Diogo Ribeiro

Thats what i said, Vol, that both are passive. Where did i said it was more passive? And the problem you're describing - amount of enemies - isn't a problem with the system itself. Thats bad design. The useless amount of bugbears in ToEE is as useless and boring as the amount of giant ants in the Broken Hills mine in FO2. Just as it was useless and boring the inane amount of sniverwhatever gnomes in the lair of the Drow Bhaalspawn in ToB that kept respawning.

The problem with most of what you wrote is that you're trying to recreate something in RT which already exists and functions quite well in TB; effectively trying to take all the inherent elements of TB forcefully fit RT for no good reason other than would-be superior form of control and AI latency. If a person states that TB is too slow, there is the option of speed sliders for all the actions in combat; or the option to increase search pathways; or the option to increase a higher graphical rate for sprites. If a person states that TB is too passive, they have to concede that so is RTWP, given you issue orders and watch combat unfold, just like TB (with the main difference that in TB you issue orders one by one, while in RTWP you can issue orders for everyone; but its passive nonetheless). If a person states that pause is a great feature because it allows you to handle your characters in a given situation, then there's two scenarios. One, the person does not like the TB method, and is not interested in a step by step control, and prefers instant and absolute control over everything with a "universal" pause. Two, they just want the control but are not particularly interested in the time it takes. If its the later, they can look to Wizardry 8, which is phase-based, and makes it so at the beginning of each round players can assign actions to every character, and they're all carried out automatically until the end of the round, where it will start all over again. If its the former, than its their preference, but being able to pause at will isn't a concept that goes in hand with good combat given it removes the challenge (one of the primary interests of combat). The only merit it has is providing a way to dictate the pace of combat. One can argue that handling all characters in one single event determined by the universal pause is cutting downtime and is an improvement, but controlling all characters in one single turn is effectivelly the same as controlling one by one. Does it take less time with the universal pause? Yes, it does. But that doesn't make it bad; its just not up to snuff with personal attention span. I understand why people would think that guiding 8 characters in 8 individual turns is boring, but controlling those same 8 all at once several times in combat isn't much of an improvement.

I think you mean RTWP instead of RT up there, otherwise you're making a false statement, as RT cannot have the same amount of options as TB on its own. RT is always hectic, with or without pause. There's no way to prevent it. The ability to pause doesn't make it less hectic. When you unpause, it resumes its hectic nature. I had stated back there it allowed for it in comparison to RT, not RTWP. The chance of error is possible, and unstopable, in most (if not all) TB games. You can "walk into a mistake" by deficient planning, you can do a certain action which has no possible escape or cancellation, such as attacking; you can't pause to cancel actions in TB, as they're carried out automatically. Pause does allow you to cancel it. In all RTWP systems I've seen to this day, thats what happens. By pausing, you can cancel pretty much everything you're doing. In RTWP you can pause to avoid delivering a blow, for instance; or pause and backtrack if you see a mage firing an area-effect spell such as Fireball; or having a mage start casting a spell, notice the enemy launched a protection against that spell, pause and order him to run away, effectively terminating the spell he was about to launch and allowing him to run away. Thats the "escape method", as it can let you flat-out cancel things. Prime candidate: all IE games. Yes it does. Note the difference between "happening in real time" and "showing how it would act out in real time". TB is a simulation of combat which shows in detail what is meant to happen in RT. It doesn't need to happen in RT to show how it would happen. That might be a flexibility to some, but I see it as a flaw. Running into more difficulties is useless if you have the ability to easilly escape them and the ability to easilly handle everything and everyone in your party. The lack of challenge it creates by adding pause isn't really making up for it.

I'm interested in knowing what is the best course, or courses, to officially become a game designer. Is there a specific degree? Do I have to learn skills from different sources, and if yes, where would be the best sources? Do I just need a cunning mind and sharp wit? What are the best colleges, specially in Europe?

