92 réponses à ce sujet

[Proleric]

I'm pressing on with module development, because

• There are no current showstoppers
• It's reasonable to expect a substantial audience
• Hard dependency on Bioware's future actions is almost nil

[Challseus]

Well, I haven't even had access to the toolset for about 2 weeks, so I was able to think about it for a long, long time. Regardless of what happens, I will push ahead full steam with my current development. Perhaps a little harder now

If we do get a DA2 toolset around the time DA2 is released, and if DA2 seems like it's a game that everyone has to have, I will make the switch. If this happens, I would be hoping for some robust porting options, if not, I'll just do it the old fashioned way. For me, the hardest work, in terms of sheer quantity, is building the actual game content, dialogue, scenarios, scriptings, custom abilities, etc. Once all of that is done, porting will be a little easier, because at least I'll know where all the pieces fit, whereas now, those pieces are still being defined/redefined.

I know it will be a lot of work, but nowhere near the amount of time I've spent since the middle of January. So, if there turns out to be a DA2 toolset, my current work will transform from a module in progress to a prototype in progress. Adam Miller prototyped the first chapter (maybe the 2nd one as well) of his NWN2 series, Dark Waters, in the NWN1 toolset, and it served him well, so that's the model I'll most likely follow.

Oh, and if I somehow magically finish my current module before a new toolset, I will still release it on the DA1 platform, and will support it accordingly.

Now the real question is, Bioware, what's the deal with a new toolset? A little info, please

[Arttis]

Ya they are very silent about the toolset.

[Beerfish]

I am betting there will be no new toolset or new features available. There may be some effort in being able to port things or use resources from DA2 in DA1 but that would all depend on just what changes are being made to graphics/engine. With a short development time and the fact that we haven't seen many finished products from the toolset (Through no fault of the mod makers) I don't see the toolset as being any kind of a priority at all.



It would be nice to pleasantly surprised but if it was me I'd just keep working on a DA1 project as if there was no DA2 coming out.

[Hel]

Beerfish wrote...

 There may be some effort in being able to port things or use resources from DA2 in DA1 but that would all depend on just what changes are being made to graphics/engine.

Judging by some of the posts on the DA2 forums, I'm starting to think that they aren't making that many changes to the current DA engine. With that in mind, I going to presume that they're only making new art assets for DA2 with some optimizations here and there. Alpha stage or not, the DA2 screenshots that they've released look like they're coming straight out of the DA engine, which is fine by me.

[Mengtzu]

Can I just say the prospect of a Mass-Effect style dialogue system is incredibly exciting?

[Challseus]

Mengtzu wrote...

Can I just say the prospect of a Mass-Effect style dialogue system is incredibly exciting?

Now you have to have a voice for your PC in your mods now

[Mengtzu]

Challseus wrote...
Now you have to have a voice for your PC in your mods now

You mean people will complain about the lack of PC voice in addition to the lack of any other kind of voice in my modules

Positional meaning + not having to have NPCs carry 90% of a conversation will be love though!

[ladydesire]

All I really ask for is the Awakening resources; I want to be able to take some of the custom companions from Origins to Vigil's Keep, and have them selectable in the party picker screen.

[Arrtis]

Well getting tired of bumping threads to bury the spammer threads so this will be my last bump.....Also I seriously hope DA2 toolset is simple...

[JasonNH]

Interesting. Bioware founder Greg Zeschuk did an interview and the question of a toolset for DA2 came up.

What DLC is going to be available for Dragon Age II and will
there be user-generated content for it like their was in Dragon Age: Origins?

That's two questions! I think I'm always safe in the blanket DLC answer
which is: 'there will be lots'! (Laughs). It's been great for us with Dragon
Age. I think the kind of game it is really lends itself to DLC and the
passions of people who play it lends itself to the opportunity to creating
stuff. The Tool set's been great – that's actually one of the most fun things for
us to do, to give fans the opportunity to be creative.

He seems to hint towards something being available. At the same time, since he is quite happy with what the first toolset has produced, I guess we can expect the same level of support as well.

*edit* - Here is the link to the whole interview.

Modifié par JasonNH, 23 juillet 2010 - 01:48 .

[DarthParametric]

JasonNH wrote...

I guess we can expect the same level of support as well.

So not very much then....

[-Semper-]

What DLC is going to be available for Dragon Age II and will
there be user-generated content for it like their was in Dragon Age: Origins?

The Tool set's been great – that's actually one of the most fun things for
us to do, to give fans the opportunity to be creative.

how laughable! someone should kick their butts asap... with nwn1 they did a good (not the best) job supporting the toolset. obsidian also supported their toolset with much effort.

right now dragon age's toolset is a mess with absolutely no support.

[indio]

What they've no doubt discovered is that you can ignore modders in a SP environment. If the game were MP, modding in DA would be massive and could not be ignored. BioWare can now say things like "The toolset is important to us" and there are so few of us to publically disagree that they get to look magnanimous and also continue to ignore us.

