776 réponses à ce sujet

[Allan Schumacher]

Sers94 wrote...

llandwynwyn wrote...

Seems fake.

I really wish the devs would show us something, though.

Yea, don't understand why they don't show us some screenshots atleast 

There are a variety of reasons as to why, though they are probably more mundane (and as a result possibly less understandable) than conspiracy theories would lend people to believe. 

I'd love to blab on about some of the new developments that have come down the pipe for things we want to do and some stuff that I'm like "Oh man I'd love to share this news with the forums."  I can't right now, but hopefully we can sooner rather than later as I'm itching to start talking about the game in more detail myself.

[Allan Schumacher]

Lets reign it in a bit on this thread. While I don't mind when a "twitter" thread has general news or discussion about it, it's getting a bit toooooooooooo silly at this point.

Thanks.

[Fiddzz]

I like this thread how it is there is no actual information coming out, so, for now the forums in general are just fun discussion. Once things start coming out I think that will change.

[Fiddzz]

Enad wrote...

Sovano wrote...

ok let's gather some info for DA:I then when is the next possible event we can hope or pray or dream that DA:I will be reveled in some manner a teaser or any kind of info so i ask you to name the events and the dates at the best of your ability

They won't tell us anything like that.

But we can ask this: When will the next sprint review be?

begining of May.

[Allan Schumacher]

Enad wrote...

1. Blair just said the next Sprint Review is early May. Would they bother giving us vague tweets after the game has already been revealed?

I would

[Allan Schumacher]

Are voices recorded early or later in development? These things could really give us an idea about the state of the game.

Depends. We obviously prefer to not record voices for lines that may change, but it can come in waves and may depend on availability. Someone like Martin Sheen has a stricter schedule than smaller names.

Still, for a demonstration or a reveal, voice work could still come in much earlier than the rest.

So Allan is the new boss man of the BSN? I'm always the last to know these things

Dear god NO! This is not true and I will totally abuse power to make sure this rumor does not proliferate!

[Allan Schumacher]

No it means I make you a moderator!

[Allan Schumacher]

I agree to not take this discussion down an ME3 path.

Clearly that "show don't tell" thing doesn't apply when they're telling us about how good the future showing will be.

I feel it's more of an "itching to talk about it" type vibe. At least it is for me. Though you are right that there's some level of "telling" rather than showing, although we're all decidedly cryptic about what we're working on so that it's not something that can be taken to task for setting up specifics this early and later realizing we can't deliver on them all.

Modifié par Allan Schumacher, 07 avril 2013 - 06:17 .

[Allan Schumacher]

That arrangement is null and void if you're wearing asbestos socks. Sorry.

[Allan Schumacher]

Danny Boy 7 wrote...

So, I've been wondering and I understand if you can't answer as I'm unsure of what this could mean to fans etc, but how much time does it normally take production if for example you've been in pre-production for two or so years? I'm wondering because I'm not entirely sure what pre-production means in reltaion to actual production. Is pre-production usually the longest part of the process? I mean I get that thing could and will come up, but comparatively once actual production starts is it a breeze (you know what I mean )

Pre-production is pretty much just the "planning and idea" phase.  New ideas are experimented upon and considered more openly, without a full plan for how all of this stuff is going to get implemented.

Production is when we've settled on most ideas (especially "core" ideas) and are now ramping up on implementing all aspects of them and coming up with that plan and resource allocation.


What may be unique to DA3 (or not?  I have no idea how other companies do it), is that we broke pre-production/production down by discipline, rather than project level.  So writing was able to enter production earlier than say, Cinematic Design.

[Allan Schumacher]

LolaLei wrote...

Dave of Canada wrote...

As soon as I saw the picture, I knew immediately it would've led to "pregnant" and groaned.

You and I both.

I vote we chalk this up to different people liking different things!

[Allan Schumacher]

Preproduction still involves prototyping and early foundational work. As someone more "tech" focused, my specialization comes into play more in pre-production as well as early production (long before meaningful game content even exists).

I give feedback based on my preferences as a gamer, but also based upon the tech and whether it's working according to specification. In preproduction I can occasionally provide feedback before prototyping by voicing concerns over potential issues before we even hit prototype (see this thread for examples). Production sees a lot of the work being done in terms of feature creation and iteration, so I am probably busiest then, from a tech side.

[Allan Schumacher]

I don't have a huge background of data to draw from, but the beginnings and ends are my favourites.

Beginnings is when no idea is a bad idea, and people get really excited about a lot of the things. The end is when you start seeing the thing really come together and it has a pretty intense pace. Though I wouldn't be able to sustain it for too long as it can get grueling.

[Allan Schumacher]

To play Devil's Advocate, I think an RPG can get by without customization, it just has to be strong elsewhere. The example I am thinking of is Planescape: Torment, which is pretty stellar.

