14 réponses à ce sujet

[Fionarei]

"We’re on the road to Alpha, also known as “Content Complete”. So there’s still new content being created, but at this point it’s more about dealing with the content we have and getting it all to work. This is also the stage where most of the big cuts happen, since we can still create new content to deal with those cuts (as in “change the writing to accomodate a change in the story flow”). Once we hit Alpha, cuts are generally things that are simply excised in their entirety, without any ability to really work around them for the sake of logic or flow.

....

Still, we have to handle all bugs that come our way, and be responsive to any cuts that are occurring. This is a pretty stressful time for everyone. Every cut feels like it’s reducing the overall quality of the game, until there are so many of them you feel like you’re producing a piece of crap—until you remind yourself that every game goes through this, and the alternative is shipping late or not at all."

 

What's wrong with shipping late or postpone release date so that we could get the whole in game content/story as you guys intended it to be? Why would you rather cut them shot instead of giving yourselves? Do you want to rush it and make the same mistake as DA2?

The Witcher 3 did it though..

 

http://dgaider.tumbl...-the-dragon-age

 

[SerCambria358]

 

What's wrong with shipping late or postpone release date so that we could get the whole in game content/story as you guys intended it to be? Why would you rather cut them shot instead of giving yourselves? Do you want to rush it and make the same mistake as DA2?

The Witcher 3 did it though..

 

http://dgaider.tumbl...-the-dragon-age

 

 

They already recieved an extra year, i dont think EA would allow anymore at this point, its ultimately not their decision 

[Sherbet Lemon]

 

 

What's wrong with shipping late or postpone release date so that we could get the whole in game content/story as you guys intended it to be? Why would you rather cut them shot instead of giving yourselves? Do you want to rush it and make the same mistake as DA2?

The Witcher 3 did it though..

 

http://dgaider.tumbl...-the-dragon-age

 

 

 

I'm not a game designer (nor am I even going to act like I know what I'm talking about), but I imagine it's a bit more complex than just postponing the game six months or so.  Time is not infinite and neither is money.  There are lots of things one could do if they had both (infinite time and money), but that's neither here nor there.  What if it's something that can't be fixed?  What it fixing it leads to another issue or another issue?  In order to get a game (working well) and out the there, I imagine there are a lot cogs that have to work well together and it can be as simple something being removed that makes the whole thing more cohesive.

 

Content gets cut all of the time in film, books, and music. Pretty much all art forms cut content and revise things.  It could be content that you wouldn't even miss or even need.  I wouldn't assume by cutting some content means that DAI will no longer be the game the Bioware wants to make.

 

I also don't really think it's fair to throw around "Dragon Age 2" like it's some sort of monster that should be avoided at all cost.  Product No. 3, it was most definitely not.

[dlux]

Content is always cut from games before release, it is completely normal procedure, so don't worry. I.e. they cut a lot from Baldur's Gate 2 and Fallout 1, but that didn't stop them from becoming two of the greatest games ever made.

By the way, DA:I and the Witcher 3 will have been in development for the same amount of time on their respective release dates, which is about 3 1/2 to 4 years.

[Fiery Phoenix]

Spoiler alert: Every game gets content cut out of it towards the end of development. All three Mass Effect games plus DA:O and DA2 had content cut prior to release, some of which was pretty significant.

 

It sucks, but I can't say I care as long as the final product is up to expectations.

[Andraste_Reborn]

The cut a mountain of content from DA:O, and that was in production for 5+ years.

 

Most notably, Jowan was meant to be a companion at one point, and there were going to be eight origins rather than six. (I don't think these things were cut during pre-alpha, mind you. I think they were taken out of the design earlier than that. Most of the stuff lost when they went to alpha is stuff we don't even know about.)

[oceanicsurvivor]

The Witcher 3 has or will go through content cuts too; as Gaider said, all games do it.

