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Screenshot thread

Suchy

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Judging by positioning of the bloom and shadows, I guess this is supposed to represent sunset. Then why the hell are there sun rays coming through clouds from the top?
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Because you're judging it without actually knowing.
It's not a sunset.

I thought the Codex understood the importance of art design, immersion, atmosphere- things that are hard to convey in still images, when their essence is enhanced and underlined by the music, text, sound effects, animations and yes, even the weight to every swing of every weapon, the gravity and dull seriousness that everything comes with.

No wonder everyone in the game is mad; wouldn't you go insane too?
 

felipepepe

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Judging by positioning of the bloom and shadows, I guess this is supposed to represent sunset. Then why the hell are there sun rays coming through clouds from the top?
For it's a mere illusion, the whole city trapped in illusion of peace and bliss, while the world outside is falling apart. It's designed to look so "heavenly" that it seems wrong.
 

Phelot

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How can you hate Dark Souls and then like Severance with a straight face?
It's like liking Red but not Orange.

Yeah, they seem really similar which is why I'm really interested in Dark Souls. Just waiting for some patches or fanmods to fix it as best as possible before I get it.



Anyway, I'm always impressed with BoD graphics, especially the gore and the way blood runs down walls. Man, good stuff!
 

yellowcake

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especially the gore and the way blood runs down walls. Man, good stuff!

My sentiments exactly, this game has to have the best blood spilling engine ever. I just love to butcher some dudes and watch it spurt rhythmically from the stump and flow. Best place to kill is on some staircase. Festoons of blood flowing down the stairs are magnificent.
 
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How can you hate Dark Souls and then like Severance with a straight face?
It's like liking Red but not Orange.

DS is popular and Severance was a commercial failure...hipsters gonna hip. What, you think this has anything to do with actual gameplay?

I thought the Codex understood the importance of art design, immersion, atmosphere- things that are hard to convey in still images, when their essence is enhanced and underlined by the music, text, sound effects, animations and yes, even the weight to every swing of every weapon, the gravity and dull seriousness that everything comes with.

Joined:Jan 4, 2005

:roll:
 

Palikka

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You guys tried the Gorentity Mod for BoD? http://gorentitymod.freevar.com/
Experience this consummated guts-contorting mod for Severance: Blade Of Darkness. Among other things, Gorentity Mod features cinematic slow-motion POV decapitations, ludicrous severed headrolls, blood-vomiting and unique impetus blood-behaviour simulating gurgling fiend´s final heartbeats. Rend your foe´s appendage and watch the maimed´s writhe amidst of arterial spattering ere you extirpate the rostral part from collum to ground relishly viewed through GoreCam.
 

abnaxus

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The question is, why didn't From Software copy-paste the control system from Severance? It was perfect.
 

Cowboy Moment

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Severance had better combat than DS, imo - less gimmicky and more focused on good positioning and timing; a grand majority of enemies in DS can be killed by strafing around them and attacking when they expose themselves with a failed attack. Even though DS is probably the superior game overall, it's always nice to see Severance get some time in the spotlight, really well deserved.

Because you're judging it without actually knowing.
It's not a sunset.

I thought the Codex understood the importance of art design, immersion, atmosphere- things that are hard to convey in still images, when their essence is enhanced and underlined by the music, text, sound effects, animations and yes, even the weight to every swing of every weapon, the gravity and dull seriousness that everything comes with.

No wonder everyone in the game is mad; wouldn't you go insane too?

Anor Londo is actually just as ugly in-game as this screenshot suggests.
 

felipepepe

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The question is, why didn't From Software copy-paste the control system from Severance? It was perfect.
Because Dark Souls combat is way more complex than in Severance? Like how you actually get to block, parry, backstab, roll, do running attacks... this whole Severance nostalgia is just codex hipsters after their KKKs, the game is good, but has severe flaws like the bland level design, a horrible target system when facing multiple enemies, shields work passively, most weapons fel the same...
 

yellowcake

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Because Dark Souls combat is way more complex than in Severance? Like how you actually get to block, parry, backstab, roll, do running attacks... this whole Severance nostalgia is just codex hipsters after their KKKs, the game is good, but has severe flaws like the bland level design, a horrible target system when facing multiple enemies, shields work passively, most weapons fel the same...

I obviously agree there's not much point to comparing those games as BoD is an action game, but bland level design? The game had great levels, one could tell it was made by eurofags (diegos, mostly AFAIR) as there were clear and meaningful inspirations drawn from medieval european and ancient middle-eastern architecture. Ceiling textures taken from bysanthine churches, lots of little touches like that. Target system was very simple and efficient (switching targets left and right with keys) and you would hit all the guys your weapon collided with with full force. It was fully possible to chop two or three guys' heads off with good timed sweep. As for weapons feeling the same well, swords felt like swords, they had different ranges depending on lenght of the blade. I guess this is OK. Barbarian had axes and two handed swords and they differed pretty much in usage. It was true the game was not finished and some weapons had collision detection fucked (especially dwarven).
 

Cowboy Moment

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The question is, why didn't From Software copy-paste the control system from Severance? It was perfect.
Because Dark Souls combat is way more complex than in Severance? Like how you actually get to block, parry, backstab, roll, do running attacks... this whole Severance nostalgia is just codex hipsters after their KKKs, the game is good, but has severe flaws like the bland level design, a horrible target system when facing multiple enemies, shields work passively, most weapons fel the same...

