BlaineMono said:
denizsi said:
The only significant difference between JA2 and FO is one puts the priority on meta-gaming
I am sorry, game's core gameplay mechanic is "meta-gaming?"
princessbride.jpg
It's not? Oh sorry, I took you for someone who has played JA2. My mistake. Entire game is a meta-simulation with a pretty face-lift. Managing finance, troops, equipment, mercs' stats and their training, etc. etc. If you have played it and disagree about the meta-gaming remark, it only proves how good the game's design is at obscuring that layer. Otherwise, you can't do shit without caring about meta-aspects, not even with the retarded enemy AI.
So basically your argument is that if a developer has a very clear goal of making a good CRPG game which is also a good X game, a good Y game and a good Z game (and naturally has skills and funding for making 4 different games at once) then in time they will probably make a CRPG that is good at X, Y and Z and also not suck as a CRPG?
Well, yes, I suppose.
Alright, now it's obvious you have no idea what you are talking about. 4 different games at once? Heh. Sad.
shihonage said:
Therefore, we ARE talking about Fallout here, yes.
And what does that have anything to do with what I have to say? VD isn't an experienced game developer. He got into developing AoD as a pure amateur. No prior experience whatsoever and obviously he didn't have a clear and focused vision regarding individual elements in the game other than a general philosophy, which is all perfectly normal. He even said himself about lacking focus in stealth. Therefore, even bringing up that invalid argument in the first place is a fallacy; whether you agree or disagree with my position, that argument itself has absolutely no bearing on VD. So, my attack on that invalid argument itself is completely detached from the discussion over AoD.
Here I could also say "pull your shit together", but it's kinda juvenile, don't you think?
What's wrong, shihonage? Why so defensive that you can't handle some sarcasm?
What exactly are "pure RP mechanics"? Last time I checked, dialogue and quest tracking were as "RP mechanics" as it gets. Coincidentally, they require if not the most, then a lion's share of work.
Duh. Pure RP mechanics = characters' stats determining the outcome of actions. More actions tied to and determined by stats, the purer it gets as it means less inconsequential actions available. For instance, In JA2's case, when you take a step in JA2, there is stuff going on in the background that decides if there will be any one of several outcomes to it, a good deal more than average pre-next-genitis RPGs. You crouch, crawl, run, sneak, draw a gun, aim a gun, turn around, swim, open a door, close a door and any number of several things you wouldn't even think about in your typical RPG can happen, all tied into the characters' stats to make some sense out of it. Stuff some of which has no bearing whatsoever on how the gameworld works in other RPGs.
This is now about "what is considered an RPG"? This is not what this exchange was about. See above.
Not really, but I was under the impression that you drove the point towards that base.
Okay, so where's our complete RPG with complete sneaking mechanics of Thief and above, and combat of JA2?
Puh-lease, what sneaking mechanics in Thief are you speaking of? Stealth-wise, Thief is very primitive. Especially when compared to JA2. Thief is a very simple but a very good game, but sneaking works just as good, if not far better, in JA2 because the game takes into account several more things when you are sneaking which affect your detection of others, others' detection of you and the AI's reaction to various events is far more advanced. Now I admit that calling it "better" might not be fair game since one is first-person real-time and the other is isometric and semi-TB, but sneaking is a whole lot more complicated and nuanced matter in JA2.
Seriously, Thief is vastly overrated regarding the depth of stealth.
I just don't agree with the idea that VD's lack of a dedicated stealth system means he's slacking off.
But I don't either! I even argue that his stance is perfectly understandable. I was only responding to that ridiculous generalist invalid-argument I mentioned earlier, which has no place especially in a discussion about AoD.
VD, I still would like to hear about the stealth model you have in mind for a future game.