Interview Lionheart Team Q&A #16 @ RPGVault

[Diogo Ribeiro]

You see, the Interplay boards play host to the largest collection of idiots, mentally retarded persons, freaks of nature and other morons next to a furry convention.

I'm glad they don't know i go there...

:shock:

D'oh!!!!

 

[Skorpios]

You can put your foot in your mouth with people you think you know well, just because you don't know every little fascet of their personality. You can say something that might annoy them, even though it wasn't your intention in the first place. You thought you were asking a harmless question, or making a harmless comment. Maybe the person is just touchy about some things and you didn't know it.

The moron indicators basically remove any type of interesting exchanges in dialogue simply because you know exactly what the result of the dialogue choice will be before you click on it.

And that is where I disagree with you SP, pure and simple. From what I've seen of the game, the 'sword' icon doesn't indicate any particular outcome it indicates INTENT. It is letting you know that this dialogue option is for thugs, for characters who don't have the wit or inclination to 'play nice'. Clicking on this icon means your character is trying to frighten, bully or intimidate the person they are talking to. It is not just a 'click here for combat' icon as you and others suggest. I've had that from the horse's mouth. Cabal has said that the sword icon does not automatically lead to combat, that it can have both negative AND positive outcomes. That doesn't sound like a mindlessly predictable system to me. Do you agree or disagree?

You seem to think that ONLY options marked with a sword icon will negatively affect the outcome of the dialogue. I don't believe that is the case. That would be too simplistic. I'm sure there are plenty of unmarked options that will tick off some NPCs in some situations - leaving plenty of space for 'touchy' areas in dialogue to catch the unwary.

Some of the screenshots for instance show that you often have the opportunity to ask about magic in Nueva Barcelona. Seeing as this is the centre of the Inquisition's power, don't you think being too nosy about magic might tick some people off? I didn't see any 'sword' icons next to those questions either. I think the dialogues still have some surprises.

if you have well written dialogue there is absolutely no need for the icons

No need? Possibly, from YOUR point of view at least, that doesn't mean it applies to 100% of the planet's population though. Following your logic, there is no NEED for the male/female icons on toilet doors if you CLEARLY write 'MEN' and 'WOMEN' on them as well. Still, plenty of places do that, and I don't feel like a moron using the toilet.

So while there is no need, doesn't mean there is no REASON for them being there. Let's look at the dialogue icon system as a whole rather than focussing on the usefulness or otherwise of individual icons.

Several people have agreed with me that the skill icons (speech, barter, etc) do at least have some reason for inclusion. So, if you have already given up some interface real estate to those icons, why not put in a few more? Does having an easily recognisable 'exit' icon hurt things all that much? The quest icons seems to mainly be just an extension of the whole journal system that is accepted in many RPGs. That leaves the 'sword' icon that seems to give you guys so much trouble. (See above for my views on that score.)

So if you are using up screen space for some icons, why not throw some more in? In my view it doesn't innately hurt the game, and who knows some people might find them useful. Yes, I know YOU don't, but that doesn't intrinsically prove they are totally useless as you are a fairly small statistical sample.

 

[Jed]

Y'know, something that keeps bugging me about Lionheart: if the game was intended as an "action CRPG" from the beginning (which has been stated several times by developers), why the fuck is the setting so goddamn intellectual (seemingly)? Seems like a waste of a good idea...but I guess I'm willing to wait and see how well it's pulled off.

 

[Skorpios]

That is a very good point, Jed. I've always been upfront about the fact that it is the story and the setting that attracted me to Lionheart. Realtime combat, the SPECIAL system and other issues just paled into insignificance compared to the chance to play with some alternative history.

That is one of the reasons I got such a positive vibe from the game. Even though it is obviously an 'action-oriented' RPG, all the work I've seen on the background of the game seemed to promise much more depth. Just look at some of the 'character profiles'for major NPCs that have bobbed up and then try and tell me that Lionheart has less depth than Diablo.

I got a very positive impression that although designed as 'action', the Reflexive team still put a lot of work and thought into creating the world where the action takes place. Having factions such as the Knights Templar, Inquisition,Wielders, and then throwing in the prejudice against the 'taint' of magic, suggests that there is much more going on in LH than the more simplistic 'kill the Devil' storyline of Diablo.

I mean you get to hang out with Machiavelli, da Vinci, Nostradamus, Galileo and more and this game is aimed at morons??? I don't think so.

It does seem, and posts from Reflexive support it, that Lionheart grew and extended itself beyond the 'action' genre as they developed it, mainly because of the richness of the setting I think and feedback from fans who did want more than an action romp.

I don't necessarily see it as a 'waste', as you say, we still have to wait and see if they pulled it off. I'm still hoping they did.

 

[Jed]

If I play the game, I will go as a stealthy diplomat so I can avoid as much of shitty combat design as possible, thus I wonder if I meet Machiavelli, if he will give bonuses to my m4d Speech--er, I mean Diplomacy--skillz0rz.

 

[Skorpios]

Hmmm, nice idea, and you could visit Galileo and he could give you a cool telescope that boosts your Perception, and Nostradamus could tell you your future, giving you an XP boost, and da Vinci could paint your portrait and make you famous, thus boosting your Charisma! Excellent!

 

[Jed]

No, I take it all back!

 

[Voss]

Skorpios, you're using false analogies again. There are pictures on the doors to public toliets because there are people who can't read, but still need to take a piss. Computers in general, and a game with dialogue in particular, don't tend to, or need to worry about them.