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Dragon Age Forum News

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by chevalier, Aug 11, 2004.

  1. chevalier

    chevalier Knight of Everfull Chalice ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    Remove all ads!
    Here are today's BioWare 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

    think of the children
    There are some issues with rather drastic model scaling (especially non-uniform scaling in the toolset) however we're looking into some type of uniform scaling, though probably nothing too drastic... enough that you could notice a difference in the size of the models... but nothing freakish... Mostly this is an additional appearance variation type thing. We'll see how it goes though.

    Rules, In the open or partially hidden?
    Question: What did everyone think of the KotOR style of combat log? For those who haven't played KotOR, the combat log wasn't visible from the main screen - instead you pulled up a separate menu in the interface to review attack, damage and skill rolls.

    David Gaider, Designer

    Both Sexes Without the Sexism

    This thread waxes from the sublime to the absurd and back again in the time it takes a humming bird's heart to quiver. It's surprises me that humanity ever scrambled beyond the dark ages when every thought must debated, every debate rebutted, and every rebuttal insulted. There ought to be a machine for retrieving all the human passions and energies spent on forum topics and redirecting it toward some nobler purpose.
    It really says something about human nature, don't it? Someone should write a book about it... "Where the Anonymous and Ignorant Collide" or somesuch. If it makes anyone feel better, this is one of those hot topics we argue about ourselves here at Bioware almost constantly. There are those of us whose fantasy includes sorceresses in skimpy outfits and bare-chested barbarians and those of us whose fantasy doesn't. There is no good answer and rarely a compromise except to include both styles whenever possible (and compromises never please either side much, do they?) I blame Luis Rojo, myself. And the Solid Gold dancers.

    More:
    Though I can certianly see some functional, practical armor with a a bit of fantastical flair (as long as the piece remains functional).
    Well, Bioware, will you at least commit to this as a standard?
    Nope. We're not committing to anything yet. And while we may end up going that way, chances are that we'll have a bit of both styles, like I said. We'll have to see.

    think of the children

    but this would be a bit of an extravagance.
    I would tend to agree. Hell, I wanted female and child humanoids like kobolds and orcs and such to boot, but when you're making a list of 80 things you want and you can only have 40 of them you have to make some tough choices. As I recall, we were lucky to get the 2 child models as it is (they were done up rather late simply because their lack was more noticeable than somebody thought). For Dragon Age, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more height/body type/face customization. Lacking a child model, a short and skinny human with big eyes might be acceptable, right? We shall see.

    General Direction of Dragon Age : Story Emphasis or Tool Emphasis
    I always thought of Morrowind as being sort of the opposite of NWN on the scale of toolset/campaign focus. I would set it up sort of like this

    KotOR: 100% campaign, 0% toolset
    - all work on the RP campaign/engine, no toolset included
    |
    |
    |
    Morrowind: 75% campaign, 25% toolset
    - most of the work on the campaign/engine, SDK included that requires high level of expertise
    |
    |
    |
    NWN: 25% campaign, 75% toolset
    - large toolset with low bar for usage, campaign created (and limited by) the same tools
    |
    |
    |
    Unlimited Adventures: 0% campaign, 100% toolset
    - (this is a game from '93) entire product is a toolset, campaign is minimal and intended only as example.

    ----------

    Now there might be a middle ground... a 50%/50% region... and, indeed that might be a better place to put NWN, even. Trying to think of past products that are more toolset-focused than NWN is a bit of a chore, though. Perhaps there are other people out there who could come up with a better range than I could.

    More:
    I suppose it'd be unreasonable to ask for a 100/100 split, wouldn't it?
    Yes, it would. Anyone who thinks that that is a nifty idea, even if split into two seperate projects, is deluding themselves. 100% is as high as the total goes, by definition.

    You dont have to listen to me

    OOOOH. AAAAAH. Can we get a list of names? Maybe we can line their pockets with some royalty checks?
    I'm sure they would like that. Those who got paid, that is, I suppose. But too bad! Names must wait. For now we just refer to them as 'monkeys'. Oh, and speaking of the amount of effort I, personally, must spend writing: should I ever again suggest that any character should speak completely in rhyming couplets (and still make coherent sense), somebody please have the decency to shoot me first. *faints*

    Derek French, Technical Producer

    Copy protection

    So i want to recommend bioware to use a protection program called STARFORCE.
    This system silently installs drivers onto your computer without asking your permission which has caused some user's systems problems and sometimes crashing and other badness. As for "it hasn't been cracked"... yeah... right. I will fight to the death against this specific system in its current form. Addition: Since we don't have a publisher yet, all of this is premature, as copy protection systems are mostly a Publisher-Thing (TM)

    Georg Zoeller, Designer

    2005 Release?

    course... i'll be damned if I know what a Zot works out to be.
    A zot is made up of 1000 millizots (mz), each of which contains 1000 microzots (uz).

    More:
    So can you give us a rough estimate of how many Zots are being utilized in Dragon Age Stan? You may have to poke Darcy with a sharp stick to find out. he is the secretive evil type.
    Rough estimate: at the moment, more than one, somewhere around some or lots (depending on your frame of reference), less than Jade Empire.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2018
    chevalier, Aug 11, 2004
    #1
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