Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Interview Voodoo Priestesses and Personal Pirate Ships

VentilatorOfDoom

Administrator
Staff Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
8,600
Location
Deutschland
Tags: Piranha Bytes; Risen 2: Dark Waters

<p>Gamespot <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/risen-2-dark-waters/news/6325895/risen-2-dark-waters-qanda-voodoo-priestesses-and-personal-pirate-ships?sid=6325895&amp;mode=previews&amp;tag=topslot;thumb;1" target="_blank">chatted with</a> Deep Silver's Daniel Oberlerchner on the topic of <strong>Risen 2: Dark Waters</strong>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>GS:</strong> We understand that Risen 2 will include a more fully-realized world with characters that go about their own daily schedules regardless of whether players are present or not. While this is definitely an interesting addition, what will it add to the game? How will the hero interact with, or benefit from, characters who wake up every morning to tend to their farm, or sneak out to the tavern every evening?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>DO:</strong> To understand the focus on daily routines, the AI of the NPCs, and other design decisions, we have to dive a bit into the origin of the Gothic series. When Piranha Bytes created Gothic in 2001, their aim was to create an RPG which follows the tradition of the old Ultima games. The Ultima games in the '80s and '90s already offered a lot of the game mechanics we take for granted in a modern RPG even though the presentation was of course in no way comparable to what players are used to seeing on the screen nowadays. In Risen 2, every NPC has a daily routine and will react to the player based on a set of rules. Many of those rules are similar to the rules in our society: Don't steal or you will be punished. Don't attack or threaten people unless you're ready for a fight yourself. Don't sneak into people's houses when they are awake/nearby or you will raise their attention. All those basic rules give the player a sense of actually having a place as a person in society and thus convince him that this is a real world he is playing in.</p>
<p>Risen 2 does not throw the player into a huge city with thousands of citizens where none of them react to what you're doing. The appeal of the games of Piranha Bytes is to observe the NPCs, and then either play along or try to outsmart the AI by developing devious ways to get to your goals. What we offer is a lively and immersive gameworld to play with, and we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game. All decisions you make in the game will influence which skills will be available from trainers throughout the gameworld. Additionally, the game will not only react on your actions in the short term, but NPCs will remember that you fought or argued with them and, depending on the outcome, admire or hate you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Thanks to Krokar for pointing this out.</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>
 

Pope Amole

Educated
Joined
Dec 26, 2010
Messages
138
By the title I thought that they want to make an RPG in the Monkey Island universe. Would be pretty awesome, but no, instead it's some crap I couldn't care less about.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Pope Amole said:
By the title I thought that they want to make an RPG in the Monkey Island universe. Would be pretty awesome, but no, instead it's some crap I couldn't care less about.

:/
 

felipepepe

Codex's Heretic
Patron
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
17,274
Location
Terra da Garoa
Risen 2 does not throw the player into a huge city with thousands of citizens where none of them react to what you're doing. The appeal of the games of Piranha Bytes is to observe the NPCs, and then either play along or try to outsmart the AI by developing devious ways to get to your goals.
Sounds good. I really hate games that huge cities full of nothing, like NWN.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
3,524
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.

Fuck you
 

felipepepe

Codex's Heretic
Patron
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
17,274
Location
Terra da Garoa
Excommunicator said:
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.

Fuck you
I beg to differ.

Starting as a dumbfuck, slowly learning and going after masters to teach you and improve your skills make much more sense that a farmer that can spam fireballs, especially in a Role-Playing game. The issue is that no one ever got this done right before, they only use it to dumb down and make it "user friendly".

If Risen 2 follows this path in a smart way, we may have a trully amazing and hardcore RPG. Real C&C could be done, like learning firearms makes the Swordmasters despise you, or killing a NPC in a quest makes his father (a blacksmith) vow for vengeance, all that restrinting the skills and habilities you can learn. I have great faith in this, best of luck to them. :salute:
 

Regdar

Arcane
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Messages
665
Real C&C could be done, like learning firearms makes the Swordmasters despise you, or killing a NPC in a quest makes his father (a blacksmith) vow for vengeance. I have great faith in this, best of luck to them

This was already done in Risen. Choosing the templars meant you could only advance staff fighting and magic, while choosing the bandits allowed you to master other forms of combat (except staves), but not magic (you could still learn to read scrolls, though). Pissing off certain trainers prevented you from learning from that particular trainer. However, there were always others who could teach you.

All decisions you make in the game will influence which skills will be available from trainers throughout the gameworld. Additionally, the game will not only react on your actions in the short term, but NPCs will remember that you fought or argued with them and, depending on the outcome, admire or hate you.

Basically what I just said. This was already done in Risen. Are trying to pass the same shit with new textures as innovation?

Disclaimer: I think the first two chapters of Risen are great, and Risen in general is a great game.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
3,524
pepe said:
Excommunicator said:
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.
Fuck you
Starting as a dumbfuck, slowly learning and going after masters to teach you and improve your skills make much more sense that a farmer that can spam fireballs, especially in a Role-Playing game.

