Dragon Age Forum News (Dec. 19, 05)

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Here are today's Dragon Age forum highlights, taken from the Dragon Age Official Forum. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

Georg Zoeller, Designer

What is the status of Dragon Age? Is it dead?
Hehe, funny how certain games are always brought up, even if a game isn't anywhere close to long in development.

How about any other Bioware game that wasn't a sequel?

take NWN for example - it took around 5 years to create that game...

DA was announced GDC last year, and unless you do a sequel with an existing engine (which DA isn't) you can't make a decent, BioWare style PC RPG in 18 month. Not anywhere close to 18 month in fact. We're in a position that allows us to take the time necessary to do things right, rather than rushing to the market.

Seriously, if you are already posting "is it dead" today, your attention span probably won't last till the game is released, it's still a long way out

I can assure you we are not working on "Dragon Age Forever" or something like that, in fact we have some interest in the game actually hitting the market, selling a lot and thereby keeping us in business and increasing the value of this company in which we hold shares in.

If the wait for DA gets unbearable, take some time off from watching the game, I'm sure you'll see quite a PR blitz once we have something to show, even if you don't follow the forums each day.

The reasons we announced the game that early and why we have these forums is to give people an idea what we are working on and allow them to get in touch with the development team, to make suggestions and give feedback as well as to communicate their preferences and expectations regarding the game. The downside of this approach is that some people will get excited about the game early on and that we may lose their attention on the way to release, but we believe that this is a small price to pay for getting an active community involved, especially since it is possible to recapture attention along the way with some nice things to show off

David Gaider, Lead Writer

Give us balanced/interesting NPCs again ! : )

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so, in defense o' geo, if bio has actually been trying to makes balanced joinable npcs in their past games, they has done a crappy job of it. maybe biowarians should try to do better in future rather than simply dismissing geo observations, 'cause Gromnir believes that geo gots a point.

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Meh.

I only meant that we don't set out to deliberately create unbalanced and uninteresting characters, so suggesting that we do otherwise is a bit like telling us that the story should be 'good'. We may not always get it 100% right, but it's not as if we didn't set out to try.

As far as balance goes, I suppose our view is that the NPC's must all be equally viable and interesting -- we're not interested in making them all 'equal' to each other in terms of power and ability, obviously.

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am thinking that it is Obvious that bioware has fumbled in past if their goal were to make joinable npcs equally useful and interesting.

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Maybe. The point was that we try. But I'm sure if you condescendingly tut-tut me enough I'll suddenly believe that you must have all the answers we lack.

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did geo express his concerns as eloquently as Gromnir? Obviously he did not? geo couched his concerns in language that made it easy for dave to dismiss,

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If you want to go ahead and tell us how you want us to improve something, that's great. Just telling us that something should be good which pretty much everyone could agree with anyway (including us) isn't really a matter of eloquence.

But then you kept capitalizing 'Obvious' so I shouldn't have to explain it to you.

Notoriety Quests

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Okay.

But somebody somewhere gives you a quest and they at least know your name, right?

I'd like to think I'm flexable.

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Ummm... sure?

There are certainly doors that are opened to you as you become more successful, but I tend to think of that as plot progression and not a quest-giving mechanic.

Stepping out (other realms of existence?).

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I recall asking about whether other planes of existence were known about in TheDAS, back when Dave Gaider was in a question-answering mood a year or so ago.

IIRC, the general answer was no.

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There are no alternate planes of existence that you can physically enter. Certainly no planes as they exist in the D&D sense.

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Is the aspect of how the various cultures/races treat their dead being considered?

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Actually, yes. How each culture treats their dead and what they believe actually happens to a person after they die is a rather important distinction.

My favorite method of burial, actually, is one of the human cultures that lives in the mountains. They favor air burial -- for some very practical as well as religious reasons.

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What exactly is an air burial? Is that anything like what the Tibetan monks do? They strip the flesh and crush the bones, and leave the pieces for the vultures. Since both cultures live among mountains, it wouldn't surprise me. Just like some clarification, is all

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Yes, that's it almost exactly. The body in its entirety is returned to the sky.

Is There Anyway in Hell to Resurrect this Thread?
Sorry if I pick and choose amongst your questions, Level42, in a rather capricious fashion. Some of them simply don't apply.

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how far is the monetary system developed, are eg banks exsitent?

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Currency exists and has been spread by one particular culture (though the names for and appearance of currency varies from place to place). There are no banks, but some places have moneylenders (most often that same culture).

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Have music instruments like harps for bards been already developped, so is music known to people?

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Yes to both. There's lots of music.

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How far have people in DA cultured nature, eg are paths paved or natural, or is more wildlife in DA? Is some kind of a sanitary system developed?

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Well, it depends on where you go. Certainly some places are more developed than others. In some places you'll have dirt paths and unsanitary conditions. In other, more cultured regions, you have cobblestone roads and complex sewer systems (though, no, you won't be required to enter any).

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How many people are schooled in writing, that is, is educational system existent and for everyone available?

