Like you say, the Alien is somthing that HAS to be feared, even if they're being gunned down like they were in Aliens. Though maybe it isn't the one who's picking his nose in the sight of your smartgun that's the problem, but it's the one who's COMING THROUGH THE WALLS behind you, or the facehugger you didn't even notice who's about to rape your mouth, or the 30 other aliens just around the corner, or the ones in the vents just waiting for you to make some noise.

 

The motion sensor in AvP was genius for this reason. You'd THINK that it was a tool to help you, and this is true, but it was used far more often as a tool to scare the living poop out of you.

When I first played the game, I spent about 10 minutes manovering myself around a blip on my sensor, trying to see what was there. Turns out it was a chain that was flailing about a bit. A freaking chain. I then got bumraped by a drone who'd snuck up behind me.

Hahhah, and the goddamn elevator doors, remember? They had to show on the freaking scanner, everytime.

 

 

Having written that, Obsidian should implement motion dectector.

Having written that, Obsidian should implement motion dectector.

 

Agree.

Thread Pruned - yeah, yeah I know ...

My only fear is that they'll listen to the fanboys.

they could cut the chest buster scene, doing that ****ed the AvP movie right in the ass.

 

 

some one allready mentioned it but: i'd be cool with a resident evil 4 clone.

 

p.s. read the press release, gearbox is doing the fps.

So, I'm reading Chris Avellone is the Creative Lead Designer on this game. Mr. Avellone, in the unlikely event you happen to read this, I just want to thank you for Planescape: Torment. That game remains my favourite CRPG. It's not true that all gamers don't like to read; I love to read. Some of us, honestly, enjoy a good story with memorable characters. Please don't forget about us. Thanks.

You could just email him. Or throw a yahoo at his blog.

Or throw a yahoo at his blog.

What would throwing Architect at his blog accomplish?

Edited August 10, 200718 yr by Tale

Attention. Not that many have thrown him. Maybe tossed, but not thrown.

How is Obsidian going to screw this up?

Not much interaction here for starters it seems.

How is Obsidian going to screw this up?

Not much interaction here for starters it seems.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Oh WoW! A real live developer. That is so awesome!

Oh WoW! A real live developer. That is so awesome!

 

Indeed, your comment has summoned me through the magic of "Topic Subscription Reply Notifications," or some such...

Two words.

 

Cave rave.

How is Obsidian going to screw this up?

I will keep this optimistic as possible.

 

1. They continue to release games, which carry the logic "This is a learning experience." As a light consumer of games, I don't want to be used as a tool, so they can keep learning how to build games. KotOR II had some really nice qualities, but it felt too much like an acedemic piece. When consumers place hardworking money down on any item, they don't want to purchase a product that is being used as a learning experience. People want to purchase products that are of the best quality, and not ones that have issues in editting, sound, music, movies, etc... NWN II is just as bad.

 

NWN II and KotOR II are really nice pieces. If they were only more polished off, I think people would be more apprechiative.

 

2. Creative writting limitations. Obsidian has some great ideas, but they are not creative enough to execute them. A few months ago, I read that one of the writters hates 'romantic' stories. If you cannot write good romance, action, or epic storylines, I don't think they should be writting sciencefiction. One of the greatest hallmarks of KotOR I, in my opinion, was the vastness of sidequests, personal issues, and romance stories of the NPCs/PCs. NWN II and KotOR II had one main quest, but the writters lacked creative flexability. As a former player of table-top RPGs, I'm allways interested in unpredictable twists, interesting personal stories, and extended sidequests.

 

3. Revealing too much too soon. When you play good RPGs, you don't see cutscenes that tell you what is about to happen. Normally, you get vague cutscenes, which give you small glimpses. KotOR II was victorious in giving too much away too soon.

 

4. After playing an exhausting battle in two levels, I don't think people like hearing Goto saying, "I want you to save the Republic". Where am I going? Well, I think Obsidian will mess the Alien game up with lines like these. There was only one conclusion I wanted, "I wanted to kill off GoTo." If you develop a story where a goal is taken away once you reach the end, people are going to be turned off. Allowing the PC to deliver justice is important. If you remember the television show "Earth Final Conflict", the good good guys allways lost their progression. Every time they got a cool weapon to fight their enemy, or they cornered an enemy, the good guys kept falling short. EFC was canceled because viewers didn't get their justice. Obsidian did the same thing to the end of KotOR II. We need justice or revenge to be delivered.

 

5. Characters that don't make me feel. When I read a good novel, I get into the emotional confict a character goes through. I'm there from the very beginning, and I'm pulled through the character's cognitions. When they feel hatred, I want to feel their hatred. KotOR II's characters didn't make me feel sad, upset, or anything. One of the strong points of 'KotOR I' is how I felt about my companions. Bastila, Carth, and Mission all had emotionally driven stories, which pulled me into their conflicts.

 

6. Too much encryption. If you are going to tell me something, just tell the pc what you are trying to say. KotOR II was victorious for being too encrypted at times. Just say it.

