26 réponses à ce sujet

[Lord_Darkmoon]

I was just watching a gameplay video of DAI and the elements that disrupted the atmosphere and immersion were the health bars and the HUD and I wondered, why does the game need those elements? It looks so gorgeous and sucks you into the world just to have some strange floating elements on the screen.

 

I thought back to Ultima 7 and there was no HUD and no health bars and the game worked. Every shooter does not have floating health bars even though you fight all the time. Alien Isolation will have no HUD and health bars (and there are fights in the game, too) and when you watch a gameplay video you are totally immersed in the world as nothing is distracting you from the feeling of you being in this world.

 

I know some people want health bars and windows etc. in their game to have more information but I think that DAI could work without those things and it would even add to the atmosphere.

 

Maybe health bars and a HUD could be optional, but I would prefer a game without any elements on the screen aside from the world.

[Zjarcal]

In both the previous games you were able to disable the HUD completely with the press of a button, maybe that'll be the case here.

 

But I certainly don't want to those elements removed, optional is cool but they gotta be there.

[Mockingword]

Ultima 7 is so incredibly ancient now as to be completely incomparable. You might as well say the game doesn't need dragons because the original Lemmings didn't have any.

 

The other games you describe only require you to control one person at a time, and you might think they don't have a HUD, but last I checked my eyes don't fill up with blood every time I get injured. All games have some way of communicating that sort of information to you. You can't feel the pain the character is in (nor would I advise implementing such technology if it was available), so that information has to be delivered another way, and no matter what method is employed, it will disrupt your immersion by necessity.

 

In Dragon Age, you'll be monitoring and controlling four different characters at once. Even without an HUD, an effective way of consolidating health information for every character would be necessary.

[AlanC9]

It's been a while. How did U7 tell you how much damage party members had taken. And remember, any proposed interface has to deal with console limitations, meaning that it has to be visible from several feet away even if it isn't being played on an 80" screen.

[Lord_Darkmoon]

In Ultima 7 the partymembers began to bleed when they were wounded and eventually tried to flee. Also the whole screen went red when you took too much damage.

Of course some indication about damage would be needed but this could surely be done more subtle than having floating health bars. For example blood splattering on the screen. The more blood there is the more damage you took. Partymembers could call for help. You could see the damage on them and on monsters based on visual wounds and them limping for example...

[Mockingword]

Of course some indication about damage would be needed but this could surely be done more subtle than having floating health bars. For example blood splattering on the screen.

Yes, blood splatter on the screen is totally subtle. 

[AlanC9]

Not to mention hard to use, especially if I'm using the camera in such a way that my companions aren't visible. I do this fairly often in a DA game

[Lord_Darkmoon]

Yes, blood splatter on the screen is totally subtle. 

More subtle than floating bars

Bars are so... Excel... So not fantasy like and immersion breaking...

[JimboGee]

I dont see the problem. The hud is minimal when its not needed and healthbars etc are shown in combat. I dont really want to have to guess how close I am to killing someone thankyou very much my immersion isnt that shallow.

 

Having said that the floating numbers seem a bit much. I hope we can make them smaller.

[Kage]

Oh god no.

If I have to be looking closely at a character to see if he bleeds, has a bad color in his face or he is more nervous than usual, I would just hate the combat.

How the F would I know if my mage is being attacked by an archer? Because he drops dead? Oh cool thanks...

[Lord_Darkmoon]

There are other, more visual and "realistic" ways to show how much damage you have done to some monster than having bars floating above them. And how can the heroes know how much more damage a monster will take before it dies? Clairvoyance?
Single player RPGs seem to lean more and more towards their MMO counterparts. More and more revolves around numbers, bars and floating elements like questionsmarks. Is it really that important to know that you did 56312 points of damage? Wouldn't it be more interesting and exciting to not know that the dragon needs another 329 points of damage before he is dead and just hope that the next strike will slay it?

Knowing how much HPs your teammembers have without health bars is more problematic but I think this could be solved, too. Having the game pause, when a partymembers is severly wounded, cries for help etc.

But I guess magically floating elements like bars, numbers, names, questionmarks etc. are very important nowadays in an RPG.

[The Baconer]

But I guess magically floating elements like bars, numbers, names, questionmarks etc. are very important nowadays in an RPG.

 

Lol since when have numbers not been important in RPGs.

[Lord_Darkmoon]

Lol since when have numbers not been important in RPGs.

I meant magically in the air floating numbers, not numbers that are calculated in the background

Todays RPGs:

http://farm3.staticf...8844a4d5a_z.jpg

Ultima 7:

http://oi38.tinypic.com/6fwkzb.jpg

A little bit exaggerated

[The Baconer]

I meant magically in the air floating numbers, not numbers that are calculated in the background

 

I'm not talking about background calculations either. The large majority of older RPGs have an entire section of the UI dedicated to sharing them with you. Hit points, damage, weight, loot quantities, weight, etc. Numbers all over the ****ing place. Magic floaty numbers (which have been around for a pretty long time themselves) are an evolution of this. Such information is important in RPGs and it's obvious that most people prefer to have it visible in some fahsion.

