Bioshock interview @TTLG

[Morgoth]

Of course he is, haven't you read the above quotes? Bioshock has to sell. Marketing is one thing, what the game at it's core is about is another thing.

[Musopticon?]

Ken Levine, a man after all our hearts.

[Hell Kitty]

I always thought Leon Boyarsky (Art Director on Fallout, Vampire:Bloodlines) got it right. Like the room of Voermann and Jeannette, the furniture and tapestry already said much about the person, or the overall moistly, decaying look of the streets. Everything looked very natural while remaining expressive in a non-forced way.

 

I found V:B rather chunky and loud.

 

But maybe it's also part of the X360, I heard MS enforces developers to increase the saturation so that people can say "Ohhhh and Ahhhh!!!!".

 

Not quite as ridiculous as the guy on the ISA forums who claimed MS forced devs to make heavy use of "xbox green", but close enough.

 

Anyway, when I grow up, I'm going to marry Ken Levine.

[Musopticon?]

Yeah, the Deadly Shadows box art was definetly a sign of MS oppression.

[metadigital]

System Shock 2 IS an FPS. As was System Shock 1. Both games do some genre blending: System Shock 1 made heavy use of adventure and arcade game elements; System Shock 2 made heavy use of rpg elements.

 

SS2 is more of an rpg than say STALKER because it does allow you to develop your character both through the spending of skill points (called cyber-modules in game) and also by finding and using sofware implants, but there is no dialogue, no alternate quest solutions, none of the other aspects of a crpg. Your goal in SS2 was the same as STALKER: kill everything that gets in your way. Ergo: FPS.

^^ Like she said.

I saw the new footage on Gametrailers (which apparently is running on the 360 version). Looks nice enough, but it portrays the game as an elaborate FPS with more exploration and a RPGesque character system, but still a FPS. Though, to be fair, they only showed mainly combat.

 

I haven't played SS2, so I can't attest to how much more awesome that's supposed to be.

 

I'm glad they didn't overexpose the Big Daddy crap AGAIN. That's already getting old even before the game is out. Though at least this time that fight actually looks like it could be fun. They need to show more of the rest of the game, though.

Well, that's probably because Levine is promoting the game as FPS first, and a broader, deeper game experience second. The gameplay is apparently non-linear, though, meaning you can approach the various level gateways from different directions.

 

SS2 is well worth a game.

Christmas Tree.

Now that would be a Weihnachtsbaum. While a Weihnachtsbaum is often made from a Tannenbaum, it doesn't always mean every Tannenbaum is a Weihnachtsbaum....you see?

Isn't there a carol called Tannenbaum (..., O Tannenbaum wie sind die deine blatter or something) (which I had to memorize in high school)?

[Tel Aviv]

Looks like Christina Ricci, gone all "Addams Family Values" on our arses again.

[Morgoth]

Anyway, when I grow up, I'm going to marry Ken Levine.

Sorry child, but Ken's already married. But I am still available....

[Sand]

I definitely need to improve my reflexes before getting this game.

[Morgoth]

Interview with Ed Orman

 

"Ed Orman: There are very substantial gameplay differences between the two versions. Look, our heritage is PC. We’ve taken the differences between the two platforms very seriously. We look at history, we look at other PC/console games like Deus Ex 2. We realized that you need to treat them differently. Not only in terms of the balance, but also in the interface. We have a very different interface for the PC version of Bioshock, using much more drag and drop functionality. In terms of the gameplay, we’ve rebalanced all of the enemies to make the PC version harder. We’ve taken Softlock out of the PC version. You need this “locking on” with a console, because it’s so much harder to aim at something with a game pad, but you don’t need it on a PC. But of course, the Xbox 360 version still is the lead version of Bioshock."

Edited June 6, 2007 by Morgoth

[Slowtrain]

Its interesting to see that there are developers who actually admit that there are differences between pc and console game design. Its not something I've heard very often.

 

Its also interesting to see developers specifically point to IW as an example (read between the lines) of a cross-platform design that didn't work very well.

[Morgoth]

They only have to say nice things if Microsoft would be the publisher.

[metadigital]

Its interesting to see that there are developers who actually admit that there are differences between pc and console game design. Its not something I've heard very often.

 

Its also interesting to see developers specifically point to IW as an example (read between the lines) of a cross-platform design that didn't work very well.

100%

[Pop]

 

According to Joystiq, the inspiration for the story will be... Ayn Rand! The laziest philosopher of the 20th century just keeps making headway into gaming. My interest in this game has effectively been halved.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Pop

[Xard]

Isn't that a bit like Goa-

 

Nevermind

 

Ugh, Rand?

