[Nirolak]

The whole series is an illusion, but at least they maintained that illusion in ME1-2. A neutral option sounded like a netral option, that is all I ask for.

Unless the next Mass Effect is actually an FPS in the First Contact War, I imagine there will be more dialog options again in the next game since they A.) they are no longer locked into the stupid reputation system they built for Mass Effect 1 and B.) they don't have to deal with the impact of your previous decisions anymore, especially in terms of needing replacement characters.

[hateradio]

^ I doubt that since they're trying to streamline everything.




One thing that they also really reduced in DA2 was party disapproval. I remember instances in DAO where people would fight you or say they would leave if you had them with you during a quest. Not only that, but I think Wynn brings up leaving in the camp.


If some of you guys have the SE, look at the DVD . . . and look at old, non-defensive BioWare. :D

I think someone mentions that some of the levels can take months and months and months to build. That's something they didn't have a lot of in DA2.

It's actually really nice when Laidlaw talks about the combat and planning during battles. He even has a little tip video on building a Warden, and he talks about stats. :p

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/de...agon-age/58863

Yet . .

Years later they talk about DA2's concept. I think most people have seen this, because of the comment Laidlaw makes about pushing a button. It's funny that he mentions alienating fans. :lol

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ma...n-age-2/708282
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ma...gon-age/709177

Looking at that, what does the lore and history of DA2 even mean?

[Nirolak]

^ I doubt that since they're trying to streamline everything.

The unstated part of my post was that I think the first half of my statement is likely. :P

[hateradio]

I meant the dialogue thing.

[subversus]

Unless the next Mass Effect is actually an FPS in the First Contact War, I imagine there will be more dialog options again in the next game since they A.) they are no longer locked into the stupid reputation system they built for Mass Effect 1 and B.) they don't have to deal with the impact of your previous decisions anymore, especially in terms of needing replacement characters.

I don't think that it will be an FPS because winds blow in other direction (well, EA might not sense them) and I doubt they will change their binary moral system because they think it's easy to understand.

also recurring characters are not excuse for less writing. Can't do - don't fucking promise. The Witcher 2 has more content based on your decisions than all Mass Effect games put together so I'm not interested in hearing Bioware's excuses.

THE AMBITION FOR MAKING GROUND-BREAKING RPGs ISN'T THERE ANYMORE. That is why good things won't happen.

Hope dies last though.

[Nirolak]

I don't think that it will be an FPS because winds blow in other direction (well, EA might not sense them) and I doubt they will change their binary moral system because they think it's easy to understand. also recurring characters are not excuse for less writing. Can't do - don't fucking promise. The Witcher 2 has more content based on your decisions than all Mass Effect games put together so I'm not interested in hearing Bioware's excuses. THE AMBITION FOR MAKING GROUND-BREAKING RPGs ISN'T THERE ANYMORE. That is why good things won't happen. Hope dies last though.

Some of these positions are kind of high level for a support studio, so I imagine Montreal has to be planning something beyond working on the multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 4:
https://performancemanager4.successf...326&company=EA
https://performancemanager4.successf...532&company=EA

[M.D]

So what's the deal with Morrigan? That's the only interesting thing I remember from playing Origins.
Are they going to touch on this subject in DA3?

[Lime]

Yeah, I think it's very likely that Bioware will strive towards a more cinematic and controlled experience than the otherwise diminished RPG tropes. I could see them doing an "Uncharted" with their next IP.

[subversus]

Some of these positions are kind of high level for a support studio, so I imagine Montreal has to be planning something beyond working on the multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 4: https://performancemanager4.successf...326&company=EA https://performancemanager4.successf...532&company=EA

frankly speaking if these are guys who made MP mode and weapons I might buy their MP spin-off and not the mainline entry in the series.

[Nirolak]

frankly speaking if these are guys who made MP mode and weapons I might buy their MP spin-off and not the mainline entry in the series.

Yes, Montreal made the multiplayer and was originally making a Mass Effect downloadable FPS before it was "put on the backburner".

Apparently the FPS also had quite a positive reaction from the franchise director and the heads of BioWare, and the franchise director even suggested they might make an FPS in the future in the original Game Informer article, so I'm imagining that Edmonton will help them put together an FPS-RPG before going on to make Mass Effect 4.

