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Development Info David Gaider on settings culture & history

taks

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 31, 2003
Messages
753
always hated the fact that i was forced to care for the bitch. i typically play good aligned characters (though neutral is becoming more my style recently) so from a "role-playing" aspect, i'm forced to care for her. she sucked. bad thief, bad wizard. oh well...

anyway, we won't see really good choices with dialog till someone invents a true interpreter and AI to handle the responses. 20 years maybe, maybe more. until that point, i'll be happy with only a few relevant paths with each NPC and mostly background info rounding them out. nothing worse than a clutter of NPCs that have zero purpose other than to say "yes" or "no" without any back-story. cprgs really are stories, moreso than pen and paper rpgs. it seems people try too hard to place the same standard on both systems when in fact, they're quite different by design.

taks
 

Astromarine

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Switzerland
attempting nothing until you have the perfect technology is called "tech turtling", and it sucks as much as a development tactic as an RTS tactic
 

taks

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 31, 2003
Messages
753
i wasn't advocating no attempts at better systems... merely pointing out that they won't exist till technology improves. cpus aren't powerful enough and software isn't smart enough. but that will change. of course, by then, we'll want even more :)

taks
 

Transcendent One

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Nov 21, 2003
Messages
781
Location
Fortress of Regrets
Books are great. Info about the world's background is fun to read. If Dragon Age has this, I'm buying it, because not many games do. Also make the books nice and long and please use eye-friendly font and colouring.

I think fluffed up dialogs are good. All of Bio's games have excellent quality narration, and it helps considering their dialog isn't open ended at all in most cases. No, not all dialog options should be important in leading to different outcomes. Some should just be there to add to atmosphere and immersion.

But seriously, flowery AND open ended dialog is the only acceptable way.
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
Pretty Princess Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
24,924
"assuming I would care for her."

BG2 doesn't assume to think that. You are wrong.

It assume a possible 2 things:

1. Your character cares for her.

or

2. Your character wants to do deal with the one who kidnapped them and all that.


I can see exuses made for chaarcters not going for one; but sorry any PC who doesn't at least fall into category number 2 is pathetic.

Not to mention, every single CRPG I have ever played has assumed more than one about the character.

Why does FO assume I'd take part in that whole 'pick a straw' contest? Maybe my guy is a weakling who is heavy on the science and wants to stay and help maintain the Vault's computer. That is lameo.

Why does PST assume my TNO gives a dman about past lives and is more worried about the current live?

The list goes on...
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Volourn said:
Then change the name to FunGameCodex...
We can't, brand recognition and all that shite

and don't cover NWN as NWN wasn't found fun by the Codex Big Wigs.
True, but you forgot the first definition - can play a role of something (like a role of a guy who just spent $50 and now he MUST enjoy the game to get his money worth)

Get on all 4 years, and strip then.
So, that's what turns you on? You are weird, you know?

Some examples <snip> That's one example for each of their game.
More like the only example from every game. Next! :cool:

To say otherwise is to say a lie. Period.
Sorry, what? I wasn't listening. Are you on your period right now? :)

the way VD is taking that post by Gaider out of context is just plain silly.
Out of context? It's clear to anybody who's ever played Bio games that in most cases the dialogue choices are not there to choose, but to provide additional info or set some light mood for your character. Yes, of course, there are some choices, my anal-retentive friend, but mostly, there aren't.
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
Pretty Princess Glory to Ukraine
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Messages
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"You are weird, you know?"

You just figured that out?


"Yes, of course, there are some choices, my anal-retentive friend, but mostly, there aren't."

Wrong. besides, we weren't arguing numbers. You said there weren't any; i said they were. Iproved my end. You didn't. I win. You lose.

Next.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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Messages
28,035
Dgaider said:
As has been mentioned, in that message I was responding to a very specific topic asking how setting information could be given to the player.
Hey, David, long time no see. I did see the entire thread and I realize that it was just an opinion, not a design guideline. I just felt, like I said to Volourn, that in many, many cases the dialogue choices weren't there to actually choose anything, but to provide some additional info or define your character for the player (vs defining your character in the gameworld). After I read what you wrote, although it was meant as a "response to a very specific topic", it was also a good explanation of the way dialogue choices were used before.

PS. How's DA going?
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Volourn said:
"You are weird, you know?"

