75 réponses à ce sujet

[Dreamer]

I think Inquisition straddles the fine balance between the costs and benefits of switching to a new engine. On one hand, the game is simply gorgeous, and I'm not sure anyone could argue that the artistic vision isn't brilliantly executed. On the other, the game is hamstrung by its gameplay and we're dealing with serious bugs (including some that are graphical in nature) and limitations in control and customization (still no good hair?).

 

While Frosbite seems to do okay at being an open-world RPG engine, it might have been premature to shoe-horn one of EA's biggest titles into the formula; perhaps they should have used a new IP to test Frostbite's roleplaying chops before bringing out the big boys DA and ME.

[atlantico]

i highly doubt that dumped down gameplay has something to do with the engine. sure there are things like the tac cam and its limitations that have something to do with the engine, but the gameplay was stripped because of two things, consoles/controlers and multiplayer. overall the decision to make the game more action had way more impact on the tactical part than a engine could ever do.

I agree, it's doubtful that gameplay changes were .. ahem "streamlined"... because of Frostbite 3. It's just a game engine, like the Unreal engine - which can easily be used from a typical FPS to RTS to turn-based strategy. The gameplay changes were made because the developer meant to have them as they are.

[katokires]

If graphics mattered even a single small tiny diminutive bit, yes. Graphics last the wow of the first playthrough then it can do nothig for the game awfulness. If graphics were somehow important there would be no indie market, no android/IOS market, no 3DS market and so on...

[Tensoconix]

The graphics in DAI were not that great to be honest, if you get up close to things you will see why, anyone can pump out landscape shots and say wow I can see the pub from here. Skyrim is 5yrs old and still looks 100% better.

 

However, that's the matter of artstyle, perception of which is purely subjective and the quality of assets. FB3 is aeons ahead of Skyrim's Creation even with all the mods in the world in terms of technical capabilities and graphical fidelity, low detailness and artstyle you don't find appealing can still cause a subpar visual experience for you. Particularly in huge open world games where devs cannot bother drawing unique high-poly rocks everywhere. Mods can then easily replace all assets with the high-poly models/high-res textures and fully utilize the power of the engine. So it's not really fair comparing an unmodded and fully modded game with many times more hours put into.

[pdusen]

They were going to run into difficulties with a new engine, no matter which new engine they went with. The point is that they went through the painful transition once and now can only go up from here, technically speaking. (And the transition was clearly painful; I love DAI, but even I can see the signs. An easy transition would have been more surprising.)

 

And Frostbite certainly has capabilities far beyond anything the old engine could ever do. Not to mention the fact that all of Bioware's teams are now on the same engine means that devs who go between projects can jump right in much more quickly.

 

So yeah, I think it was a good move. 

[Destello]

Engine designed for action shooters explains the bad performance on PC and conversion of canonic RPG to A-RPG saga. Also the lack of mod support means zero interest in the hardcore/modder comunity.

I like open world ARPGs if I can do some else with them, but do you imagine Skyrim without mods?

[pdusen]

I think Inquisition straddles the fine balance between the costs and benefits of switching to a new engine. On one hand, the game is simply gorgeous, and I'm not sure anyone could argue that the artistic vision isn't brilliantly executed. On the other, the game is hamstrung by its gameplay and we're dealing with serious bugs (including some that are graphical in nature) and limitations in control and customization (still no good hair?).

 

While Frosbite seems to do okay at being an open-world RPG engine, it might have been premature to shoe-horn one of EA's biggest titles into the formula; perhaps they should have used a new IP to test Frostbite's roleplaying chops before bringing out the big boys DA and ME.

 

I'm guessing that Hair is in the category of "things sacrificed to keep the game playable on previous-gen consoles." We won't know for certain until we see how MEnext handles hair.

 

Doing the transition first on a new IP would actually have been riskier. Dragon Age is already a successful franchise the many gamers will at least look at, despite technical issues. Any new IP whose first entry is overly buggy is DOA.

[Dreamer]

I'm guessing that Hair is in the category of "things sacrificed to keep the game playable on previous-gen consoles." We won't know for certain until we see how MEnext handles hair.

 

Doing the transition first on a new IP would actually have been riskier. Dragon Age is already a successful franchise the many gamers will at least look at, despite technical issues. Any new IP whose first entry is overly buggy is DOA.

 

Very true, but you also risk an established franchise with a buggy game. It can be argued that Assassin's Creed's follies put the franchise at risk, and the latest SimCity has absolutely destroyed that franchise.

[pdusen]

Very true, but you also risk an established franchise with a buggy game. It can be argued that Assassin's Creed's follies put the franchise at risk, and the latest SimCity has absolutely destroyed that franchise.

 

It would probably be more accurate to say that it didn't revive the franchise. I have a hard time viewing a game that only releases once every decade as a real, continuous franchise.

