Interview Gothic 3 interview at TVG

[Twinfalls]

Ha - things now get surreal. Now Sonic Youth are in this too! This is cool. I wanna hear that band in every post you and Tintin make, from now on!

 

[Twinfalls]

<whoopsie snip>

 

[Sol Invictus]

You don't need to post twice to get your point across.

 

[Vault Dweller]

And you like to ignore the fact that we are not bashing the game because it has a famous actor, nice terrain, and cool trees. We are bashing it because those are THE ONLY FEATURES that have been extensively covered for the last 12 months. Anything else - "trust us, it will be cool!"

What about the traps, or the radiant AI which although isn't emergent, is still good, or the fact that NPCs have emotional states?

What about them? Traps would depend on implementation (Arcanum's traps were hardly a good feature), the mere presence of them tells you nothing, just like the fact that the game has some dialogues tells you nothing. Radiant AI is nice, but what does it add to my role-playing? Very little. Same goes for the emotional states - a gimmick. Fallout's talking heads could show some emotions, which was nice, but added little.

There is the interactive combat that's a quantum leap from what we've experienced in Oblivion with strikes, parries, and moves that you learn as your character improves.

It didn't look very impressive on that video, did it? I liked Jedi Academy, but this is an RPG site, so it shouldn't be surprising that we are not focusing on the "kinetic" combat even if it's done well.

There's also the full implementation of Thief-style stealth gameplay

What does that mean? You see, that's the problem I see with your examples, they are very vague promises. They are features that may or may not work as advertised. They are not explained in details, we are simply told that dialogues are in and they are good, that the magic system has been changed and it's good, that's the combat has been changed and it's good. See my point?

What other game can you name that complements players with so many different gameplay styles?

Fighter/Mage/Thief? I can name quite a few, and so should you.

What about the emotional states that determine the replies they give to your questions and dialogue. If they're on good terms with you, their responses would be different than they would be if they were not on good terms. Such an implementation might seem trivial but not when it is implemented into the game, offering different outcomes based on your actions towards those NPCs.

Again, implementation. If the game has real consequences, i.e. you pissed off one guild and now a certain NPC strongly dislikes you, and you can't fix that, it's one thing. If, like in MW, most NPCs start with low/neutral disposition and you gotta say some nice things a few times and pay them a few times, and suddenly they love you like a long lost brother. Then it turns to a boring routine you've gotta do with every NPC to have them talking to you.

Even if Bethesda's designers are too lax to do such things with the main plot in Oblivion, there isn't any reason why modders can't make full use of the system.

Modding capabilities is a plus, I agree, but we judge games based on what OC is like. Same with NWN.

Yes, there are trap. Now everyone is up to speed. Traps. Yay.

What kind of argument is that? Prior to Oblivion I had yet to see traps that used the physics system. Such interaction with the game's environment is an evolution step forward in gameplay, so why do you act like there's nothing impressive or important about it? A thief character could certainly make use of traps with that degree of interaction.

My point is that we don't know much other than the fact that there are traps, and they use physics. Sure, we can believe that they are implemented properly, but in the absence of detailed info and specific examples, I prefer to wait and see.

...considering the fact that nobody ever understood the difference between light, medium and heavy armor, for example.

I wish they implemented them better, instead of removing them. Same goes for all the other stuff

and completely remade the magic system, which was pretty crappy in Morrowind.

Here is what we know about the magic system: Fight & Cast, mana regenerates much faster, power crystals. Hardly impressive, hardly interesting

Daggerfall might have had dozens of guilds but they were nothing more than random quest generators.

Those random quests were much better then most of the hand-scripted ones in MW.

What mechanics are you referring to, by the way?

How the traps work, are there more changes to the magic system, how well the combat is implemented, reaction & consequences, quest design, dialogues, etc

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

My point is that we don't know much other than the fact that there are traps, and they use physics. Sure, we can believe that they are implemented properly, but in the absence of detailed info and specific examples, I prefer to wait and see.