You just figured that out?
Yep. I knew that you were lazy, biased, unreasonable, typo-magnet, with a taste for cross-dressing (sometimes you are a boy, sometimes you are a girl), but really really weird? As in "fucked up" weird? No. It was a surprise. :)

Wrong. besides, we weren't arguing numbers. You said there weren't any; i said they were. Iproved my end. You didn't. I win. You lose.
Still trying to win on technicality? As before, if winning is so important to you, be my guest.
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
Pretty Princess Glory to Ukraine
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Messages
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"but really really weird? As in "fucked up" weird? No. It was a surprise."

LOL :lol:


"Still trying to win on technicality?"

Not a technicality. If you say x doens't happen at all, and I say x does happen and prove it it shows quite clearly youa re wrong. that is no technicality. Stop trying to throw blue earrings up.
 

Gromnir

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Messages
394
"I can understand why a school assignment might have a min/max word count, but usually the player of a game doesn't have to read through all of the text. This is definitely the case when a lot of text has been dedicated to alternative results of dialogues. So this word count thing is a big mystery to me."

as we understand it, the cost of doing multiple translations of a game is kinda expensive. to be totally honest, we not sure if publishers care ‘bout word count save in relationship to publishing costs… but no doubt dave could enlighten us... and seeing as how we ain't really welcome at bio no more, perhaps we can get an answer here.

after ps:t there were a recognition by developers and publishers that even if the dialogues were pretty good, a majority of folks wouldn't read past the first few lines... would just kinda click through stuff. so folks at bio and other places started limiting length of dialogue responses... a "3-line" guideline were one we heard mentioned. writers tried to keep individual dialogue responses to three lines or less. were not a rule so much as a guideline.

*shrug*

in any event, such guidelines is not same as limits on total word count. anybody read hemingway? most hemingway dialogue responses is pretty damn short... which should be no surprise considering fact that he were considered to be a minimalist even 'fore there was a recognized movement called minimalism. nevertheless, total word count in “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “A Farewell to Arms,” is pretty damn high.

sometimes folks use “word count” interchangeably for the limit on individual dialogues and for total words in game… in spite of fact that there is completely different reasons for ‘em.

HA! Good Fun!
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Volourn said:
Not a technicality. If you say x doens't happen at all, and I say x does happen and prove it it shows quite clearly youa re wrong. that is no technicality.
Volourn, I look at the game overall. Take ToEE for example, we all say there is no story, although *technically* there is. We say that quests sucks, although technically there are a few that are good. We say that Arcanum was non-linear although technically there were a few places that forced you to do things in sequence. We say that Fallout had multiple solutions, but there were quests that could only be solved one way. Have I made my point yet?
 

Diogo Ribeiro

Erudite
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
5,706
Location
Lisboa, Portugal
Volourn said:
"assuming I would care for her."

BG2 doesn't assume to think that. You are wrong.

It assume a possible 2 things:

1. Your character cares for her.

Almost no difference in the end. I am the one who creates the motivation for the character. Almost all motivations (with obvious exceptions of story-driven ones) the character has in the end pass through me first. I decide wheter he cares about Imoen or not. To that effect, I'm given the choice to say wheter I care for her or not throughout the game.

The thing is, there's actually proper ways of doing this. If the *character* is meant to care for her, than have it show such, instead of having Imoen ask for help and having everyone tell me I need to search for her. There are dfinitely situations in Baldur's Gate, Torment and Fallout where the PC takes matters into his own hands because of his own goals and motivations instead of my own.


Not to mention, every single CRPG I have ever played has assumed more than one about the character.

I wasn't exactly criticizing Baldur's Gate 2 as if it was the only one to do that, rather, how it did so. There's always a degree of assumptions being made for us. Doesn't mean that I like the kind of assumptions.


Gromnir said:
and seeing as how we ain't really welcome at bio no more, perhaps we can get an answer here.

You're still banned from there, Grom? :shock:
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Missed one:

Volourn said:
Not to mention, every single CRPG I have ever played has assumed more than one about the character.

