Interview Dragon Age: Inquisition Interview at CVG

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age III: Inquisition

Computerandvideogames.com offer an interview with Bioware's general manager Aaryn Flynn on Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third entry in the Dragon Age series, currently in development. Have a snippet:

How ambitious are you being with the open-world design?

Oh pretty ambitious! That comes down to some of the feedback from Dragon Age II and wanting to give people a lot more exploration. That's one of the reasons why we chose Frostbite as an engine, because we went through a big review of that.

We knew that our own engine Eclipse that did Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age II was getting pretty long in the tooth. Continuing to develop on that engine would've taken a lot of investment and time. But when we lined up a lot of the opportunities for engines, one of the things that we loved about Frostbite was that it did terrain streaming and big open environments quite well.

So we thought that if we could take that and then layer on beautiful open-world systems and quests, that would be a pretty killer combination. That was a big priority for us.

The first and second Dragon Age titles are quite different games. How are you going to balance Inquisition in terms of incorporating various elements from those games?

The idea for 3 is obviously that the medium has moved ahead again. So we have to take advantage of that and figure out first and foremost where the medium is going. Then from there based on where we see it going, which is to bigger, open areas and more things to do, we then have to decide what from Origins and Dragon Age II we're going to bring in to that.

Each game has things that we like. For example, Origins has a great, tactical combat feel. I personally like that Dragon Age II has a faster, more action feel to it. So we want to blend those and bring them in to Dragon Age: Inquisition and then have it play out in larger, open spaces.

What can the next generation of consoles bring to the role-playing genre?

I think for us when you see the Inquisition trailer you'll see that it's such a radical leap in character fidelity. These are characters that now feel alive. Our goals is to get right past the uncanny valley and right to characters who you love and interact with. Morrigan for example has moved radically forward in terms of that kind of stuff.

The computing power behind the new consoles just enables so many things. And then you get in to the peripherals that they have and it's almost too much - you've got to really pick and choose what you can do cool stuff with.​

For more Aaryn Flynn wisdom, check out the full interview.

Spotted at Gamebanshee

 

[Mrowak]

Oh pretty ambitious! That comes down to some of the feedback from Dragon Age II and wanting to give people a lot more exploration. That's one of the reasons why we chose Frostbite as an engine, because we went through a big review of that.

o_O

Yes... exploration was certainly the bigest problem in DA2.

Each game has things that we like. For example, Origins has a great, tactical combat feel. I personally like that Dragon Age II has a faster, more action feel to it. So we want to blend those and bring them in to Dragon Age: Inquisition and then have it play out in larger, open spaces.

Those people, never learn, do they.

I think for us when you see the Inquisition trailer you'll see that it's such a radical leap in character fidelity. These are characters that now feel alive. Our goals is to get right past the uncanny valley and right to characters who you love and interact with. Morrigan for example has moved radically forward in terms of that kind of stuff.

:picard:

Scratch the above. They actually are unlearning. Because fucking character fidelity is what makes characters feel alive. :patriot:

In other words, lots of clueless marketing bullshit: "we haven't learned jack shit from DA2, please, Call of Duty fans and degenerated traumatised deviants, buy our shit, kthxbye".

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

TW3 will roll over them like a fucking tank.

 

[Mrowak]

TW3 will roll over them like a fucking tank.

The way BW is going they'll sure win. I mean imagine that: CDP Red doing better marketing than Bioware...


This world is going bannanas.

 

[Borelli]

I think for us when you see the Inquisition trailer you'll see that it's such a radical leap in character fidelity.

Pffft. Yeah right.
DA2 however had an almost claustrophobic linearity so i'm glad for more open world this time.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

TW3 will roll over them like a fucking tank.

The way BW is going they'll sure win. I mean imagine that: CDP Red doing better marketing than Bioware...


This world is going bannanas.

Sugar-daddy EA left them to their own marketing, this does not bode well.

 

[Infinitron]

I believe DA3 is going to be "multi-gen" while Witcher 3 will be next-gen exclusive. CD Projekt have the advantage of knowing for sure they can survive on PC sales alone, so they can do that.

 

[Grinolf]

Open World? Why they think it would be good thing to do? I understand, that after DA2 they need give something "big" to peoples. But most "openworldish" game, that they created, was BG 1 and it has vast, but mostly emty and boring, map. Detailed and live world simply isn't something you think, when you hear name Bioware.
Much better would be improve DAO strongpoints and try eliminate it's flaw's, since DAO, honestly, wasn't bad game.

There is also a chance, that they have they own meaning for "open world".

 

[Starym]

I'm not sure if this has been brought up before in other threads, but did you notice the trifecta going on in the trailer + the vague info coming out about the game?
1) The static img on the YT video has a nordic-looking helm with a dragn head/skull on the forehead as the main theme/logo.
2) You play an Inqusitor, a morally ambiguous character that hunts monsters.
3) The trailer is LITERALLY a remake of the Warcraft 3 intro cutscene.

So yea, Bioware have their 3 "in at the moment" influences covered to get the idiots out there excited, Skyrim, Witcher and Warctaft. GJ!