You can see four different traps, how they work, and how the PC interacts with them in the video. You can see how it will affect gameplay, and how it allows new aspects in gameplay (trapping creatures, e.g.). What more can you possibly ask for prior to release? I think you are really overpalying the "we don't have gameplay info, so it probably sucks" card. There is a ton of info out there, way more than for most games, way more than for Gothic. I actaully gae you a list of interesting gameplay features we know about a while ago. You still prefer to harp on "SoIL Esoshiunn" and "PATrick STewareeT".

 

[franc kaos]

My point is that we don't know much other than the fact that there are traps, and they use physics. Sure, we can believe that they are implemented properly, but in the absence of detailed info and specific examples, I prefer to wait and see.

You can see four different traps, how they work, and how the PC interacts with them in the video. You can see how it will affect gameplay, and how it allows new aspects in gameplay (trapping creatures, e.g.). What more can you possibly ask for prior to release? I think you are really overpalying the "we don't have gameplay info, so it probably sucks" card. There is a ton of info out there, way more than for most games, way more than for Gothic. I actaully gae you a list of interesting gameplay features we know about a while ago. You still prefer to harp on "SoIL Esoshiunn" and "PATrick STewareeT".

You do realise the traps are there to get you the player. With no prior knowledge of the dungeons (and the fact that there's no trap detect skill built into the engine), the chances are that most of the time you're gonna set them off unexpectedly (short of sneaking and peering round every corner). You cannot design and build traps (except in the CS). In point of fact they've put in this wonderful physics thingy into the game, and the only apparent difference it'll make to players 'gameplay' is the way arrows fly thru' the air. Correct me if I'm wrong because I hope I am, but throwing things won't harm the NPCs, maybe dropping on them from a height will...

 

[Anoik]

Correct me if I'm wrong because I hope I am, but throwing things won't harm the NPCs, maybe dropping on them from a height will...

No word about that from the devs. I hope too that you can make some damage throwing things with the new physics, like the damage traps do to you. But maybe the damage of the traps is scripted.

 

[Vault Dweller]

My point is that we don't know much other than the fact that there are traps, and they use physics. Sure, we can believe that they are implemented properly, but in the absence of detailed info and specific examples, I prefer to wait and see.

You can see four different traps, how they work, and how the PC interacts with them in the video. You can see how it will affect gameplay, and how it allows new aspects in gameplay (trapping creatures, e.g.). What more can you possibly ask for prior to release? I think you are really overpalying the "we don't have gameplay info, so it probably sucks" card. There is a ton of info out there, way more than for most games, way more than for Gothic. I actaully gae you a list of interesting gameplay features we know about a while ago. You still prefer to harp on "SoIL Esoshiunn" and "PATrick STewareeT".

You do realise the traps are there to get you the player. With no prior knowledge of the dungeons (and the fact that there's no trap detect skill built into the engine), the chances are that most of the time you're gonna set them off unexpectedly (short of sneaking and peering round every corner). You cannot design and build traps (except in the CS). In point of fact they've put in this wonderful physics thingy into the game, and the only apparent difference it'll make to players 'gameplay' is the way arrows fly thru' the air. Correct me if I'm wrong because I hope I am, but throwing things won't harm the NPCs, maybe dropping on them from a height will...

Does that answer your question, Ghan?

To add to that, like I said it depends on implementation. Do you notice every trap? If yes, that obviously sucks. If no, what's the criteria? How easy is it to avoid one? Possible? Impossible? How well are they integrated into gameplay?

BG2 traps were ok, Arcanum traps were horrible as a feature. There were a few good lines in PST where Anna was teaching TNO how to detect traps, etc

 

[Micmu]

Traps in OB are fully player skill based. You can see warning signs: skeletons, blood, dead creatures, etc... It has been told so (somewhere, IIRC).
Prince of Persia. Sadly.

Edit: hey wait, this is Gothic 3 thread!

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

It's all good, Anoik. Don't mind Rex. He has an inferiority complex.

Please elaborate on what you mean by that, if you don't mind fleshing out the witty little comments you seem to make every now and then.

Inferiority complex.