So what's the deal with Morrigan? That's the only interesting thing I remember from playing Origins. Are they going to touch on this subject in DA3?

Yes.

[Lancehead]

will people ever stop pretending that obsidian is anything other than an average as fuck developer no i dont want every damn rpg by them what the fuck is with this dick riding all of a sudden

You should first stop accusing others of pretence.

[subversus]

Yes, Montreal made the multiplayer and was originally making a Mass Effect downloadable FPS before it was "put on the backburner". Apparently the FPS also had quite a positive reaction from the franchise director and the heads of BioWare, and the franchise director even suggested they might make an FPS in the future in the original Game Informer article, so I'm imagining that Edmonton will help them put together an FPS-RPG before going on to make Mass Effect 4.

not sure how I feel about it being FPS and not TPS but we'll see.

[Nirolak]

not sure how I feel about it being FPS and not TPS but we'll see.

This could easily be wrong given the number of things BioWare ends up canning over time, but so far this is one they've hinted at a bit.

[hateradio]

also recurring characters are not excuse for less writing. Can't do - don't fucking promise. The Witcher 2 has more content based on your decisions than all Mass Effect games put together so I'm not interested in hearing Bioware's excuses.

This isn't even about DA anymore. :p

BioWare threads unite!

That was my biggest issue with ME3. We didn't learn anything new from anyone that we already had spoken to in the previous games, besides one or two incidental things. We didn't even learn much about Vega, and he's a new character!

[HK-47]

This isn't even about DA anymore. :p BioWare threads unite! That was my biggest issue with ME3. We didn't learn anything new from anyone that we already had spoken to in the previous games, besides one or two incidental things. We didn't even learn much about Vega, and he's a new character!

we learned Tali likes turian brandy. A little too much.

[Mario007]

I'm just curious how will BW do import data for DA games from current gen to next-gen consoles.

Btw people, not to sound dickish but there's ME3 threads for a reason. After all DA is developed by a completely different team from the ME team.

[subversus]

Also we learned that Wrex is too probably big to fit into the final cinematics. Everybody had them but Wrex.

[Nirolak]

They put up some of the art from the presentation in their character customization post: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/13/dacustomization/

There's more on the site along with a lot of text and a call for feedback on how it works.

Btw people, not to sound dickish but there's ME3 threads for a reason. After all DA is developed by a completely different team from the ME team.

At the highest level, yes, but outside of about ~30 people, the Edmonton team actually floats between the two projects and sometimes onto other projects like SWTOR.

But yes, fair point, this is meant to be a Dragon Age thread.

[hateradio]

I still prefer the first game's designs, but the blues on the Warder are so nice. The shoulder pads are too sharp, however. I hope they let that go.

[Mario007]

At the highest level, yes, but outside of about ~30 people, the Edmonton team actually floats between the two projects and sometimes onto other projects like SWTOR. But yes, fair point, this is meant to be a Dragon Age thread.

I didn't know that, thought they actually had two dedicated teams, but i guess the leads are the ones that really matter after all since they form the game.

Btw anyone know why BW decided to go with UE3 for ME and with Aurora (and unpotimased at that, looking at Witcher) for DA?

[subversus]

while we talk about DA here, the latest trends in Bioware games apply to all their franchises so we can extrapolate.

[Nirolak]

I didn't know that, thought they actually had two dedicated teams, but i guess the leads are the ones that really matter after all since they form the game. Btw anyone know why BW decided to go with UE3 for ME and with Aurora (and unpotimased at that, looking at Witcher) for DA?

Dragon Age 1 started development in 2003, before Unreal Engine 3 actually existed, and the game went off the rails for a while until it was finally cobbled together for a 2009 release.

Mass Effect was actually going to be on its own engine as well until it also completely derailed and they licensed the engine to try and get the action/shooting combat to a better state.

Dragon Age is mostly still on the engine because they're on a shorter schedule at this point, and with the next generation so close, it doesn't make that much sense to switch to a new engine until they are actually targeting the next generation platforms.

[hateradio]

Btw anyone know why BW decided to go with UE3 for ME and with Aurora (and unpotimased at that, looking at Witcher) for DA?

