Game News South Park RPG Combat Video Feature

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Obsidian Entertainment; South Park: The Stick of Truth

<p>Gameinformer informs us about The South Park RPG by providing <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/12/good-times-with-weapons-the-combat-of-south-park-the-game.aspx" target="_blank">this video feature</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><span>Combine Obsidian Entertainment's extensive knowledge of RPG design with the personal gaming tastes of South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker and you end up with the combat mechanics of South Park: The Game. Taking cues from the Paper Mario series, the combat is a turn-based exercise that depends largely on the player's active and precise participation. Matt MacLean is the lead designer on the game and he sat down with us to talk about the tone of the overall game, the mechanics of combat, and what the South Park RPG has learned from Final Fantasy 7. </span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Well, now that the playable class "Jew" has been revealed I'm inclined to correct my sales estimation from 10 million to, like, 15 million copies. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><span>Thanks to "</span><span>I sex to the Codex".</span></em></p>

 

[Andyman Messiah]

I can't wait to let's play this.

 

[attackfighter]

Good to know I don't have to be a pale basement virgin to understand this game. One of the greatest criticisms of previous Obsidian games is that you had to be pale basement virgins to understand them. Keep up the good work, Abraham Lincoln!

 

[Angelo85]

So much *incline* and *decline* at the same time... my brain doesn't know what to think.

Also interestingly that dude indirectly called the people who bought one of their previous products - NWN 2 - pale basement virgins:

(4:10)
This isn't NWN 2 [...] you don't need to be a pale basement virgin to understand this game

/e: got beaten to it, damn you perceptive brother from another mother!

 

[Rivmusique]

Good to know I don't have to be a pale basement virgin to understand this game. One of the greatest criticisms of previous Obsidian games is that you had to be pale basement virgins to understand them. Keep up the good work, Abraham Lincoln!

I love the way they make "This game requires little to no thought to play" sound so K3WL!1!! Fuck those pale basement nerds and there games where reading the instruction manual is recommended, we don't got time for that, we got pussy to score! PRESS A BUTTON AND SOMETHING FUNNY HAPPENS.

Hopes are still low.

 

[Mrowak]

I don't get the butthurt. The game sounds really promissing. Turn based combat? Upgradeable items? Secrest bosses requring from you strategy of sorts?

The only 'but' I have is how they will handle trash mobs and what exploration will look like.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Good to know I don't have to be a pale basement virgin to understand this game. One of the greatest criticisms of previous Obsidian games is that you had to be pale basement virgins to understand them. Keep up the good work, Abraham Lincoln!

First of all half the codex pretty much ARE pale basement virgins.

Secondly, this was some random throaway joke exegerration. Nothing to get upset over except when you easily get offended. In which case fuck off.

 

[Stinger]

The pale basement virgin comment was uncalled for, it's annoying to see even Obsidian jump on the "let's hate RPG elements" bandwagon but the rest of the video sounds fairly interesting.

It'd be cool if the player moved their characters around a map and then when they attacked a unit it'd switch to the Paper Mario combat rather than just pure JRPG combat. Aside from that...yeah it looks like it'll be fun at least.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Exactly, no need to get upset. What Matt McLean wanted to say is that, unlike pale basement-dwelling virgin-nerds' games like NWN2, you won't need an IQ>90 to enjoy the SP RPG. It's great. It's all about lulz, like playing ME2 and picking all the red dialogue lines. We all want lulz.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

The pale basement virgin comment was uncalled for, it's annoying to see even Obsidian jump on the "let's hate RPG elements" bandwagon but the rest of the video sounds fairly interesting.

That has nothing to do with hating rpg elements. Like Sawyer said Matt is a complete nerdy guy himself.

If you get offended so easily you should stay the fuck away from this game (or the codex in general) anyway.

 

[Kz3r0]

The pale basement virgin comment was uncalled for, it's annoying to see even Obsidian jump on the "let's hate RPG elements" bandwagon but the rest of the video sounds fairly interesting.

It's official, Bethesda is better than Obsidian now, forgive us Todd, you were right and we were wrong.

 

[Multidirectional]

First of all half the codex pretty much ARE pale basement virgins.

Secondly, this was some random throaway joke exegerration. Nothing to get upset over except when you easily get offended. In which case fuck off.

They're making a turn based game for fucks sake. Them try to market it as not being too hard to get into is perfectly understandable. People who aren't into TB games usually associate TB systems with "complex and boring", the guy is trying to the best of his ability to sell it as "simple and fun". But whatever, keep those butts hurting if you want his random joke to start looking more like a fact.

 

[Kz3r0]

First of all half the codex pretty much ARE pale basement virgins.

Secondly, this was some random throaway joke exegerration. Nothing to get upset over except when you easily get offended. In which case fuck off.

They're making a turn based game for fucks sake. Them try to market it as not being too hard to get into is perfectly understandable. People who aren't into TB games usually associate TB systems with "complex and boring", the guy is trying to the best of his ability to sell it as "simple and fun". But whatever, keep those butts hurting if you want his random joke to start looking more like a fact.

Yeah, Paper Mario is a game for kids, add toilet humor, a retarded juvenile attitude, and suddenly you have Best ARPEEGEE evah.
I hope that I have just failed my irony check multiple times.

 

[Roguey]

The only 'but' I have is how they will handle trash mobs and what exploration will look like.

