I would have never thought that Dragon Age would ever look much better than DA2, I was expecting the next DA game to be using the same engine and assets. Low and behold they announced they would be using Frostbite instead, this is one of the best things they ever did.
Yeah, but not enough cityscapes though.
Agree with you there, REALLY hope DA4 has some more cities. I loved Kirkwall, would have loved to see more in DAI but alas.
Yes, the environments are top-notch. I think it's a gorgeous game to walk around in. Frostback Basin in the Jaws of Hakkon DLC is probably the most lovingly crafted map in the entire game. It's enormous and has a lot of variation and different levels; really awesome. There are also a couple of scenery moments in the Deep Roads in the Descent and Trespasser DLCs that are just jaw droppingly amazing.
My one gripe with the background is the lack of a properly animated sky. I don't need a day/night cycle, but it's always nice when the background looks more dynamic.
My one gripe with the background is the lack of a properly animated sky. I don't need a day/night cycle, but it's always nice when the background looks more dynamic.
There was a presentation a Frostbite dev gave (I don't remember, where the link was, the twitter thread?), and he spoke about upcoming games, including Andromeda, that have an ultra realistic cloud, atmosphere, and day/night cycle system. He spend a lot of time talking about dynamic cloud shading, and how different atmospheres (with a lot of pollution, or those on different planets) can be represented using the algorithms they came up with. It was really impressive. They assured that they found a sweet-spot between visual quality and resources needed to drive this.
Yep, especially if Tevinter is the destination. Even if BioWare has to resort to skyboxes and veneers, I want to see a large and detailed city with great towers, and intricate aqueducts, and fantastic architecture. As it stands, Denerim is the most detailed city of the Dragon Age series. You could see Fort Drakon from almost every map within Denerim, and other than that there were decent stone buildings and estates in the backgrounds. Even if DA4 doesn't have a GTA style sandbox type city, it should at least be broken up into sections and have nice backgrounds.
While Denerim was very detailed, I think Kirkwall was the most detailed since we were there almost the entire game haha. Since we are going to Tevinter (most likely) I really hope we actually get to go into the city. When I heard about going to Val Royeaux I was expecting a large city, lots of people, merchants, beggars, street performers, etc. We got none of that, it was the smallest areas in the game. I was very disappointed by it.
I want Tevinter to be much larger, I love Tevinter and I can't wait to actually be able to play in it. The architecture especially is going to be very unique.
My one gripe with the background is the lack of a properly animated sky. I don't need a day/night cycle, but it's always nice when the background looks more dynamic.
Yes! This sticks out to me so much, the clouds never move! Very immersion breaking.
Was it the engine or was it old gen. Would have loved to see what more they could have done.
While Denerim was very detailed, I think Kirkwall was the most detailed since we were there almost the entire game haha.
Since we are going to Tevinter (most likely) I really hope we actually get to go into the city. When I heard about going to Val Royeaux I was expecting a large city, lots of people, merchants, beggars, street performers, etc. We got none of that, it was the smallest areas in the game. I was very disappointed by it.
I want Tevinter to be much larger, I love Tevinter and I can't wait to actually be able to play in it. The architecture especially is going to be very unique.
It may have been the engine, or laziness. The oldest gen console Inquisition had was PS3, which is capable of good graphics. So I don't think it was that.
Inquisition was on both PS3 and Xbox360, neither of those is capable of good graphics by modern standards.
But they are capable of showing buildings. I think that was the only criteria being discussed in that side conversation. PS3 is good enough to show buildings and backgrounds.
Yes, 'capable of showing buildings.' It's that easy. A big city with their methods of rendering, plus all of the NPCs would bring the last gen to its knees. Frostbite in that configuration scaled terribly to last gen, so they could either make a big empty city devoid of any detail, or a small one and put more NPCs. They chose the second option.
Helpful tip to all gamers: Professional AAA devs don't ever not do something out of laziness. Laziness is just not a factor.
It's just a couple of buildings, how hard can it be?
/s
Honestly, people calling the devs lazy should see how much work has to go into every single detail. How many hours it takes to animate a simple scene.
