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Ambient sounds + NPCs : cities too empty ? + Animations of characters


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Hello Obsidian,

I created an account on purpose because this game is what I have been waiting for years ! I've known the golden age of RPG with BG1, BG2, Planescape Torment etc... and I'm so tired of all of the tasteless stuff as Dragon Age...

For me, this will probably be day one, but a few things make me worried :

 

1. The cities look so EMPTY : where are the PNJs like in BG ? Where are the ambient sounds ? (I'm saying this following the stream of yesterday night).

 

2. The character animations are too sync with each other : all of our characters in the group look the same, like clones while running, moving. It would be good just to async them or change their stand.

 

3. The speed is too fast : I had the impression to watch a "finish mario in 1 hour record" on youtube. The character run really fast, and what made also BG series so enjoyable was that we did not have the choice than walking (no fast traveling like in Skyrim). 

 

The game is magnificent, it would be a waste to rush all the environment like this. So please, maybe add an option to decrease the speed.

 

Other than that, this looks like the perfect come back to golden RPG. I'm so thrilled with this game. Take your time, don't rush it, we can wait until end of March.

Thank you for hearing us since the beginning, we will always be there to support you. Just deliver us a "Baldur's Gate 3".

 

EDIT 01.21.2015 :

 

To illustrate the topic, the latest stream video for those who missed it.


 

Here is a summary of what have been quoted so far in this thread :

 

Of course, without considering background reasons (a ghost town is empty, this is obvious original.gif ).

We are talking about immersion in cities (non-interactive or a few), but of course if you can add more life with interactive purposes, it won't be a no original.gif.

 

Persons/animals immersion : 

- birds flying, cows, dogs barking running around.

- peasants moving/wandering in towns with thinking bubbles, showing they're living their life.

- people sitting around, selling goods, discussing about strangers etc...

- kids playing/running around

- etc...

 

Environment immersion :

- more dirt, garbages

- taverns should be filled with people drinking, drunk, discussing

- environment noise

- messy tables

etc...

 

Dynamic environment :

- it is discussed in another topic but random weather : rain, thunder, sands hurricane would be better (like in BG, once again). It will feel less linear instead of knowing that at a precise location, the script will activate weather effects. 

 

Overall, it was a few suggestions from what have been said but, there are tons of them. 

This might seems stupid but just "copy" a Baldur's Gate II in terms of immersion, and I guess 90% would be happy original.gif

 

Again thanks for your tremendous work, in any case, we love the work you've already performed !

Edited by TrueNeutral
post edit-lock request
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3. For this one you should keep in mind that Josh was utlising the "fast" game speed to move his characters around (there is also a slow option - you can see him using it in some of the early dungeon fights). If that's not your bag you can pretend the option isn't there - or even disable it by simply unassigning the hotkeys associated with it if you want to be hardcore about it.

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I agree the cities could do with a little bit more 'life'. Also, the group in Defiance Bay listening to the preacher could do with having their positions randomised a bit. They look like they are standing in a grid like formation, quite unnatural.

Edited by BlueLion
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2. The character animations are too sync with each other : all of our characters in the group look the same, like clones while running, moving. It would be good just to async them or change their stand.

 

This has been reported by beta testers, and recently added to the dev's issue tracker by QA.

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"Time is not your enemy. Forever is."

— Fall-From-Grace, Planescape: Torment

"It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question, and he'll look for his own answers."

— Kvothe, The Wise Man's Fears

My Deadfire mods: Brilliant Mod | Faster Deadfire | Deadfire Unnerfed | Helwalker Rekke | Permanent Per-Rest Bonuses | PoE Items for Deadfire | No Recyled Icons | Soul Charged Nautilus

 

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Ok guys, thanks for the answers... I haven't seen the part where Josh was playing with the speed of the game.

 

Perfect if they will also add some specific moves to the characters while standing.

 

For now, my only concern is about the cosmectic in cities : yes, for me it was quite "shocking" : cities looked like ghost towns whereas we were used to some PNJ walking from one place to another, and talking in BG.

This is the only last point that is worrying me since we are only 2 months from the release date...