The extremely complex combat of strafing in a circle around an enemy and attacking when they start their slow attack animation aimed at the air in front of them? And you even have the nerve of accuse BoD of having "a terrible target system when facing multiple enemies" while simultaneously praising DS? Fanboys, fanboys never change.
 

Twinkle

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The question is, why didn't From Software copy-paste the control system from Severance? It was perfect.
Because Dark Souls combat is way more complex than in Severance? Like how you actually get to block, parry, backstab, roll, do running attacks... this whole Severance nostalgia is just codex hipsters after their KKKs, the game is good, but has severe flaws like the bland level design, a horrible target system when facing multiple enemies, shields work passively, most weapons fel the same...

Felipe, have you actually played BoD? Serious question, because none of what you are stating is correct.

I guess you can make an argument for bland levels if you dislike the whole empty corridors filled with monsters design philosophy, but that's like disliking Red but not Orange.
 

Machocruz

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Just tried the Severance demo. The cruder animation holds the combat system back, imo. Western devs haven't been as consistently strong as Japan when it comes to melee animation. Extension and feedback are just not as good as Dark Souls, feels a little floaty at times.

Still, the the atmosphere and music are great, and (from what I've seen in videos) using the barbarian makes the game feel like a proper Conan adventure. Reminds me of Kings Field more than the Souls games do. Severance is the kind of game I would have loved when it came out. Maybe the full game fixes the few issues I have with the game. Someone needs to give it the kind of modern day homage that the Grimrock team gave to DMr/EotB.
 

felipepepe

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Yeah, I played it, and while it was a very enjoable game at the time, it has aged very baldy. The leves are mostly just brown & grey mazes of stone, the shields are purely passive, since you can't block or parry at will, and as yellowcake said, all weapons played much the same as the other of their kind. Place it side-by-side with another similar game form that time, RUNE, and you'll see that apart from it's combat, the rest of the game is very mediocre, and even that has been vastly surpassed by From Software.

The extremely complex combat of strafing in a circle around an enemy and attacking when they start their slow attack animation aimed at the air in front of them?
Severance is ten times worse, you can't even fucking block, the only thing you can do is either keep going back & forth or circle around the same way you are making fun of... Dark Souls allows you to play as a mage, pyromancer, cleric, or even get the heaviest armor & shield available and became a walking fortress that attacks from behind the shield with a lance. And there are smart encounters and enemies that force you to fight differently, like curses that turn you to stone, ghosts that ignore shields, poisonous swamps, giant hydras, flying & flame breathing gargoyles...

There is really no comparisson on the depth of combat, instead of accusing me of not playing Severance, go play Dark Souls and see for yourselves.
 

abnaxus

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No, you can block in Severance, but only the Knight and Dwarf are very effective at it, the Barbarian and Amazon can only block for a split second (meaning you need to expertly time it) but their dodge is much better than the other characters. Weapons aren't the same in Severance, either, since different weapons allow for different combos.

The only major weakness of Severance is lack of enemy variety.

As for Rune, combat in that game is mediocre to bad, it just comes down to strafing/running backwards while you swing your greataxe/greatsword (this is a game without any active blocking) and if you meet many enemies, trigger a rune power (only interesting combat is against skeletons in the early game, since you can only kill them by decapitation - which is a piece of cake with a Roman sword). Main strength of that game is level design and setting (very few games using Germanic mythology).

Heavy Metal FAKK2, on the other hand, is another game from the same period with satisfying melee combat (and not only melee combat). And games like Drakan and its sequel have decent melee as well.
 

Twinkle

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Machocruz said:
The cruder animation holds the combat system back, imo.

Agreed on that. Animation is the only thing that newer games consistently do better that older stuff.

Someone needs to give it the kind of modern day homage that the Grimrock team gave to DMr/EotB.

Absolutely.

felipepepe, it seems you haven't found block button even though it all explained during tutorials and via loading screens. o_O Active block is available for all characters. I don't know what do you mean by purely passive shields. In BoD when weapon strikes a shield even if it's not in raised position it can bounce back. It all depends on angle.

The levels are mostly just brown & grey mazes of stone

They all had unique elements to them. And while being mostly linear layout varied between hub-like, maze-like and more straightforward corridorish stuff.

all weapons played much the same as the other of their kind

Yes and no. Each character "class" uses unique animation set even for the most basic thing like walking, climbing or running. Even simplest attacks are different. While basic progression for weapons is fairly linear, they still differ in reach and stamina requirements. What's more is that each class-specific and elemental-based weapon had a unique special attack activated via combo (that's about 60 overall). Blunt weapons cracked shields faster and were more effective against f.e. heavily armored knights or golems. Elemental stuff ignored enemy armor altogether but it was only effective in comboed form. It isn't the deepest system around, but every level up was worth it since allowed to do something new.

Place it side-by-side with another similar game form that time, RUNE, and you'll see that apart from it's combat, the rest of the game is very mediocre,

Not at all at least in SP. Although Rune had good and varied MP that was way superior to simple 1v1 arena in BoD with dogshit netode.

the only thing you can do is either keep going back & forth or circle around the same way you are making fun of

What he probably means is that in BoD it is harder to pull off unless you play as EZ mode rolling spear wielding amazon with very long reach that very few enemies can match. With sword and board dudes it's not as straightforward because most shields are very fragile and bots more or less move and attack at the same speed as you.

instead of accusing me of not playing Severance, go play Dark Souls and see for yourselves.

Well, Ok, we should stop this detour. On your end one day you should give BoD a proper whirl. You might still hate it, but at least for right reasons.
 

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