Fallout:Tactics would like to have a word with you. So would the initial version of ToEE. <_<

I don't understant why people diss the Final Fantasy card games. They were fun, and required some thinking. And having the right cards for the right moment.

Get a room. All of you.

Thats not exactly the point. You said that RTWP could have the same amount of tactical options than a TB game, but RTWP is still RT, regardless, and you know well that some things just can't be done, nor carried out the same way. @Greatjon: Apparently the confusion stemed from giving similar names to different things, then. You were thinking of something somewhat different from Baldur's Gate, or NWN, which was what I was thinking by reading RTWP, so that's probably where the confusion came from. Also, that second system isn't RTWP exactly: Diablo is RT and requires constant player input; IE games dont. That was the point i was also trying to make back there, as RTWP don't even require player reflexes, and becomes passive. Well, like I said back there, both TB or RT allow you to see how you're doing, but TB has the advantage of allowing you to see it on a more relaxed frame of observation. RT is too hectic for it; its manageable, but only if the amount of things to track down is reduced. Despite having turns, TB doesn't allow you to stop the action if you're about to make a mistake. Even if you have a turn to decide how to act, the act is majorly carried out automatically. The pause feature allows for that, instant cancellation of possibly wrong moves or stopping wrong decisions from being carried out. Its much more of an escape method in that sense. Turns aren't an escape, they're just showing in detail what a character would do in real time. As for the separate turns, its not uncommon for characters to carry out their turns simultaneously. ToEE did this. Enemies would often have the same turn in the sequence and would move simultaneously, solving the usual downtime of combat. This isn't done for party members because they are all under your control. But its quite possible to have 2 or more NPCs, like enemies, to act simultaneously on a TB system. An NPC control scheme like that of Fallout (automatic), but with simultaneous movement for NPCs. But automating NPCs isn't always a good idea. I disagree, but i already gave out my view on why i disagree on that one, so I'll refrain from posting it again. @Nexus: Well you're certainly right there. I'm not a devoted fan of pure RT, but I can see its merits (fun included), and can adapt to it. And while I prefer TB over all else for combat in a CRPG, i understand how it doesn't appeal to people looking for realism. I can even tolerate RTWP, but I've yet to see it bring more fun that pure RT or more options than pure TB, hence why I don't understand the overall hype around it.

No, I'm not a mod. But I'm also not someone who likes to be insulted for no apparent reason. I don't know about you, but I don't. Perhaps you're forgetting that combat options need to be tweaked to be used in that environment, and that real time is limiting towards the amount of tactics you can have? Pausing it to issue orders doesn't undo the fact that its still real time.

Stalker seems an interesting game, but the dev team's claim that its an RPG irks me, given they've stated it won't have any character attributes, skills or levels. In short, they're trying to pass off an FPS as an RPG.

One time warning. Drop the attitude. Someone translate this. Thanks in advance.

Except that RTWP is RT at its core, and by nature RT systems cant provide it by the reason I pointed out above. There always has to be a measure of streamlining. Thats why it should be either system, not a hybrid which isn't better than either system. The main problem with RTWP is that its a hybrid that contradicts itself. It tries to keep the action of real time to make combat fast and exciting, but fails because it adds the ability to pause. An RT system is built around the concept of player reflexes, and requires the player to be constantly interacting with the game; having the ability to pause to plana nd queue actions removes the challenge of fighting in RT, and the fast-paced nature of it (amusingly some people claim that TB is way too passive, but had no problem with the passiveness of IE combat, which involved pausing, issuing orders, and just look as they were carried out - almost like TB). At the same time, it tries to keep the tactical component of TB, but fails because your ability to gauge your strategy isn't as good, and because it doesn't carry the same amount of combat options. One can play the part of the optimist and say an RTWP system could fulfill these glaring flaws in the future, but how and what for? If we already possess RT for the challenge, interaction and fast-paced combat it provides, and TB for the planning and tactical component, and if both systems work like a charm, why waste time in RTWP when it has almost zero benefits (and these benefits usually belong to user preference, and are not factual improvements)? As for the second point, I had already stated it in what I previously wrote. Why not? Why shouldn't players be able to see if what they just did, or if what they planned, is working out? In this case, how would we be able to tell if we were winning or losing? That's the problem. Depending on a pause feature in that case ends up being a quick way to correct your mistakes in combat, an "escape method" which should not exist. Adding pause to an RT system comes off as a cop-out. A player should succeed by either using his brains or his reflexes, not by how fast he can hit the pause button. I accept that you're talking of preferences, but if we go with the concept of realism, and of not being able to measure our actions on the field of battle, then pausing is extremely unrealistic - as unrealistic as turns - and a contradiction in your point. If realism is what you're after, then your argument should be to defend and/or prefer real time, not real time with pause, as the pause isn't realistic at all. And if you believe one shouldn't be able to make assessments of his strategy, then approving of a pause feature is strange, given that's the entire purpose behind adding a pause feature into an RT system. They're quite different. A speed adjustment works outside a combat system; a pause feature doesn't. One is only affecting framerates, not the entire combat system philosophy such as what a pause feature is doing.

