375 réponses à ce sujet

[Peter Thomas]

iampool wrote...

So, since FF will only have effect in Nightmare diff., will Nightmare still be the hardest setting?

That is currently the plan, yes.

[Peter Thomas]

pajamajmun wrote...

First I want to thank you for taking the time to answer our (silly) questions.
1.Will PC version of DA2 have both tactical version and hack'n'slash versions of gameplay,or will it be only tactical(auto-attack)?

By your definition it is currently tactical only.

2.Will we be able to create a trailer like Hawke?

The capabilities of the trailer Hawke were based on ingame abilities (with some artistic license, of course).

3.How much has DA2 changed from DA:O ?

Er... in terms of gameplay? The character feels faster and more responsive, and no longer autoattacks on console. Systems-wise, a lot of the underlying formulae were changed, partly for efficiency and partly to make them scale better, which was an issue in parts of DAO. And all abilities were reworked.

[Peter Thomas]

tmp7704 wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...

Anyway, that's basically what our cross class combo system is. The difference is that a class rarely has the ability to trigger off its own effects. Other classes are better at that.

Hmm but then isn't inability of class to trigger additional effects used by self... somewhat at odds with your attempt to make similarly viable both the mixed-class parties and homogenous ones?

Same class parties would be overpowering in their area of specialty. You'd need to play them in a specific way to make them work, though. A mixed class party wouldn't be as strong in that single way, but would make up for it in versatility and the capacity to feed into each other's abilities.

This is part of our game balancing pass.

[Peter Thomas]

Lyssistr wrote...

 Thanks for this, you have said you're not involved in the design of individual fights but still I'll mention a couple of points I feel are important, in hope a colleague of yours that is working on that reads this.

Suggestions should be posted in separate threads. I can say that there were discussions on this exact topic, though.

[Peter Thomas]

HopHazzard wrote...

Will bows have rune slots?

There was already asked.

Modifié par Peter Thomas, 10 septembre 2010 - 08:22 .

[Peter Thomas]

nhsk wrote...

Could you possibly ship the game with, or as a small time DLC at launch, a kind of addon that lets you set the flags for what you did in DA:O, so if you have no savegames you can still edit the story a bit?

F.example, my DA:O is on Xbox, but with the planned changes to combat system I think I might switch to PC. However, then I can't import stuff (at least I don't think you could do that with ME1 to ME2 saves).

Is it possible to get a save game editor, that you can use instead of importing a character, at launch? Possibly only available if you already registrered DA:O on either platform, so you won't lose potential customers who won't buy DA:O then.

I can't discuss the plans we have for this.

[Peter Thomas]

scootermcgaffin wrote...

I don't think I saw this question, but with 21 pages it can be hard to keep track.

I'm kind of an oddball in that I hated the deathblow animations. They were cool on smaller darkspawn, or against a boss without any minions, but I can't count the number of times I watched enemies gang up on my mage because my warrior was busy jumping around on an ogre that died ages ago (or worse, beat the warrior to near-death while he's unable to defend himself). Any chance of being able to toggle deathblows on/off, or a similar system that prevents that from happening?

This is part of balancing, but the chance of complicated deathblows will factor in the current combat situation.

[Peter Thomas]

lunarknightmage wrote...

Peter, many, many thanks for spending so much time answering all of our questions!

These are mainly just to clarify........

1. So Mages will be able to "chain" their basic staff melee attacks ( perform a series of staff attacks that results in a finishing animation ). Correct?

Correct.

2. Also, even though there is no specific staff weapon talent tree, the Mage's spell talent trees kind of make up for that, since many of the spells make use of the staff. IOW......the spell talent trees act as the weapon talent trees for staffs. Correct?

Effectively, yes.

3. On the same note, will all spells involve the staff? Will there be spells that mages cast with their hands or minds and not with the staff?

That's an animation direction question, and maybe a lore question.

4. Will all of the mage talent trees be spell trees, or will they have their own "utility" talent trees that boost their overall abilities or stats ( not spell related )?

Each tree can have a mix of active, sustained and passive abilities, doing various things within a general theme.

5. Finally, even though melee is not the primary focus of mages, it should be possible for a player to build his mage into a more melee-oriented mage, focusing on the standard staff attacks and spell attacks that use the staff, while using spells that boost the mages' combat skills and choosing the right equipment.

And, depending on the build, the mage could be used as a melee damage dealer or even as a tank.

Would that be possible?

Yes, it's possible, though probably less efficient that doing the same with a Warrior (for the tanking part). Of course, the Warrior wouldn't have the unique spells that the Mage does either.

[Peter Thomas]

In Exile wrote...

One more clarification question: so AI autoattack is automatic (this I am okay with, because I enabled the basic attacks in DA:O via tactics). Does this mean that via the tactic screen, we still retain the option to code for how we want to attack (i.e. attack strongest, atttack weakest, attack closest, etc.?).

Is possible to have the tactics set up in a way that the party never uses talents unless I select the party member and select a talent?

The tactics system hasn't been completely locked down yet, but it should function similar to Origins.

