375 réponses à ce sujet

[Peter Thomas]

Hi, my name is Peter Thomas and I'm the Lead Gameplay Designer on Dragon Age 2. I had previously worked on Dragon Age: Origins under Georg Zoeller as a Systems Designer prior to his moving to TOR. I'm basically the person with the most inside knowledge of our gameplay systems on this project.

I decided to open this thread to try and answer questions people had about gameplay and RPG systems changes that were going on in DA2. Please keep in mind, though, that I'm doing this in my own free time and really do have a lot of work still to do. Also there is some stuff I won't be able to discuss for various reasons (not locked down, release schedule, etc).

I'd like to keep this thread to gameplay systems questions only. No debates. No responses. No commentary. Just ask a question and I'll try to answer it as best I can. If you want to discuss it with people, please create another thread. If this thread gets out of hand, it'll be locked and that'll be it.

So... any questions?


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Modifié par Peter Thomas, 08 septembre 2010 - 02:28 .

[Peter Thomas]

Ah... dammit. First question and I can't really answer any of them.

filetemo wrote...

Is lockpicking a rogue ability only in DA2

The decision on lockpicking restriction has not been made yet.

are there minigames-puzzles in DA2?

Puzzles would be associated with specific plots so I can't comment on them.

is there arcane warrior spec in DA2?

Specializations haven't been locked down yet either.

[Peter Thomas]

filetemo wrote...

Do shields and weapons still float on the pc back or do they have ropes,etc?

That's an art direction issue.

[Peter Thomas]

Maverick827 wrote...

Will there be something like the Manual of Focus built into DA2 from the start?

That hasn't been determined yet.

[Peter Thomas]

SelphieSK wrote...

I was wondering about the Tactics system. In DAO, we got new tactics slots by leveling up and/or picking the Tactics skill, so we didn't get many slots until late in the game.

My question is, will we have a sufficient number of tactics slots from the start? Or will we need to unlock them as we level up?

That hasn't been locked down yet either. I'm on a roll!

[Peter Thomas]

TheMadCat wrote...

What changes have been done to leveling and character development and it's influence in combat.

Leveling is pretty much the same as Origins. When you get a certain number of XP you level. When you level you get a certain number of points to distribute in various categories.

The effect of levels on combat will be significant. Facing a much lower level enemy will allow you to tear through them pretty quickly. Facing a higher level enemy will be a challenge.

The power of the various abilities will progress with the power of the character as he levels and upgrades his equipment. Abilities are more intended to add new capabilities to the character, rather than another button to press or icon to click that does the same as everything else. These capabilities and how you use them in a given situation will determine your effectiveness.

[Peter Thomas]

annihilator27 wrote...

How is XP handled?

XP is pretty much the same as Origins. You get XP from killing creatures and completing plots. Enough XP and you gain a level and get points to distribute.

[Peter Thomas]

Suicider_11 wrote...

will there be new weapons for DA2?

All equipment stats have been redone. The appearance of given items is an art direction question.

[Peter Thomas]

Malevolence65 wrote...

Can you describe Mages a bit more? I'm wondering about their melee attacks and if we will actually be able to be like the Hawke in the trailer.

A Mage at range fires projectiles, which deal damage on impact. At close range, the Mage directly hits the target (different animations), dealing the same amount of damage. The type of thing shown in the trailer would be a synchronized animation between the attacker and the target. That was the kind of thing that was used for the melee deathblows in DAO. The exact nature of the deathblows we're having in DA2 is still to be determined.

[Mike Laidlaw]

Peter Thomas wrote...

SelphieSK wrote...

I was wondering about the Tactics system. In DAO, we got new tactics slots by leveling up and/or picking the Tactics skill, so we didn't get many slots until late in the game.

My question is, will we have a sufficient number of tactics slots from the start? Or will we need to unlock them as we level up?

That hasn't been locked down yet either. I'm on a roll!

