Development Info Restricted Area site revamped and moved

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Restricted Area

There's a new <a href="http://www.ra2083.com/">website for Restricted Area</a>, complete with a <A href="http://www.ra2083.com/gallery.shtml">new gallery</a> of artwork and screenshots, some <a href="http://www.ra2083.com/story.shtml">information on the story</a> and other goodies.
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Kind of an interesting look on that new artwork. A little darkish, though. Interesting fog.
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Spotted this at <A href="http://www.avault.com">AVault</a>.
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[Section8]

Graphically, it's pretty impressive (if you can forgive the lack of anti-aliasing) and the style looks nice. I don't like the fact the character looks like a Neo wannabe, and it reamins to be seen if the game itself has any worth, but it could be interesting.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Graphically, it's pretty impressive (if you can forgive the lack of anti-aliasing) and the style looks nice. I don't like the fact the character looks like a Neo wannabe, and it reamins to be seen if the game itself has any worth, but it could be interesting.

Maybe he's supposed to be Harrison Ford in Blade Runner? I agree that the black trenchcoat thing's been a little overdone, though.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I agree that the black trenchcoat thing's been a little overdone, though.

Black trenchcoat? overdone? It's the ultimate symbol of inner coolness 8). But hey don't take my word for it, here is my trusty Fallout 1 manual that became The Guide, containing solutions to every problem life has thrown at me (including fashion tips).

So here we go, psalm..err page 5-18. "What's the point of wearing armor if you can't look good?"

As for RA, it does look good so far. For the sake of the game, I hope the developers bought plenty of Harbinger copies to learn from somebody else's mistakes. By the way, one of the new screens, shows some kind of menu. Does anybody here knows German? I'm just curious what it says.

 

[Zetor]

My German skillz are a bit rusty, but I'll give it a shot...

"Reden" - "Talk" [or Talk To]
"Fliegen" - "Fly" [?! I guess this is some kind of slang]
"Abbrechen" - "Cancel"

The game looks too Diablo 2-ish for my tastes hope they are shooting for more than generic_diablo_clone_42.

-- Z.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Thanks, Zetor. I thought as much. I am not really fond of this model of char interactions, it's too actiony for me. I know it's an action RPG as in shoot first, ask questions later, but I hope that there is a story and that there would be characters taking parts in it, etc

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

So, it's kind of like Fallout's right click menu? I'm kind of confused as to why an action menu would be a problem, since it's really an efficient way of dealing with things when there's more than one option you can do with NPCs.

Maybe Jan can explain that menu a little better.

 

[Jan]

Hi

Hi guys!

First off I´m glad you like the graphics - although screenshots are uncompareable to the game in motion. Some games look better on screenshots, others better when playing and this one belongs to the second group. Bad now, but good for playing - and I guess that´s more important.

About the menu:
Zetor translated it very well ("Fliegen" is really the german word for flying, not slang). What else do you want to know about it - it´s the most simple menu in the entire game I guess. If you click at "Talk" you can speak with Jason about different things, if you click at "Fly" you can select a destination in the Wastelands or wherever and go there. If you click at "Cancel", you´ll leave him. If you miss a button to make love to him or so because that may be an option in reality I´m sorry :wink: - but if we missed something important just say it! BTW: The options are different according to which NPC you select. For example, a Doc might have "Heal" instead of "Fly".

About the look of Johnson - he´s just one of four options, if you don´t like dark long trenchcoats play someone else. In fact it´s not easy to create a unique looking character of this size - some say he looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger, other compare him to Neo, others think he looks similar to that guy from Deux Ex - there are even some which say he looks like me! I think he looks fine (wherever he looks like me or not :wink: ). The truth is that I had one of my old Shadowrun characters in mind when working on his look - I guess there are a lot of "dark future heroes" that might have inspired me when I created him, but in the end he´s just Johnson, a burned-out ex-special force agent who has to start a new life in the shadows. Not a guy who wants to rescue the world.

I´m already interested with which computer characters / real actors the other characters will be compared...

In general:
I don´t want to tell you something wrong just because we are here at rpgcodex, I think you deserve the truth - RA is not Fallout in any way, except for the similar scenario. Maybe the bad news for some of you, I know. On the other hand: It´s definatly not like Harbinger as well And to answer Vault Dweller´s question: I preordered a copy and got it the day it was released in the USA (well, shipping was twice as expensive as the game but it kept what it promised :wink: ).

Especially as the other playable characters appear as NPCs, character interaction is not unimportant in RA, however, it would be wrong to think that´s what the game is about. On the other hand there are mental attributes, tons of skills etc. so it´s much more than a top down shooter. In fact we don´t want to fit into any drawer. It´s just a game as we think it should be, and we hope you´ll like it as well.

BTW: There are real dialogs once you click at one of these main points, and I guess we´ll change them to real dialogs as well. Anyway - maybe I´m wrong, but except for "Do you sell weapons" and some different "good byes" there wasn´t much to talk about in Fallout (now I´m dead...).

 

[Vault Dweller]

Edit: I posted seconds after Jan did so this is not a comment or a reply, just a general opinion on menus and such.

