Oblivion is an open exploration game and it takes place in one country (16 square miles?).

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I don't know why, but this somehow instills some hope in me of Obsidian at least not sitting around their table laughing at my vision.

brothels,  brothels,  brothels, , brothels etc.)

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Which reminds me, I hope there are a lot of romances in the game.

 

I especially want an alien romance that I can pursue.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want the entire game to take place on the Peragus facility, but c'mon, those future-industrial corridors with poor lighting were pretty awesome.

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No PC vent-crawling.

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I was actually reffering to the Nostromo / colony with the corridors. I don't want vent-crawls either.

 

There are people here who haven't seen Alien.

 

:S

 

You are hereby forbidden to express any opinion about sci filive untill you have redeemed yourselves. Die n00bs die.

fxed.

Edited January 5, 200719 yr by Pop

An open exploration type Alien game would worry me.  Mainly because it would imply mass infections of many worlds.  We're talking doomsday scenario here, people.

Oblivion is an open exploration game and it takes place in one country (16 square miles?).

I kind of meant that in the context of the message I was responding to. Open-space/multiple-world exploration.

 

"Why not create a whole universe for the player to play in"

 

DOOMSDAY

Edited January 5, 200719 yr by Tale

I actually like the idea of having one fully realized colony instead of those little pathethic excuses of places that Bioware named "planets" in Kotor. Assuming Obsidian will use the UE3 for this project, huge maps should be finally feasible, maybe representing whole districts of a colony (think of dividing it in functionality: brothels, terraformer-worker district, brothels, military district, researcher dictrict, brothels, some sort of a park district, brothels etc.) should add to the realism of the place.

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Outland is a brilliant example of a solar system mining colony.

Hey, good point.

I remember that movie being a disaster but maybe I'm mixing it up with The Highlander sequel.

Wow, they're some good drugs you've got, mixing up those two films.

Can't complain about drugs.

Can't complain about drugs.

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I can. Because I can't get none.

Can't complain about drugs.

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I can. Because I can't get none.

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Do what I did: Get kidney stones you'll get a neverending supply of oral narcotics. Of course, you'll probably need them for non-recreational use.

 

But yeah, this is all totally relevant to the Alien game. I'm sure we'll get some smugglers to fight or something, assuming we fight anything other than aliens, and when we kill them, we get all their drugs!

 

It's a minor part of the game, but KOTOR2 had its chems and NWN2 had its potions. Drugs are going to be the most obvious way of buffing stats and healing in Alien. But given the dark nature of the universe, would there be side effects, addiction and withdrawal (things that apparently don't exist in SW)?

 

Also, I'll pitch this one to Josh: Are you planning on implementing an item creation system into the Alien game? Given that there have been such systems in the other two Obsidian games, is item creation something that Obsidian holds as imminently desirable in all of its RPGs?

Edited January 6, 200719 yr by Pop

Space Rangers 2 had drug use and side-effects.

Wow, they're some good drugs you've got, mixing up those two films.

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Also, I'll pitch this one to Josh: Are you planning on implementing an item creation system into the Alien game? Given that there have been such systems in the other two Obsidian games, is item creation something that Obsidian holds as imminently desirable in all of its RPGs?

One thing that I want to state is that while this game needs to have things that make it recognizably an RPG, I think there are some RPG conventions that would feel/seem really corny in the relatively realistic Alien setting.

 

For whatever reason, slapping mithril ingots and gems onto a workbench and making a dragon slaying sword doesn't jar most people in fantasy RPGs, but doing the same thing to get an upgraded pulse rifle or a brand new type of weapon seems kind of goofy in the Alien context.

 

Anyway, I do think there are ways to approach item creation or upgrading in a way that seems plausible and fitting for the setting without feeling like RPG Convention #12.

brothels,  brothels,  brothels, , brothels etc.)

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I especially want an alien romance that I can pursue.

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It's been confirmed.

For whatever reason, slapping mithril ingots and gems onto a workbench and making a dragon slaying sword doesn't jar most people in fantasy RPGs, but doing the same thing to get an upgraded pulse rifle or a brand new type of weapon seems kind of goofy in the Alien context.

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you think? ^_^

 

 

brothels,  brothels,  brothels, , brothels etc.)

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I especially want an alien romance that I can pursue.

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It's been confirmed.

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Awesome. Now all we need is a stronghold quest, ninjas, miniguns and um katanas.

 

I'm ready to buy 2 copies.

Edited January 6, 200719 yr by CrashGirl

Nanchos, not katanas

Anyway, I do think there are ways to approach item creation or upgrading in a way that seems plausible and fitting for the setting without feeling like RPG Convention #12.

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But can we reload our own ammunition?

With the immortal pulse rifle, smart rifle, and flame thrower, the Aliens team has already pretty much defined the firearms technology of the Alien franchise. Having the same basic selection of weaponry, but making them highly customizeable, could give an Alien game an interesting RPG twist. The player could go through the whole game with the same pulse rifle but gradually improve it with various attachments, drop in parts, and upgrades. This would be especially cool if the upgrades actually altered the looks and feel of the weapon instead of just accuracy and damage like in other shooter RPGs.

