555 réponses à ce sujet

[Dhiro]

Sylvius look like a person with a strong definition of what he wants. I can't say I know if that's a bad or a good thing, but I enjoy what he have to say. Again, I shoudn't talk about a person like he's not reading this.



On-topic:



Aratham Darksight, I would be really, really grateful if you talked a little about Lady Hawke. If you want, of course. But the darkspawns covered in fear do seems like fun.

[DragonRageGT]

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Wow, I would have thought that there would be more impressions posted by now. Here's mine. The demo we've gotten to play is indeed the same segment described in the IGN preview. The time we had available wasn’t really enough to finish unless you played at a breakneck pace, so I never got to the very end.

The exaggerated battle at the beginning was fun, but I think of it more as an interactive cutscene. You are in no real danger and free to show off. I now kind of understand why some people might think DA2 is a hack’n slash game based on it. Using any ability will cause darkspawn to die left and right at the click of the mouse, much like early levels of Diablo. There were the occasional little touches that I found pretty funny – like the Hurlock that’s practically cowering in fear at the sight of legend!Hawke’s awesome might. No wonder Cassandra wasn’t buying the story.

All of the character customization options were sadly grayed out, but I did get a look at the default Lady Hawke. She’s so close to what I had in mind that I might not touch the face customization on my first playthrough. I did get a level up during the demo, so I took a quick peek at the talents. Default warrior Hawke had 6 talent trees: sword and shield, two-handed, “battlemaster” (which may or may not correspond with the basic warrior talents from Origins) and 3 more that were hidden. My slow German reading skill didn’t allow me to pore over the details, however.

Even outside the exaggerated segments, characters felt more powerful in combat than they did in Origins. Part of this are the animations, which moved towards the stylized about as much as the graphics did. No doubt people who loathe the move towards stylization in the former will feel the same about the later, but I liked it. However, another major part is the increased responsiveness. Granted, the scenarios in the demo were simple, but I never saw anyone ineffectually wasting time because of pathfinding. Hawke also has this short dash move that he seems to use whenever initiating combat from a distance. I don’t know if that’s default for melee chars or a talent.
The PC demo that I played felt a bit rough around the edges at times. Whether it was the game or the mouse, my right-clicks didn’t always seem to register, or caused me to start jogging across the battlefield to a point behind the Hurlock I was trying to target. In a cutscene, Aveline’s sword and shield disappeared, making it seem like she was pummeling darkspawn with her bare fists. My speculations of unarmed combat were eventually quashed when I saw the correct version of the scene play out on a neighboring screen.

The GUI was kind of bare and utilitarian, consisting of simple geometric shapes, no gilded edges or leather backgrounds or anything like that. All the character/inventory/etc. screens were disabled and there was no minimap. The portraits and healthbars had migrated to the bottom left. The whole thing in general had a very placeholder feel to it and as I recall from the Gameinformer articles, it is set to be replaced by a tapestry-themed one eventually.

All in all, I was quite happy with the elements that Bioware was intending to show off, but being compressed into a 15 minute combat-focused demo does the game no favors.

Thanks for this. I like the little hope it gives me to see yet another awesome game despite disagreeing with the path taken by the devs. What would you say? A full finished and polished Demo would help selling the game, make no difference or cause disappointment? I hope for the first and I would love to see BW letting us have it, short as it may be. If it's any good and leave that "I want MOAR" feeling, then it would be a master's play! (in inspite the game being made with less than DA:O i/o MOAR, as mr. DG have put so well once - will we have cloaks and weapons sheats?)

Ragabul the Ontarah wrote...

Well, I guess I play the game like a game instead of an RPG then, but you are pretty much the only person I know of that doesn't seem to think an RPG is a type of game. I can't roleplay a character I can't identify with on any level. They don't have to be exactly like me, but there needs to be some angle that I can grasp, understand, and feel engaged about or I lose interest. When I want complete liberty to guinea pig characters I write stories instead of playing games. I suppose that makes me frightfully unimaginative, but there it is.

