in the world in the lead-up to an announcement, so the community knows who you are and that you like what they like. (Even if you don't really.)

You forgot the most important part: you praise everybody in the industry because you'll never know where you'll be sending your CVs once your current gig is over.

 

[Infinitron]

At this point in production Torment had shown more stuff than these guys. I don't hold much hope that this will ever come out in the form they describe if at all.

What production? There hasn't been a Kickstarter yet. It's pretty obvious that the game is on hold/in extended "pre-pre-production" until they get funding.

 

[Kem0sabe]

What production? There hasn't been a Kickstarter yet. It's pretty obvious that the game is on hold/in extended "pre-pre-production" until they get funding.

Ah. i thought they had already had a successful KS, never mind then.

 

[LESS T_T]

Some interesting stuff in TSI's forum: http://www.tsi-games.com/Community/forum/ssi-and-other-games-discussions/

http://www.tsi-games.com/Community/topic/phantasie/

What a great question.

SSI was responsible for several classics including the Phantasie series. As it happens, we’ve been in touch with the creator of Phantasie and a few ideas have been tossed around for a potential continuation of the series. Although, that’s being weighed along with several other projects we’d like to do down the road.

YEEEESSS. I remember the creator of Phantasie said in a Codex interview that he is working on a new Phantasie, and later it was on hold due to the lack of funding.

Do it, TSI.

 

[Dorateen]

I do love me the thought of a few biodrones being suckered into pledging for a potential kickstarter because of some pre-marketing sweet-talk, only to later discover it's a full party creation turn-based classic RPG.

 

[Abelian]

I do love me the thought of a few biodrones being suckered into pledging for a potential kickstarter because of some pre-marketing sweet-talk, only to later discover it's a full party creation turn-based classic RPG.

You mean like SSI's own Gold Box games that inspired the creators of BG1 (in another century)?

 

[Dorateen]

Oh come on, you know that today's bioware has nothing to do with the era of baldur's gate. The point was specifically mocking the modern day dragon age audience, who Murray was addressing. I don't consider fans of AD&D who played BG to be biodrones. It's the generation that came afterward.

 

[Jaesun]

The sheer fact they are comparing DA:I with their own title is absolutely fucking terrifying.

 

[mondblut]

The sheer fact they are comparing DA:I with their own title is absolutely fucking terrifying.

Well, they do plan to actually sell their game someday. Comparing it to KOTC and Natuk would be somewhat inefficient marketing.

Back in the day russian pirates marketed Fallout as a diablow-like, FFS.

 

[Jaesun]

Yeah I get that. It's just fucking terrifying....

 

[Abelian]

Oh come on, you know that today's bioware has nothing to do with the era of baldur's gate. [. . .] I don't consider fans of AD&D who played BG to be biodrones. It's the generation that came afterward.

I know it and I feel your pain. That's why I added the "in another century" comment.

 

[GarfunkeL]

It's good to remember that in the marketing campaign before BG1 was released, Bioware docs made a few comments about fixing the problems of the RPG genre - ditching turn-based, for example, and using "gorgeous" graphics and so on.