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Rabain

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Everything posted by Rabain

  1. The only point I'd make about the trolls is that the game is isometric, when you have a model that is hunched over it might look good during design but when you point the camera at it from above you just end up with something you can't see most of. These trolls look great as models but the hunching kind of means I can't really see the face and lose a lot of the "size" to the viewing angle. Look at the troll on the left, it could be any shape. I don't mind the colours, it actually makes more sense for something that lives in the wilds. If I get surprised by a group of trolls because I wasn't paying attention then its my own fault, I don't need them to glow in the dark to tell me they are there. As for the area art I think it looks great, I don't really care about nitpicky things like trees that are in a row, I won't see that while wandering around and future tweaks will probably fix those things. I feel sorry for the guys sometimes, they are trying to give us stuff ahead of time to feed our hunger for more content but really they wouldn't be showing anyone this stuff for months yet if it was a normal process. Keep up the good work!
  2. A mix is always good. In the real world not everything is linked to everything else. The pig I rescue from the goblins for the farmer does not need to be linked to the quest to find the lost prince or whatever. Sometimes the pig is just a pig and the farmer just needs to feed his family. These quests are usually optional for that reason, you don't need to help every random person in the game, why not just kill the farmer and his family for your XP instead? I think we like big quests to have lots of little tie ins because it shows us that the designers really thought about it on a grand scale but personally I think it would be a bit unreal to tie everything to everything else. Most of the game is meaningless (for me) if there is just one story and everything is a part of that story, that is boring.
  3. Hey I actually did a search for this topic the other day using terms; music, song, inn, chant etc and it wasn't in any results...that is weird. Anyway I was wondering what happened to it, good to see you are still around. I think the forums could use another song!
  4. No it's more like Turn-based is someone shouts at you to say they are going to kill you and then waits to see what you do. While RTwP is like someone shouts at you to say they are going to kill you while they are charging at you waving a big sword.
  5. To me it just seems wrong to sell something as a spiritual successor to PST and then want to go turn-based because you are already developing a game that is turn based. The combat in PST was something that wasn't great but it was part of the game and it wasn't bad because of RTwP. I'd be pretty sure that PST would have a completely different feel if it was turn based and not necessarily better, I probably wouldn't have even played it if it was turn based. I liked Fallout 1 and 2 but to be honest turn based always felt slow and boring to me. If the bad combat in PST is a reason to consider something different then InXile's desire to use Wasteland2's combat system is something to consider too. That alone might end up making TToN's combat just as bad as PSTs. InXile should consider giving Obsidian a call and seeing if they can borrow the RtwP from PE if they really need to save some time. This is the kind of cross-company interaction that could benefit players.
  6. Could be a wand perhaps? Big enough so you can see rather than flimsy and practically invisible. Personally I think a lot of games end up with helmet removal mods not because helmets are bad in the games but because in a game where you get to customize your characters facial features and hair colour most people want to see that while they play rather than look at a helmet they are only wearing for its benefit rather than because they like it. They cannot customize their helmet in the same way they did their character. This is the type of thing that is better off as a game option just so you can see your characters faces if you wish.
  7. There may be separate maps that are just specific areas in more detail. It doesn't have to be exactly like BG where every location was on the world map. For example Dyrwood could be on the world map, you click it and get another map of a number of locations within Dyrwood that you can visit with others to open up as you adventure. I particularly liked the images of the different armor types on characters, the hats look great and there looks to be a great variety of look and feel. This alone adds so much to the game.
  8. I agree. It is highly unlikely you will have a dialogue that spews out a page of information, makes you choose between giving the person you are talking to the "most powerful item in the land!" or not and then informs you the guy is a moron who can't tie his own shoelaces. As with every conversation, you say something, they say something, you say something, they say something, someone makes a choice. Smart people will talk intelligently "excelsior", morons will be morons "doh". It is up to you to read the dialogue and try to interpret the other persons demeanour, just like you do in real life when you talk to people you don't really know.
  9. Who was recording this? How hard would it have been to raise the camera over the level of standing peoples heads and angle it down? Also it appears everyone's funny bone was removed as they entered. Anyway great artwork, good info!
  10. Yeah they had a few areas like that in BG2...the forest of Tethyr areas. Not a great quality image but: http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate2/maps/ar2600.html Also I think we are so used to seeing managed forests we forget how varied they can be when left to their own devices. http://climatevoices.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/camels-hump-fall-08-web.jpg
  11. I don't know why I'm okay with Vorpal Sword +5 but not with MiniGun of Flaming Death +5. I know the intention is not to escalate firearms in this manner but it is something I think about when I consider expansions, sequels etc.
  12. I think we tend to over analyse things we are given now because we have the time to. If you never saw this before release I doubt you would give a second thought to battlements or missing bricks from broken walls. You would only be concerned with what you were actually doing in the game. This is a stronghold not a castle intended as a defensive structure for the rulers of the kingdom or whatever. Personal strongholds are never the strongest, they are just meant to deter people from attacking. You don't maintain an army, just enough men (and women) to defend what is yours. Anyway I'm fine with how it looks, it does look very Icewind Dale in style without the depressing setting of the north of Faerun. I don't want them to spend hours adding more rubble or making the walls look even more broken if that only amounts to a few minutes worth of visual eye candy in the game before I pay for to have it fixed and it disappears forever. There are more important things to be getting on with.
