429 réponses à ce sujet

[Lorien19]

Nice topic!As far as design is concerned,since it's fantasy and not history,I wouldn't mind a set of armour that is not 100% practical or historically accurate,and I certainly wouldn't mind some "flamboyancy" such as decorative feathers,furs,spikes etc...

Although I'm in the team who prefers more realistic looking armour for both genders,aside from some decorative elements that give a certain fantasy element to the designs, for two main reasons.

 

Firstly,chain-mail bikinis and boob plates are a big no for me,since I don't consider them aesthetically pleasing as a design,the same goes for the male equivalent.
Secondly for me,my OC's choice of attire in a game like DA,can also be considered a Rp choice.For instance would seriously step out of character,If I chose a chain-mail bikini for my lady warrior or an equally revealing armour for my male character,because in their mindset it won't protect them adequately in battle.

To conclude,I'd say that both factors are important for me when choosing an armour,but I don't consider looks and practicality mutually exclusive,quite the opposite in fact.

[Nashimura]

I want armor that looking pleasing to my tastes. I don't care for "realism" in fantasy games if I want realism or reality I wouldn't be playing a fantasy video game. This borderline obession that some fans have for "realism" is really getting annoying. Besides realism is highly over-rated. 

 

 

Agreed totally, people want realistic armor while characters are repeatedly stabbing each other and living. If i can get over that, i can get over unrealistic armor. 

[MrMrPendragon]

I hope we get capes or cloaks for all classes.

Kinda like a Kingsguard armor in GoT, with the white cape at the back. Looks really nice and classy.

[DarthLaxian]

practical is pleasing to the eye for me (at least if a garment doesn't try to be ugly and if i like the colour)

 

sorry, but equipment that lacks any realism is an eyesore to me (!) - regardless if it is armor or weapons (those world-destroying-blades-of-world-destroying which are 5 times (and more) larger then the wielder and as light as a sheet of paper are the prime example of this...same for the plate-bikini

 

so yeah, realistic armor (and weapons) please!

 

greetings LAX

ps: the plate-bikini is ok for a dancer at a ball (or a ****** in a brothel, but it has no place on the battlefield)

[Tootles FTW]

If it's ugly I'm not going to wear it, plain & simple.  Luckily I don't have to worry about my real-life skin being flayed open for the sake of vanity.  ..and if I can dye it purple that'd be an added bonus.  

[Uirebhiril]

Agreed totally, people want realistic armor while characters are repeatedly stabbing each other and living. If i can get over that, i can get over unrealistic armor. 

 

Actually, I find it ridiculous how my character will still be swinging a sword or casting spells when there is a great big spear or arrow sticking out of their midsection. I know there's no way (yet, at least) to show damage in combat that makes sense, and maybe that would go too far to being realistic to try... but just the same I like not having a boob window on my characters, and they certainly appreciate not having to wear a skirt that shows off most of their skin in battle.

 

Fancy designs on the armor would be nice, though. Or the ability to "paint" or "dye" the items. Or capes, or hats, or even a special edition brothel queen strap armor for people who really do want to show a lot of skin. Just as long as the rest of us can put on gear that really does protect the body.

[Herr Uhl]

No, in some ways it's more jarring.  Like the attempt was made, but at the end they couldn't be bothered to get things right.  Insane fantasy cosplay outfits are annoying, but games who mix it, or who get a realistic base then drench it in spikes and huge shoulders of doom are jsut as bad if not worse.

 

I was replying to someone that said that no median could exist, and then said they preferred quasi realistic armour. This confused me.

[In Exile]

Agreed totally, people want realistic armor while characters are repeatedly stabbing each other and living. If i can get over that, i can get over unrealistic armor. 

 

In fact, because combat is so comically unrealistic, trying to go for a realistic aesthetic hurts the verisimilitude of the world for me. 

[Dominus]

Dragon Age combines the fantastical and the realistic. I would expect a myriad of choices going everywhere along that meter. Based on the previews, and Jessie's cosplay way back, they're not afraid of going either way. Personally? I wouldn't mind some more iconic ones.

Can't we have both?

[Aaleel]

Obviously the answer is pleasing to the eye. You have to look at your PC in it for hours potentially so obviously you have to like how it looks. Even if it's realistic from a practical perspective someone may still think it's ugly and not wear it.

What are people talking about when they say realism anyway? Do they mean from our history, or do they mean something a person would realistically wear into battle?

