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Dragon Age Forum News (Dec. 01, 05)

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by Eldular, Dec 2, 2005.

  1. Eldular Gems: 10/31
    Latest gem: Zircon

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    Remove all ads!
    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

    The Mysterious Stranger
    it just breeds boredom.
    If you say so. I suspect that those triggers only really become noticeable after replaying the game several times, though. Or perhaps someone who mods as much as you do gets to see the mechanics very plainly in the files... because, really, you're the only person to ever say this.

    Well, it is, even if I say so myself. BG1 is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful game! :)
    I'm glad you think so. I've never claimed that BG2 was a perfect game... in fact, I tend to spend half my time here pointing out to some people the fact that their memory of BG2 is a little rose-colored, but overall I would say BG1 was a much, much rawer game in comparison. I would daresay that your bias is a little rose-colored, as well. ;)

    More:
    But having played a couple of your games, multiple times, I wonder why some NPC's couldn't have different plot points for triggers, or even have a somewhat randomized set of 3-ish triggers for the one event. So on each play-through, a person wouldn't know for certain which trigger will fire when.
    Perhaps different NPC's could have triggers that correspond with each other, in that if NPC1's trigger fires at point A, NPC2's trigger will only fire at point B or C.

    Would it make a noticeable enough difference on subsequent plays? Not sure.
    So there would be a bunch of dialogue that one wouldn't see except on subsequent play-throughs? Not to sound chintzy or anything, but we try to aim for less of that and not more than that -- any overlap of dialogue triggers/plot hooks that exists already ends up in unheard dialogue as it is.

    More:
    Hmmm...wouldn't what she suggests be similar to how the Ebon Hawk landing point triggers work? Soemtimes you'd hear about one of your companion's quests on Korriban, and sometimes on Dantooine. Or perhaps like how the inter party banter triggers worked. Sometimes you would hear Carth teasing Bastila, and sometimes you would hear the snarky interchange between Mission and Carth. No dialog was completely hidden, but you'd need to be changing people around a lot to hear them all in one play.

    Similarly, such non-place restricted banter with our party could be potentially triggered in different places in Dragon Age, without large portions being unavailable to the player.
    Don't misunderstand me. As you and others have pointed out, we do have plenty of dialogue that you don't and can't possibly see on a single play-through. As soon as you start putting in any choices in the game at all, such as who you're going to take in your party, you're going to end up with that.

    All I meant to say is, just by putting those choices in you end up with a lot of "excess" dialogue as it is. This is a good thing, and helps replayability. I do not, however, think that we would shift gears and start inserting dialogue specifically intended to be seen on replays. It's hard enough to fit in all the dialogue intended to cover the choices in the game as it is, really.

    More:
    Can someone define the term "trigger" for me, in relation to its use in a game?
    Perhaps I am having some vocab trouble.
    My understanding is that we were talking about plot hooks to base dialogue on, and not the physical triggers that determine when dialogues actually occur. My bad.

    City Design
    I have also been harbouring the hope that DA wouldn't really look like that because it means the cultures there are already past their prime and are in decline. Again. Ugh.
    That. Is. One. Ruin.

    Extrapolate much? You can't have a ruin exist and still have cultures being prosperous elsewhere? Or are you assuming that this ruin is somewhere where people actually live? If so, that's quite an assumption to make from a single picture.

    We always get to see ruined and/or impossible to replicate, amazing type buildings from past civilizations. It's depressing. I think it would be nice to see some civilization at it's height.
    Civilization might indeed not be at its height. It certainly wasn't during the Dark Ages... empires come and go, lore is lost. There is nothing that is impossible to replicate, though, no superior ancient magic or technology that can no longer be done.

    We also don't see any city. Just old monuments.
    Again. One piece of concept art of a single area (and an early one at that -- the final architecture for that area is actually quite beautiful). It isn't a far cry to suggest that there might be more than a single area in DA, and that the environments will vary.

    More:
    Oh! So the place represented by that concept art is in the game?
    A version, though it's developed quite a bit since then. I'd say that's more of a mood piece rather than something meant to indicate detailed architecture.

    More:
    I was not assuming that DA will be based in a world filled with nothing but ruins, but merely expressing my hope that DA would not be.
    And basing it on assumptions about one piece of concept art. I mean, if you were looking for a reason as to why we don't reveal more about DA or talk more about it, here it is... obviously we need to consider very carefully the light that we reveal anything in, because there are people just chomping at the bit to interpret it at length. Which is nice (in a "we're glad you're interested" kind-of-way) but also means that we obviously have to be very careful.

    And. You. Only. Have. 4. Screenshots. For. Us. To. Look. At.
    What are we supposed to extrapolate from.
    You aren't.

    Pick this post apart, when I wasn't criticizing anything, but merely saying what I felt about the possibilities for architectural styles, and not a single hint of a response regarding a long post about the differences in architectural styles from the host of cultures you had created for the world of DA.

    Harumph is what I say to that.
    Well, it seems that unless we're prepared to roll out an essay on the complete body of architectural concepting we've done along with artwork and screenshots and all, it's best not to talk about it at all or release even a single piece of concept art.

    More:
    Don't let our desire to know everything make you grumpy, though. :)
    I have a very bad cold, so I'm idling at grumpy today. Sorry if I'm coming across as snappish.

    In a way, though, it's true... we have to carefully consider exactly how we intend to present our world when we do start rolling out the screenshots and such. Because whatever we put out there will form the impressions that you guys are going to carry forward, and as much as you guys assure us that you guys will behave and won't suddenly start running around flailing madly with scissors we know better. ;)

    Race specific classes
    This was more the idea I was thinking of. I'm speaking of race specific classes not race restricted classes. I think it's a great (or at least good) way to give the different races some extra texture.
    Meh. It could be done, I suppose, but I don't think having a class that only one race can take adds texture to that race, really (and if only one race can take this class or ability, race-specific is the same thing as race-restricted, I'm afraid).

    I'd much rather have classes be open to all races and have different ways to direct their development, and let the player develop them as she sees fit for that race -- or whatever other criteria she wishes. If the player wishes to play an elven bard that plays like a runemaster, having learned his trade from a dwarven master, I don't see anything wrong with that.

    More:
    Or was this reply just a sort of hypothetical response to an example put forth on the forum, but won't actually have any real counter-part in DA?
    Sorry, I should have said that. The original poster mentioned a hypothetical runemaster-type bard class as a dwarven-specific thing and I was simply using that.

    Brenon Holmes, Programmer

    some info on DA modding?
    NWScript was used to make scripts for NWN. DAScript will be used to make scripts for DA.

    Mini-map
    Depending on circumstances, mind you, if there is to be a fair amount of traversing through already explored areas, I would also like to see travel by clicking on the mini-map. I suppose even just in town, especially if there will be specialized shops spread throughout.

    I suppose it would be Brenon's turn to pop onto the boards here and tell us that hte pathfinding for that kind of feature would be a nightmare.
    I'm not sure that it would be so terrible... the pathfinding system has undergone a fair number of changes and the results look fairly promising.

    I know I've heard something similar tossed about, the second you have a map up, people want to be able to move around using it. :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2018
    Eldular, Dec 2, 2005
    #1
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