I can comment on the intended direction. Peter is right that an absolute, final decision has not been locked down, but we are intending to provide more from the start.

[Peter Thomas]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

what exactly can you tell us about the 2h weapon skill tree or playstyle, and how is it different from origins?

The two-handed weapon style is focused on dealing the most damage to the most people. The Warrior class itself is focused on melee AoE damage, and two-handed weapons do the most damage over the largest arc. Compared to the Origins version, two-handed weapons will deal damage to an arc of enemies with each swing. The animations have been completely redone as well, with the impact event (when damage is applied to the target) moved to the front of the animation, rather than near the end (like in Origins). The result will be that you attack, deal damage almost immediately, then follow through with your swing.

Each of the weapon style trees are focused on attacks and abilities that are specific to that weapon type. The result of this is that a weapon style tree itself is smaller, and abilities that could be applied equally well to other weapon styles were moved to more general talent trees. The two-handed style is focused on power and AoEs.

[Peter Thomas]

addiction21 wrote...

Did you know how deep the hole was before leaping in and starting this thread? (no need to actually answer this one)

The new skill trees. How much can you elaborate on them?

Currently each class will have around 6 talent trees (including weapon styles) as well as specialization trees. Each tree can have around 10 talent points spent in it, including both abilities and their upgrades. Each ability can have level, attribute and investment requirements to attain. Investment is stuff like "you must have spent 3 points elsewhere in this tree before you can get this". You must also have the prerequisite abilities before you get something, so you can't just cherrypick the last ability in the tree. You must have the requirements leading up to it.

Will there still be the two handed tree, the magic trees, archery, and so on?

Two-handed weapons, weapon and shield, dual weapons and archery each have their own weapon style tree. Staff doesn't because it's the only weapon available to the Mage.

There were 12 skills for each tree in DAO will it be close to the same in DA2?

Currently each tree has around 10. That includes both abilities (active, passive and sustained), as well as upgrades. Remember that those are style specific features, and things that could apply to multiple styles have been moved to more general trees.

Will each skill be upgradable and will it be like the ME2 type? As in you go thru a couple levels of your basic upgrades (more damage long duration etc) and then reach the "evolved" stage.

An active or sustained ability could have 0, 1 or 2 upgrades, depending on the ability and the tree. Our general guideline right now is no more than 2 upgrades, and no upgrades for passive abilities. After purchasing an ability, you will be able to purchase any upgrades for it, assuming you've met their individual requirements. Abilities and upgrades each cost 1 talent point. We've tried to make the benefit you gain from an upgrade be roughly as enticing as buying a new ability.

Is it a choice between upgrading a skill or learning a new one? DAO for example gave us 1 point to spend on a level up to learn a new skill. Will we need to choose between a new skill or leveling one skill up?

Yes. Mostly. Each level gives you a single point, to spend either on a new ability or an upgrade. It's not levelling up an ability, but rather improving it in a number of ways specific to that particular upgrade. Assume a spell like Fireball has 2 upgrades. THESE ARE JUST MADE UP EXAMPLES. Upgrade 1 might increase the blast radius and damage. Upgrade 2 might decrease the cost and cooldown. Upgrade 1 would let you affect more people and do more damage to those you affect (say 50% greater radius and 50-100% more damage). Upgrade 2 would make you be able to cast it almost twice as often for half the cost. THESE ARE JUST MADE UP EXAMPLES. That's the kind of benefit to upgrades that we are trying to get. Of course any numbers will be subject to balancing.

Is there a visual difference between the basic skill and a leveled up skill? Fireball for example. As it levels up will it also look like its a higherpowered spell? More flames more exposive.

That would be subject to time and budget constraints of the art department.

Modifié par Peter Thomas, 08 septembre 2010 - 12:48 .

[Peter Thomas]

Mecha Tengu wrote...

wait I havent seen anything from DA2

is the combat system tab targetting or real time click based

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this. Currently on PC you attack click on your target and your character will keep doing basic attacks until it dies or you tell them to do something else.

