Dragon AgeWhat the hell...?
BioWare returns home to PC roleplaying with Dragon Age
Platform: PC
Publisher: BioWare
Developer: BioWare
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: RPG
Recommended by 15 out of 15 users.
by GFW Staff 12/07/2006
Click here to find out more!
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So now it falls to Dragon Age, the company's first PC-only RPG since 2002's Neverwinter Nights, to set things right. Join us now for the world's first look at this spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate; then hear what BioWare cofounders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka have to say about roleplaying's past, present, and future.
It's only 10 in the morning, but Dragon Age project director Scott Greig has already bled for his game today.
"I managed to slice my hand on one of the practice swords," Greig says, pulling the culprit from its sheath, taking care not to disturb the fresh bandage between his thumb and index finger. "Who would have thought they'd be sharp? But it's nice having doctors on the premises...and it's, um, interesting that you can send out an IM to one guy in the company and the next day your office is filled with swords and giant axes."
Greig has been with BioWare for nearly 11 years--the first official employee of the company cofounded by doctors/game geeks Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka. Raised as lead programmer on Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, Greig is no stranger to BioWare role-playing games--or the complex process of making them. And today isn't the first time he's taken up arms for Dragon Age's cause.Okay.
Some recurring themes in our BioWare tour: Dragon Age's Eclipse engine tools are built to iterate, iterate, iterate; good games require a lot of back-and-forth at the back end...without having to worry too much about production time; and if a level, game, or section is just not fun, it's just not done.
Most of Dragon Age's production efforts till now have focused on creating powerful tools, but Greig says the content will come together quickly enough for a winter 2007/early 2008 release. The tools will be made public in some form, but don't expect the ease of use of Neverwinter Nights' construction kit.Hey, at least they plan to still release the SDK. :)
"It's going to take more time for the basic user to make levels," says level artist Andrew Farrell, demonstrating advanced techniques such as the ability to create overhangs in the terrain. "But there's a lot more power, and the levels will be a lot better."Interesting.
"When we started concepting what Dragon Age's combat would be, we wanted to get a tight visual reference for the combat team," he says. "So myself, [lead animator] John Santos, and a couple others got a bunch of swords and shields and sticks and stuff and went to the parkade--the parking lot of one of Edmonton's malls--and set up a video camera on the second floor, looking down, so we could film it from the game point of view. We were out there hitting each other and going, 'I think the shield bash should be like this!' as a bunch of people across the street watched from their balcony with binoculars. Then a woman in a pickup truck came and said, 'What are you doing? This is private property!" and...well, let's say she escorted us off the premises."LOL!
Greig and Santos show off the fruit of their loiterous LARPing in an early prototype of Dragon Age's tactical combat system. A player character in ratty armor with a shield and sword comes across three ugly orcish things in the street. At first, the camera is behind the player's shoulder--"Explore Mode," Greig calls it--but as the enemies take notice and move in to attack, the camera swings up to a nearly top-down, parkade-inspired perspective. Greig explains that you can issue commands to your party (four characters all told, at least for now) in real time, pause the action, and queue up spells and special attacks--comforting words for anyone who's ventured through Baldur's Gate. As the quartet trades blows, swords clash against swords, and weapons don't just whoosh through the enemy's polygons--they react. When the deadlock breaks, the hero raises his shield to block the foe to the side, and then swivels to the third to knock him to the ground with a shield bash.Sounds sweet.
"We wanted to make sure that when you look at a fight, it's not just swing, swing, swing...we want to make it look like these guys are actually fighting and reacting. And we're making sure group combat is really cool--it's not just two guys fighting; you can actually have synchronized attacks with the people around you, too."That sounds cool.
"Instead of people standing toe-to-toe," adds Santos, "you're actually seeing people duck and move and attack. Every time they get hit, you feel for them because they just got bashed in the head with something really heavy.Sweet.
"Have you ever seen that HBO series Rome? Take a look at the gladiator fight in episode 11 and you'll get a good idea of what we're thinking of."I didn't care for HBO's series "Rome" too much.
Large-scale combat is also on the top of Greig's mind--no surprise for a game where here, one naturally assumes, there be dragons. "Remember the cave troll fight in The Fellowship of the Ring? That's what our large creature combat is going to be like. You've got the party guys running out, one guy jumping up on the back and stabbing, the other guy ducking between the legs." Objects in the environment can be manipulated in your bid for tactical supremacy: Knock over a table to fire arrows or shoot fireballs from behind cover, but only where it makes sense--emergence be damned, in BioWare's reckoning. "There will be a lot of ways of going through combat, and lots of different ways to interact with the environment...but our philosophy is that handcrafted is always better than random stuff."Niccccccccccccce.
