Developer Diary video

[Morgoth]

Now I know what Mike really lacks (I figured that looking at Chris Avellone ) - it's wrinkles! Yes.

It just seems to me that his skin looks a bit too clean, too smooth. Wrinkles can always fix that. Like a normal map (oval, smoothed around the corners) that can be scaled on Mikes forehead automatically, linked with an expression to the eyebrow movements (i.e. eye brow raises, normal map appears and gets scaled).

 

On another sidenote to eye movements. They gotta move quicker, but maybe that's not possible due to the lack of animation frames (?). How many fps does the animation system support? 15? 30?

 

Something I thought looked really great where the eyes of characters in Culpa Innata. Yeah I know, that crappy looking adventure game. But one thing that the game really did right were the eye movements. Everything in the face seemed to be static, but the eyes. That helped tremendously to the lifeness of characters. No wonder, as the company who developed Culpa started out as a service company for facial expression. Still, I suggest Obsidian looks into this game and pays attention to the eyes.

[Pidesco]

I suppose. Don't we have a thread with all the basic info on the game somewhere? Can we pin it to the top of the forum or something?

 

If there is such a thread, I'll gladly pin it. I don't think there is one, though.

[Zoma]

I actualy got a boner watching the vid.

 

And geezues, look at MCA. He seems like he lost ALOT of weight and look so much older. The stress from AP seems to get him completely.

 

And why is the interview taken in a creepy atmosphere? Seems to be way off for promoting a spy genre game.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

And geezues, look at MCA. He seems like he lost ALOT of weight and look so much older.

 

Actually, I noticed this as well. I was actually stunned when his name popped up; I wouldn't have recognized him in any other way. Even Feargus seemed a bit different.

[kirottu]

So does funcroc just have mad info gathering skillz or does he work in the industry?

 

Like me, I'm betting funcroc has Google Alerts set up for a number of search terms. I have them for Alpha Protocol and Storm of Zehir, which turns up a lot of interesting stuff, but you'll find out about most stories and previews as soon as Google indexes them if you have real-time alerts.

 

See? I told you guys: magic.

[crakkie]

At first I thought Chris Parker was an in-game character. "Hey, the CIA guy is breaking the 4th wall!"

 

 

edit: Also, it's on Gamestop's front page now.

Edited November 21, 2008 by crakkie

[Llyranor]

I have something to confess, guys.

 

I'm funcroc.

[Morgoth]

No I'm funroc!

[Matthew Rorie]

Why does Michael wear a spider man suit in combat?

Can we plz choose our own clothes (within reason) before the missions, that "tactical" suit looked waaay too "let's do something cool for combat"-ity

 

There are a number of different outfits that you can select before the mission begins, whether you want combat armor, a tactical stealth-oriented suit, or a number of normal clothing options.

[Llyranor]

Can you dress as a crate?

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Why does Michael wear a spider man suit in combat?

Can we plz choose our own clothes (within reason) before the missions, that "tactical" suit looked waaay too "let's do something cool for combat"-ity

 

There are a number of different outfits that you can select before the mission begins, whether you want combat armor, a tactical stealth-oriented suit, or a number of normal clothing options.

 

What are the advantages of civilian-type clothing? Does every mission allow to you to "blend with the crowd" (I use the term loosely, since apparently there are no crowds in AP), or are there other benefits?

[zlarm]

Why does Michael wear a spider man suit in combat?

Can we plz choose our own clothes (within reason) before the missions, that "tactical" suit looked waaay too "let's do something cool for combat"-ity

 

There are a number of different outfits that you can select before the mission begins, whether you want combat armor, a tactical stealth-oriented suit, or a number of normal clothing options.

 

What are the advantages of civilian-type clothing? Does every mission allow to you to "blend with the crowd" (I use the term loosely, since apparently there are no crowds in AP), or are there other benefits?

 

How about looking gentlemanly during the cut scenes.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

How about looking gentlemanly during the cut scenes.

 

I totally played through most of MGS4 wearing the brown suit & tie once . . .

[Solivagant]

Hello all, first time poster, big time lurker!

 

I just had to post about what I think is the single bad moment in the new developers diary: the lockpick minigame.

 

I's identical to Oblivion's broken system. I understand that lockpicks are dealt through minigames these days, instead of using a tool to deal with them like Deus Ex, or making a more complex minigame like Thief: Deadly Shadows, but it would be much better if said minigame would at least be in 3d, and using different mechanics than Oblivion's.

 

I don't understand anything about locks and pins and stuff like that, but that 2d interface looks old-gen, and will probably get boring by the third lockpick. It's not the most important thing in the world, but its what stood out to me as bad during the dev diary.

 

It's also a bit unfortunate that the first piece of interface we get to see is that outdated system. I was expecting at least some dialog options!

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Welcome to posting . . . once you get going it's hard to stop.

