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[Patrick K Mills]

Boiling Point was a disaster when it came out, with leopards flying above the tree tops and cars disappearing when you turned around. But the sheer ambition shone through even then! When the final 200 MB patch was released, the game became a gem.

 

You are correct, you didn't say it was a market failure. Neither you nor I would actually have access to the number of units sold. However, you did describe it as a disaster.

 

As to the second part, if you really believe what you are saying about the scale of development, I have a link for you:

http://www.obsidianent.com/jobs/

[mkreku]

Just a heads up on Gamespot's take on Alpha Protocol (unless it has been posted elsewhere already):

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/preview...e;picks;title;2

 

I wonder how free the world will be. The article mentions that you won't have a HQ (or hub, as they call it), rather you'll be moving around a lot. Does this mean we can go back to previously visited cities? I am guessing it does. Or hoping. Or both.

[Humodour]

Does this mean we can go back to previously visited cities?

 

I'm pretty sure that's already been definitely confirmed.

 

Edit: And I'm starting to feel quite positive about the direction both Aliens and Alpha Protocol (especially) are heading. It might just be that both these games end up being the RPG motherlode we've been waiting for for the 4 and a half years we've followed Obsidian.

Edited July 8, 2008 by Krezack

[Slowtrain]

Edit: And I'm starting to feel quite positive about the direction both Aliens and Alpha Protocol (especially) are heading. It might just be that both these games end up being the RPG motherlode we've been waiting for for the 4 and a half years we've followed Obsidian.

 

 

*scratches head*

 

I don't see how you arrive anywhere close to that thought for either game. Both games are still a work in progress and little info has been released about either. They have just as a good a chance to be terrible as they do to be great.

 

It's nice you are an optimist, but it doesn't mean much as to how things will actually turn out.

[mkreku]

I'm like Krezack, I can't help but feel positive about Alpha Protocol. From what I've read and gathered so far, the only things I don't like about the game are the over-the-top villains and the unlimited ammo decision (and that you can't pick up opponents weapons).

 

Otherwise it's just what I want; a RPG that plays out in contemporary times, hopefully with a lot of freedom to move around and explore, realistic (at least based on real life) weapons, story and writing skill of Obsidian and FPS combat. If they could implement vehicles and make each town you got to visit as big as Vice City (from GTA: Vice City), I'd be in heaven. That may be asking for too much though. I'll have White Gold (Boiling Point 2) for those needs.

 

By the way, why aren't the weapons real weapons? Is it because it's expensive to license the use of all the names? I don't mind that much, just as long as we don't have to see 2mm calibre weapons and such nonsense.

[random n00b]

I'd say it's because mods restoring proper names are dead easy to make and pretty quick to appear anyway, so it's not worth the expense licensing them...

[Joseph Bulock]

By the way, why aren't the weapons real weapons? Is it because it's expensive to license the use of all the names? I don't mind that much, just as long as we don't have to see 2mm calibre weapons and such nonsense.

 

Gun license stuff is apparently expensive, and not our final call. It's a publisher thing.

 

There are a bunch of us however that follow weapons tech a lot, and will do our best to make sure nothing absurd gets into the game in terms of fire arms and ammo.

[Slowtrain]

There are a bunch of us however that follow weapons tech a lot, and will do our best to make sure nothing absurd gets into the game in terms of fire arms and ammo.

 

 

lol. I can't believe you said that with a straight face.

[Joseph Bulock]

lol. I can't believe you said that with a straight face.

 

...and why would that be?

[Slowtrain]

lol. I can't believe you said that with a straight face.

 

...and why would that be?

 

 

erm. hmmm. Well, if you can't guess, there's no sense in me pointing it out. :|

[Joseph Bulock]

erm. hmmm. Well, if you can't guess, there's no sense in me pointing it out. :|

 

Seeing as we haven't really announced any weapons, I can only assume is the infinite ammo thing. On that, congratulations, you've beaten that dead horse again.

[Slowtrain]

I wouldn't have brought it up directly. I was merely commenting on the somewhat ironical nature of your statement. From where I stand it seems rather silly to talk about realism with guns and ammo when great strides have already been made to reducing the whole thing to a cartoon.

 

Nothing wrong with cartoons of course. They can be very fun and entertaining. But its not really neccessary to go to great lengths to make them believable.

 

SO I wouldn't worry too much about firearm realism at this point.

 

Just my take obviosuly.

[Humodour]

Edit: And I'm starting to feel quite positive about the direction both Aliens and Alpha Protocol (especially) are heading. It might just be that both these games end up being the RPG motherlode we've been waiting for for the 4 and a half years we've followed Obsidian.

 

*scratches head*

 

I don't see how you arrive anywhere close to that thought for either game. Both games are still a work in progress and little info has been released about either. They have just as a good a chance to be terrible as they do to be great.

 

It's nice you are an optimist, but it doesn't mean much as to how things will actually turn out.

 

It's not hard if you bother to read the interviews, previews and dev posts here with a neutral mindset. Honestly, you know what I like, and it's often the same as you: complexity, depth, details.

 

But I can see when a game has potential to be awesome. AP might not have unlimited ammo, it may have few weapons, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have details elsewhere. I think that between the skills, gadgets, weapon upgrades, superspy abilities, and purported emphasis on branching non-linearity (in the good Deus Ex way) there'll be a lot going for this game.

