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Dragon Age Forum News (Aug. 07, 07)

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by chevalier, Aug 7, 2007.

  1. chevalier

    chevalier Knight of Everfull Chalice ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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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.

    David Gaider, Lead Writer

    NPC dialogues


    What I am more interested in seeing is actual physical movement and greater emotional responses in conversation something I feel both NWN1 and NWN2 lack. If the game is going to have realistic conversations non-verbal communication should be worked into the verbal element.
    For that I would look to Mass Effect, as we'll be using a similar method of animating the character during dialogue (one of the things Scott Greig was referring to when he said we were using a similar system, as opposed to the Mass Effect dialogue thing where you simply select the "theme" of the response choice as opposed to the exact wording).

    As for characters initiating dialogue, it's a mix of both ways. If it's really important, characters will pipe up and approach you. Otherwise you'll need to click on them -- occasionally, if they have something to talk about, they'll go straight to that dialogue when you click on them as opposed to their normal "What do you need?" line.

    As for how you'll know when to select them, that we're still playing with. I don't think we'll go with a "Carth looks like he wants to talk to you" thing any more, however, but I agree there needs to be some way to indicate that the character has something to say as opposed to just letting you guess. We could go with, say, a small icon on their portrait. We were also thinking that maybe when you're in the camp if they had nothing new to talk about they'd be sleeping or "busy" working on something... so the characters that were available to talk to would always have new dialogue for you.

    I suppose that might be a good place to hit you guys up for an opinion. To me, big icons over the head a la World of Warcraft are a bit too meta-gameish, but maybe an icon on the portrait wouldn't be obtrusive? The thing to remember is that this IS a game. Reality would dictate you could always talk to someone and be able to chat with them about whatever you want for any length of time, but of course we can't do that -- so how do we indicate that there's new content to be found without leaving the player to guess or have the party member being the one starting all dialogues (possible intrusively)?

    Friendship (not romance)

    Not wrong, but the list isn't quite complete:

    BG2: Anomen, Viconia, Aerie, Valygar, Haer'Dalis were my primary ones
    KotOR: Carth, Bastila, HK-47, Jolee Bindo
    NNW OC: Aarin Gend and Aribeth (Ch2 only), Tomi Undergallows
    SoU/HotU: Deekin, Valen

    more:

    Correct. Though I believe Sheryl may have part of the NWN community before she came to work here. She'd have to tell you more about that, however, as I'm not clear on the details.

    Camp?! Nooo!!!

    That the general idea, yes -- the camp is going to have some legitimate functions, so there's more reasons to go back than just to see if any NPC's have something new to say. Which is not to say that the camp will always be readily available (say, if you're in the middle of a dungeon).

    As to the original poster, I would hesitate before jumping to conclusions. The fact that we have a camp does not automatically make every system the same as in NWN2 or any other game -- there is only one party member, for instance, that you need to take with you in the camp and even then you need not take them into your actual adventuring party unless you wish to. Everyone else you can recruit or boot from the party as you like.

    That's not to say that everyone will like the system that the camp represents, but wringing your hands in anxiety because it might be like some other game's way of doing things is a mite premature at this point, yet.

    Dead Bodies

    MEEEOOOWWWR!

    Every time someone on a forum says something is probably easy to implement, somewhere someone punts a kitten through a plate glass window.

    Seriously, though, the issue depends largely on the maximum number of models we can safely render at one time combined with the amount of creatures we intend to have on-screen. If we can do 30 at once, say, and they all die and we dictate that we can't introduce any more hostiles at that point -- then that would be fine.
    But is that something we want to do?
    It would be nice if there was a magic wand we could wave a magic wand and turn the creature model into background art. And I imagine there are solutions that might make this easier -- and perhaps we even do some of them. Not being a programmer I wouldn't know the details. I do know, however, that our time is spent focussing on other things, like trying to squeeze as many creatures (we have to include the party, remember) on any active area (not just the area you can see, mind you, but the area that's actively loaded in memory) in as we can.

    I would say, given all that, that deciding whether or not it's important for the models of dead opponents to stick around forever, permanently hogging memory despite the fact that they don't do anything anymore, to be a pretty easy one.

    But if you choose not to believe that, that's up to you.

    more:

    Ah, yes. The answer to all such design decisions is indeed to insert a toggle. Heh.

    In all seriousness, such systems are generally designed for higher end computers as it is. They then find ways to save memory (such as a LOD system for models and textures) so that system can be replicated as much as possible on the lower end. So it's not a situation where we look at having more resources to play with at any point, design-wise. Make sense?

    more:

    Just a note, here: I'm not saying it's not feasible. There probably is a work-around that could be done if we cared to put the resources into it. All I said is that it's not a high priority. If we can save system resources and keep bodies around just long enough so that they're appealing (in the sense that carnage may be appealing to some) and service the loot system then we'd rather put our efforts elsewhere. It's an easy decision in an RPG when you've got so many more game systems to implement and have work together than many other genres.

