BREAKING NEWS: ALPHA PROTOCOL - OBSIDIAN MMORPG

[Nick_i_am]

Yeah, I need the option to make my own ugly PC.

 

So...so lonely.

[GreasyDogMeat]

Good point. Who the crap wants to be named Michael Thorton? What if I wanted to be Jack Bauer Thorton? What then, huh? Huh?

 

I'm Jack Bauer Shepard! Or I would be if I had touched the game aside from the first day I got it.

 

I would choose a manly name... like any of these

 

 

[Guest The Architect]

Sorry, but I don't buy that one bit. Take a good look at Mass Effect. It has a strong plotline with solid role play, yet it allows you to have a full range of character types to play as. Certainly your last name has to be Shepherd but that is the only limit of what is dictated by the game. What you say may be true a decade ago, but with how games have evolved since then. It is a step backwards in CRPG design.

 

I don't agree it's a step backwards in CRPG design. Does it really matter so long as the plot/characters/role-playing/dialogue is of good quality? Isn't that the point of OE's role playing games? I would argue in favour of more character customisation options if it had more effect on the story itself, but does it? No.

 

Sure, if you had the option to play as a female PC it'd obviously be a little different, but if the developers believe they can make a better game by cutting out the possibility to play a female lead, or if they don't have a choice because of budgeting reasons or what not, then so be it.

 

Also, what's the point in implementing face customisation options for the PC if it's next to impossible to make a character face that's not ugly? I ended up choosing the default face in Mass Effect because it looked better than anything I could come up with. Maybe that was my fault, but maybe not.

[Krookie]

I'm going to sound really gay when I say this but my custom male Shepard looked good

[Nick_i_am]

Did he have a nice butt? I hear that's important.

[Krookie]

Mass Effect's butt customization was AWFUL

[Zoma]

We can't get hairy butts in Mass Effect?

[kirottu]

I'm famous!

 

Gabs will want me now.

 

EDIT: Wait, they got the MMO part wrong.

 

[Gorth]

Why am I always wary of something that is supposed to be announced in an April issue?

[/cynic]

[Sand]

Maybe that was my fault, but maybe not.

 

Yeah, it is your fault.

 

Through the facial customization of ME I have been able to mimic the faces of Summer Glau, Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Jennifer Garner, George Takei (when he was younger), and something of a close approximation of Lucy Lu. I even made a nice looking asian goth for one game. Goth vs. Geth! Man, I wish I was able to take pics.

 

I have yet been able to make a good Conan O'Brien or Nathan Fillion as of yet.

 

You know I think that ME is the new standard for CRPGs for me. I think I like it more than Fallout.

 

Oblivion's facial system is a bit trickier.

Edited March 12, 2008 by Sand

[Pop]

Why am I always wary of something that is supposed to be announced in an April issue?

[/cynic]

It jibes with Surfer Girl reports from some months back, though. Obsidian seems like an odd target for April Fool's. They're small potatoes.

[sharkz]

In regard to the argument about being able to choose your gender I think it's better for the developer to choose a gender and even a name and run with it like they are here. That way they can create a deeper and more interesting story, dialogue and gameplay if you really think about it. Instead of trying to keep everything working for both male and female leads they could choose just one and do much more with it.

[Sand]

I really see that as a cop out. If they want to make such limits then don't make a CRPG. Make an action adventure game instead.

[sharkz]

Making the game better is a cop out?

[Sand]

Making the game better is a cop out?

 

It won't necessarily make the game better. In recent CRPGs such as Mass Effect and NWN2 that allows greater freedom to make our own characters at the same time not sacrifice gameplay nor story value of the game. By limiting choices for the player, by not giving the player a level of ownership of his or her character the designers are not making a better CRPG.

[Zoma]

I am certain Todd Howard will be so happy to agree with your statement.

 

I believe Obsidian opted to weave a tighter and focused story that is in the veins of Deus Ex. You can say it is inferior to ME or Neverwinter Nights series in the area of character creation, but in the end its the core of the gameplay that judges the game as a whole as an RPG. So you can't say its an inferior RPG when you have yet to play the game and simply basing and judging on its creation aspects.

 

Oblivion has great character creation, but meh, look at the core gameplay.

Edited March 12, 2008 by Zoma

[Guest The Architect]

I really see that as a cop out. If they want to make such limits then don't make a CRPG. Make an action adventure game instead.

 

Ah what? Character customisation is trivial compared to the plot, the dialogue and the role-playing. I don't see what's mandatory about it. It'd be nice, yes, but it doesn't lessen the quality of the game by not having it in, since the plot, dialogue, character and role-playing are far more important factors affecting the games quality.

