375 réponses à ce sujet

[Peter Thomas]

RampantBeaver wrote...

You may tell me this is an art related question but you've touched on animations some what already. Will there be animations for failing to hit opponents? As opposed to how DA:O had your character swipe through the combatant with the word miss pop up. More specifically, will animations include ones for dodging, parrying and perhaps even glancing blows?

Edit: To make this sound more gameplay related: Will your character be able to dodge and parry? and will glancing blows feature?

Unless a creature has displacement, a player's attacks will glance the target instead of missing it entirely. It deals much less damage, though. Enemies can still miss the player characters.

The nature of dodge/parry/hit reaction animations is an art direction question.

[Peter Thomas]

iampool wrote...

Will mages be able to invoke powerful creatures like in NVN or BG?

This is a specific ability question that I can't answer.

[Peter Thomas]

Lumikki wrote...

Why you have same 6 attributes for all 3 class what are same to all class?
Why not have 3 class what all have induvidual X attributes to they own class?

Meaning choose first class, then let player see and adjust attributes for that class only. This way you don't have some main attribute for every class, but you could balance class based attributes so that they are equal usefull for that class, but still provides different playing styles for that class by players choosing. I Ask, because using same attributes for different 3 class will cause some attributes become less usefull for some classes. Meanign it's hard to balance very different kind of classes with same attributes, because not all classes use same attributes with same value. But if every class has they own attributes what are design to they class, it's easyer to balance the class.

Long question, but why use same attributes for all classes?

Short answer: Continuity with DAO.

[Peter Thomas]

Seroxi wrote...

Hello Peter.

Have you considered adding more "secondary" effects to talents that would open up new opportunities? Ie. if you have knocked down your target with ability A, your ability B, which would usually deal 150% weapon damage, would be a guaranteed critical hit and caused a bleed which ability C could take an advantage of in a form of a finisher or increased damage(just some silly examples I came up with in a matter of seconds). I know it is sort of a design goal to get different classes interact more with each other but I'm strictly speaking about having more options for your own character so you could do things without pausing and switching characters every second(which is completely ok from time to time but sometimes I wish I could just keep the flow going on).

Thank you for your time.

Er... I may have lost my response to this one... 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.

Er... and your examples sound like some dual weapon talents I put in DAA.

[Peter Thomas]

Wulfram wrote...

Will we use up our mana/Stamina pool more quickly than in DA:O? Assuming we don't invest in Willpower, that is.

This is a balance issue that hasn't been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

bbfan13 wrote...

Thank you for all of this wonderful information. It appears that DA:O classes were balanced to allow solo run meaning every class had a way to handle every situation. Will this be case again in DA2?

Not every class can create every type of effect, or be able to react as effectively to every kind of situation. The game won't be balanced specifically with solo runs in mind, though it will be interesting to see how far people can get once more balancing has been done. A party-based rpg is our goal. A party member that can do everything well would fulfill a lot of people's fantasies, but wouldn't give us the level of complexity we want.

[Peter Thomas]

lunarknightmage wrote...

many thanks for all the info Peter!!

1. From what I've read, warriors and rogues can "combo" their melee attacks? Is that true, and can mages combo their staff melee attacks?

Depends on what you mean by "combo". Each weapon style has a series of basic attacks that blend together, striking in a sequence ending with a small finishing move. There is also the cross class combo idea, which is that a Warrior ability could apply an effect on an enemy that a Rogue could use a specific ability on for additional effect.

2.  Also, it seems like rogues ( and warriors ) are given new "mobility" moves.  Like, rogues can flip and dodge....

Will mages get similar mobility moves or dodge attacks, or somehow increase their maneuverability on the battlefield?

Maybe like a spell that can make them "teleport" like rogues, or allow them to move really fast for a time?

I can't talk about specific spells or abilities right now. Mobility is one of the core attributes of the Rogue. It is not one of the Mage's.

3.  Besides class or weapon specific talents, will all classes share "universal" talents or skills that will boost attributes or improve the characters strength, speed, attack, defense, etc.?

