Information Vote on how Chris Avellone will LP Arcanum!

[Infinitron]

Yeah, but it's the developer's role to keep the community informed. The open development process is half of what makes kickstarter happen.

But some are more open than others, and so the conversation we're having loses its proportion. I promise you that there are a million things that have been cut from Wasteland 2 that we would could have had 500 page rage-filled threads about. But we don't know about them.

So right now the Codex (excluding the 3D haters at least) is fairly optimistic about W2, but wary of PE. Is that actually justified? Is it a fair reflection of how these two games really are?

 

[Niektory]

So, Vault Dweller, why doesn't Age of Decadence have grappling?

Good question.

But it has nets and bolas. When you throw them, you don't see the enemy tangled, they just have an icon next to them. Actually, I don't even remember if it has that icon or if it's just for crippled limbs. What the fuck, how did this shit get on steam?

Icons are the shit now, man. Totally hip.

Spoiler

But bolas actually have a proper animation.

 

[RK47]

Yeah, but it's the developer's role to keep the community informed. The open development process is half of what makes kickstarter happen.

But some are more open than others, and so the conversation we're having loses its proportion. I promise you that there are a million things that have been cut from Wasteland 2 that we would could have had 500 page rage-filled threads about. But we don't know about them.

So right now the Codex (excluding the 3D haters at least) is fairly optimistic about W2, but wary of PE. Is that actually justified? Is it a fair reflection of how these two games really are?

Well.. looking at Alpha Protocol, New Vegas, and Kotor 2 state of release ... why wouldn't they be?
I'm sure the writing will be fine, but the issue is with their QA.
And that's why I'm not shelling out the money just yet.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, but it's the developer's role to keep the community informed. The open development process is half of what makes kickstarter happen.

But some are more open than others, and so the conversation we're having loses its proportion. I promise you that there are a million things that have been cut from Wasteland 2 that we would could have had 500 page rage-filled threads about. But we don't know about them.

So right now the Codex (excluding the 3D haters at least) is fairly optimistic about W2, but wary of PE. Is that actually justified? Is it a fair reflection of how these two games really are?

Well.. looking at Alpha Protocol, New Vegas, and Kotor 2 state of release ... why wouldn't they be?
I'm sure the writing will be fine, but the issue is with their QA.
And that's why I'm not shelling out the money just yet.

I'm talking strictly about the games' designs and what people on the Codex think about them.

Both inXile's and Obsidian's reputations aren't exactly spotless.

 

[RK47]

oh ok then.

 

[Israfael]

Why harm.. you dont need any spells if you have the dog with adamantium (so it seems) teeth, master unarmed and turbo-jet action points pool..
Dont know if harm, desintegrate or something else can be equated in OPness to the dog.. Nothing, except maybe the undead pirate guy, can face it and survive

Maybe MCA should do not one of the listed things, but some of them - text LP and one or two video bits..

 

[CappenVarra]

He should have Tim Cain create him a custom background...

 

[DeepOcean]

Arcanum is way more fun to play as a tech guy and underpowered builds, tried once playing with a mage with harm/desintegrate and was completely bored after raping everything that moved. The harm spamming would be the fastest way, but i'm interested in his ideas about balance and the way tech works in Arcanum.

 

[St. Toxic]

And if it wasn't for the massive animation requirements that grappling has, especially when you have non-humanoid enemies, grappling would be a good candidate for abilities that unarmed characters have.

Why would you even try grappling a slime or a rock-giant? Make grappling "humanoids only" and that's it -- one set of animations. Oh wait, we can't have race/monster-type specific abilities because people start shitting themselves and crying; "WAAAAH. I CAN'T BEAT THIS BADASS WARLOCK WITHOUT GRAPPLING, AND I'M ROLEPLAYING A PARTY OF HAPHEPHOBICS! THIS GAME IS BADLY BALANCED" etc etc.

They aren't sacrificing depth in the combat in order to achieve better graphics. They are achieving the depth in a different way that works better with their graphics.

Errr, what? The graphics don't even enter into it. If your character does his standard attack-animation and some text pops up saying *grapple successful* that's representation enough, you're not adding any extra work nor are you ruining the "graphics". Besides, aren't they doing 3d-models on this one? We're not even talking about custom sprites here, which are a ton of work, but a few frames of animation for a mesh. They could even have you attempting to grapple a slime with the same couple of frames, as long as they set the bones up not to intersect other rigs in a blended anim.

Seriously. Tim's excuse is pretty lame, but your defense of it is worse.

Guess what else won't be included in PE due to animation reasons(and other art limitations)?

Mounted combat. You should be even more upset by that one. I would definitely consider the damage to the verisimilitude of the game to be greater if mounts weren't used in combat than if unarmed fighters can't grapple. Maybe they'll say that horses, or any other ridable domesticated animals, don't exist in the world of PE. Or maybe there will be a major focus on dungeoneering where horses can't go. That should be able salvage the verisimilitude.