 

Aliens on the other hand has Sega and Obsidian wetting their proverbial pants (and this isn't some new idealistic indie game studio), is based on a new and solid home-brew engine, seems to be the culmination of their experience (good and bad) on KOTOR 2 and NWN 2, and sounds pretty sneaky-awesome from what little Josh and co have let slip (explicitly and implicitly).

 

I'll be the first to lament these games being garbage Bioware consoles clones if that's what they end up being. But at this point I can't see that happening.

[Slowtrain]

DOn't get me wrong, Krezzie, I am not saying either game is NOT going to be good. I am just saying, "wait, what?"

 

People get down on Codexers for being blatantly anti-FO3 without any knowledge of what the game is going to be like. WHich is totally fair. They're making statements which have little if anything to back them up, other than that they hate FO3 by Bethesda. WIthout even playing it or even knowing someone who has. But by the same token, praising a game with little info and almost 0 gameplay demonstration to back it up is equally empty. Especially games that are still very much in progress and have already apparently undergone serious design changes from when they were first announced.

 

 

I hope both the Alien CRPG and AP are good games. That would be awesome. But at the same time I'm not lauding empty praise on something I know so little about, however.

 

's all I am saying.

[Joseph Bulock]

I wouldn't have brought it up directly. I was merely commenting on the somewhat ironical nature of your statement. From where I stand it seems rather silly to talk about realism with guns and ammo when great strides have already been made to reducing the whole thing to a cartoon.

 

Nothing wrong with cartoons of course. They can be very fun and entertaining. But its not really neccessary to go to great lengths to make them believable.

 

SO I wouldn't worry too much about firearm realism at this point.

 

Just my take obviosuly.

 

Having unlimited ammo is a huge distance of from having pistol rounds filled with bees or having solar powered laser guns. My point was that we are doing our research as far as our weapons go, and we're pulling our weapons from real world tech.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

So no rocket-shotguns? Or TAC tanks?

 

*cries*

 

EDIT: Not even mechanical horses?!

Edited July 9, 2008 by WILL THE ALMIGHTY

[Humodour]

pistol rounds filled with bees

 

I fail to see a problem here?

[Brian Newland]

pistol rounds filled with bees

 

Or dogs with bees in their mouth and when they bark they shoot bees at you.

 

 

... Be right back, I've got a feature request to put in. Totally unrelated.

[BoxerSC]

Having unlimited ammo is a huge distance of from having pistol rounds filled with bees or having solar powered laser guns. My point was that we are doing our research as far as our weapons go, and we're pulling our weapons from real world tech.

 

Hello. I have a different question about the portrayal of firearms in the game. In many of the screens where the main character is holding a pistol, his finger looks like it's glued to the trigger. Will there be animation changes to account for things like trigger discipline, and proper firearms handling?

 

I wouldn't call it absurd at all. I'm just curious about what you meant about nothing absurd getting in. Aside from the lack of bee-bullets, is there a specific example you have in mind?

[Hell Kitty]

From where I stand it seems rather silly to talk about realism with guns and ammo when great strides have already been made to reducing the whole thing to a cartoon.

 

Except he wasn't talking about realism. A character with unlimited ammo is no more absurd or cartoonish than a character carrying a dozen guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo.

 

But by the same token, praising a game with little info and almost 0 gameplay demonstration to back it up is equally empty.

 

What's wrong with being interested in or excited about a game in development? Honestly, your comments are as "empty" as theirs. "This game looks great!" "But it might end up being terrible." "This game looks terrible!" "But it might end up being great." The problem is you aren't responding to what people are actually saying, you're responding to what you've decided they mean.

[Joseph Bulock]

I'm just going to say to keep in mind were going for that spy action feel, not super simulation.

 

I'd love to give details on our guns, but

 

A) I have no idea how much info we're allowed to give out right now, and

 

B) I'm not one of the actual weapon systems designers for this game, and I won't steal their thunder. The guys that are putting in all the hard work should have the pleasure of talking about their babies.

[Slowtrain]

Having bee-filled bullets is no more or less absurd than infinite ammo.

 

Again, there is nothing wrong with absurdity. It can be quite compelling and entertaining. But you would be better off embracing the absurdity rather than tryign to make some weird differentiation between 2 impossiblities as being less or more absurd.

[Wrath of Dagon]

How absurd is it that you never have to go to the bathroom in a game, or even eat for that matter. Oh, I get it, the bathrooms have the ammo drops, so ammo is not really infinite, but since you never see the bathroom, you don't realize that's where the reloading takes place. Oh, and I guess having reload clips with exactly the caliber you need scattered all over the environment is not absurd, because that's totally how it works in real life.

Edited July 9, 2008 by Wrath of Dagon

[Slowtrain]

How absurd is it that you never have to go to the bathroom in a game, or even eat for that matter. Oh, I get it, the bathrooms have the ammo drops, so ammo is not really infinite, but since you never see the bathroom, you don't realize that's where the reloading takes place. Oh, and I guess having reload clips with exactly the caliber you need scattered all over the environment is not absurd, because that's totally how it works in real life.

 

 

Is this game about eating or going to the bathroom? No, as far as I can tell. So your point is meaningless. Its about spies and shooting. So weapons and ammo become an issue.

[Wrath of Dagon]

OK, so how absurd is it that you mow down hundreds of enemies all by yourself, which is why you'd run out of ammo in the first place. Can you imagine going on a commando raid and failing because you didn't take enough ammo, that would just be embarassing. Also as I said, ammo drops all over the environment are even more absurd, in real life you wouldn't run out of ammo, or if you did it would probably be game over.