Reply With QuoteYeah, the only one that I'd see really working without people complaining about would be the nagging one. Anything that actually effected gameplay would be met with endless whining about not being able to play the game they way you wanted
Oblivion tries to implement both of these, at least after you've advanced the main plot far enough. Once the gates open up all over the game world, enemies periodically come out of them making it a pain to go near them and making more of them for you to deal with when/if you decide to take them out.Originally Posted by zengonzo
Of course people complained about that. ;-)
Yeah, the only one that I'd see really working without people complaining about would be the nagging one. Anything that actually effected gameplay would be met with endless whining about not being able to play the game they way you wanted
Personally, I'm all in favor of anything that effects gameplay.
/grammar nazi
Reflecting on personal experience, there are two reasons why I tend to delay the main quest. The first is that completing the main quest usually signals an "end" to the game. Some games enforce this by rolling credits. The second reason is that side-quests often confer some sort of advantage (experience, equipment, etc.), making the main-quest easier.
Some games try to solve this with tiered quests or a hub-based quest system. Other games make certain quests mutually exclusive. Of course, the big challenge is trying to balance narrative urgency with player choice. The original Fallout had a pair of time limits, one for a short-term solution, and one for finishing the game (later patched out).
As much as I hate time limits, I think it would be interesting to try rewarding players for timely completion of plot-related quests, maybe something like the way that Star Control 2 managed the hostile-probe population.
- Alan
Fallout 3, IMHO, did a decent job of making the narrative of the main quest allow you periods where you could justify doing side stuff. For example, your immediate objective when you leave the vault is in a situation that does not stretch believability if you do a lot of side stuff before you get there. Then there are other points in the story that allow you to go off. The only problem is that the game doesn't really make that clear; it's only after completion or on later playthroughs that you see the logical places to go do whatever you want.
The first quest is just "find dad" which is as unimportant as can be imagined. So it perfectly justified the "I don't give a shit about him" attitude of walking around wasteland doing other stuff. I liked that : ).
I can see the pro and cons of a fixed deadline. To be honest I only vaguely remember how the one if FO1 worked. In Oblivion the mobs coming through the portal were in a pain in the butt and did encourage one to move on the main quest. On the other hand the truly screwed up Oblivion leveling system which had you specialize in blade weapons but killing critters with maces, or fists ended up encouraged me to stop playing. So I never finished the game :(
I seems to me that the dangerous of radiation sickness were downplayed in all of the Fallout series. I liked the mods that made radiation a real danger, even if they often went overboard from gameplay perspective. Since NV is supposedly less hurt by nuclear weapons that other places this may not be the time to introduce it.
I am proposing something much simpler than trying to fix an RPG economy. In particular I'd like to see that roughly 1/3 of the best equipment is available completing the main quest, 1/3 by completing side quests and 1/3 quests via merchants. Although access to the merchants probably would need to be restricted by main quest completion/level.
The reason for this is two fold. I do think some form of money sink is important for the immersion in the game. It is a really tough world out there and people are scrounged for anything. You probably don't want to make it so that level 15 players is still running around collecting tin cans. On the other even someone like myself who is focused on collecting money in an RPG realized that there really was no need to collect raider armor or 10 MM pistol, because resources weren't scarce, destroyed the immersion. Having the factory fresh unobtainum Power Armor for 30K caps displayed in spotlights at the Casino's Tiffany store, gives you a reason to sell you collection of loot instead of hoarding it in you house closet. I also think is unbalancing to let some of the best equipment be available via early side quests.
[Possible FO3 Spoilers here]
I was trying to do that, and accidentally stumbled across Dad in the Pleasantville simulation. (I was wondering why so many dialogue choices included asking about him.) I rescued him and let him walk alone across the dangerous wasteland back to Rivet City. Now I've been playing for real- and game-months, reaching level 30 a while back, as he is poised to bring fresh water to the DC area...and poised...and poised. I think I've mostly exhausted exploring and side-questing, so as soon as I'm done with The Pitt I'll see if Dad needs a hand with the plumbing.
I kind of wish the main plot was better tied to the game, but I like that there's plenty to do. Another way actiony open-world games that I've played, like Fallout 3, Mount & Blade and GTA: San Andreas, can keep me interested in the setting (if not the main plot) is give me a stake in the surroundings. Let me dump my excess cash in the community in exchange for improvements in properties and control over the NPCs. It almost becomes a extra game to play while I'm delaying the adventure.
