Aristes Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I thought that in general all the bodies had weird proportions. The dwarves look like bearded orangutans. Common problem in games that use unibody type of solution. In MMOGs even the most casual players seem to notice the difference, even when they can't explain why models look "wrong" somehow. Blizzard don't use unibody type of system and has to custom make animations for models that have different proportions. In Dragon Age dwarf is really good example when unibody goes wrong. For example take default human female model, face it towards the camera and take screenshot. Then do the same with default dwarf female. Open up two different screenshots in your photoshop (or similar program that allow easy image manipulation). Then resize different parts of the one model to match the other. Hands are identical (nimble hands ms. dwarf), arms are same lenght, only thicker. Neck shorter and face is wider. Torso and legs about 1/3 shorter. Human female model is actually very close to a ideal 8 head size like it should be. But dwarf model proportions are complitely messed up. It's too roughly 8 head sizes but not for arms. And it shouldn't be 8 head sizes as it makes models look very awkward, if they are wider (or more like flatten in case of dwarf female). I noticed the proportions as well. The arms and hands stood out in particular. On the other hand, what is the correct proportion size for a Dragon Age dwarf in real life? It seems to me that having significantly shorter arms would be somewhat of a disadvantage in reach. Maybe dwarves have longer arms proportionally. We can't assume that dwarves are just short stocky humans. There might be any number of differences and, frankly, the proportionally longer arms on the dwarves makes their martial prowess more believable.
HoonDing Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I can accept that the nobles have a burly body considering the combat training they receive, but the mages should look slender & squishy... the same is true for the City Elves who are supposed to live in destitute circumstances. Even Morrigan who's supposed to be the hawt seductress has the Brienne of Tarth kind of body. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
Purkake Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) Do I remember it wrong or did Drakensang actually do the body thing pretty well with different classes having different body types and actually cool clothes instead of the generic burlap sack. EDIT: Apparently you lose the burlap sack when you choose a class, but the class-specific stuff is still a pretty lackluster gray-brown thing. Edited October 14, 2009 by Purkake
Niten_Ryu Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 Maybe dwarves have longer arms proportionally. We can't assume that dwarves are just short stocky humans. Well, original IP do give certain freedoms and if developers want to justify unibody desins with that, more power to 'em Because of unibody, I'm going to play beautiful elven mage. Let's see.. few sliders to that direction and maybe bit of that... Lovely. Bit orcish but who cares, they are same lineage anyway Let's play Alpha Protocol My misadventures on youtube.
HoonDing Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 Do I remember it wrong or did Drakensang actually do the body thing pretty well with different classes having different body types and actually cool clothes instead of the generic burlap sack. EDIT: Apparently you lose the burlap sack when you choose a class, but the class-specific stuff is still a pretty lackluster gray-brown thing. "Burlap sack"? All classes actually started out with pretty cool outfits in Drakensang. But yeah, Drakensang's bodies were pretty good, although the amazons & witches were perhaps a bit too... voluptuous. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
Purkake Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 Do I remember it wrong or did Drakensang actually do the body thing pretty well with different classes having different body types and actually cool clothes instead of the generic burlap sack. EDIT: Apparently you lose the burlap sack when you choose a class, but the class-specific stuff is still a pretty lackluster gray-brown thing. "Burlap sack"? All classes actually started out with pretty cool outfits in Drakensang. But yeah, Drakensang's bodies were pretty good, although the amazons & witches were perhaps a bit too... voluptuous. I meant you have burlap sacks in DA before you choose a class.
WILL THE ALMIGHTY Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 Maybe dwarves have longer arms proportionally. We can't assume that dwarves are just short stocky humans. Well, original IP do give certain freedoms and if developers want to justify unibody desins with that, more power to 'em Because of unibody, I'm going to play beautiful elven mage. Let's see.. few sliders to that direction and maybe bit of that... Lovely. Bit orcish but who cares, they are same lineage anyway Please play through the game with that character. It'll be hilarious. "Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"
Oner Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 when bg2 joinable npcs were first released to public there were criticism that they were too "cartoony." the pastels were not embraced, and minsc, in particular, looked like a predictably buffoonish character from woody-woodpecker episode, complete with ridiculously toothy grin. folks pointed to recently released iwd portraits as a more aesthetically pleasing alternative. maybe iwd weren't "realism," but at least it weren't cartoon neither. mike saas responds by making bg2 portraits gritty and realistic: he added scars and piercings. *groan* HA! Good Fun! NWN 1 was worse IMO, portrait wise. Giveaway list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DgyQFpOJvyNASt8A12ipyV_iwpLXg_yltGG5mffvSwo/edit?usp=sharing What is glass but tortured sand?Never forget! '12.01.13.