Well, I did not say it's a "problem", I just did not like it. I don't think it's like Fallout, it's more like Diablo 2. D2 as we all know focused on action, so the interaction menu was for quests and barter. The actual and only conversations were greetings and rumors.

Although Fallout's menu did have a r-click option it had a lot more things to do then what's shown on the screenshot, thus justifying the need for an actual menu. But mostly Fallout handled all interactions through conversations. The difference is small but it adds a lot to the atmosphere where you actually address a person, hear (and care) about what he/she has to say, tell what you need, etc instead of clicking on a barter or an identify button a-la D2. So while I am looking forward playing RA I just hope that the interaction with NPCs would be something to look forward to.

Anyway, I don't know enough to make any conclusion, hopefully Jan will clear things later.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Re: Hi

Hi Jan,

others think he looks similar to that guy from Deux Ex .

That's what I thought. Must be the shades 8)

Johnson, a burned-out ex-special force agent who has to start a new life in the shadows. Not a guy who wants to rescue the world.

My favourite type. I'm sick and tired of all saving the stupid world.

If you click at "Talk" you can speak with Jason about different things, if you click at "Fly" you can select a destination in the Wastelands or wherever and go there. If you click at "Cancel", you´ll leave him

Here is where I disagree with your choice. A game does not have to have Fallout' depth to have a "deeper" interaction model (see my prev post). In my opinion clicking on an action button turns a NPC into a visual representation of an automatic service dispenser.

It´s just a game as we think it should be, and we hope you´ll like it as well.

I'm sure we will. Don't mind my bitching. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to work of other people

 

[huh]

this is the first time I heard about the game. the screens looks stylish. garbage cans, trash, and street bums. eerie light. that's very good. too many games look bland and sterile.

I'd replace 'Johnson' with 'Tungsten' - sounds better, and less worn-out. 'Leutenant Tungsten'. yeah, that's it. brooding, whisky drinking, chain smoking detective on the run just trying to make it in this world. (whoa, I've actually wondered why no-one has made a 'film-noire' style RPG yet.)

it's great that we won't have to save the world once again. (frankly, I wouldn't give a damn about the world, the way it is portrayed in most 'heroic' games.)

btw, is this gonna have real-time combat or turn-based? I hope there are sneaking and demolition skills. what's the split between action/role-playing? (I opt for the latter)

whatever you do, give your world some character. humor. irreverence. dark, light. lack of character has ruind too many otherwise promising games for me, 'cause cliches just makes me yawn.

all the best luck with the game.

 

[Section8]

Anyway - maybe I´m wrong, but except for "Do you sell weapons" and some different "good byes" there wasn´t much to talk about in Fallout (now I´m dead...).

I wont go into detail, but there is a LOT more than that. With high speech you can talk your way into and out of most situations. You can even convince The Master his plan has failed. But I think most of us aren't expecting another Fallout. I'm interested in RA, just because even the action RPGs released of late have been pretty lack-lustre, and I don't mind a bit of action every now and then.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Re: Hi

Zetor translated it very well ("Fliegen" is really the german word for flying, not slang). What else do you want to know about it - it´s the most simple menu in the entire game I guess. If you click at "Talk" you can speak with Jason about different things, if you click at "Fly" you can select a destination in the Wastelands or wherever and go there. If you click at "Cancel", you´ll leave him. If you miss a button to make love to him or so because that may be an option in reality I´m sorry :wink: - but if we missed something important just say it! BTW: The options are different according to which NPC you select. For example, a Doc might have "Heal" instead of "Fly".

On what Vault Dweller said, it would be nice to have more options on the menu and skills like pickpocketting, for example.

BTW: There are real dialogs once you click at one of these main points, and I guess we´ll change them to real dialogs as well. Anyway - maybe I´m wrong, but except for "Do you sell weapons" and some different "good byes" there wasn´t much to talk about in Fallout (now I´m dead...).

If the dialogue is on par with Fallout, then I'd be happy.

 

[Vault Dweller]

maybe I´m wrong, but except for "Do you sell weapons" and some different "good byes" there wasn´t much to talk about in Fallout (now I´m dead...).

Definitely wrong. But I was not even talking about the actual coversations in Fallout, I do realize that RA has a different gameplay. My point was about accessing abilities of NPCs like trade, heal, fly, fix, etc. I prefer it done through a conversation vs a menu button regardless of how much a character has to say. Like I said the difference is small but important and it adds a lot to the world, characters, their personalities, etc; making them alive and memorable.

For example, I still remember every trader and NPC in Fallout. I associate them with cities thus clearly distinguishing one from another, which in turn adds a lot to the world, atmosphere, etc. Fallout 2 is less memorable in that regard, NPCs were more generic, same goes for PS:T (don't get me wrong, it's a great game, excellent stories, the most memorable joinable NPCs evar, but all the other NPCs were a bit dull), and the same goes for Morrowind. Who the hell can tell me the name of a "flight attendant" guy in Balmora, you know the one who charge you for stilt riding? How many people have actually bothered to click "talk" button when "travel" button was readily available? Do you see my point?