Llyranor

I really wish Obs would do KOTOR3, because I'd rather they do worn-out sequels to overused franchises with an awesome publisher like Lucasarts than actually flesh out original intellectual properties. KOTOR3, rawr.

Volowned x 2.

And a third propaganda interview http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=11515

Volowned.

More specifically, the dev mentioned that, in terms of functionality, the map would be most *similar* to Fallout. Though, with how NWN1/2's toolset works, I wonder how they're going to generate land in-between the important locations. How would random encounters occur? In randomly generated locales? Or, I guess, they could premake some areas and throw all 'random encounters' into those. The map, of course, looks awesome. The only downside I'm seeing is how the crap are community modmakers supposed to make similar maps?

Ken Levine dude reveals dark secrets http://pc.ign.com/articles/679/679870p1.html

Civ4 + multiplayer = winner.

Yup. Fun session. Also, what that made us realize is how PBEM would take forever. That sessions we just went through would have taken us months if it weren't for direct IP gaming. I think a better alternative to PBEM for bigger games (with more players) would be scheduling (such as organizing a big 18-player session every saturday at, say, 5GMT, for example --> only those who know they could meet up there consistently at that time would sign up). The other advantage is that if you can't meet for one session, then AI or even someone else can take over.

First Firaxis, now Irrational. Hmm. HMMMMMM.

Yeah, if you're trying to get into JRPGs, it can definitely be a good start. A fun adventure. Pretty much one of the best JRPG battle systems out there (though, too easy).

EST - 5. I think the best method to handle these sessions would be through play-by-email. Basically, each player plays their turn then emails or sends it some other way to the next player. We could arrange the play order via timezones. If every player does at least one turn a day, then it could work out.

I think some sort of temporary ammo/health bar could work re: immersion. During a firefight, you're not going to be checking how much ammo you have left - that has to be done mentally, taking in how much ammo you had to start with, how many times you've shot, etc. Perhaps the ammo bar could show up once you're out of the firefight, to abstractly indicate that your character has the time to check it when s/he's not actively fighting. Same with health. During a full-blown adrenaline rush, you might not be aware of all your injury, unless they incapacitate you. An exact health bar might not be the most immersive thing here. Perhaps, like the ammo bar, you could have it pop up when you're out of danger, indicating that your character has time to check his/her wounds. During battle, perhaps a system where the screen starts getting red, your heart starts pumping, etc, could indicate your status. Perhaps, DURING battle, having those things show up would necessitate an additional action, meaning that they'd need to be actively sought out, rather than being free information.

Hi Morrowind!

Maybe it was MissionForce: Cyberstorm? EDIT: Oh darn, you beat me to it.

Is this it? http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/197

You mentioned hexgrid. Are you talking about a turn-based game, or real-time? PC? Or console?

Update: the PitBoss persistent turn-based server beta is now available. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=152361

Yeah, failure not meaning game over would be pretty neat, and certainly something that's not really being used prominently enough in today's games. It may have to do with how those games are designed as well (warning: generalization to follow). If you fail a quest, the quest ends. Nothing happens. You don't learn anything from it, you just don't get any rewards from it. Basically, the only consequence is that you failed the quest and get no reward. Or, you die and the game ends anyway. So, what happens when you fail? "Wait, I wanted that reward, instead now nothing happens" or "Darn, I failed, now I'm dead" --> reload = game over. It'd be nice to play a game where failure would be a *viable* option, where it would actually be purposeful. Let's produce a quick example. Assassination quest. Your mission is to murder the great troll Magical Volo, who lives in some heavily guarded building. Having actual charisma, Magical Volo is a well-respected individual in that city. Let's explore our options. 1) You succeed. You go back to your employer. Quest complete! Reward! Longsword +2!!! 2) You fail and get spotted --> segmentation of gameplay, activate battle mode. You eventually lose, and you get killed. Game over, reload. Try again until you get results from 1). 3) You fail and get spotted. You somehow manage to escape, but you're now a fugitive. Magical Volo uses his influence to try to make sure you get caught. You have to be very careful from now on. This greatly affects the gameplay experience for (possibly) the rest of the game while you're in that city. Is this game over? Maybe for the powergamer. Reload. What about the roleplayer? Is this somehow a lesser experience than in 1)? No. If anything, it's a different one - and possibly even more exciting, depending on your perspective. Roleplaying a fugitive can certainly be cool. 4) You fail, but managed to escape because your identity is revealed. You're not being actively hunted down, but the city guards are very vigilent from now on, looking for anything suspicious. The end result would be somewhat similar to 1), only that Magical Volo isn't dead. 5) You succeed, but get spotted. Fugitive mode. Then, of course, you get further chances to expose the troll for what he is, to help 'clear up' your name, perhaps. Or whatever. In any case, there should be more than a right way and a wrong way when it comes to roleplaying.

I'm not sure I can say any game since has really tried to implement such a notion, or at least done it sincerely. Linear storytelling and critical NPCs are what novels and movies are all about. They're there because the writer wants them to be there. Why repeat the cycle in games as well? What's the point of player input, aside from just selecting dialogue options that lead to the same linear path? What happened to player-driven storytelling? EDIT: In reply to Nickdude.

Zots. Unfortunately, it looks like the way of linearity and critical NPCs is how it's going to be done "from now on". Devs want to forcefed you their storytelling awesomeness, and branching that not only costs more zots, also but dilutes their writing, so you don't get to see the awesome scenarios that the devs wrote if only you stuck to the "right path". On the other side of the spectrum, you get the "Let's let the player do whatever s/he wants!!! It'll be grreat!". Then of course that nonlinearity gets hyped. This, of course means that you can do "anything you want", but that also makes everything pointless and inconsequential. Story becomes irrelevant. Ironically, in - say, Morrowind, because it's so awesome, the story consists of linearity and critical NPCs as well. Making branching storylines is a big investment, one that won't mean more sales. I don't agree with you that telling a story means not taking into account the player's decisions - it just needs to be part of the game's design. Alas, such design is unnecessary in the industry, because people will buy anything with the RPG label on it. I think you can have a strong storyline with strong writing that's ACCENTUATED by allowing nonlinearity and branching. Like I said, FO's plot was made STRONGER because of those features. Imagine a game that actually focused on storytelling with those features.

To some extent. NWN2 should be turn-based, then all would be well in Llyranor land.

http://forums.ubi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc...32/m/9401005183 PU: Something else now. Alot of gamers want to know if there is going to be a BG&E 2 someday. Is this going to happen? Or will you focus purely on movies games from now on (stupid question...) ANCEL: To be honest, we were working on pre-production for BG&E2 when King Kong arrived (!!!! Eek) That was a chance we couldn't miss. BG&E is still very close to my heart (weird translation). The story of Jade isn't finished and I would love to finish it. So if I were you, I wouldn't give hope up just yet. I don't know what my next game is going to be, but it's not going to be a movie adaption game.

True gentlemen.

I'll try to hunt it down. Sid mentioned it in one of his Gamespot video interviews. EDIT: Well, I found *a* link, anyway http://www.gaminglounge.net/modules.php?op...order=0&thold=0