Sometimes it isn't even as good as it. Remember BG1, where arrows followed you around everywhere. Pausing to dodge them wouldn't work.

@Volourn: Yes and no. Becuse its going in real time - with everyone moving at the same time and evrything going off at once - removes the component, as more often than not, what you tactically planed won't have the desired effect. It only reaches the same type and amount of tactics of a TB system if both the TB system you're using as comparison and the RTWP system you're thinking of are equally simple in amount of options. Its undeniable that the TB aspect of sequential turns allows for more tactical value, and trying to make it work by pausing isn't the same. Yes, you have the same amount of time to plan your actions wheter the pause is automatic or executed by you; the problem is that you lack a comparative scale of effectiveness of your actions, because of the absence of turns (it still is realtime remember? It can never be as tactical as pure TB). RTWP might be good for some people, but it isn't better, and doesn't really bring any advantages over pure TB or pure RT. If you state that pause in an RT system helps plan out actions, then you also have to remember that TB does the exact same, without your input for pause. And in that case, there is no reason to use a hybrid system when pure TB does the job better.

They are also horrid for any RT fan that actually knows what RT is about. RTWP removes the tactical layer of TB, and removed the constant player input which makes RT games interactive and fun.

You have an option to hide signatures and images posted on your account page. If its a problem, deactivate them. I did the same so pages would load faster.

MP isn't important to CRPGs, neither would it be for KoTOR2.

Dark Sun, if I remember correctly, is dead.

Fallout's combat wasn't "great", but it had many options, something that can't be said of others. You could take various paths in terms of tagged skills, perks and weapons, and you could win with most, if not all, combinations. Are there one or two "ultimate" ways? Perhaps. Most games have one. Still, it was possible to come up with different characters with different abilities that could survive in combat. A large amount of options does that.

Suggesting something is possible but then not allowing players to do it is hardly about realism. Perhaps it may add to some form of immersion into the current events, but that is different. I think its completely unapropriate as well; if something can't be done, then don't lead players into thinking otherwise. Adding these kinds of hints and then cutting the possibility of executing them only makes it feel more limited than it should. Its also a waste of time; how many lines of dialogue would have been spared if people didn't included 4 or 5 choices which led to the same thing, or if they didn't included 500 words just to explain something you can't do? That's bad design in my opinion.

Max Payne, the CRPG. Sounds good.

Thats not always possible. As much creativity as I would like to see, it may just be the case that Obsidian does not have the financial liberty of risking the release of an original game. It may be more reliable for them to release an unoriginal game which will increase their financial standing and success as a company, than risk releasing something which might not provide that much of a success and end up backfiring. You know that the market is structured like that, unfortunately. And if they have to "go with the flow" and postpone an original game so they can exist for longer, well, thats how its got to be.

I got the feeling Volourn was explaining why Grom's speech was acceptable to him (and had no problem being acceptable by for others), not necessarily arguing on behalf of Grom.