Now, I know this is an RPG for a universe which leans towards horror and survival, but that doesn't mean that it needs to be backstory lite.

 

I thought some of them were, but anyway they tried to be. t was all part of the thing in PST where it gave you things that were just there for the experience. Like the drinks in the Burning Man tavern.

 

Now, without spoilers on MoTB (because I haven't yet played it), what level of depth do you think Aliens will/should have? Would you personally want little trinkets like the ability to order different ****tails at bars and have their effects on you described, with little to no in game benefit? I would if it were done in the way of PS:T. Although it'd be nice if they managed to tie in some benefit for one of the ****tails randomly such as a small poison/acid resistance boost. I liked it in Fallout when something silly I did in convo could get me a small stat boost - at times it helped make it worthwhile to explore all parts of dialogue.

 

I think lots of little things like ****tails in bars having different effects/tasting different are what built up the universe around you in Planescape: Torment. Similar for the descriptions in the monitor window on the bottom left in Fallout. I'd like to see these in the Aliens RPG... I think the monitor window could work quite well in Aliens if you hover the mouse over a blood stain and get "You see human blood... it's still fresh." just a little something extra to help reinforce the atmosphere which would be hard without first person.

I see the little things you could add such as that varying so greatly. The setting has a lot to explore to it. Datapads with information, either on a colony's operation, or the time leading up to the invasion would be what I'd expect. Not necessarilly just datapads, either. Video recordings, survivors, that kind of thing. It could potentially be quite complex. If they're using WY in the story, there's plenty of room to explore the idea that WY set up the colony (presuming it is a colony) for the disaster.

Yeah, I agree - all of that should be there. I think those things are a kind of given for a setting like this*. I'm talking about things like... say you have a survivor. Are they just a generic surviving civilian who is trying to escape and can give you items/info/a quest, or did they have a job as a kitchen hand for the head chef before the attack, with the love of their life waiting for them back on Earth once their 5 year stint is over (Which it just so happens was to be next week!). Or finding half-empty coffee mugs on tables (spillable for extra credit!)

 

*Although I would like to see a friendly and easy access datapad/information system. KOTOR's was a shambles and Deus Ex's wasn't much better if the datapad was an old one.

I don't know what to feel about that. Part of me says "if it goes to good use, is integrated into something interesting, dramatic, or exciting." Actually, I think all of me relies on that conditional. Never been too interested in knowing that development time was used up to give a relatively generic character a backstory if he ultimately is only a generic character. But if a good joke comes out of it, or we find out that the guy who was about to get married when he retired is actually being betrayed by his fiance who works for WY, then I can think "COOL!"

 

Yeah, you know the female human that worked for WY and set it up so that aliens took over the colony? Yeah, if you get the datapad on 35E block, you can find out she was engaged to that chef who was worried about surviving so he could get married to his fiance on Earth this weekend. Apparently the colony was selected just to kill that chef because he slept with that woman's sister and thinks she doesn't know about it.

 

 

Though things getting knocked over could be interesting in terms of making the interaction with environment and combat exciting.

Edited December 3, 200718 yr by Tale

In essence, Tale just likes his femmes to be fatale.

Edited December 3, 200718 yr by Musopticon?

Taking your notion of drinks, maybe your selection of drinks unlocks a contact or someone tells you something useful?

I guess I've just got the impression that this will be more of a cinematic, action-y game than a wordy game. If there's to be depth and complexity in the game, it's more likely to come though the characters you meet and what they do and say rather than in-game descriptions and text. I think I'm okay with that - though I'd be okay with another Planescape: Torment too, don't get me wrong.

 

But on the first point of 'lots of things to do and interact with', then yes, I'm all for it, the more the merrier, but I played the Ultima games so that kind of thing goes down well with me. Do such things require more developer time and effort than they used to in this 3D-rendered age in which we find ourselves? I have no idea - maybe a dev could tell you. That would probably affect how much of it we see in the game.

I'd prefer if the information that was given to the player would be instanced and based on the environment and characters, rather than text and movies. HL 2 episode 2 is a great example of a game that transfers a lot of info and knowledge just by giving clues to the player that make her look at a certain spot not on the initial face-level, like a chasm for instance. I'm not against text as such, but there are, not necessarily better, but more fluid and fitting ways to enchant and immerse the player.

