Dragon Age: Inquisition Pre-Release Thread

[Infinitron]

DA2's corridors were a combination of memory and time/tool limitations so I've been told. They're all very grateful they no longer have to build levels using their shitty old tools.

Memory limitations? What memory limitations? They couldn't fit more levels on a DVD? Bullshit.

Memory as in RAM, not storage space.

 

[sea]

Memory as in RAM, not storage space.

That makes even less sense. How does less RAM = fewer levels?

 

[Infinitron]

Memory as in RAM, not storage space.

That makes even less sense. How does less RAM = fewer levels?

Who said anything about fewer levels?

DA2's corridors

Roguey was referring to the architecture of the levels, not the amount of different levels.

 

[bonescraper]

Stop embarrassing yourself sea, and take some reading comprehension courses.

 

[DemonKing]

There's no excuse for the excessive reuse of the same levels over and over in DAII save for the fact that they didn't have enough development time and/or budget to provide more, which really is no excuse.

The idea that it was for technical reasons when the much-longer in development original DA didn't suffer from this problem is ridiculous.

 

[RK47]

The article on DA3 taking inspiration from Skyrim is a reliable source of DA 3 = Open World now?
Wow.
Just wow.

Look, DA 3 didn't need to try so hard to sell a lot:
It'd be more of the same and people who enjoyed DA:O would take it well.
Star Maps.
Star Forge.
Boss Fight.

Insert 'witty' banter and romance in between.

10/10 Goty.

DA 2 failed because it just went too linear. You can't detour much when most of the action took place in one city.
And the first quest is just terrible. Gather 50 Gold. You failed? Here's an alternative.
Having an ending that doesn't really take player decision into account is also another deal breaker.

 

[Infinitron]

And the first quest is just terrible. Gather 50 Gold.

 

[RK47]

And the first quest is just terrible. Gather 50 Gold.

Yeah funny shit. That totally went over my head.

 

[Angthoron]

And the first quest is just terrible. Gather 50 Gold.

Yeah funny shit. That totally went over my head.

And it was a shitty artificial threshold in that game too.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Was the toolset between DA1 and DA2 a completely new iteration or an evolution of the previous? It´s weird to read that the shitty level design was due to design tool constraints.

 

[RK47]

I don't believe that one bit.
They just put out a rushed product.
DA:O took 7 years to release.
DA 2 took less than half of that.
Guess which one had less recycled content?

 

[Roguey]

The idea that it was for technical reasons when the much-longer in development original DA didn't suffer from this problem is ridiculous.

Was the toolset between DA1 and DA2 a completely new iteration or an evolution of the previous? It´s weird to read that the shitty level design was due to design tool constraints.

DA:O didn't suffer as much because they had five freaking years. And even then it wasn't exactly brimming with unique maps (and recycled them quite a bit with map encounters). The thing about shit tools is that it takes you much longer than it should. So to sum up, level reuse = not enough time given the tools and team they had, narrow corridors = console ram limitations, having learned their lesson with the wider areas of DA:O and the effect it had on the console ports (see also: Risen 1 and 2).

 

[Kem0sabe]

DA:O didn't suffer as much because they had five freaking years. And even then it wasn't exactly brimming with unique maps (and recycled them quite a bit with map encounters). The thing about shit tools is that it takes you much longer than it should. So to sum up, level reuse = not enough time given the tools and team they had, narrow corridors = console ram limitations, having learned their lesson with the wider areas of DA:O and the effect it had on the console ports (see also: Risen 1 and 2).

I imagine those limitations on the console´s available memory, will still be there when DA3 launches, unless it´s being made from the ground up for the new generation of consoles (whose specs are still up for debate).

 

[Roguey]

I'm reasonably confident DA3 will be a next-gen launch title.

 

[Kem0sabe]

The forthcoming Dragon Age 3: Inquisition will be a feast for the eyes, according to BioWare's Neil Thompson, thanks partly to DICE's Frostbite 2 engine, and partly to art direction that avoids certain tedious clichés.
"Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 were both done using BioWare's own Eclipse engine, and it was starting to creak a little bit when Dragon Age 2 came out," Thompson confessed in an interview you'll read in issue 95, on sale now. "Inquisition is being done on the Frostbite 2 engine and it is an astonishingly powerful engine."