What the hell has that got to do with not having pre-game customisation?

Seriously you people make me feel like I'm reading drunk or something
 

MicoSelva

backlog digger
Patron
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
7,480
Location
Vigil's Keep
Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Divinity: Original Sin 2 Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Excommunicator said:
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.

Fuck you
Why?

Gothics (and the first Risen) never had pre-game PC customization. Why would they introduce it now?
 

Shannow

Waster of Time
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
6,386
Location
Finnegan's Wake
MicoSelva said:
Excommunicator said:
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.

Fuck you
Why?

Gothics (and the first Risen) never had pre-game PC customization. Why would they introduce it now?
Because Oblibians had it, dummy. Don't you want Risen 2 to be at least as good as Obibibion?

Why quote that section, VoD? That's all the stuff every PB game had. Where's the news?
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
385
MicoSelva said:
Excommunicator said:
... we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game.

Fuck you
Why?

Gothics (and the first Risen) never had pre-game PC customization. Why would they introduce it now?

Why not?

Because they didn't have it in the previous games they are precluded from doing it in this one? I understand that they want to develop skill progression within the game, but some customization at the beginning would be nice, appearance and base stats for example.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
33,052
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
The character development of the Gothics and Risen has always been fine to me, even though I'm a sucker for high character customization. You start out as an average guy and can specialize later on, when you've already learned the basics of the game, tried out different weapons, and know what does what.

It's a solid system that has always worked well for the Gothic games, and I don't see why they should change it.
 

Alex

Arcane
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
8,750
Location
São Paulo - Brasil
One very cool side effect of having character customization occur in game instead of before it is that the character abilities you take become associated with the game setting around you. Your abilities are tied in with your relationship with the trainers, which is tied with your relationship with different factions.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Excommunicator said:
What the hell has that got to do with not having pre-game customisation?

Seriously you people make me feel like I'm reading drunk or something

Probably because you are. Have you ever even played a Gothic game? :roll:
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
3,524
Anyone creating a game they dare to call an RPG without real character creation deserves to be shamed and criticised for it

Bunch of wannabes
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Excommunicator said:
Anyone creating a game they dare to call an RPG without real character creation deserves to be shamed and criticised for it

Bunch of wannabes

:mhd:
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium

P. banal
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
13,696
Location
Third World
Alex said:
One very cool side effect of having character customization occur in game instead of before it is that the character abilities you take become associated with the game setting around you. Your abilities are tied in with your relationship with the trainers, which is tied with your relationship with different factions.
Exactly.

The way it is just fits well with the Gothic/Risen playstyle.
 

Shannow

Waster of Time
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
6,386
Location
Finnegan's Wake
Excommunicator said:
Anyone creating a game they dare to call an RPG without real character creation deserves to be shamed and criticised for it

Bunch of wannabes
Only it was derpy fans who started calling the Gothics/Risens "RPGs". The same morons who call MEh, TW, etc "RPGS".
PB called the first Gothic correctly "action adventure". Not sure if they've followed the fans' nomenklatur later. I at least don't distinctly recall them ever calling their names "RPGs". (And this is an interview with a Deep Silver derper, not PB.)

But seriously, will you whine about semantics in a genre that has become so muddied instead of simply judging the game for itself? It doesn't matter for the quality of a game whether it fits into some artificial labelling box or not.
I'd be fine if you said: "I like games with character generation like Oblivioons, they are the only games that make me happy."
But:"It doesn't have character generation like Ooblbebiohn, thus it's not an RPG like Oblediboble, thus it's shit." Is full derp.
 

Regdar

Arcane
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Messages
665
Excommunicator said:
Anyone creating a game they dare to call an RPG without real character creation deserves to be shamed and criticised for it

Bunch of wannabes

Dargon Age 2 had character creation. Just sayin'.
 

eugene2k

Novice
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
32
This obsession with character generation is puzzling. The p&p RPGs have it, because that's a way to write the history of your character. cRPGs of old had it, but the writing character's history aspect was never there IIRC. These new-age cRPGs shy away from character generation and make writing the character's story somewhat of an in-game feature. So why the fuss? Because you have to play through more content? I guess the practical side of character generation is you can start trying out different builds in different combat situations early and thus figure out what the best tactics in certain combat situations are, but... tactics? In modern day parodies RPGs???

Edit: Also, p&p RPGs assume familiarity with the RPG system, and modern day cRPGs prefer to reinvent the wheel, if you roll a character without knowing how effective the character will be throughout the game, and find out your character is absolute crap in the beginning because you went for the skills that are not required, the early in-game encounters may become impossibly hard. Especially since there's no such thing as tactics in modern day crapRPGs.
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Gothic 1 had a beautiful, beautiful bug, where you requested to be a firemage, the guy says "sure, come over to the second floor", and you went to join either the of the other factions, level up their skill, and come back to the firemages and say, "I'm ready".

Kensai mage.

Bit of a learning point drain though.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom