Support NeoGAF

[Gbraga]

I like Vivienne. Hmm

 

[Ashtar]

So we can finally make black people in DA? Where have they been hiding all this time?

Dang Black ppl in DA..... Day 1 purchase! actually it was day 1 regardless, I didn't know you couldn't be black before.

 

[N7Commander95]

Confirmed in. Only thing you can't be a female of is the dwarf.

What? Of course you can

A Dwarf can't be mage though

 

[Lulubop]

She's pretty hot.

 

[Nirolak]

What? I'm sure you can

Yeah that picture I posted at the bottom of the last page was their example female dwarf player model.

 

[Some Nobody]

So we can finally make black people in DA? Where have they been hiding all this time?

Watch them find a way to cheat us out of it anyway.

Normally, I don't much care about representation of my own race in video games but cool black characters in high fantasy is so rare I pretty much always go for it when the option is presented.

 

[Nirolak]

Dang Black ppl in DA..... Day 1 purchase! actually it was day 1 regardless, I didn't know you couldn't be black before.

Apparently they wanted to include black people in previous games but their lighting engine was so bad it just made things look cartoonishly racist.

 

[foxtrot3d]

Apparently they wanted to include black people in previous games but their lighting engine was so bad it just made things look cartoonishly racist.

Well, as a black man I always made my character in DA look black or well as close to it as you could get in those games. However, my problem has always been this with regards to games that let you create your own characters, where are all the black hairstyles? Even if a game lets you create a black characeter they almost never have that many black hairstyles, you get maybe an Afro, a buzz cutt, and some dreads or cornrows (lol) and that's it. Cmon yall, do the work create more than 2-4 black hairstyles, you already have over 25 vastly different white dude and female hair cuts.

I will say though Mass Effect is one of the few games where you can create a pretty darn good looking black character.

 

[ironcreed]

I swear Vivienne has the best character design in a Bioware game. She is just so awesome

She looks awesome indeed. I foresee her becoming a favorite.

 

[anexanhume]

?

I could have sworn there was a tweet confirming this but when I searched I found out the opposite. Not sure why I thought that.

https://twitter.com/Mike_Laidlaw/status/409430001797181440

@grayheart09 Sure: can be male/female. Race choices are human, elf, dwarf, qunari.

What? Of course you can

A Dwarf can't be mage though

That's probably it.

 

[bigboss370]

I swear Vivienne has the best character design in a Bioware game. She is just so awesome

i just wish she wasn't bald/shaved head without the headgear though.

 

[N7Commander95]

i just wish she wasn't bald/shaved head without the headgear though.

Hoping to god its a short - weave, and when she's chilling the Inquisition HQ she lets it all down like a L'Oreal Commercial.

That got weird

 

[Curious_George]

New screenies! Dat hat

Assuming that's leather armor, rogue will definitely be my first playthrough character. I want that hat!

 

[N7Commander95]

Assuming that's leather armor, rogue will definitely be my first playthrough character. I want that hat!

Omg yes the Pimp Hat!

 

[NoSkillz187]

Well, as a black man I always made my character in DA look black or well as close to it as you could get in those games. However, my problem has always been this with regards to games that let you create your own characters, where are all the black hairstyles? Even if a game lets you create a black characeter they almost never have that many black hairstyles, you get maybe an Afro, a buzz cutt, and some dreads or cornrows (lol) and that's it. Cmon yall, do the work create more than 2-4 black hairstyles you already have over 25 vastly different white dude and female hair cuts.

I will say though Mass Effect is one of the few games where you can create a pretty darn good looking black character.

Yeah I always make a black male if they allow it in games. Skyrim actually had some nice hairstyles for black characters as well. In DA i ended up just making a really tan white dude, lol. I still plan on going female Qunari for my first play through of DA3 though.

 

[UnrealEck]

The entire model looks like it's shining. Textures aren't that detailed either. I guess I expected more aft er seeing those environments. Maybe they'll improve them later.

 

[anexanhume]

The entire model looks like it's shining. Textures aren't that detailed either. I guess I expected more aft er seeing those environments. Maybe they'll improve them later.

I think it's the way they are lighting the models. Cassandra and Varric look shiny too in the character renders. But in the in-engine trailer, that wasn't an issue.

