Tuco Benedicto

I'm completely indifferent to this issue. I'm not for (or against) either cooldowns or memorized spells, just to their inappropriate use. Cooldowns can be a completely legit way to force some balance in abilities that are intended for a frequent use but you don't want to see spammed, while memorization (or similar mechanics) can be far more appropriate use for spells intended for a very delayed use or to make them a limited resource (i.e. "You have just four spells of this kind and you won't be able to use them anymore unless you rest"). Beside, they aren't even mutually exclusive systems and they can easily coexist. P.S. On a side note, I fiercely dislike the low flexibility on the memorization system in D&D, but I recently I heard a very nice variant to the same idea: Chaos Chronicles' developers are implementing in their new turn based RPG a slot system similar to the D&D one, but instead of memorizing every single spell a caster wnats to use, he simply has a limited number of slots for each spell level, and then as far as slots are available, he can cast freely *any* spell in that level range. To put it simple: - In D&D a mage who knows six "level 3 spells" and that can cast three of them every day needs to choose exactly which ones he want to memorize for the day. - In Chaos Chronicles a mage who knows six "level 3 spells" and that can cast 3 of them every day doesn't need to memorize crap, he just can cast any of these spells for a max amount of three of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fJSxbVSKLw

If your progressing system is deeply flawed in principle, no amount of rushed "tweaks" to adjust the difficulty setting can make it reasonable or interesting. Personally I'm all for systems with a horizontal growth instead of a vertical one. Your character becomes more lethal, versatile and experienced, as it's supposed to be, but he can still be killed by low level enemies if he doesn't even try to defend himself or if he acts poorly. Exponential growth is the worst offender. The idea that a character can go from 60 hp to 9000, for instance, is so stupid. Games that nailed very well that principle, "Of course you are becoming more powerful and experienced in a noticeable way, but you still are potentially very vulnerable", are Mount & Blade and Dark Souls, just to name a few. Or Darklands, if we are talking about party based games.

Old school "Western" RPGs are probably more popular in Europe than in the U.S. market, so I don't think any particular effort is needed in that sense.

I'm not sure what's supposed to make them inappropriate, when it's entirely possible that the setting could include some culture inspired by Asian countries. I'm not even saying I *want* Japanese weapons in the game (if anything I would be more for a Mongolian inspired culture), it's just that I find this kind of baseless knee-jerk reaction a bit hilarious. And THIS is the only right answer as far as I'm concerned, by the way. There is a reason if standard war equipment changed over time based on the technology level, and it's that some weapons were simply more effective in specific typologies of warfare.

Let me refresh your memory. This was a 3D battle: and these 2D background in FFVII: EDIT: and those screens were from a time when 2D still had a lot of advantages over 3D that don't exist anymore today.

I did, actually. I always found it ugly, especially when it comes to 2D backdrop and world exploration. 3D battles are (were) the only decent looking parts. Beside, I never liked the game itself that much *AND* FF XII looks actually far better (even if it has some hideous character design and the game is a borefest).

Does not compute.

i don't see why. Actually, that's pretty much what I was expecting to see in this game.

Ahah, yeah. i remember that pretty much any Baldur's Gate/IE fan I knew back then hated the game fiercely, for both its visuals and its changes to the party-based formula. The game started becoming popular and loved just after a while, mostly for its multiplayer features (that I personally didn't care about, at all).

I wouldn't reall ysay that. i always found them unbearably ugly even when they were brand new, let alone now that obsolescence comes into play. Actually Wasteland 2 is going for full 3D. Not a particularly pretty one, either, from what they've shown so far. But, oh, well, I can live with that,

Darklands has by far the most interesting system for "clerical magic" that I can remember of. Nothing comes even close. It's also one of my all time favorite games. That said, I'm not sure that system could fit this kind of game. But of course you wouldn't hear complaints from me if they try. P.S. roughly half of of the repies in this thread clearly didn't understand how the system actually worked. You are nitpicking over just one example over dozens that he could give you, guys. Who said anything about them being *permanent*? They weren't. Beside "stat boosts" were just one possible outcome out of hundreds. You were able to pray a Saint to drive away a pack of wolves hunting your party, to exorcise a cursed altar, to give you divine inspiration about something, and so on.