Maybe they had the Neverwinter Nights thing to go from, which is why they picked that engine? In the video I mentioned earlier, they mentioned that they used NWN to build some levels initially.

I wouldn't say that the version The Witcher used is optimized, it was very clunky on my machine, and it had a lot of screen tearing. The animations and models were also pretty bad and awkward. One thing it did have was nice settings both in- and outdoors.

As for ME, they probably just picked a popular engine for the 360, which happened to be UE3.

[Nirolak]

I feel it is worth noting that The Witcher 1 actually used both Aurora and Renderware shoved together into some unholy abomination that looked nice, but ran like ass.

[Zeliard]

Dragon Age 1 started development in 2003, before Unreal Engine 3 actually existed, and the game went off the rails for a while until it was finally cobbled together for a 2009 release.

I imagine it also features superior toolsets for party-based RPGs of that sort, or at least toolsets they're more immediately familiar with.

[Nirolak]

I imagine it also features superior toolsets for party-based RPGs of that sort, or at least toolsets they're more immediately familiar with.

Right, they were mentioning that it is built well to handle the party RPG part of this (such as the number of controllable and enemy characters).

I suspect they will switch to Frostbite 2 next generation though given that Repi noted he wasn't going to BioWare Edmonton "this time" on his Frostbite 2 tour and that even an RTS like Command & Conquer is running on the engine now.

[Mario007]

Dragon Age 1 started development in 2003, before Unreal Engine 3 actually existed, and the game went off the rails for a while until it was finally cobbled together for a 2009 release. Mass Effect was actually going to be on its own engine as well until it also completely derailed and they licensed the engine to try and get the action/shooting combat to a better state. Dragon Age is mostly still on the engine because they're on a shorter schedule at this point, and with the next generation so close, it doesn't make that much sense to switch to a new engine until they are actually targeting the next generation platforms.

Maybe they had the Neverwinter Nights thing to go from, which is why they picked that engine? In the video I mentioned earlier, they mentioned that they used NWN to build some levels initially. I wouldn't say that the version The Witcher used is optimized, it was very clunky on my machine, and it had a lot of screen tearing. The animations and models were also pretty bad and awkward. One thing it did have was nice settings both in- and outdoors. As for ME, they probably just picked a popular engine for the 360, which happened to be UE3.

Cheers for the info, guys. It's a shame that an engine from 2003 is being used on a game that comes out in 2011 (DAII) but oh well. Maybe they'll go with Frosbite 2 next time? I mean aren't all EA studios kinda moving to work with that engine?

I feel it is worth noting that The Witcher 1 actually used both Aurora and Renderware shoved together into some unholy abomination that looked nice, but ran like ass.

Re the witcher, i didn't know there were two engines. However, having played it on my brother's computer on the highest settings it looks MUCH better than DAO or DAII (especially the facial gestures and the facial movement in general).

[Zeliard]

Right, they were mentioning that it is built well to handle the party RPG part of this (such as the number of controllable and enemy characters). I suspect they will switch to Frostbite 2 next generation though given that Repi noted he wasn't going to BioWare Edmonton "this time" on his Frostbite 2 tour and that even an RTS like Command & Conquer is running on the engine now.

It'll be interesting to see how popular Frostbite 2 becomes as an engine with EA games.

[subversus]

c'mon, TW1 had no facial animations. If you talk about TW2 it just destroys most engines out there.

[hateradio]

Cheers for the info, guys. It's a shame that an engine from 2003 is being used on a game that comes out in 2011 (DAII) but oh well. Maybe they'll go with Frosbite 2 next time? I mean aren't all EA studios kinda moving to work with that engine? Re the witcher, i didn't know there were two engines. However, having played it on my brother's computer on the highest settings it looks MUCH better than DAO or DAII (especially the facial gestures and the facial movement in general).

From Wiki, DAO actually uses something called the Eclipse engine, and DAII uses something called the Lycium engine. I'm sure they're derivatives of Aurora.

I don't think that The Witcher's facial animations are better, imo. However, they did a really good job at creating glassy eyes.

[Mario007]

c'mon, TW1 had no facial animations. If you talk about TW2 it just destroys most engines out there.