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No, education is not common. Like in our own, similar, period of history it's restricted to the privileged few.

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What is the view of life of people? Are there eg different views like that they believe the world is flat or round?

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Hmm. Hard to answer this one. There is a difference in what is believed about the world by the educated and what is believed about the world by the uneducated. You'll encounter many beliefs on things but rarely will there be a definitive "this is the truth".

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Is there an awesome NPC that nearly everyone will fall in love, on the level that people loved Minsc?

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I hope so.

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Are you REALLY looking for a publisher or do you just like to see us twicht in antcipation?

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Both. Though it depends on what you mean by "looking", really. It's certainly not a "hat in our hands" kind of looking, that's for sure.

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Do you have exotic never thought up before cultures to free us from the monotony of the usual stuff?

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Oh, I'm sure it's all been thought of before.

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Did you steal the cookies from the cookie jar?

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I'm an adult. If I want the damn cookies, I'll take them, thank you very much.

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How different is each background? i.e. is each background kind of like a huge sub-game full of adventure thus leading to near infinate replay value?

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They cover a pretty broad range, I'd say. And while they're quite large, I wouldn't say "huge sub-game" nor imply they make replay value near-infinite. They do allow the beginning of the game to be quite tailored to your character though, and certainly some replay value is there.

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How much work is done on Dragon Age? Are you nearing a time where you can give us more information?

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We probably have more done on it than you think. And I imagine we might roll out some info eventually, though I wouldn't hold your breath. We're in no hurry on that score.

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Why can't I seem to find true love?

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It might have something to do with asking too many questions.

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What were they thinking when they canceled Firefly?

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They were probably thinking really short-term and were unwilling to keep spending money on a series they had no confidence in -- but that's Fox for you. Personally, if you think about it, at least this way Firefly never had a chance to get crappy.

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Again to the NPCs. Are there going to be rich NPC plotlines? Will NPCs slowly change and be influenced by my actions?

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Geez, you're making PR's job very easy today. Yes to the first (though "rich" is subjective, I suppose). As for the second, some of them do -- those that are willing to be influenced, anyhow.

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This I've always wanted. Let's say that I've been playing a good guy all the way through the game thus far, will the computer get a feel of my players attitude so I have more gray areas but really evil things are off limits.
Like a paladin slaughting a village. But having more options of holy justice to bring upon a evil mage; i.e. killing him, binding him etc.

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Let me put it this way: let's say you lived a life of sainthood. Does that prevent you from performing an evil act now? Or mean that you can do things that are more saintly now than you could before?

Morality is a theme in DA rather than a game mechanic.

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Why do other games pale in comparison to yours.

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Because their writers suck! I kid.

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After I finish college, would you consider hiring me? (working there would be a dream job)

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No.

Okay, maybe.

is it possible to have half-breeds?

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A subject I don't remember coming up on these boards is the question of whether the various DA races will be capable of interbreeding.

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It's been mentioned before. Of the races that can inter-breed the child is of one race or the other -- there are no half-breeds.

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Maybe it's just me, but I don't see why you can't have half-breeds in DA just because they don't make sense in D&D.

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Who suggested that that's why we don't have half-breeds? We don't have half-breeds because we don't want them and they don't fit the mythology of the world. Whether or not D&D is silly in how they treat half-breeds is a completely seperate thing altogether.

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Second, I want realistic vampires, not just Hollywood vampires.

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I'm afraid not. No vampires at all -- or, at least, nothing that you would recognize as a vampire, I'm sure.

More: So... you don't know any details of the races involved which can inter-breed, and yet the rationale which I haven't provided is unacceptable?

I see.

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As usual, more characterization options = better game, let's consider also the options such traits would open to module builders (if any) and future setting development.

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Oh, please. While it's a perfectly fine idea for a setting, if I were to put that into Dragon Age's world these are not the reasons I would do it, that's for sure.

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Like childish inquiring minds our reaction is "Why?" "Because it's the way it is". "Yes, but why?"....

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"Because it's the way it is" is what I said was not an acceptable answer, even to the other designers on the project.

There is a rationale behind it, but I'm not going to tell you and you're not likely to find the reason in-game because most people in the Dragon Age world don't know. We set it that way as a deliberate decision, not as a hand-wave to deal with some kind of inconvenient design issue -- like Orik said earlier, if we had wanted to simply avoid the issue entirely, we would have simply said no inter-racial breeding period.

If you want to suggest ideas, that's super -- the blood-traits one isn't a bad idea at all, and without knowing anything about the DA setting it's not unreasonable. But adding the "more options is always better" logic as an admonishment isn't about to help your argument.

humm about being evil...

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at the q&A part of dragon age..

in one of the answer.. it give us that we can enslave nations with your powerful necromency and stuff..

plus it said hero or villan the choice is yours..

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That FAQ was written before the story was. You do not actually enslave nations in DA -- with or without necromancy. I think the intent when it was written was to talk more about the scope of what we would be doing rather than to promise certain events. Heck, back then we were still intent on having the old good-evil alignment slider.