They actually did. of course, you can notice their shortcomings now, but that doesn't mean much, as it's even worse for many 3D games released at the same time or even few years later (I mean, NWN 1 and 2 are FAR more ugly than any IE title, and they should be way more modern). That said, I'm not exactly into this kool-aid of "2D is always better!!1!" and I actually think that given enough budget and talented artists a 3D game today can look significantly better than a 2D one, even using an isometric perspective (just look at DOTA 2, for instance. Like the art direction or not, that game is absolutely gorgeous). 3D also makes way more manageable to add better lighting, physics, dynamic elements in the scenario, and so on. And *yet* when it comes to this game I'm all for Obsidian using 2D backdrops for many reasons: 1) I want a ****load of content, and when an area is essentially a gigantic bitmap image, it becomes incredibly more cheap to produce. 2) Obsidian... doesn't really have a great track record nailing smooth and comfortable 3D cameras and controls. 3) Even when you artists are not stellar, it's way too easy to make a 2D backdrop look nice. That said, I'm also all for 3D characters and monsters, because. 1) once again it's more cost effective. Creating 3D models ang adding dozens of animations to them is way more simple and cheap than drawing hundreds of sprites for every single character or creature. 2) given a competent animator, the result will most likely also look prettier in action. 3) when you have to take huge customization into consideration, it's way more simple to change a skin or add a detail to a 3D model than drawing additional variations to 2D sprites that must take into account characters/creatures facing many different directions. And so on. So, yeah, long story short: without being "nostalgic" at all, I still think that going for this mix (2D backdrops, 3D characters) is the smartest approach for a game with this budget and ambitions. P.S. ironically enough, most of the "beautiful 2D art in Bastion" is actually obtained out of 3D renders turned into static sprites.

...What?

My answer ("I could") was meant simply as a joke related to your previous post. You took it in the wrong way and that's completely your right, but I'm not going to apologize just because you're so sensitive and so prone to be offended over nothing. That said, if you have *other* reasons to dislike me, that's also in your right. On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea of what those reasons could be, as I don't know you, I never interacted with you at all and I didn't even notice you in any previous discussion I posted in. Whatever.

You can browse other concept arts he made for Lotro here: http://kotaku.com/58...cters/gallery/1 All very cool stuff. I wish I had a better source than Kotaku, but that's what a quick google search gave me as result.

No, the first one is from Wes Burt, an artist of Massive Black, a company that outsources art and 3D assets for game developers. This concept, specifically, is for the Rohan-themed expansion of Lords of the Rings Online.

I don't mind it. I don't care about you at all, so it's not really a problem for me. Because it's at the same time detailed, stylish and in may ways even historically accurate/believable (especially when it comes to armors)?

I could. There are many things I could criticize about The Witcher 2, but I think that in terms of general art direction and costume/armor design they are simply unmatched at the moment.

Well, I picked the dwarf ranger cause it's a binary choice. If I could ignore what Obsidian showed us so far and go for "Yo, let's hire an artist", these are the directions I would go for:

Nice touch. Not just "more realistic" but also prettier. Anyway, regardless of the boobplate, i can't say I'm particularly fond of these concept art so far. They aren't terrible by any mean, but they aren't terrific either. A bit bland and uninspired if you don't mind a honest feedback.

Isn't this argument absolutely pointless at this point in development?

I'm honestly impressed about how popular can be a pointless debate over a trivial feature like this. Weighted Gold? non-Weighted gold? It seems to be so worthless as a feature that I can't even tell if I'm for or against it. It just doesn't have any relevant gameplay implication beside adding a minor, additional variable to the inventory. Do you people *actually* care?

You must be pretty terrible at playing them. No, it's not. not when it's a real time with pause that allows you to give all the commands needed before unpausing it. I'm not saying that you should like the system, and I'm a big fan of turn based games myself, but what you are claiming here is objectively false.

I don't have any specific preference. As far as classes are highly differentiated in their role into the party and well fitted for the setting, I'm probably going to be fine with them.