Dialogue Timer and other questions

[Shemar]

Hello,

 

This game looks interesting, but I have some concerns. I have some very specific questions about this game, on 'features' that I consider deal breakers for myself.

 

1. This dialogue timer that I keep reading about, will there be an option to disable it? I really don't care about pace/mood or whatever other idea you have, I have no interest in speed reading my possible answers before I decide what to go with. In fact I have zero interest in being under any kind of pressure when I am role playing.

 

2. Can the game be paused anywhere and saved anywhere?

 

3. Is there any melee combat in the game and if so how much? For the purposes of this question, I only care about melee combat that I cannot avoid. I don't mind it being there as an option, but I detest melee combat in first person shooters and too much of it forced on me would be a deal breaker.

 

4. What DRM will the PC version of the game use?

 

5. How much of the game's content will I get to see with a very thorough single play through? For the purpose of this question I consider responses to dialogue choices I chose not to make as 'used' not 'missed'. The question refers mostly to quests/areas, cut-scenes and entire dialogues.

 

Thanks for any replies.

[Warren Bills]

@ 5.

 

if you wanna see the worst this game has to offer (hopefully they changed EVERYTHING since this demo), watch this E3 2009 demo walkthrough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkTHtWbp0XA&1&fmt=18

i would not buy this game if it still looks like this.

 

look at his running animation, well.. every animation. ugh.. wouldnt think a spy to run like that. anyways.. i recently saw this video this week. though, ive already set my mind (& my money) on getting this game, this video just taught me to lower my standards [VERY LOW] for this game.

 

but seriously, ive seen better [older] videos for this game and i just dont understand why it looked like that at e3 2009.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Warren Bills

[Cycloneman]

1. This dialogue timer that I keep reading about, will there be an option to disable it? I really don't care about pace/mood or whatever other idea you have, I have no interest in speed reading my possible answers before I decide what to go with. In fact I have zero interest in being under any kind of pressure when I am role playing.

IIRC, you can pause during conversations. You don't speed read though, it uses short descriptions rather than the exact text of your answer.

[Shemar]

@Warren Bills: I am not sure how you are answering my question. I have very little interest in the quality of the graphics/animations as long as they are functional. My question was about how much of the game I get to play with just a single play through, as I don't replay games.

 

@Cycloneman: That is good news; one deal breaker out of the way. But what is the point of the timer if it can just be paused?

[Warren Bills]

@Warren Bills: I am not sure how you are answering my question. I have very little interest in the quality of the graphics/animations as long as they are functional. My question was about how much of the game I get to play with just a single play through, as I don't replay games.

 

@Cycloneman: That is good news; one deal breaker out of the way. But what is the point of the timer if it can just be paused?

 

 

then 25hrs.. longer if you play stealthy.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

1. Dunno. Notably, you don't "read" what Mike is going to say, you just select the social approach he will use in his response.

 

3. Melee is a skill in the game, and putting points into it/using it is optional.

 

5. You'll get to see some of it I don't think you'd miss out on any major sections of the game, but you will of course miss dialogue and plot branches.

[Zoma]

There's additional content for second playthroughs, especially if you play again at Veteran difficulty where your character will role play differently.

[Gfted1]

Regarding #1, I believe the timer is 5-8 seconds and I dont think its possible to pause. Like you said, whats the point of a timer if you can pause. but, not in dialog, it can be paused anywhere (question 2).

 

Regarding #5, didnt one of the devs say its very possible to miss out on major characters (Sie for example) depending on the choices and path you take?

[Shemar]

Regarding #1, I believe the timer is 5-8 seconds and I dont think its possible to pause. Like you said, whats the point of a timer if you can pause. but, not in dialog, it can be paused anywhere (question 2).

 

Regarding #5, didnt one of the devs say its very possible to miss out on major characters (Sie for example) depending on the choices and path you take?

 

Pretty bad news all around for me, but thanks for the info.

[Oner]

Regarding #1, I believe the timer is 5-8 seconds and I dont think its possible to pause. Like you said, whats the point of a timer if you can pause. but, not in dialog, it can be paused anywhere (question 2).

 

Regarding #5, didn't one of the devs say its very possible to miss out on major characters (Sie for example) depending on the choices and path you take?

Some people like to think stuff through. Or just read really really slow.

 

Yes.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Regarding #1, I believe the timer is 5-8 seconds and I dont think its possible to pause. Like you said, whats the point of a timer if you can pause. but, not in dialog, it can be paused anywhere (question 2).

