party size

[2ane]

any info on how big the players party is gonna be? Im getting kinda bored of the 3 or 4 characters max system all RPGs nowadays seem to use and would love having the tactical options that 6 or better yet 8 individuals offer.

 

It just creates way more intresting dynamics imho.

[Littlefinger]

More party member mean more of everything: the world will have to be bigger, the town will have to have more population, the battles will have to involve more enemies... all of this means higher processing requirements, and if Obsidian is planning to make the game accessable to people with less powerful computer systems, it would mean the graphical quality of the game would have to be decreased.

 

And before anyone says that graphics don't matter: I'm not talking about decreasing the texture resolution or smoke effects, I'm talking about less different models, less viewing distance and less animations, and that's not something I would like to see omitted.

 

3-4 party members, main character included, are enough in my books. I'm more of a quality over quantity sort of guy anyway.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Littlefinger

[Darji]

Personally I would say 4 as party members you can actually have at the same time but also additional potential ones. So that they also could leave your group permanently if they don't agree with your decisions or actions or you could switch out in your base.

[Infinitron]

More party member mean more of everything: the world will have to be bigger, the town will have to have more population, the battles will have to involve more enemies... all of this means higher processing requirements, and if Obsidian is planning to make the game accessable to people with less powerful computer systems, it would mean the graphical quality of the game would have to be decreased.

 

And before anyone says that graphics don't matter: I'm not talking about decreasing the texture resolution or smoke effects, I'm talking about less different models, less viewing distance and less animations, and that's not something I would like to see omitted.

 

3-4 party members, main character included, are enough in my books. I'm more of a quality over quantity sort of guy anyway.

 

Uh, what "viewing distance"? It's a 2D isometric game.

 

We had six man parties with this technology 14 years ago.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Infinitron

[Rosbjerg]

I'm guessing six like BG and so on, also given the higher kickstarter tiers recieve 5 copies extra .. so they can play a full party.

[Darji]

I'm guessing six like BG and so on, also given the higher kickstarter tiers recieve 5 copies extra .. so they can play a full party.

please keep multiplayer out of this game. Concentrate fully on the SP aspect...

 

Multiplayer are just extra costs which could be spend for a much better SP experience.

[Rosbjerg]

I can't speak for the devs of course, but I think multiplayer is a given - seeing as the old games had 'em.

[Littlefinger]

Uh, what "viewing distance"? It's a 2D isometric game.

 

Woah, 2D? I was only aware of the isometric perspective, but I imagined the game would still be 3D, with rotatable camera. Sorry, bro.

[Darji]

I can't speak for the devs of course, but I think multiplayer is a given - seeing as the old games had 'em.

Older games had also a higher budget. In this time and age it would be perfect just to have a great SP experience. Something you actually enjoy because it has a great story, great characters and a very atmospheric world and not because its fun to play with friends.

[dlux]

5 or 6 is good enough in my opinion.

[JayDGee]

6 is the feeling I'm getting from it so far. I could be completely wrong lets face we know almost nothing at this point.

The party sizes from the old infinity games were great.

Any more than 6 and we spend too much time planning movements and not enough actual playing.

[Volourn]

4-6 is the ultimate number. Any less and it's barely a party, and any more is just plain ridiculous and more likely the characters likely get shallow and more like the combat gets stupid.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Volourn

[Karnich]

6 is the key number imo.. i always have problems with only 4... there are usually so many different classes you wanna include.. and i feel thats to difficult with a 4 man party...

[PsychoBlonde]

And before anyone says that graphics don't matter: I'm not talking about decreasing the texture resolution or smoke effects, I'm talking about less different models, less viewing distance and less animations, and that's not something I would like to see omitted.

 

You do realize that this game is going to be isometric overhead/angled perspective so view distance is going to be static--based on your resolution and screen aspect. Also the character models are going to be SMALL and you may or may not be able to zoom to see them any closer up.

 

4 party members is plenty if you have 3 classes to choose from. I'd rather have many more distinctive character types in this game and 6 party members a la Baldur's Gate/Planescape.

[Volourn]

"i feel thats to difficult with a 4 man party..."

 

How 'bout a 0 man party when you play with 4-6 females?

[Hoverdog]

R00fles!

[sparklecat]

6 seems reasonable to me. Too low and you get overly limited on your tactical options, both in battle and out, too high and each individual fight becomes a micromanaging nightmare without something like Dragon Age 2 style tactics (which I actually really loved). But at the same time, one thing I loved about BG was that the system let you take less than the maximum if you wanted, even solo it successfully, as you got better at the game. It was rather annoying that it forced you to stay with the same characters for most or all of your playthrough though, since there was no shared xp.

 

Some sort of hybrid would be nice, where there's a set amount of xp you're getting to be distributed amongst the party members, and you can't just go add a fifth companion for the first time from the starting area 30 hours in and have them be the same level as the rest of you, but if you trade one companion out for another you've already recruited they're on level. It's a bit arbitrary, but it keeps the good points of both systems.

[Sammael]

The protagonist and up to five party members, with the ability to drop party members and then pick them up again at convenient locations without too many detriments.