885 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.

[Mercuron]

Hi Peter, thanks for taking some time to answer all these questions. I have a couple I was wondering about:

- Charging melee attacks: If you target an enemy in front of you who you can reach with ranged attacks or spells, but is cut off from melee attacks because they are on a ledge that you have to walk around to get up on ... will attacks or abilities that have you jumping or rushing quickly to melee range of an enemy, path around to them, go in a straight line to them regardless of what's in the way, or fail to activate?

- Missile attacks/spell projectiles: If a ranged attack projectile strikes an obstacle or wall after being fired, will they pass through to hit their target, or will it be 'blocked' as in Origins? If so, will spells that fire a projectile be subject to this as well?

- Overwhelm attacks: If a character or creature is caught in an 'overpowering' attack (like Overwhelm, the Ogre's Grab attack, etc), will they require assistance from an ally in order to break free early, or are there ways they can escape these attacks on their own?  Just curious in the event we are ever controlling a single character and have to face enemies with such abilities.

- Locations with a minimum/maximum creature level: Will there be any way to discern the level ranges of locations when and if we are presented with options on where to go next? Or is it something the player needs to feel out by fighting the creatures located there?

Thanks.

[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.

[Amioran]

Other questions more rogue related:

1) You said that there is no more backstabbing but critical chance get a bonus by flanking. However is this bonus dependent on position? Namely there's a difference between flanking and really being _behind_ an enemy for critical chance? Or flanking and "backstabbing" is the same thing?

2) There will be enemies immune to critical hits? In the case those exists and the rogue encounters one he will still be able to do good damage? I.e. there are also rogue abilities that are not _dependent_ on criticals (for what concerns dw talents specifically).

3) Since dual-wield weapons are "style" related (in the sense that you can equip one or the other based on the tree you know), the dual-wield option will have only daggers or they can also have "normal" size swords (or other types of weapons)? And in case "normal" size weapons are present there are penalties on using them?

4) Stealth still reduces movement speed as in DAO?

Modifié par Amioran, 10 septembre 2010 - 08:33 .

[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.

[AngryFrozenWater]

Mr Thomas, if there was a BW Employee of the Year Award then you would have gotten it. Thanks for the information.

[Ibaru88]

Peter Thomas wrote...

Ibaru88 wrote...

And would I like to ask another question?...
"May I? Oh, yes, I think I might."

Will your stats, skills or abilities (other than the diplomacy skill or whatever it's called) affect your dialog options, similar to how you occasionally got a "cunning" or an "intelligence" option in DA:O and if so, will they be more or less frequent?

You may, but you might not like the fact that that's a story/plot related question that I can't answer.

You lie! YOU LIIEEEE! .... errr... I mean... Really? It's plot related? Thought this would have been more closer to a game mechanic than anything plot related... meh, anyway...

Regarding the default attack... if I understand correctly, you can both issue auto attacks and then also do the "1 click = 1 attack" thing?
Or am I greatly misunderstanding this?
But if so, will the attacks you fire off with your mighty mouse clicks all look alike and do the same amount of damage, or will there be something akin to a combo system, where the first attack in the chain is the least powerful and they then get progressively more powerful with each swing until the chain is complete (3-4 default attacks) ... each step in the chain of course having different animations...

But if that mess above is undecipherable, then could you perhaps tell me how the default attacks are handled on the PC in regards to how much attention we need to pay to them. Is it *right click* *combat ensues* or are we going to be treated to a more *one clicky, two clicky, three clicky, gore* sort of combat system?

Modifié par Ibaru88, 10 septembre 2010 - 09:21 .

[AngryFrozenWater]

In the old system, the camera could get stuck because of some kind of ceiling or other obstacle. You could be trapped in zoom in or out. Does the new camera system solve that?

[Flopsi]

Are there any control changes for the consoles?Does the radial menu returns?What is the level cap?

[Lestatman]

Hi will there be free roaming from area to area or is it like DA:O where you click the area you want to go and the fights happen randomly?

[Shining Ghost]

Are there any large scale choreographed action sequences driven by both cutscenes and real time gameplay?



Missed them in DA:O and would love to have them.

[Vaeliorin]

Peter Thomas wrote...

Vaeliorin wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...

Illborne wrote...
This is an excellent thread. Thank you, Peter Thomas.

Peter Thomas wrote...
Currently friendly fire is all or nothing, and only on Nightmare difficulty.

Does this mean that AOE effects are more powerful (and/or more common) in DA2?

Because the Warrior does AoE with most attacks, I'd say they're more common. Power is subject to future balancing.

Perhaps I'm reading to much into things here...but am I to understand that Warrior AoE attacks will now be subject to friendly fire (on difficulties where friendly fire exists)?  If this is the case, doesn't it arguably make a party with multiple melee characters a bad idea when playing with friendly fire?

Combat balancing is still ongoing, but if you use too many AoE type abilities around your party members when friendly fire is on, it will go badly without micromanagement.

In other words, whether or not warrior AoEs cause friendly fire damage hasn't been determined yet?  They didn't in DA.  Since even the 2-handed warriors basic attacks hit an area, it seems like having a 2-handed warrior plus another melee character would require some serious micromanagement that could get slightly annoying (essentially having to run the non-2-hander warrior in and out of combat every time the 2-hander attacked/used an ability, assuming you were gathering enemies together for best effect from AoEs.)

Note that I don't object to micromanagement (I actually like it) but having to worry about my 2-handed warriors regular attacks hitting my tank seems to go a bit beyond the pale, in my opinion.

[AbounI]

Does the friendly fire only concern the spells and mages talents, or is does it also concerns the warrior when he's hitting in AoE space if a I stand too close to him? (warrior are now dealing AoE damages, so logically, when friendly fire is on, it should mean that the warrior can deal friendly fire)


About the armors and their requirments:
We understand that armors requirements are based upon the primary attrubute of the concerned class.
It's easy to understand a warrior needs to be strong enough to wear a heavy armor.But for the rogues, is it based upon his dexterity? I want to be as clear as possible:
if a rogue is strong enough to wear a light armor, ok, that's right, but is he able to move and act as a ninja if he's not enough agile?So that would mean that the rogue requirement for the wear of allowed armors (light or/and medium) could be based upon his dexterity score as it is his primary attribute.

Modifié par AbounI, 10 septembre 2010 - 11:40 .

[tmp7704]

Vaeliorin wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...

Combat balancing is still ongoing, but if you use too many AoE type abilities around your party members when friendly fire is on, it will go badly without micromanagement.

In other words, whether or not warrior AoEs cause friendly fire damage hasn't been determined yet?  They didn't in DA.  Since even the 2-handed warriors basic attacks hit an area, it seems like having a 2-handed warrior plus another melee character would require some serious micromanagement that could get slightly annoying (essentially having to run the non-2-hander warrior in and out of combat every time the 2-hander attacked/used an ability, assuming you were gathering enemies together for best effect from AoEs.)

I'm reading it rather as, friendly fire does work for aoe attacks, and whether it actually is enabled depends if you play on nightmare mode or not.

Regarding the micro-management, the warrior's attacks are said to be 120 degree or so cone, so avoiding it can be as easy as standing next to the warrior rather than right in front of them (since the cone effectively extends 60 degree on each side)  In a way, it's very much like working together with a mage who uses close-range cone attacks rather than the fireballs and such.

Modifié par tmp7704, 10 septembre 2010 - 11:41 .