Gromnir

You can argue the toss from many perspectives, companies often licence engines because engine maintainance is seperate task to engine use. You also have to bare in mind the level of documentation coupled with an engine. Developing a game engine and game along side each other genuinely can lead to problems, the engine technology needs to be ahead of the rest of the team. When an engine is licenced it's usually comes with alot of documentation, it's easier to use someone else's technology, atleast initially it is, over a time period it actually makes more sense to develop in house technology. ToEE is alot more ambitious than IWD. IWD isn't all that far from a professionally produce mod for baldurs gate, that's not to balk at the results, and it is more than a mere mod as it did feature engine improvements, but at it's core like alot of games they're existing on a level equivilent to mods, the extremities of which can be debated. *chuckle* am understanding your pov, but you might wanna direct this to the obsidian developers rather than make as a reply to Gromnir. having no personal experience in such things we tends to defer to experts in the field... and at least one obsidian expert disagrees with you. HA! Good Fun!

"That had nothing to do with it really..." is this 'posed to make sense? xard makes a comparison... points out that troika had a big opportunity, but did less with more... more time and resources. 'course it looks like you is arguing out o' boredom and w/o a point, so to continue would be silly. HA! Good Fun!

What was the reason for the comparison? None as far as I can tell. No I would would pick bio everyday of the week and twice on sunday. you don't know what point o' comparison was? really? then why you argue it? *shrug* in any event, troika dropped the ball with toee... is too bad too, 'cause as xard points out, atari had envisioned a kinda series o' games. 'course iwd, a game built in less time by a largely rookie design team utilizing some other developer's engine, ended up being obsidian's greatest financial success... which is sadly the reason fergie kept coming back to the iwd well when maybe it woulda' been better to put more effort into fo3 or bg3. HA! Good Fun!

What the hell do I know? I am a businessman not a game developer. I would rather they concentrate on a fun, bug free games I agree, although it might be nice to have other companies work on D&D games, have a choice plus I simply can't get enough of those. Competition is a good thing! so you question xard's comparison 'tween iwd and toee development, but truth is you honestly got no reason or basis to question such a comparrsion. it would be good to see some other companies working on d&d rules... attempting to do a better crpg implementation, but so far the folks other than bio and obsidian who has been given such chances has really dropped the ball. so, as a businessman, if you is a publisher would rather have bio develop your next d&d game, or .... somebody else? HA! Good Fun!

"You don't have to, but you might when comparing a game on a brand new engine to one that has had 7? games." so, is easier to work with an engine you designed or to try an work with some other clown's engine? some o' the iwd guys is still 'round. maybe you can pose question to them. regardless, am doubting that the iwd guys felt much compassion for tim and co. HA! Good Fun!

no, Gromnir is a nerd, thats why he complains bout writing of pst. complaining about the philosophical merits of ps:t is like complaining about the improbability of a 10 yard flying kick in a kung fu movie poo has a point... as unbelievable as that seems. chrisA's philosophical introspection were akin to the wire-fu o' your typical kung fu movie.... kinda silly and over-the-top. camp quality perhaps? as for xard... post if you will, but Gromnir is finished here. surely not need some xardist piece on the social and cultural value o' the majority o' anime available... much less another attempt to convince us that all of chrisA's cliff's notes philosophy were on par with the bestest writing you has ever found in novels. HA! am betting even chrisA would balk at such. tell it to the wind. HA! Good Fun!

is habit o' codexians to disseminate Age of Decadence stuff wherever and whenever possible... average vd disciple is little different than those hare krishnas hanging out at airports. don't look 'em in eye and never ask for more info on their religion. HA! Good Fun!

"Just because those are just opinions doesn't mean there isn't seed of (subjective/objective) truth in them." of course there ain't no truth in his opinions... not as he or you state. what is Correct elements of RPG? what is non-linear? what is Proper role of combat in a crpg? bah. is no proper or right. is not like non-linear or rpg or other such game terms were developed through painstaking scientific process. were simply convenient labels that merchants o' games and/or geek gamers/developers comes up with at some point in past. is no Truth. explain why xard likes, but try to bolster by pretending that you got some kinda hold on truth is bs. if your start point is that there is a True or Proper, then you is just as deluded as vd. bunch o' clowns arguing over what is best flavor. HA! Good Fun! ps the best flavor for ice cream is vanilla... and best pudding flavor is pistachio

sure we did. is 'cause they is simply opinions. start from pov that Cannism is Only or Right way to do something is... wacky. again, we is talking 'bout game development, not religious dogma, so notion o' canon is misplaced. HA! Good Fun!

