25 réponses à ce sujet

[deuce985]

I've seen many threads like this and I agree with most of them. If I could ask for one major improvement in DA3, this would be the area.

I haven't seen Bioware comment on any of these threads. Maybe it will be something higher on their agenda later down the road. At least they're improving level design, probably the biggest flaw currently in their games, IMO.

Perhaps it's a safe assumption to think we'll get a more lively world with the new engine? If you're going to "open" your world design up more, then one would think you fill that "open" design in with life. Wouldn't make much sense to run around in a bigger world and have it feel lifeless...just saying. Makes even less sense to use their past design if the game plans to open itself up more.

Modifié par deuce985, 13 octobre 2012 - 06:00 .

[Fishy]

It's actually something i enjoyed in Witcher 2 .. Your companions aren't always stuck to your ass and they have their own schedule. But Dragon age specialize in group combat so they have to be somehat more available and there's more of em. Witcher 2 is more of a solo game anyway.

I also think they improved a lot the companions interaction in DA2. In DAO after each mission I just did a grand tour of the camp .. and it's just made the interaction with them feel like a chore. That I was the one having to always trigger every conversation. They also improved this in ME3 and DA2. I talked a lot about this in 2009 on the DAO forum.

Well see how they will manage to pull it off this time.

Modifié par Suprez30, 13 octobre 2012 - 06:04 .

[Eternal Phoenix]

Stupid Mage wrote...
no man! bioware no ave the reasorces! bioware no no ow to script this. dis is too complicated for bioware and they no have enough resources or money for this.

Last time I checked, Bioware was an AAA developer with enough money to hire professional voice actors and celebrities for voice acting. So adding scripts which enable NPC's to live a "daily" life shouldn't be too hard for them and certainly wouldn't exhaust their resources.

Stupid Mage wrote...
but only open world sand-box games are s'pposed to ave such things.

The Witcher 1&2 had this feature and yet they aren't open world games. I'm certain there's other games out there that aren't open world or sandbox which have this feature too. Such a feature wouldn't be out of place in a Bioware game because it would give more atmosphere and immersion to the game thus adding to the narrative too especially if NPC's behavior changes based on events within the story.

Stupid Mage wrote...
i'r rather have bioware focus on something else.

I'd rather have Bioware not focus on what you want. This statement can work both ways see?

Either way Stupid Mage you're likely to get what you want. There will no NPC schedules and likely there won't be a day or night system (unless you really count manually changing the time to night or day as a system...) to change NPC behavior.

However there could at least be some scripting which makes NPC's move about and even interact with the environment and others. Static NPC's are the past, even Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights had NPC's that moved. So I'm hoping we see some NPC's viewing the stalls on a market, running about town, stopping to talk to each other (wherein we can get the latest rumors) and so on. Combine that with a few random events (such as guards arresting a criminal) and you'll get the feeling of a world that feels alive.

Modifié par Elton John is dead, 13 octobre 2012 - 06:18 .

[deuce985]

Sometimes I'll browse their career page. I've noticed the past few months they've been hiring A LOT of environmental artists. Two are still up, but they just added a new one.

This one went up just a couple days ago.

performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer

Level design appears to be serious business for them. Probably a safe assumption that lively world you want will be done much better in DA3 than the previous two games.

Modifié par deuce985, 13 octobre 2012 - 06:19 .

[Eternal Phoenix]

deuce985 wrote...

Sometimes I'll browse their career page. I've noticed the past few months they've been hiring A LOT of environmental artists. Two are still up, but they just added a new one.

This one went up just a couple days ago.

performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer

Level design appears to be serious business for them. Probably a safe assumption that lively world you want will be done much better in DA3 than the previous two games.

An environmental artist is one who simply designs the environments. The behavior of NPC's would concern someone in the field of scripting. The environmental artist jobs simply state that Bioware learnt their lesson from DA2's re-used levels and plain generic scenery and won't be making that mistake again. These environments can still end up lifeless if the NPC's with scripts aren't added.

Maybe you're right though about Bioware actually wanting to make the world feel more alive this time and I hope you are right. Is it really too much to ask for NPC's that actually move? And hopefully we don't end up with crowds of NPC's that look like Lowtez Draken again...

Modifié par Elton John is dead, 13 octobre 2012 - 06:24 .

[deuce985]

Elton John is dead wrote...

deuce985 wrote...

Sometimes I'll browse their career page. I've noticed the past few months they've been hiring A LOT of environmental artists. Two are still up, but they just added a new one.