 

I don't personally buy the idea that you can "upgrade" a weapon, pure and simple, like you can in games like Jagged Alliance 2 and Deus Ex, where adding a scope to a weapon only makes it better at long range and doesn't give any disadvantage at close range or glueing a length of pipe to a barrel somehow equates to a "barrel extension" that does nothing but increase accuracy. Things that you can add that do nothing but upgrade a weapon's "stats" should have been done to the weapon by its manufacturer before it was ever issued. Everything a player does to a weapon should have its drawbacks as well as its bonuses.

 

A heavier barrel, a higher capacity magazine, and a bipod instead of a grenade launcher could basically turn the pulse rifle into a light machinegun, but it would be heavier and harder to swing around. A match barrel and upgraded optics could make it tool for a designated marksman, but it would be less useful for CQB. Different attachments than the grenade launcher like a flamethrower or XM26 style shotgun could be used for different situations. I see an M41A pulse rifle as being just as adaptable to different conditions and for various uses as any weapon system currently in service or currently being tested, if not potentially moreso.

A heavier barrel, a higher capacity magazine, and a bipod instead of a grenade launcher could basically turn the pulse rifle into a light machinegun, but it would be heavier and harder to swing around. A match barrel and upgraded optics could make it tool for a designated marksman, but it would be less useful for CQB. Different attachments than the grenade launcher like a flamethrower or XM26 style shotgun could be used for different situations. I see an M41A pulse rifle as being just as adaptable to different conditions and for various uses as any weapon system currently in service or currently being tested, if not potentially moreso.

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Hey, I like that idea.

Things that you can add that do nothing but upgrade a weapon's "stats" should have been done to the weapon by its manufacturer before it was ever issued.

I don't know about that. Military-issue equipment is often deployed in different configurations for different units. Some configurations are undoubtedly better than others, without any significant drawbacks. The M4 comes to mind. Obviously, a tank crew doesn't need all the bells and whistles that the spec ops version comes with, that incidentally happen to raise the cost of each unit significantly.

 

Everything a player does to a weapon should have its drawbacks as well as its bonuses.

Well, that could work for major stuff like longer barrels, but I don't see how equipping the gun with a laser pointer should make it more cumbersome, for instance.

 

 

A heavier barrel, a higher capacity magazine, and a bipod instead of a grenade launcher could basically turn the pulse rifle into a light machinegun, but it would be heavier and harder to swing around. A match barrel and upgraded optics could make it tool for a designated marksman, but it would be less useful for CQB. Different attachments than the grenade launcher like a flamethrower or XM26 style shotgun could be used for different situations. I see an M41A pulse rifle as being just as adaptable to different conditions and for various uses as any weapon system currently in service or currently being tested, if not potentially moreso.

Well, if we are getting into some serious weapon talk, there are a couple things that I would like to see. Weapons should always be subject to damage, degradation, failure, and loss. One thing that bugs me in most crpgs is that once you get TEH ULTIMATE GAT, it's basically yours forever. It's never going to get stolen or lost or dropped off the edge of a 30 meter ledge into a vat of boiling metal. This leads directly into UBER-WEAPON SYNDROME which I can't stand. No weapon should be able to last forever without care and maintenance, and even then just bad luck or a sneaky NPC shoudl be able to relive you of it for good, forcing you to acquire some other new weapon to replace it.

Edited January 6, 200719 yr by CrashGirl

I don't know about that. Military-issue equipment is often deployed in different configurations for different units. Some configurations are undoubtedly better than others, without any significant drawbacks. The M4 comes to mind.

 

None of those little attachments increases the velocity of the bullet coming out of the M4, makes it naturally more accurate, or reduces felt recoil except maybe by making it heavier. I didn't mean to say that certain attachments wouldn't obviously have their benefits, but they shouldn't make the basic "stats" of the weapon so common in RPGs magically go up.

 

Everything a player does to a weapon should have its drawbacks as well as its bonuses.

Well, that could work for major stuff like longer barrels, but I don't see how equipping the gun with a laser pointer should make it more cumbersome, for instance.

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It could potentially take up space for other attachments, supposing that all the minor attachments aren't cleverly designed to go in separate places, and I see laser sights as more of a gimmick anyway. A decent red-dot sighting system would be far superior for a trained marine, especially in a shooter game where, firing from the hip, you probably have that convenient crosshair in the middle of your screen anyway.

Well, I think increasing weapon skill is better than too much focus on weapon upgrades, but thats just me.

 

By the time you are getting close to the end of the game the pulse rifle's 'dougnut scatter' would group a lot closer to the target.

 

 

It's also important to have a good starter handgun that feels and sounds convincing. I don't want to feel deprived untill I find better weapon.

Edited January 6, 200719 yr by Gorgon

Well, if we are getting into some serious weapon talk, there are a couple things that I would like to see.  Weapons should always be subject to damage, degradation, failure, and loss.  One thing that bugs me in most crpgs is that once you get TEH ULTIMATE GAT, it's basically yours forever.  It's never going to get stolen or lost or dropped off the edge of a 30 meter ledge into a vat of boiling metal.  This leads directly into UBER-WEAPON SYNDROME which I can't stand.  No weapon should be able to last forever without care and maintenance, and even then just bad luck or a sneaky NPC shoudl be able to relive you of it for good, forcing you to acquire some other new weapon to replace it.

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SS2 had weapon maintenance, IIRC.

 

As long as it doesn't become un-fun, I don't mind at all.