The cut-scenes in NWN2 were very pretty and cinematic, but too 'safe' for an Aliens game. The world froze while you talked your heart out, and so you knew there was no danger - you could hardly do that in this game and expect to maintain the tension and fear at a reasonable level. Can the engine handle running conversations? What about in the middle of combat? Are complex dialogue trees still viable if you're doing something else at the same time?

Hmm. Just as long as they use the Dungeon Siege 2 solution: whenever an NPC wants to talk in a hostile area, they'll just start yapping away and when an enemy attacks, they'll defend themselves which breaks the convo (never to be repeated again).

Agreed. That to me is poor design - they'll allow combat to interrupt a conversation, but they haven't really thought through the consequences and the result feels broken. I want the engine to allow conversations in all possible situations where it might in fact happen - during combat, when under fire, in stealth situations (whispers), when fleeing (short, barked instructions), in the middle of hacking a computer and so on - but for the dialogue to reflect the situation and adapt to it as well.

I'd like to see some sign language. Just for kicks.

I'd like to see some sign language. Just for kicks.

Military style, you mean? Or for the hearing impaired?

Mass Effect handled this pretty cleanly by not allowing player-initiated conversation in adventure areas. You could chat it up with your dudes on the Normandy, but once you landed on a planet or went to the Citadel, talking to companions directly would only give an appropriate "bark".

 

However, I do think that a lot could be done with well thought-out abort scripts for conversations, to allow for resuming at a later time.

Mass Effect handled this pretty cleanly by not allowing player-initiated conversation in adventure areas. You could chat it up with your dudes on the Normandy, but once you landed on a planet or went to the Citadel, talking to companions directly would only give an appropriate "bark".

 

However, I do think that a lot could be done with well thought-out abort scripts for conversations, to allow for resuming at a later time.

But most kids I know hated that. You can't really please the fans, I guess. They ceaselessly bitched about BG2 conversations in places that didn't make sense. I think a Hegelian synthesis is in order. Only romance-plot dialogue is to occur in safe places. Otherwise, go nuts.

I wondered why Bioware left out the in party bickering and romance pop-ups. I have to say, because the party characters only interacted with one another during the cut scenes and lifts. Well something felt missing, and the characters didn

Perhaps if they are about to get interrupted they can stop what they were saying and go "hey, what was that?" woo!

And there was inter-party banter in Mass Effect, you just had to initiate it during your shore party stays on planets. Each time some character went "huh" or "hmm", upon clicking that char there'd be a quip that sometimes become a conversation between the mates.

Yes, but the player was only witness, to the conversation. He couldn

Edited December 6, 200718 yr by Sh0dan

I think, considering they're all military, the subdued bickering was well done.

*Walsingham feel left out because he hasn't played Mass Effect*

 

Rather than focus on existing solutions, try to say what we want from discussion. Why have it at all?

Because people talk when they're scared. And in the movies, people talk when they're doing all sorts of things where you think they really ought to concentrate on running away from the scary monster rather than producing witty one-liners, but there it is - it's part of the horror genre, no?

 

I've also no idea how Mass Effect works, but my original thought wasn't so much about conversations that could be interrupted and resumed instead of simply lost, although that would be a step forward. If it's to be an Action RPG, let's have conversation integrated into the action, not have the rest of the world freeze and wait while you chat. For example - there's an Alien on your heels and the party is barrelling down a corridor, and up ahead the corridor forks, and the guy on your left shouts "Which way", and you have to shout back left or right to keep your party with you, rather than them all being tied to you with invisible string. Another example - you're playing some kind of computer-hacking mini-game, and a party member pipes in with a suggestion about what move to make next, and you respond with either "Thanks, I'll do that" or "Do you want to do this?". I don't want there to be such a thing as 'conversation mode'. I want conversation to be possible, and natural, at all the times when it would be in a movie.

As long as there's always a last option to just plain shoot the guy you

And there was inter-party banter in Mass Effect, you just had to initiate it during your shore party stays on planets. Each time some character went "huh" or "hmm", upon clicking that char there'd be a quip that sometimes become a conversation between the mates.

All my party member interactions were while riding the elevators in the Citadel.

I had some in Normandy as well, but yeah, almost half of the banter was in Citadel.

Conversations in a scary environments? Easy, just whisper a lot while staring left and right for no reason.

Shouldn't that just be limited to horrified screams over the intercom, cut off by gargling noises?

 

You can always get a selection of answers of course:

 

1) You sound a little stressed, are you OK?

2) I want to ask you about one of our team mates

3) Do you have any useful skills

4) I want to get to know you better (*nudge* *nudge*)

5) Nevermind (close channel)

 

Depending on how much the twitch factor plays in, I can't see why the above couldn't be done real time, as long as it isn't "intrusive" on you screen and/or input device.

 

For a bit of fun, how about the abilitity to talk to yourself when you are all alone in the dark.

 

Come on Gorth, how dangerous can it be? (+1 morale)

Was there something there? (+1 detection)

Did I remember everything... have I checked the ammo clip, have I remembering the morphine, have I... (reply to yourself if obvious stuff is missing)

Aaaeeeiiiieehhhhh!!!! (+1 to runaway speed)

 

And so on

For a bit of fun, how about the abilitity to talk to yourself when you are all alone in the dark.

 

Come on Gorth, how dangerous can it be? (+1 morale)

Was there something there? (+1 detection)

Did I remember everything... have I checked the ammo clip, have I remembering the morphine, have I... (reply to yourself if obvious stuff is missing)

Aaaeeeiiiieehhhhh!!!! (+1 to runaway speed)

 

And so on

Fantastic idea!

 

I love the idea as it is, but you could even turn it into a sort of mini-game using something like Fahrenheit's anxiety meter, where you have to talk to yourself to keep your cool in stealth/hiding situations.

Couple new thoughts:

 

1. in high stres situations cracking a joke is a common thing among well integrated teams.

 

2. Anyone remember in Interstate '76 you could chat over the cb radio? "Hey, Stampede. How 'bout a poem?" and your 'wingman' would give you Jack Kerouac style poetry. Hilarious.

For a bit of fun, how about the abilitity to talk to yourself when you are all alone in the dark.

 

Come on Gorth, how dangerous can it be? (+1 morale)

Was there something there? (+1 detection)

Did I remember everything... have I checked the ammo clip, have I remembering the morphine, have I... (reply to yourself if obvious stuff is missing)

Aaaeeeiiiieehhhhh!!!! (+1 to runaway speed)

 

And so on

There are no Malkavians in Alien. There should be, there just aren't.

Doesn't mean there can't be.

I thought I'd illustrate Gorth's comment using the fantastic Bairnsfather cartoons.

 

Maybe I have a future as a generic bland dialogue writer

 

Good one Walsingham

 

Edit: The last one sounds a little odd in the context, but it was intended for intercom communication.