Play some FPS's well there is your problem. might as well ask a Haredi Rabbi for fashion advice. HA! Good Fun! What's wrong with his ideas of what constitute good RPG mechanism and roleplaying in CRPG's? They're absolutely spot on. Only thing I disagree on is that I don't think only games who meet all those criteriors are RPG's. I view such games as ideal RPG's vd has opinions. we all gots opinions. Gromnir don't like twitchy, but we sure don't claim ours is the Only or even Proper manner to be doing a crpg. vd recites dogma... imagined canon as handed down from Cain... or somesuch nonsense. *shrug* he would be more dangerous if he were more clever. HA! Good Fun!

well there is your problem. might as well ask a Haredi Rabbi for fashion advice. HA! Good Fun!

mootness factor 10. as already stated, da got no alignment. HA! Good Fun!

yes. sad, isn't it? got no motivation to do otherwise. HA! Good Fun!

no alignment. there will be reputation. personally, am not too concerned 'bout art style... looked good enough from screenies we has seen. as for generic me stuff... me actually were actually encouraging for Gromnir. more than one quest ended with an unhappy resolution, and they even killed off a party member. is a step in right direction. you ain't never gonna have genuine heroic unless loss is also part o' the equation. HA! Good Fun!

am reasonably certain that da will be a good game. combat will be engaging and story will be good, and at least a few o' the characters will be borderline exceptional. ... our reservations come 'bout 'cause of origins (which we thinks is a flawed notion) as well as biowarian design philosophy predicated on making mostest people happy. if you try to make dark and gritty but is worried that you might be too dark and gritty for some... if you tries to add tough moral choices, but you is worried that many gamers will be discouraged... if you tries.... whatever. why is there a rogue class? why you got mana/health? 'cause is expected? haven't heard much 'bout combat or details o' magic system, but am reasonably certain that much like the setting, da rules and gameplay will be familiar enough not to discourage anybody. is a smarty approach to game development, and no doubt bio will end up with yet another quality game that most peoples enjoy. the thing is that Gromnir is always a little saddened when we sees that a developer like bio... a developer that got 'nuff built up good will with fans to do something more, chooses to play safe. different for sake o' different is stoopid, but doing same 'cause you believe it is expected is understandable but maybe a little discouraging too. well, at lest there ain't no stoopid alignment and no silly faith based magic... am expecting a very nice game. the thing is we ain't expecting sea change kinda stuff neither. too risky. HA! Good Fun!

Nope! it is rare to see dave in this place. much likes japanese businessmen who vacation in thailand and singapore, dave seems to end up at rpgcodex... no doubt looking for the most depraved and immoral cesspool imaginable as an extreme alternative to biowarian homogeny and it's seemingly endless zombie kitten gags. *groan* add: ""Plebeian fare". Cute." Gromnir has always had a way with words. as for origins, am understanding that the all-purpose mysterious stranger origin were dropped at some point. HA! Good Fun!

Not to say that you are lying about your identity, but could you somehow prove that you indeed who you claim to be? its dave HA! Good Fun!

"looking back, that game involved some of the most bewildering design choices in an ostensibly story-driven CRPG" tim didn't view as a story-driven crpg. tim saw as duplicating an old ad&d 1e module. unfortunately, am suspecting that he never actually were part o' a game group (as a player or dm) that tackled the adventure. toee, like most ad&d modules, were little more than a framework for players and dms to build 'pon. tim put up frame and declared his work finished. plus, while toee were big, it kinda sucked. am able to see why he chose (as a lead-in to g and d modules,) but regardless, the basic material were terrible. he starts with a bad module, and di almost nothing with it. huh? but to stay on topic, the combat were pretty good. HA! Good Fun!