"The Dragon Age artists were always slightly disappointed at how their work was visualised in the final product with Eclipse, but with Frostbite, they've just done some amazing stuff," he went on.

"There was a pre-production period where almost on a weekly basis I'd be sitting in the environment reviews and being blown away by what was coming out - it looks stunningly beautiful. So I think when we do start releasing screenshots, people won't be disappointed."
In Thompson's view, companion series Mass Effect is "the perfect example of a game that transcends its technology", using skilled visual design to hide or make a point of the limitations of the engine. By the sounds of it, Dragon Age 3's art direction is similarly ambitious.
"Can you makefantasy beautiful in a different way? We think we have something special for Dragon Age 3: Inquisition," he mused, adding that the game will shun the "subdued colour palette and harsh brown feel" typical of much current fantasy media.
Inquisition is out later this year, and is hotly suspected to be a next generation console release. Here's Thompson on what the next round of hardware launches will offer, tech-wise.

http://www.oxm.co.uk/49379/dragon-a...s-to-disappointment-over-dragon-age-1-2/#null

Engine is no excuse for the art direction, shitty artists = shitty art. Plenty of old games that still look amazing, even 3D ones.

 

[circ]

Yeah I'm not really buying that R.
You have a big enough team to warrant a pretty big VO budget and lots of VO, this time even with a speaking protagonist that in some cases changes responses depending on how you've been playing ie. diplomatic/sarcastic/angry. Also, have Alec Newman record minimal VO for some pretty insignificant NPC's already in the game, but then save his major contribution for a later DLC?
Eeeh, remake animations, graphical engine somewhat. Most graphical resources like armors and weapons are recycled.
Save additional time by scrapping most of the loot tables and replace it with a junk system.
Probably spend 3 hours doing the level design because looking at the areas off the top of my head we have: Kirkwall - Hightown which is generic buildings + (generic mansion, brothel which is mostly mansion level disguised, Fenris mansion which reuses mansion, your home in act 2, chantry, court) - Lowtown (your home, generic shop, generic tiny area that gets used 3-4 times for quests, inn...) ok screw this, every main area basically has 3-4 additional portals that in most cases just recycle resources. Plus the main areas have zero level design in the first place.

My guess is every single piece of DLC from DA 2 was actually cut content as it's a bit odd to still spend that amount of time on doing what they did + Sebastian DLC and room in your act 2 home with no other purpose than to act as a DLC content portal, already in the game.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, to me, what was most incredible about DA2 is that it showed just how much budget Bioware had to spend on VO versus pretty much everything else. They obviously had a lot of already-paid-for talent laying around because of TOR.

 

[racofer]

Looks like they're pulling a Molyneux:

The previous games weren't so good, but this one... oh boy, did we improve everything!

M:

 

[Zeriel]

That never gives you confidence, does it?

"Well, we sucked too bad to make good games in the past, but now we've miraculously changed! Honest!"

 

[Roguey]

Yeah, to me, what was most incredible about DA2 is that it showed just how much budget Bioware had to spend on VO versus pretty much everything else. They obviously had a lot of already-paid-for talent laying around because of TOR.

Without numbers it's hard to say what the budget breakdown was. Of DA2's ~180 person team, artists took up the biggest proportion (about a third), as they usually do.

In Thompson's view, companion series Mass Effect is "the perfect example of a game that transcends its technology", using skilled visual design to hide or make a point of the limitations of the engine.

This is what Bioware actually believes.

 

[Infinitron]

Bioware's motto is "Mediocre and proud of it!", in many different ways.

 

[Kem0sabe]

They feel justified by the review metascore ego masturbation machine.

 

[Zed]

Is it really engine limitations, though? Isn't it console hardware limitations?

 

[Valestein]

Is it really engine limitations, though? Isn't it console hardware limitations?

Competence limitation I'd say.

 

[Jaesun]

And EA's Marketing Department.