Ask 'ANYTHING' on Reddit 10AM PDT / 1PM ET Today!

[C2B]

http://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisAvellone

[Loranc]

[–]Greenei 5 points

 

How are you going to handle reactions from the world on actions of the Player (like thievery, violence and murder) or events in the world itself? Will there be some kind of legal system? Will NPC remember how you treated them and will there be ways to get on a good branch with them again? Will NPCs be reflective of what's going on in the world and have dialogue about it?

 

[–]jesawyer 2 points 1 minute ago

 

We haven't discussed reactions to criminal acts, but we'd like there to be good reactivity to those events. For reputation, we will be using a modified version of the system found in F:NV, which allowed for a broad spectrum of reactions that could shift over time. Not having to worry about full voice acting means we can have even more reactions to player actions from NPCs throughout the world. Overall, this is pretty important to us so we will support it as much as we can.

[Kaldurenik]

Its a bad version of a comment system... Anyway i guess someone will write all the questions and all the replies anyway so no point scrolling around on the website looking anyway

[Loranc]

[–]syn2083

A lot has been talked about regarding combat, and some of the mechanics. Can you describe how the lore, or mythos will effect the abilities or spells available within the game. EG In Dungeons and Dragons a cleric may worship a specific god, and be granted specific abilities due to this. Will there be any mechanic akin to this, and if so, will it be limited only to a 'cleric' like entity? I find that this is an often under-used mechanic that can really enhance the 'getting into the world' factor.

 

jesawyer

Priests and possibly paladins will have altered access to lists of spells and abilities based on their chosen deity or cause. It's not about the god/cause limiting it, but the person limiting their access themselves since their power is internally-derived.

[C2B]

You can also just check out these

 

http://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisAvellone

http://www.reddit.com/user/jesawyer

 

Done: For questions click on *context*

 

It's not THAT hard to figure out.

[Monte Carlo]

Sorry, can't be bothered. Decent GUI on websites is a prerequisite for me and Reddit is horrible to look at.

 

Like I say, it's like the internet in 1996. But worse.

[Loranc]

[–]hswbaz

How do you feel about the current trend of RPGs and where would you like to see it go/what would you like to see changed?

 

ChrisAvelloneCCO Obsidian Entertainment

The genre's definitely advancing in some ways (art fidelity, voice/sound) and technology aspects, although sometimes I worry that some of the older elements that made RPGs RPGs has gotten lost along the way. For example, party-based control, ability to write your own bios and enter your own text, and also some customization elements (importing your own portraits, for example, rather than sticking with the range the devs allow). While there are some technology elements that may make games better games, I don't know if those technological improvements make them better role-playing games.

As an example (and I cite this one a lot because it changed my design philosophy), the idea that skills and attributes could change your dialogue options in Fallout 1 was brilliant and didn't need anything from the latest processor or video card.

[C2B]

And Tim Cain

 

http://www.reddit.com/user/TimCain

http://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisAvellone

http://www.reddit.com/user/jesawyer

 

There, no navigating needed.

[Loranc]

[–]gyshall

Can we expect to see unique dialog choices and options for characters with low intelligence? Or unique ones relating to skill/feat/talent/etc levels?

 

ChrisAvelloneCCO Obsidian Entertainment

Absolutely, it's an important part of the dialogue process, and from a dialogue standpoint, they're a lot of fun to do. I really enjoyed doing the ones for Vault City in Fallout 2, especially.

Ideally, the more reactive you can make the dialogue to a character's stats and attributes, the better, obviously, and we intend to do it in this title.

[C2B]

Did you check it out Loranc? You don't have to search for every answered question!

Edited October 15, 2012 by C2B

[Loranc]

]delias_

What are some of the harder aspects of having the ability to create all new lore, geography, etc. this time around? Previously, many of the BI and Obsidian games have worked within existing worlds, like the Forgotten Realms where awesome places like "The Spine of the World" already existed. Any major tug-of-war going on between you about what something should be named, perhaps?

 

Obsidian_Ent

JESawyer: I think the most difficult aspect right now is that generating content during the Kickstarter campaign is very "seat of the pants". A brand new setting takes a lot of time to fully develop since you have virtually nothing to start with.

We haven't had many arguments/disagreements about how things should be named. The general approach is that things around the Dyrwood are named by Aedyr settlers using common words/names that are either plain English or Old English in origin (or at least OE in "feel").

[Loranc]

Did you check it out Loranc? You don't have to search for every answered question!

 

I'm posting them for everyone else.

[C2B]

Did you check it out Loranc? You don't have to search for every answered question!

 

I'm posting them for everyone else.

Yes, but look at my links. All answers show up there!

 

I'm just trying to make posting it easier for you. Are you using them?

