Incline Chris Avellone Appreciation Station

[Excidium II]

I guess being old and sounding like an older guy is unique within the party, but still a generic "wise old man" VO. Not that it's a bad VO, but he could've had something more unique about his diction and specially his visual design.

Well for visuals it's harder with a top down game I guess. But if you read his armor pieces descriptions you'll see (that at least they had the intention, just harder to convey compared to the others).

 

[Fairfax]

The penis hydra they mentioned:




Next time he takes requests I'll ask him to draw the penis hydra fighting the Codex Anus Monster from SitS.

 

[MRY]

I guess being old and sounding like an older guy is unique within the party, but still a generic "wise old man" VO. Not that it's a bad VO, but he could've had something more unique about his diction and specially his visual design.

Well for visuals it's harder with a top down game I guess.

It might be harder, but it's not impossible. JRPGs have been doing it for ages. PS:T had extremely distinct characters. It's just when you go the route of paper-dolling, it becomes much harder.

 

[Jazz_]

Wow the animosity with Obsidian is real. I wonder if Avellone can solo run the Obsidian offices with dem big gunz?

 

[Excidium II]

P. sure them numales @ Obsidian couldn't even handle accidental eye contact with MCA without losing composure.

 

[abnaxus]

Stroke that tummy.

 

[Toxic Masculinity]

Next time he takes requests I'll ask him to draw the penis hydra fighting the Codex Anus Monster from SitS.

Link and picture of said Codex Anus Monster.

 

[Ivan]

Also Eb is p. hot

 

[Excidium II]

P. serious. Her 3D model also has some bitchin' body. Apparently water magicks preserves people? I recall she mentions something like that.

 

[Fairfax]

Next time he takes requests I'll ask him to draw the penis hydra fighting the Codex Anus Monster from SitS.

Link and picture of said Codex Anus Monster.

 

[Toxic Masculinity]

I fucking love the Codex.

 

[Kev Inkline]

[t]hey tried to delete me from the credits at least once since my departure

 

[Excidium II]

I fucking love the Codex.

Look what you attract as soon as one MCA pic is posted.

 

[Prime Junta]

I'm starting to think Tyranny is a metaphor for the Obsidian/MCA split. We've got the last of the great Northern Warlords unwillingly bowing to a remote, erratic tyrant raining destruction through Edicts, forced to work with a cackling, backstabbing monster leading a chaos horde, and then at the moment of ultimate triumph it all goes to shit.

 

[karfhud]

Of course it needs a good story, Cpt. Obvious, but you also want good world-building, you want a thick atmosphere, that's one of the chief get-aways from Bloodlines - which set the bar pretty high for any future games.

Agreed on combat in the isometric view, but

exploring is much better in isometric.

That's just not true.

That's just not true... see I can play that game as well. Once you expand upon that I can do the same.

Alright. Which isometric game features exploration that's not reachable in first person?

Isometric perspective comes with its inherent downsides, like picturing verticality - it's always been a hindrance in the old IE games and I haven't seen much progress in the new titles. Ascending/descdending, climbing, jumping, these easiest methods of exploration are immediately trickier/impossible to do properly. Then you have stuff like crouching and squeezing through vents, for instance, also not as natural in the isometric view as in FPP.

What you described is platforming, not exploring. Are you trying to say to me that best parts of Bloodlines were jumping/crouching and sneaking through vents?!
I agree that a game like Deus Ex would not work as a Isometric game because Deus Ex is about stealth and shooting, both of work differently in isometric.
But for Vampire Bloodlines? Hell no. Combat would have been way better, and sneaking can be done well enough by using mechanics similar to Commandos with modifications. And in isometric you don't waste time finding the right path as you can see way more in isometric, you can also scroll to other side of map and click and wait for characters to get there. That alone is already superior to any manual jumping, climbing or crouching FP Bloodline offers.

And team gameplay is always better than single character, even if it is you + just 1 companion.

Next you are going to tell me that F3/F4 have better exploration than F1/F2

I see, the difference in perception of exploration in games led us to this point. To clarify - for me, and I may be wrong at this, but for me exploration's both about the literal act of exploring, as in setting out to traverse new locations, those hidden ones as well, and the gameplay means of doing that, which often includes climbing, crouching, jumping etc.

That's why when it comes to exploration, in that sense, I actually feel New Vegas was the best in the whole Fallout series in this regard, because exploration came across as rewarding and immersive (I know that Codex suffers a bad a rash once the term "immersion" is coined, but hey, it's a factor).

...and no, I didn't particularly enjoy jumping or crouching in Bloodlines, but at the same time I wouldn't want to play it in an isometric perspective. See, I do want to waste time finding the right path, that's what's exploration - partially - about

Edit: however there's no denying that with party-based gameplay, isometric view's the best option, hands down.

 

[Roguey]

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

Not exactly visual or audio design, but he has a warm and likeable personality without being a wuss or pushover, I think that makes him pretty unique as a companion: a true bro.

 

[Jedi Exile]

I wonder if Avellone can solo run the Obsidian offices with dem big gunz?

In real time, maybe. If combat is turn-based, he doesn't stand a chance against Tim Cain.

 

[Kev Inkline]

I wonder if Avellone can solo run the Obsidian offices with dem big gunz?

In real time, maybe. If combat is turn-based, he doesn't stand a chance against Tim Cain.

 

[Fairfax]

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

Eh, not exactly a "visual hook", but they tried. And do you post in that shithole?

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

Not exactly visual or audio design, but he has a warm and likeable personality without being a wuss or pushover, I think that makes him pretty unique as a companion: a true bro.

Agreed. I liked him, just saying Fenstermaker didn't follow all MCA's guidelines with him. I think it's important to have at least one "true bro" companion that most players will probably like. In Edér's case, he was the main tank for those who didn't create or hire one. I suspect the vast majority of players didn't play as tank, so it was important that players didn't hate him.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

Eh, not exactly a "visual hook", but they tried. And do you post in that shithole?

Edér might be the only one without anything unique about his visual or audio design, but I thought he was still a good companion.

He has the piece of straw in his mouth. At Sawyer's casualposting board, they nicknamed him hayman.

Not exactly visual or audio design, but he has a warm and likeable personality without being a wuss or pushover, I think that makes him pretty unique as a companion: a true bro.

Agreed. I liked him, just saying Fenstermaker didn't follow all MCA's guidelines with him. I think it's important to have at least one "true bro" companion that most players will probably like. In Edér's case, he was the main tank for those who didn't create or hire one. I suspect the vast majority of players didn't play as tank, so it was important that players didn't hate him.

I agree, but it's not always an easy task to come up with a char that's likeable but still feels non-generic enough.

Also

RPGCodex > Does not leave marks

 

[Bohrain]

kind enough not to leave marks.

 

[Roguey]

And do you post in that shithole?

Of course not. I don't believe I've even checked out the place in months.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Some day MCA and Obsidian will make up, and Obsidian will merge with inXile to form a superstudio.

It'll be like Black Isle but better. Their own IPs will come thick and fast. Avellone will get a game. Ziets will get a game. McComb will get a game. Everyone will get a game.

I want to believe.

 

[Fairfax]

I'd rather just see MCA's studio succeed, thank you very much.

Also, I think both Fargo and Feargus dream of going out like the BioWare docs. Make the studio grow enough to be sold for a fortune, then retire from the industry.