Why does FO assume I'd take part in that whole 'pick a straw' contest? Maybe my guy is a weakling who is heavy on the science and wants to stay and help maintain the Vault's computer. That is lameo.
Who's gonna ask your character? They drew straws because nobody was eager to go. You play the role of a character who lost. Your character didn't have that choice, which fits the setting.
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
Pretty Princess Glory to Ukraine
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Messages
24,924
"Your character didn't have that choice"

R00fles! And, I thought Fo was all about choice. I was wrong. :cry:


"which fits the setting."

No, it doesn't.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Volourn said:
"Your character didn't have that choice"

R00fles! And, I thought Fo was all about choice. I was wrong. :cry:
See my obviously overlooked post above (the one before RP's)

"which fits the setting."

No, it doesn't.
You would argue about everything, you little chatterbox, wouldn't you? So, why doesn't that fit the setting (the vault part of it)? Do you think that a guy who lives in a vault can choose what he wants to do, when he wants to do, and how he wants to do it?
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
Pretty Princess Glory to Ukraine
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"See my obviously overlooked post above"

Ha. I have to point out to Your Arrogance that it wasn't overlooked; but ignored. It added nothing to the discussion. Nothing.


"Do you think that a guy who lives in a vault can choose what he wants to do, when he wants to do, and how he wants to do it?"

Nice straw man. (hahah, a funny, drawing straws the straw man :shock: ) He likely is capable of saying no to such a foolhardy mission if he so chooses. Also, I doubt the other Vault Dwellers would send someone out who was obviously a wuss and a coward and who couldn't defend himself from the Big. Bad. Mysterious. World? Afterall, the point of the mission is to go out, find out what happened/what's going on, SURVIVE, and report back.


Next.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
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Messages
28,035
Volourn said:
Ha. I have to point out to Your Arrogance that it wasn't overlooked; but ignored. It added nothing to the discussion. Nothing.
Nothing? Oh, I see. You mean that proving you wrong has distracted you from talking out of your ass which you mistook for a discussion?

"Do you think that a guy who lives in a vault can choose what he wants to do, when he wants to do, and how he wants to do it?"

Nice straw man. (hahah, a funny, drawing straws the straw man :shock: ) He likely is capable of saying no to such a foolhardy mission if he so chooses.
It's a vault, not a cottage. You are not having a good safe time down there, you work with the rest to maintain the vault. As in any closed location (a ship or a submarine), discipline and following orders are necessary and anything less won't be tolerated. When the straws are drawn, those who drew the long ones would gladly ensure that the one with the short one leaves the vault - more remaining water for them plus a chance that the unlucky one won't fail.

Also, I doubt the other Vault Dwellers would send someone out who was obviously a wuss and a coward and who couldn't defend himself from the Big. Bad. Mysterious. World? Afterall, the point of the mission is to go out, find out what happened/what's going on, SURVIVE, and report back.
They don't know that. All they know is that V15 is that way, and with luck you can make it there alive. If there is something dangerous between V13 and V15 (mutants, raiders, natural disaster) nobody in the vault is equipped to deal with it. So it makes little difference whether you are a jock or a nerd. The chances are the same.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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Messages
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Keep It Stupid, Stupid? Yeah, it's a good philosophy, and it works well for you :wink:
 

Volourn

Pretty Princess
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Only way to deal with the 'Codex on its own level. :twisted:
 

Sol Invictus

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Messages
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Pax Romana
It seems to me that the longer this tirade goes on the longer VD reveals himself, through his posts, as serving nothing more than as a purpose to ignorantly skew details, argue false facts, take things out of context, flame and troll everybody else. To be frank it's getting a little tired.

Think of it as a disclaimer to stop you from whining.
Flamebait.

And once again, Bio is known for several responses leading to the same thing, context or not.
Groundless assumptions based on false facts. Volourn has proven you wrong with a few of his examples. I can name more from BG2:
Various methods of getting into the Asylum.
Most of the quests related to Edwin/Edwina
All of the Keep quests.
Dealing with Firkraag
Helping the Thieves Guild or the Nightblades
The Skindancer quests
The Shadow Druid quests
Anomen
From TOB: The various alignment changing quests

Have you actually played Bio games, Volourn? Had responses affected their games, Bio would have been praised now as a pillar of the hardcore role-playing community.
Why do you lie?