*shrug* as Gromnir already stated earlier in the thread, whether you borrow conventions from tolkien or pullman not matter to us so much as how you implement. "Will it continue to offend my delicately jaded palette like your most last few titles?" hmm. once a fortnight or so, Gromnir embraces more... common diversions. takes the 1955 recording of Gould's Goldberg Variations off the phonograph, and set aside that first edition Pale Fire. put a cork in the 1982 Chateu Le fiet Rothschild and forgo the pheasant... Gromnir's palette, while discriminating as ever, is also finding enjoyment in the plebeian fare currently being served up by bioware. we actually enjoyed much o' mass effect... though am still uncertain how the dialogue wheel were innovative. in any event, am looking forward to da... though am as dubious as ever 'bout those seemingly diminishing origins. HA! Good Fun!

"I'm sure you are smart enough to realize that the whole "how dark is it?" question rests entirely on what someone considers to be "dark"." am gonna agree that there is no satisfactory way to address such a question... other than with specific examples, and that ain't gonna happen. btw, we wouldn't be too confident that fans will see more in da plot than tolkien. if you give 'em conventions, people will fill in blanks, and not necessarily with material you provided. recall irenicus? he becomes the stereotypical evil-wizard-mad-with/for-power in spite of actual game development. if in da you give people orcs... throw in a twist ain't gonna be enough to disabuse people o' notion that your mythology ain't simply tolkien with a twist. 'course maybe you owe peter jackson a debt. your blight explanation is straight out of tolkien's original mythology. keep in mind that lotr were mythology more than it were meant to be lit... and a catholic mythology at that. the highhanded religious themes that were so important and integral to tolkien were far less important to peter jackson. your addition of a religious component to the basic tolkien shtick actually ain't gonna seem tolkienesque to most of your audience who identify lotr with elijah wood and ian mckellen. HA! Good Fun!

for Gromnir, toee may have been the worst of the radial menus. with multi-tiers, you could literally has radial menu extend complete across screen before accessing required spell or whatever. typically Gromnir is okie dokie with radial, but toee radial were a bit cumbersome. HA! Good Fun!

"people can and will jaw all they want about how the so-called "Helm's Deep" battle in the trailer" honestly have never actually watched the trailer. our only reason for linking da to lotr were based on the quotes attributed to you earlier in the thread. and as to why we thinks you were trying to distance da from lotr... is 'cause you and the other da developers has been saying for a couple o' years now that you were not gonna just do same old fantasy world with same old conventions (and tolkien's name has come up once or twice in those threads.) also, "The dark spawn are sort of the... you look at them and think they’re sort of like Lord of the Rings rocs, right? And in that respect they are sort of the evil horde. The idea is there is so much more behind it." sounds like you were responding to criticism that orcs=blight... or whatever. the thing that confused Gromnir is that your explanation made sound more orc-like than we had previously considered. orcs=fallen elves/angels. they is, first and foremost, destroyers of beauty who lay waste to all in their path. sauron wants to conquer, but orcs... again, Gromnir never made a genuine connection 'tween orcs and blight until we saw your quoted material in this thread. go figure. HA! Good Fun!

actually, "they" says that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. actually, the correct quote is that 'foolishness is the consistent mental quality of little hobgoblins'. not many people realise that emerson was a big sword & sorcery fan, and widely misquoted. he actually invented d&d along with his pals... we hear that thoureau always played as a ranger. emerson fancied himself a chaotic good unitarian cleric. apparently nathaniel hawthorne wanted to be a fairy princess... HA! Good Fun!

Not according to some posts I've read over the years.... case in point Gromnir hated kotor combat, but we still had fun. the kotor combat not depend on appropriate tactics or character building neither... and end battle were disproportionately tough of force users. horrible combat, but would be lying if we said we disliked game. toee, on the other hand... some toee combats were slow death (and only partly due to inexplicable slow-downs) and reach weapons and aoo were wrong, but for the most part we really enjoyed toee combat. game were pretty darn terrible in spite of fun combat. HA! Good Fun!

actually, "they" says that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. in any event, a shooter + is still a shooter. even if it allow for lots of neato options it is basically, at its core, a game 'bout timely button punching and targeting. HA! Good Fun!