Edited October 15, 2012 by C2B

[Loranc]

Did you check it out Loranc? You don't have to search for every answered question!

 

I'm posting them for everyone else.

Yes, but look at my links. All answers show up there!

 

I'm just trying to make posting it easier for you. Are you using them?

 

Err no, I was actually doing a lot of 'deleting' and reformatting.

[Piccolo]

Thanks for posting these, Loranc. I can't tolerate Reddit.

[C2B]

Err no, I was actually doing a lot of 'deleting' and reformatting.

 

What? But you will, right?

 

Okay, again.

 

These links contain every post from Sawyer, Tim and Chris. You don't have to look through the entire question list to find a developer answer to post. If you want the corresponding question, just click on *context*.

Edited October 15, 2012 by C2B

[C2B]

They're now posting with this user

 

http://www.reddit.com/user/Obsidian_Ent

[Loranc]

[–]dinxusa

Thank you all for doing an AMA! What do you think is it about the Fallout series is it that makes it so popular? What do you like about it? PS thank you for writing the Fallout Bible!

 

TimCain

I have always thought that Fallout was popular, in part, because it introduced a world with no law and a very grey morality and then asked the player "how will you behave?". The player had to decide if he or she wanted to be nice or to act badly, and then to live with those consequences. This feature not only made the game replayable (what would happen if I was nice to those ghouls instead of killing them all?), but I'd like to think that it made people think more about how they act in real life.

[Monte Carlo]

How did this thing become so popular. Jesus, it's just a wall of text.

[Loranc]

They're now posting with this user

 

http://www.reddit.co...er/Obsidian_Ent

 

Thanks and i am using it now, had to duck out for a few to do the new 2 hour update.

[Loranc]

[–]GoldenSama

First off, a big thank you to you guys. I’ve spent more hours playing Fallout games than I can count. Absolutely love the universe, the settings and the games.

What are your involvements in the future of the franchise? Are you guys involved in Fallout 4, or have plans for any other upcoming Fallout titles?

How do you feel about mods?

And one final question, because I have always wondered… why is there only short-hair in the character creation?

 

ChrisAvelloneCCO Obsidian Entertainment

Fallout is all in Bethesda's hands. We loved working on Fallout 2 and New Vegas (and obviously, Tim on Fallout 1 and 2).

We love mods. Not only because it gives a chance to see what players can make (and use it as a way of testing potential design candidates), but it's also informative in terms of letting us know what design elements to include in future installments. As an example, the "Sink" in Old World Blues was due directly through realizing how frequently people made homebase mods and then designing a DLC around that.

[Loranc]

]Nosferax -1 points

Will there be multiplayer available?

 

ChrisAvelloneCCO Obsidian Entertainment

No multiplayer, no. We're focusing on the single-player experience.

[Loranc]

jarpie

If you are going to put social skills such as speech, diplomacy, persuasion, intimidate or something similar to those, would they be tied to the classes like in D&D 3E/3,5E or free for all classes?

 

ChrisAvelloneCCO Obsidian Entertainment

We are tying responses to attributes, but what we want to avoid in the mechanics is using attributes as "insta-win" buttons (for example, often in previous RPG titles, using the Skill option often is the instant win for quest solutions). What we'd rather do is have attributes and skills open up a range of new information that allows you to make a more informed decision about a choice rather than gate you to a solution.

This may sound complicated, but it's like the Empathy skill in Fallout 1 and 2 - it would only tell you if the person you were talking to would react positively or negatively to your dialogue option, but that didn't mean it was the right option to choose in every situation, and sometimes you wanted to make someone mad to achieve your goal.

Hope that makes sense.

[Loranc]

ARTIFICIAL_SAPIENCE

Is there any interest in including another incarnation of Ravel? The last one I recognized was back in KOTOR 2. Has the concept become less interesting?

 

Obsidian_Ent[S]

Chris Avellone thinks:

I think Ravel's been explored enough. If I did another D&D game, I might, but Kreia in K2 was designed to explore that relationship more, and I feel she ended up being a thorough exploration of her personality archetype so much so I don't feel the need to go any further. It also helped that the context of the Star Wars universe also helped give her a fresh take.

The fact that Ravel existed across the Planes and perceived time differently than others was always an interesting element to write for. And I always liked her for her more honest emotions (feelings for the player and her attempts to do good and change her nature even when her nature got in the way).

[Piccolo]

The aspect of Darklands I'm most interested in trying out in Project Eternity is the manner in which certain non-combat sequences/conversations are presented with an illustrated scene accompanied by text. Performing a ritual, talking with an important character at a specific time/place, or even figuring out how to cross a broken bridge -- those are all things that I could see taking place in such a format.

YES!