From Wiki, DAO actually uses something called the Eclipse engine, and DAII uses something called the Lycium engine. I'm sure they're derivatives of Aurora. I don't think that The Witcher's facial animations are better, imo. However, they did a really good job at creating glassy eyes.

it may be because I played DAO and DAII on ps3 and TW one PC with highest settings (although it shouldn't matter due the age of the engine), but the facial animation and facial features seemed much more better done and detailed in TW. I agree though, TW2 blows all of the above games away graphically.

[dr_rus]

Unless the next Mass Effect is actually an FPS in the First Contact War

Which it likely will be considering all the "streamlining" done between ME1 and ME3.

[t-ramp]

I'm just wondering would people be more cool with DA IP if the second game wasn't advertised as full on sequel but rather as 'Dragone Age: Story of the Champion' where BW would say, 'listen guys, we're doing this to set up major events in the future games'? Because really if you treat DAII like that, it's a pretty good game.

So I'm not the only one... Although my imagined title is "Kirkwall: A Dragon Age Tale." Really, though, I thought DA2 was very fun and long enough. My biggest complaint actually was that some of the companions (Merrill, Fenris, Anders, Hawke's sibling) were boring. Loved Isabela, though, and Aveline and Varric were cool too.

In any event, I'll still be somewhat excited for Dragon Age 3.

[ced]

I just pounded through DA2 last week (thank god you can skip cutscenes etc.). I never bothered to finish the first time.

It's was still the huge POS I remembered. There are very few games I can think of that revolve around one shitty brown city, with maybe 3 different tile sets for the game.

The actually gameplay with auto attack on wasn't all too bad, but it's really unbelievable and unacceptable that the actual content was so slim. The dialog between characters was good as well.

I won't ever trust Bioware again with a full price purchase.

[Fimbulvetr]

There's more on the site along with a lot of text and a call for feedback on how it works.

Less emphasis on spikes, thank goodness.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Which it likely will be considering all the "streamlining" done between ME1 and ME3.

ME3 actually absorbed the ME FPS spin-off that they were working on at the time, apparently.

[Vamphuntr]

They put up some of the art from the presentation in their character customization post: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/13/dacustomization/ There's more on the site along with a lot of text and a call for feedback on how it works.

That's a pretty good compromise. You can change the armors of your teammates but at least they keep their own special touch so their outfits remain unique. From the QA at the end it really sounds like they are quite nervous to reveal the game.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

From the QA at the end it really sounds like they are quite nervous to reveal the game.

They had a panel which was basically an unofficial DA3 panel. Very tricky situation. Of course, Laidlaw made every possible shot he could.

Very weird allocation of time, going to another country in order to say "something is coming". It makes me really wonder if DA3 is their last chance at the franchise.

[Vamphuntr]

They had a panel which was basically an unofficial DA3 panel. Very tricky situation. Of course, Laidlaw made every possible shot he could. Very weird allocation of time, going to another country in order to say "something is coming". It makes me really wonder if DA3 is their last chance at the franchise.

Well it could be their last chance at making a big budget console/PC game for the franchise but you could be sure EA would milk the IP with facebook and iOS games. They're already making an anime and made that web series with Felicia Day so I doubt they will kill everything if DAIII underperforms. It's a shame because the DAO sold extremely well and they got lot of praise for it. Then came DAII which fans hated and which stopped selling soon after it came out.

It's still fairly weird to see them backed in a corner like that. After DA2 came out, they were defending the game actively and attacking their fans and now it seems they seek approval from these same fans on such simple things as the appearance of armors.

[HK-47]

Which it likely will be considering all the "streamlining" done between ME1 and ME3.

That would take some serious retcons of the First Contact War.

Quick, get Walters on the line. He can do it!

[Bpatrol]

Dragon Age 1 started development in 2003, before Unreal Engine 3 actually existed, and the game went off the rails for a while until it was finally cobbled together for a 2009 release. Mass Effect was actually going to be on its own engine as well until it also completely derailed and they licensed the engine to try and get the action/shooting combat to a better state.

Anywhere I can read about these development issues? I'd love to know how they both went off the rails.

[Nirolak]

Anywhere I can read about these development issues? I'd love to know how they both went off the rails.

