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Game Design Essentials - 20 RPGs in 22 Pages ( Editorial )
posted by Jason on Fri 03 July 2009, 22:19:48
More info on Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

John Harris took a break from his @Play column to throw down a 22 page article for Gamasutra, Game Design Essentials: 20 RPGs, wherein he pokes at the innards of 10 western RPGs and 10 of the Japanese variety.

Even though there are many scripted encounters, or "specials," a key difference between Wizardry and the D&D sessions it seeks to emulate is the absence of a flexible DM to allow the players to try things that aren't offered in the basic ruleset. There is no jumping up on tables, swinging from ropes, prodding with 10-foot poles, knocking on walls, or listening at doors or using them to block pursuers. Monsters don't exist until they have been triggered, and once a fight begins it takes place entirely in that square of dungeon map, and cannot sprawl out into the dungeon.

It is important to note that, in the 25-plus years since Wizardry was released, no CRPG has satisfactorily addressed this limitation, that of system inflexibilty. The lack of verisimilitude remains the most grievous difference between them and pen-and-paper games.

Finally, I don't think I can let this game pass by without noting the extremely well-done characterization of the potential party characters. I am not aware of anyone who has played this game who had a certain ranger named Minsc join his party who wasn't utterly enthralled by the character.

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Alan Miranda Interviewed at Rock, Paper, Shotgun ( Interview )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Tue 30 June 2009, 23:36:33
More info on Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate

The CEO of Ossian Studios, Alan Miranda, did an interview with the folks at Rock, Paper, Shotgun, speaking on the founding of the studio, the development of Mysteries of Westgate, and the response to Mysteries of Westgate.

Coming off the high (well… utter exhaustion, really) of releasing Daggerford, we were soon contacted by Atari. They hadn’t missed noticing how well DoD was doing and were very interested in having the same thing done for NWN2. At the time, we had just received the beta version of the NWN2 game/toolset, so while we experimented with that, we started pitching ideas to Atari about the game we would make for them. By January 2007 we were set to go with MoW.

Looking back at how things ended up with MoW’s release in April 2009 (over a year and a half after finishing the game), and remembering how Atari initially wanted us to keep the new content in MoW very light in order to finish and release the game before the first expansion (MotB), I am left to wonder what the game would have been like had we been able to add more content with a longer development. Some reviewers have mistakenly compared our adventure pack to an expansion pack and criticized it for not having an expansion amount of content. Budget-wise, they are a very different scale of game. Furthermore, we were contracted to deliver a 12-hour game, whereas we delivered a game that takes most players between 15 and 25 hours to play (75% of players according to a recent poll we did). Just like DoD, we went above and beyond with MoW.
[...]
Having decided to set our game in a city, we wanted to make it a place you could explore, with interesting people and places to come across. So exploration was key, but so was making Westgate feel like a city and not simply filler, with empty streets to fill in the space between Plot Point A and Plot Point B.

So we did a lot of planning on how to fill in the city with sidequests, ambient NPCs, encounters (aka fights), and interactive objects. I had seen how popular our sidequests were in Darkness over Daggerford (we don’t do the typical FedEx “Find my potato” variety) and so the gameplay for MoW was given a similar sandbox aspect to DoD, with many sidequests that you could undertake. However, MoW isn’t a complete sandbox style of game, and nor is it a strictly linear one with its core story – it’s somewhere in the middle. I think we did a good job on this aspect.
[...]
Perhaps having to hype the game for a year and a half (because we never knew when it would release), also led to expectations that MoW was bigger than it was. It is interesting to note that out of the 8 reviews for MoW on Metacritic (where it received a 73% average), the top 4 reviews are European and the bottom 4 are American. Extract whatever conclusion you like from that.