I really would sugget you try the same approach an actor has with a role, even when its like 100% opposite to his own personality. I mean, how can a RL good guy play the role of a real bad, mean, evil, sick personage? I usually play good characters because I like to think I'm more that kind of a person myself. It took me a lot of resistance breaking, training and getting used to, to play a Mordor character in a NWN LotR PW where I lived my epic elven archer for some 5 years.

But hey, it was a hell of a great time and those guys I started party'ing with are not bad guys in RL. Sure, we might get some kicks of bullying some hobbits along the roads but that was the in character reaction. And when the good chars were there for us to party or when even really mattered and I had to choose, I would resume my elf who was already a legend among those lands, for DM'ed events and such. =)

Now, if I hadn't tried that I would never be able to play a human-hater city elf rogue that killed anyone in his way, sometimes just for the heck of it. Amazing howsome people criticized me, the player, for having such char, when they watched a little DA video I made with that char, out of over 100 I made with my good chars!

Dragon Age - Ogren wants to be shared!

Again, I express that the attitude displayed here and in the other earlier video of this character does not reflect the personality of the person behind the character. I'm just an actor playing a different role for a change! Can't do over 20 runs with Dragon Age with the very same char all the time. I hope DA2 let me enjoy replaying it that much!

Dragon Rage - Good ol' Rage is gone! Now it is ShadowRage time!

Modifié par RageGT, 23 août 2010 - 07:20 .

[DragonRageGT]

Oh, I know what you mean and I do play various shades of goodness, not always a Paladin, who could never be Chaotic or Neutral Good to begin with, IMHO.



And it's not that I have to play evil to enjoy a game. I only played 1 char online as a secondary char when none of the good chars were on the server and that was the complaint from the Mordor guys. There were not enough good rp'ers for them to play with at some particular hours since there were people from all the time zones around.



But it is like playing a female char. The fact I'm male does not prevent me from enjoying it even if I'm not gay or play only female chars. Actually I play very few of them but it's like Dustin Hoffman playing Tootsie.



Now, I'm really interested to know about DA2, if you and the other guys who played it can help. What's the right click range like? It is such a pain in the neck to target an enemy or a lootable object sometimes in DA:O. Specially if I try do do it on the fly, no pausing, close up view and from a camera angle that is not the best sometimes.



Has it improved at all for DA2? Is it any easier to control and order an attack or loot pickup with a right mouse button click?



I hope they let us bind the ALT key too, which is impossible in Origins somehow. I got so used to play with it pressed for other games lately i/o of my X key which I binded for "show clickable objects" (the default key is too wrong for my play style) that I keep pressing alt all the time now and it just halts the char while doing nothing and we can't change that! GRRRR.

[Shreav]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

iShreav wrote...

I see where you're coming from, and I think a lot of people would admit to the same.

But, at the end of the day, it's just not good enough.  Especially when you're pitting DA2 up against other games like The Witcher 2, which also have great stories, but with the added bonus of a visually pleasing environment, and stunning character graphical representations.

Hell, forget about Witcher 2, just look at the screenshots for Fable III.  Now that, in itself, speaks volumes.

Graphical advancements past what we saw in NWN (eight years ago) have been a waste of time, and they add nothing to gameplay.

I disagree with you, completely.  Graphical advancements ARE important and it's an important factor in almost all games.  That's why, one of the fundamentals factors in evaluating the quality of any particular videogame is graphics.  Granted, graphics can't, and don't, decide the overall evaluation score for a particular game.  But, the fact that it even exists as its own category shows its importance.  Even with RPGs.

It's just as you say, however.  When you're playing a RPG, you're put into the character's shoes.  You are the character facing the odds and making all the decisions.  Unfortunately, I think it's pretty sad if you're wandering around the world with poor quality pixels.

We are immensely advanced in regards to graphics, today.  We've come a long way and we should be making the most of it.  The tools and skills are available to make this happen.

I respect your opinion.  But, I hope games are never visually designed according to your tastes.

No offence, mate. 

Ultimately, I, unlike others here, have nothing to go by.  I'll be praying and hoping that the graphics are decent in this game, as well as the gameplay.  But, I have no choice by to reserve proper judgement until we see some gameplay footage. 

[Vaeliorin]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

iShreav wrote...
I see where you're coming from, and I think a lot of people would admit to the same.