The talent trees for each individual class are entirely unique.

4. You've mentioned that some spells will involve using the staff. Does that mean we can expect a wider variety of staff moves or attacks beyond the standard melee attack, even if there is no specific staff weapon talent tree? It's just that those staff attacks/moves are considered "spells".......

For example, there might be an attack where the mage slams his staff into the ground to create a lightning shockwave that damages enemies.

Something like that was shown at the PAX demo for the Mage basic ranged combo finisher with a fire staff. He slammed it into the ground, sending up a wave of fire near the enemy. There is a wider variety of movement in how a Mage casts his spells. Er... but this is an animation direction question.

[Peter Thomas]

AbounI wrote...

You were talking about treat and impact system.

In DA2, are there any change about the treat and aggro mechanics (except this impact system)?
How does it work when we manage a cross class combo hit (considering the aim survive to this combo)?

The threat and aggro systems are basically the same, but aren't finalized yet.

If you complete a cross class combo hit, it will "pop" the effect on the target, giving a much improved result. Specifics have not been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

tmp7704 wrote...

Is there some rough estimate of how many enemies a lot actually is, i.e. at what point mage would break even with bow-based rogue, damage-wise? With both maxing out respective skill tree.

This is a balancing issue that we're working on still.

But if i understand it right, so can bow-oriented rogues? You have mentioned archery tree having aoe effects in addition to single-target damage.  Additionally, do the CC/other effect come as part of dps tree or do they require separate investment in another skill tree? Presuming a mage focuses on damage trees, how much of cc/effects can they have at their disposal?

This is too specific. I can't talk about the makeup of individual trees. Trees are not restricted to just one effect or type of ability.

How common is this advantages/weaknesses system for the enemies?

Currently every single creature in the game has been categorized and assigned strengths and weaknesses. Balancing remains to be done.

oh, that reminds me. Does archery get ability to alter/buff damage type similar to how it's possible for melee weapons with runes? Other than occasional few fire arrows in loot and such.

Arrows do not exist. Bows are treated the same as staffs. A fire bow will fire flaming projectiles and deal completely fire damage. Similarly, an actual fire sword will deal completely fire damage, not physical. Those are not standard, though. A normal physical bow will fire arrows that do physical damage, and can have onhit fire damage effects as a property of the bow itself. This also makes things simpler for the rune system.

Modifié par Peter Thomas, 09 septembre 2010 - 07:28 .

[Peter Thomas]

andar91 wrote...

Another question about mages (can you tell I like mages?):  Do basic mage attacks still do spirit damage or is it now elemental?  It looked like Bethany was using fire in the demo.

In the demos Bethany was made to be a fire-based Mage. By basic mage attacks I assume you mean getting Spirit Bolt in DAO? Starting talents for the Mage have not been finalized yet. Actual basic attack damage is entirely dependant on your staff damage type.

[Peter Thomas]

jonluke93 wrote...

Alright I have a question will there be blocking? In Origins you could rarely block the opponents attack is that still in 2 (Not a block button) and will this be able to happen more often.

There is no block button and the blocked combat result really only comes from projectiles hitting walls and terrain and things. The combat results that do exist are miss, glance, hit, critical hit, and deathblow. The player will glance rather than miss most of the time, and enemies will rarely glance the player, missing instead.

[Peter Thomas]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Will arrows / spells still "home in" on the player? Like.. if an archer shoots me and I move to the left, will the arrows suddenly turn in midflight to hit my character?

Projectiles targeted on a creature will home in on the target. They may not get a "hit" combat result, but the projectile object will track you, just like yours will track the enemy. Flight speeds are generally increased as well.

[Peter Thomas]

tmp7704 wrote...

Wait, the system designer gets to no say what types of weapons are allowed for each style? Does it mean that, while in DAO there was multiple weapon types each with its own slightly different stats/strengths, in DA2 there's something like say, generic definition of "dual wield weapon" with single set of stats, and then art department decides whether that generic definition is given appearance of daggers or swords and whathaveyou?