I hate a bunch of huge spikes and shoulders or women in thongs or armor that could pass as lingerie because I just think it looks stupid. Especially if everyone else is in less over the top armor. I don't think the armor should fit in as far as our real world, but the look should fit the world the game is in if that makes sense. If everyone is in big spikes and lingerie then fine lol. I probably wouldn't be playing the game but I would have no problem with it.

[Nashimura]

Actually, I find it ridiculous how my character will still be swinging a sword or casting spells when there is a great big spear or arrow sticking out of their midsection. I know there's no way (yet, at least) to show damage in combat that makes sense, and maybe that would go too far to being realistic to try... but just the same I like not having a boob window on my characters, and they certainly appreciate not having to wear a skirt that shows off most of their skin in battle.

 

Fancy designs on the armor would be nice, though. Or the ability to "paint" or "dye" the items. Or capes, or hats, or even a special edition brothel queen strap armor for people who really do want to show a lot of skin. Just as long as the rest of us can put on gear that really does protect the body.

 

 

I agree with that as far as heavy armor, but it makes sense for a rogue to be able to move freely. Something like what Isabella wears does not seem all that ridiculous. The boob window is just for ogling of course, save that for the formal clothes. 

[Vilegrim]

Obviously the answer is pleasing to the eye. You have to look at your PC in it for hours potentially so obviously you have to like how it looks. Even if it's realistic from a practical perspective someone may still think it's ugly and not wear it.

What are people talking about when they say realism anyway? Do they mean from our history, or do they mean something a person would realistically wear into battle?

I hate a bunch of huge spikes and shoulders or women in thongs or armor that could pass as lingerie because I just think it looks stupid. Especially if everyone else is in less over the top armor. I don't think the armor should fit in as far as our real world, but the look should fit the world the game is in if that makes sense. If everyone is in big spikes and lingerie then fine lol. I probably wouldn't be playing the game but I would have no problem with it.

 

 

Armour that would function.   Doesn't have to be 'real' in that some one made it historically (but you can find some real oddballs, european plate turning up in Japan is my favourite rarity) but that it would do the job, and doesn't have two many flourishes (for instance crests etc on helms where done, and would have  caused the wearer potential problems, but identification in battle was judged more important) that weaken the defensive value of the harness.

[Vilegrim]

I agree with that as far as heavy armor, but it makes sense for a rogue to be able to move freely. Something like what Isabella wears does not seem all that ridiculous. The boob window is just for ogling of course, save that for the formal clothes. 

 

 

There should be a drawback to that, as well as an edge, their is a reason walking round like a blacksmiths idea of a lobster was the ultimate in battlefield technology for a long time, it keeps you alive.

[Mikoto8472]

Personally I don't care about historically accurate. This isn't a game set on Earth.

 

That being said, I prefer practical and realistic looking armour. DA2 wasn't too bad for the most part. Meredith and Aveline had decent armour. So were most of Hawke's outfits either as rogue, mage or warrior.

 

But others weren't so great. Merril's was fairly practical but had a few gaps in it. And Bethany's initial apostate outfit would have been fine had the chainmail actually covered her chest and her gloves, boots and trousers were suitably tough. But its better than the female leather armour and boob plates in DAO.

 

So yeah, practical but I don't mind the armour being practical but with a bit of flare. Its nice to know if you're looking at a man or woman.

[Eternal Phoenix]

Armor can look both realistic and pleasing to the eye.
 
Since most realistic armors look pleasing to the eye, choosing realistic means people get both practicality and good visuals.
 
Dragon Age armors (until now) were in the middle for realistic and fantasy. The plate set almost resembles proper medieval armor if it weren't for its construction. It's hard to imagine how someone can move in a set of armor which literally looks like flexible steel. Aveline's armor (the guard armor) was just plain horribly designed and ugly to look at if you ask me.

 

Armor looks a lot better in Inquisition. It's still not historically accurate but at least you can clearly see the layers of the armor and how it's been fitted onto the character piece by piece like real medieval armor.

 

 

There is no armor covering his elbows or knees so he can move them with complete freedom. We can see how the boots have been fitted on with armor strapped across them. In contrast:

 

 

We are to simply assume this armor is slid on. We can't see the layering beneath the armor. It seems like armor is completely wrapped around the joints (which would make it impossible to move them). Dragon Age 2 took a step in the right direction:

 

 

But still produced rather ugly armor.

