Might and Magic Might & Magic X Pre-Release Thread

[Mortmal]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

 

[Luzur]

A501? thats the RAM expansion, yes? yeah MM3 was fickel to get to run on Amiga, but i dunno, i was lucky i guess, it did hang-up on the intro Sheltem Speech some 20% of the sessions, but i guess that was some sound issue.

Yeah, A501 was an A500 with an extra half MB of RAM. Needed that to play Dungeon Master.
I played MM2 on the Amiga and it was harder than the DOS version due to not being able to import characters. Also you could find items up to +64, while on the DOS version the max is +32.

So how did the NES version compare to the DOS version of MM1? I know it has prettier graphics, but I have this irrational dislike of ultra conservative corporations with draconian rules like Nintendo that dictate what developers can put in their games.

well, prettier GFX, as you said, abit easier (first town wasnt that nasty anymore as in the PC version)and music.

the rest is just like the original.

 

[Lady_Error]

Might & Magic has been always more colorful and silly than most other CRPG's.

 

[octavius]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

Looks like the party is thoroughly disgusted by those goblins' appearance.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

I(and most of the fans i assume) will be very dissapointed if they exclude this kind of stuff. Also with party speech, I don't really want static and silent PC portraits :/
I liked playing with a full party of mad characters.

 

[Luzur]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

I(and most of the fans i assume) will be very dissapointed if they exclude this kind of stuff. Also with party speech, I don't really want static and silent PC portraits :/
I liked playing with a full party of mad characters.

MM never had party speak.

 

[Xenich]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

I(and most of the fans i assume) will be very dissapointed if they exclude this kind of stuff. Also with party speech, I don't really want static and silent PC portraits :/
I liked playing with a full party of mad characters.

MM never had party speak.

MM6 introduced voice comments from the party (though limited to very basic grunts, excited comments, etc...).

 

[catfood]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

I(and most of the fans i assume) will be very dissapointed if they exclude this kind of stuff. Also with party speech, I don't really want static and silent PC portraits :/
I liked playing with a full party of mad characters.

MM never had party speak.

MM6 introduced voice comments from the party (though limited to very basic grunts, excited comments, etc...).

Greetings and salutations!

 

[Luzur]

Will the character portraits be animated to reflect diseased and drunk status ? Those are a bit too serious for a might and magic game , and would do well in a classic jrpg indeed. Nothing as glorious as this:

I(and most of the fans i assume) will be very dissapointed if they exclude this kind of stuff. Also with party speech, I don't really want static and silent PC portraits :/
I liked playing with a full party of mad characters.

MM never had party speak.

MM6 introduced voice comments from the party (though limited to very basic grunts, excited comments, etc...).

Greetings and salutations!

i know bro, i am Might and Magic, but i dont count that as party speak like in that comedy blobber RP whose name i forgot, Dungoens of Smauck Dauwn?

besides, MM3 introduced the "merchant speak" as i would call it.

 

[Luzur]

Just because older iterations lacked something doesn't mean further episodes cannot have it. Wizardry 8 has excellent party banter, often witty and very funny and it works wonder. I don't know if M&M really "never had it" but it sure should.

it cannot exclude something it never had.

not that i mind party speak in MM, only if its good and doesnt lead to total voice-overs of all ingame text.

 

[Mortmal]

I dont want total voice over either . They are the first step to the decline, a vast amount of the budget is wasted . I'd rather get huge items descriptions like in BG2 ,rich character dialogues of planescape than the voice over and one liners of dragon age 2 . A few grunts and voice overs when clicking the characters portrait is fine .

 

[Luzur]

I dont want total voice over either . They are the first step to the decline, a vast amount of the budget is wasted . I'd rather get huge items descriptions like in BG2 ,rich character dialogues of planescape than the voice over and one liners of dragon age 2 . A few grunts and voice overs when clicking the characters portrait is fine .

now we are talking classic Might and Magic.

 

[narupley]

Just because older iterations lacked something doesn't mean further episodes cannot have it. Wizardry 8 has excellent party banter, often witty and very funny and it works wonder. I don't know if M&M really "never had it" but it sure should.

-1 for party banter. Let the developers concentrate on aspects of the game that are actually important.

That said, I would like to hear short comments / exclamations from the characters and NPCs, it was one of those little things that made MMVI that much better.