If they're following the Paper Mario combat model to the letter then it'll be really low on trash (all of them are 20 hours at the most, and MacLean confirmed this was their target in the video) and they're all visible on the map so you can ignore a lot of them without too much effort. Don't expect much exploration though, you're just going to be moving sideways most of the time with a couple of branches in the fore/background (and to reiterate: 20 hours).

That has nothing to do with hating rpg elements. Like Sawyer said Matt is a complete nerdy guy himself.

And yet every system he's designed has been dumbed down baby simple.

 

[Multidirectional]

I hope that I have just failed my irony check multiple times.

You seem to be failing quite a bit more than that.

 

[Kz3r0]

I hope that I have just failed my irony check multiple times.

You seem to be failing quite a bit more than that.

Yes, being polite with shiteating retards such as you is the worst, I admit that.
Enjoy your South Park game fanboy, it's obvious that is intended for the likes of you after all.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

That has nothing to do with hating rpg elements. Like Sawyer said Matt is a complete nerdy guy himself.

And yet every system he's designed has been dumbed down baby simple.

Well, the honeycomb model he thought of during AP development.

But here for an answer

How has your approach to designing games has changed from when you started?
Most of what's changed is just my sensitivity to process, practicality, and iteration. Early on, I wanted to make games that I wanted to play, and wanted to dream up perfect designs that were right the first time through. Well, very few people want to play the games I want to play (I enjoy spreadsheets, reading manuals, and using every button on a controller) so I've since stopped using what I find personally to be fun as a metric for designs - I trust instead what I know others enjoy in their gaming. Otherwise, most of what I've learned in the past six years is just how to communicate wants and needs. It's easy to picture in my head how an NPC will behave in the game or how a scene will look - but until I spent years learning about how programmers, artists, and animators do their work, knowing what to ask and how to ask it wasn't the easiest part of my job.

 

[Victor Dosev]

I just read through most of the comments on that video and boy, I don't wanna live on this planet anymore.

"Simple, yet deep - Just the way I love it" - YOU CAN'T HAVE SIMPLE AND DEEP IN THE SAME TIME. AAAAARGH. You can have a "good" "simple-to-deep" "ratio", with "good" being in context to some intended core market or something like that. Not universally "simple but deep". But meh.


Other than that. The images look nice. I, as a SP fan, can appreciate most of the idea thrown in there.

 

[Angelo85]

Bros, what's with all the talk about TB? The game won't be TB. It will be pseudo TB JRPG style with button mashing in between.

 

[Roguey]

Well, the honeycomb model he thought of during AP development.

Felt meaningless.

so I've since stopped using what I find personally to be fun as a metric for designs - I trust instead what I know others enjoy in their gaming.

Must be why Alpha Protocol and Dungeon Siege 3 are so super-popular. Other people enjoy rigid systems with no flexibility? News to me, everyone on the internet seems to hate them.

Bros, what's with all the talk about TB? The game won't be TB. It will be pseudo TB JRPG style with button mashing in between.

Timed hits don't make it not-turn-based. Everyone still goes through their turns one-by-one.

 

[J_C]

Bros, what's with all the talk about TB? The game won't be TB. It will be pseudo TB JRPG style with button mashing in between.

It will be something similar (hopefully more complex):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inUjJYSGYz8

There are QTEs in between, but this looks like 100% TB to me.

 

[Eyeball]

Oh sweet Jesus this is an abomination.

 

[janjetina]

I know about 10 people or so who like computer RPGs, and while a few of them are pale, none are basement dwelling, or virgins. It is ironic to be called these names by a worm-shaped neckbeard. Where does that stereotype come from anyway?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't get the butthurt. The game sounds really promissing. Turn based combat? Upgradeable items? Secrest bosses requring from you strategy of sorts?

They are targeting "people who's never played an RPG before". That's all you need to know about the game.

Turn-based combat is a welcome feature, but not the console style. Upgradeable items? A lot of games have them and most get it wrong. Tinkering with your lightsaber in KOTOR 2 or making custom guns in AP was NOT loads of fun and had little affect on the game. Secret bosses requiring strategies? A common claim.

In my opinion, the target audience is the first or foremost indicator of a game's design and depth. When someone says the magic words - "we want to make the game equally appealing to both hardcore and casual crowd", "we want to make the game more welcoming", "we don't want to make the game just for the RPG nuts", you KNOW that you aint getting an RPG. You're getting a dumbed down action game with stats, because that's the only type of games that will appeal to people who aren't into RPGs and never played one before (i.e. zero interest in RPGs).

The other factor is Obsidian: what it is and what it isn't. What can you expect from an Obsidian RPG?

High quality writing. Depth. Interesting characters. Quality role-playing.

^ These are Obsidian's strengths. That's why we enjoy their games despite the numerous flaws. Now, the first three won't be in the game. It's a lulzy game set in a cartoon (i.e. most characters are defined). The rest I'm not so sure about. Combat and boss fights have never been one of Obsidian's strong points. Not in NWN2, not in KOTOR2, not in Alpha Protocol (especially not in Alpha Protocol), not in New Vegas.

In other words, the game won't feature a lot of things that Obsidian does right, but will feature a lot of things that Obsidian does wrong or doesn't really care about.

 

[attackfighter]

I know about 10 people or so who like computer RPGs, and while a few of them are pale, none are basement dwelling, or virgins. It is ironic to be called these names by a worm-shaped neckbeard. Where does that stereotype come from anyway?

World of Warcraft