Editorial Swen Vincke: Larian Studios' "Project E" RPG Inspired by Ultima VII

I really enjoy reading this guy's blog posts. It just feels like he's cutting the BS to a minimum and just speaking his mind, which is something I wish more all developers did. Looking forward to see what the mysterious game is all about.

Hope they don't use the Gamebryo engine again. Also I hope they improve upon the combat from Ultima 7~

He's right, Ultima VII is definitely among the best RPGs, but if he wants to recreate the feeling I got from it, he really needs to go top down / isometric with an all-in-one world. Best exploration ever.

Swen's blog is always a good read

This needs to be added to the emoticons list! STAT!

In the same blog, Swen has stated Project D (Dragon Commander) is inspired by Cinemax games.

I hope you mean "Cinemaware". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Skinemax

Project E - After Dark

It's been a while since you played, huh? U7 and U7p2 both had real-time combat. You're thinking about Ultima VI.

BTW, how did U7 have a "JRPG stat system"? I'm pretty sure it had the same system as previous Ultima games...or did those have JRPG stat system too?

This site already mentions Divinity 3.

Plus this pic



Isn't that Ygerna and Damian from Divinity 2?

The only thing that concerns me is that after they spent five years to make an entertaining but flawed game (Divinity 2), suddenly they have 3 projects on their table.

An Ultima 7 loving LARPer? For shame.

He's mentioned from the beginning that Divinity is going back to being pseudo-isometric, the third person remains with Dragon Commander.

The difference is that now they're free from the publisher yoke.

I sense EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENTS

I really, really hope Larian succeeds and can become a model for mid-sized devs in the future to become self sufficient and stop being forced to produce banal junk for publishers.

Firstly: on topic: I don't like when developers name-drop old games as it is usually only a superficial similarity and done to get the audience excited more than it is to actually emulate the older game mentioned. Still, I like the way this guy thinks (even though I haven't played any of his games), and would be very curious to see what he does about these Ultima 7-esque features.



The Ultima 7 Discussion

Ultima 7 is probably my favourite game (and my favourite RPG to play) but it is not a strong RPG in the grander scheme of things. It is more of an adventure game than real RPG as said above, however,

This is simply not true. The character progression mechanics are weaker in Ultima 7, but Mass Effect is a shooter with almost no RPG-related elements beyond character progression.

While Ultima 7 lacks the character progression of Mass Effect and other games (not that Mass Effect is in anyway strong in this aspect), it does have many strengths over a game like Mass Effect, strengths which are often overlooked

Here's a quick list

Party. Mass Effect forces you to take 2 companions at all times, while Ultima 7 will allow you to take anywhere from 0 to 7 companions, at your choice.

Inventory. Mass Effect allows you to choose the gun you use and little else. Ultima 7 has a full inventory for all 8 characters.

Trade/Merchants. Mass Effect has credits which allow you to buy...guns? (Anything else? I forget) While there is no shortage of money in Ultima 7, there are many shops and many things to buy; weapons, armour, vehicles, spells, food, and miscellaneous crap, as well as some interesting ways to make money.

Exploration. Mass Effect offers you missions to be approached in a varying order, but forces you into following small linear routes in mostly empty maps. Ultima 7 has a fully open world with traditional RPG things like traps, switches, teleporting etc., i.e. classical RPG dungeon type things.

World Interactivity. Mass Effect has no world interaction of any kind. Everyone knows of the interactivity of the Ultima 7 world. Interactivity that can be used to your advantage to affect the game in many ways (some listed below). I'm not doing a full list.

Non-scripted problem solving. Mass Effect offers only the ability to shoot things in the environment or sometimes talk to them. There is nothing else. While there is no alternative solution scripted at any point in U7 (AFAIK), the open world mechanics enable some creative solutions to be employed (potions, retaliation between NPCs, crate/object stacking, locked doors, collateral damage, serpent venom, NPC spell casting etc.).


Anyway that's about enough of that.



The comparison between the two is rather clear, although comparing Ultima 7 to many of the other classic RPGs out there will having it coming second place in many of the above options (and further points not discussed). Still, some of the above points give it strengths even over other stronger-overall RPGs, and on that basis it should not be under-appreciated. Contrary to popular belief, its biggest weakness is not its mechanics but its balance. If you were to slow combat down a LOT, made all characters hesitate before taking actions, and you made the enemies much more difficult to defeat, things would improve dramatically. The characters already have attributes for damage, accuracy, hit points, attack speed, magic points and movement speed, they are simply unnoticeable in the current combat system.

For the sake of some interesting discussion, we can also look at some things that they share that make them weak RPGs...

Neither game has dialogue skills I remembered wrong, ME1 has "charm" and intimidate". Thanks Infinitron.
(Ultima 7 on the other hand has mostly dialogue-based quests, but no skills involved and no alternative solutions)
Neither game has any real character creation process
Neither game allows you to create a blank slate, and both games thrust the PC's identity upon them
Neither game has any substantial levelup/advancement system (Mass Effect is stronger, Ultima 7 is almost non-existent)
Neither game has any persistence to starting stats or things that give any of the characters inherent strengths or that cannot be trained out over time.
Neither game has much control over the companions (Mass Effect has essentially 0 control, but Ultima 7 combat makes it pointless anyway)
Neither game offers explicit alternative solutions to missions or quests (Ultima 7 is still stronger that you only need to kill the main characters, and the rest can be avoided in clever ways if desired, as above)
Neither game appreciates a non-violent character or approach. Not many RPGs do, though.
Neither game has much to offer for combat. Twitch shooting for mass effect and auto-resolve for Ultima 7. No opportunity for tactics, different approaches, or thought-out strategies. This is the reason why turn based mechanics are preferred by so many on the Codex in an RPG.

Feel free to add more. I'm sure Jaesun and Sceptic know enough about both games to make a few points on it.

Actually, ME1 had Charm/Intimidate skills.