BioWare: Dragon Age 3 "looks stunningly beautiful", "people won't be disappointed"
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Yeah, you're right. They make good games, but they have this tremendous propensity to fuck up
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
Yeah, they're not too bad minus the spiky armor. That's one of the problems with Dragon Age which that little interview highlighted, is that with Origins and DA2 there seems to be a pretty big gap in between the feel of the concept art and the actual final visuals in the game. I would hope they add some variety to enemies like Hurlocks or Darkspawn though. Whatever your thoughts on the design, it was silly seeing them have the same copy/paste details. I'm sure it happens in other games but in DA2 it was really noticeable with every hurlock having the same blood pattern coming down there face or the same rips and tears in their armor.
Beyond the look however was the ridiculous running animation that made them hop around like the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. These are supposed to be super threatening darkspawn monsters and they were hopping around like chimps.
Yeah, although you read big media outlet reviews for Origins and one of the big complaints were the graphics. To some extent that held true with DA2.
I think how BioWare ends up designing a lot of their games is to cull reviews for points of criticism and basically use that feedback to try and get their next game a higher review score by specifically addressing certain review points. It might have been on Gamasutra, but I recall an interview with a BioWare developer back when ME2 was coming out, they said basically that: that they try to make a "review proof" game.
That'll be one of my big question marks. Even if they release gorgeous screenshots, if the animation sucks, thats a killer, especially everything else looks good visually. Given how much dialogue is usually in a BioWare game and how BioWare wants to go for even more cinematics and cutscenes, I'd hope they're stepping their game up with the animations.
Trogdor1123
Member
Wont this make people even more disappointed when it comes out?
What ever happened to underpromise and over deliver?
What ever happened to underpromise and over deliver?
EA may not be to blame for the shitty writing, but they sure as hell do not help matters by forcing a near-impossible schedule on games in genres that require longer development time.
It's basically impossible to craft a modern AAA RPG in less than 2 years.
Both DA2 and ME3 should have had an additional year in the oven.
Just by looking at the screenshots (and only playing the demo), everything looked way too brown, and the character models were very simplistic. The Dragon Age series just never looked appealing at all graphically; Mass Effect looks much better.
That's because Mass Effect has a semi-original setting. While obviously influenced by '70s and '80s sci-fi, when Mass Effect 1 hit it didn't look like anything else. Yes, that originality diminished later on in the series as it got closer to the stereotypical space marine look, but I'd still argue that it has a definite look of its own.
Dragon Age is just generic fantasy setting #137.
Yeah, but I find the usage of colors and the landscapes in Skyrim (character design is still hideous) or Witcher 2, other typical western RPG fantasy settings, to look much much much more attractive. (disclaimer: primary artistic preference is bright and colorful Japanese games like Ni No Kuni and Xenoblade)
I mean, I do like to rip on western games for being all "grey and brown and muted color palettes"... but Dragon Age 2 takes it to a new level. Like, back to the days of Quake (which at least had the excuse of an engine limitation to explain its brown-heavy palette). Hell I've seen more color in even the Gears series.
Alcoholikaust
Member
Shit mountain: Revengeance
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
I think one of the major failings of Dragon Age is that it has shit lighting. If you compare it to the likes of The Witcher or Skyrim, those games have a much greater sense of place and atmosphere due (among other things) to pretty good looking lighting systems. Day/night cycles help too, but the lighting in both Origins and DA2 often feels extremely dated and static.
DouglasteR
Member
After DA2 and ME3 - Bioware must FIRST deliver and then (when allowed) speak.
Until there, stfu please.
Until there, stfu please.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
They'll probably wait until Mass Effect 4 bombs.
Yeah, I'm always amused by the fact that they seem to be aiming for TES numbers while completely ignoring the TES development schedule.
A classic case of having and eating your cake.
Bethesda is actually really efficient.
A one team, ~100 person studio produced:
2006.) Oblivion
2008.) Fallout 3
2011.) Skyrim
And they did a bunch of DLC while doing all this along with revamping their engine.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Fallout 4 out in 2014 despite switching generations and having multiple digital expansion packs for Skyrim.
I'm currently playing through Dragon's Dogma and on more than one occasion it's reminded me of Dragon Age 2. Somewhat similar combat setup in terms of controls, though in DragDog you can't pause or take control of any other party mates, and it doesn't interconnect class abilities like DA does.
Oh and it's, you know, really really good, which is a bit different than the direction they took Dragon Age 2 in. But still, when I hear "Skyrim" influence mentioned by team members working on it, along with their insistence that it will be still retain certain elements of DA2, it makes me think that, done right, we could get something like DragDog with more narrative.
Man, Dragon's Dogma is a really really good game. I'd much prefer DD2 than DA3. Give me a new world, some new quests, and some new monsters to climb on, and polish that shit right up and I'll spend whatever the asking price is for it, because fuck me DragDog is good.
This is the third post about DragDog I've made today in threads not about DragDog. Maybe I should stop talking about DragDog.
DragDog.
Oh and it's, you know, really really good, which is a bit different than the direction they took Dragon Age 2 in. But still, when I hear "Skyrim" influence mentioned by team members working on it, along with their insistence that it will be still retain certain elements of DA2, it makes me think that, done right, we could get something like DragDog with more narrative.
Man, Dragon's Dogma is a really really good game. I'd much prefer DD2 than DA3. Give me a new world, some new quests, and some new monsters to climb on, and polish that shit right up and I'll spend whatever the asking price is for it, because fuck me DragDog is good.
This is the third post about DragDog I've made today in threads not about DragDog. Maybe I should stop talking about DragDog.
DragDog.
Meccanical
Member
It's almost like it's a whole entertainment package.
I felt the same way. DD is a good template for Bioware to reference if they're stuck on the whole action-rpg angle (even though fans just want more Origins).
That's kinda harsh.
Randolph Freelander
Member
And yet the truth.
Looking at the the quality of those games, I kind of wish they were less efficient.
While I see your spoiler your opinion has nothing to do with the fact that these games are quality, just not in areas you want them to be. If Bioware did their job as good as Bethesda I'd still be playing their games despite their new direction.
Randolph Freelander
Member
I believe he meant to say TOR.
Well at least they're aiming high:
Effective spending of company money... showcase game in environment that only 0.0001% of the gamers will have access to.
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
Good thing average videocards will surpass the performance of a 690 a year or two from now.
I can taste the salt from here.
? Not really. I assume the early dev build actually doesn't run very well, hence the 690 being useful if they are trying to showcase it.
I definitely agree with you, but unless you're aiming at a certain height you don't need a GTX 690 to power through your inefficiencies.