Preview Dragon Age preview at CVG

[kris]

I knew this game was gonna blow, but all the schmucks kept saying, "Mermermerrrr ... how can you judge the game before it's even out ... mermermerrr ... "

Watch me.

I would say this prereview only shows that the previewer sucks. but it is entirely possible that the other two options are true, that either the game suck or that the marketing person suck. it is hard to know at this point.

I'd still wager it will be a good, but somewhat short game... It will be shorter because they will spend more energy on stuff like this which hardly increase gameplay.

 

[Durwyn]

Bloodlines was a masterpiece in terms of facial expressions. When that bearded guy who you meet on the begining, makes a laugh of you that you feed on rat, it's just so natural. Conversation with some of Bloodlines NPC was the best i've seen in any cRPG.

 

[Volourn]

"but somewhat short game"

Define 'short'.

 

[doctor_kaz]

I think that facial expressions can add tremendously to the value of an RPG if they are done right. The facial expressions in Vampire -- The Masquerade: Bloodlines were great and they made the dialog parts of the game that much better. What worries me about this game is that they'll overdo the 3rd/1st person viewpoint so much that combat will lack any strategic element and it will totally suck. VtM:B or Kotor-like character interactions with Baldurs Gate or ToEE style combat would be a great combo, methinks. I am personally holding out hope that this game will resurrect the single player PC RPG from its current state of hopeless shittiness.

No. Just... no. Because Troika focused so much on their facial expressions and other worthless crap, VtM: Bloodlines had small and linear areas, practically no inventory, general linearity and an incredibly crappy combat thrown in as well.

The facial expressions were largely an asset of the Source engine, so I'm not sure how much efffort they had to devote to it. Regardless, I think that it was worth it, as the game had the most memorable characters of any RPG since Planescape: Torment.

 

[peak]

No. Just... no. Because Troika focused so much on their facial expressions and other worthless crap, VtM: Bloodlines had small and linear areas, practically no inventory, general linearity and an incredibly crappy combat thrown in as well.

Nah, that's just Source Engine for you. Great facial expressions (and I do mean great), mediocre in every other way. I dream of Bloodlines in a better engine...

 

[Gnidrologist]

" Because Troika focused so much on their facial expressions and other worthless crap, VtM: Bloodlines had small and linear areas, practically no inventory, general linearity and an incredibly crappy combat thrown in as well."

Not to mention the fact it had awesome atmosphere, overall greta dialogue, interetsing characters, and some cool role-playing. OMG How horrible!!!

Only for part of the game.

No, the whole game was like that. Why do you lie?
Ok, it had certain linearity and some annoying combat areas, but which great crpg didn't?

Facial expressions are really only adding to the game if they're on the calibre of Bloodlines, which is a rarity, which is why I'd rather not see developers focusing too mutch on them. Faces and their expressions in Oblivion were ugly and unnatural, as well as in many recent action titles. Source engine is probably really the best I've seen in this area.

 

[somnium]

" Because Troika focused so much on their facial expressions and other worthless crap, VtM: Bloodlines had small and linear areas, practically no inventory, general linearity and an incredibly crappy combat thrown in as well."

Not to mention the fact it had awesome atmosphere, overall greta dialogue, interetsing characters, and some cool role-playing. OMG How horrible!!!

Only for part of the game.

No, the whole game was like that. Why do you lie?
Ok, it had certain linearity and some annoying combat areas, but which great crpg didn't?

Facial expressions are really only adding to the game if they're on the calibre of Bloodlines, which is a rarity, which is why I'd rather not see developers focusing too mutch on them. Faces and their expressions in Oblivion were ugly and unnatural, as well as in many recent action titles. Source engine is probably really the best I've seen in this area.

yes you are right, in latter stages of the game the combat areas didn't become more frequent and choices where not at all brought down to
1. continue
/sacrsam

but seriously, didn't you think that the succession of Society of Leopold, the hotel and the final-showdown weren't a bit, you know, combat oriented and completely lacking in any noncombat alternatives and dialogue ?

 

[Jed]

P.S. Jed thr Cryb ab;y w illb e fi;;rst in ine to by htis gaem.

NWN was the last BioWare game I bought.

 

[Volourn]

Wait for it.

1 sec.

It's coming.

Here it is:

I don't believe you. You've been caught in many lies. Why not add another one.

 

[Jed]

I'm really loathe to even respond to your Tourette's Syndrome bullshit, but unless you can provide facts to back this up, then shut the fuck up.

Prove it. or Game over. Period.

 

[Volourn]

"your Tourette's Syndrome bullshit"

Wow.

This was easy.

Here's a lie right here.

I don't have that nor do I have it's 'bullshit'.

Game over, Mr. Jed.


P.S. DA will be a good game, and we all enjoy it. Even you.

 

[hiciacit]

Bah. This one just got one step closer to the dust bin.

 

[KazikluBey]

[The combat] physical and it's brutal. Instead of people standing toe-to-toe and swinging repeatedly, they're ducking and dodging and moving to attack.

