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Armour and weapon designs - a plea.


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One thing that I highly dislike about modern RPGs are the outlandish and outright ugly armour and designs. If you'd allow me some examples (incoming hyperbole and large images) :

 

 

This

 

scottish-claymore-sword.jpg

 

 

Certainly looks better than this :

 

tumblr_m6art2bkhU1qg4j52o1_500.jpg

 

Second example :

 

 

Rohan-Armor_cu_cal.jpg

 

 

 

teraplate3-300x300.png

 

 

In the examples, I've juxtaposed somewhat ornamental and a bit fantasy looking pieces of equipment with ones that look more like toys (which I consider to be a general tendency in fantasy cRPGS). Is the continuing urge for so called "epicness" really worth it? I think there's plenty of historical (and not so historical) arms and armour to draw inspiration from. Non-practical equipment is a real eye sore most of the time, IMHO.

 

And yes, I realize that the game is isometric, and we won't see arms and armour in great detail - but that'll only make the task that much easier.

 

While we're at it, please consider using something similar for item descriptions :

 

01wyvernstail2.jpg

Edited by Karranthain
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Good lord, please this! Go with at least a semi-realistic look of things. I remember on thing that stopped me from getting Dragon Age 2 after playing the demo was this ridiculous Anime feel its clothes, armor and oversized weapons had. Please, Obsidian, don't go for 200 pound swords and spiky bikini chainmail armor!

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Yeah, massive agreement over here. You can have varied and aesthetically pleasant designs without having to make everyone over level 6 look like they just waltzed drunkenly out of a WoW raid. Absolute realism isn't necessarily a requirement, but keep it within the realms of good taste and good sense.

Edited by LadySpace
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Yeah, massive agreement over here. You can have varied and aesthetically pleasant designs without having to make everyone over level 6 look like they just waltzed drunkenly out of a WoW raid. Absolute realism isn't necessarily a requirement, but keep it within the realms of good taste and good sense.

 

Indeed, I'm not advocating absolute realism - for an instance, Lord of the Rings movies do this right most of the time I feel. But it still retained that fantasy feel.

Edited by Karranthain
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I agree in principle. However, in an isometric game, I'm mostly concerned with being able to tell my characters apart at a glance. To that end, I'd like to see a lot of variance in armor style, color, and size. But, I do concur that it should all be at least somewhat realistic and practical looking.

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I liked the simple chainmail shirts and coats of neverwinter nights 2 for this very reason, they seemed rugged and eminently sensible for a sellsword. And my anally retentive pet peeve is watching plate mail flex and twist during conversation and melee, not a problem with an isometric game however.

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Quite an experience to live in misery isn't it? That's what it is to be married with children.

I've seen things you people can't even imagine. Pearly Kings glittering on the Elephant and Castle, Morris Men dancing 'til the last light of midsummer. I watched Druid fires burning in the ruins of Stonehenge, and Yorkshiremen gurning for prizes. All these things will be lost in time, like alopecia on a skinhead. Time for tiffin.

 

Tea for the teapot!

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Yes please. I wouldn't mind even a historically very accurate arsenal and armour, with perhaps some tasteful fantasy flavour such as with materials. Also, can we have magical items that DO NOT have a huge halo around them - if we're to have any.

 

That's another thing I forgot to mention - please limit particle effects on weapons to a minimum (or better yet, offer a toggle). It isn't a surprise most games that use those end up having user mods removing them soon after...

 

By the way, edited post, added one more image.

Edited by Karranthain
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I, for one, think we need more DA: O-esque Mage full-length dresses and fabu-hats.

 

Problem? :dancing:

 

Full lenght dresses aren't exactly as ridiculous as Anime swords.

 

Mind you, original post. I agree. The second picture portrayals a awfully small dagger.

Edited by Delterius
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I'd have to agree, the more simplistic the better. To each their own though, lots of variety is a must.

 

I'd like to see more realism here too, nothing crazy like dark souls or anything impossible like that, but weapon swings should feel more heavy if your not used to it. You should walk slower in heavier armor, ect. Needs to happen.

 

Oh, and don't cut armor pieces. Don't take from Bethesda in the sense of armor, keep as many options as possible.

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Simplicity is great, but for unique weapons (at which when you hit the 2,2m mark ill be expecting plenty) do experiment as you wish with the form. As long as their primary motive of design isnt compensative im fine with it. But an exotic look is never a bad thing since you can vary only so much with the longsword. So huge size =/= good design. And for tfsm's sake avoid the cliche sword with aura, it doesnt look cool.

Edited by Gyges
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Simplicity is great, but for unique weapons (at which when you hit the 2,2m mark ill be expecting plenty) do experiment as you wish with the form. As long as their primary motive of design isnt compensative im fine with it. But an exotic look is never a bad thing since you can vary only so much with the longsword.

 

Yeah, but there plenty of ways to make the designs both satisfying and practical. Could be more ornamental, or exotic etc. etc.

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You'll get no arguments from me here. I do want equipment to have some unique brands that represent the setting, but overly stylized armor is such a huge turn off for me. You don't have to wear glued up pieces of a broken kaleidoscope to look unique, and often times simpler designs tend to have more outstanding features. I don't think this is going to be a problem though; Obsidian has always had a great eye for armor and clothing design. Planescape has some of the best cosmetic's I've seen in any game. They manage to make some really bizarre looking stuff, while keeping it relatively simple (Dak'Kon comes to mind).

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You'll get no arguments from me here. I do want equipment to have some unique brands that represent the setting, but overly stylized armor is such a huge turn off for me. You don't have to wear glued up pieces of a broken kaleidoscope to look unique, and often times simpler designs tend to have more outstanding features. I don't think this is going to be a problem though; Obsidian has always had a great eye for armor and clothing design. Planescape has some of the best cosmetic's I've seen in any game. They manage to make some really bizarre looking stuff, while keeping it relatively simple (Dak'Kon comes to mind).

 

Agreed, Dak'kon's design was great.

 

When you think about it, there's no way better way to differentiate this game from other fantasy titles than to have realistic (not overly so, obviously) weapon and armour designs.

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Yes please. I wouldn't mind even a historically very accurate arsenal and armour, with perhaps some tasteful fantasy flavour such as with materials. Also, can we have magical items that DO NOT have a huge halo around them - if we're to have any.

 

Why? Historically accurate where? On Earth? You forget this is a fantasy universe having nothing to do with our own.

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