This one went up just a couple days ago.

performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer

Level design appears to be serious business for them. Probably a safe assumption that lively world you want will be done much better in DA3 than the previous two games.

An environmental artist is one who simply designs the environments. The behavior of NPC's would concern someone in the field of scripting. The environmental artist jobs simply state that Bioware learnt their lesson from DA2's re-used levels and plain generic scenery and won't be making that mistake again. These environments can still end up lifeless if the NPC's with scripts aren't added.

Maybe you're right though about Bioware actually wanting to make the world feel more alive this time and I hope you are right. Is it really too much to ask for NPC's that actually move? And hopefully we don't end up with crowds of NPC's that look like Lowtez Draken again...

That's why I've been keeping an eye on that careers page. Best way to see where they're focusing resources without them actually telling us. If they're hiring twenty evironmental artists, then I'm going to use common sense there and say they really want a ton of variety in their environments.

[Zanallen]

I don't really care one way or another about a living world. Bioware has never done it before. They have no real experience with it. Maybe the new engine can handle that, but I don't know.

[PsychoBlonde]

Zanallen wrote...

I don't really care one way or another about a living world. Bioware has never done it before. They have no real experience with it. Maybe the new engine can handle that, but I don't know.

It's not a small matter.  They'd have to add dynamic day/night at the very least (there's no "time of day" in Origins or DA2).  Probably weather.  They'd have to add code for NPC's to go in and out of buildings and assign them tons of object traits.

I would have been happy in DA2 if they'd just moved a few things around between acts--maybe pull down a few drapes, add some more rubble in corners, board up a door or block off an alleyway, scoot all those people to the other side of the walk.  Maybe add a few patches of snow.

[RedWulfi]

I miss having NPC's gossip about my PC when she walks by XD
Or having one of companions gossip about someone/something they just saw. Like with Ariane and your Mabari in the mage tower.

[XCelfa]

deuce985 wrote...

Elton John is dead wrote...

deuce985 wrote...

Sometimes I'll browse their career page. I've noticed the past few months they've been hiring A LOT of environmental artists. Two are still up, but they just added a new one.

This one went up just a couple days ago.

performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer

Level design appears to be serious business for them. Probably a safe assumption that lively world you want will be done much better in DA3 than the previous two games.

An environmental artist is one who simply designs the environments. The behavior of NPC's would concern someone in the field of scripting. The environmental artist jobs simply state that Bioware learnt their lesson from DA2's re-used levels and plain generic scenery and won't be making that mistake again. These environments can still end up lifeless if the NPC's with scripts aren't added.

Maybe you're right though about Bioware actually wanting to make the world feel more alive this time and I hope you are right. Is it really too much to ask for NPC's that actually move? And hopefully we don't end up with crowds of NPC's that look like Lowtez Draken again...

That's why I've been keeping an eye on that careers page. Best way to see where they're focusing resources without them actually telling us. If they're hiring twenty evironmental artists, then I'm going to use common sense there and say they really want a ton of variety in their environments.

That's pretty sly. What sort of activity have you seen going on?

[SpEcIaLRyAn]

I agree. They could take inspiration from Skyrim as well as GTA4. Those game worlds felt really alive. Like even when your not in one part of the map you still felt like something was happening in another part.

[Icinix]

Yep. BioWare has never been super good and making living breathing world. Jade Empire was was pretty good - particularly the city, and when you go play something like Skyrim or Assassins Creed - the difference in feel is mind blowing.

Definitely would like to see a bit of love giving to making the citizens of the world more than furniture.

[schalafi]

Nizaris1 wrote...

How about this time trade more resources to make a living world in DA3.

In both DA:O and DA2, all our companions, family members, NPCs (except few) are mannequins and mimes at camp, home, their base.... Make them alive....making them walking, cooking, smiting, juggling, chat with each other then leave... would be nice.

Shops open at approx 8.00 am, close at 10.00pm (except for few shops, depends)

Children going to school, then going home. in holiday they going play kite, hide and seek, have a brawl...

Priests going for shopping, Templar hanging out at tavern then have a brawl, Mages acidentally burn someone hair then a Templar arrest him/her, someone pick a fight on the street, beggars asking for money, a thief thieving, guards arrest thieves, bandits attacking people...

Peoples live a daily life, washing clothes then dry it, took water from well then going home, wood cutter chopping trees, then going to the shop sell it to the carpenter, then the carpenter doing something from it, hunters hunting deers, then got attacked by a bear, farmers working on the field,...

Animals running around in the wilds, the predator hunting the prey...

Trees blown by the wind...leaf fall to the ground...flowers blooming...