I get this strong sense of deja vu - it's almost as though I heard this same thing some 6-7 years ago. Except it was about Neverwinter Nights.

Clearly, an innovation.

 

[DemonKing]

I think the most disturbing things for me about the interview were that:

1. We are limited to a party of 4. I have to say I far prefer a "full" party of 6.

2. They're starting to put emphasis on the toolset. I really wish they would just concentrate on producing the best SP game they could instead of producing a toolset so we can be inundated with crappy mods. Even without a toolset, modders will find a way (ala the IE engine games) to produce something. Also toolsets will likely mean we'll be saddled with horrible "cookie-cutter" dungeons ala the NWN series where everything looks basically the same.

 

[Jed]

P.S. DA will be a good game, and we all enjoy it. Even you.

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[OccupatedVoid]

Just imagine, DA will be at least 10x more EXTREME than ME.

 

[AlanC9]

Also toolsets will likely mean we'll be saddled with horrible "cookie-cutter" dungeons ala the NWN series where everything looks basically the same.

Are you confusing "toolset" and "tileset"?

 

[Volourn]

"1. We are limited to a party of 4. I have to say I far prefer a "full" party of 6."

The sterotypical party is 4. And, in DA there are only 3 main classes, so you relaly don't need bigger.


"2. They're starting to put emphasis on the toolset."

Good.


" I really wish they would just concentrate on producing the best SP game they could instead of producing a toolset so we can be inundated with crappy mods. Even without a toolset, modders will find a way (ala the IE engine games) to produce something."

There's a reason why NWN is still doing well today while the IE is flowing in the wind. plus, NWN's mod scene is way more successful than the IE. I doubt it's a coincidence that a toolset wa sincluded made this difference.

" Also toolsets will likely mean we'll be saddled with horrible "cookie-cutter" dungeons ala the NWN series where everything looks basically the same."

You gots new proof. Alan wins easily here. Don't expect - as it states in the preview - that the DA toolset will be as 'user friendly' as NWN's toolset.

Game over, Jed "I'm Gonna Buy DA as I Bought KOTOR and JE" Whinerdude, game over.

 

[Jed]

Game over, Jed "I'm Gonna Buy DA as I Bought KOTOR and JE" Whinerdude, game over.

Why do you lie, you lying liar?

 

[Texas Red]

[The combat] physical and it's brutal. Instead of people standing toe-to-toe and swinging repeatedly, they're ducking and dodging and moving to attack.

I get this strong sense of deja vu - it's almost as though I heard this same thing some 6-7 years ago. Except it was about Neverwinter Nights.

Clearly, an innovation.

Hmm? Was this feature hyped?

 

[kris]

"but somewhat short game"

Define 'short'.

Jade Empire. As in contrast to Baldurs Gate 2 in particular. Overall RPGs been shorter and shorter over the years.

 

[suibhne]

Not to mention the fact it had awesome atmosphere, overall greta dialogue, interetsing characters, and some cool role-playing. OMG How horrible!!!

Dude, that shit is whack!

 

[suibhne]

On the one hand, I think RPGs are barking up the wrong tree if they focus on stuff like facial expressions. Sure, they're neato, but the point is that RPGs, a narrative-heavy genre, don't gain anything from complex facial expressions that was previously lacking in titles like PS:T. First-person shooters like HL2 are a different matter entirely, since their interface is much more direct and they can't fall back on text for world-creation and immersion.

On the other hand, there's no reason for RPGs not to use this technology when inherited through licensed tech like the Source Engine. I just hope Bio hasn't sunk a lot of developer time into implementing this stuff independently.

 

[Volourn]

"Overall RPGs been shorter and shorter over the years."

This simply isn't true. The average CRPG is getting longer. JE is the exmeption to the rule, and even then some people like to exaggerate ie. lie about iots length. Just like BG2 was an exception to the rule when it came length nor was it the mythical 200+ hours that people bullshit about.


"On the one hand, I think RPGs are barking up the wrong tree if they focus on stuff like facial expressions. Sure, they're neato, but the point is that RPGs, a narrative-heavy genre, don't gain anything from complex facial expressions"

Sure, they do. One of the fundamentals of good writing is 'show not tell'. Instead of having a line of 'dialogue' be wasteful and say 'and she smiled ast you flirtiously'; it's best for them to show it. Hard to do in a novel; but games and movies should be beyond that or you might as well stick with novelw riting.

 

[suibhne]

Sure, they do. One of the fundamentals of good writing is 'show not tell'. Instead of having a line of 'dialogue' be wasteful and say 'and she smiled ast you flirtiously'; it's best for them to show it. Hard to do in a novel; but games and movies should be beyond that or you might as well stick with novelw riting.

Sure, that's one of the fundamentals of good writing...but not necessarily good videogame design. Why do you assume it applies equally here? What generic conditions do you think apply in game design (particularly RPG design) that make this true?