 

There could be a loophole. I think it's early to say without confirmation from Rorie et al.

 

Regarding #5, didnt one of the devs say its very possible to miss out on major characters (Sie for example) depending on the choices and path you take?

 

I don't recall this. As I understand it you always run into Sie on a certain mission, and how you deal with her determines what future interactions you'll have.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Cl_Flushentityhero

[Oner]

I don't recall this. As I understand it you always run into Sie on a certain mission, and how you deal with her determines what future interactions you'll have.

http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showt...st&p=961626 Took awhile to find this.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

*eats crow*

 

He did say it was difficult to miss out on her though.

[Oner]

Umm..no, he didn't? Skipping an optional mission isn't difficult.

[Matthew Rorie]

Regarding #1, I believe the timer is 5-8 seconds and I dont think its possible to pause. Like you said, whats the point of a timer if you can pause. but, not in dialog, it can be paused anywhere (question 2).

 

Regarding #5, didnt one of the devs say its very possible to miss out on major characters (Sie for example) depending on the choices and path you take?

 

Pretty bad news all around for me, but thanks for the info.

 

You can pause the dialogue, but not when a timer is displayed. And, as mentioned above, these aren't going to be sentences you have to read; it's going to be two to four single words (adjectives) that describe a mood or a stance that you want to take in the conversation. So it's not like you're having to read four or five Neverwinter dialogue choices. In the end, this is intended to introduce a bit of tension into the dialogues and keep them moving forward in real-time. If you pick a stance once, though, the game will default to that stance for all future dialogue choices, so if you're going to play Mike as the consummate professional, you should be able to get through most conversations without having to change the dialogue option every time (although of course some characters won't appreciate your straight-laced ways).

 

You can pause the game anywhere, and save anywhere, but if you reload a save you are brought back to the last checkpoint you passed.

 

There is melee combat, but you don't have to partake in it if you don't like. Enemies that get close to you will often try to bash you with their weapons, though. (And this is a third-person game, not a first-person shooter.)

 

As far as how much you can see in one playthrough, I don't have an exact percentage or anything like that. You will obviously not need to replay the game to get the bulk of the storyline, although by nature you won't see every dialogue and cutscene. (If you kill characters that you encounter they won't show up later in the game for dialogues, etc.) Although if you wish to see every mission I don't think there is anything to prevent that.

 

Regarding the SIE thing above, SIE first appears in a mission that it is possible to skip. If you do skip it, and proceed far enough into the hub so that it becomes unavailable, she won't appear in the game, although you'll probably still get dossier bits and the like from her.

[Joseph Bulock]

Points:

Our game is not a first person shooter. It's a third person shooter/rpg. If you're looking a straight Doom/Half-life/Quake experience, you're going to getting a much more detailed and involved story (no disrespect to the stories in any of the mentioned games).

 

The stance timer cannot be fully disabled. You can pause while it's running, but all of the stances are very short. The feeling of putting pressure on the player in tense situations is a core principle to the DSS system.

 

 

Depending on your playthrough, you can miss whole characters, whole plot points, and we do have many large decisions to be made in the game, which does mean that you won't see the content that reacts to the choice you didn't make. Our game has definitely been built around the idea that it should have awesome replay value, and I'm really proud with how much incentive there is to play our game many times and get a very different experience each time.

 

If you're just looking for a great stealth/action shooter, AP definitely can be that game, but keep in mind that it also has a great story that is just as important to the experience as is the gameplay, and in fact, is so integrated into the gameplay that even players who get really into the action will end up enjoying the world and the characters that we have crafted.

 

(Long talky part done)

[mr insomniac]

Jeez, is it October 6th-27th yet?

[Shemar]

Wow, two separate developers replying within hours of my post. Pretty impressive

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

I am not looking for a mindless action game, the fact that there is a story is a great asset to me. I would not be considering the game at all without the promise of a good story.

 

Having said that, I generally dislike action RPGs due to control/camera ackwardness. I find the simplicity of first person shooter control schemes much more to my liking for action paced games. I hope you get a demo out at some point, so I can see if that game is for me.

 

I understand and respect the decision to include the timer, however that is not for me. Hopefully somebody will mod it out of the game. Or maybe it won't end up being as annoying as I think. Again, a demo will help me determine that. I generally hate the feeling of being rushed into decisions.