 

[theSavant]

Just because older iterations lacked something doesn't mean further episodes cannot have it. Wizardry 8 has excellent party banter, often witty and very funny and it works wonder. I don't know if M&M really "never had it" but it sure should.

I liked the voices of Wizardry 8 too. These were awesome voices, from sarcastic, dumb, eccentric etc. lots of choices. When attacking they were very energetic, also when they did a critical hit or instant kill the often praise themselves or laugh at the enemy when he missed them. And when entering a combat some of them give a comment about the strength of the enemy (e.g. "We will crush them like worms!"), when their healthbar was low they panicked etc. During the usual world exploration they didn't talk though (except when entering special areas or events) - which was ok and therefore not disturbing. Once you get used to such voice acting, you'll miss that in lots of RPGs.

Dragon Age characters had voices too, but the handful of random "discussions" which occurred during gameplay were just boring and obsolete. I was disappointed.

 

[octavius]

I think Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 2 are examples of games that really got the voice acting frequency right, with greetings and combat sounds being acted, but the rest being silent. As long as the voice acting is of good quality and limited it can add to the game.
But between no voice acting at all and full voice acting I prefer the former.

 

[mediocrepoet]

that comedy blobber RP whose name i forgot, Dungoens of Smauck Dauwn?

Are you thinking of Frayed Knights?

 

[theSavant]

that comedy blobber RP whose name i forgot, Dungoens of Smauck Dauwn?

Are you thinking of Frayed Knights?

Wow, thanks... never heard of this game. Must try out the demo in the next couple of days

 

[Luzur]

that comedy blobber RP whose name i forgot, Dungoens of Smauck Dauwn?

Are you thinking of Frayed Knights?

ah, yes thats the name.

 

[Gozma]

Limited "combat bark" voice acting gets old really fast, full voice acting cripples games, just don't do it bro, don't do it.

If it's a line that gets said once in the entire game, OK, if you really insist

 

[Stabwound]

I think Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 2 are examples of games that really got the voice acting frequency right, with greetings and combat sounds being acted, but the rest being silent. As long as the voice acting is of good quality and limited it can add to the game.
But between no voice acting at all and full voice acting I prefer the former.

The IE games did voice acting perfectly. Just enough to give you a mental image of the important characters, but not fully voice acted so you have to sit there listening to every asshole give a grand speech every time you talk to a chicken farmer.

Another huge benefit of this kind of voice acting is that it gives the devs room to alter text/dialogue without having to worry about the effect on the voice acting part. It must be a complete pain in the ass to develop a game knowing every word is going to be recorded by a voice actor.

 

[Krraloth]

I would love a Wiz8 kind of character personalization and items described with flair and gusto.
I remember being excited finding a Flamberge in M&M 2 and asking myself if it was better than a Flail (not a big English vocab at the time) and trying to decide if it was worth it to backtrack up to C.J's, pay to have it identified and write down it's stats.

I want DEMAND that feeling back!

 

[Dorateen]

Character voice-sets are a welcome addition. Not just for battle-cries, but any number of events that happen over the course of the game and the selected party member pipes up. Infinity Engine, Wizardry 8, and Might & Magic 6 - 7 all did this well.

I think it was the line from Mandate of Heaven, whenever the party's mage successfully combined potions... "Simple, merely simple."

 

[Minttunator]

I agree with what the preceding bros have stated. Limited voice acting can add to the game if it's done well (such as the IE games - or, indeed, MM6 and 7), but full voice acting should probably be avoided, if only for the likelihood of cocking it up. For instance, I'm currently playing Arx Fatalis for the first time - and hoo boy does the voice acting suck! It's so bad it detracts from the atmosphere and the game would be better off with no voices at all.

 

[norolim]

Another huge benefit of this kind of voice acting is that it gives the devs room to alter text/dialogue without having to worry about the effect on the voice acting part.

I'd say this is THE most important benefit of limited/no VO. It's especially noticeable during QA stage. Just imagine what QA looks like for games like Mass Deffect. When they report a minor bug, e.g. that a character in a dialogue says left, when he should say right, the suggestion isn't "correct". It will always be "cut".

It must be a complete pain in the ass to develop a game knowing every word is going to be recorded by a voice actor.

Yea. I heard that for Dragon Age 3 they are doing VOs for game code.

 

[Syl]

It must be a complete pain in the ass to develop a game knowing every word is going to be recorded by a voice actor.

Yea. I heard that for Dragon Age 3 they are doing VOs for game code.

:D