[Dreamer]

It would probably be more accurate to say that it didn't revive the franchise. I have a hard time viewing a game that only releases once every decade as a real, continuous franchise.

 

Sim City 4 still maintains a huge following. The fans are there, EA/Maxis just didn't make a game for them.

[JackPoint]

The overly long loading screens paint a picture of how badly the FB3 engine works inside and rpg game, and I run a Samsung 512 SSD, and even that couldn't save it. Role on TW3 with no loading screens open world, now theres an engine that makes me shiver.

[Unlucky 13]

Engine designed for action shooters explains the bad performance on PC and conversion of canonic RPG to A-RPG saga. Also the lack of mod support means zero interest in the hardcore/modder comunity.

I like open world ARPGs if I can do some else with them, but do you imagine Skyrim without mods?

 

As a PS4 gamer, I only have a vague notion of what mods even are, lol.  I enjoy games just fine without them.  DA:I and Skyrim rank as my #1 and #2 games of the PS3/4 era.

[Zered]

A lot of people don't understand how important technology is to making games, and immersion.  Take Dragon Age Origins for instance, highly regarded by many as one of Bioware's best games.  The City of Denerim in Dragon Age Origins is not only Ferelden's capital, but also it's largest city.  However DAO's rendition of the city was lackluster to say the least.

 

It was a proverbial ghost town, and actually broke immersion for me given it's dingy appearance and small scale.  Did Bioware want to present Denerim like that though?  

 

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but they were likely limited by their engine.  So it just goes to show how an engine can have an enormous impact on allowing or preventing the developer from achieving their goals and their vision for the games they make..  

Because Val Royeaux is such an improvement...

[Sylvius the Mad]

It certainly looks good, but they need to keep working with DICE to find further improvments.

A proper free-roaming camera that isn't tied to an invisible character would be a nice start. And they need to find a way to stop segregating the action amd tactical modes. It would be great if people could mix-and-match features across both.

And mods.

[pdusen]

Because Val Royeaux is such an improvement...

 

I'm not sure Val Royeaux should count. It seems like having a fully fleshed-out city zone was something that they intentionally avoided this time around, probably for some technical reason.

[theluc76]

Frostbite3 is powerful, yes but hardcoded. No mod support so means the game will stay buggy as BF4, support will be limited and EAWare will never finish the game.

 

so NO.

[Unlucky 13]

I'm not sure Val Royeaux should count. It seems like having a fully fleshed-out city zone was something that they intentionally avoided this time around, probably for some technical reason.

 

I think that you're probably right.  Still, I'm hoping for large cities to visit and explore (at least on the scale of Solitude in Skyrim) in DA:4.  

[Draining Dragon]

Disagree. I preferred the old engine.

[BammBamm]

If graphics mattered even a single small tiny diminutive bit, yes. Graphics last the wow of the first playthrough then it can do nothig for the game awfulness. If graphics were somehow important there would be no indie market, no android/IOS market, no 3DS market and so on...

 

graphic bombs create the most hype

[BammBamm]

Engine designed for action shooters explains the bad performance on PC and conversion of canonic RPG to A-RPG saga. Also the lack of mod support means zero interest in the hardcore/modder comunity.

I like open world ARPGs if I can do some else with them, but do you imagine Skyrim without mods?

 

are you aware that battlefield exists on pc's too? and without a doubt, fps in shooters is way more important than in a rpg so the problems with performance on SOME hardware is surely not only engine related

[Zered]

I'm not sure Val Royeaux should count. It seems like having a fully fleshed-out city zone was something that they intentionally avoided this time around, probably for some technical reason.

That doesn't change the fact that the district we visit is static and boring, last time Bioware did a fleshed out fantasy city was probably in Baldurs Gate 2

[st0ra]

90% of this game is image, create a good image to dazzle the consumer. When you look under the hood, the game consists of 90% filler.

[Dreamer]

90% of this game is image, create a good image to dazzle the consumer. When you look under the hood, the game consists of 90% filler.

 

That's the state of AAA across the board. And then they turn their heads, all confused and wonder "Why is video game development so expensive?"

 

You're chasing realism in artistic design. That's why.

[o Ventus]

Frostbite sucks. Games like Skyrim look years ahead in graphics compared to DA:I and don't pollute your system as badly as Frostbite games.

Skyrim, without a hundred mods, looks awful. Not the outdoor environments, but the interiors and characters look terrible for a 2011 title. Bethesda has literally never been able to animate a face that doesn't look like a robot.

 

You cannot, with a straight face, say that Skyrim-as-Bethesda-made-it looks better than DAI. This--

 

 

Does not beat this--

 

[SeanMurphy2]

I think it is a good foundation to work off for future games. DA3 was a massive undertaking. There were always going to be issues whatever engine they chose.

 

I didn't think the DA2 engine was that great. I can't imagine them keeping it.for another game.