That again. Well, we do now. Considering that it's getting harder and harder to find a purebred RPG, we had to broad our horizons. We have agreed that any game where you play a role (like Mario or that marine in Doom) are RPGs, we have also accepted Dr. Greg's definition that any game where you have fun is an RPG. That certainly opened up doors for a lot of games we couldn't cover earlier.
More skewed details, responses taken out of context and an utterlyly imbecillic display of ignorance on your behalf. Greg said he likes to make games that he considers fun, not that he considers all fun games to be RPGs, you fucking jackass. He never actually answered the question, did he?

Aha! I knew it. Nobody can say that NWN was good with a straight face unless they didn't play it.
More flame bait. Is this supposed to serve any other purpose?

Bring it on, biatch!
Fuck off.

Yeah, like talking to Garth or Mission or even that guy at the starting ship.
You must save Bastilla!
- I don't want to, fuck off
- After I save myself
- Yay! I get to save somebody!
And that represents all of the other choices you make in KOTOR? No, it does not. Compare that to Doc Morbid's dialogue in Fallout:
"Do you want some healing?"
1) I could use some healing.
2) Yes.
3) No, I was just looking around.

The first response dissapears the 2nd time you talk to him. If you say no, he'll say 'It's your life, not mine" or something like that. If you say yes and then say no after he tells you how much he'll charge to fix you up, he'll say the same thing.

If you go downstairs and talk to the midget cutting up the body parts and go back upstairs to talk to him, you are given a 4th dialogue option, "What's with the human body parts?" to which he will respond, "You better get outta here." and his reaction will be lowered towards you.

There is nothing beyond that. You can't choose to blackmail him or even blackmail the shorty down there. You're given the exact same dialogue choices from the shorty but the 4th option from Doc Morbid isn't available to you anymore.

Now, if I were to cite this as an example of ALL of Fallout's dialogue the way you did with KOTOR, it would certainly look bad, in the sense that I am skewing the facts in order to support my inane, absolutist claim that the game is bereft of choices.

Sure, there are some plot points where what you say counts, but 9/10 cases it doesn't.
Why do you lie?

We can't, brand recognition and all that shite
The bullshit response quotient on the RPG Codex forums is higher now, than it has ever been.

True, but you forgot the first definition - can play a role of something (like a role of a guy who just spent $50 and now he MUST enjoy the game to get his money worth)
Weak. Your responses are mindnumbingly vapid.

So, that's what turns you on? You are weird, you know?
Childish and immature. You remind me of a local TV host Jason Lo. Nothing but sex-related remarks come out of his mouth. It's not funny, and people often tell him off for it. You're being the same way, and I'm telling you off for it.

Since when was sex a funny subject? 5th Grade?

More like the only example from every game. Next!
:roll:

Sorry, what? I wasn't listening. Are you on your period right now?
Proving your age again, are you? Listen kid, periods aren't funny. If you want to talk about periods, at least make it funny. When Saint calls BIS fanboys "estrogenated" and describes them in some amusing manner, that's funny and worth mentioning for the quality of the humor alone. Periods as an independent subject aren't funny.

Out of context? It's clear to anybody who's ever played Bio games that in most cases the dialogue choices are not there to choose, but to provide additional info or set some light mood for your character. Yes, of course, there are some choices, my anal-retentive friend, but mostly, there aren't.
Translation: "That is 100% correct, and it's also 10% wrong."

Learn mathematics, as furthermore it helps with any issues you may have with logic and problem-solving skills.

Hey, David, long time no see. I did see the entire thread and I realize that it was just an opinion, not a design guideline. I just felt, like I said to Volourn, that in many, many cases the dialogue choices weren't there to actually choose anything, but to provide some additional info or define your character for the player (vs defining your character in the gameworld). After I read what you wrote, although it was meant as a "response to a very specific topic", it was also a good explanation of the way dialogue choices were used before.
You admit that you took David's words out of context to fit your own bullshit agenda and conveniently left out the details which put his words IN context. You can't get any more contrite than that.

PS. How's DA going?
There is no shortage of snarky (un)witticisms with you on the clock.

Yep. I knew that you were lazy, biased, unreasonable, typo-magnet, with a taste for cross-dressing (sometimes you are a boy, sometimes you are a girl), but really really weird? As in "fucked up" weird? No. It was a surprise. Smile
Welcome to 5th grade, everyone.