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Unfortunately Josh felt that the cities in BG1 and BG2 were too dense in their content....

 

BG1 and BG2 did cities and towns in an RPG game better than any other game I've seen before or since.

 

It certainly would be nice however if Josh and company took feedback such as in this thread to heart before the game is released.

Edited by Valsuelm
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Content density has nothing to do with the number of peasants wandering around y'know.

 

I'd consider peasants game content...

 

Either way, it's a design mindset, and one I couldn't disagree more with. The other Obsidian RPGs already out do not have cities as dense as BG1 or BG2 in any way so it shouldn't be surprising what we're seeing given that and what Josh has stated.

 

Again, hopefully Josh and co. take the feedback in this thread and others regarding this to heart before release.

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I believe you two are having a semantic argument. The amount of 'interactive' content is at a suitable level. But, the things that create the immersion, in this case peasants, are quite low in numbers. Yes, we don't expect to be able to have full conversations with them all, but their existence would definitely increase the 'living' feeling the areas would convey.

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I also feel that they need some of them to move. They all seem to be standing around chatting, which is great, but this needs balancing with some that are walking to some destination. Maybe a small group of kids running around laughing in areas that would fit with the lore.

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I didn't forget about this game thanks for the email reminder!

Was able to watch your video but had the sound off.

I Have to say you need to make your cities come to life. *many have already stated*

There are no birds around and it's by a bay.

The cities look way to clean.   To lifeless.

I am sure through your two months of polishing and your professionalsim and experience in the gameing industry you could make the game world more alive.

Impress people with the world your company has created.

Great job on finishing your game!  It's nice to see a project through to it's end!!!

 

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Was divinity developed on unity? If yes the towns are not that empty. If Some Guy From larian studio can do it, why wouldnt obsidian ? Sorry, writing from the phone and somehow everything is messy.

 

Agreed, Cyseal was a town well done...full of life, ambiance, and believable. 

 

No reason why Obsidian should have empty lifeless towns like that...it's boring quite frankly.

 

They really need to take this feedback to heart and add some life to the cities...more peasant/wanderers and more ambiance. 

 

Hell they could add a GreyFox peasant who wanders around bitching bout everything!

Edited by GreyFox
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Was divinity developed on unity? If yes the towns are not that empty. If Some Guy From larian studio can do it, why wouldnt obsidian ? Sorry, writing from the phone and somehow everything is messy.

 

No, I believe it uses it's own engine. Besides it's not that they can't/don't want to but they probably have more important stuff to fix then add some extra eyecandy.

Maybe they'll find some time after all, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

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Just a thought, could there be a plot reason for the relative emptiness of the city spaces? In the BB there's mention of some stuff that could lead to depopulation.

"Wizards do not need to be The Dudes Who Can AoE Nuke You and Gish and Take as Many Hits as a Fighter and Make all Skills Irrelevant Because Magic."

-Josh Sawyer

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Also, is it not possible that they just don't have some stuff "in" yet, but will have it in before the final release? I can't imagine you'd have that many bugs to work out with a bunch of wandering townsfolk than you would with a single wandering townsperson.

 

Seems like a different version of the paint-over passes on the environments. Doesn't really change the function, so it can be done whenever. And, admittedly, can be left out if it's just never gotten around to because of time constraints and the rest of thew workload. 8P

Should we not start with some Ipelagos, or at least some Greater Ipelagos, before tackling a named Arch Ipelago? 6_u

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Josh's comment about "too much content density" in Athkatla was definitely NOT about how many NPCs were walking around in the streets. It was about the # of quests, and specifically, how it seemed that everyone in town was just waiting around for you to walk by so they could unload their problems upon you...one after another.

 

Also can someone kindly update me on the lingo here? What exactly is a PNJ?

 

 

Anyway, I'm planning on watching the stream again later, but from my first view, I didn't come out of it feeling like the parts of Defiance Bay we saw were "lifeless" or "Empty". Not at first glance at least. I did notice the glaring lack of city sounds though... that might have a lot to do with people's perceptions. But I'll watch the video again.

Edited by Stun
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