 

[Mastermind]

Oh pretty ambitious! That comes down to some of the feedback from Dragon Age II and wanting to give people a lot more exploration. That's one of the reasons why we chose Frostbite as an engine, because we went through a big review of that.

o_O

Yes... exploration was certainly the bigest problem in DA2.

Lack of variety and area reuse was one of the major complaints about DA2 actually.

 

[~RAGING BONER~]

I think this could win a Spike TV award for best RPG.

 

[commie]

I can see the vast open world now, with 4 locations with pieces of the starmap or factions that need uniting for a common enemy original and compelling plot advancing hooks, at the four corners of the game map along with a bunch of recruitable NPC's and their canned recruitment quests sprinkled at carefully measured short intervals(so as to not bore the dating sim player) throughout.

 

[Mrowak]

Oh pretty ambitious! That comes down to some of the feedback from Dragon Age II and wanting to give people a lot more exploration. That's one of the reasons why we chose Frostbite as an engine, because we went through a big review of that.

o_O

Yes... exploration was certainly the bigest problem in DA2.

Lack of variety and area reuse was one of the major complaints about DA2 actually.

And they are combating that with open world, because everybody knows open-world games have a lot variety and absolutely no area reuse.

 

[tuluse]

Open World? Why they think it would be good thing to do? I understand, that after DA2 they need give something "big" to peoples. But most "openworldish" game, that they created, was BG 1 and it has vast, but mostly emty and boring, map. Detailed and live world simply isn't something you think, when you hear name Bioware.
Much better would be improve DAO strongpoints and try eliminate it's flaw's, since DAO, honestly, wasn't bad game.

There is also a chance, that they have they own meaning for "open world".

They're lying, it's just going to be bigger maps.

 

[Jim the Dinosaur]

Each game has things that we like. For example, Origins has a great, tactical combat feel. I personally like that Dragon Age II has a faster, more action feel to it. So we want to blend those and bring them in to Dragon Age: Inquisition and then have it play out in larger, open spaces.

"Some people loved the slower-paced tactical feel of game A, other people loved the faster-paced action feel of game B. So for game C we're going for a game that's at the same time fast and slow, at the same time has an action and a tactical feel." I sometimes genuinely like these marketing types; they're like modern-day sophists, pissing straight in the face of the principle of non-contradiction.

 

[Grinolf]

And they are combating that with open world, because everybody knows open-world games have a lot variety and absolutely no area reuse.

It is no a matter of reusing, but creating with reused material unique feeling and illusion of variety. So in the end open world Morrowind much more diverse than linear DA 2 or new Bioshock.

 

[Mrowak]

And they are combating that with open world, because everybody knows open-world games have a lot variety and absolutely no area reuse.

It is no a matter of reusing, but creating with reused material unique feeling and illusion of variety. So in the end open world Morrowind much more diverse than linear DA 2 or new Bioshock.

True, but that's the matter of confusing the malady with the cure. They are *claiming* they'll remedy the issue of having generic feeling and no variety whatsoever by having a bigger world. It's like taking your key problem and making it assplode on a much larger scale.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I wonder how much failure the melonhead overlords at EA central are willing to tolerate before Bioware gets axed altogether. Their games cannot be cheap to produce and historically haven't sold that well.

 

[Grinolf]

True, but that's the matter of confusing the malady with the cure. They are *claiming* they'll remedy the issue of having generic feeling and no variety whatsoever by having a bigger world. It's like taking your key problem and making it assplode on a much larger scale.

I am only picking on you. And yes, it's almost impossible, that this "open world' wouldn't be big mistake or outright lie, like in case of ME 3 endings.
On contrary Witcher series have everything required to pull it off, so even in case of failure you can say, that it was worth to try out.

 

[Borelli]

Open world today means skyrim clone. I would like Arcanum style open world, you leave the first village and get slapped with a huge world map with only a few other towns marked on it.

 

[tuluse]

I wonder how much failure the melonhead overlords at EA central are willing to tolerate before Bioware gets axed altogether. Their games cannot be cheap to produce and historically haven't sold that well.

Mass Effect series sold more copies with each iteration, and since being acquired by EA their production times have decreased dramatically. It basically takes Bioware 2 years to make a game that sells 5 million copies. So I bet all of EABioware's games have been profitable. However, DA2 was clearly a disappointment on at least 2 levels.

 

[toro]

What a bunch of bullshit.

*not your post tuluse, the original "interview"

 

[mikaelis]

Sugar-daddy EA left them to their own marketing, this does not bode well.

That actually changes a jack-shit. Except we may witness slightly less retarded PR campaign (blood over the DA:O cartoony characters with Manson playing in the background).

All of this will be irrelevant though with all the gay-porn-pedophilism for teenagers in the cutscenes.

 

[Tigranes]

It's very nice of them to tell me very early on that I should not give two shits about this.

Dragon Age was never a franchise.

 

[Roguey]

Sugar-daddy EA left them to their own marketing, this does not bode well.

That actually changes a jack-shit. Except we may witness slightly less retarded PR campaign (blood over the DA:O cartoony characters with Manson playing in the background).

All of this will be irrelevant though with all the gay-porn-pedophilism for teenagers in the cutscenes.

EA never controlled Bioware's marketing. That dumb trailer and everything they've done till now was all the Bioware marketing department.