Antagonist

Mr. Sawyer once again wins the first price for integrity in interviews. Good stuff.

Well, but still it is admirable when people try to change things which in their opinion are wrong (though I don't really admire Charles Manson ). At least we'll experience how the perfect, uncomromised RPG looks like according to certain Codex standards. Excuse my lack of long-term knowledge of the Codex' history but I'm not aware who "vis" is. Do you mean Visceris, the local poster here ? Yeah, the "dumb****" label is cheap and it comprimises their self-proclaimed free speech policy. No argument there, admins on power trips are always scary. I mildly disagreed because it was my (obviously failed) attempt at humour to point out that sometimes certain Codexers behave like an old bickering couple. They hate each other but yet they share so many similarities and fail to see it. It's a discussion board and although one can argue about the quality of said discussion there one can't deny that they do the term "discussion" board justice.

Well, I feel like I have to stand up for the Codex here a little bit although they sure don't need my defence and probably don't care about people's opinion here. But reducing it to the regular trash talk and occasional hyperbolic discussions especially when it comes to favourite topics like Fallout, Troika and Oblivion doesn't do it justice, it's still a necessary counterweight to the mainstream journalism. Maybe my views are affected from lurking on the Codex for a long time but I like them because many of them don't settle for the watered down action RPGs which are released today and they attack the people who defend these titles because "we should be happy that any RPGs are released at all". Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe. Plus, there's more to the Codex than whining. Look at Serge/Vault Dweller for example. Instead of complaining endlessly about the (rather sad) state of the industry he sat down, formed a development team and is making an RPG himself. I'm pretty curious about the outcome too as armchair analyzing is often easier than trying to right things by yourself. But before someone points it out: Yes, I know that it is rather an exception to the rule but still. I also disagree with Gromnir that Volourn doesn't fit in the Codex. While Volourn's and the regular Codexer's (whatever that is) views may vary they both have the same tendency to frenzy when it comes to defending their pet topics (that is Bioware and Troika). Regarding the interview I agree that some of the questions were a little bit disappointing because we've read them time and again in other MCA interviews (bet he copy and pasted parts of it). I wish Serge would have concentrated on debating essential RPG designs from an abstract point of view instead of losing himself in discussing past games. Oh well, maybe next time.

I stopped following the development of Dreamfall for a while but from what I read it's a mixed bag. The lead designer said that they would shorten the dialogues (probably to please the XBox monkeys with an attention span disorder) and the game game length is supposed to be 10-15 hours. I'm also sceptical about introducing fighting and stealth elements which are justified with "bringing the genre forward" and dropping the point-and-click interface for direct control (meaning it's developed for the Xbox first and PC users just have to eat it or leave it). Yeah right, we already know from RPGs what good such approach has done: Thousands of action-adventure clones with minimal role-playing. It's generally a strange move because TLJ is loved as an ADVENTURE game and not some would-be platformer. I hope Funcom knows it's a dangerous intention to reach for new markets with changed gameplay elements and risking to alienate your core fanbase (Brotherhood of Steel anyone ?). I also don't like that they switched the main character for the sequel but that's a personal preference of mine. I was really interested to continue April's longest journey after the end of the first part and experience her growth as a character first hand and not from the point of view of another character. I have a nagging suspicion that this change is also due to the new Xbox market: It's difficult to make a game for a new audience which would require extensive background knowledge about the main character so it's easier to drop it (main char) alltogether and introduce a new one which has no knowledge about recent happenings at all. I fear that we'll be treated with extensive flashbacks and history lessons to communicate the background history of TLJ to new players although people coming from TLJ will probably know it. I'm reserving final judgement until the game is out and I have read some descriptions about the gameplay but right now it smells like sell-out to me.

Sorry if had been brought up before, but I recommend Killap's Fallout 2 patch which eliminates dozens of bugs to increase your enjoyment: Patch including official 1.2 fixes (US version only) Patch without 1.2 fixes List of corrections Don't forget to check out the last modification dates on the server of the files I linked to as Killap is still working on it and releases updated versions.

To use Volourn's very own words: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ultima 9 should be without a doubt in such a list. It is the epitome of selling-out a franchise and it is easily the biggest disappointment with games in gereral I ever experienced before and after. All the traits that made (later) Ultimas classics like a vibrant world, freeform gameplay, interesting NPCs with well thought-out stories and any sense of continuity to boot were dropped. There were some other horribly flawed games like NWN 1 but they were simply boring and didn't invoke such feelings of repulsion due to the immense expectations.