 

[Subitai]

Shiney!

I don't care as long as they keep combo burst damage pwnage for my mage and ranged rogue.

 

[Stealthcobra]

this game has the potential to be awesome and have a ton of content.....makes you wonder how the heck elder scrolls online thinks a sub model will work.

 

[Ridesh]

The entire model looks like it's shining. Textures aren't that detailed either. I guess I expected more aft er seeing those environments. Maybe they'll improve them later.

Vivienne looks magnificent, Cassandra not so much.

It's like Vivienne was modeled from a real person and Cassandra was made with the editor.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Well, as a black man I always made my character in DA look black or well as close to it as you could get in those games. However, my problem has always been this with regards to games that let you create your own characters, where are all the black hairstyles? Even if a game lets you create a black characeter they almost never have that many black hairstyles, you get maybe an Afro, a buzz cutt, and some dreads or cornrows (lol) and that's it. Cmon yall, do the work create more than 2-4 black hairstyles, you already have over 25 vastly different white dude and female hair cuts.

I will say though Mass Effect is one of the few games where you can create a pretty darn good looking black character.

I'm guessing that complicated hairstyles would have to be animated, and maybe for an afro you might have clipping or camera issues because of its size. That's probably why hairstyles are mostly close-cut and short.

 

[anexanhume]

Vivienne looks magnificent, Cassandra not so much.

It's like Vivienne was modeled from a real person and Cassandra was made with the editor.

That wouldn't be implausible. ME characters have been a mix of generated and modeled. Sometimes after the voice actor , and sometimes not. Sometimes only the head.

 

[T.O.P]

New Screenshot

damn

 

[foxtrot3d]

I'm guessing that complicated hairstyles would have to be animated, and maybe for an afro you might have clipping or camera issues because of its size. That's probably why hairstyles are mostly close-cut and short.

Nah man, think about all the crazy white people flowing hair, black people hair should be a breeze to model in comparison. Our hair is static, it doesn't blow in the wind.

Just look at this sexy beast, it ain't too hard to do this:

 

[Deified Data]

Sad there's no Qunari or Dwarf waifu...

So we can finally make black people in DA? Where have they been hiding all this time?

I'm 99% certain you've always been able to do this.

 

[The Smoking Bun]

I have decided that my character will be: Female Qunari Mage with cowboy hat and long cape. Should preferably have a southern drawl. Ah have always depended on the kindness of the Qun

Besides the Cowboy hat, any other anachronisms we know about?

Sad there's no Qunari or Dwarf waifu....

I pretty sure the Qun demands certain Quanri to fulfill this all important role. They must all be with the Qunari Weeboes

 

[foxtrot3d]

Sad there's no Qunari or Dwarf waifu...



I'm 99% certain you've always been able to do this.

Nope.

This is about as close to black as you could get in DAII, and as far as hairstyles go you either had the buzz cut as below or those ugly dreads:

 

[SnakeEyes]

Female Qunari pls

Well, they've been in the comics so...

 

[UrbanRats]

They have a few in game ones they've posted lately for how they look there.

That looks damn good to me.

The background is a bit too clean and clinical though.
Those textures could use some dust or a little dirt here and there, just to vary things up.

 

[Deified Data]

Nope.

This is about as close to black as you could get in DAII, and as far as hairstyles go you either had the buzz cut as below or those ugly dreads:

Ah, I see. Guess I misremembered.

 

[Ridesh]

That looks damn good to me.

The background is a bit too clean and clinical though.
Those textures could use some dust or a little dirt here and there, just to vary things up.

I guess that's the royal palace of Val Royeaux, that's why it's so clean.

 

[Enduin]

FYI it seems that English voice overs will come in the British and American variety. Which isn't much of a surprise really. I'm guessing more deep American accent vs lighter British one. I wonder which nation will prevail. I figure I'm gonna go for a Female Qunari mage my first go might go for a sarcastic British VO.

English VoiceOver will support a British and American accent for the main character.

 

[Tagg9]

FYI it seems that English voice overs will come in the British and American variety. Which isn't much of a surprise really. I'm guessing more deep American accent vs lighter British one. I wonder which nation will prevail. I figure I'm gonna go for a Female Qunari mage my first go might go for a sarcastic British VO.

https://twitter.com/Mike_Laidlaw/status/451728569035522048

That's awesome. British all the way!