NPCs react to surrounding, run away when seeing someone got murdered and report it to the guards, join in a fight to if they favor the main character, ignore main character if they don't like him/her, NPCs greet main character based on the character is good or bad character

Main character or companions may got jailed if doing crime

Create a living world that at least look alive not like in DA:O and DA2

This sounds too much like the Witcher games, and Bethesda's world, which was filled with people of no consequence, and a sand box setting.
I would hate to see that in DA 3. That's really not Biowares style.

I have nothing against more enviroments to visit, or more dialogue among companions and various people in the cities, but not to the extent the OP describes it. IMO.

Modifié par schalafi, 13 octobre 2012 - 05:03 .

[Garrus24]

I'd at least like to see the companions mix it up a little in the hub (if there is one) in DA3. Instead of just standing around it would be great for them to interact with the other companions in some way eg playing cards, telling stories, collecting firewood even having a disagreement. I really liked how the companions could be found in different areas of the ship in ME3 interacting with each other and would love to see something similar in DA3.

[deuce985]

XCelfa wrote...

deuce985 wrote...

Elton John is dead wrote...

deuce985 wrote...

Sometimes I'll browse their career page. I've noticed the past few months they've been hiring A LOT of environmental artists. Two are still up, but they just added a new one.

This one went up just a couple days ago.

performancemanager4.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer

Level design appears to be serious business for them. Probably a safe assumption that lively world you want will be done much better in DA3 than the previous two games.

An environmental artist is one who simply designs the environments. The behavior of NPC's would concern someone in the field of scripting. The environmental artist jobs simply state that Bioware learnt their lesson from DA2's re-used levels and plain generic scenery and won't be making that mistake again. These environments can still end up lifeless if the NPC's with scripts aren't added.

Maybe you're right though about Bioware actually wanting to make the world feel more alive this time and I hope you are right. Is it really too much to ask for NPC's that actually move? And hopefully we don't end up with crowds of NPC's that look like Lowtez Draken again...

That's why I've been keeping an eye on that careers page. Best way to see where they're focusing resources without them actually telling us. If they're hiring twenty evironmental artists, then I'm going to use common sense there and say they really want a ton of variety in their environments.

That's pretty sly. What sort of activity have you seen going on?

Nothing crazy really.

Right now they're hiring:

Junior Analyst
Online Programmer
Cinematic Design(John Epler should be happy!)
Environment Artist
Senior Concept Artist
Senior Environment Artist

The two senior artist positions have been on there for several months. Everything else was just added in the past month. I've seen them adding a few online programmer positions that have obviously been filled and posting new ones. Seems like I've seen mostly Environment Artists and Online positions being handled. Several of their job openings was also giving preference to anybody who made online gaming projects. So yea, we're definitely going to get something online for DA3.

As those positions are filled, they usually put new jobs up. You'll see it happen often as they get in different phases of development. It's interesting to keep a casual eye on.

Edmonton Careers

It's also possible that Bioware could be outsourcing some work to other studios like ME3. Possibly Montreal? They seem to be their MP development house and if you notice, they're hiring a TON of people right now. Mostly in the programming field.

Montreal

Modifié par deuce985, 13 octobre 2012 - 05:10 .

[cJohnOne]

I don't like the idea of spending money on the living world concept but a few of the ideas would make it entertaining but I don't like the getting up at 8 going to sleep etc.

[Eternal Phoenix]

simfamSP wrote...

Look, if Fallout one and two can do it, BioWare can. Though their worlds have always been pretty static. It's more of an issue now due to the greater visuals. What's the point of having a life-like model if it just stands there and looks pretty?

Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights did it pretty well. Yeah there weren't NPC's with schedules but at least they moved around. Meanwhile the day and night system of Baldur's Gate made transition and atmosphere in the town feel more realistic due to the fact that less people were out at night time and that the ones that were out were either shady characters or prostitutes which gave a real distinction between night and day in a town in Baldur's Gate.

[BanksHector]

I do not care much for a living world. I like the day/night they did with DA2 and hope they improve on it in DA3 instead of going to a living world.

[Wentletrap]

I also liked the night /day system of DA2. In the Witcher games it got annoying after a while, when you had to meditate just long enough for a quest character to show up.

What I did like in the Witcher games: how characters and people would walk around town. Please don't give us another Kirkwall style wax museum in DA3!

[TCBC_Freak]

Bioware has already taken steps towards this with ME3. In the Normandy most of the time James Vega is in the hanger, but sometimes he is in the mess hall talking to Garrus or Javik, the Dr. and Engineer Adams meet up and talk in the crew quarters and mess hall a few times.