[Peter Thomas]

andar91 wrote...

Do the elemental damage types retain their original qualities? Fire burned for a few seconds, ice impeded movement, lightning damaged stamina, and earth dealt nature damage.

The elemental damage types remain, but specific secondary effects are slightly different (and could be subject to change at any time). Fire is about straight damage numbers. Cold is speed reduction. Electricity can stun. Earth is about impact strength. Spirit is about unresistability.

How is the AI improved? I've heard several people say that it's a lot better and one reviewier said it was almost too good. He used the example of Bethany taking out a group of enemies with a fireball before he could even get to them.

The AI system has not been balanced yet.

[Peter Thomas]

sammcl wrote...

1. Will there be a buff/debuff bar attached to enemy health bars? Having to guess from visual effects was annoying, particularly if you weren't familiar with the abilities.
2. Are abilities consolidated to such an extent that a single action bar will be sufficient for abilities/consumables/offensive items/skill shortcuts etc. Will we get multiple action bars if not?

These are UI related questions.

[Peter Thomas]

Xewaka wrote...

From your former posts, it seems healing is still the sole domain of mages. Is there a balance reason to have a single class hog two of the most basic roles -party support and crowd management- in an RPG party dynamic?
I'd rather have a party composed of one of each class and one for flavor/personal tastes than be forced by the gameplay system to have the fourth spot always taken by a second mage.

Party support and crowd management are very general categories. Each of the classes has abilities that can perform in those capacities, though in different ways. It happens that one of the Mage's support abilities is healing. I can't discuss the nature of specific abilities now, though.

[Peter Thomas]

nhsk wrote...

distinguetraces wrote...

Yes, hence my picture of a Displacer Beast, the classic D&D example of this.

Displacement didn't exist in Origins, so it looks to me as if Peter has revealed a specific new monster ability for DA2.

(Or did creatures with displacement exist in Awakening?)

Oh didn't know that was a displacer beast..  Thought it was something like a cat with malplaced tentacles.. Leading to the word "displacement".. But without the effect.

And afaik nothing so far has used displacement like abilities in DA.

Ah, displacement... This is what I stayed up late answering questions to get to.

"Displacement" is just our development term for that property. You could call it Absolute Defense, or Dodge Chance. Basically if your displacement chance is 20%, even if an attack is supposed to hit you for certain, there will still be that 20% chance that it will miss completely.

[Peter Thomas]

SteveGarbage wrote...

Continued thanks for your efforts. I've got another trio of questions:

1. In one preview I read, there was mention that different characters can combine abilities to reap effects. The example was a warrior rending armor then a rogue delivering a critical strike because of it. I thought of it somewhat like the Twin Strikes-Low Blow-Unending Flurry tree for dual-wield in Origins. Was this a misunderstanding or will there be "added effects" if you use certain skills in combination?

It's similar, but not based on specific abilities. A character can have certain abilities that set a particular combo effect on the target. Another character can have an ability that does something special to targets with that effect on it. Different classes have different effects that they can create and trigger off of, with a little overlap.

2. Will spell combinations be returning? (I loved Storm of the Century)

This has been folded into the cross class combo effect system.

3. Will armor penetration be back or is that mechanic being scrapped?

As such, this mechanic has been scrapped.

[Peter Thomas]

HopHazzard wrote...

Will new companions come into the party pre-leveled or will you be able to build them from the ground up?

Follower levels will generally be based off the player level. And the second part of that hasn't been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

dearlyblvd wrote...

Will DA2 have a "windowed no border" mode?

This is a programming question.

[Peter Thomas]

saruman31 wrote...

Will there be mini-games?

You mean like the Jade Empire flying mini-game? No.

[Peter Thomas]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

[Wait.  Does that mean that Warriors can't use daggers?  The Dagger + Shield combination in DAO was terrific.  It was the highest DPS-Defence combination available.

The Warrior can only use weapons that are specified for the Two Handed Weapon and Weapon and Shield styles, whatever the art department makes them end up looking like. He cannot use weapons used for the Dual Weapon style.

[Peter Thomas]

Amioran wrote...

Thanks for all your time.

Four questions on archery:

1) In DAO the archery talents required a lot of time to "fire" (not dependent on animation, since there were not special animations for archery talents, if I remember correctly it was set to 3 seconds flat). I created a mod just to remove that annoying feature (among other things). Have the time to activate archery talents being reduced or removed (or maybe tied to specific bow type)? I've seen that combat is more dynamic and fast, so this should suggest the answer, but just to be sure...

In DAO archery worked similarly to spell conjures. There was the draw (spell cast start), the aim loop (conjure loop) and then firing. How long it took to shoot (or cast a spell) was usualy done by modifying how long the middle loop would last. That system no longer exists. Every ability animation is of a set length with the impact (or projectile firing) happening right near the beginning. This is where a lot of our new combat responsiveness comes from. If you press a button or click to fire a bow or archery talent (if you're not in the middle of something else), the arrow will fire in under half a second. Your character may take longer to recover from the shot (depending on the strength of the ability, etc), but the shot itself will fire quickly. Since the Rogue has Archery and Dual Weapon weapon styles, our aim is for the basic DPS to be roughly equivalent between them. This means that Archery basic attacks will be much closer to the speed of Dual Weapon attacks than Two Handed Weapon ones.