 

The devil is in the details.

 

 

Now we observe every piece fitted to the character. The armor is complete with a nice little hood and an over-coat to give it a nicer visual appearance. The front chest piece is strapped to him (hence why his back reveals ordinary clothing material) just like the shoulder parts which are strapped across his arms. The armor may not be historically accurate but it's certainly more practical and better looking than most of the armors of the past games.

 

I think this is a fine balance.

[AresKeith]

Armor can look both realistic and pleasing to the eye.
 
Since most realistic armors look pleasing to the eye, choosing realistic means people get both practicality and good visuals.
 
Dragon Age armors (until now) were in the middle for realistic and fantasy. The plate set almost resembles proper medieval armor if it weren't for its construction. It's hard to imagine how someone can move in a set of armor which literally looks like flexible steel. Aveline's armor (the guard armor) was just plain horribly designed and ugly to look at if you ask me.

 

Armor looks a lot better in Inquisition. It's still not historically accurate but at least you can clearly see the layers of the armor and how it's been fitted onto the character piece by piece like real medieval armor.

 

 

There is no armor covering his elbows or knees so he can move them with complete freedom. We can see how the boots have been fitted on with armor strapped across them. In contrast:

 

 

We are to simply assume this armor is slid on. We can't see the layering beneath the armor. It seems like armor is completely wrapped around the joints (which would make it impossible to move them). Dragon Age 2 took a step in the right direction:

 

 

But still produced rather ugly armor.

 

The devil is in the details.

 

 

Now we observe every piece fitted to the character. The armor is complete with a nice little hood and an over-coat to give it a nicer visual appearance. The front chest piece is strapped to him (hence why his back reveals ordinary clothing material) just like the shoulder parts which are strapped across his arms. The armor may not be historically accurate but it's certainly more practical and better looking than most of the armors of the past games.

 

I think this is a fine balance.

 

I agree it does look like a fine balance

[Volus Warlord]

I support Strip Club Armor and you should too!

 

[Giantdeathrobot]

For me, the important part is that the armor look functional. Not that it is 100% realistic, but that I can look at it and think ''yeah, X person would logically wear that''.

 

Whenever we're talking about a suit of heavy plate for warriors or light mail for rogues/mage types, to me it's important that it looks like something that could be worn by someone going into combat. With the justified exception of Vivienne, so far the armor in Inquisition seem to strike a nice balance between being cool enough to look at while still looking functional.

 

What I really hope Bioware avoids is the usual stupidity in regards to armors; single shoulder, massive shoulders, belts everywhere, spikes jutting out of random places, you know what I mean. They had some of that in DA2 (especially the endgame armor) so I hope they backtrack on that one. Because it makes the armor look stupidly overdesigned and made more to give an orgasm to a art major intern than to actually fight in.

 

Also, people saying realistic armor looks bland should look up historical armor, especially Late Medieval/Renaissance period (which is roughly what seems to inspire Inquisition). High ranking figures wore armor that was ornate and very fancy indeed. Then you had guys like the Teutonic Knights who wore helms that put most anything in fiction to shame in sheer coolness, or the Winged Hussars who strapped big stonking wings to their backs to look badass. And the Japanese wore some highly fancy garb too. History is full of cool looking armor, and I'd much rather game designers inspire themselves from that than from trashy WoW-style rummaage sale rejects.

[Solas]

nobody ever complains about varric's boob window

[In Exile]

Also, people saying realistic armor looks bland should look up historical armor, especially Late Medieval/Renaissance period (which is roughly what seems to inspire Inquisition). High ranking figures wore armor that was ornate and very fancy indeed. Then you had guys like the Teutonic Knights who wore helms that put most anything in fiction to shame in sheer coolness, or the Winged Hussars who strapped big stonking wings to their backs to look badass. And the Japanese wore some highly fancy garb too. History is full of cool looking armor, and I'd much rather game designers inspire themselves from that than from trashy WoW-style rummaage sale rejects.

 

That armour is still ugly. It might not be bland, but it's still completely unappealing (at least for me). In fact, I happen to think that this is the period when armour was by far at the ugliest possible stage of its evolution. If we're talking about realistic armour, the only period in Europe I can tolerate is in antiquity, e.g. Greek, Roman, etc. I much prefer Eastern armour designs (e.g. chinese, japanese, or korean). 

