Deus Ex 3

[WorstUsernameEver]

Alpha Protocol minigames weren't really complex though. And IIRC most of the press praised Alpha Protocol's dialogue system Tig.

[Tigranes]

Did they? Hrm. Maybe I have a selective memory problem here. Fair enough.

 

I am excited about DX3, nevertheless - I do think that the AP dialogue style is well suited to these kind of games, and all this talk about multiple ways to tackle levels can't help but get you going.

[Purkake]

Obviously it's all about the implementation, the best idea in the world isn't worth anything if can't manage to implement it properly.

 

The days of games getting praise(at least from the press) just for good ideas are over, you have to carry through.

[Raithe]

While the AP minigame was fairly fast.. there wasn't that much of an out-n-out "hacking" feel to it. From the sounds of it, the DX3 minigame for hacking is something that's going to push more buttons for the atmosphereic feel of hacking. That could be part of the whole "yes!" response...

[Purkake]

While the AP minigame was fairly fast.. there wasn't that much of an out-n-out "hacking" feel to it. From the sounds of it, the DX3 minigame for hacking is something that's going to push more buttons for the atmosphereic feel of hacking. That could be part of the whole "yes!" response...

Yup, comparing it to Uplink sounds pretty interesting. I just hope it doesn't go all Tron with the extra programs and viruses.

[Malcador]

"more complex" ? It'd be cool if they made you do buffer overrun or something simplistic like that. As much as I hate that guy for Vegas 2, doesn't sound like this is a total **** up.

[Purkake]

I think the important thing is to not make the minigames just abstract puzzle/reflex games, but to actually make it representative of what you're supposed to be doing.

 

It would be nice to get some more gameplay videos.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Purkake

[Malcador]

I think the important thing is to not make the minigames just abstract puzzle/reflex games, but to actually make it representative of what you're supposed to be doing.

 

It would be nice to get some more gameplay videos.

 

That's pretty tricky for hacking as having you code a program to break the encryption on a computer won't work. DX's "you just plug in and run the ICE Breaker" was sufficient for it, they could do similar. Then again maybe we can get hacking like the NOD ending in C&C, flying around in cyberspace shooting security drones and stuff, hehe.

 

Bunch of new previews up at IGN, EG, 1UP. Doubt it's anything new, the bit where they describe how you make a bitter, guilt ridden cop all better through some dialogue is kind of amusing looking at it outside of a game.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Malcador

[Purkake]

I meant the Hollywood/Uplink style "make lots of connecting lines between nodes and wait for loading bars to fill before they trace you", this is cyberpunk, no lame real world hacking in here.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Purkake

[Malcador]

Ah well that's not representative of what you're doing, but it does have to be glitzy and so on.

[Purkake]

I didn't mean representative in the real world sense, but playing Uplink makes me feel more like hacking than playing Mastermind or Eyestrain

 

It's all about the perception.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Purkake

[Raithe]

Uplink had the cyberpunk "feel" to it. A nice enough gui representation that made you feel as if you were actually involved in some form of hacking.. rather then feeling like it was just some..puzzle mini-game .

[TheHarlequin]

isnt shadowrun the game with trolls and dragons using laptops to cast spells at eachother??

 

deus ex seems a bit more william gibson based cyperpunk than fantasy

 

SR had both actually. I was talking about the cyberpunk theme setting more so then the fantasy (magick, trolls, elves, etc) elements.

[TheHarlequin]

It's geared around the PC's basically being the non-registered citizens who live between the cracks of society, and act as the general deniable assets between the various Mega-Corporations. Typical cyberpunk conspiracies, extraction of corporate assets, r&d theft, destruction of assets to get a leg up.. all wrapped up in various betrayals, cat's paws, and other questions of trust.

 

Then it's just loaded with the whole "mana cycle" and 'magic' having returned to the world in the early 21st century, which brought with it the awakening of slumbering dragons, re-activated genes that turned various members of humanity into elves, orcs, dwarves etc.. and added the whole social upheaval and "immortal conspiracies" to standard cyberpunk.

 

I've seen it played uber-cheesy, and really gritty. It can go either way depending on the mood of the GM and the players in the campaign

 

Well said!

[Raithe]

Hm, I was just poking around on the DE3 website and the first time I'd actually read through the faq they've put up.. some interesting things that I'm not sure if there's been much commentary on before..

 

Additionally, Deus Ex 1 & 2 writer Sheldon Pacotti has been enlisted as story consultant and has been working with the EM team, and original creators Warren Spector & Harvey Smith have been spoken to.

 

The levels will be large and hub-based - they will be as large or larger than those in the original game. The player will experience both day and night, to establish some variety in time and atmosphere, but the general tone of the game will remain brooding and dark. When it comes to map sizes, think DX1 - not DX:IW.

 

There will be chance encounters and certain experiences that the player may or may not choose to interact with, and you can't undo a choice you have made. Engaging other characters in dialogue is where you find much of the heart and emotion of the game. Having one-to-one conversations, advancing the plot, learning new things and questioning people will offer an immersive experience. The dialogue system in DX:HR is very unique and the team is focusing on having characters emote and react far more realistically than other games of late. Reading body language and social psychology will come into play.

 

Since each aug you install can visibly alter your character (but not all of them do), your choices customise your appearance at the same time as your abilities. Some of the mechanical augmentations passively improve your abilities, and can also take the form of special combat moves.