[-Semper-]

indio wrote...

you can ignore modders in a SP environment. If the game were MP, modding in DA would be massive and could not be ignored.

bethesda and their sp games have a huge modding community, alive after years. the difference is that they support(ed) their toolsets. i would not say that a multiplayer part is that important for a healthy community. fully functional editors have much more impact. if your tools suck and you can't get past around the biggest problems without developer support then sooner or later everybody turns their back.

it's sad that there are lots of developers around in this board but nobody feels responsible for the toolset theme. just a single word that there's a patch in preparation would make darkness much brighter.

Modifié par -Semper-, 24 juillet 2010 - 12:16 .

[tmp7704]

indio wrote...

What they've no doubt discovered is that you can ignore modders in a SP environment. If the game were MP, modding in DA would be massive and could not be ignored.

Modding scale has little to do with multiplayer (or lack thereof) and much more with how easy it is for average person to create new things. If the game was MP it wouldn't make the Toolset magically any easier to use.

[indio]

Fair enough. It's all just a little underwhelming, news of DA2. Instead of being something I'm looking forward to, I'm instead feeling a sense of dread that once again there simply won't be tools to encourage the actual building of new modules.

[FollowTheGourd]

It almost makes me wish there most more readily available assets for things like the UDK, where you don't need to be tied to a game. Only then you don't have the publicity that comes with it and all their other assets... I guess if I'm a little jaded, it's just modding seems to be an afterthought with a lot of companies now (moreso anyway), and even the old time companies like id software seem to think that modders couldn't possibly handle games the way they are now and the work involved in modding them.

Modifié par FollowTheGourd, 24 juillet 2010 - 01:40 .

[ITSSEXYTIME]

I wouldn't say they don't support the Toolset, I mean they fixed some criticial issues with it in v1.00 pretty quickly on and more importantly, they've been fairly helpful on the forums.





I'm used to less though, and I'm still kinda wondering where the next patch is since it was previously talked about how many months ago.

[Proleric]

I've always seen the toolset as a bonus. I imagine that the business case for it is marginal - the wonder is it's done at all.

All the same, there does seem to have been a sea change in the last year or so.

Since some practical decisions have to be made here and now, my working assumption is that toolset and BSN support will probably be criticial fix only, with a relatively hands-off approach to community issues.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, because it strengthens the case for open community self-help projects which we can control ourselves.

What little we've seen of DA2 doesn't suggest much change to the toolset itself. My guess is that the new graphic style for models could be a bigger issue...

[DarthParametric]

Proleric1 wrote...

My guess is that the new graphic style for models could be a bigger issue...

Not necessarily. From what we've seen so far, there doesn't appear to be any fundamental engine changes. The new art style is different from DA1 in a lame kind of way, but it doesn't look like there is anything new under the hood driving it - just different textures. They have made a bunch of new models certainly, so an issue there could be if they have changed the model format slightly due to changes in whatever proprietary Max plugins they are using which would necessitate ChewyGumball, Eshme and NewByPower updating their tools.

Modifié par DarthParametric, 25 juillet 2010 - 07:01 .

[Proleric]

Technically, that sounds about right. I was thinking of the change in art style - I'm not too fastidious, but there's a point at which mix and match looks silly.

[Kesaru]

-Semper- wrote...

indio wrote...

you can ignore modders in a SP environment. If the game were MP, modding in DA would be massive and could not be ignored.

bethesda and their sp games have a huge modding community, alive after years. the difference is that they support(ed) their toolsets. i would not say that a multiplayer part is that important for a healthy community. fully functional editors have much more impact. if your tools suck and you can't get past around the biggest problems without developer support then sooner or later everybody turns their back.

it's sad that there are lots of developers around in this board but nobody feels responsible for the toolset theme. just a single word that there's a patch in preparation would make darkness much brighter.

Actually, I'm pretty sure Bethesda gave less support for their toolset than Bioware has with Dragon Age. No tutorials at all, and one, maybe two patches for it total.
The difference is, they made an amazing toolset from the start. All of the later support came from players themselves writing up tutorials and creating modifications/improvements for the toolset itself.

I also seriously doubt DA2 is intended to supercede DAO. The fact that you have zero ability to customize your character alone makes it a very different game. I can only imagine what else they're taking away from it.
Even if they do release a toolset for DA2, which I think is really unlikely, and even if they do shift their very meager support to DA2, I seriously doubt much of the modding community for DAO will switch. At least not for long.
I imagine modding for DA2, if there is any, to be much more like Doom 3 modding than Neverwinter Nights or Oblivion.

Modifié par Kesaru, 25 juillet 2010 - 04:18 .

[Hel]

Kesaru wrote...

The fact that you have zero ability to customize your character alone makes it a very different game.

Wrong fact. You can customize your character, only your name and race are pre-chosen.

[Kesaru]

Helekanalaith wrote...

Kesaru wrote...

The fact that you have zero ability to customize your character alone makes it a very different game.

Wrong fact. You can customize your character, only your name and race are pre-chosen.

Are you saying you can choose your class and stats? Because all of the art shows the character with a pretty specific appearance as well.
Maybe I should have been more specific, but I meant aesthetic choices. You're always playing as a rough looking middle-aged guy named Hawke.