But, at the end of the day, it's just not good enough.  Especially when you're pitting DA2 up against other games like The Witcher 2, which also have great stories, but with the added bonus of a visually pleasing environment, and stunning character graphical representations.

Hell, forget about Witcher 2, just look at the screenshots for Fable III.  Now that, in itself, speaks volumes.

Graphical advancements past what we saw in NWN (eight years ago) have been a waste of time, and they add nothing to gameplay.

Heck, I'd be happy with

I might even prefer it.  Gives more room for the imagination to play.

[Aratham Darksight]

Brockololly wrote...

Thanks Aratham!

So were the healthbars and mana/stamina bars still sort of surrounding the portraits like in Origins? And there wasn't a minimap? Ugh. I hope they brush up the UI for the PC, like you said.

Did you notice if the textures on the PC version were any good? Basically, did the graphics seem any better than Origins on PC in your opinion?

In the demo, the health/mana/stamina bars weren't wrapped around the portraits, but laid out in straight lines to the right of them. My first thought was that it didn't look as good, but then I realized that it was much easier for me to quickly assess how far depleted everyone was across the whole party. So ultimately, while I hope the pieces will look prettier in the final version, I prefer their current arrangement to the previous one.

The texures, well... I'm not one of those people who looks very closely at the technical side of graphics. I thought the game looks a little better then Origins most of the time and about the same the rest of the time. The environment, despite being barren and empty, certainly doesn't look as dismal in action as it does on the screenshots. Some characters, like Hawke, Bethany and Flemeth look drastically better, while Carver and Mom Hawke look like they stepped straight out of Origins. Cassandra and Varric also look a bit weird, but that seems to be mostly the fault of the interrogation room's lighting conditions.

RageGT wrote...

Thanks for this. I like the little hope it gives me to see yet another awesome game despite disagreeing with the path taken by the devs. What would you say? A full finished and polished Demo would help selling the game, make no difference or cause disappointment? I hope for the first and I would love to see BW letting us have it, short as it may be. If it's any good and leave that "I want MOAR" feeling, then it would be a master's play! (in inspite the game being made with less than DA:O i/o MOAR, as mr. DG have put so well once - will we have cloaks and weapons sheats?)

Depends on what you mean by "a full finished and polished Demo". An improved version of just the segment we played? That would probably be very disappointing to anyone who thought it was representative of the whole game. Like I said, being represented by a 15 minute, combat-focused sequence does Dragon Age no favors and that's exactly what this demo was. Imagine if Origins had a demo that consisted entirely of the Carta Hideout part of the Dwarf Commoner origin, limited to a premade fighter.

A good demo for DA2 would have to include another, later section of the game where the player has some freedom, the ability to walk around a town, etc.

Apollo Starflare wrote...

Thanks for the run down Aratham, well written and informative just how I like it. If you havn't already you might want to go and post your impressions of Lady Hawke over in the Lady Hawke thread! It would certainly go down very well if you can tell us anything about how she looks.

I would love to be more helpful, but I have difficulty coming up with a description other than "short black hair". She only appears in a KotOR-like lineup at the class selection screen, so there was no way to get a close-up of her face. I'm left with more an impression than detailed memories.

[Apollo Starflare]

Trust me even that tid bit is enough to fuel some discussion. Anything is better than nothing!



Overall your impressions are the first to match with what I feel like I've seen so far, so that's good. The graphics sound like they will end up being Origins-like but overall better where it counts and hopefully the UI comes out the other side of all this better than before.

[AngryFrozenWater]

@Aratham Darksight: Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions with us. It's always cool to read what someone thinks of the game first hand.

[Mornmagor]

Don't you find it a bit odd,that people say that the target audience is the consoles,but at the same time they say graphics suck,which is much more important for console audiences?



Anyway,i will say that,graphics are not important in the way people make them out to be.



It doesn't matter how many pixels are used for your character or they environment,it matter HOW they are used,and how the character is presented in the end.



There are games that had hand-drawn graphics but still the artwork was great.An armor will look like a cool armor even without high definition,as long as it's designed nicely and by someone experienced.



I also have to say,from what i saw live,the graphics were an improvement in art direction(in conjuction with the physics engine too),but they feel roughed in the edges,like you see a classic PS3 graphics heavy game,that reveals the anti-aliasing inability of the PS3.