 

DX:HR will use experience gained through completing objectives, exploration, or other means to "upgrade" or "learn better use of" purchased augmentations. There is some versatility in character build; you aren't forced to use your skill points in the same manner at the beginning of the game, you can use other configurations and clear the levels of the game. You can modify yourself and your weapons to be able to do different things and also in the physical world there are different ways to complete an objective. It's about multi-path and multi-solution - it depends on your own personal style of play. But you won't be able to get every augmentation or weapon in one playthrough - as mentioned already, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is about choice and consequences, so multiple playthroughs will be required to find and use everything.

 

Experience Points accumulated during the game experience are spent to gain new, or improve upon, already possessed talents conferred by augmentation. As an example: everyone can shoot a gun, simple point and shoot. Only practice and experience will make you a better shot. Same applies to hacking: everyone can use a low level hacking software to help out, but skilled and experienced hackers will be faster, better, and have less risk of getting noticed while on their endeavor. You can spend skill points on augs. Weapons are upgraded by other means, such as with money or if you find an upgrade in the environment (i.e. searching off the beaten path). But your handling of the weapons are "upgraded" via augmentation (recoil and accuracy) which are basically "arm augment" related.

 

In DX:HR, stats have been removed from the act of shooting and instead relies on your ability to target with your mouse and keyboard. However stats have not been removed from you building your character or modifying weapons. There may be other examples of stats/simulation like this in the game, but it must be restated: combat is not more frequent than DX1, not more important, just better in the instances in which you will use it.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Raithe

[Purkake]

Well, I have learned that DX:HR is a horrible abbreviation.

 

At this point, I only hope that they will polish it up nicely and that the story will be good or at least not a huge pile of clich

[Humodour]

I'm very excited about DX3 not least of all because they acknowledge DX:IW was a steaming pile of **** and DX1 was awesome.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm very excited about DX3 not least of all because they acknowledge DX:IW was a steaming pile of **** and DX1 was awesome.

 

To be fair, even if they loved IW they would probably say that just to be better received by the old fans.

[Nepenthe]

I'm very excited about DX3 not least of all because they acknowledge DX:IW was a steaming pile of **** and DX1 was awesome.

 

To be fair, even if they loved IW they would probably say that just to be better received by the old fans.

 

More like, to be unfair. When you are talking about gameplay concepts, lying just to please old fans would be... idiotic. While Deus Ex almost definitely has a special place in many old gamers' hearts, just kissing up to that crowd would be silly. Especially since it's now been, what, 10 years since DX came out, and it's a PC/PS3/X360 release...

 

Additionally, Deus Ex 1 & 2 writer Sheldon Pacotti has been enlisted as story consultant and has been working with the EM team, and original creators Warren Spector & Harvey Smith have been spoken to.

 

I remembered reading this, and in fact wanted to refer to it a while back, so thanks for digging it up again. While it's nice of them to have a chat with Warren and the Witchboy, I think that having Sheldon Pacotti sign on even to give a vague stamp of approval to the story is a brilliant move. (Now THIS I agree is being done to have the game better received by old fans - not just common sense like distancing yourself from DX:IW)

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm very excited about DX3 not least of all because they acknowledge DX:IW was a steaming pile of **** and DX1 was awesome.

 

To be fair, even if they loved IW they would probably say that just to be better received by the old fans.

 

More like, to be unfair. When you are talking about gameplay concepts, lying just to please old fans would be... idiotic. While Deus Ex almost definitely has a special place in many old gamers' hearts, just kissing up to that crowd would be silly. Especially since it's now been, what, 10 years since DX came out, and it's a PC/PS3/X360 release...

 

Except that then they go back to IW's character development system instead of the original, for once.

[Nepenthe]

Except that then they go back to IW's character development system instead of the original, for once.

 

Your point being?

 

It's not like either of the aug systems (in DX or IW) were that balanced or successful.

 

Just the fact that they are critically looking at IW instead of either blindly adopting or discarding everything from it is a good sign.

[WorstUsernameEver]

My point being that until I can try it, or someone I trust can try it, while I like what I see in the trailers I won't take buzzword-talk like 'we're making this closer to Deus Ex than Invisible Wars' at face value.

[Nepenthe]

Well, that point I can identify with.

[Raithe]

It's interesting that they've set it up so experience points get spent on opening up new skills/improving skills related to different augmentations you have.. but there's no direct "weapon handling" skills. There are potential benefits to weapon handling (recoil control and the like) depending on how you develop the augmentations and skills on your arms.. but nothing that's out and out "pistol", "rifle", "heavy weapons"... The only way to directly improve weapon capabilities.. is to modify the weapon itself.

 

So that seems a touch more Invisible War'ish. But having "skill trees" as such within augmentations sounds a lot more complicated and potentially branching for character development for creating different character types then they had back then...

[Maria Caliban]

This idea that hardcore fans of whatever have that a new sequel or prequel will ruin the original is incredibly childish.

Fascinating to see the refutation of basic human thought processes such as retroactive thinking? An excellent DX3 will redeem the franchise, and allow more spinoffs/sequels for these devs.

 

If 1) retroactive thinking is a basic human thought process, and 2) a new sequel or prequal will ruin the original, then shouldn't DX2 have ruined the original in the minds of DX1's fans?