Dragon Age Forum News (Nov. 23, 04)

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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.

David Gaider, Designer

Language Translation Techniques
The conversation editor includes a pull-down menu which allows us to assign a language to the dialogue line. Then the line is translated (by a person who knows the language) into the language. If the player understands the language, he sees the translation of the line on-screen. This is how the system sits currently and could very well be refined later (as it stands it's still in the hypothetical stage). I really doubt there will be any kind of auto-translation system in place at some point, but you never know.

Jay Watamaniuk, Community Manager

Learning how to draw
I had an interesting discussion with Mike Sass, who does a lot of the super-duper cover art for magazines on BioWare games and is, most certainly a talented artist. He was under the understanding that drawing is a taught talent in one regard. You can go to class and learn how to draw. On the other hand however I have heard him evaluate art sent in to BioWare as looking "very first year art collegue" which tells me that experience also plays a huge part of it.

I have some ability to draw and was actually in Toronto handing in my portfolio to get into some graphic arts schools when I got the call from BioWare for this position. It is really cool to get tips from these very talented and dedicated artists here. The downside being that my stuff looks like feces flung from a chimp.

Stanley Woo, Quality Assurance

Storyline Tone - Now new and improved!
You've got some good ideas, Jacobus, but the counter-argument is that, without defined "good" and "evil," the casual gamer is lost in a sea of ambiguity. In epic storytelling, which in my opinion is something BioWare does rather well, there is no sorta-good or kinda-evil. Good is usually "the epitome of good" and evil is "the archetypal evil," since epic tales revolve around archetypal characters and themes. It's to give the player something familiar to react to.

It's the same reason why sitcom characters tend to overreact to situations--to garner the desired reaction. The avatars that players choose to adventure with are usually idealized versions of themselves, with all of their desired strengths and none of their perceived weaknesses.

Having a subtle or un-obvious "good" or "evil" does not necessarily make a good game, since the percentage of gamers willing to "think" or consider philosophy or metaphysics in-game is quite small. It's one of the reasons that Planescape: Torment, despite its gripping story and wonderfully flawed characters and unusual setting, wasn't a commercial success. By all accounts, most hardcore gamers loved it and to this day tout it as an example of great storytelling and great gaming. The vast majority of gamers, however, will be drawn to games with far less complexity to their stories, such as Diablo and Halo, and both of those had a definite "good" and "evil."

I, like many posters in this thread, am a hardcore gamer who has been playing role-playing games since before they were 2D and grid-based. I've played games where one needed to take copious notes and hand-draw their own maps. On the other hand, I've also played games where the player was led by the nose and everything was automated. While I know which kind of game and gameplay I'd prefer, I can't say that one kind is inherently or objectively "better" than any other.

Have I mentioned that I enjoy this discussion?