 

[Ridesh]

Another new pic:

The Exalted Plains of the Dales are characterized by equal measures of beauty and strife. It was here, centuries ago, that the elven nation met its bitter end. On these fields, the holdouts of the elven army faced the forces of the human Chantry and died, defending their promised land to the last breath. This legacy of conflict has endured, and battle once again rages in the Dales.

The Exalted Plains are now a contested battleground in the Orlesian civil war, and soldiers fight and die here in vast numbers. As the boundaries of reality weaken across Thedas, the memory of injustices past and present draws the attention of restless spirits who rise to possess the dead and stalk the living across the blood-steeped earth.

 

[charsace]

Apparently they wanted to include black people in previous games but their lighting engine was so bad it just made things look cartoonishly racist.

Dat real lighting. So real that you can't put black people in your game.

 

[Ridesh]

Another:

And Cullen was practically confirmed as a companion, so it seems that this caricature of the companions may be accurate

 

[Enduin]

Can't say I'm all that interested in Cullen being a companion. Dude was boring in DAO and boring in DA2. I'd much prefer a lady dwarf companion or Cole. But if Dramatic Hands guy turns out to be the Tevinter Magister Dorian, I'll be happy.

We currently don't have a healer and I would love it if he was an Arcane Warrior in the vein of a Cleric/Paladin. Focusing on melee combat and healing.

I really wish the companions were a bit more varied in their classes, though I know a lot of people don't care for that and want clean slates to make their own things. In a best of both worlds approach it would be nice if DAI had the freedom on companion skills as DAO was, offering several specializations that we the PC are open to, but also still offering the companion specific specialization that was in DA2.

So in the case of the hypothetical Dorian he would have the option of three or so Specializations outside the main Mage path. So 1-2/3 would be normal stuff like Blood Mage, Force Mage, etc but the last would be specific to him a combo of Arcane Warrior and Spirit Healer. Like Merrill's Dalish Pariah.

 

[Bessy67]

Kinect voice commands confirmed. Hopefully they'll be similar to what Mass Effect 3 and Skyrim did.

http://www.totalxbox.com/74933/kinect-voice-commands-planned-for-dragon-age-inquisition/

 

[Kirie]

Cassandra and Cullen were confirmed for romances today at the PAX East panel. Lady Insanity should have her write up on the event soon since she was there. I also think Bioware recorded it, so I'm assuming it should be out by today or maybe next week.

 

[Ridesh]

"Within the Dales, the Exalted Plains is a massive stretch of land ravaged by civil war and ripe for exploration in Dragon Age: Inquisition. As each distinct areas of the Exalted Plains has its own complex ecosystem, creating the Plains’ physical space in the game was no easy task."

“The first thing we [did] was try to portray the civil war and the impact it’s having on the environment and the people of that region,” says senior environment artist Andrew Farrell. “In these spaces, we try to provide opportunities for the Inquisition to come in and make its mark on the area. Then the people there rally around that.”

The Inquisition arrives at the Exalted Plains during a ceasefire between two armies at war. The bodies of fallen soldiers mysteriously rose from the dead and have driven the armies back to their respective castles in retreat.

As this is the Dales, one might wonder: what’s become of the Dalish elves?

“They’ve retreated into an area with more security away from all the fighting,” explains Farrell. “Of course, they’ve got a few problems of their own.”

The Crow Fens is one section of the Exalted Plains. In contrast to the sprawling hills elsewhere in the area, the Fens is claustrophobic, creating tension as you wonder what lies in wait for you around the next corner. According to Farrell, the Fens was the perfect playground for his imagination to run wild.

Using the power of the Frostbite 3 game engine and next-generation technology, utilizing water in levels is one of the achievements the team is most proud of.

“Interactive water is one of the key things we’ve added to next-gen,” says lead environment artist Ben McGrath. “It’s got realistic reflections, and also realistically ripples and splashes as you walk through it.”