 

 

Finnish gaming media has "warned" PC gamers waiting for System Shock's spiritual successor, that they might be disappointed. Console audiences on other hand should fell in love with this game.

 

It looks like game is heavy with action and - at least to the point they managed to get - quite linear =/

 

Not much of the RPGism left it looks like.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Xard

[metadigital]

Hmm. Linear is not so good, though I'll wait to read a full playthrough review.

According to Joystiq, the inspiration for the story will be... Ayn Rand! The laziest philosopher of the 20th century just keeps making headway into gaming. My interest in this game has effectively been halved.

Nothing wrong with a broadside attack on the feculent nonsense she spouts.

[Tel Aviv]

Linear? Curbed RPGism? Rand? Ohnos.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Tel Aviv

[Slowtrain]

Based on what Ken Levine has said about the game, there is a good deal of depth to it that is simply not being pushed in the pr campaign because it won't really sell the game. But that doesn't mean the depth is not there.

 

Also, I should point out that both SS2 and Thief were fairly linear games. Thief was mission-based and SS2 only opened up new levels as tasks were completed (as did System Shock 1). Within the levels you had a good deal of freedom how you approached things. Same as Deus Ex.

 

 

A lot of people seem to a) not know or remember the actual gameplay of SS2 and b) are expecting Bioshock to be something it is not.

 

Bioshock is a first person shooter. As was System Shock 2. Ken Levine has never said anything but.

[Xard]

Bioshock is a first person shooter. As was System Shock 2.

 

I remember some board members flipping out when I said that thing

[metadigital]

System Shock 2 was very linear. And there's nothing wrong with that; having a clear goal doesn't equate to unfun. Gabe Newell's Half-Lifes are notoriously on-a-rail (they even called one of the levels that!). Deus Ex was quite linear, too: there were distinct gates to the next level that could be achieved through a few different sub-goals, each of which could be, in turn, achieved according to the individual players' strategies (which I think is the best part of the game ... apart from the truth-in-plain-sight conspiracy, and the super-realistic science fiction and nanotechnology enabling magical abilities, and the super-duper graphics, and the sublime soundtrack, and the excellent writing, and the sensational gameplay, and the cynical social commentary, and ...).

 

The biggest improvement Bethesda made to Morrowind was, in my excellent and worthy opinion, the tracking system in the journal. (It was beyond tolerance to have to hunt through the hundreds of diary pages to find a quest that you wanted to continue in the local geographic zone.)

[Slowtrain]

System Shock 2 was very linear. And there's nothing wrong with that; having a clear goal doesn't equate to unfun.

 

 

Exactly. Although clear goals are not neccessarily dependent on how linear.

 

I don't understand why it seems one of the major "complaints" that is being offered up by people who are playing these pre-release builds of Bioshock is about the linearity of the game.

 

 

Not only did SS2 only open up levels as certain tasks were completed, but within each level access to certain areas was strictly controlled by the need to find access cards and passcodes to open up otherwise unpassable doorways and bulkheads. In the hydroponics level for example, first you had to find the access card for section A, which in turn contained the access card for section B, which in turn contained the access card for section C, which in turn contained the access card for Seciton D, and onyl by completing all four sections could you clear the elevator shaft which would allow you to take the elvator to the next level of the game! In many ways SS2 was even more of a "keyhunt" than Doom ever was.

 

The linearity was more cleverly disguised than in Doom certainly, but it is no less there.

 

I think SS2 has become one of those games that a lot of people like to talk about but not many have played or remember.

[Xard]

I've got (false it seems) expectation for game. I'm not sure if it was ever written/said everywhere, but I got picture that you were supposed to get roam in the city quite freely. And it looks like I'm not only one if there has been that much "disappointments" with linearity.

 

I have to say though, that linearity definetly wasn't one of main whining points in that preview I talked about

[metadigital]

From my understanding, there will be a lot of free-roaming in areas, very much like Deus Ex.

 

Having a key is just a formal way of preventing players from inadvertently blundering ahead of times into areas that will obliterate their PC.

[Slowtrain]

I'm not saying Bioshock is going to be exactly like SS2 in design, btw. Only that if you go by what Levine has worked on in the past, he is not opposed to linearity, so I think it would be unfair to criticize Bioshock for being somewhat linear ( if it turns out in fact to be that way).

[metadigital]

Too late!

Bioshock is going to be exactly like SS2 in design

[Musopticon?]

I remember when there was talk about Bioshock on the dead ISA boards.

 

I'm pretty sure that Ayn Rand is going to get a lot of dirt on her proverbial pack. Failed utopias and all.