  13. I kind of like this idea but for the fact that it sounds like a lot of railroading. What if my character doesn't want to have kids? What if my character has no love interest, or my character is gay, or my character is a psychopath who would sooner butcher and devour a potential mate rather than produce offspring with him/her? What if my character just prefers the life of the wanderer over the ol' ball and chain, finding the idea of settling down with husband/wife and a gaggle of brats absolutely nauseating? Basically, the sequel would all hinge on your character being the family type. Not that games like BG2 didn't railroad you to the point of absurdity, but in general I think that's something to avoid if you can. For your situation all you need is an alternative. Say in PE1 you have the option to have children. If you have children then PE2 can work from there with rjshae's idea. If you decide not to have children in PE1 then in PE2 the story starts with some family relative from an uncle or aunt or whatever. Still related by blood but not your characters child. Import a savegame to define which way you start. The story doesn't even need to be around the stronghold, it could just be all about your soul and those linked to it by their heritage. With regard to epic level difficulty I find it hard to believe that most players would be happy with low level henchmen and high level bosses only at epic levels. While it might be more realistic that not every Guardsman is level 20 it wouldn't make for a very interesting game in my opinion if the only difficult fights were bosses. There would have to be so many bosses in the game that reality goes out the window anyway or the game would be so short because henchman just lie in bloodied heaps every 20 seconds as you wade through them. Epic level stories need to be in epic level content, I think that is why the stories usually involve you being The Chosen of something, just to explain why it is you that has to go kill the bad guy and you that can actually do it.
  14. In that case, it would be like an Epic level character going from level 34 to level 1, as Superman would lose his powers under the light of the red sun and higher gravity. I do agree that continuations of one character are best handled through expansions, mostly because I dislike playing as the same PC when the mechanics change. Hehe I guess not the best analogy though I guess I meant it as more a level 40 going to where a bunch of other level 40s hang out rather than a reversal of power. They are still way ahead of everyone else back on earth. Anyway I'd prefer to see other parts of the world even as a different character rather than forcing some super high level continuation just because the game was popular. I don't agree that high levels are just more fun. I think they are only that because most of the time you are continuing the same character and you want that increase in power over the previous game. If it was a different game in the same world then personally I'd rather start at level 1 again.
  15. Unless they plan to move this story line through several expansions I'd much rather see future games in the PE world start at level 1 again. Throne of Bhaal didn't really feel like a continuation of BG1 and 2, it was like superman goes back to Krypton or something. We could have very different stories just changing the settings to different nations and playing different characters. This could be just what we need to keep the setting fresh.
  16. Children typically live in communities and survive because they have a social structure that protects them. Monsters typically live in caves and swamps in small groups and don't communicate to the level that a more advanced society does. Human Community: Hey did you hear about that serial killer over in BlahTown? Best not to walk down dark alleys at night on your own until he is caught. Monster Community: Grrr, Arrrg, food...who is that guy with the big swor...*dies*. The argument wasn't for a game over, it was to point out the absurdity of asking for the ability to be a serial killer of children without a game mechanic that moderates it.
  17. If people want to be serial killers then that is fine. So long as the game also has police, we already saw the Orlan Cipher guy that is part of Scotland Yard...err Dunryd Row. Eventually you will be hunted down and locked in a cell, game over.
  18. There should be both cinematics and cutscenes and they should be used by Obsidian as they deem appropriate. Cinematics to introduce the game or a final scene based on a specific ending or like in BG1 where you had short cinematics on entry to more interesting areas (Beregost, Gnoll Fortress etc). Where you have the option to not see these the second time you play the game would also be good. Cutscenes for certain story characters deaths etc, not player characters of course but things that are part of the main storyline. I know people want to save resources etc but there are certain things that actually improve the game when done well. They build the world and events in your mind before you step into them. It is not like you will trade 1 cinematic for 1 new area. The budget is laid out by Obsidian of course and it may well be they could have added a new area instead of some cinematics but personally I think with what they have in development so far can only be improved by proper use of cinematics and cutscenes. I think people are just a little afraid that the game will end up like Dragon Age or Mass Effect where half the time you feel like you are watching the game rather than actually playing it.
  19. I wouldn't be overly worried about the screenshot. I think the image was more for the purpose of showing you some stones, not as an example of a gameplay screen in its final stage. The post was about Ciphers, not area art.
  20. @Morgulon: I like it. Out of the mock ups most people have done yours feels the least intrusive on the gameplay screen. I think the textures on the portrait borders and the menu icons could be darker but overall very nice. The portraits would be a very nice size on a large monitor. It would be nice if Dialogue and Combat could be dragged apart so you could display them side by side across to the screen edge. Nice work. edit: i say nice too many times...not nice..
  21. Weren't we told at one point that we could complete this game solo? If so then I can't see any problem with completing it without a magic user. Pick up a couple of clerics and a paladin and you should have more than enough firepower to get through. As for not being able to remember spells etc I don't think that will be any more complicated than having to remember all the different abilities the other classes have. You might be able to hack away at any enemy with a sword but not using abilities or not understaning what they do is going to gimp you in a big way. You could just as easily pick one spell on a spellcaster and then only use that one. Magic missile to the face every time. I think it will be very difficult to finish the game without using any ability that any class has.
  22. Wouldn't it be easier to go to the Unity forums and ask what version of PhysX they are running? Considering the article samm talks about in the first post is over 2 years old and just from a quick google I can see people talking about physX 2.0 during that period and expecting better optimization from 3.0 I'd think bashing PhysX based on outdated information is probably a waste of everyones time.
  23. Yeah I think they are east europe somewhere, Croatia maybe. Their site is interesting, not sure if the background image changes are cool or off putting... http://www.dreamatrix.net
  24. Just thought I'd give this a push here seeing as it is in its last 44 hours or so. http://www.kickstart...legends-of-dawn The game is scheduled for release in February (2013) so if you are looking for something to play around with while waiting for Project Eternity or just like supporting Indie games head on over. Some quotes from the front page of their Kickstarter campaign;
  25. I'd rather weapons where sensible sizes to begin with and there was no need for scaling.
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