What type of engine is Project X using?

[Dark Lord Revan]

Errr! No, please no FPS rpg, that would suck. It removes the last reminant of PnP when you merge the two genres.

[Judge Hades]

Errr! No, please no FPS rpg, that would suck. It removes the last reminant of PnP when you merge the two genres.

Agreed.

[mkreku]

Needless to say I never ever played any Pen & Paper RPG's.. I tried, but we never got past the initial setup. We rolled dices to create our characters until we were blue in the face and then went outside to play football (soccer for the americans) instead.

[Ellester]

FPS is fine if your only playing one character, but if you have NPC's or create your own party FPS view sucks. Wizardy 8 was pretty weird when you couldn't see your own party members. I didn't care for it.

[mkreku]

FPS is fine if your only playing one character, but if you have NPC's or create your own party FPS view sucks. Wizardy 8 was pretty weird when you couldn't see your own party members. I didn't care for it.

I thought FPS worked pretty well in KotOR even though I had a small gang of 3 people with me almost all the time. Except when I was running around in some location I forgot the name of and the corridors were really narrow and my little party got stuck all the time.. That sucked some, but other than that it worked.

[Arkan]

KotOR isn't first person, though.

[mkreku]

KotOR isn't first person, though.

I know, but I kind of put third person 3D games in the same category as first person 3D games.. It's like.. I think of Deus Ex (first person), Gothic (third person) and Morrowind (first and third person) as being in the same subgenre of RPG's.

 

I do this with action titles too.. I call Max Payne 2 a FPS too, even though it's played in a third person view.

 

Sorry if I'm confusing anyone.

[Iolo]

Parties work better in third person games than in first person perspective games though or at least the games I have seen so far did.

[mkreku]

Parties work better in third person games than in first person perspective games though or at least the games I have seen so far did.

Yes, and I, personally, think RPG's work better with lone heroes than with parties.

[Iolo]

Depends on the game. D&D games don't work as a single character game because the game is meant to be party based with each character fulfilling a different role. That is why I didn't like NWN as a single player game. You need at least 4 characters in a D&D party. It felt like it was nerfed so a lone Bard could win.

[Unit-Qz52]

The biggest difference I see between third person and first person is in third person you aren't physically aiming with pinpoint accuracy while first person is very much geared like a shooter. First person melee is usually pretty clunky and bizarre in all the games I have seen it in. The most advanced first person melee game I can think of off hand is Die By the Sword. If your game is going to rely on stat skills rather than player skill then first person is probably a bad idea.

 

There is always innovation though.

[mkreku]

If your game is going to rely on stat skills rather than player skill then first person is probably a bad idea.

I always thought that too, but Deus Ex really pulled it off. When you started the game you had low stats in everything, so when you picked up your first sniper rifle (for example) and aimed through its sights, your aim swayed heavily in all directions. If you're a skilled player (unlike me) you could probably hit anything anyhow, but it was definitely much harder than your average FPS. After a while of playing you got the chance to modify your weapons and you could add (again for example) weights to your sniper rifle, balancing it. It made your weapon steadier and slightly easier to aim with. Or you could spend the experience points you got by solving quests and killing foes by upgrading your sniper rifle skills, thus making it even easier to aim. In the end you had perfect accuracy and your aim was completely still. Even though Deus Ex is played in a first person view, it still relies heavily on stats. And it works perfectly.

[Iolo]

They removed that actually in Deus Ex 2. It is now just based on player skill. Morrowind has it still though and I thought it was okay but the combat could have used more variety to it.

[mkreku]

They removed that actually in Deus Ex 2. It is now just based on player skill. Morrowind has it still though and I thought it was okay but the combat could have used more variety to it.

So I've heard. I've read nothing but bad things about Deus Ex: Invisible War and I'm going to have to review it when it is released later this month. It scares me, since Deus Ex (the original) belongs on my "Top 5 Games Of All Time"-list.

[Unit-Qz52]

Even though Deus Ex is played in a first person view, it still relies heavily on stats. And it works perfectly.

This is a great example of how the two concepts can be merged into a great game. I can easily see how they can be implemented on a shooter but how about in a melee style game? That is where it gets much more difficult. System shock was another game that benefited from using mods to upgrade your character on top of the players skill. Anyone know of a melee style game that has tried it or pulled if off creating fun gameplay?

[Iolo]

What about Morrowind? First person perspective with melee skills like long blade, axe and others where your proficiency in combat with the weapon goes up as you increase in level. The problem with Morrowind is that it could have used more variety in what you can do with the melee combat. I am sure most people just selected always use best attack but I may be wrong. So it may not have been sucessful at it.

[Karzak]

Deus ex is one of my favorite games as well, its a shame about DE2.

[Unit-Qz52]

What about Morrowind?

I cant be a completely fair judge of Morrowind, I only played it for about 3 or 4 hours worth. What I remember is that as first person it was very hard to control. Much harder than a shooter and the accuracy was not anything close to pinpoint. It was pretty much hit or miss as I remember. Morrowind is a great example of a game that tried to go first person with third person functionality and proved to me why it still hasn't been done as well as I would like. I love first person immersiveness but melee combat has always left a bad taste.

[Hell Kitty]

KOTOR used the Odyssey Engine, it says so right there on the box. How modified it is from the Aurora Engine only matters when it comes to praising or criticising it.