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Dragon Age Forum News (Oct. 27, 04)

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by chevalier, Oct 28, 2004.

  1. chevalier

    chevalier Knight of Everfull Chalice ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    Remove all ads!
    Here are today's Dragon Age forum highlights, collected by NWVault. 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.

    Brenon Holmes, Programmer

    NPC Schedules
    Funny you should bring this up. I was speaking with a few mates about the reactions to my posts. In Ultima 7 Part II you were forced to get warm clothing for your part before you went to the frozen northern lands. I didn't think that this aspect as an "annoying feature". I thought it of more as a mini quest to complete before I went to the frozen lands. I actually *much* prefer having to do this than I would, say, having to find a key that unlocks a gate which I had to pass through before I went to the northern lands.

    Whilst I am upon my horse, I also think that while the main party or player character should have to have food put into his or her mouth, the player should ensure that party rations are carried by a party member. They are automatically consumed as time goes by. Perhaps decreased HP healing or concerntration if your guys are hungry?

    Cheers
    -SH-
    *nods* That was a neat feature and definetly added in that particular case.

    What would you think about the same feature though if your character was complaining about their clothing all the time? If you had to find a hat because it was a bit windy that day and your Barbarian's ears were cold? :)

    Or your mage was complaining because his robes were too hot? Can you imagine six people constantly piping up about their current 'comfort' level in regards to clothing?

    Switch that over to food now... again, in specific instances (like as with Ultima VII pt 2) it can be a neat little portion of a quest... but if it's a constant stream of 'I'm hungry', 'I could really use a drink about now', 'Hey, who's up for dessert?'... etc...

    And if it had a negative impact on your gameplay if you didn't feed them... I could see that getting really annoying really quickly. At that point you're basically nursemaiding your adventurers instead of playing the game...

    So basically, it's a neat feature... but only if it's not too intrusive and used to accentuate a quest instead of ruling regular gameplay (at least in my opinion :) ).

    Thank God for Bethesda
    Just some comments:

    We haven't detailed a feature list (publicly) for the game yet, so it might be kind of hard for you folks to tell exactly what is "new".

    Secondly, we probably won't be talking about any new features until they've been tested and we're fairly sure they'll make the final cut. (Past experience rears it's ugly head :) )

    As far as innovation goes (in the case of completely new features), generally I think you'll find that it's an iterative process... with small changes being made with every step, sometimes the changes aren't even noticeable - but they contribute to a better gameplay experience.

    After all, you want to be reasonably certain that something is going to add value before going ahead and committing oodles of resources to it (eg: Player controlled flight).

    We might experiment with one or two completely new systems, but as I said... you want to be sure it's worth the cost.

    Stanley Woo, Quality Assurance

    Thank God for Bethesda
    You know I didn't want to come right out and say it, but yeah, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. From what I have observed DA = BGII + New Rules + New Stories + New Graphics. There is NO innovation in that. I'm interested in the new ruleset, but I mean nothing was really wrong with the D&D rules - they could of kept them. I guess I understand why they went for the new ruleset becasue Infrogames pretty much had BioWare by the sack as long as they were useing D&D. New Story? Well, thank God, every game has a new story. New Graphics? Well every game has new graphics too. <-NO INNOVATION!!!!
    And Half-Life II = Commander Keen + new rules + new story + new graphics.

    Not to mention Gran Turismo 4 = Pole Position + new graphics + new story.

    According to your argument there, there can't possibly be any innovation in any modern game!
    Quote: Now look at Bethesda: new non-scripted AI engine, horse riding, revamped combat system, etc etc. They are working hard to bring their games to the next level, but BioWare is bascially takeing the same idea they had ever since BG and re-releasing it with better graphics and a different story.
    So... new rules, new graphics and new stories is innovation when it comes to Bethesda games, but not BioWare games?

    Now I'm confused. I think I'll stick with Samurai Roadkill's statements. I can agree with those.

    Since this thread has reached 10 pages, it will be locked for length. If the discussion warrants it, please start up again in a new thread. Thank you.

    End of line.

    Bioware's games/Dragon Age/New member
    My question is why does BioWare linger (spellling?) on fantasy/middle age worlds were there are swords and axes and dwarves and elfs?Why can't it make something different?
    Shattered Steel, MDK 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire are all examples of BioWAre games which do not fit into a traditional medieval European-inspired fantasy setting.

    We've really only made three games that are "traditional" fantasy: Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, and Neverwinter Nights.
    Quote: Why are Dungeons and Dragons,Neverwinter Nights,Baldurs Gate so close expressions?
    Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights is based on the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game rules and are set in the Forgotten Realms, a campaign setting of the dungeons and Dragons rules.
    Quote: I'm just making this topic cause one of my videogame fantasies is to have BioWare make a game based on a completely original world.
    Jade Empire and Dragon Age are both set in worlds of BioWare's own creation.
    [quoteWhat will it be with Dragon Age?What I can understand from the title is that it's gonna be set on a very similar world of magic and sword.Am I right or wrong?(/quote-incomplete)
    The world of Dragon Age will be a "traditional" fantasy setting, with "swords and axes and dwarves and elfs"
    Quote: Thank you for your time :)
    You're welcome. :D

    James Henley, Technical Designer

    Innovation in modern games
    I once created a topic "Is Dragon Age just old water in a new bottle" (anyone remember it? it cover somewhat what this topic is talking) and got a solid confirm from many developers here that DA will be for real, not old water in a new bottle. So....
    I still stand by what I said in that thread. Dragon Age will be a culmination of various aspects drawn from BioWare's greatest successes.

    As for innovative, well there's...oh, no, wait. Sorry, I nearly gave away features. Maybe later. ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2018
    chevalier, Oct 28, 2004
    #1
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