 

7. Falling short on the PC's existance. "KotOR I" also delivered where "KotOR II" didn't. At the end of "KotOR II", I was turned off from the revelation, "You are an echo." If you are going to give the gammer a rewarding experience, go for the gold with revelations. Give the PC a sense of existance that drives home. Allow us to feel rewarded with, "You are a crutial part of the story, for you were essential for this." Not, "You are a tool for a broken Sith." Think outside of the box, and deliver a monumential revelation. I want a sense of awe.

Edited September 22, 200718 yr by Force Slayer

I'm going to go ahead and assert that you didn't "get" KOTORII. It was in many ways more advanced than KOTORI, thematically and mechanically, and had they more development time it would have been better.

 

Still, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Obsidz will likely learn from their mistakes, of which there are many.

"If you cannot write good romance, action, or epic storylines, I don't think they should be writting sciencefiction."

 

Waht.

You know, great sci-fi literature

 

 

I got as far as "One of the greatest hallmarks of KotOR I, in my opinion, was the vastness of sidequests, personal issues, and romance stories of the NPCs/PCs.", then I had to press the back button. Somebody should do a paypal donation to the guy so he could afford to buy BG2.

 

What would an alien game be without hot passionate love, thats what the alien universe is all about.

You know, great sci-fi literature

 

I got as far as "One of the greatest hallmarks of KotOR I, in my opinion, was the vastness of sidequests, personal issues, and romance stories of the NPCs/PCs.", then I had to press the back button. Somebody should do a paypal donation to the guy so he could afford to buy BG2.

 

What would an alien game be without hot passionate love, thats what the alien universe is all about.

 

Interesting thoughts. You must have not seen the Star Wars movies. When it comes to the movies, you have two important romance stories running. Leia & Han - Anikhan & Padame. If you read the 'Expanded Universe' of Star Wars, there were other important reomance storyarchs. Luke & Mara - Han & Leia - Luke & Callista. Without Luke and Mara's romance story, we wouldn't have gotten Ben. Without Han and Leia's relationship, we wouldn't have gotten the Jedi twins. Anikhan and Padame's romance story brought about the original Jedi twins Luke and Leia. Romance is a very essential hallmark of Star Wars. The whole premise of Star Wars is based upon the Skywalker family, and their personal conflicts and issues with each other.

 

When it comes to the gamming world. 'Knights of the Old Republic I' took key from the movies. Bastilla and Revan's story is like a shadowing of the movies. You would think that "Knights of the Old Republic II" would follow suite.

 

Where am I going? Player characters in rolling playing games are driven by their interactions with the environment. Who they become friends with. Who they aling with. Etc... What I was talking about in my first post is about being flexible. If you cannot be a flexible writter, you shouldn't be writting games, novels, or movies. You have to be able to across into all types of story-telling catagories.

Edited September 23, 200718 yr by Force Slayer

No, what you are trying to get across is that you are not satisfied with Obsidz romances so far, which is a fair argument. They haven't been all that intricate and the writers really don't garner for the BG 2 crowd. That, however, is not a failure on them, since sweeping epic and romance has not been what they are going for. You are just the wrong demographic, that's all. Don't put the fault on them.

No, what you are trying to get across is that you are not satisfied with Obsidz romances so far, which is a fair argument. They haven't been all that intricate and the writers really don't garner for the BG 2 crowd. That, however, is not a failure on them, since sweeping epic and romance has not been what they are going for. You are just the wrong demographic, that's all. Don't put the fault on them.

Don't tell me about how I feel. Lol... I was looking at their writting limitations. I could care less about romance being in a Alien's game. I was looking at Obsidian's flexibility in writting different styles.

 

Don't tell me about how I feel. You will get nothing accomplished.

lol

 

For what it's worth, your statement,

 

"Player characters in rolling playing games are driven by their interactions with the environment. Who they become friends with. Who they aling with. Etc..."

 

does not have anything to do with the rest of your post. It's hard to decipher the argument when the conclusion does not have anything to do with the rest. In essence, you are going nowhere with the post. That said, I do get what you are trying to do. It's just that in both NWN 2 and K2 your interaction with your party members was detailed and deep when compared to K1's "lol, Ima gonna tell ma lifestory!!1", which again stack against you. Neither is expanded universe a good example when making a case against writing limitations, unless the case is against EU, where I can agree.

Judging from the fact that the game will be about the Aliens series where basically the human race is hosed...I think all the criticism about why Obisidan isn't good at making Star Wars RPGs do not apply here.

 

(Yes, I know little about the Aliens series, except for the fact that the human race is hosed. Due to the powerful Alien race that is likely to always threaten Humanity. If I am wrong about the "hosing" part, oh well.)

Edited September 24, 200718 yr by SilentScope001

Two words.

 

Cave rave.

 

On one of the Ratchet and Clank games, a designer pal of mine created a desert level shaped like Jimi Hendrix's head. In the original version of the level, there was a small bump sticking out of Jimi's 'fro that looked like a hair pick. It had little stick people dancing inside, and the label read "Rave Cave."

 

Alas, while the Jimi Hendrix's head level DID make it into the game, the Rave Cave did not.