Indeed, while Intimidation as a skill doesn't exist in AoD, Combat Prowess, Body Count and even being part of a [Guild/Faction] acted as amazing substitute to it.
the camera was shit, yes. A problem they solved in colony ship by making a fixed camera angle and designing the areas with that camera in mind (like in ToEE).
It's a double-edged sword, actually. Somehow, I haven't problem with the camera in AoD and really appreciated overall design of all three big cities (I mean mostly from 2d perspective: disctircts, walls and everything). And I guess it could be possible to keep it more or less intact even with the fixed camera as well but the Pit from CSG looks very different in that regard and I'm not sure I like it.
Can you elaborate?
I wasn't talking about AoD but about all non-combat stats and skills use in general. Let's say you buy a new RPG tomorrow. You know more or less what to expect from STR, DEX, CON, and combat skills, but you have no idea what INT, CHA, diplomacy, etc mean. You have to experiment to find out how the non-combat stuff is designed because it differs wildly from one game to another.Vince called it trial and error, not me.
Maadoran looks fine from any possible angle. Teron and Gaanezzar (especially) are having more specific structure with higher/lower districts so it wouldn't be nice to lock the camera "from nothern approach" to any of them.
I think you're approaching this from a slightly wrong angle. If Vince and co. designed AoD cities to 'looks fine' from a specific angle AND fix the camera position from the *get-go*, we wouldn't even have this conversation in the first place.
It's a container town. Imagine something like this:
The town is sitting in one of the cargo holds (the colony ship is retrofitted cargo freighter), which explains the height and the darkness. The Habitat (the properly designed living quarters) look very different and Vault-like.
It is.
Yeah, I get that. But here it looks flat, more or less, so the angle to look from doesn't matter at all. While The Pit has overall tilt and even if camera wasn't locked, choosing the opposite angle would be silly. However, considering how huge this cargo hold might be... I've change my mind. I mean, it's quite possible for thouse people to settle in the particular place with the tilt, why not? And the darkness in The Pit is very neat, I liked it since first screenshots.It's a container town. Imagine something like this:
Idk, never had an issue with it, you rotate with q and e, move the camera with wasd, click to move, it's what I've been doing for years
Idk, never had an issue with it, you rotate with q and e, move the camera with wasd, click to move, it's what I've been doing for years
Are you incapable of understanding the difference between controls and handling?
I'll try rephrasing: The camera in AoD is indeed very easy to use, but using it is still annoying. A viewport can be both 1.) easy to control and 2.) annoying to use; those aren't mutually exclusive qualities.
Other games/engines have achieved viewports that are both easy to control and a pleasure to use. This proves that it's possible.
I can: Don't make me rotate the goddamn camera.
