Can we go around without holding guns.

[alanschu]

I think people are expecting Deus Ex style wandering around when not in a safe house/non-combat scenario.

[Azure79]

Will there be hand to hand using guns like Equilibrium? That would be cool.

[Purkake]

Will there be hand to hand using guns like Equilibrium? That would be cool.

 

No gun katas AFAIK.

 

Running around with your guns out all the time sounds hilarious.

[psychoshadow]

So you've made a spy game, where blending in with your surroundings isn't a feature? What about that Embassy level where you can talk the guard into letting you in, you do that with your M16 out?

 

I'll give Obsidian the benefit of the doubt because I trust that they will not let us down. Although I must agree with Bos_hybrid there should be at least some form of realism. My idea would be automatic holstering and wepon drawing this way control mapping won't need to be planned out again. An example for the embassy level would be that when your character wanders around an area of a level thats relativily peaceful Micheal's wepons should be holstered but at sign of an enemy threat his wepons should be automatically drawn. When the threat has been eliminated he holsters his wepons again (when I mean threat I don't mean the one or two enemies you see (that would lead to repetitive holstering and drawining, now that would be as annoying as guy going on an on about a pointless issue), by threat I mean threat I mean all enemies that are in the level). I also believe that greater control over the choice of wepons you take with you would help with realism (you don't see James Bond carrying an assault rifle into a casino now do you?), so having the choice to bring in only small arms that are easier to conceal makes your character less suspicious whilst carrying larger wepons should make you seem more suspicious. Sorry for taking up your time and I hope I made myself clear. Anyway like I said I trust Obsidian won't let us down.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Bos_hybrid is correct though. Read Sawyer and Rorie's comments. The only way said bar could be a holster zone is if it were a no combat zone. Either way the RP aspect of toting a gun or to holstering it is removed.

The majority of role-playing in AP happens in conversations, where guns are out/holstered/aimed/whatever depending on the context of the conversation. The player isn't engaging in free-form role-playing with mooks while running around.

 

Someone brought up Hitman, which is fantastic series. However, the setup is also quite different. In Hitman, the core gameplay defines everything about "your" 47. There is no conversation mechanic. The story proceeds in one direction and takes no turns along the way. Abstracted social stealth is essentially the entire point of Hitman's gameplay.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Someone brought up Hitman, which is fantastic series. However, the setup is also quite different. In Hitman, the core gameplay defines everything about "your" 47. There is no conversation mechanic. The story proceeds in one direction and takes no turns along the way. Abstracted social stealth is essentially the entire point of Hitman's gameplay.

 

True, but the two methods are by no means mutually exclusive.

[J.E. Sawyer]

In a world with unlimited time, sure.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

In a world with unlimited time, sure.

 

In the sequel then?

[Humodour]

Bos_hybrid is correct though. Read Sawyer and Rorie's comments. The only way said bar could be a holster zone is if it were a no combat zone. Either way the RP aspect of toting a gun or to holstering it is removed.

The majority of role-playing in AP happens in conversations, where guns are out/holstered/aimed/whatever depending on the context of the conversation.

 

OK, while I'm still bummed, that little tidbit sounds pretty awesome.

 

Does that mean that during conversation Mike might suddenly pull out his gun and aim it at somebody when conversation isn't going his way, or when he wants to intimidate somebody?

[AlphaPro]

Does that mean that during conversation Mike might suddenly pull out his gun and aim it at somebody when conversation isn't going his way, or when he wants to intimidate somebody?

 

ya. Have you seen that really old trailer where the guy shoots nasreen?

[Bos_hybrid]

The majority of role-playing in AP happens in conversations, where guns are out/holstered/aimed/whatever depending on the context of the conversation. The player isn't engaging in free-form role-playing with mooks while running around.

 

So gunfight hub, dialogue hub, gunfight hub, dialogue hub. And if there is conversations during one of those combat hubs the gun is automatically holstered?

[J.E. Sawyer]

In conversations, Mike's gun is holstered if it makes sense for Mike to have his gun holstered. If he's interrogating someone who's hostile, he may have the person at gunpoint.

[GunFox]

So I assume that you cannot elect to use civilian clothing over body armor in order to prevent average civilians from growing suspicious of your presence?

 

Hm, based on the footage I'd say there must be some draw of the standard clothing over tactical gear. There would be an abnormally large variety of civilian clothes if they served no real purpose.

 

I know that heavier tactical gear will make you less stealthy (I assume due to decreased mobility and increased noise generation that comes with having something like a ceramic plate strapped to your chest), but are there other aspects to stealth in terms of what you wear?

 

I mean technically actual spies rely almost entirely on the social camouflage aspect of clothing, and while obviously this game isn't aiming for realistic spies (And rightfully so. Real spy work is tedious and boring much of the time.), I'd be surprised if it wasn't there in some part.

[Sannom]

So I assume that you cannot elect to use civilian clothing over body armor in order to prevent average civilians from growing suspicious of your presence?

 

Well, from as far as we've seen, Alpha Protocol has too kind of jobs as an espion : James Bond-like missions where he talks in order to get informations or upset the target, and Sam Fisher-like missions where he goes into hostile territory. The two kind of missions don't really seem to blend.