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Gentlemen, We're Through The Looking Glass ( Game news )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Tue 30 June 2009, 23:21:55

Though the Codex is none too keen on Diablo imitators, the announcement of the new action RPG, GREED, is basically a case study in terrible marketing, typical "features", and goofy language mistakes. From the press-release;

Dueren, June 30th 2009 – Headup Games, a recently founded and independently financed publishing company for core PC titles located near Cologne in Germany is proud to announce its main project for this year to be GREED, a merciless hack'n'slash action-RPG. GREED is scheduled for release in November 2009.
[...]
In contrast to the genre ancestors, the story of GREED takes place in an adult and mature science fiction scenario. In the futuristic universe of GREED the discovery of novel interstellar travel possibilities has lead to a new age of colonialization. The five largest colonial powers are entangled in a full-scale war over a new element called Ikarium, the recently discovered rare source of nearly unlimited energy. You as a former member of an elite military unit will fight a battle for your survival not know-ing that your actions will lead fate of all mankind into dramatic consequences…
[...]
Helpful innovation can be found in numerous innovative features such as the unique dodge move, self-charging shields or destructible environments.
[...]
The combination of the different character-specific skills and abilities in three categories gives you the diversity needed to conquer even the toughest foes.
[...]
The company targets primarily at male core gamers.

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Sprechen Sie Deutsch? ( Preview )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Mon 29 June 2009, 23:12:07
More info on Risen - More info on Piranha Bytes

If so, you may find this Risen Dialogue Video informative. It showcases the player character in a pretty lengthy dialogue with some sort of guard. I'm not really qualified to comment much on it, seeing as my understanding of the language is limited at best, but I'm sure some of our resident Germans will have commentary.
Spotted at: RPGWatch

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Alpha Protocol Video Walkthrough ( Preview )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Mon 29 June 2009, 22:31:18
More info on Alpha Protocol - More info on Obsidian Entertainment

GameTrailers has a video walkthrough of Alpha Protocol up, showing the E3 level with an Obsidian developer doing some commentary. I think it would have looked better had they used the magic of editing and good marketing to show how different paths would play out in different ways; play a comparative to really drive that point home. Maybe even show the pre-mission equipment choices and how a different character archetype would have a different loadout. As it stands now, Obsidian isn't exactly showing their best stuff, displaying what looks to be...well...Mass Effect but not in space.

Also it's likely "old", but it's new to me, and I'm sure some others might be interested.
Spotted at: Gamebanshee

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Gamesradar Slams Mysteries of Westgate ( Review )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Mon 29 June 2009, 03:03:04
More info on Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate

In under 500 words, please make the most vague, contradictory review of Mysteries of Westgate possible. Go!

The pacing problems carry over into the action: early confrontations quickly hit walls of difficulty that it can take an irritating degree of mid-battle party micro-management to scale.

Basing the action in a technically safe city, Ossian have also reduced the number of combat opportunities

There are whiffs of artificially extended game-length, one particularly galling example coming later in the main quest, forcing you through hours of backtracking and drudgery

In many games, including Baldur's Gate 2 and especially The Witcher, traveling between areas ranges from tedious to painful. It's definitely not the case here. Each area has several exits, so you are always close to one, and once you exit an area the travel menu will give you a list of all main locations and will teleport you next to a building you wish to enter.

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A Wight By Any Other Name.... ( Preview )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Sat 27 June 2009, 22:31:04
More info on Dragon Age - More info on BioWare

Bioware has once again updated the Dragon Age website's creature section, this time profiling both the Devouring Corpse

As demons pass through the Veil into our world, they seek out that which they desire most: Life. Unable to distinguish between those that are living and those that are not, many demons possess the bodies of the dead. Trapped within the lifeless corpse, the demon is driven mad and will lash out at those around it who are truly alive.

A devouring corpse is a body possessed by a hunger demon. It has a ravenous appetite and will seek to feed on any living thing it finds. Many of these creatures have demonstrated the ability to drain the very life force from their opponents.

Every child knows that an abomination is a creature created when a demon possesses a mage. Few realize, however, that the dangers of possession extend even beyond the mage's lifetime. Demons often cannot distinguish between a living being and a dead one and will readily take control of either––which may explain the Chantry's introduction of the cremation ritual. When a mage's corpse is possessed by a pride demon, the specific abomination that results is known as an arcane horror, a powerful creature possessing both the twisted insanity that afflicts most undead as well as the magical power that the mage wielded when alive. Although not nearly as capable as a true abomination created from a living mage, the arcane horror often demonstrates mastery over both blood magic and other animated corpses.

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No Aliens RPG from Obsidian Confirmed ( Development info )
posted by Jason on Sat 27 June 2009, 21:59:52
More info on Obsidian Entertainment

Obsidian posted a message on their forums to confirm that their Aliens RPG is no more.