[Peter Thomas]

silentassassin264 wrote...

What can you tell us about the new leveling up system? I could not see the picture at PAX very well.

When you get enough XP you level up. You are then given points to spend in various categories, the same as Origins. Spending talent points will be a bit more complicated because of the branching tree structure. You no longer have to follow a linear progression of abilities, but can take the various branches of the tree to get to the abilities you want (assuming you meet their individual requirements).

[Seb Hanlon]

outlaworacle wrote...

Can you elaborate on the difference in combat between the console and PC versions? If this has been fully explained somewhere I haven't come across it. Are they functionally the same, with the console version requiring a bit more "hands on" button pressing? Or are they significantly separate from one another?

Thanks for your time.

The combat engine is the same for all platforms -- same abilities, same AI, same animations, same effects. The major differences between the PC and the console are in the controls and interface elements. These we change to make the game controls appropriate to the platform.

[Seb Hanlon]

fchopin wrote...

Will the pc continue to fight when a target is selected even if a target moves position?  or will the pc just stand and do nothing until the player selects another target?

Characters in your party should continue to engage their selected enemy with basic attacks.

Can we avoid a hit from an enemy using a defensive move or will it be unavoidable?

The rogue (as shown at PAX) has a combat ability that allows them to move quickly out of harm's way. Details of other abilities haven't been finalized or released yet.

[Seb Hanlon]

Arrtis wrote...

I really wish PC had auto targeting....it made console so much faster...
Also might I suggest adding individual movement to consoles?
Such as during the pause/ring you add a feature to move the selected character to a position.The position will be marked by a tall flag.During the placement of the flag you use the stick(right or left) to move it and use (any free button) to place it down...after placing it down you would exit the movement feature and the movement will be saved.After you unpause the character would move to the flag position.
Does archery get anything new this time around?

edited for clarity
We have travelled back in time and implemented your second suggestion almost exactly as you described it. It will be playable at PAX this coming weekend. Er, past weekend. Time travel makes my head go funny. Individual movement orders are in the game, anyway. 

Modifié par Seb Hanlon, 08 septembre 2010 - 02:12 .

[Seb Hanlon]

Arrtis wrote...

Will traveling back in time be a new spell for mages?

The dev team's time travel abilities, real or imagined, have no bearing on the world of Dragon Age. Apologies if my wording gave that impression. 

[Peter Thomas]

Alodar wrote...

Thank you Mr. Thomas.

My first question involves the spell trees.

Are
there still crowd control spells like the Sleep/Waking Nightmare and
the Glyph spells and the more specific use spells like the Hexes or has
Dragon Age focused on more primal and mass destruction spells?

Mages
focus on ranged AoE damage and effects. There are still plenty of CC
type spells like the ones you mentioned in the game. In general we've
tried to remove duplicate spells that did the same thing, and make each
remaining one feel unique. In DAO there were something like 80 abilities for the Mage, and something like 50 or so for the Warrior and Rogue. I haven't checked the exact numbers in a while. In DA2 we've evened it out. There is roughly an even split between abilities and upgrades for each class and each class has somewhere in the range of 50 talents (though not all are active abilities).

We've been told there are cross class combos, do spell combos still exist?

Our current combo system is based on effects. Different spells and abilities can have an improved effect if a combo effect is on the target. Other abilities can create those effects on the target. Different classes have different aptitudes in creating or utilizing different effects. It's not exactly the same as DAO (where each spell combo was a hardcoded exception), but is designed to be more flexible, allowing all classes to give or get benefit from the others. Depending on what abilities you choose and how you upgrade them, of course.

Are there any spells we must choose? (ie in Origins all mages had Arcane Bolt.)

This has not been determined yet.

Are mages required to spread out their points to be effective or can you still have a one stat mage(Magic)?

