Roleplaying in DA
23.5.2007 02:02 von Planetus
How much true roleplaying will there be in DA? [...]
23.5.2007 11:12 von David Gaider
*shrug* I'm not sure that I equate roleplaying with there needing to be every possible choice available. You will be able to do what is in context with the story, of course. It's not about running around the world and doing whatever comes to mind -- there are specific goals at hand.
As far as individual quests, there will generally be options as to how to complete them but there's never going to be every option. I remember in the beginning of Hordes there was an encounter with some kobolds holed up in a bar that had something like six different methods of completion -- and while it was an interesting experiment, that one tiny encounter required so much work it was almost mind-boggling and almost got cut because the complexity introduced too many bugs. So the idea, I think, is to strike a line somewhere in the middle. 24.5.2007 01:57 von Nighteye2
You could state the intent to provide at least 3 options for every quest, and then work on that with each new quest that gets written... 24.5.2007 04:10 von David Gaider
I'm no more interested in forcing such options if none seem necessary than I am in forcing a good and evil "path" onto every quest just to have it. Some quests are very simple and they only have one manner of completion, others have more -- others have a lot more. If you want to write a game where there is a design rule of 3 options minimum no matter what -- be my guest.
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Voice Acting Update?
5.6.2007 05:43 von David GaiderAt the moment, the writers are going through the dialogue in the game and writing up VO notes ("this line should be spoken with restrained shock, as if someone just ripped off your towel"). The programmers, meanwhile, are running through all the lines and having it spoken by the computer so they get an idea of timing... so currently the game sounds like it's been VO'd by Stephen Hawking, which is a bit bizarre.
But the actually VO recording won't come until much later. .
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David Gaider über die Gründe warum es nur 3 spielbare Rassen in Dragon Age geben wird
18.6.2007 06:17 von David GaiderI get that there are people whose idea of fantasy is a world where there are a plethora of races to play (or fight). Maybe part of that comes from D&D, maybe it's influenced by the crop of MMORPG's where race is primarily a simple choice of aesthetics, I'm not really sure. Either way I think the main driving desire behind that is the notion that more races = diversity.
This is understandable. I don't think that races are the only way to get that sort of diversity, mind you... and I would say that Dragon Age is specifically focusing more on the experience that the player will have in this world. Rather than offer a whole bunch of cosmetic choices, we offer a smaller number of choices but try to make them much deeper -- your choice of race and class affect much more than your appearance, they dictate your entire introduction into the game and the world.
I suppose there are some who will still be put out even so, lacking the option to play their favorite sort of gnome or ogre or what have you... and that really can't be helped. Every decision we make on what the Dragon Age world is means there is one more thing it isn't. We're fine with that. We're not trying to please everyone, we're trying to make one thing and make it well enough that perhaps some of these people come to love it for what it is rather than dislike it for what it isn't.
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Will there be mini-games in DA?
8.7.2007 3:25 von NorseDude
KotOR and Jade Empire both had small mini-games, so will they be included in DA as well? I'm asking since I just want to know if I should get the game or not. Simple as that. If there are mini-games, I won't buy it. Too many games have been ruined already, so I hope DA doesn't write itself on that list.
12.7.2007 20:01 von David GaiderI think mini-games can have their place, preferably as optional game elements. Sticking them on the critical path is not something I'm fond of. At all. That said, there are no mini-games in DA that I can think of. Anywhere.
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NPC dialogues
18.7.2007 16:10 von ZDAE_Love
I just wanted to ask if anyone knows how the PC will interact with party members. You see, i hated the Planescape/Kotor/NWN way when i had to check every two minutes if i had a new dialogue option, whereas in BG when they had something to say they came and talked to me. Also i hate the influence system, when i have a ton of dialogue options and i can only use one cause i fail all the others. Maybe they shouldnt appear as long as i cant go through with them. Its just my opinion, but i want to know what you guys think and what it will be like in the game.
23.7.2007 23:52 von David GaiderFor 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)?
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Will PCs' skills and spells apply in plot events?
5.8.2007 05:21 von SteveLin
I usually see skills or spells for combat usage, but I really want to see a PC that his/her skills and spells can apply in plot events...
In another words, make skills or spells != combat tool...
Will this description be seen in DA?
5.8.2007 07:51 von David GaiderYou 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.
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Interesting
7.8.2007 1:17 von Mary Kirby Dragon Age and Mass Effect are both using the same system (somewhat modified and adapted in both cases) for facial animations. And both are using fairly cinematic views of the participants in dialogue. That's about the beginning and the end of the similarities there.
7.8.2007 4:29 von Mary Kirby
That's correct. You can't interrupt the conversations. You can run through them really fast if you want to, just like you could in KOTOR or Jade, but you can't really interrupt.
Also correct. No player voiceover. The answers aren't exactly lengthy, but you are selecting your entire answer and not just the tone your answer will take.
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Influence
7.8.2007 18:33 von Mary Kirby On reputation:
No, there isn't any overall "reputation" stat that governs what people who've never met you before will think of you. That nice mage won't refuse your invitation to join your group based on how badly you botched things way over in the dwarven kingdom. She will refuse to join you when you tell her that you think mages smell and are jerks and someone should send an army of zombie kittens to wipe them all out. In fact, she'll probably be upset enough to attack you in that case. (Zombie kittens get no love. Poor undead kitties.)
On Influence:
NPCs will, in fact, not open up to you unless they like you, and they aren't going to like you enough to tell you their life stories right off the bat. It is entirely possible to make them dislike you enough that they will leave, or even attack you.
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NPC dialogues
8.8.2007 17:10 von schalafi
In Jade Empire the npcs you didn't take with you still knew exactly where you had been and what was happening. In fact it was surprising to me, at first, that Dawn Star would act like she had been with me when I hadn't taken her as an npc.
8.8.2007 17:30 von David Gaider For DA, only those in your active party actually respond immediately to your choices in the game -- so they may object or approve, and their view of you will change accordingly -- but the other party members will eventually hear about what you've been doing. In fact, they talk from time to time about how they tend to gossip amongst themselves. So they know what you've been doing, and on occasion if something really pertinent to one of them happens while they're not in the party, they might have a word or two for you when you return to the camp.
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Magic System and Magic in the DA 2
8.8.2007 18:30 von David Gaider No, it's not that. I don't mind the use of the elements in a symbolic sense, but basing the magic system around them wouldn't be very interesting in my opinion.
Without going into detail on what they consist of (and I won't, so don't ask), the four spell schools are: Creation, Entropy, Spirit and Primal. Keep in mind that these are also not at all final and could change at any time.
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