Volourn Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 No. DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.
Aristes Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I don't know. The ape armed dwarves just don't seem all that big of a deal. I mean, most of the gripes could be solved by simply letting the player modify the body. I don't know how hard that would be, but it could make sense. I've seen other games that allowed the player to adjust the bulkiness of the body type for both men and women. I guess we'll see if there are a flood of complaints about the long armed dwarf characters. Bioware might not need to 'justify' themselves at all.
lord of flies Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 yo so i've been ignoring this game and i got a real quick question. what makes it "dark fantasy," exactly?
Purkake Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 yo so i've been ignoring this game and i got a real quick question. what makes it "dark fantasy," exactly? The blood, obviously.
Amentep Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 yo so i've been ignoring this game and i got a real quick question. what makes it "dark fantasy," exactly? Dark Fantasy, as a genre, is supposed to be a combination of Fantasy genres and Horror genres. Dragon Age is described as "Dark Heroic Fantasy"; the lack of a comma between dark and heroic meaning that it is Dark "Heroic Fantasy" which I believe would be more described (to borrow a bit from L. Sprague De Camp) as a story of action or adventure in an imaginary world with magic (heroic fantasy) and the world itself is a grim and brutal one (dark). "We describe what we I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
WILL THE ALMIGHTY Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 No. Yes. "Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"
Aristes Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I completely disagree that Dragon Age "turns the usual assumptions of fantasy on its head."
Purkake Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 You won't know until you've played it, now will you?
Aristes Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I figured I'd get that answer, but even skipping most of the available previews and other information out there, you still get a good idea of the background for the story. Maybe there will be something that comes out in gameplay that changes my mind, but something so dramatic that it "turns the usual assumptions of fantasy on its head" would undoubtedly be clear with even a quick view of the available information.
entrerix Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 i love turning on fantasies in my head. wait.... yeah i do. also: bodies in F3 were terrible and portraits in nwn1 were awful too. also: burlap sacks r hott also: who is the lesbian romance with in the game? i wanna know because that liara chick in mass effect wasnt hot enough. also: please use that female skeletor elf as your character and take lots of screenshots Killing is kind of like playin' a basketball game. I am there. and the other player is there. and it's just the two of us. and I put the other player's body in my van. and I am the winner. - Nice Pete.
Purkake Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) I figured I'd get that answer, but even skipping most of the available previews and other information out there, you still get a good idea of the background for the story. Maybe there will be something that comes out in gameplay that changes my mind, but something so dramatic that it "turns the usual assumptions of fantasy on its head" would undoubtedly be clear with even a quick view of the available information. It would be pretty sad if the extent of the story was "omg the evil darkdudes are coming from the blight, we must send our awesome spectres gray wardens to kill them or the world will end" with the OMG Bioware twist of the gray warden koolaid actually being evil badjuice straight from the darkdevil himself. Which incidentally reminds me of this: Edited October 14, 2009 by Purkake
Syraxis Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 also: bodies in F3 were terrible and portraits in nwn1 were awful too. All bodies in Bethesda games are terrible.
Istima Loke Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I imagine the Biowarian Quality equation will be like this, at least for me: DA > BG > BG2 > ME > JE > KotOR1 > NWN1 Or like this: DA ≥ BG, DA ≠ NWN1 Translation for any who may have need of it: DA is greater than or equal to BG, when DA does not equal NWN1. Or more like: ∀x∃y(x≥DA → Release(y)=2002∧x<y) I think therefore I am? Could be! Or is it really someone else Who only thinks he's me?
Syraxis Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I imagine the Biowarian Quality equation will be like this, at least for me: DA > BG > BG2 > ME > JE > KotOR1 > NWN1 Or like this: DA ≥ BG, DA ≠ NWN1 Translation for any who may have need of it: DA is greater than or equal to BG, when DA does not equal NWN1. Or more like: ∀x∃y(x≥DA → Release(y)=2002∧x<y) You win.
entrerix Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 all your internets and maths are belong to you. the winner is you Killing is kind of like playin' a basketball game. I am there. and the other player is there. and it's just the two of us. and I put the other player's body in my van. and I am the winner. - Nice Pete.
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