So the FAQ is out-of-date. Just like any statements we make about the game, it's subject to change and I wouldn't take any part of that as gospel (especially considering that it's more than a year old). Eventually it will be updated.

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WotC and Hasbro are not looking over your shoulder this time. (Thank the Gods. ) Therefore, please give us the ability to exercise evil options that we couldn't do in SoU and HotU because of their restrictions. :evillol:

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If it makes sense, sure. The game isn't all about being good or evil, though, and we're not about to put in a puppy-kicking system just because WotC isn't looking over our shoulder.

And by that I mean that we intend to keep to our mature themes, but we're not going to stick in evil options just for the sake of having them. At the same time, however, we're not going to shy away from the occasional uncomfortable storyline just because someone, somewhere decides that isn't politic.

Can we use one-handed weapons as two-handes?
I seriously doubt it. I mean, it'd be nice as an option -- but I can think of a lot of other things I'd use the animation time for, first, that would have more impact -- especially if the ability to just use a 2-handed weapon is readily available, anyhow.

Maybe if the animations for 2-handed weapons work simply by swapping out the weapon for a single-handed version -- we've no idea yet what that would look like, however. There's also the GUI issue of allowing the player to use the weapon both ways.

More: I think what the gist we're getting at is this: while I'm sure the grognards out there would appreciate it, we already have a pretty complex and detailed combat system planned and there's some minutiae that we simply won't be able to get to without needing to draw resources from elsewhere -- and these would be for questionably useful weapon combos/styles that, as far as I can see, very few people would use.

Remember, just because you can imagine it doesn't mean it doesn't require significant work. Remember the kittens!

Brenon Holmes, Programmer

Can we use one-handed weapons as two-handes?
What for?

A one handed weapon is for use with one hand. If you want to wield a two handed weapon, why not whip one out and use that instead?

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* Speaking of one-handed, do we really need to be right handed? I would at least want the option to play a left handed character, as I'm a lefty in real life.

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To put it simply, yes. You can't play a left handed character. And before someone mentions it... no, you can't just "flip" all the animations... if you think about it a bit, I'm sure you can see why.

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* And when it comes to dual-wielding, can we use a sword in one hand and a ranged weapon in the other? Bows are of course not an option, but a crossbow or a sling?

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Doubtful. As mentioned, you'd have to put down your weapon in order to reload the ranged weapon anyways... I don't really see the utility that you get with something like this that you couldn't get another way that's a bit less painful for animators... and for me...

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* Since it's 99% percent chance we can't do that, how about using a crossbow as a melee weapon? It would make sense. Keep firing at the enemies as they rush towards you, and when they get too close just bash them with your crossbow instead of trying to reload in close combat.

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Why not drop the crossbow and pull out your melee weapon instead?

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* And shield bashing? An option? Maybe as a skill where you swing your sword quickly and follow up with a shield bash in the other direction?

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Not as you've described it... but I imagine there is a good chance that there will be bashings and shields...

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Well, in D&D

1. It takes time to draw a new weapon
2. It allows you flexibility, while being efficient in feats
3. You might not have a two handed weapon of comparable quality available

Personally, I'd wonder at the practicality of lugging a large two handed sword with you if it's not going to use it normally. I bet those things are a pain to pack.

How much that would apply to your game is impossible for me to know, as is the work required for it to be possible, but I think there are legitimate reasons for it's inclusion.

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Possibly... though I think the time cost to equip a new weapon is a good thing. It applies a cost to switching 'styles' of combat.

The main issue I have with bastard swords and the like is simply that in order for them to be useful and relatively balanced there should be a trade off for the additional utility. ie: They shouldn't be as good one handed as regular one-handed swords and they shouldn't be as good two-handed as regular two-handed blades.

Otherwise, why would you ever go for a regular two-handed or one-handed blade instead of a bastard sword which provides more utility?

Effectively you're talking about a new pseudo style in between a one-handed and two-handed style... which kind of muddies up where the separation is.

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I really don't see where is the problem with the animations.
I guess you got a single animation for all one handed weapons and another single animation for all two handed weapons. (plus the flickers).
So, how does an item increase animation complexity which might transfer to another item which uses the other animation.

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In terms of animation, we store a fair amount of additional data on animations. Information about ranges and contact points for various weapons. Taking the same weapon and applying animations meant for two different sizes of weapons could be problematic (ie: It might look bad)...

I can't say for sure without doing some tests... but I do know that it's not just as simple as swapping the weapon out.

Edit: Sometimes it'd be nice to make sense without an edit...

Derek French, Technical Producer

Save Points?
While I don't think that any official comment has been made on this point yet, I would expect to see a continuation of the save-anywhere idea, as we have done before in our previous games.

Save points are something that drive me personally insane, unless they are so frequent as to not interfere with my playing. Games, while important to me, are brushed aside for a number of issues. I want to be able to save at anytime and head off and deal with whatever has come up. (And by Issues, I usually mean my kids. )