This is all made possible by a technology advancement known as “displacement mapping”. McGrath describes the benefits it adds to the game:

“Displacement mapping adds a new level of realism to the environment. Normal maps [in previous-gen technology] brought great detail to surfaces, but displacement mapping actually pushes those details out so you can see them in the silhouette. The place where it’s probably the most noticeable is on terrain. Pebbles, sand ripples, cobblestones, and other details all pop out from the terrain and make it far more detailed than ever before.”

Once an area is built, its ecosystem brings it to life. While exploring the Exalted Plains, you’re likely to see the halla, birds, and wolves that have made it home. Make your way into the Crow Fens, and you’ll find yourself amidst drakes, dragonlings, and dragonkin.

Don’t let the looming threat of danger deter you from adventuring, however.

“Get off the beaten path!” says Farrell. “Just like exploring in real life, look under all the rocks, under all the bridges, and in all dark corners of the map. Take the path less-traveled and you might something interesting… or surprising.”

As expansive as the Exalted Plains is, Farrell and McGrath agree that you shouldn’t worry too much about missing anything, because you can return to it at any time.

“You won’t be locked out of an area,” Farrell says. “We’ve got a lot of space, so you definitely don’t need to try and see everything on your first playthrough.”

http://blog.bioware.com/2014/04/11/exploring-the-dales-exalted-plains/

 

[ironcreed]

Lawds. The art direction and visuals in general are a quantum leap in terms of improvement.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

And Cullen was practically confirmed as a companion, so it seems that this caricature of the companions may be accurate

Only 3 women and 6 guys? Hope not. Idk who that dude with the trident is but lets go ahead and make him a dwarf or qunari lady.

 

[Ridesh]

Only 3 women and 6 guys? Hope not. Idk who that dude with the trident is but lets go ahead and make him a dwarf or qunari lady.

Uhm, there's something weird.

Supposedly, in the recent PAX conference BioWare said that we will get 3 warriors / 3 rogues / 3 mages.

Cassandra is a confirmed warrior, The Iron Bull uses a two-handed sword = warrior, and the Grey Warden, who has been seen in video footage as part of the party is also a warrior.

So there's a chance that Cullen will not be a companion but some kind of agent of the Inquisition, like Wrex, Mordin and Legion in ME3.


The guy with the staff-trident seems to be a Tevinter magister named Dorian.

 

[Enduin]

Cullen really needs to just be the Templar representative in our Inquisition Counsel. He has no business being a companion, dude is dull as dishwater. Plus after his role as Knight Captain in Kirkwall during DA2 and being the sole source of sanity in that Templar group I would think he would be promoted quite high in the order. Plus since Lambert's overthrow of the Templars and taking a ton of them into his Seeker army to attack the mages and this new offshoot of the Red Templars, there's bound to be a lot of vacancies in the the upper Templar ranks.

If we are getting 3/3/3 for each class I would assume Cole and Dorian will be final companions, rogue and mage respectively, at least from the known possibles we've heard about in leaks and such. It would be nice to get another girl in there, especially dwarven though. Sigrun was the shit in Awakening, and a female Dwarf to toy with Varric would be funny. And while Cole is rather fascinating, especially as possible insight to the Fade and the events of DAI, I still really want Dorian over him because I really want a Tevinter mage. I want to have a good source of info on the Imperium since all we've gotten so far was the bitter tales from Fenris in DA2.

Plus we would be getting a very well rounded view of Mages with Vivienne, Solas and Dorian. One a strong supporter of the Circles, Solas an apostate mage and Dorian the product of magocracy where even blood magic is tacitly approved of. We don't need a Cullen to bring in the Templar view because Cassandra will more than likely be that voice of authority and caution given her views on mages.

 

[grin and bear it]

.

This looks to me like an arcane warrior not a rogue. They bringing back this specialization?

Also, Vivienne looks really nice, as do the environments. Curious to see how the game turns out after release. My love for Origins hopes it'll be good.

 

[Enduin]

This looks to me like an arcane warrior not a rogue. They bringing back this specialization?

Also, Vivienne looks really nice, as do the environments. Curious to see how the game turns out after release. My love for Origins hopes it'll be good.

I hope so. I want Dorian to be one, or at least be able to be one if hes a companion. And a Qunari mage would make for a pretty awesome Arcane warrior. I think I'm going female Qunari mgae my first or second run at least so that would be pretty boss.