Still trying to win on technicality? As before, if winning is so important to you, be my guest.
I don't know what's worse. Trying to win on a 'technicality' or trying to win on an argument based solely on intellectually bereft assumptions, childish remarks, skewed facts and ignorant displays of 'omissions' of the truth (what others might refer to as lies). Volourn's argument was grounded in facts, so it wasn't a 'technicality', unless you consider facts to be a technicality whenever it comes to an argument.

Volourn, I look at the game overall. Take ToEE for example, we all say there is no story, although *technically* there is. We say that quests sucks, although technically there are a few that are good. We say that Arcanum was non-linear although technically there were a few places that forced you to do things in sequence. We say that Fallout had multiple solutions, but there were quests that could only be solved one way. Have I made my point yet?
False dichotomies, all of them.

A few that were good? I don't know what game you were playing but it wasn't TOEE. Name one quest in TOEE that was good and didn't last roughly 2 seconds to complete. Yo chose a bad example. Arcanum was non-linear overall, but what does that have to do with anything? Fallout, as a whole, had multiple solutions (we're talking about whole games, aren't we?) even though there were many quests that could only be solved in a single manner. The same is with KOTOR: there were many quests that could only be solved in a single manner but as a whole, it featured multiple solutions. I don't see why you'd have to make an exception to that.

Your point is fallacious as are most of the things you've written in this thread.

Who's gonna ask your character? They drew straws because nobody was eager to go. You play the role of a character who lost. Your character didn't have that choice, which fits the setting.
It fits the setting? Try harder. If Fallout were truly a game about non-linearity it would, like other truly non-linear games allow you to choose where you started instead of forcing you into the shoes of the guy who comes from Vault 13. There is no argument that Fallout is a non-linear game from then on but to claim that Fallout is the most non-linear game ever made or whatever it is you're saying, would be blatantly false.

You would argue about everything, you little chatterbox, wouldn't you? So, why doesn't that fit the setting (the vault part of it)? Do you think that a guy who lives in a vault can choose what he wants to do, when he wants to do, and how he wants to do it?
Again, why does he have to come from Vault 13? It's got nothing to do with the setting. It's how the story was written. The story does not exist independently of the writer's concept no matter what radical beliefs you might have pertaining to this matter. Tim Cain set out to create a focused RPG title, as opposed to a free-form Rogue-like title. He succeeded. To claim that it is 'non linear' because it 'fits the setting' is what I would call a straw man argument.

Nothing? Oh, I see. You mean that proving you wrong has distracted you from talking out of your ass which you mistook for a discussion?
Yet more childish insults presented in manner of an argument when they in fact deserve no more worthwhile attention than a tight slap.

It's a vault, not a cottage. You are not having a good safe time down there, you work with the rest to maintain the vault. As in any closed location (a ship or a submarine), discipline and following orders are necessary and anything less won't be tolerated. When the straws are drawn, those who drew the long ones would gladly ensure that the one with the short one leaves the vault - more remaining water for them plus a chance that the unlucky one won't fail.
Your arguments for a non-linear Fallout have thus far been a failure pertaining to the manner in which you have chosen to present the game. It is beyond understanding as to why, in a 'truly non-linear game' (I paraphrase) the player should be constricted to saving the Vault and doing nothing else. Disclosing the information of the Vault's whereabouts to the Supermutant Army or to The Master presents the player with a false ending (better known as a Game Over Screen). This course of action does not present the player with the 'after events' screen that takes place in the course of having a 'proper' ending and the further removal of the Supermutant-related invasion reduces much of the game's replayability and non-linearity factors.

Your last point pertaining to the survivability of the Vault Dweller is blatantly untrue. Without weapon skills, your player is left with a handicap in the face of stern combat opposition. There is no talking your way out of a Deathclaw battle.

You have thus far managed to earn yourself the dubious distinction of being the RPG Codex's most immature contributor due to your inane 'contributions' in discussions like these. Even Gromnir, an individual who isn't usually cited as someone with good behaviour has managed to stay on topic with his worthwhile contributions to the discussion without straying from factual reference and a solid position.

Your false dichotomies are not well appreciated.
 

Sarkile

Magister
Patron
Joined
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Messages
1,383
God Exitium, did VD kill your mom or something? What's with the sudden obsession/hatred for him?
 

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