 

Someone also suggested, in an earlier thread, that computers screens and controls in an environment could be similar to Quake 4 and Doom 3, entirely real time and your targeting reticule would change to a mouse pointer when interfaced with a screen. Instant feedback that would not only look cool, but also make you aware of your surroundings, since accessing a menu wouldn't freeze them.

I like Muso' point. Less obvious is good.

Muso' is dead on, Doom 3's computer interfaces scattered around where the perfect level of immersion into in-game data and text.

I love back story in games but I hate the way in a lot of games you get that computer terminal that you KNOW is going to give you some back story for example the answer phone in Fear.

 

I'd like to get my back story from a range of different places not the same clone computer or answer phone or note pad over and over again, It's not a BIG deal but it's a pet hate of mine.

I love back story in games but I hate the way in a lot of games you get that computer terminal that you KNOW is going to give you some back story for example the answer phone in Fear.

 

I'd like to get my back story from a range of different places not the same clone computer or answer phone or note pad over and over again, It's not a BIG deal but it's a pet hate of mine.

 

I can see what you mean. What did you think of the stuff scattered around in Deus Ex?

Ive only played the first Deus Ex and it was a hell of a long time ago, If I remember correctly it was very free they didn't show these bright terminals in front of your face, you could choose how deep you go with the extra plot which is the kind of thing I like.

 

Another good game for that kind of thing was Shenmue and Shenmue 2, you'd have your little note book and you'd fill it in like a diary and you got all of your info from people you meet and things you do and your note book would fill in...

At one point in the second game you steal tapes from a phone tapper and have to go through a hole recording of loads of phone calls to find the info you needed, It was actually quite tedious but it also added something more believable to the game then finding computers with info on them.

I need to replay Deus Ex *happy sigh*.

I sort of recall that some of that random stuff you could do in PST could occasionally stir up an old memory and therefore net the character some XP. I really enjoyed searching for these.

I sort of recall that some of that random stuff you could do in PST could occasionally stir up an old memory and therefore net the character some XP. I really enjoyed searching for these.

 

Definitely something I was aiming for when I made this thread. I really agree with your post.

 

Closely related, in Baldur's Gate ONE, I enjoyed running into the 1 to 3 NPCs on wilderness maps. The ones who forcibly spoke to you, and babbled about events to come, current goings on, or their own personal lives. I think all 3 were important, and I also liked that dispite what they were saying to you, each had their own little personality. You had the drunk who thought he was a lich, the pompous noble who didn't want you to touch him, the pompous noble who wanted to berate your clothes, the hermit who liked talking to people, the ghast who wanted a friend, the somewhat rude hunter giving you advice, the messenger on his way to deliver a message, the hermit smelly who read peoples auras... etc. I liked how these characters, almost universally, cared about themselves and their job first and foremost - mostly in the way that they just didn't care about you, good or bad.

 

Then again, BG1 got right a lot of things BG2 got wrong. It was rather weird.

I sort of recall that some of that random stuff you could do in PST could occasionally stir up an old memory and therefore net the character some XP. I really enjoyed searching for these.

 

Definitely something I was aiming for when I made this thread. I really agree with your post.

 

Closely related, in Baldur's Gate ONE, I enjoyed running into the 1 to 3 NPCs on wilderness maps. The ones who forcibly spoke to you, and babbled about events to come, current goings on, or their own personal lives. I think all 3 were important, and I also liked that dispite what they were saying to you, each had their own little personality. You had the drunk who thought he was a lich, the pompous noble who didn't want you to touch him, the pompous noble who wanted to berate your clothes, the hermit who liked talking to people, the ghast who wanted a friend, the somewhat rude hunter giving you advice, the messenger on his way to deliver a message, the hermit smelly who read peoples auras... etc. I liked how these characters, almost universally, cared about themselves and their job first and foremost - mostly in the way that they just didn't care about you, good or bad.

 

Then again, BG1 got right a lot of things BG2 got wrong. It was rather weird.

 

 

I agree. They were really neat touches. I think you've hit on something which is that in life most people we meet would still be self-centred even if they met someone saving the world. Whereas in games everyone starts lavishing attention on you.

^Play the Witcher.