 

[Memorabilia]

Well, as a black man I always made my character in DA look black or well as close to it as you could get in those games. However, my problem has always been this with regards to games that let you create your own characters, where are all the black hairstyles? Even if a game lets you create a black characeter they almost never have that many black hairstyles, you get maybe an Afro, a buzz cutt, and some dreads or cornrows (lol) and that's it. Cmon yall, do the work create more than 2-4 black hairstyles, you already have over 25 vastly different white dude and female hair cuts.

I will say though Mass Effect is one of the few games where you can create a pretty darn good looking black character.

Whats wrong with cornrows? ~

 

[Some Nobody]

Whats wrong with cornrows? ~

Who trying to rock struggle braids in 2014?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Wow, she got some biiiiiig lips.

PRE-ORDER CONFIRMED.

 

[Enduin]

Bunch of new info from the last BioWare PAX panel was written up by an attending blogger. Other info came out from the entire event as well though. Don't know if there's a big roundup anywhere of all the confirmed info though. Stuff like the comments on there being 3 of each class for companions, Iron Bull being a 2h warrior, and Cassandra and Cullen being romanceable.

"If we do our job, you’ll tell us in 6 months. Probably on a forum somewhere."

The Panel

• Andrew Farrell, Senior Artist
• Dean Roskell, Senior Level Designer
• Jason Barlow, Development Manager
• Leah Shinkewski, Associate Producer (DA Keep)
• Mike Laidlaw, Creative Director
• David Hulegaard, Community Manager (and panel’s Moderator)

"[Bioware] spent a long time in pre-production," as Frostbite originally was used for first-person shooters like Battlefield 4. Everything was hacked by the level designers to prepare for dialogue, communication, and other Dragon Age elements.

Adventuring

The Frostbite engine allows Dragon Age: Inquisition to implement and use big spaces. Players will travel through multiple regions, similarly to Origins of a fast-travel across the nation. The developers have kept three goals in mind:

1. Area Variety. Keep the environments fresh and organic for the player to explore.
2. Make the areas significant. “Why is the Inquisitor here?” Each place has purpose.
3. Re-discover discovery. Allowing players to traverse the world in any direction they want to go.

The Inquisitor will experience and shape the world through directly influencing the world. With the antagonist hidden and an environment clouded in conspiracy, soldiers are uprooting evildoers at your command and the Inquisition is gaining prestige and power. Your party is the “vanguard” that heads change. By sending troops to fix towers and gain extra areas, your power rises. You, as the Inquisitor, have very unique abilities, involved with closing the rifts, that no other man or woman can do. It’s up to you how to handle the chaos in the world.

Because of multiple regions, every level offers its own challenge. Enemies are unique to the ecosystem, while environmental elements like desert ruins or the coastline with steep hills offer different conflict.

Highlands

A snowy area where “something goes wrong” and may force conflict with the Red Templars (templars influenced by red, raw lyrium). The location is not simply a small camp - it’s a territory strongly owned and enforced by the Red Templars. The Inquisition’s job, if the player chooses to engage this area at all, is to keep the front moving into this entrenched area by slowly pushing up the mountain.

The main base of operations is protected in the back. War camps protect the front. Red crystals scatter across the snowy fields. It’s impossible to freely roam this area, as the soldiers litter across the war camps, until the Inquisitor and armies complete certain tasks to alleviate the Red Templar command.

Highlands is a Tier-2 encounter, scripted like a puzzle. They are not simple highwaymen walking down some path; it’s an army. The Red Templar faction is a full force, dabbling in powerful lyrium and gaining new powers. However, it’s hard to leave them alone, as their base is a big supply position and its continued presence will only help the Red Templars thrive.

Beyond the Red Templars, the Behemoth will be a challenging opponent. A great creature of raw, red power that influences the environment around it. As it will stand firm, with the help of other templars to distract, it’s up to the Inquisitor’s judgement how to handle such a strong opponent.

The quest line is a terrible risk, but the prize… “You may have gone somewhere else entirely. Like not going to this area at all, but still progressing in this part of the game.” You can drive the story without needing to stop to help at every turn, though it may help the Inquisition for better purposes. Gold is the most immediate treasure, but influence and a new location of a good supply position will help. Your choice.