[Nefla]

Personally I really like the armor in game of thrones. It's more realistic but not extremely so and it has a lot of cool creative flair and details. What I hate is the weird jrpg armor, MMO armor, etc...that are very strange and cartoonish and that one would never be able to fight in.

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

Armor can look both realistic and pleasing to the eye.
 
Since most realistic armors look pleasing to the eye, choosing realistic means people get both practicality and good visuals.
 
Dragon Age armors (until now) were in the middle for realistic and fantasy. The plate set almost resembles proper medieval armor if it weren't for its construction. It's hard to imagine how someone can move in a set of armor which literally looks like flexible steel. Aveline's armor (the guard armor) was just plain horribly designed and ugly to look at if you ask me.

 

Armor looks a lot better in Inquisition. It's still not historically accurate but at least you can clearly see the layers of the armor and how it's been fitted onto the character piece by piece like real medieval armor.

 

 

There is no armor covering his elbows or knees so he can move them with complete freedom. We can see how the boots have been fitted on with armor strapped across them. In contrast:

 

 

We are to simply assume this armor is slid on. We can't see the layering beneath the armor. It seems like armor is completely wrapped around the joints (which would make it impossible to move them). Dragon Age 2 took a step in the right direction:

 

 

But still produced rather ugly armor.

 

The devil is in the details.

 

 

Now we observe every piece fitted to the character. The armor is complete with a nice little hood and an over-coat to give it a nicer visual appearance. The front chest piece is strapped to him (hence why his back reveals ordinary clothing material) just like the shoulder parts which are strapped across his arms. The armor may not be historically accurate but it's certainly more practical and better looking than most of the armors of the past games.

 

I think this is a fine balance.

 

Plate armour is not supposed to have large visible gaps. Only the tiniest sections of chainmail at some joints, surrounded by protective flanges. I thought the designs weren't too bad in dao, apart from some questionable flourishes and helmet ornaments.

 

It certainly didn't look flexible like you said, which actually caused clipping problems. Skyrim, on the other hand, has some armours that aren't skinned as well and seem to bend with the wearer.

 

[Fyurian2]

It certainly didn't look flexible like you said, which actually caused clipping problems. Skyrim, on the other hand, has some armours that aren't skinned as well and seem to bend with the wearer.

 

The "bendy" deformation of armours in Skyrim is pretty typical of armour in most games where characters are shown with fully 3d armour models.

The armour is nothing more than the character's body, and leads to supposedly hard surfaces moving like skin & muscle.

The Crysis games got around this with the Nano Suit, and Halo4 changed the look of Master Chief and Spartans to a body suit similar to Crysis' Nano Suit, with armour sections applied to it.

 

Ways around "bendy" armour are for character animations to be more rigid in the torso (since that's where the most movement deformation is noticed), and camera angles that show little torso movement/interaction during in-engine cutscenes.

 

 

As for the topic, armours that looks pleasing to my eye are those that look functional, and don't have WoW proportioned pauldrons, huge spikes, or exposed midriff and boob windows.

I like decoration to be on the armour itself, like patterns worked into the armour or inlaid gold/silver, and combinations of materials like cloth (thinking a tabard)  or leather along with metal and vice versa.

 

My hands down favourite armours from DA2 was the mage and rogue champion sets. They weren't perfect, but they were my favourites.
The mage armour in particular because of the combination of metal, leather and chain, and the wolf pelt collar. Yes, I even like the jutting out chest piece.

[Thomas Andresen]

Plate armour is not supposed to have large visible gaps. Only the tiniest sections of chainmail at some joints, surrounded by protective flanges. I thought the designs weren't too bad in dao, apart from some questionable flourishes and helmet ornaments.
 
It certainly didn't look flexible like you said, which actually caused clipping problems. Skyrim, on the other hand, has some armours that aren't skinned as well and seem to bend with the wearer.
 
*snip*

Full plate armour as you exemplified in your post was not, historically, used by front-line infantry. For warfare purposes, it was only used by musketeering brigades, who wouldn't need to move. They didn't even load their own rifles; each soldier had one person responsible for loading and handing them the rifles. Warriors facing each-other in close combat would, at most, wear plate pieces strapped onto a mail and leather armour, but most importantly they would keep the joints flexible.

Keeping that in mind, I had no problem with my warrior Wardens wearing the heaviest full plate armours in DAO. Suspension of disbelief in a game like that isn't that hard. There are many more concessions, and more glaring ones, that I make to immerse myself; one more isn't that hard.