I wouldn't recommend using the fan patch if you play for the game the first time. More often than not the patch creators didn't just fix bugs but simply modded the game because they didn't like some design decisions by Troika. There is more than 1 controversial change to the game, some which will pretty much screw the game balance even more (like putting end game weapons into earlier areas, giving out additional XP etc). The game runs well with the official patch, there are only minor glitches left and I'm pretty sure you'll not even realize they are there. Bloodlines is a great game especially for people who enjoy good writing and voice acting and are sick of Tolkien-like RPGs. It was a little bit too linear and static for my taste but nevertheless it is one of the best games I've played in recent years. Prepare for a big letdown in the last third though were Troika transformed the game almost into a full-fledged FPS.

Huh, I don't consider the RPGCodex home or any other website for that matter. I'm far from a regular there but I enjoy reading some of the discussions as long as they don't turn to pure flaming. Reducing the Codex to the (sometimes extreme) use of rude language is a bit short-sighted because on the other hand there will never be a mod who warns you about some forum guidelines which restrict discussion (see Bio bashing). Well, I'm not the public relation officer of the Codex but I'd really appreciate it if some of the vocal members would keep their private chats out of otherwise often healty topics. It's not fun reading 3 pages of bickering and in-jokes for people who are interested in the initial discussion.

As unpopular as it might be around here I much prefer to read the RPGCodex because despite the harsh enviroment and some extreme positions people there tend to make valid and well thought-out points or at least ones that are worth further discussion. Recently every time I pop into this forum I find many topics which degenerate rather quickly into chats between various members or discussions are led in the form of one-liners. To be honest I don't do much to improve the situation myself because I don't have the time and the inclination but this board is kinda suboptimal for my passive reading pleasure. It's sad too that the developers practically abondoned their own boards. I don't like the Bio Boards but one as to acknowledge that the presence of so many devs inspires the members to contribute to discussions about specific games developed by that company.

About the 7800 series: From what I read in a respected german computer magazine the 7800 XT is not worth buying with todays processors because except from some high-end CPUs like the Athlon FX they are too slow in providing the GPU with data. They made some extensive tests and it seemed that the 7800 XT was usually waiting for the CPU to catch up. Tthat's why they had the same FPS with different "lower end" processors (>= 3 Ghz). I'll wait for ATI's reaction. Their new GPU is supposed to have 32 pixel pipelines (nVidia 24) and support for the new unified shading model which will be introduced with Windows Vista.

I was informed about the sad state of HL:S that's why I only bought the regular package. It was still misleading because Valve made a lot of promotion about Source being the next-best-thing so it is naturally that people expected it to be a total conversion of the original game. Not every customer will check message boards and interviews from developers before buying a game. Right now there is almost no reason to buy HL:S. The upgraded water is not worth it and the models look even worse. For the same price you get a better looking version with both expansion packs. And you still haven't explained why they didn't use at least the High Definition Version of the models (Blue Shift). Valve was just lazy and used the hype to squeeze out some extra bucks from their customers before word got out that HS:S was a scam.

Sure, must be the reason they couldn't include the High Definition Pack in Half-Life: Source. Valve already delayed the release of Half-Life 2 and had to cut content. They probably had no time and manpower to make a decent port of HL1 because it would mean to make new models, textures and modifications to the levels to make proper use of HAVOC.. Instead they obviously used a conversion tool so they could sell their Silver and Gold packages through Steam to people who actually expected graphics and physics on HL2 level. That was pretty shabby and I hope Valve doesn't shut down those guys at Black Mesa: Source.

For all you lovers of Blue Meanie: Blue Meanie Reloaded It's a new 3-D model taken from a fan project dedicated to make a Source version of Half-Life 1 because Valve couldn't be bothered to make a proper one themselves. Black Mesa: Source

Very unlikely because so far the games always have been told from Gordon's perspective and I doubt that Valve will break the concept. It's one of the features they became known for. My theory is that the G-Man placed him there to avoid having Gordon pop out of thin air although that didn't stop him from dropping Freeman in the train at the beginning. I think he tries to avoid unknown publicity and unnecessary questions by outsiders, especially Alex who he decided to save for some unknown reasons. A point of interest:

Either that and / or some weapons have requirements which must be met to equip the specific weapon.