We're redoing what attributes mean to the player. Every single stat will give a benefit to every character. Something useful. Exact specifics haven't been worked out. Magic, for instance, might give a small Magic Resistance bonus for every point you have. Useful for everyone, if you want it. For the Mage, though, Magic would be their Primary Attribute, giving them additional bonuses because that is what their class is focused on. Currently we're looking at an Attack and Damage bonus based on your class's Primary Attribute, but that could change. Yes, it would be possible to max out only Magic, but you'd have poor Defense, Mana, Health, etc as a penalty. If you party is maximized around keeping the Mage out of danger, it could be viable, though.

Will
lyrium potions be less available than DAO? (You could have infinite
lesser lyrium potions by buying up lyrium dust from the mage
tower)

We're aiming for less potion spamming. Probably though longer cooldowns and a shared potion cooldown timer on each character. Sure you can chug a health potion, but you won't be able to drink a stamina one for a while either.

[Peter Thomas]

the_one_54321 wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...
So... any questions?

On a scale from 1-10 how different is combat in DA][ from DA:O? 

Btw, thanks for taking the time to do this. :)

Er... how subjective... Well, assuming 1 is not different, and 10 is really different. Er... still kinda hard. It probably FEELS like a 7, but if you look at what has actually changed, more like a 3. The major differences in combat (besides all new skills, class balance, different formulae behind the scenes, etc) come from speeding up animations and frontloading the impact events, and no longer having autoattack for the player on the console (It's still present on the PC and for non-controlled party members on all systems). That's the major difference. Looking at it, and feeling how it plays though, make it seem a lot more profound.

[Peter Thomas]

filetemo wrote...

has any combat rule been dramatically changed from DAO to DA2?

There have been a lot of major under the hood changes. Pretty much the entire combat system has been redone in various ways.

this means: are there "under the hood" dice rolls?

Dragon Age has you create a character with defined skills and attributes. It's the skills and attributes of the character that matter in most calculations, not player skill. There have to be "dice rolls" to see if the character was skilled enough to do what you were attempting (like hitting an enemy). We don't use d20s or d6s or anything. Almost everything is based on floating point numbers.

have any ability changed the atribute it uses to calculate damage?

A character, based on their attributes and equipment, will do a certain amount of damage when they hit an enemy with their weapon. If a warrior swings his sword in a Mighty Blow-style attack, the damage should be based on that base weapon damage instead of some arbitrary number. As your increase your character's damage bonuses, and give them stronger equipment, the strength of your abilities will increase as well. What attribute factors in to that is based on your class. Currently it's Warrior = Strength, Rogue = Dexterity, Mage = Magic.

lenght of cooldowns generally speaking longer-shorter?

On average, probably around the same. Some things longer, some shorter, based on how we want them to be used. Additionally, most abilities will automatically finish their cooldown once combat has ended.

unique cooldown ability a la ME2?

Each ability has it's own cooldown, except for certain ones which are in cooldown groups (like potions).

[Peter Thomas]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

are enemies still able to hit you during a finishing strike like in origins?

Currently if an enemy hits you strongly enough, it will break you out of whatever action you were doing. Synchronized animations may be a special case.

[Peter Thomas]

DiosMios wrote...

Have mana and stamina regeneration been altered for Dragon Age 2?

Regeneration is percentage based in combat. Outside of combat it will regenerate very quickly.

Will there be more interactable items such as ballistas and mabari cages?

Those would be plot specific questions.

[Peter Thomas]

Lord_Valandil wrote...

Any possibility to implement the Nug Bombs?
I'm dead serious, not joking.

Nug Bombs thread.

Thanks in advance.

I can neither confirm nor deny any such rumors.

[Peter Thomas]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

i noticed the increase of speed movement of the warrior from origins to DA2
my question is, will heavier armor make you slower?

There aren't currently plans for it. In DAO we found differing movement speeds broke up party cohesion when travelling through the level. You'd run to the end, trigger a fight and find that one party member was still back at the other end of the level cause he was slower. :/