The people who did the graphics in this one, and the whole "geography" of each area deserves a medal. The Storm Coast, in particular, was a joy to explore.
The people who did the graphics in this one, and the whole "geography" of each area deserves a medal. The Storm Coast, in particular, was a joy to explore.
Yes! I love it, very immersive with the rain and sounds of wildlife.
Yes, 'capable of showing buildings.' It's that easy. A big city with their methods of rendering, plus all of the NPCs would bring the last gen to its knees. Frostbite in that configuration scaled terribly to last gen, so they could either make a big empty city devoid of any detail, or a small one and put more NPCs. They chose the second option.
Helpful tip to all gamers: Professional AAA devs don't ever not do something out of laziness. Laziness is just not a factor.
It's just a couple of buildings, how hard can it be?
/s
Honestly, people calling the devs lazy should see how much work has to go into every single detail. How many hours it takes to animate a simple scene.
Yeah, NPCs. Most of which didn't even have the animations sequenced to the proper voices. Again, laziness. Copy/paste a bunch of NPCs. Randomize them to make it seem spontaneous. Toss in voices at random. Who cares if male characters sound like females or vice versa? And who cares if you run into NPC clones every few steps?
Keep in mind, DA2 was on last gen, and it managed to pull off buildings just fine, and that was on a last gen engine. If Frostbite couldn't render cities, then why did BioWare use it? To have an excuse for their laziness in not making cities?
I don't dispute that they put a lot of work into it, but that was for money. Financial gain is a good motivator. They made a video game, because that is the business they are in. The laziness is in not putting everything you could into the project. Phoning it in. Not doing your best. Scrapping ideas instead of developing them.
It's not laziness, only someone, who has zero understanding of video game development would say that. Every asset, every area, every tiny detail needs work, and someone has to be payed for the work. This industry has already normalised year long crunches, constant overtime, and mediocre pays. If the devs weren't passionate about making games, most of them would leave for better paying jobs.
That's not laziness, I'd say it's a decision to make the game more user-friendly. The game assumes that someone in the party has the ability to set the pit on fire, and simplifies the process. Personally, I'd hate if the game forced you to pick up a torch/switch to a party member that has a fire spell (or even worse: force you to change party if no one was available). Pressing the action button works just as well.So what, you're saying it's time or monetary restraints? Sometimes it is, but I'm talking about basic gameplay elements. There are many examples in Inquisition where you can tell they cut corners. Remember how we were promised we would be able to burn the red templar boats as a matter of strategically affecting the region? This was dropped from the game because they were too lazy to implement it. They had the burning activation already implemented, as we saw in the Exalted Plains if you hit the haystacks with fire. They ignite. BioWare simply didn't connect this function to the features they promised. Same with the corpse pits. We were told that burning the boats would not just be a button press, we would have to use a fire spell or a fire bomb to ignite them. Yet the corpse pits were ignited via the "interact" button. BioWare was just too lazy to program the game to recognize when Immolate was used on the pit to conclude that part of the mission.
Ideas are scrapped all the time, and never due to laziness; I dont' think I've ever worked in a software development project where all features that were intened made it through. I can almosty assure you that "everything" has been put into this game already. The road from idea - often implemented well enough to be shown in a demo - to fully functional is full of pitfalls that force to change, and sometimes be removed completely. They might not pass one of the (often many) testing phases, there might be an integration problem with other game features, the list can go on.I don't dispute that they put a lot of work into it, but that was for money. Financial gain is a good motivator. They made a video game, because that is the business they are in. The laziness is in not putting everything you could into the project. Phoning it in. Not doing your best. Scrapping ideas instead of developing them.
That's because they still remember the mess left from DAO's many possible endings. Well done, I'd say.They did this to funnel every type of Inquisition into one central point, rather than make a DLC that would continue each type of Inquisition and reflect the choices of the players.
Not only was the premise ripped directly from Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Weekes shamelessly admitted in a past conference
Okay, so you don't know how writing/creating works, either.
Another helpful tip: it wasn't original in CA, either.
So what, you're saying it's time or monetary restraints?
Resources, budget, staff size, deadlines, and technical difficulties (sometimes you got to cut your losses even if something is fixable/achievable given enough time) are the major factors.
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