2) Related. Activation of archery talents works as activation time of spells? I.e. higher rank archer abilities requires more time to activate or the time is standard for all of them? (This btw can be a question also for other ability trees, not only archery).

All abilities have a cast/activate animation of set length. The character cannot do anything for the length of this animation. However, the effects of the ability (the impact), will happen right near the beginning. Part of the cost is how long your character will be unable to do anything else, but we don't want that to make the effect you want it to have lag.

3) Will range still play a role? There's an optimal range? Being in melee range is still a drawback for an archer?

There is no concept of optimal range, just maximum. This works the same as spells.

4) And related: one of the great drawbacks of archery was the high missing factor, is the same in DA 2?

All attack calculations are based off the character's Primary Attribute and other attack score bonuses, regardless of weapon style. Range of the target no longer factors into it. Additionally, abilities other than basic attacks hit by default (unless something like displacement or another effect causes them to miss).

[Peter Thomas]

simfamSP wrote...

Though Dragon age II will be shorter than one, do you think the Quality of story and characters, game play mechanics and choices are higher than DA:O standards? I'm not asking for any spoilers just a honest opinion from you ...and a please :-)

We're all definitely trying to make it better, so we have to think so. We won't really know if we've succeeded until it's released into the wild and people play it for themselves.

[Peter Thomas]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Do archers still gain a bonus from firing from higher ground? If so, is there anywhere in the game where it tells us what that bonus is (or that it's there at all)?

Attacking from higher ground currently gives no bonuses to anyone.

[Peter Thomas]

Kileyan wrote...

Archery question. I'll preface by saying you suceeded in making archery much better(maybe too good)in Awakening.

My question is a pet peeve. In all the Bioware rpgs, you get little nifty crafting or augmentation type things you can add to armor and weapons. Almost always the bows/xbows are ignored. If you have a system to add runes to a sword to give it a chance to paralyze or cause +4 fire damage, will we get the same style of things for bows? I much prefer being able to augment bows, over carrying around a dozen different arrow types, especially with inventory space juggling.

Especially in your faster paced game vision, it isn't condusive to pausing and switching out arrow types, the result is most people end up not bothering at all, and ending the game with 2000 special arrows, or just vendoring them when they start seeing backpack space become an issue. They are limited, and you go through special arrows very quickly if you forget to unequip them. It becomes one of those limited resources that folks save for important areas, and end up not using at all. Just remove the special arrows, save us inventory, and let us modify our bows, just like other folks put in 3 runes on their dual wielded daggers........each.

Arrows do not exist as such and there is no inventory slot for them anymore. I can't comment on the rune system since it hasn't been finalized, but our aim is for it to treat all weapons in the same way.

[Peter Thomas]

Blacklash93 wrote...

Can you talk about traps assuming you haven't ditched the system? Anything new there?

Will there be ways to lure enemies into traps besides just walking up to them and running away (like whistling to get your opponents to investigate the area where you've set your traps)?

I can't comment on the trap system right now.

[Peter Thomas]

Tempest wrote...

Since some of us have not seen actual gameplay of DA2. There is a question I am hoping you can describe a little more if possible.

During DA1/O:A your party members would wait for space to open before engaging the enemy. We have been told that our party members in DA2 would be like Spartans and jump into the fray of battle. Can you describe a little more on that? If there is just one enemy do your companions move around the enemy faster to start attacking? Do they jump over allies and/or enemies to get to an open spot to engage their target? If there are no open spots to attack from (if the enemy is pinned against the wall) what do my companions do? Can they pull out a ranged weapon on their own if there is no melee spot?

The concept of the 'melee ring' around an enemy is still present. You can only have as many people attack is as can physically fit around them. Follower trying to attack your target will maneuver around you to find an open spot and close with the target. Additionally, the currently controlled character has closing attacks that allow him to rapidly close with his target from a short distance. You will no be able to ignore physics capsules, though, so no leaping over people.

I can't comment on "Fight like a Spartan" and other marketing related questions.

Edit:  One more thing.  There have been moments in DA:O where an enemy is behind chairs, tables, or some altar where my companions and even my warden just refused to fight them in melee because of height difference, not enough space to get close or whatever reason and had to just watch my ranged weapon companion slowly but surely wear down an elite NPC.  Is this fixed in DA2?

This is a level design issue.

[Peter Thomas]

namedforthemoon wrote...

This is sort of a game play question... When my Hawke is kissing someone who is shorter than her (like a dwarf), will she kneel down to make up the difference, or will he stand on a stool, or... Will he do what happened in DAO, which was the shorter person ended up being freakishly larger than normal for romance scenes...?

This is a cinematics related question (ingame cutscenes and conversations count as cinematics in that sense).