How exactly was the stats system of the weapons reworked and how do they work now?

The item list and their properties have not been finalized yet. But the appearance of the different weapons used by the different styles is art and animation driven.

[Peter Thomas]

Ibaru88 wrote...

The combat sounds to be a lot faster now and more action packed, but will that result in shorter fights, or will you be increasing enemy health or will there be more enemies to deal with each fight?

One measure we're scaling fights by is time-to-complete, but that still needs to be balanced. That being said, some enemies will fall quickly, others will take much, much more effort.

And also, will we get up the convo wheel before the person talking is finished with what they are saying so that we can choose an answer just before they finish talking so that conversations will flow better? (Hated that dumb stare your character had when you got up your dialog options in origins :/ )

I don't know the answer to this question.

[Peter Thomas]

Jimmy Fury wrote...

Peter,

Will armor types be restricted to the different classes like the weapons, or will it remain somewhat like Origins where some are restricted to class/spec (like the mage robes or specific rogue-restriced armors), some have stat requirements, and some are open to everyone?

(apologies if this has been asked, the thread has gotten long and my memory of the earlier pages got fuzzy....)

We had a discussion on this today and the current direction is that armor equip requirements will be entirely stat driven, barring special cases.

[Peter Thomas]

tmp7704 wrote...

[Do melee enemies also have ways to close with the target, or do they perform the shuffle from DAO? Mostly trying to figure out the benefit/purpose of knockback system for class which can't hit enemies from range.

Melee enemies can run at the player and attempt to close, but don't have the same sort of dash or closing attacks that the player does. The player will have time to react and do attacks of his own before they get into position. Any actual closing attacks done by an enemy would be a special ability of that archetype.

[Peter Thomas]

fchopin wrote...

A question on specializations in the tree structure.

I don't want to know what they are just if i am correct in my understanding.

There are 6 specializations for each class and we are able to give 10 points to each talent in the tree is that correct?

If that is correct will there be an explanation on what we get from each point for all the talents from the beginning or only when we can add the points?

No. Each class has 6 basic trees available to it (including weapon style trees). Each of those trees can have approximately 10 talent points invested in it, to buy all abilities and upgrades. I have no said anything about the nature of the specialization trees other than that they'd likely be of a similar size to the normal class trees.

[Peter Thomas]

AbounI wrote...

Not sure to understand very well the displacement score concept.

Is it influenced by movements or distance beetween the attacker and his aim?
The more the distance is high and the less are the chances to hit?But, for the ranged weapons, it's quite confusing if not too restrictive % close combat style (I think about the unbalanced mecanism it implies).

Displacement is an absolute chance to miss. It is a rare property on specific creatures, and possibly abilities and items (to be determined).

[Peter Thomas]

Orbweaver wrote...

Hello Peter,

I have three questions. Thank you for giving what answers you can.

1. If the team currently has plans to include Hawke's experiences in the Fade in DA2, will the game mechanics have altered any from the way they were in DAO? (In short, will the characters retain or lose their abilities based on factors such as race or class?)

Er... I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but this sounds like a specific story/plot question.

2. Does your department have any plans to allow one enemy character to accidentally knock another off their feet, if they were to have a collision with one another- for instance, a blow from the player/ AI controlled party member is strong enough to knock an enemy backwards and into a different enemy, thereby causing both to collapse gracelessly to the ground? It would be something of a midway point between a knockdown on a single enemy, versus the mages' abilities to knock down several enemies at once in DAO.

No, no current plans for domino hurlocks.

3. Although I'm almost positive I already know the answer to this question, I figure it's worth a shot. Any plans to include a possible loss of a skill or ability, beyond what an enemy can strip from you in combat? I.E. A "use it or lose it" philosophy?

Er... this too sounds like a specific plot/story related thing.

[Peter Thomas]

Baiolit wrote...

Is hitting someone/thing purely statistical or does the animation come into play?
What I mean is: say my rogue uses an ability that makes him perform a roll or a flip, and an incoming sword doesn't physically touch his body, can the attacking weapon still hurt me?