Mass Effect has some details in the Final Hours story.

Dragon Age you would probably need to ask them on Twitter about because they mostly referred to it as "spinning their wheels for a long time", which well, given the huge ass development cycle makes sense.

[DTKT]

They put up some of the art from the presentation in their character customization post: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/13/dacustomization/ There's more on the site along with a lot of text and a call for feedback on how it works. At the highest level, yes, but outside of about ~30 people, the Edmonton team actually floats between the two projects and sometimes onto other projects like SWTOR. But yes, fair point, this is meant to be a Dragon Age thread.

Looks good!

Now, tell us something about the game. :|

[Patryn]

Looks good! Now, tell us something about the game. :|

We actually know quite a bit:

- Set in Orlais
- Cassandra and a (not THE) Grey Warden will be companions
- There will be other returning companions
- There will be new companions
- You will likely only pick one class specialization, with a specialization-specific quest(chain?)
- Dialogue wheel is returning
- Will be longer/larger than DA2, but smaller than DA:O
- Will likely revolve around the Chantry/Mage conflict
- Companions will have armor; armor will change their appearance
- Will have a central area for party to gather a la Party Camp, but won't be a camp; There will not be individual dwellings as in DA2

[DTKT]

We actually know quite a bit: - Set in Orlais - Cassandra and a (not THE) Grey Warden will be companions - There will be other returning companions - There will be new companions - You will likely only pick one class specialization, with a specialization-specific quest(chain?) - Dialogue wheel is returning - Will be longer/larger than DA2, but smaller than DA:O - Will likely revolve around the Chantry/Mage conflict - Companions will have armor; armor will change their appearance - Will have a central area for party to gather a la Party Camp, but won't be a camp; There will not be individual dwellings as in DA2

Sweet. Thanks.

Are they still using the Lycium engine?

[Piecake]

We actually know quite a bit: - Set in Orlais - Cassandra and a (not THE) Grey Warden will be companions - There will be other returning companions - There will be new companions - You will likely only pick one class specialization, with a specialization-specific quest(chain?) - Dialogue wheel is returning - Will be longer/larger than DA2, but smaller than DA:O - Will likely revolve around the Chantry/Mage conflict - Companions will have armor; armor will change their appearance - Will have a central area for party to gather a la Party Camp, but won't be a camp; There will not be individual dwellings as in DA2

Well, all of those are positives I guess. Though they need to actually do a good job of making a story out of the Chantry/Mage conflict since that part in DA2 was crap

[Nirolak]

Sweet. Thanks. Are they still using the Lycium engine?

While we don't know for sure, it's presumably a somewhat modified version of Lycium, which was a somewhat modified version of Eclipse.

I would be surprised if they had an actually new engine prior to next-gen.

To add one they've been hitting on a lot to Patryn's list, they want to add more activities that aren't combat or chatting.

[Elginer]

hope its frostbite engine

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Less emphasis on spikes, thank goodness.

Although that Grey Warden looks like something out of Warhammer or something. The shield looks like a small table and that one sword? Meh...I really just would love to see more arms and armor that aren't super stylized to the point of absurdity.

Mass Effect has some details in the Final Hours story. Dragon Age you would probably need to ask them on Twitter about because they mostly referred to it as "spinning their wheels for a long time", which well, given the huge ass development cycle makes sense.

As I recall from the old BioWare forums, the first screens they revealed when they "unveiled" Dragon Age back in 2004 on the NWN engine, they were mostly proof of concept and for several years they mostly just had a barebones crew of mostly writers making up the world. Then they started making the game on the Aurora engine and half way through ditched that for the Eclipse engine of Origins.

Brent Knowles' blog has a pretty good timeline of DA:O's development and gives an idea of what it was like. Just seems like it was sort of the secondary project for a long time.

[Pollux]

They put up some of the art from the presentation in their character customization post: http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/13/dacustomization/ There's more on the site along with a lot of text and a call for feedback on how it works. At the highest level, yes, but outside of about ~30 people, the Edmonton team actually floats between the two projects and sometimes onto other projects like SWTOR. But yes, fair point, this is meant to be a Dragon Age thread.

The armor design except for the female in the first image is already heads and shoulders above DA2.