7 réponses à ce sujet

[Elfcrusher]

I realize it's an old game, but maybe some folks interested in game design still read these forums.

First, I love BioWare RPGs.  Overall I really like the game.  The following comments are not meant to say "these are the reason this game sucks" but rather "here are the places where it could be even better."  Or maybe what I'm really saying is "what am I doing wrong"?

Mana/Stamina Generation:
Every fight consists of everybody burning through all their mana/stamina in the first 10 seconds, and then mostly autoattacking waiting for enough m/s to get one more special attack in, while the healer sucks down mana pots.  Spending the whole fight with everybody's resource pools hovering near zero doesn't seem like optimal game design.  Here's what I'm thinking:
1) Autoattacking isn't nearly as much fun as using special abilities
2) Sucking down pots as part of a rotation also isn't very much.  Neither is spending time buying mats and making more pots.
3) Cooldowns already constrain resource use (e.g., healer can't spam heals)
Mana/stamina conservation in general may be a good mechanic because it adds complexity, but this feels like a poor implementation

Threat/Swing Timers:
One of my biggest frustrations in the game is when a mob is running toward my healer and runs RIGHT PAST my warrior, who fails to even get a single swing in, and then has to chase the mob.  One solution might be that melee starts fights with zero swing delay, so that if a warrior is not currently fighting anybody else and you initiate a special attack (i.e. Shield Pummel) that attack will happen instantaneously as soon as the mob is within range.

Positioning
I like that DA has both solid character models (e.g. you can't walk through somebody else) and friendly fire.  It definitely adds to the complexity and realism of combat.  However, I wish I could tactically block doorways with my warriors so that mobs couldn't get past them to my ranged.  Toward this end I have a few ideas:
1) The first one would be to either add a skill or modify an existing one so that the same things that prevent knockdown also prevent the warrior from being pushed around.  
2) Additionally/alternately, being moved by a hostile creature could be resisted with a physical resistance check.
3) Finally, I'd love to see a talent somewhere in the tree (maybe in the shield section) that enlarges the warriors circle, big enough that a single warrior could block an entire doorway.  (Shale should have this automatically.)

In my latest playthroughs I don't even bother using a shield warrior anymore.  Their gain in survivability does not make up for their loss in damage, particularly aoe damage.  But with those ideas above, especially #3, I would definitely consider using a shield again.

[gandanlin]

It sort of depends on your preferences in play style. So with that in mind, a few thoughts:

Autoattack is determined by the tactics menu. Personally, I have a lot of fun experimenting with that menu, adjusting it as I level up and resetting it to get each character working seamlessly with all the other party members. Best part of the game, I'd say. Enemies that dodge attacks and avoid engagement add an element of surprise and increase the difficulty of battle. I like that. As far as the issue of blocking doorways goes, that can be done -- though it is perhaps a spoiler for me to say how in this forum.

[Elfcrusher]

gandanlin wrote...

It sort of depends on your preferences in play style. So with that in mind, a few thoughts:

Autoattack is determined by the tactics menu. Personally, I have a lot of fun experimenting with that menu, adjusting it as I level up and resetting it to get each character working seamlessly with all the other party members. Best part of the game, I'd say. Enemies that dodge attacks and avoid engagement add an element of surprise and increase the difficulty of battle. I like that. As far as the issue of blocking doorways goes, that can be done -- though it is perhaps a spoiler for me to say how in this forum.

Hmmm...if you know how a warrior can block a doorway, can you send me a private message?

Also, by "autoattack" I meant regular old weapon swings with no special abilities (or staff attacks, in the case of a mage) not "AI tactics".

[gandanlin]

Elfcrusher wrote...

gandanlin wrote...

It sort of depends on your preferences in play style. So with that in mind, a few thoughts:

Autoattack is determined by the tactics menu. Personally, I have a lot of fun experimenting with that menu, adjusting it as I level up and resetting it to get each character working seamlessly with all the other party members. Best part of the game, I'd say. Enemies that dodge attacks and avoid engagement add an element of surprise and increase the difficulty of battle. I like that. As far as the issue of blocking doorways goes, that can be done -- though it is perhaps a spoiler for me to say how in this forum.

Hmmm...if you know how a warrior can block a doorway, can you send me a private message?

Also, by "autoattack" I meant regular old weapon swings with no special abilities (or staff attacks, in the case of a mage) not "AI tactics".

I don't understand what you mean by "regular old weapon swings"  --  or rather I understand what it is, but now why you would be playing that way.  The only way you would get a character to use only "regular old weapon swings"  would be to blank out all the commands in the tactics menu.  Most players either let the tactics go by the presets (defender, scrapper, etc.), or else they set up their own list of commands for the character to follow during an attack.

Do you not use the tactics menu?  That is the best part of playing DAO, I'd say.

I don't use the private message service here.  But if you open a thread up on the Gameplay and Strategy (spoilers allowed) side of the forum, I'm pretty sure you will get a whole list of possible ways to block a doorway. 


edited for clarity

Modifié par gandanlin, 07 novembre 2011 - 08:52 .

[Elfcrusher]

The reason I "use plain old weapon swings" (white damage in WoW parlance) is that my warriors are always bouncing off zero stamina a few seconds into the fight. Sure, I use the tactics menu and love it....but that's only useful when you still have stamina. Thus my original comment about a resource system (stamina & mana) that drains too quickly and/or refills too slowly.

[gandanlin]

I suppose I look at it this way: Designing a good set of tactics involves management of both the talents that are being used and the amount of willpower points assigned to build stamina (or mana, for mages).

Running out of stamina is not a flaw in the game mechanics. It simply reflects the limitations of the warrior. The warrior needs to know where and when to expend his/her stamina.

As far as I know, as the warrior learns the higher levels of combat skill, his/her stamina will regenerate more quickly. And there are special items that can enhance the regeneration in combat.

[Elfcrusher]

It's not "running out of stamina" per se that's the problem, it's the fact that no matter how much stamina you have you can burn through it all in 10 seconds. Seriously. You could put all of your points in Willpower and you could still use it all in the first part of a fight. Then you spend the rest of the fight bouncing off zero. That is, you wait until you have enough stamina for one special attack, then you sit there on empty waiting for more stamina.

Yes, some abilities and items help this, but all they really do is reduce the time you sit around waiting with zero stamina.

So the overall idea (constrained resource with regeneration) makes sense, but I just don't think they have the balance right. Bouncing on empty just feels weird and not terribly fun. It makes for a LOT of pot sucking.

That said, the issue that really drives me crazy is the swing timer on initial attack. My single least favorite part of the game is sending out my warrior with a knockdown to intercept somebody heading for my healer. The warrior pivots in place while the enemy runs past him, and never even gets a swing off. Lame. Abilities (at least some of them) should be instant with a global cooldown afterwards.

[gandanlin]

I've never had much of an issue with those problems. I just alter the commands in my tactics menu and adjust strategy.