    I get why people are asking, I'm just trying to be realistic insofar as saying what our needs are. I'd also appreciate it if some of the rudeness is dialed back -- there is no need to call someone a moron just for asking a question or expressing a perfectly legitimate preference.

    Just two questions, that's all.

    Just as DA can have clerics/priests without divine magic, it can have druids without nature magic.
    This is true. But we don't.

    Worthy climactic battle?

    I don't know if it's worth anything, but since you point out Ascension I will mention that I'm also the one who's designed Dragon Age's climax, as well.

    more:

    Yeah... no. While it would be neat if the design phase was the last one, sadly it happens to be one of the first. I know, I know, there's this wacky notion out there that things should be designed before they're built. Crazy, I know.

    Will PCs' skills and spells apply in plot events?

    You mean can spells and skills be used outside of combat? Some of them can, sure, depending on their usage. Most are, however, intended for use in combat -- that's a big part of the game.

    Female/Male armor designs

    Sorry to the grognards who insist that armor styles exist solely to service functionality and logic. For the most part, for either gender, armor's primary function in a game is to look interesting. That's simply the way it is.

    Does that mean it has to be completely unrealistic and outlandish? No. And personally, I'm no fan of the chain mail bikini either, despite the inexplicable urge of every concept artist to emulate Frank Frazetta and Brom and such when it comes to fantasy women.

    DA's armor, so far, has a particular "look" to it that you've seen a bit of in the screenshots to date but it's been cleaned up since. I can't describe it, but its mostly stylistic without going overboard (in my opinion, obviously). You'll have to judge for yourself eventually, but the heavier armors, at least, are fully covering for both genders.

    more:

    Interesting as in designed to look cool, as opposed to solely being designed with realism in mind.

    As I said, that does not mean you're automatically going to get armor that is ridiculously non-functional in its appearance -- there are degrees, after all, and one comparison would be that the DA armors are less stylistic than, say, the armors we did for NWN1 -- but if your criteria is that sex appeal should not be a factor at all, then you're likely to be disappointed.

    more:

    All I know is that if a female fighter gets giant-sized pointy breasticles on the front of her plate mail there had damn well better be some animation for her to impale her enemies upon them.

    Then there was the fight I had with the art department over the strange notion that the higher class a woman was, the deeper her cleavage went. As if showing boob was a sign of good upbringing. I stated firmly that in my Ferelden this was just not so. Necklines finally went up at least two inches, which made me happy.

    How does DA deal with random and unnamed characters/enemies?


    First of all, will there even be random and unnamed enemies (and NPCs)?
    Yes, of course.


    Second, if random enemies/NPCs exist in the DA, will they be used to generate random encounters, or will they be used to give some randomness to existing encounters (e.g. encounter is scripted, but the soldiers you fight are randomly generated within some bound parameters).
    I'm not sure I understand. Are you asking if the random enemies have fixed stats or not? Some enemies have scaling (within a set range), but their specific abilities will probably be preset (as one would expect -- if I as a designer set down Goblin Archer then I want him to have the abilities that one would expect from an archer. It's not that complicated.)


    Third, if unnamed NPCs (or enemies) exist, what function(s)/role(s) will they serve? Will they be the mass of the city guard, assorted people in the streets or something else entirely?
    They fill out the ambient population. Not everyone has an involved dialogue tree, though some may have ambient dialogue (and may be engaged in such dialogues around you). But I think it's an accepted convention of the genre that "commoner" or "guard" are essentially extras on the set.

    Georg Zoeller, Designer

    Pre generated faces or Face generator

    I don't think this question has been decided yet, but obviously a lot of people love face generation in one form or another.

    Be on the lookout for the Mass Effect character generation stuff when it hits the web, it is extremely nifty

    Stanley Woo, QA Ninja

    Replayability in Dragon Age

    I don't think that some kind of "statistics sheet" necessarily means that the game becomes a "beat this score" kind of game. Like any other game, it is a different facet of the game to challenge yourself to beat: "I beat the game in 129 hours and 44 minutes! This time, I'm going to try and beat it in 120 hours."

    It is something else to talk with your friends about. "Man, I did this awesome double-crit on the dire quatloo, hitting him for 223 points of damage!"

    It could also be a measure of how complete your game experience was. "After all that, I only explored 78% of the possible areas? I'll have to try and find those other areas."

    It could be an indication of your playstyle. "Wow, I never realized I used the fire sword that much."