Thanks. That was great. Looking forward to the rest of the interview.
Vivos the real life Vault-Tec
This is just about the greatest thing I've ever seen.
MCA Interviewed
Highlights:
-Playthrough the entire game without killing anyone
-Talk, Stealth and Combat routes fully supported
-No Foozle
-MOAR Interface feedback
-The Australian lass voice midway through
Last edited by roguefrog; 06-29-2010 at 08:21 PM.
Fine by me so long as you can also playthrough the game killing everyone. }:)
Barring kids, it's been revealed in an earlier interview with J.E. Sawyer that there are no protected NPCs.
You still have to shoot people though, you just get non-lethal bullets.
Still a cool option.
MCA did say you could Talk your way through the game. These pre-release claims however almost never hold true when a game is finally released.
I think Fallout and Arcanum are probably the only two RPGs that I've confirmed beatable with the Player Character NEVER having to attack once. Entering a combat situation is unavoidable, but the PC can run away(Fallout) or have companion NPCs handle it all(Arcanum).
Who is "MCA"? Masterful Chris Avellone? Magnficient Chris Avellone?
He also said the new hardcore mode includes dehydration and rusting, which is awesome.
Dehydration and hunger are great, but rusting makes me a little leery, given the time scales involved. Over the short time spans of in-game time, I don't think this is really going to be an issue (though failing to clean a weapon of dirt and sand, etc. could cause jams). I hope it doesn't turn out like SS2's weapon deterioration, which was ludicrous when the game shipped.
The more important aspect of that to me is not that I can go throughout the game without killing anyone, it's that I get to choose who I kill and don't.
I've just noticed that point sometimes seems to be lost on some podcasters.
But, yeah, I'm generally skeptical of the claim.
Ah, but hardcore mode could also include months long convalescences each time you get seriously injured. Just like real life!
"Ludicrous" in the sense of "completely balanced within the extant game systems", yes.
Maybe not in the desert, but I've got a worn down handgun that now rusts in the humidity if I don't wipe off my fingerprints before putting it away for a few weeks. That's just cosmetic surface rust though.
I don't know if two hundred year old firearms metal finishes act the same way or not.
Mister Chris Avellone. I have no idea where the acronym originated but it's been in use for years across numerous message boards to refer to the man.
Last edited by roguefrog; 06-30-2010 at 05:33 PM.
Perhaps more "ludicrous" along the lines of the way weapons would degrade as if they were made of cheap plastic.
Dunqan
"completely balanced within the extant game systems" in the sense of "marines use a wrench," yes.
Perhaps.
Dunqan
I'm so sorry that the game about sentient computers, psychic powers, warp drives and hive-mind worms wasn't realistic enough for you. Perhaps you can try generic military shooter #598.
You are missing the point. Sci fi futures where high technology delivers capabilities and powers not possible today are worthy of the willing suspension of disbelief; but a high tech future where common place technology drastically underperforms what is possible even with current technology - like weapons that fall apart after 25 shots or so - defies rationality and the immersion is broken. There's no explanation in the game fiction for why this should be so. What do soldiers in the SS2 universe do when going to battle, pull a little cart behind them full of replacement weapons so they can get a new one every time they empty a magazine?
Look, I loved SS2. But the whole weapons degradation thing was ridiculous and detracted from the game, definitely from a fiction/ immersion stand point . It was a bad design call, that's all. It was probably supposed to heighten the dramatic tension in the game - not only are their enemies everywhere, not only is ammunition scarce, but your weapons could fail on you at any moment!!!! - but it just came out absurd and detracted somewhat from the atmosphere it was supposed to strengthen.
Zlyon is correct and the rest of you are wrong. Are we not gamers? Is it so wrong to keep an eye on your weapon's status?
Or shall we dumb games down to the point of universal ammo, auto-recharging health, quest arrows, aim assistance and all the other great changes made to games int the last few years?
Are we not gamers?
No, weapons do not fail "at any moment". All weapons have an explicit condition indicator on the main HUD that makes it very clear to all but the most incompetent players when a weapon has degraded to the point where it might fail.
This mechanic serves several important functions-- It heightens tension, it adds depth to the resource economy, and it makes it really easy to tell which people should probably stick to Halo.
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