rjshae

I don't know the answer to this, but in thinking about it I suspect one could make a pretty good rendition of Daybreak 2250 by Andre Norton using the engine. You'd need a large feline predator model though.

Heh, yeah, when I first got the card myself, all I could think of was "I have mail from China?". This does mean that the NSA will be keeping a closer eye on you from now on...

I wonder what the blue sling thingie is at the back of the desk?

Nice interview. Thanks for the update.

This old fella's got the right idea...

In a sense, adventuring is your job. But I wouldn't mind seeing a CRPG implement a more plausible careers system like they have in Warhammer FRP.

I think it would get boring very quickly.

Ideally, what I think I'd like to have for each of my characters is two weapon slots for each of the three possible armor types, for a total of six slots. For example: Light armor: [left] [right] Medium armor: [left] [right] Heavy armor: [left] [armor] I can then fill each of those slot pairs prior to combat, with the possibility that the same weapon and shield can appear in two or three of the weapon slot pairs. Whenever I send a character to attack a particular opponent, he'll automatically switch to the appropriate weapon/shield type for the enemy armor. That way I don't need to micromanage the weapon types unless I choose to do so.

I believe that AC modifier came from the old AD&D rules. It didn't exist in D&D v3; good riddance. About the only use I found for multiple weapon slots in BG2 was for characters that switched between melee/ranged weapons, or the occasional need for a blunt weapon when an enemy was immune to slash/pierce.

Tales of Terrene -- a steampunk-themed adventure RPG with an isometric perspective, built in Unity. No rendered characters yet.

On purpose.

I didn't particularly like the CRPG D&D implementation of Concentration; it had too much of a spell-casting focus. They could just as easily have used Willpower with adjustments.

^^^ Yes, degradation only while in combat, combined with the possibility of catastrophic failure, would make implementation much more worthwhile in terms of presenting a challenge to the player. But I'm not sure it would be that popular. Perhaps as an expert or hardcore mode option?

Usually awful good; occasionally neutral smart-ass with good leanings. I don't find evil characters appealing, but the anti-hero role can be interesting.

This is a more reasonable objection than many I've read. Thank you.

The patches are available from here on the new site. I'm not really sure whether the auto-updater would work with that site, but I've always used the NWNPatcher tool and that seems to work okay.

Following the demise of the item durability system, I'd like to see some type of abstract mechanic take its place. For this reason, I'm proposing the following feat-like ability that represents a character who takes better care of his equipment and therefore has less need to stock replacement parts. It also represents techniques for carrying gear in a balanced, efficient manner and making the individual items more readily accessible during combat. Gear Master Your long field experience with equipment maintenance, stowage, and retrieval has made you an expert at transporting gear and keeping it in good condition and ready for use. For this reason, the amount of gear you can access during combat is permanently increased by [several slots]. You can only take this ability once. I'd suggest an Intelligence-based prerequisite.

Since item durability is now being abstracted, I suppose one might think of the limited size of the equipment inventory as modelling the need for replacement parts as you describe. Instead of having slots for five breakable shields, useable in different situations, you may now only get one or two slots for unbreakable shields. Perhaps the designers will allow you to select an ability to individually gain extra equipment slots, making that the equivalent of being able to better maintain and transport your equipment?

BGEE/BG2EE done to the D&D v3.5e rule set would have been a worthwhile purchase. But that would take a much greater modification to the game engine.

Presumably the same internal mechanic that is avoiding durability issues is also working to maintain a honed edge. Hence a separate sharpening system doesn't really buy you anything new. It's apparently only the effects within a combat session that matter with regard to your equipment quality and availability.

I believe he is referring to the fact that PE combat is going to be a series of rock/paper/scissors. All party members will have two or more "weapon sets" that will allow each character to rapidly change their weapons. This is being implemented because they are also adding "flavor" by each type of weapon (crushing, piercing, slashing) being "best" against certain types of armor. (IE: War hammers (crushing) are better than a dagger (piercing) against plate armor.) So your characters will be constantly be switching weapon sets, even within the same battle. I'm hopeful that sort of thing can be handled by the AI for the most part. Guess we'll see...

They could still implement the rough equivalent by allowing disarm-type attacks, along with damaged loot capability. But I suppose that would be "punishing" the player. We want no part of that here, sir. Go get 'em tiger.

Mmm... mostly. They'll still need to add higher level spells and capabilities. I'll bet there's also a temptation to expand the base system, perhaps with new races, classes, or what have you. New races always ruin games. And BG:ToB hit a logical limitation with all the new levels, you basically became a god. Some other way has to be found. I haven't found new races to be the ruin of a game, but our experiences are clearly different. You might be able to carve out a power base and then start developing talent to carry out your orders. That up and coming talent can then be the leaders of your new adventurers. Perhaps multiple teams carrying out simultaneous missions, each run as separate episodes, with the outcomes influencing other events. Or you just start over with a new story thread and a new hero. Perhaps the offspring of your previous hero?

They could still implement the rough equivalent by allowing disarm-type attacks, along with damaged loot capability. But I suppose that would be "punishing" the player.

It might be useful to have a barter system for magic items. A high-end guild coster can manage various deals of the form: "will trade items X, Y, or Z for an item of type X or best offer", with a service fee paid for by the other party. This can allow you to more readily obtain an exotic item during the game.