 

What alternatives to this have been developed? Strawberry jam covering the screen? Glowy red borders? Super loud and annoying heart beat sounds? It's gamey-ness is no less conspicuous. And How would keeping track of mana/stamina not be a giant pain in the ass?

[sunnydxmen]

 the dragon age series has always had health bars why would they change it now.

[Auztin]

It is always been like that.I just hope damage numbers & glowing items stays optional.HUD & Health bars are sort of needed in this game but damage numbers,glowing items,& something else I can't remember should stay optional.

[NoForgiveness]

I like what they did in da2. The hud disappears when your not in combat. Which I think was pointless in da2 because there are no sites to admire, aside from the shitty ass city. But now that we're not stuck in a single city it'd be nice to be able to admire the view without the hud. As far as combat, I want the hud but wouldn't be opposed to an option for others to turn it off.

[slimgrin]

I was just watching a gameplay video of DAI and the elements that disrupted the atmosphere and immersion were the health bars and the HUD and I wondered, why does the game need those elements? It looks so gorgeous and sucks you into the world just to have some strange floating elements on the screen.

 

I thought back to Ultima 7 and there was no HUD and no health bars and the game worked. Every shooter does not have floating health bars even though you fight all the time. Alien Isolation will have no HUD and health bars (and there are fights in the game, too) and when you watch a gameplay video you are totally immersed in the world as nothing is distracting you from the feeling of you being in this world.

 

I know some people want health bars and windows etc. in their game to have more information but I think that DAI could work without those things and it would even add to the atmosphere.

 

Maybe health bars and a HUD could be optional, but I would prefer a game without any elements on the screen aside from the world.

 

A great tactical addition - you have no idea when you or any party member is about to die.

[PsychoBlonde]

I'm still mad that it looks like you'll only be able to have quickslots for the specials of one character at a time on the screen.  I'm sorry, I'm used to playing with 10+ hotbars on a screen.  I do NOT like having to switch characters to tell the companions to use their abilities.

 

Of course, I prefer to play the game entirely in real time without ever pausing.  Part of the fun is stretching myself to deal with developments quickly and maintaining situational awareness so I know what's going on and what I need to watch out for.

 

But eh, I'll live with it.  I haven't played a single Bioware game yet for the combat mechanics (and a good thing, too).

[Lord_Darkmoon]

Imagine playing Dragon Age 4 with Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus. I wouldn't want numbers and bars floating around in front of me. I would want to be immersed in to world.

Hopefully until such a time the devs come up with a great solution to have the game be playable and fun without floating elements and a HUD.

[AkiKishi]

You can't see the whole party at once so the health bars allow to to keep tabs on things while still controlling a character in a very hands on manner. 

[NoForgiveness]

Imagine playing Dragon Age 4 with Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus. I wouldn't want numbers and bars floating around in front of me. I would want to be immersed in to world.

Hopefully until such a time the devs come up with a great solution to have the game be playable and fun without floating elements and a HUD.

 

/sigh... So I am one of the few not enthused about the whole vr thing. I just don't see it actually adding anything to the experience. Long story short, VR is not a valid reason to forcibly downgrade an aspect of any game. Having a no hud option is fine by me, but forcing is bad.

[AkiKishi]

Morpheus (since I know little about Oculus) really depends on the type of game. At the moment there are concepts, but the one that shines is Eve:Valkyrie. The Medieval fighting game, is shaping up to be good though. 

 

I don't think the system is overly suited to the type of game DA is. FPS and Driving games should benefit far more.

[Lord_Darkmoon]

/sigh... So I am one of the few not enthused about the whole vr thing. I just don't see it actually adding anything to the experience. Long story short, VR is not a valid reason to forcibly downgrade an aspect of any game. Having a no hud option is fine by me, but forcing is bad.

 

I did play Skyrim with Oculus Rift and it was amazing. It was as if you were in this world.

 

And I am not talking about downgrading anything, just making things more "natural". You are in this great fantasy world, exploring it, living in it and suddenly there are floating numbers and health bars around you etc. For me, this somehow destroys the immersion and the illusion of being in this world.

 

I think there are better ways to show how much damage you deal to an enemy by having it being represented more visually based on more and more wounds on the enemy, him limping, collapsing etc.

 

I agree that it is problematic to keep track of the health of your companions but maybe there could be a solution found for this, too.

 

I don't think that it would be downgrading as all of the calculations etc, would still be there. It would only not be so "in your face" but more natural and immersive.