The animation does factor into it. When the impact event actually happens, it checks the distance to the target. If the target is too far away, it doesn't damage them. This helps remove weird situations from DAO like running past a hurlock full speed with Momentum. The hurlock swings because you're in range, but the you don't get the damage impact until you're 10-20 feet away because you kept running. In our testing in DA2 we decided also to make it orientation based to avoid the situation where a Rogue would run around behind a hurlock as he winds up to swing, but still get hit because he was a target and in range.

Of course spending the time to avoid that one attack meant you weren't doing anything else, or controlling your party members, or dodging any of the other hurlocks also swinging at you. It's your option, but isn't always the most effective choice. Er... unless that choice is getting out from underneath a dragon...

[Peter Thomas]

DrAnaconda wrote...

So no auto-attack on console. Does that mean a button press for every single action? Like God of War?

You can, or issue the character an order through the radial menu and they will autoattack after that.

Will I be able to attack like this on PC? Or am I limited to selecting a target and letting it auto-attack? Is there gamepad support on PC?

I... can't elaborate on autoattack being the only option on PC. As far as I know, mouse and keyboard are the only PC interfaces.

Are the console versions limited to 30 frames-per-second like Mass Effect was on XBOX?

I don't know the decision that was made on this.

I've gotten the impression that we can somehow import our DAO game across platforms? Can you confirm this or explain how this works? Or am I asking the wrong person?

I don't know the status of this. Great plans were made, conspiracies hatched, etc.

[Peter Thomas]

baygull wrote...

Thanks for taking your own time to answer our questions.
That said, I will proceed to stretch your generosity.

1. DA2 will take place over the course of 10 years, told in framed narrative. How will this feel in terms of character continuity and freedom? In DA:O we could wander Ferelden at our leisure (to a certain extent, at least) and we had a party camp. Because DA2 is told in framed narrative and Cassandra tends to cut Varric off when he rambles, will the game feel more more instanced because of it?

This is a story/plot related question.

2. Lyrium addiction was cut out of DA:O because the mechanics weren't intuitive. Will there be any addictions in DA2?

There were several reasons why it was cut, but no, it won't be in DA2 for player characters.

3. Will DA2 be harder? DA:O had funny enemy scaling, with the good gameplay in a narrow band around levels 7-14 on Nightmare difficulty. The Nightmare Plus mod on DA Nexus is fairly popular.

A lot of the changes we've made to combat systems have been to try and correct the imbalance issues from DAO. We're soon going to be going into the balance phase where we try and work everything out.

4. Will party camp bonding elements suffer from framed narrative?

This is a story/plot related question.

5. Can we has food? It came up in dialogue with the party, such as not trusting Alistair to "lead us to lunch" or telling Leliana to "go help Alistair make supper" in DA:O, but the only food I found were gifts for Dog and a cake.

There is no food requirement system. Anything else would be a story/plot specific thing.

6. Enchantment?

Meaning runes? that system has not been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

Khayness wrote...

Is crafting limited to a certain present party member, or can be used wherever and whenever it seems reasonable (like the party camp) upon acquiring?
Running all the way in and out from Vigil's Keep in Awakening was tiresome.

The exact nature of the crafting system is still being finalized.

[Peter Thomas]

jhawke wrote...

Thanks Peter.  That's a bit disappointing to hear.  I will be very interested to see what kind of specs will be available for mages, and if any will boost their melee skills.

1.  You did mention "at least one thing should be."  What does that refer to?

2. Also, will there be class restrictions on armor?  Can mages, for example, wear heavy armor to boost their defense?

thanks again.

There was a discussion earlier today at work. Armor will be stat limited only.

[Peter Thomas]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...

I don't know if the AI can be completely disabled in that way.

Is it possible to deselect everyone and have the AI run the whole party?

I know you guys had a tool that let you do this for testing purposes in DAO.

I don't know if that will be possible in the release version.