If there's a bunch of scenarios where you have to take out hordes of archers in fields, and they do have horses in the game just standing around and grazing with saddles on, it probably will piss people off if you're forced to run into a hail of arrows rather than just ride them down. It's a question of context. I mean, we're expecting a ton of close-quarters hand to hand combat -- so why no grappling? Too many variables to make the animations? You'd rather cast some spell that does the same thing, only with a fancy particle effect? Come on.

 

[sea]

I heard they wanted to implement food mechanics and drinks too.
Ala New Vegas hardcore mode.


tee hee

Fuck you Josh Sawyer.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Since he is going to make an LP... Obviously a written LP. The man is a writer for fuck's sake, let him write his fabulous walls of text !



Video LPs are next-gen popamole, and streaming of course is the shittiest idea as MCA isn't going to enjoy the game.

Agreed. Fuck you, Roguey.

 

[RK47]

Since he is going to make an LP... Obviously a written LP. The man is a writer for fuck's sake, let him write his fabulous walls of text !



Video LPs are next-gen popamole, and streaming of course is the shittiest idea as MCA isn't going to enjoy the game.

Agreed. Fuck you, Roguey.

YES PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY AND TAKE AWAY TIME YOU COULD SPEND ON DEVELOPING THE GAME I INVESTED FOR!

 

[Irenaeus]

Why would you even try grappling a slime or a rock-giant? Make grappling "humanoids only" and that's it -- one set of animations. Oh wait, we can't have race/monster-type specific abilities because people start shitting themselves and crying; "WAAAAH. I CAN'T BEAT THIS BADASS WARLOCK WITHOUT GRAPPLING, AND I'M ROLEPLAYING A PARTY OF HAPHEPHOBICS! THIS GAME IS BADLY BALANCED" etc etc.

I agree on the rule of "humanoids only" grappling. In fact, they could make it humanoid and size-related. That would exclude extra animation of grappling giants, centaurs, dragons, ooze, etc.

Edit: Not sure how to solve the haphephobic-warlock conflict, though.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

YES PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY AND TAKE AWAY TIME YOU COULD SPEND ON DEVELOPING THE GAME I INVESTED FOR!

Wow. Somebody's far more invested in giving a fuck than I. Aw. Look at you. Just look.

 

[RK47]

 

[skyst]

$20 says he plays the combat in realtime mode.

 

[GarfunkeL]

That was still a minor bit of dialogue. The NPCs make it sound like the train is gonna explode if you go near it, it was a good opportunity to make mages play differently - you aren't allowed on the train, find another method of transport.

Yeah, well, Arcanum is the game of failed opportunities.

If your magic proficiency is high enough, you're not allowed on the train at all. It's also very easy to reach that level before you qualify for the teleport spell, so there you go. Of course, it only leads to more filler combat encounters in the wild.

 

[Azalin]

Vote on how Chris Avellone will LP Arcanum!

Shirtless while sweating after his 100 push-ups daily routine obviously

Oh,wait,that's not what they ment when they asked,did they?

 

[Gondolin]

Arcanum is way more fun to play as a tech guy and underpowered builds, tried once playing with a mage with harm/desintegrate and was completely bored after raping everything that moved. The harm spamming would be the fastest way, but i'm interested in his ideas about balance and the way tech works in Arcanum.

Pretty much, yes. The only thing I liked about the mage was being able to kill fire elementals and assorted hard-ass golems with spells instead of weapons.

 

[Black]

Playing as a tech melee character is one of the best ways to enjoy Fallout with magick.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

If your magic proficiency is high enough, you're not allowed on the train at all. It's also very easy to reach that level before you qualify for the teleport spell, so there you go. Of course, it only leads to more filler combat encounters in the wild.

Oh, really? That's cool. I guess I never noticed because I only used the train early in the game (never got too far, anyway)

 

[CrimsonAngel]

Playing as a tech melee character is one of the best ways to enjoy Fallout with magick.

Nah tech with guns because they have some stupidily awesome guns in the game. Like the Knife gun.

 

[Roguey]

What are you talking about? It's not frustrating, it's fun. It actually resembles a real game because you can't just use the same spell or attack over and over again but actually have to think about what you're doing. The overall balance and the difficulty curve are much better with gunslinger/tech builds than they are with mages or melee characters. You get to make cool new toys regularly and in general can make the best use of Arcanum's character system.

Having to put all this extra effort into skating uphill to get to the same destination (trash mobs = dead) isn't fun for me. You can craft stuff with a tech melee character as well.

 

[Black]

Playing as a tech melee character is one of the best ways to enjoy Fallout with magick.

Nah tech with guns because they have some stupidily awesome guns in the game. Like the Knife gun.

Race traitor, please.

 

[CrimsonAngel]

Playing as a tech melee character is one of the best ways to enjoy Fallout with magick.

Nah tech with guns because they have some stupidily awesome guns in the game. Like the Knife gun.

Race traitor, please.

I do not see it shooting knifes now do i?? Also you manged to set fire to your axe that is not impressive that a moment of stupidity.