(Small note: A character from The Masked Empire will appear in the Highlands. It apparently makes sense that they are present.)

Hunting and Gathering

If you want to go dragon hunting, you can. If you want to pick herbs, you can. If you want to hunt deer or nugs (HOW DARE YOU), you can.

Keep in mind that ecosystems deplete over time, if you hastily wipe out an area. Sometimes you will have to wait for certain areas to repopulate. The developers are not encouraging grinding/farming in these systems, but to make sure that the ecosystem is organic to how an area would naturally feel.

Kill a few wolves. Let them live. Come back a few times every now and then, and you get a new coat. Maybe down the line, you’ll make a pair of shoes.

But, kill them all at the same time and you might wait be out of luck the next time you need fancy armor.

Short Things

• Elfroot is rare
• Specific kills against a creature faction will benefit combat against that faction in the future
• "Big *** creepy spiders" are in caves. And possibly in crates. Do not open. (You’ve been warned)
• Time to crate, a term to describe “how long does your game manage until you have to break a crate”
• A Moment for Combat

Traps, stealth, and abilities were improved to help preemptively plan for battle. Walls of ice (edit: magically made ice walls) and blockades will force archers to move into line of sight.

Dragons

Dragons are designed to rip your head off. Good luck getting in direct contact enough to swing a blade, as they are terrifyingly difficult encounters. In most cases, you will target the limbs enough to attack the head. Dragons have dynamic flight patterns, where it adjusts to certain details: your health, your in-combat/out-of-combat status, and your location. However, dragons are not simply generating out of the sky; each dragon is an individually scripted encounter. It exists for its environment.

Preparing to kill a dragon is your first step. Gearing and preparing your party is second. Dragon hunting alone is giving yourself quests, as many prerequisites exist to not get utterly torched by one.

Quick tip: THE FLOOR IS LAVA.

Ah, well. Not really. Just a tip that dragons can scorch the earth and its fire can damage an Inquisitor’s pretty feet.

DA Keep

The free, web-based experience Keep will “allow you to shape and share your experiences”. The best part of Keep is its ability to help discover and illustrate new areas that the player may have not seen before. Developers are happy with using Keep, as it builds confidence in making sure it’s not detrimental whether the player has or has not played Origins or 2. Going into the future, the Keep will be an effective tool in helping players import worlds and share stories with others.

Quick Answers

Happenings outside the DA games franchise (i.e books, movies) will relate in the timeline of all events. - Mike Laidlaw, said right before The Masked Empire being referenced in Inquisition

Day and Night cycles? No, as it is driven by story. Not on a dynamic system, as a stylistic choice. This way, different environments can have very strong atmosphere and mood in sync with the crafted music and script. On a long term basis, however, it is something the developers may look into.

Weather changes? Yes, as demonstrated by the rain in the Dragon Age: World of Thedas environmental trailer.

Overworld travel map is currently instant-fast travel between nations. Random encounters experienced in between fast-travel, like Origin’s system, is still being investigated and nailed down by the developers. The issue is that entering an area involves scripted encounters for your base. The context of the game has changed so much that it feels unnecessary, but is still being evaluated for Inquisition.

Elements from the novel Asunder will, at the very least, be explored. At least one character from Asunder will appear.

No MMO planned, as of now. While they do have gameplay fundamentals mirroring MMO-mechanics, they want to concentrate on building story. Experience is for “one player coordinating actions of the party”.

Scouts are sent out to show possible places to overtake, like old keeps or outposts. They will tell you the initial storyline and purpose/advantage for the Inquisitor to venture out. These bases captured will be safe harbors for that regional area, once claimed.

I like that they seem to be focusing on players preparing for their expeditions out into the world. Removing regenerating health, limiting potions you can carry, and the resources to make healing potions and limits on how much mages can heal, if at all. They seem to be going for a somewhat quasi-simulation aspect of the game with all that plus things like environmental weather and animal populations and how our interactions with them affect things.

I really really hope the Dragon hunts live up to their statements. I really want to have to investigate and track down dragons and seriously prepare for fights against them. I'll be really sad if I can just go after one with barely any real forethought or preparation and take them down. I want to really be pushed in order to take one of these things down.