 

Fallout 3 had a pretty cool minigame that combined resources limitations and skill. I also like the splinter cell lockpick minigames. Still, at the end of the day, lockpicking minigames aren't all that exciting, so as long as it flows within the game I'm good with whatever. IMO, you may be a special case in caring whether the graphic is 2d or 3d.

[Pop]

I'm thinking that the lockpick minigame is symptomatic of all the other iffy things in the video - lack of polish. I'd bet money on the minigame graphic being a placeholder. Once they nail down the mechanics of the minigame they'll start work on making it look cool.

[zlarm]

I'm thinking that the lockpick minigame is symptomatic of all the other iffy things in the video - lack of polish. I'd bet money on the minigame graphic being a placeholder. Once they nail down the mechanics of the minigame they'll start work on making it look cool.

 

I'm hoping you're right. I never really understood the lockpick minigame mechanic, even half decent ones (thief, ME pc) get old really fast. I mean whats the point of throwing in something thats going to get boring way before the end of the game.

[mkreku]

They really should play Dungeon Lords! They may not have gotten much right in that game, but the lock pick minigame was one of them. When you pick locks, a bar moves across a series of icons, highlighting them. When certain key icons are highlighted, you have to quickly click them. At low skill levels, the bar moves very quickly, making it damn difficult to hit the right icons. Higher levels slow the bar down considerably (unfortunately in Dungeon Lords case too slow, as having high lock pick levels meant you had to wait a long time for the bar to move to the last key icon). Still, it was fun, it really mixed player skill and character skill and it never made it possible to become so good at it that character skill became meaningless (like in Oblivion/Fallout 3).

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

They really should play Dungeon Lords! They may not have gotten much right in that game, but the lock pick minigame was one of them. When you pick locks, a bar moves across a series of icons, highlighting them. When certain key icons are highlighted, you have to quickly click them. At low skill levels, the bar moves very quickly, making it damn difficult to hit the right icons. Higher levels slow the bar down considerably (unfortunately in Dungeon Lords case too slow, as having high lock pick levels meant you had to wait a long time for the bar to move to the last key icon). Still, it was fun, it really mixed player skill and character skill and it never made it possible to become so good at it that character skill became meaningless (like in Oblivion/Fallout 3).

Basically, deluxe-quick-time events?

 

Sounds cool, actually.

[Wombat]

Thanks for Google Alert tip. I hadn't noticed Gamestop video till I dropped in this board. I have been being quite busy.

 

I have already written about lock-picking mini-game long time ago and video hasn't reflected it even in a slightest manner.

 

I think smooth and fun game-play and good graphics are very important for the majority and I can only say good luck on satisfying the bigger ratio of the denominator to the team. Graphics is better than I feared but it still looks outdated compared with other game videos.

[Enoch]

They really should play Dungeon Lords! They may not have gotten much right in that game, but the lock pick minigame was one of them. When you pick locks, a bar moves across a series of icons, highlighting them. When certain key icons are highlighted, you have to quickly click them. At low skill levels, the bar moves very quickly, making it damn difficult to hit the right icons. Higher levels slow the bar down considerably (unfortunately in Dungeon Lords case too slow, as having high lock pick levels meant you had to wait a long time for the bar to move to the last key icon). Still, it was fun, it really mixed player skill and character skill and it never made it possible to become so good at it that character skill became meaningless (like in Oblivion/Fallout 3).

Keep in mind that this is a cross-platform title. What you're describing would probably work well with a mouse, but it would be nightmare on a gamepad.

[mkreku]

They really should play Dungeon Lords! They may not have gotten much right in that game, but the lock pick minigame was one of them. When you pick locks, a bar moves across a series of icons, highlighting them. When certain key icons are highlighted, you have to quickly click them. At low skill levels, the bar moves very quickly, making it damn difficult to hit the right icons. Higher levels slow the bar down considerably (unfortunately in Dungeon Lords case too slow, as having high lock pick levels meant you had to wait a long time for the bar to move to the last key icon). Still, it was fun, it really mixed player skill and character skill and it never made it possible to become so good at it that character skill became meaningless (like in Oblivion/Fallout 3).

Keep in mind that this is a cross-platform title. What you're describing would probably work well with a mouse, but it would be nightmare on a gamepad.

Very true. But I see this as a PC game first and a bad console port second :D

[Solivagant]

What most disturbed me was that of all the interfaces that they could show, they showed that ugly lockpick minigame. If I had seen some dialog or inventory I wouldn't be worried!

[Wrath of Dagon]

Very true. But I see this as a PC game first and a bad console port second :D

I bet the 360 is the lead platform.

[mkreku]

It's on Gametrailers in HD too!

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43180.html

 

I noticed one thing that I don't like. When Thorton hits a security guard with his fists in one scene, there's a small cloud of blood coming out from the impact. I don't like that at all. Why not make it white instead? Like when a boxer is covered in sweat and is hit with a really solid blow and the sweat from his head forms this little cloud around him for a split second? It just doesn't look right with blood coming out of people from every little right hook..