12 réponses à ce sujet

[Malanek]

In DA2 one of the biggest complaints was the reused maps for many of the caves, beach areas, ruins, houses etc. They were rotated around and doors were blocked off and if the minimap had been changed it wouldn't have been quite so bad. But a better solution would involve maps that are generated randomly on the fly like in Diablo. They would still use the same tileset, art assets etc but the layout would be fresh for each area it was used on. It might also lead to less space used on the disk (although more in the save file).

Obviously everyone would like completely different hand crafted maps for each area, but if hundreds are involved this isn't practical. So Bioware, is this feasible with the engine you are using and something you would consider doing? What about players? Is this an acceptable way of presenting less important areas?

[Pedrak]

I'd rather have detailed, carefully-built, unique and specifically designed maps than automatic, generic "Random Bandit Cave XXX", although the latter would still be better than reused maps.

Modifié par Pedrak, 01 novembre 2012 - 11:38 .

[nightscrawl]

While I too would like this as I think it would add tremendous replayability, I doubt it's feasible. Don't forget these are cinematic games in a way that Diablo is not. For cinematic games to work they have to know how an area is constructed so they know where to place the camera for any given scene. In DAO you can stop in the middle of the Deep Roads and talk to a companion, but that is possible because it has a fixed layout and the devs were able to plan for everything. That would not be possible with randomized maps.

[Maria Caliban]

I can't think of a game with randomized maps that looked good outside of a fixed psuedo-isometric viewpoint. Diablo III tried, but several times during my first playthrough, I noticed the repeating. Torchlight I liked but I doubt its cartoony, non-detailed style would appeal to many DA fans.

[Riverdaleswhiteflash]

Torchlight was a cool game, but I don't want Dragon Age to mimic it in any way.

[Fast Jimmy]

I imagine the phrases 'cinematics' and 'randomized dungeons' are the game design equivalents of the Sharks and the Jets.

[Maclimes]

I can see a blend of the two, using pre-generated important points in the dungeon with random maps for the rest. For example, a quest where you travel through Deep Roads, fighting Darkspawn the whole time.

The entry area would be a stagnant, pre-generated room. You have your "So this is the deep roads" cinematic. Then, you traverse through the randomly generated deep roads dungeon. Eventually, all paths lead to the same room, a pre-generated midpoint room. There you have your next "we're halfway through the dungeon" cinematic. Then more random dungeon, then another pre-generated "end of the dungeon" cinematic.

I'm not saying it's the best, just brainstorming.

[Malanek]

Maclimes wrote...

I can see a blend of the two, using pre-generated important points in the dungeon with random maps for the rest. For example, a quest where you travel through Deep Roads, fighting Darkspawn the whole time.

The entry area would be a stagnant, pre-generated room. You have your "So this is the deep roads" cinematic. Then, you traverse through the randomly generated deep roads dungeon. Eventually, all paths lead to the same room, a pre-generated midpoint room. There you have your next "we're halfway through the dungeon" cinematic. Then more random dungeon, then another pre-generated "end of the dungeon" cinematic.

I'm not saying it's the best, just brainstorming.

This is pretty much how the randomisation process actually works. Everything is hand crafted but then joined together and filled in random ways. Any cutscene can take place in a completely handcrafted room/area if they felt it was needed.

[MichaelStuart]

I don't really mind if maps are randomised, as long as they're huge.

[Wulfram]

The sort of stuff that can be randomly generated is in my mind the sort of stuff that would be better off cut. Inconsequential filler combat that's not set up to pose an interesting puzzle is not a good aspect of RPGs.

[nightscrawl]

Wulfram wrote...

The sort of stuff that can be randomly generated is in my mind the sort of stuff that would be better off cut. Inconsequential filler combat that's not set up to pose an interesting puzzle is not a good aspect of RPGs.

RPGs are already filled with inconsequential filler combat, even without randomized maps. Also, increased exploration, which would be a benefit of the randomization, would add to replayability.

[Wulfram]

nightscrawl wrote...

RPGs are already filled with inconsequential filler combat, even without randomized maps

Yes.  And I'm saying we should get rid of it, rather than randomise it.

[Reofeir]

Am I the only one who likes filler content? Sometimes I just feel like doing something small when I'm playing my game, and randomized stuff would be interesting.