 

My single playthrough question involved a thorough playthrough, which means I would be actively trying to accept any quest and cover as much ground as possible. It looks like I won't miss much of the game doing so, so that will not affect my decision to play it or not. I understand a lot of people look for replayability, but I am not one of them. I believe a fresh new story is better, even if average in quality, than a great but replayed one. I am aware I am probably a small minority in this. It does not help that the way I role play, I would make the exact same choices on any subsequent play throughs anyway!

 

Again, thanks for the reply.

[Oblarg]

I think adding a pause during dialogue option somewhat ruins the entire point of a timer.

[Gfted1]

^If youre referring to this:

 

You can pause while it's running, but all of the stances are very short.

 

I think thats a typo as it directly contrdicts what Matthew Rorie said a few posts before it.

[Kevin Lynch]

You can pause the dialogue, but not when a timer is displayed. And, as mentioned above, these aren't going to be sentences you have to read; it's going to be two to four single words (adjectives) that describe a mood or a stance that you want to take in the conversation. So it's not like you're having to read four or five Neverwinter dialogue choices. In the end, this is intended to introduce a bit of tension into the dialogues and keep them moving forward in real-time. If you pick a stance once, though, the game will default to that stance for all future dialogue choices, so if you're going to play Mike as the consummate professional, you should be able to get through most conversations without having to change the dialogue option every time (although of course some characters won't appreciate your straight-laced ways).

 

I thought I had read here that the difficulty adjustment also adjusted the time you have to make these choices in the dialogue, so an easier difficulty would give you more time. Is that not true? I was counting on it, because I too do not like the timer idea.

 

You can pause the game anywhere, and save anywhere, but if you reload a save you are brought back to the last checkpoint you passed.

 

Arg! I hatehatehate "checkpoint" saves. It's one of the reasons I avoid a lot of games and I had no idea that AP was going to use that sort of system. Considering that I'm often interrupted, I really don't like the idea of having to redo areas because I'm going off to do something else in real life and won't be getting back to the game that day (so pause is out as a solution). Gah.

[Matthew Rorie]

Arg! I hatehatehate "checkpoint" saves. It's one of the reasons I avoid a lot of games and I had no idea that AP was going to use that sort of system. Considering that I'm often interrupted, I really don't like the idea of having to redo areas because I'm going off to do something else in real life and won't be getting back to the game that day (so pause is out as a solution). Gah.

 

The checkpoints are pretty frequent, so it's not like you're going to have to redo half-hour chunks of the game or anything. This was all covered in a topic from a while ago.

[alanschu]

If the gameplay demos are any indication, there's no shortage of checkpoints.

[Shemar]

I thought I had read here that the difficulty adjustment also adjusted the time you have to make these choices in the dialogue, so an easier difficulty would give you more time. Is that not true? I was counting on it, because I too do not like the timer idea.

That does not really help me though, even if it is the case. I do not want to destroy my single play through of the game by playing on easy for a few extra seconds reaction time during dialogues. Unfortunately the timer is a game breaker for me until it is revised (as in optionally disabled) or modded out. I would play this game for the story and having to worry about a timer instead of immersing in the story ruins it for me.

 

Speaking of ruining the immersion, another thing very good at that is replaying the same piece over and over. To that end the save points are also a big issue, but how big it depends on how they are done. Obviously losing anything over 3-4 minutes of gameplay if I have to stop would be unacceptable, as unacceptable as having to repeat more than a few seconds of gameplay in order to replay a tough fight. Being able to save just before a tough fight as well as just after it is finished is a near necessity for me. We'll see how they are implemented.

 

Edit: ok, reading the other thread I realized that I only asked half a question. I assumed that 'saved game' means I can go back into any of my saved games. I am starting to fear that this is not the case and I only get a single save to the last save point. Which case is true? The whole save point issue pales in comparison to not being able to go back to older saves.

 

Edit2: ok, that was answered by the developers later on on that thread, so so far so good... phew

Edited September 15, 2009 by Shemar

[Joseph Bulock]

^If youre referring to this:

 

You can pause while it's running, but all of the stances are very short.

 

I think thats a typo as it directly contrdicts what Matthew Rorie said a few posts before it.

 

Sorry, that was in fact a typo. You can pause any time during the DSS except for when the timer is running. Those sections force the player to make a decision quickly, and you can't circumvent that by pausing the game.