    Or it could be just another incentive to replay the game. "I saw one of 17 endings and only got 12 out of the 102 possible followers? This time, I'll do the neutral good "end of the world" ending and remember to pick up Gelfren the Bold and Blue Kryzor, which will unlock the Phretselor Brothers and the Guild of Flan."

    Needless to say, all of the examples I used are fictitious and bear no resemblance to anything in Dragon Age.

    About Mod friendly-user to fixed problem if I dont like way bioward set gameplay for magic-user

    Mages in DA will be what they will be. As with all other game systems and features, some will like it, some would prefer it a different way, and some won't like it. That's just he way it goes when you're trying to please everyone at the same time.

    That said, we will endeavor to make playing magic-users fun, exciting, and challenging, while still trying to maintain that elusive "game balance" thing everyone keeps talking about.

    more:

    Exactly, and using the rock/paper/scissors type of balancing is great, except when it becomes very obvious that we're using the rock/paper/scissors type of balancing.

    more:

    It's like balancing everything else: a lot of number-crunching, playtesting, and a metric truckload of feedback from QA, focus testers, and other developers.

    more:

    We have not yet determined what, if any, game editing/modding tools will be released with the game.

    more:

    It really does depend on the world, doesn't it? In one world, magic may be feared because people believe it to be a tool of dark forces, no matter how powerful one is. In another, magic may be feared because it is really difficult to control. In yet another, magic may be feared because it can destroy the very fabric of reality.

    No matter what the "power level," however, we as game developers still have to take into consideration whether being a wizard/magician/sorcerer/whatever is a viable player class/ability, and if so, how we can make it fun, exciting and challenging. That consideration has to take into account the character's power level at the beginning of the game, how powerful he will be by the end of the game, how he will develop in the interim, and how that fits within the lore of the game world and game rules.

    Bottom line: if you don't like the way magic-users work in Dragon Age, deal with it. You can accept it, play it grudgingly, or not play it at all--your choice. Because it may not change, and it may not be changeable.

    Mary Kirby, Writer

    Replayability in Dragon Age

    Awww, I keep trying to unlock the Guild of Flan, but the closest I ever get is the Cult of Creme Brulee.

    Actually, I kind of liked Oblivion's statistics. It tallied the number of books you read, random alchemy ingredients eaten, horses stolen, etc. Not really something you win, just interesting little bits of trivia about your character.

    Scott Meadows, Senior Programmer - Tools

    About Mod friendly-user to fixed problem if I dont like way bioward set gameplay for magic-user

    Hmmm, maybe there are other game design/performance reasons why these "simple" settings are not allowed to be changed.

    Maybe a lot of companies don't do it cause it isn't easy to do. Unless you have worked with our engine, please refrain from saying something is simple to do.

    We are making the best game that we can. If it turns out that some of it can be modded to suit someones different play style then great.

    But we are not creating a "create your own game" game.

    thx

    more:

    Okay everyone, here is it in a nutshell.

    Everyone has a different way of role playing, no one way is right or wrong or fun or boring, it's just different.

    We are making Dragon Age to be fun, some opinions may vary and that's fine, but we are not going to go out of our way to make the game 100% configurable. I know that is not what you are asking for specifically but if we took everyone's little change, then yes it would have to be 100% configurable.

    My opinion on this matter is,
    Wait and see when the game is released, or we release more info, on what will or will not be configurable.

    Until then, respect each other and enjoy the forums.

    thx

    Why Dragon Age? What's got you hooked?

    I'm hooked cause I work on it.

    Seriously though, I love fantasy and even if I didn't work at BioWare I would be reading the forums. I did for NWN and will continue to do so for DA.

    Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator

    Dragon Age Wednesday?

    Yep, it'd be part of Jay and my responsibility. Community anything is our responsibility, so this would definately be a part of it.

    A new BioWare wednesday is possible. The reason BioWare wednesday died out was we sort of ran out of information. We've had a bit of a slow time the last year or so and having to put somethign together just to send out a weekly article was a bit dull at the end, which is why it was closed. But with Dragon Age coming soon, Mass Effect, Sonic for the Nintendo DS, the MMO and other things in the works, it'd certainly be possible to restart the weekly updates again.

    Something for Jay and me to consider.

    more:

    Stan was not in charge of this, but he and I were part of it as we posted lots. Back in the day, it was Jay and the webteam who ran the BioWare Wednesday with help from teh NwN and Jade Empire teams. I'm now part of the community team and would be a part if we bring it back.

    Stan Woo is not part of the community team. In fact, Stan is to Community what bubonic plague is to a high school prom.

    more:

    Keep in mind, if we do bring back BioWare Wednesday, it'll be for more than just Dragon Age. DA would be a big part of it, but it wouldn't be the only part.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2018
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