The good ol' big city... Will there be one?

[Wirdjos]

Kuldahar achieved that level for me in the IWD series, only not through abstraction but through the consistent level of detail: you could literally see it grow from one game to the next, with buildings being added or destroyed, with the tree either thriving or being hacked to bits, and a story large or small revolving around each change. That kind of existence -- the kind that transcends any one game -- really brings a city to life for me in a way that doesn't happen when the city changes too much from game to game. Neverwinter in the NWN series, for instance. The Neverwinters were just too different for me to feel I was in the same place. Kuldahar, though? The implementation of that town in the IWD series was brilliant, I thought. Kirkwall might have had the same potential with the Ten Year Span, only in one game instead of across a series, but by all accounts that didn't work out so well.

 

Kuldahar sounds amazing. I'm still playing through some of the developers' previous credits and haven't made it to IWD yet, but that really gets me excited to play it. I would love to see a town like that in PE, preferably progressing at the same rate to avoid Kirkwall's obvious failings.

[theseez]

I'd love a huge urban environment complete with various districts (rich, poor, commercial, industrial etc), slang and dialects, factions, architectural styles, diversions and so forth. I completely agree that Sigil was one of the best interpretations of a CRPG city I've ever come across, the experience was immersive and you felt like the city had its own beating heart and living soul. You could practically smell the squalor of the Hive, the sulphuric fumes of the Lower Ward and the perfumed decadence of the Clerk's Ward, and the ambient noises added even more depth and colour. I would love for this richness of experience to be brought to PE.

[Magnum Opus]

Kuldahar sounds amazing. I'm still playing through some of the developers' previous credits and haven't made it to IWD yet, but that really gets me excited to play it. I would love to see a town like that in PE, preferably progressing at the same rate to avoid Kirkwall's obvious failings.

I'm probably overstating things -- nostalgia and all -- but for me at least, that little extra effort that Obsidian/Black Isle has always put into their writing and storytelling makes an otherwise good story really come to life. If they care about the setting enough to keep the town consistent from one game to the next, to change it in ways that make perfect sense from an in-context perspective... that's the mark of a storyteller, so far as I'm concerned. The details. Kuldahar is in IWD 2 as it should be, thirty years on from where it was in IWD1, The same, but different. Love that sort of consistency. But that same detail was there in Torment's Sigil as well, and again... made the place come alive. I honestly don't think I can overstate the importance of having a well created setting to go along with the actual plot line and characters of a game.

 

Whatever they decide to do for this game, I'm certain that this game is going to have those same little details that I appreciate so much. Isometric is good and certainly underrepresented in today's gaming landscape, as is a fully controllable party, but the real draw was Obsidian. [/fangasm]

 

 

*cough* Sorry. And now, back to cities.

[Piccolo]

Can I also suggest keeping the big city far away from the player at first?

Personally I hate if I play Skyrim or Morrowind and then my first playthrough I think "wow, Whiterun/Balmora is so awesome! Can't wait to see more cities" and then I find out those are easily the most convenient/accessible/interesting cities in the game by far and other cities struggle to compare.

 

On the other hand in New Vegas, my first playthrough I loathed Freeside, I loathed Novac. I wanted them to get the hell out of the way so I could go see Vegas. But later? Later I realized how cool they were. They were towns that, after reaching the "big city," I was able to look back and appreciate more.

 

I just prefer finding a surprise awesome city later to having the awesome city thrown at me ASAP and then later having my hopes smashed and dashed when I slowly realize I've already seen the best city in the game.

Agreed.

 

Visiting major towns and cities for the first time in RPGs is something I really look forward to and enjoy working towards. Seeing them too early on is disappointing.

[czinczar]

Something I dislike in towns, is having to talk to everyone, if you see what I mean. Having to enter all houses, to talk to all inhabitants just to be sure that I have missed nothing. I like dialogue, but not forced like this. I like sigil because it is somewhat divided. And also, it doesn't feel natural. For example you enter a tavern, and you start to speak to everyone. You see a street, and you feel forced to enter all houses...

[begolf00]

@Czinczar: I loved being able to go into most of the houses in BG. Also Athkatla, Vizima, Sigil, (Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia, Treno, from FF IX) are probably my favorite cities of all time. I love the Athkatla, I just wished it was bigger lol. Every time I looked on the map at all the places you couldn't go in the city it made me sad. Final Fantasy IX's cities are probably my favorite stylized cities of all time. Especially Lindblum and Alexandria. The CG opening for Lindblum is amazing, sadly you can hardly explore anything compared to what the CG video shows.

 

I always thought a game set in an accurate representation of Water Deep would be awesome.

 

Anyway exploring a well thought out city truly can make a game just that much better. The Elderscrolls games mostly had crappy cities in my opinion, though MW was my favorite. Dragon Age cities sucked to, I just thought they were trying to pretend that they were big. I would be cool to see perhaps different styles of architecture in different regions.

Edited September 29, 2012 by begolf00

[moridin84]

Big city? I hope so, where else am I going to go to get smacked around the back of the head and robbed clean.

You have strange interests.