Having said that, things like customization, especially via crafting, are things I love to do. I am replaying KOTOR 2 right now, and I just love breaking down useless equipment and manufacturing fully customizable gear that r0x0rs by b0x0rs hahaha.

[Allan Schumacher]

I think one could argue that Bloodlines offers customization through the various different clans. But yeah, I don't think it has a very involved customization system, though it is an excellent game.

[Allan Schumacher]

I wonder how big the current team is working on the graphic engine for DA:I. More important to me, is the question if an isometric view, similar DA:O is hypothetical feasible or not.

It should be clear that Frostbite isn't *just* a graphics engine (although it does contain one, and it's a much nice graphics engine than Eclipse).

There's an engine thread (which is somewhat lengthy) that goes into more of the details. We don't have a whole lot of graphics programmers near as I can tell (I'm actually not aware of any aside from bugs and whatnot maybe). The bulk of our work with the engine has been getting tools and pipelines build and setup so it better supports a "BioWare game" so to speak.

[Allan Schumacher]

Graphical fidelity. I'm not really qualified to state on whether or not it is or is not easier to work with. As far as I understand the workflow for putting assets into it is pretty much the same as it was for Eclipse, so my best guess is that it's "mostly the same" to work with.

[Allan Schumacher]

Brockololly wrote...
You know, I kind of wonder whether your rank and file developers at BioWare even know when the game is scheduled to be unveiled? Or if that sort of stuff is mostly left to marketing people? I'd love to know how the decision making process in marketing a big video game like Dragon Age in a big company like EA works.

We do.  Just can't go into the details at the moment.

[Fiddzz]

Fast Jimmy wrote...

I pity the fool.

ha, I thought the exact same thing.

[Allan Schumacher]

The executives issue isn't really that easy IMO. It's a different market for a more standard worker, and an executive. It's kind of like a sports athlete, in that they probably don't need to make several millions of dollars per year, but that is what the competitive market for those roles are and on some level if they aren't paid competitive compensation, those players will go play for other teams that will pay that compensation.

Taking it to executives, a prospectful CEO making $100k/yr compared to a position making $1m/yr, that first job is going to need to have some significant advantages to overcome that level of compensation discrepancy.

The prices for executives to drop would essentially require business in general (not just gaming businesses) to universally lower compensation. It's not something that necessarily bothers me perse, but I do agree it can lead to eyebrow raising situations at times.

Modifié par Allan Schumacher, 11 avril 2013 - 07:27 .

[Allan Schumacher]

Well, this is what the business aces state, but I'm not really convinced. The thing it hinges on is the idea that these exec's have a unique gift that is very rare and highly essential for managing a large corporation. I don't buy it. Sure, you need to be smart and dedicated as all hell, but one thing I have learned is that position and ability don't always match.

I'd be lying if I was sure what sort of skills are necessary to be a business executive. I actually (mostly jokingly, but with a twinge of "hmmmmmm") considering investigating applying for the opening! I agree that position and ability don't always match, but that's applicable everywhere.

Recruitment to these types of jobs is done from a VERY narrow pool of talent, not at all like a hockey team looking to invest, and the ones doing the recruiting are all interested in these salaries and benefits being high (because they're in the same pot). Even the owners of large companies are just other large companies whose exec's also have a personal interest in inflating compensations for higher-ups.

Actually, I'd argue that a professional hockey team has a very narrow pool of talent to choose from. They aren't going to pick me up to play in their game, they need players of exceptional talent levels in order to compete. An NHL team that were to stock its teams with only ECHL caliber players would ultimately fail (epically) and lose support and disappear.

I'm pretty sure there is actually lots of equally (or more so) talented individuals who are willing to do the job for less, but why would the ones calling the shots want that? They are paid similar compensations themselves for crying out loud.

I don't really know what the job entails, so it's hard for me to really state whether or not people would be interested in doing something like that. And I can agree the idea of a small "boys club" is something that can certainly be self-fulfilling, with a public company is does overlook the shareholders. There's been a push for more shareholder activism from the institutional investors (which make up over 99% of EA's investors), and a shareholder group is much less interested in making sure that the executives are paid handsomely for their own benefits.


EDIT: Though this is grossly off topic.  If you want to carry on the discussion feel free to start up a thread in off topic and let me know about.

Modifié par Allan Schumacher, 11 avril 2013 - 08:14 .

[Allan Schumacher]

This thread isn't the place for ranting about Peter Moore's blog post, nor the Consumerist's response to it.

[Allan Schumacher]

Done.

[Fiddzz]

XM-417 wrote...

How's the koala taking to the 'deployment'?.

He's not deployed yet, but will be in the sprint coming up, we have high hopes for him. 

[Allan Schumacher]

It's on the PS3 page, and it is fake.