I - N - F - E - R - I - O - R - I - T - Y - <spacebar> - C - O - M - P - L - E - X.

How much more elaborate can I get? Well, other than defining it for you which I'm not going to do because if you can't use a dictionary then you need to learn how.

 

[Twinfalls]

improving your English requires effort, and I'm glad to see that you're putting a goodly amount of effort into it.

This is the most breathtakingly, stupidly patronising comment I have possibly ever encountered. Has this bloke always been like this?

 

[franc kaos]

What about it? You say something and watch the reaction. Try 4 things, get visual confirmation, and do the thing that works. Wow!

Actually, this is one thing, I think, in Oblivions favour. Real world conversations tend to be 20% vocal and 80% non verbal unconscious communication, how are you supposed to translate that in a game?

The speech skill in MW (and the taunt etc) were terrible, there were no indications if using a taunt or compliment were going to work. In a social situation there are always clues as to how someone is reacting to you.

Can you imagine if the entire RPGcodex met in a pub once a week to discuss RPGs, do you think there would be quite as many RL fights as there are flames in here? Text can't convey the nuances of what we are thinking/trying to say quite as well as face to face communication.

Is Beth's solution perfect? no, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

But losing staves is the worst decision they ever made...

 

[Kraszu]

My point is that we don't know much other than the fact that there are traps, and they use physics. Sure, we can believe that they are implemented properly, but in the absence of detailed info and specific examples, I prefer to wait and see.

You can see four different traps, how they work, and how the PC interacts with them in the video. You can see how it will affect gameplay, and how it allows new aspects in gameplay (trapping creatures, e.g.). What more can you possibly ask for prior to release? I think you are really overpalying the "we don't have gameplay info, so it probably sucks" card. There is a ton of info out there, way more than for most games, way more than for Gothic. I actaully gae you a list of interesting gameplay features we know about a while ago. You still prefer to harp on "SoIL Esoshiunn" and "PATrick STewareeT".

You do realise the traps are there to get you the player. With no prior knowledge of the dungeons (and the fact that there's no trap detect skill built into the engine), the chances are that most of the time you're gonna set them off unexpectedly (short of sneaking and peering round every corner). You cannot design and build traps (except in the CS). In point of fact they've put in this wonderful physics thingy into the game, and the only apparent difference it'll make to players 'gameplay' is the way arrows fly thru' the air. Correct me if I'm wrong because I hope I am, but throwing things won't harm the NPCs, maybe dropping on them from a height will...

Does that answer your question, Ghan?

To add to that, like I said it depends on implementation. Do you notice every trap? If yes, that obviously sucks. If no, what's the criteria? How easy is it to avoid one? Possible? Impossible? How well are they integrated into gameplay?

BG2 traps were ok, Arcanum traps were horrible as a feature. There were a few good lines in PST where Anna was teaching TNO how to detect traps, etc

You don't know what immersion is, if you are playing non-thief you pretend that you don't see them (impossible in iso view).

 

[Vault Dweller]

Actually, this is one thing, I think, in Oblivions favour. Real world conversations tend to be 20% vocal and 80% non verbal unconscious communication, how are you supposed to translate that in a game?

I doubt that Oblivion faces would be able to reflect the complexity of what you can read on one's face. Going with happy/angry/neutral hardly solves that non verbal communication issue but would probably make the game look even more retarded and dumbed down.

You don't know what immersion is, if you are playing non-thief you pretend that you don't see them (impossible in iso view).

Of course! It makes sense now.

PS. I'm such a noob!

 

[Elwro]

It seems that we are approx. 2 months from playing Oblivion. Gothic 3, however, might not be released (in its native Germany) even during the next 12 months. Thus, comparing the games would be very difficult even for someone who played them both.
And as for dialogue: even the small dialogue trees of G2 were better (more fun to read, having more interesting responses) than MW's wikipedia. The characters actually had some character to them. :D

 

[TheGreatGodPan]

I'm approximately never from playing Oblivion.
The reason there wouldn't be so many flame-fests if we met in a pub is because so many people would wind up getting an asskicking and then excuse themself from such things from then on.