 

Bioware got a extra year to do the game, which means we are already getting way more content and such then we would have before, even with cuts. (they added the ability to play different races-which I'm sure is why they also decided to add two additional VA's as options for Inquisitor-and I am sure that this is not even scratching the surface in the changes they were able to add thanks to that year).

 

Content is a balancing act between what stories you want to tell and what stories you can adequately tell within the game world in a way that is actually dynamic and interesting to the player. Stories also have to work/contribute to the pacing of the narrative. So sometimes, things just don't quite come together as everyone had hoped, and you can either spend a bunch of time trying to fix it, or you can nix it and spend your time perfecting the things that were working. Also, I believe Alpha builds aren't always voiced etc, so looking at Gaiders other posts, about how all the content the writers create increases the work everyone else has to do (animate it, cast it, voice it, quality test it etc etc), so they have to be extra judicious to not waste resources or anyones time on a sidequest that is cool but not wow worthy, when maybe, making one 'wow' worthy sidequest is better then making 3 'meh' sidequests.

[Maria Caliban]

Every professional game you've played has cut content.

BioShock: Infinite has about 60% of what was originally planned, and that game got a year long extension.

[Darth Krytie]

As everyone said, normal development. And, honestly, there's no proof that including "everything" that got cut would make the game better. I know a lot of people assume "more" is always "better", but sometimes it just means something's bloated or convoluted or unnecessary or redundant. Some things get cut for good reasons. Maybe not everything, but it's true for some of it. And, the game needs to get released eventually and make money or else they'd not be able to make more.

[Aolbain]

DA3 already got a postponed releasedate. It was "suposed" to be release 6-7 months ago.

[Deflagratio]

You always start with more ideas than you can possibly use. This creates redundancy at multiple stages of a project. Some ideas aren't technically feasible within the various balancing budgets (Time, Memory, Money). Some ideas sounded great on paper, but in game, they don't translate into fun. (A lot of the old D&D rules for example) and still other times, content conflicts or creates more problems than it's worth.

 

In the end, I'm sure the devs hate seeing content cut as much as we hate even thinking about it. Remember, they actually poured potentially hundreds/thousands of man-hours into stuff that gets tossed. But since their future depends on a successful reception of the game, you can at least take solace in the fact that cuts are done within the best interest of the end product.

 

 

And with DLC and other post-release support, some of that cut content may be revived later on. Albeit at a premium.

[Ammonite]

As everyone said, normal development. And, honestly, there's no proof that including "everything" that got cut would make the game better. I know a lot of people assume "more" is always "better", but sometimes it just means something's bloated or convoluted or unnecessary or redundant. Some things get cut for good reasons. Maybe not everything, but it's true for some of it. And, the game needs to get released eventually and make money or else they'd not be able to make more.

Aye. I've certainly for example read some otherwise good books with long, pointless drawn-out travelogues or off-topic political ramblings and thought: wow this could've benefited from having a stricter editor.

[Science To Do]

I have maybe an hour's worth of experience in game design, but cutting content makes complete sense from a writer's perspective. There are inevitably going to be some parts that don't fit as well as others. The whole purpose of cutting content is to make sure that this is the game they intended to make.

 

EDIT: My sentence structure had a boo-boo.

[Darth Krytie]

Aye. I've certainly for example read some otherwise good books with long, pointless drawn-out travelogues or off-topic political ramblings and thought: wow this could've benefited from having a stricter editor.

 

 

I have maybe an hour's worth of experience in game design, but cutting content makes complete sense from a writer's perspective. There are inevitably going to be some parts that don't fit as well as others. The whole purpose of cutting content is to make sure that this is the game they intended to make.

 

EDIT: My sentence structure had a boo-boo.

 

Yes! I always have someone else edit anything I write. Sometimes, you need someone not as invested in your word babies to do a little slice and dice. Often times, they come at it from a new, fresher perspective, and can see where something is unclear, even if it made perfect sense to you, and where you're weak/strong/etc.