I have to say,that it is actually very important that they add cell shading to the game,or something like that.



Graphics are not worse than origins,but they sure do a good job of misleading you to think they are average at first glance.



All in all,i have a good feeling about the game,more than i did for origins,but at least smooth out the graphics a bit.

[Apollo Starflare]

The people that are complaining about 'consolisation' rarely make much sense I'm afraid.

[Solaris Paradox]

Sounds pretty good to me. Can't wait to actually play the thing.

[Stronghand]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...
Graphical advancements past what we saw in NWN (eight years ago) have been a waste of time, and they add nothing to gameplay.

The majority of gamers disagree, and companies have to sell to the masses to make a profit after all. I have coworkers only a copule of years younger than me who can't understand how I can even look at games from the 90's becasue the graphics are so "ugly". Personally I think too much resources are being put towards graphics, and I'd rather those where put in different parts of the game, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are a complete waste of time, and I also recognize it's pretty much required for a game to sell well.
For me, the graphical style of the game is more important than how "flashy" it looks. "Good" graphics don't make a good game on it's own, and a game can be good without it, it's all about how it's being presented.

[Shreav]

Vaeliorin wrote...

I might even prefer it.  Gives more room for the imagination to play.

I'd rather read a book, haha. 

Stronghand wrote...

Personally I think too much resources are being put towards graphics, and I'd rather those where put in different parts of the game, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are a complete waste of time, and I also recognize it's pretty much required for a game to sell well.  For me, the graphical style of the game is more important than how "flashy" it looks. "Good" graphics don't make a good game on it's own, and a game can be good without it, it's
all about how it's being presented.

I think I have to agree with you.  No doubt about it, there are some visually pleasing games out there that still fail to entertain, simply because they lack substance.

I guess why I'm stressing on the graphics so much is because of how disappointing the graphics were in DA:O...

4Ace, the fellow who managed to make higher resolutions for games like Fallout had started making higher resolution textures for DA:O as well, but discovered that the resolutions available for the game were all around 512x512.  He went on to claim that these weren't of industry standard.  Some of you might know of the issues he ran into, or said he did.

But again, guess I gotta wait and see.  Wish they'd release more footage of gameplay, or something.

Modifié par iShreav, 23 août 2010 - 02:32 .

[ankuu]

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Brockololly wrote...

Thanks Aratham!

So were the healthbars and mana/stamina bars still sort of surrounding the portraits like in Origins? And there wasn't a minimap? Ugh. I hope they brush up the UI for the PC, like you said.

Did you notice if the textures on the PC version were any good? Basically, did the graphics seem any better than Origins on PC in your opinion?

In the demo, the health/mana/stamina bars weren't wrapped around the portraits, but laid out in straight lines to the right of them. My first thought was that it didn't look as good, but then I realized that it was much easier for me to quickly assess how far depleted everyone was across the whole party. So ultimately, while I hope the pieces will look prettier in the final version, I prefer their current arrangement to the previous one.

The texures, well... I'm not one of those people who looks very closely at the technical side of graphics. I thought the game looks a little better then Origins most of the time and about the same the rest of the time. The environment, despite being barren and empty, certainly doesn't look as dismal in action as it does on the screenshots. Some characters, like Hawke, Bethany and Flemeth look drastically better, while Carver and Mom Hawke look like they stepped straight out of Origins. Cassandra and Varric also look a bit weird, but that seems to be mostly the fault of the interrogation room's lighting conditions.

RageGT wrote...

Thanks for this. I like the little hope it gives me to see yet another awesome game despite disagreeing with the path taken by the devs. What would you say? A full finished and polished Demo would help selling the game, make no difference or cause disappointment? I hope for the first and I would love to see BW letting us have it, short as it may be. If it's any good and leave that "I want MOAR" feeling, then it would be a master's play! (in inspite the game being made with less than DA:O i/o MOAR, as mr. DG have put so well once - will we have cloaks and weapons sheats?)