Depends on what you are looking for in a Fallout game. If you are just interested in the story detached from roleplaying and game mechanics you might actually like the game but when I buy a Fallout game I expect a title that fits into the series. That's why I passed up Tactics and BoS. A isometric turn-based Half-Life 3 might also be fun but it wouldn't fit into the established series. And by all means, Bethesda did some things right with Daggerfall but their contributions to the RPG world where always lacking since then. Morrowind had a horrid story and half-baked game mechanics and Oblivion looks also very uninspired to me.

The biggest problem with Bethesda is their design philosophy to make games accessible to a broader audience. This is a wise decision from a business point a view but a catastophe for a Fallout game because both tiltes are tailored for a hardcore RPG community. If you look at the Elder Scrolls series each title moves more and more into the action game genre and has less features than its predecessor.

Vault Dweller of RPGCodex fame made a nice compilation of dev quotes. Even if you don't like the RPGCodex it's worth checking out just so that you see all the "improvments" in one coherent post. I guess if you are looking for a worthy successor to Daggerfall or just a RPG where you can actually roleplay beyond the choice of weapons you can pass up the game as it looks to be dumbed down beyond believe for the unwashed masses. Radiant AI and Havoc are likely to be cosmetic changes they can hype. Bethesda's design philosophy doesn't bode well for Fallout 3. RPGCodex preview

Have you followed the instructions and made the game mod-ready ? I had a similar problem. Create a file called user.cfg in the SS2 root directory and add the line safe_texture_manager That solved my problems with random crashes.

The only game I'm looking for right now is Age of Decadence as it promises to be one of the few CRPGs nowadays which features actual roleplaying instead of adventure gameplay with stats. I tried to build an interest for other big budget titles like Oblivion or NwN 2 but somehow even thinking about them creates a feeling of boredom due to the fact that in the end it's again the same old games with cosmetic changes and after years of sequels and rip-offs I'm tired of the games market right now.

I don't see any reason why they shouldn't but you will have to try it for yourselves. I'm a proud owner of an original CD. The only change they probably made is to remove the cd check. Is your game fully patched ? If you have a multiplayer option the aswer is yes. Teudogar and the Alliance with Rome is another game which is not exactly freeware but very recommandable and not very expensive. It features a historic setting in the times of the roman conquest so if you are sick of fairy tales I'd say give it a try. You can download a demo version at the official site: Teudogar

Some mods really should try out if you are playing System Shock 2: Rebirth Completely new models for System Shock which look far less blocky and more detailed than the original ones. There exists also a complemented version which includes the new rumbler and monkeys. They were fully modelled and animated but for some reason the developer of Rebirth never included them in the final version, probably because he was hired by the company which made Arx Fatalis and ran out of time to update the package. The complemented version also features a new skin for the cyborg midwife because many fans didn't like the original one which came with Rebirth. Rebirth - Complemented version You can check some screenshots for comparison on the original rebirth site. The download link for the complemented version is at the end of the post. Another mod which improves the visual quality of SS2 is a texture pack which replaces the old ones with high resolution textures. The overall effect is even more noticeable than Rebirth because it affects all maps. Shock Texture Upgrade Project The last mod I always use is Anosotropic's balance mod. The original System Shock had some munchkin devices that made certain skills obsolete. Not only it removes tham but also buffs those skills so they become actually useful throughout the game and makes it less frustrating to build your character as you won't realize late in the game that some investments were crap. Additionaly it balances some weapons and some other things. Imo it makes the game far more enjoyable and I would even recommend it to people who are playng SS2 the first time. My download link doesn't work anymore and I can't find it right now. If anyone wants it I can send it to you via email, the file is very small or if someone has some free webspace he could upload it. Anisotropic's balance mod readme:

As I understand Obsidian is not in the position to decide whether to to future patches, it must be all green-lighted by LucasArts first. Although such reasons are perfectly understandable Obsidian would earn more sympathy if they wrote that they are really trying hard to get it done and that they would be willing to fund it themselves. I think such a statement would lessen the impression that they just don't care about the product and the fans anymore. At least it seems that they took precauations with NwN by hiring their own QA team.

Visit Gibberlings Three and Pocketplane Group. You probably know PPG already since they are the main distributor of Tutu. Be sure to use the fixpack as it addresses many annoying bugs. Other mods I'd recommend are the G3 tweakpack for issues caused by the transition to the BG2 engine but are not considered bugs (like missing exotic weapons in the original for the new classes). BG1 NPC project is highly recommendable as it indroduces banter and interjections like in BG2. The writing is actually quite good and makes the NPCs come alive. Their original versions where not much more than mules. Their are a couple of other Tutu mods, most of them add either new party members or minor quests. I'd install them all because they try to blend with the setting and the story.