Hi guys, The Guildmaster here. Rumors have circled around a bit regarding the fate of the Aliens role playing game that Obsidian and SEGA had been working on. Unfortunately, it is true that we are no longer working on the game, and we wanted to finally announce that officially to everyone who has been following its development. We’re going to keep this forum up for another week for archival purposes and to allow you guys to finish up any open threads, and then we will shut it down since it is no longer a product that is in development.

All of us here at Obsidian would like to thank you for your interest and support during its development, and we encourage you to check out the recent news about Alpha Protocol, which is coming to the PC, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 very soon!

The little guy next to the Alien is for scale genius. This was a concept piece.

The Xenomorphs according to canon absorb some dna traits from host creatures. The two in question here were the behemoth, taken from a very large herbivore, and the second was something were calling a stalker, essentially an Alien that can cloak like a chameleon, taken from a chameleon type creature host. There were also Queens, scouts, soldiers, spitters, and more - including black and red variants for those who know the material.

The game was most certainly NOT a grind fest. Experience was awarded for completing objectives and stealth was greatly encouraged.

Basic gameplay was your party was composed of 3 to 4 members. Party members could be from 1 of 4 different professions, marine, agent, engineer, and ugh...I forget the 4th at the moment .

In addition to stealth, party members could place traps for Aliens, such as turrets, mines, door bombs, and more. Doors could also be welded or cut to slow down Alien movement and create bottlenecks.

There was research, crafting, base defense and much more in the game and working.

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Soldak wants design help from YOU ( Development info )
posted by Elwro on Wed 24 June 2009, 19:25:46

Steven Peeler, the guy behind e.g. Depths of Peril, begins design of a new game and wants your feedback. Don't rush and copypaste your multifaceted TB combat system design, though:

Our next game is going to be more of a hardcore, realtime dungeon crawl (hardcore compared to Kivi that is).

It's going to be an action RPG that is going to take some elements from Depths of Peril (no covenants though) and some from Kivi's Underworld. I'm thinking of having some of the key features revolve around random elements (controlled randomness), a very dynamic world, and lots of smaller game mechanics that can interact to result in some more emergent gameplay than is usual in an action RPG.

This doesn't give you much to go on yet, but now is a great time to give your input of what you would like to see in a realtime dungeon crawl. Don't worry I have plenty of ideas to make this a really cool game, but I love hearing feedback from all of you.

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J.E. Sawyer Interview By Grupo97 ( Interview )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Tue 23 June 2009, 02:01:09
More info on Obsidian Entertainment - More info on J.E. Sawyer

Gaming site Grupo97 has an interview with J.E. Sawyer up (in English), that asks some interesting questions about his views on gaming in general. Anyone looking for New Vegas information will be slightly disappointed, but it's a good read itself. Here's a few juicy quotes.

The threshold of simplicity that a hardcore gamer will accept is a lot lower than the threshold of difficulty that a mainstream gamer will accept.

A hardcore gamer may accept an automapping tool but scoff that in "the old days", he or she had to write things out on graph paper. A mainstream gamer will probably not accept the absence of an automapping tool. He or she will stop playing the game and tell everyone they know that it is terrible.
[...]
- Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment... Great games were developed at Black Isle, kind of games not easy to see today on the shelves. Some of them sold great, as Baldur's Gate. Do you believe would it be still possible to develop similar games to those today?

I guess it depends on how similar they need to be. In terms of mechanics, I think a lot of gamers wouldn't accept the controls or conventions of those old games. In terms of content, I believe it's still possible to do, but it's harder now.
[...]
The current gaming market doesn't typically support big budget games that deal with intellectually mature issues. Mature content is equated with sex and violence. Video games have not often been used as a theme-based or didactic medium, but that's not entirely the publisher's or developer's fault. As with films and books, most gaming audiences simply don't care as much about issues and themes as they do about visceral feedback.
[...]
I only did a bit of design work on the Dark Alliance games, but I think it was good for Interplay and Black Isle to work with Snowblind on those projects. Black Isle consisted almost entirely of PC RPG developers and it gave us a narrow focus. I think working on console titles helped open up some of the developers (myself included) to look at other input systems and gameplay styles.

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