 

But yeah, I think taking a body-armor for meeting Grigori will make immediately suspicious

[kreese12]

I'm slightly disappointed the two game modes don't seem to blend. Like for example it would be cool if on one level you were sent to a bar to track down an informant and then all of sudden you get jumped by hitmen or something.

 

From what I've been seeing recently AP is about 80% shooter and 20% RPG game (ya these are pretty much completely arbitrary numbers.) But that's still okay with me, I like this blend.

[Karranthain]

I'm slightly disappointed the two game modes don't seem to blend. Like for example it would be cool if on one level you were sent to a bar to track down an informant and then all of sudden you get jumped by hitmen or something.

 

 

You should try playing Deus Ex then, friend.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I can't stand Deus Ex's aiming system. Honestly, that's pretty much the only reason I gave up playing it so quickly.

[AlphaPro]

I never played Deus Ex because it had a weird name.

[Humodour]

I can't stand Deus Ex's aiming system. Honestly, that's pretty much the only reason I gave up playing it so quickly.

 

Your loss. It's one of the best around.

[alanschu]

I loved the aiming system in Deus Ex.

[Deraldin]

Yeah, I can't really think of any reason to consider the aiming system in Deus Ex bad. It was kind of annoying trying to hit anyone at range if you weren't skilled with a weapon, but it was still definitely possible if you took your time. Still, it never bothered me because I knew it was because I had no skill in the weapon I was using and I could see a noticeable improvement when I increased my weapon skills.

[Humodour]

Yeah, I can't really think of any reason to consider the aiming system in Deus Ex bad. It was kind of annoying trying to hit anyone at range if you weren't skilled with a weapon, but it was still definitely possible if you took your time. Still, it never bothered me because I knew it was because I had no skill in the weapon I was using and I could see a noticeable improvement when I increased my weapon skills.

 

Yeah. In other words: it was realistic.

 

I think some people are used to FPS aiming where high energy particle scientists can pick up rocket launchers gauss guns and immediately know how to fire them 100% accuracy at small, fast moving headcrabs.

 

The Deus Ex system is the best thing available when you want to introduce RPG stat elements into the game because it's still based on your skill. Bloodlines's system was atrocious (auto-aim, and your chance to hit randomly decided) - you could shoot point blank and still miss.

[Deraldin]

Yeah, I can't really think of any reason to consider the aiming system in Deus Ex bad. It was kind of annoying trying to hit anyone at range if you weren't skilled with a weapon, but it was still definitely possible if you took your time. Still, it never bothered me because I knew it was because I had no skill in the weapon I was using and I could see a noticeable improvement when I increased my weapon skills.

 

Yeah. In other words: it was realistic.

 

I think some people are used to FPS aiming where high energy particle scientists can pick up rocket launchers gauss guns and immediately know how to fire them 100% accuracy at small, fast moving headcrabs.

It's been awhile since I played Deus Ex but didn't weapon skill only affect aiming when you were actually aiming and not shooting from the hip?

[Humodour]

Yeah, I can't really think of any reason to consider the aiming system in Deus Ex bad. It was kind of annoying trying to hit anyone at range if you weren't skilled with a weapon, but it was still definitely possible if you took your time. Still, it never bothered me because I knew it was because I had no skill in the weapon I was using and I could see a noticeable improvement when I increased my weapon skills.

 

Yeah. In other words: it was realistic.

 

I think some people are used to FPS aiming where high energy particle scientists can pick up rocket launchers gauss guns and immediately know how to fire them 100% accuracy at small, fast moving headcrabs.

It's been awhile since I played Deus Ex but didn't weapon skill only affect aiming when you were actually aiming and not shooting from the hip?

 

It's been a while since I played Deus Ex as well but I believe it actually reduced the size of the targetting reticle permanently when you increased the skill level, thereby giving you a better base to start from when moving, and taking a shorter time to hit maximum accuracy when still.

[alanschu]

Yeah, I can't really think of any reason to consider the aiming system in Deus Ex bad. It was kind of annoying trying to hit anyone at range if you weren't skilled with a weapon, but it was still definitely possible if you took your time. Still, it never bothered me because I knew it was because I had no skill in the weapon I was using and I could see a noticeable improvement when I increased my weapon skills.

 

Yeah. In other words: it was realistic.

 

I think some people are used to FPS aiming where high energy particle scientists can pick up rocket launchers gauss guns and immediately know how to fire them 100% accuracy at small, fast moving headcrabs.

 

The Deus Ex system is the best thing available when you want to introduce RPG stat elements into the game because it's still based on your skill. Bloodlines's system was atrocious (auto-aim, and your chance to hit randomly decided) - you could shoot point blank and still miss.

 

ERrr, what Bloodlines game did you play? I had neither autoaim, nor was my chance to hit randomly decided as the crosshairs proved to work identically to Deus Ex's. Heck, the Colt Anaconda even reflected this and the crosshairs would get so tight the gun was precisely accurate.

 

And yes, Deus Ex's weapon skills (and Bloodlines), reduced the maximum size of the crosshairs as you improved your skill, in addition to making them shrink at a faster rate, to a tighter minimum. It made perfect sense in both games IMO.

Edited August 28, 2009 by alanschu