Depends on what you mean by "a full finished and polished Demo". An improved version of just the segment we played? That would probably be very disappointing to anyone who thought it was representative of the whole game. Like I said, being represented by a 15 minute, combat-focused sequence does Dragon Age no favors and that's exactly what this demo was. Imagine if Origins had a demo that consisted entirely of the Carta Hideout part of the Dwarf Commoner origin, limited to a premade fighter.

A good demo for DA2 would have to include another, later section of the game where the player has some freedom, the ability to walk around a town, etc.

Apollo Starflare wrote...

Thanks for the run down Aratham, well written and informative just how I like it. If you havn't already you might want to go and post your impressions of Lady Hawke over in the Lady Hawke thread! It would certainly go down very well if you can tell us anything about how she looks.

I would love to be more helpful, but I have difficulty coming up with a description other than "short black hair". She only appears in a KotOR-like lineup at the class selection screen, so there was no way to get a close-up of her face. I'm left with more an impression than detailed memories.

Thank you for your impression you have been really helpful You explained everything so well!

[Haexpane]

IGN stated the Demo had a JUMP button, so Hawke could do jumping attack combos? I'm confused. One preview states it's just faster DAO, then IGN pipes in and says GOD OF WAR!



I already played God of War 5x + all the Devil May Cry and every other game that copies that combat system...



Jumping Air COmbat is OVER, played out, finished. Not to mention it's hyper unrealistic and annoying looking.

[Aratham Darksight]

Haexpane wrote...

IGN stated the Demo had a JUMP button, so Hawke could do jumping attack combos? I'm confused. One preview states it's just faster DAO, then IGN pipes in and says GOD OF WAR!

I already played God of War 5x + all the Devil May Cry and every other game that copies that combat system...

Jumping Air COmbat is OVER, played out, finished. Not to mention it's hyper unrealistic and annoying looking.

Where does IGN say that? I can't find it in the preview that's linked to up top.

[nightcobra]

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Haexpane wrote...

IGN stated the Demo had a JUMP button, so Hawke could do jumping attack combos? I'm confused. One preview states it's just faster DAO, then IGN pipes in and says GOD OF WAR!

I already played God of War 5x + all the Devil May Cry and every other game that copies that combat system...

Jumping Air COmbat is OVER, played out, finished. Not to mention it's hyper unrealistic and annoying looking.

Where does IGN say that? I can't find it in the preview that's linked to up top.

i think he means warrior hawke's leaping slash attack, it's a skill not a jump button

[Aratham Darksight]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Where does IGN say that? I can't find it in the preview that's linked to up top.

i think he means warrior hawke's leaping slash attack, it's a skill not a jump button

Possibly, but the latest IGN preview didn't mention that either, unless IGN released some new information that hasn't been posted here yet. That's why I'm asking where he read it.

[Dermain]

Aratham Darksight wrote...

nightcobra8928 wrote...

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Where does IGN say that? I can't find it in the preview that's linked to up top.

i think he means warrior hawke's leaping slash attack, it's a skill not a jump button

Possibly, but the latest IGN preview didn't mention that either, unless IGN released some new information that hasn't been posted here yet. That's why I'm asking where he read it.

Well you have to pay attention to the poster, it's Haexpayne who has been acting like a classic troll ever since the game was announced.

[slikster]

Myrkale wrote...

Aratham Darksight wrote...

nightcobra8928 wrote...

Aratham Darksight wrote...

Where does IGN say that? I can't find it in the preview that's linked to up top.

i think he means warrior hawke's leaping slash attack, it's a skill not a jump button

Possibly, but the latest IGN preview didn't mention that either, unless IGN released some new information that hasn't been posted here yet. That's why I'm asking where he read it.

Well you have to pay attention to the poster, it's Haexpayne who has been acting like a classic troll ever since the game was announced.

Riiiight, because people concerned with the precieved direction the game is going = troll.

[Krytheos]

It's not that it seems she's concerned; she could easily do it in a less antagonistically worded way. Instead of saying 'I've already played God of War 5+' etc and doing the whole 'this is annoying looking' and things, she could have instead stated a simple thing like 'I do not like this idea of jumping attacks. Why are they implementing it/why should they implement it/it doesn't need to be implemented'.



Instead, came off as more antagonistic than 'concerned with the perceived direction.'