Everything posted by Undecaf
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Body Types and video games
I don't know when all this objectification and other social justice in videogames bull started, or when people lost their understanding and tolerance for fiction and art they might not appreciate, but this all - to me - seems to be just a selfelevating vanity affair, and an intentional attempt at finding problems where there really aren't any, to score some extra points within a certain group of people for a reasons unknown to me, perhaps just to fit in. It seems to be just the new hip thing to do; someone made a comment somewhere at some point that struck a spark and suddenly people "see the light" where there previously was none, the virus spreads and now its a common belief that there actually is an issue there that must be weeded out, but among all this mountain out of a molehill stuff there doesn't seem to be a clear picture of what would be the solution, what kind of depiction of what ever sex or species is actually the reasonable one that doesn't send these mysterious subliminal messages. All I see is "cut the boobs out, cover the cleavege - or, deflate the biceps and clothe the body". What is the golden standard according to which these things should be depicted? You will always send some kind of message for those that are actively seeking messages, and someone will always find some **** to say about it. What we see on the screen is more or less just a charicature of the artists vision, and that's how it should be taken whether the boobs and biceps are big or small. This **** really has blown out of proportions a long time ago and I'd rather not read any of it, let alone participate, but it's unavoidable these days.
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RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS
Videogames should stop presenting human beings altogether, and replace them with sexless and formless puddles of grey goo that communicate with sign language and refer to each other as "that one" and "this one". Everybody's equally grey, and nobody's represented in ill light (or any light for that matter). That way nobody needs to hurt their feelings and no example of any kind, straightforward or implied, is given to the fragile youth (and apparently some adults too) of our time.
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RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS
If that thing ever gets done, and if they don't employ any ridiculous online schemes along with the inevitable Steam, I might just invest on it without waiting for sales. From what little I tried it on my friends Xbox, it was a standard fare GTA game but felt much more fun and engaging than 4. Still of the opinion that it's grossly overrated despite the fun factor, though.
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Movies you've seen recently
The Reef came from TV yesterday. It was actually quite decent when watched with half an eye. Dunno if I'd watch it again any time soon (so not that good), but it managed to not bore me in tears.
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Obsidian's (rumoured) next kickstarter, what would you want to see?
What ever they are planning, I kinda hope it is something other than "Hey, we're doing a spiritual sequel to a beloved franchise from the days of yore, now give us money." I'd like Obsidian to try and stretch their creativity to see if they can come up with something interesting, and old school in nature, without resorting to too much namedropping for nostalgias or familiaritys sake (eg. no "remember the IE games" nor "you all know Skyrim"). Something that can create interest by standing on its own feet, something more or less unique to the current market at hand (not an easy task, surely, but certainly worth the while to try I'd say).
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Movies you've seen recently
A friend had rented Lone Ranger the other night. We had some pizza and beer and wanted to try out his new home theather system. The beer and pizza (and my friends dog begging for scraps) saved that night. The movie was absolutely horrible. It felt like it was scribbled together by a six-year-old with severe case of ADHD. A disjointed, confusing and forcibly over long circus, where the actors and actresses were visibly and audibly bored, Verbinski's direction was as awful as ever, and the score tried hard to redeem itself from complete and total mediocrity by ripping off Morricone's work from Once Upon a Time In the West at certain points. The movie isn't even good for background noise. An absolute disaster.
- What are you playing now?
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Go for it Obsidian (Feargus in RPS Article)
I don't think they should necessarily throw prerendering away even if going away from ISO. There are ways to get creative with FPP gameplay even without "awesome 3D visuals". Infact, if they used stylistic 2D still backgrounds with some added effects (like the waterfall scene with PoE), I think the game could look even better than in 3D. Of course the gameplay would need to be very specific for that kind of stuff, but I think that's where the creativity should come into play. Making a game that stands out in the market rather than doing what is being done by others, but cheaper. Poking the ice a bit. Exploration and interaction could come in the form of presenting the player specific scenes with interactive elements on top. Eg, a game set in a large city; presenting an image of a market where the player can pan the camera some ways in each direction and have a cursor to interact the interactive elements (that are artistically matching to the background); which could be talking to people who pass by right in front of the player, talking to people and vendors at a distance, picking up a rock from the ground and attempting to throw it at a window nearby to cause some ruckus for what ever reason, attack someone, enter the buildings for an "indoors" scene of similiar nature, continuing to the alley "to the left", continuing across the market to the next similiar "scene" to the north, going backwards to the previous scene, attempting to pick a lock of a warehouse to the north-east, renting a vehicle to travel to a different part of the city - all kinds of stuff "in abstract" as in implying the character walks and talks in the scene like everyone else even if the camera (aside from panning) stays put. Even with the restrictions this kind of design would bring forth (not much wilderness exploring and dungeon crawling, not very combat centric), I think there could be a lot of potential for such a game, mechanically, artistically and narratively.
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RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS
Squeal like a pig, RPG. The name is awful; what is it with these names that people can not come up with something with at least a hint of originality and intrigue. Kindoms of Amalur: Reckoning; Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore; Kingdom come: Deliverance... Holy ****... Of the game I can't say whether interested or not. Wait'n see I guess.
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Obsidian's (rumoured) next kickstarter, what would you want to see?
A near future dystopian low scifi setting would be cool. Something akin to but not direct copy of 1984, or the like. And more specifically a game that has some but is not about combat, but about world interaction (social and otherwise). I'm completely burned out on high, semi-high and even low fantasy with their elves, orcs and swords&sorcery (or their setting related mirror image counterparts). Should that be the decision for the setup, it'd probably be a no go for me unless they managed to come up with something absolutely remarkable (which I doubt given how overused the fantasy genre is).
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Obsidian's (rumoured) next kickstarter, what would you want to see?
A Naked Lunch RPG wherein you are to interpret what's real and what's not while trotting the streets of the Interzone and spying for whoever it is you think you are spying; where the dedicated Morte-character is an insectoid typewriter.
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Obsidian's (rumoured) next kickstarter, what would you want to see?
Original low scifi or cyberpunk esque adventure RPG; that is heavy on storytelling, c&c and reactivity/interactivity, and low on combat (which could well be a little visually beefed up Wasteland, for all I care) - that plays, in all the essential ways, like this game -- beefed up in every way of course. A noir style player driven storyline, a large city to explore, interactivity and c&c up the wazoo, awesome 2D art for the scenes and characters, strong ruleset focusing more on social and utility activities than combat... the whole nine yards. I'd be all over that kind of game.
- What are you playing now?
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Kickstart Backer Badge
Missing my Kickstarter badge. Not that it matters, but hey I payed for my badge! Gimme my bagde! Right now!
- Update #69: Pillars of Eternity
- InExile is plotting to ruin Torment by making it turn-based
- InExile is plotting to ruin Torment by making it turn-based
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- STEAM!
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InExile is plotting to ruin Torment by making it turn-based
So? If you want a combat free experience and just enjoy the story, that's possible for a very large extent (or so they - InXile - say). Combat will be an occurence few and far between, focusing on quality (and apparently choice of going around it) over numbers. From the way it is explained, no matter how turnbased it might be, it will not drag the gameplay down unless you knowingly choose to prolong it (by means of how you play and how many fights you choose to fight). Not to mention, combat will be tied to the storytelling in some ways, so - if chosen to fight - it's not really just something you wish to get over with so you can get back to the story and adventuring. Someone do correct me if I'm talking out of my ass here.
- InExile is plotting to ruin Torment by making it turn-based