Does Obsidian intend to make an RPG like FO?

[roshan]

Does Obsidian ever intend to make a non linear game which gives the player numerous options like Fallout 2? Or did that style of RPG design die with Black Isle?

[Pidesco]

You mean like The Elder Scrolls games - non linear, lots of options. :D

[roshan]

No, not like the Elder Scrolls games!

[Pidesco]

If non linear with lots of options is what you want in an RPG, you can't go wrong with The Elder Scrolls.

[roshan]

I dont think I will like those sort of games. I find the dialogue system to be particularly repulsive.

Edited December 13, 2006 by roshan

[Pidesco]

So what you actually want is a non linear game which gives the player numerous options, and has a dialogue system like Fallout and the IE games? You wouldn't mind if it uses first person view or has real time combat, for example?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I think he would like some consequences to go with those options so the Elder Scrolls, at least in their current state, would be a no.

 

I don't think Obsidian would develop a Fallout styled game for today's mainstream market, even if they wanted to. Fortunately there is a semblance of that design in their games until now. Small comfort for someone who enjoy seeing a spiritual successor, but comfort nonetheless.

[roshan]

I dont mind real time combat. I dont like FP views though.

[Kelverin]

I would have liked an option for FP view in NWN2.

 

Morrowwind is a fine example of how NOT to do "non linear, lots of options"

Edited December 13, 2006 by Kelverin

[Pop]

I think the intent of the question is rather obvious. "Non-linear RPG like Fallout 2" is obviously meant as "Non-linear RPG that is good", thus, why the **** is anybody even talking about TES?

 

Judging from JE Sawyer's comments, if he had been lead designer from the get-go NWN2 would have been different and more akin to a Fallout style in some ways. I think it's a given that the Obsidian guys want to make a game like Fallout 2. But given the ever-escalating intricacy of game engines and greater costs in time and money required to make such a game, I think it's a long shot that they ever will.

 

Like it or not, straightforward linear games like KOTOR and NWN2 are likely the future.

Edited December 13, 2006 by Pop

[Pidesco]

I think he would like some consequences to go with those options so the Elder Scrolls, at least in their current state, would be a no.

 

I don't think Obsidian would develop a Fallout styled game for today's mainstream market, even if they wanted to. Fortunately there is a semblance of that design in their games until now. Small comfort for someone who enjoy seeing a spiritual successor, but comfort nonetheless.

 

Well, I wouldn't say Fallout was made for a mainstream market either. By definition, a Fallout styled game is not usually directed at mainstream game players. The question is whether they can make a Fallout style game profitable today, given the rising costs of game development.

 

What game mechanics made Fallout a successful game and how would you implement and change them to adapt them to today's gamer expectations? Would a more open ended NWN2 do the trick?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I didn't mean to imply it was originally aimed at a mainstream market; simply that said market is where Obsidian is now aiming its crosshairs.

 

Also I'm not a developer so I don't really get why you're asking me that

[Pidesco]

I wasn't asking you specifically, I was just throwing questions out to see where they landed.

[Slowtrain]

I don't understand why everyone is so convinced a Fo-style crpg wouldn't sell to the mainstream gamer crowd.

 

Yes, I agree you'd probably have to lose the turn-based combat or at least make it less static-feeling in some way.

 

But other than that Fo is a pretty straightforward game. I don't think too many people would have trouble getting the hang of it. I think if some development company were to make a Fallouty game that looked good and played well, it would have just as much chance as selling as any other game. Other than maybe licensed properties that have their own built-in fan base.

 

The publishers would have to get behind it and push the game of course. People aren't goign to buy a game they don't know about.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Oh.

 

Not having played NWN2 extensively I really can't say how much more open ended a game would need to be to qualify as having a design similar to Fallout. Though I'm not sure this would be the solution since there's a bit more to the game's design than being open ended. My gripe is that Fallout is not a perfect roleplaying game but a damn good framework which really hasn't been surpassed ever since it's inception. At times it feels we're actually getting worse than Fallout nowadays, with limited options to advance in a story or gameworld (ie, unkillable NPCs, the need to be the Hero or the Cruel, Bloodthirsty and Greedy... Hero), bland gameworlds, forced companions, and so on.

 

I guess that kind of breaks down some of the issues I'd try to work around but as I've stated, I'm no developer.

[Slowtrain]

Oh.

 

Not having played NWN2 extensively I really can't say how much more open ended a game would need to be to qualify as having a design similar to Fallout. Though I'm not sure this would be the solution since there's a bit more to the game's design than being open ended. My gripe is that Fallout is not a perfect roleplaying game but a damn good framework which really hasn't been surpassed ever since it's inception. At times it feels we're actually getting worse than Fallout nowadays, with limited options to advance in a story or gameworld (ie, unkillable NPCs, the need to be the Hero or the Cruel, Bloodthirsty and Greedy... Hero), bland gameworlds, forced companions, and so on.

 

I guess that kind of breaks down some of the issues I'd try to work around but as I've stated, I'm no developer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes, well, having non-complex character action possibilties has nothing to do with the mainstream market, it has to do with developers spending their time developing ludicrous things like a spinning wheel to raise your rep with npcs.

[Pidesco]

In my experience, most gamers don't want to read when playing their games. That would kind of destroy any hope of making a mainstream Fallout style game.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Fallout was never as text-heavy as Baldur's Gate or Planescape: Torment, though.

[Pidesco]

It was still too text-heavy for most people.

[roshan]

Id really like a game without yet another stupid hero plot.

 

I agree with Crashgirl, theres no reason why a game like Fallout wouldnt sell to the mainstream.

 

Neverwinter Nights 2 is pretty much a completely linear game - the plot, except for a small portion where you can choose between two factions, is completely linear. The area progression is also completely linear except for perhaps a couple of places. Not only that, most of the areas themselves are completely linear, just walk through one path killing the bad guys.

 

You dont have control over your own party, you cant kill who you want, you cant enter any houses, and except for merchants and plot characters, there isnt even anyone you can talk to. The game has no reactivity at all to your decisions. Class and race choices have no impact on the game whatsoever. The only thing NWN2 did decently was speech skills, but those generally cost you rather than provide bonuses.

 

NWN2 is by far the most dumbed down RPG experience to be had on the PC.

[Kelverin]

Judging from JE Sawyer's comments, if he had been lead designer from the get-go NWN2 would have been different and more akin to a Fallout style in some ways. I think it's a given that the Obsidian guys want to make a game like Fallout 2.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If they make an expansion for NWN2 hopefully they will implement this style of game play. NO EXCUSES.

 

NWN2 is by far the most dumbed down RPG experience to be had on the PC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:crazy: Edited December 13, 2006 by Kelverin

[Slowtrain]

In my experience, most gamers don't want to read when playing their games. That would kind of destroy any hope of making a mainstream Fallout style game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Fallout doesn't have that much text. Anyway, with dvds and such you can do voice work for much of the dialogue with the addtional space. Ideally, I think games should be moving toward a text free environment when dealign with realtime npc interaction. We don't walk around our world reading what we have to see to all the people we encounter on a daily basis.

[J.E. Sawyer]

I can't speak for the whole of Obsidian, but I would like to see us making more "open" games: open worlds with loose storylines featuring very few "critical path" points and characters. That said, I also want to make games where the choices a player makes are meaningful. Choices that don't effectively change the resulting narrative are meaningless.

[Pidesco]

The only "recent" RPG I can think of that didn't have a "stupid hero plot" was Torment.

[Jorian Drake]

The only "recent" RPG I can think of that didn't have a "stupid hero plot" was Torment.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And Arcanum, Bloodlines, ect...