Interview Dragon Age - Spacebar Strategery

[Jason]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age

BioWare's Dan Tudge gave Gamespot <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage/news.html?sid=6204627&mode=previews" target="blank">the lowdown</a> on "large creature combat" in <b><a href="http://dragonage.bioware.com/origins/" target="blank">Dragon Age: Origins</a></b>.
<br>
<blockquote>GS: We recall from our previous jaunts in BioWare games that fighting dragons wasn't exactly a walk in the park--they were extremely powerful foes that ignored the attacks of simple magic spells and required a great deal of preparation, strategy, and even a bit of luck to overcome. How powerful will the dragons of Dragon Age: Origins be, and if they end up at odds with your character, what kind of prep and strategy will players need to take them on?
<br>
<br>
DT: I won't lie to you: bringing down a dragon is pretty tough, but if you can do it, the payoff is worth it. Combat is party-based, so you can choose to have some very powerful allies in your party, each with their own unique abilities that you can combine to give yourself some tactical advantages. Some strategies that work well are things like buffing your party at the start of combat (especially your warriors) to make them tougher in battle and also keeping your mages at a safe distance. You'll have to experiment to see what kind of strategy works best for you, but one thing I find useful is the "pause and play" system. The ability to freeze the game and examine the situation from different angles can give you some great ideas on how to shift the odds in your favor.</blockquote>
<br>
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.bluesnews.com/">Blue's News</A>

 

[Ion Flux]

Novel.

 

[xantrius]

I'm rendered speechless.

 

[IlkuWarrior]

Could someone clarify this "pause and play" system, I seem not to be able to understand it...?
How could you pause... and play!? :shock:

 

[TimDaEnchantah]

Thank God for Bioware, at least they still manage to make their games fresh and original. That buffing thing sounds awesome.

 

[NiM82]

I wonder if they'll invent some awexsome next gen acronym to describe this pause and play feature to the unwashed masses?

 

[MetalCraze]

Thank God for Bioware, at least they still manage to make their games fresh and original. That buffing thing sounds awesome.

Hey good joke.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Wow...so this shit is strategy nowadays? Hell, if you didn't pause in BG2, you got fucked up hard by just about anything. And buffing was necessary before many combats, and during some as well when they dragged on for a longer period of time.

 

[Tigranes]

To be fair, it's Dan Tudge.

I swear the man was born out of a tube three years ago in a secret Disney experimental facility.

Also, I don't know about Vanguard of Originality here, but buffs and pause-play sound just fine to me.

 

[Hamster]

DT: You can do some pretty amazing things as a rogue. One tactic I like to use is the rogue's ability to go into a stealth mode that makes him/her pretty much invisible to enemies. Once in stealth mode, I can use another rogue talent of setting traps near some unsuspecting enemies. When I exit stealth mode, the enemies see me and come charging...right into the trap and back to the main party for an ambush. But the rogue has some pretty deadly combat moves too. For example, if you can position your rogue right behind an enemy in combat, you can have him backstab for some devastating damage.

Looks like combat in DA will be truly innovative.

 

[NOVD]

To be fair, from what I've gathered, Dragon Age is marketed as a "return to traditions". There's no pretense that its combat is a new innovation.

 

[Antagonist]

Well, he is probably addressing the console players with this interview who are likely not familiar with Bioware's previous games and the game mechanics they employed.

 

[Spectacle]

Buff spells royally suck, the only thing they contribute to an rpg is shitty metagaming.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I hate spacebar. It's French for "We couldn't make either a decent turn-based or real-time combat system so we had to half-ass it".

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

Throughout the game, you'll also be faced with lots of tough, moral decisions that are not morally clear (I often call them the "20-minute decisions," because that's how long you end up staring at the computer trying to decide what to do).

Yup. That's how it's going to be. "Kill guy and take his money - don't kill guy and help him. UMMM WHAT SHOULD I DO I THINK I'LL GO TAKE A DUMP AND PONDER THIS TERRIBLE DILEMMA."

 

[Joe Krow]

It's true though. Dragons are much harder to beat with your mage in melee (even with the pause). The strategy guide will be a best seller, no doubt.

Needing to buff at least implies that the stats will have some relevance. I'll give them that.

 

[NOVD]

I like real time with pause at least when you have full control of a significant number of party members. It's really difficult to micromanage six party members in real time. Adding in the pause feature alleviates that trouble while still keeping the action moving.

 

[someone else]

REAL RPGers playing realtime without pause liek diablo2 nubs

 

[Shoelip]

Man, I want a cRPG that isn't full of filler combat... but that would never sell. Imagine a game where enemies you faced in combat were actually NPCs rather than just mindless suicidal drones bent on have somebody die be it them or you. Imagine a game where enemies actually surrendered if it fit their character. Where you could knock out an enemy and take them prisoner to talk to them when they woke up. Imagine it! Because that's all you'll ever get to do!!!

 

[Andhaira]

WAIT!!

Buffing??

I distinctly recall that Dragon Age, being low fantasy, would not have 'buffing' or somesuch. I tihn it was at bio forums many years ago.

 

[Shannow]

DT: I won't lie to you: bringing down a dragon is pretty tough, but if you can do it, the payoff is worth it. Combat is party-based, so you can choose to have some very powerful allies in your party, each with their own unique abilities that you can combine to give yourself some tactical advantages. Some strategies that work well are things like buffing your party at the start of combat (especially your warriors) to make them tougher in battle and also keeping your mages at a safe distance. You'll have to experiment to see what kind of strategy works best for you, but one thing I find useful is the "pause and play" system. The ability to freeze the game and examine the situation from different angles can give you some great ideas on how to shift the odds in your favor.

What kind of RPG is that? If I want my level one mage to solo a dragon unbuffed, he should be able to do so. Seriously, if they don't start lowering their frustration bars gamers will move on to games that "get it" like Oblivion. /stupid


Usual PR bullshit that tries to sell what has been industry standard for years as something new.

 

[Volourn]

"I distinctly recall that Dragon Age, being low fantasy, would not have 'buffing' or somesuch. I tihn it was at bio forums many years ago."

Idiiot.

And, once again, the Codex oevrreact sna dtries to go for the lame funny. All the article is doing is explaining the game's combat system. OMFG The sinz!

 

[denizsi]

This sucks. You can bring the whole world to down to your knees at level 1 in Oblivion, so WTF?

 

[Andhaira]

"And, once again, the Codex oevrreact sna dtries to go for the lame funny. All the article is doing is explaining the game's combat system. OMFG The sinz!"

We are pissed that Bioware has not made any improvements to its combat system, stupid cocksucker!

The spacebar has been mashed since Baldurs Gate! KOTOR added chained commands, but that was it. We were hoping for some more tactics this time around, you know.

 

[Tigranes]

Exactly how is the presence of buffing, RTwP using a spacebar and using the abilities of your party to your advantage a lack of innovation?

If you thought it was shit to begin with, fine. 'No innovation' my arse. Call them idiots for going for a D&D magic system after abandoning D&D, not introducing any new *and* relevant mechanics such as elevation or cover, instead.