 

You can classify any game as role-playing so long as you have choices over what you can say and how you act, with each choice having different outcomes, whether they be similar or diverse. It'd be nice to see lots of games incorporating dialogue and role-playing into it, if they're capable enough. I can't speak for other casual/scarce gamers like me, but it'd certainly draw me into games more.

Edited March 12, 2008 by The Architect

[Shryke]

i really don't see the huge deal with character creation

 

i do a funny thing you see, i actually play the game

 

don't get me wrong, sure a level of customization is nice. i think something along the lines of KOTOR is fine, but i just don't see the point in wasting 2 or 3 hours getting my characters chin just how i want it, when i'm not even really gonna be seeing it in the game (other than cutscenes etc)

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

With todays technology, the only contraint is how much time and effort the top dogs are prepared to spend on building such a system and making all the art assets you need. Doing something like Mass Effects face editor is no small feat.

 

At it's basic level it's a matter of offsetting a vertices position from it's original mesh vertex position, hardly a huge feat, but not entirely easy either, depends upon the constraints. A prototype system shouldn't take more than a week, but an integrated system that doesn't screw up any of external effects placed upon said vertices is a whole other ball game, it does have some really horrible potential knock on impacts, frankly its the kind of thing you'd start working on in conjunction with any said animation engine, and if the animation engine was already built then it is questionable about any ease of compatibility, at that stage it depends upon already integrated capibilities.

 

The system alone is fairly basic.

[Zoma]

At it's basic level it's a matter of offsetting a vertices position from it's original mesh vertex position, hardly a huge feat, but not entirely easy either, depends upon the constraints. A prototype system shouldn't take more than a week, but an integrated system that doesn't screw up any of external effects placed upon said vertices is a whole other ball game, it does have some really horrible potential knock on impacts, frankly its the kind of thing you'd start working on in conjunction with any said animation engine, and if the animation engine was already built then it is questionable about any ease of compatibility, at that stage it depends upon already integrated capibilities.

 

o.o;

 

Any translated version for dummies?

[Hell Kitty]

don't get me wrong, sure a level of customization is nice. i think something along the lines of KOTOR is fine, but i just don't see the point in wasting 2 or 3 hours getting my characters chin just how i want it, when i'm not even really gonna be seeing it in the game (other than cutscenes etc)

 

Heh, I actually like messing about for ages making my character*, but genre is irrelevant. Mass Effect, The Sims 2, Saint's Row, it's all good. It's a nice feature, but it really doesn't make a game more of an rpg.

Same with the name really. They could do an ME and allow you to choose your first name, but you'd only ever see it on save games and status screens, with NPCs saying Agent, Agent Doe, or just Doe, or some such. I like fluff, but I don't really miss it when it's not there.

 

 

 

 

* I also like inventory tetris.

[Meshugger]

At it's basic level it's a matter of offsetting a vertices position from it's original mesh vertex position, hardly a huge feat, but not entirely easy either, depends upon the constraints. A prototype system shouldn't take more than a week, but an integrated system that doesn't screw up any of external effects placed upon said vertices is a whole other ball game, it does have some really horrible potential knock on impacts, frankly its the kind of thing you'd start working on in conjunction with any said animation engine, and if the animation engine was already built then it is questionable about any ease of compatibility, at that stage it depends upon already integrated capibilities.

 

o.o;

 

Any translated version for dummies?

 

= A facial generator is not difficult to make by itself. The difficulty lies in how it will work in the game, collusion detection and such.

 

As an example, imagine someone designing a head with the size of 2m radius. How will that interact with the environment? How will the character to be able to get through doors?

 

Also, how will the facial animations be compatible with a head of that kind of dimensions? etc, etc...

[kirottu]

At it's basic level it's a matter of offsetting a vertices position from it's original mesh vertex position, hardly a huge feat, but not entirely easy either, depends upon the constraints. A prototype system shouldn't take more than a week, but an integrated system that doesn't screw up any of external effects placed upon said vertices is a whole other ball game, it does have some really horrible potential knock on impacts, frankly its the kind of thing you'd start working on in conjunction with any said animation engine, and if the animation engine was already built then it is questionable about any ease of compatibility, at that stage it depends upon already integrated capibilities.

 

o.o;

 

Any translated version for dummies?

 

Customized faces could go all wonky if the facial animations would not be up the task.

 

I think.

[Hell Kitty]

If Alpha Protocol doesn't allow me to make agents with 2m heads then it will be Alpha Protocol in name only.

 

Apologies to Gfted1. And the rest of the internet.

[Xard]

Making the game better is a cop out?

 

It won't necessarily make the game better. In recent CRPGs such as Mass Effect and NWN2 that allows greater freedom to make our own characters at the same time not sacrifice gameplay nor story value of the game. By limiting choices for the player, by not giving the player a level of ownership of his or her character the designers are not making a better CRPG.

 

 

Yeah, playing Drow or somesuch made so much sense in NWN2.