DRAGON YEAR ZEROCool. I still can't wait for DA. :)
Step back in time to E3, 2004 AD, when BioWare teased PC RPG fandom with a brief glimpse of Dragon Age for the first (and for the past two-plus years, only) time. "That," explains Greig, "was our proof-of-concept test. We had just finished Neverwinter Nights and were thinking we needed to do something that's gonna be Baldur's Gate, only next-generation--with all the in-depth story stuff, all the characters, only much more cinematic and visceral. We had the idea to put together the exploration view of Knights of the Old Republic and capture the party-based action-packed combat of Baldur's Gate, only in 3D and advanced, so [that demo] was really a test to put that together...we knew it was early, but we wanted to make sure fans knew we were working on PC games, too. We'd just done KOTOR, Jade Empire was coming out, we knew Mass Effect was about to be announced [all for the Xbox or Xbox 360], and we just wanted to reassure our PC fans we hadn't forgotten them."
A lot has happened since then. "We've spent the last two to three years just having artists and writers put together what the world is, what the story is for Dragon Age. [Back then], we were still working on the Aurora-engine level--NWN, KOTOR, and even Jade Empire were part of that technology chain--and realized that it wasn't gonna cut it. So we went back to the drawing board and started working on the brand-new engine, the Eclipse engine that's gonna be in Dragon Age."Interesting.
While BioWare is loath to spoil the specifics of its world or characters, they're open about their influences--we hear George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series spill from more than one pair of lips, and the art direction takes a note from Frank Frazetta's Conan paintings. Folks utter the word "dark" at least four dozen times; "mature," "realistic," and "sophisticated" aren't far behind.Sounds good to me. I like dark games. :)
"'Dark heroic fantasy' really captures what the world is all about," echoes Greig. "The grittiness, the horror elements, blood, dirt--it's going to be a lot darker than anything we've done in the past. We still wanted to capture the high fantasy elements. There are heroes, villains, obviously dragons--it's called Dragon Age, after all--but it's more than just your standard 'take fantasy elements and toss them together' game. We wanted to make a living, breathing world that actually had a realistic feel to it. If people actually had magic, how would they react to it? If someone could walk into a room and point a finger and turn you into a fireball, this isn't something anyone would take casually. If this were history, and we had these situations with magic and monsters and creatures, how would this work out?" Even the name of the game is meant to ground the fantasy in history--this is the Dragon Age, meant to stand in a line tucked amidst the Bronze Age, Steel Age, and Industrial Age.
As in any BioWare game, characters--and moral choices--tower over everything, though Greig says it isn't as simple as light-side points and dark-side points, open palm and closed fist. "Yes, you're the hero, or the antihero, depending on how you play, but it's going to be a lot more organic. You basically have to save the world, but what the world is like when you're done--that's totally up to you and the choices you make throughout the game. You're literally going to decide the fate of nations, who's becoming king, what nations are actually around after...what races are around. You're going to have to make some hard choices in the game, but we want all the choices to be clear. The player's gonna know if he does this, there's a really horrific consequence. Decisions are gonna be hard...and sort of shocking."Ahhhh....got to love non-linearity. :)
But before you get to the who lives and who dies, one of the first decisions you need to make is just what kind of character you want to play-- and Dragon Age wants to make sure that, whatever your preferred poison, it's got you covered. "We use a class-based system that has levels--we're staying that close to our D&D roots. You start off with three basic classes, the wizard, fighter, and rogue, just to get you started. Very quickly, you get access to advanced classes, and even within those classes you get to customize abilities, stats, and talents--you buy points, build it up, and after a short while you'll be able to pick even more advanced classes. If you want to have a fighter-type character with magic-like abilities, there'll be a route you can take for that. If you want to be a barbarian berserker, you can do that, too...there's a route for everyone so players can build their character the way they want. There's a stupid number of class abilities and special abilities...I think it's more than in any other BioWare game."Sounds like my kind of deep RPG. :)
While character customization is grand, it poses a conundrum for writers striving to build a better, stronger character-driven narrative: How do you write a story appropriate for both a beer-swigging, meat-inhaling dwarven soldier and a holier-than-thou high elf--without resorting to prison cells, amnesia, or fresh-from-the-boat strangers in a strange land? "We've watched how people play our games," Greig says, "and found there are a few common archetypes people like to play. They'll always play the same character in different settings--if you're the 'elf archer guy,' you play that kind of character in every game. So we looked at the common archetypes and said, 'OK, we're going to let you play your character in the world, and it's going to make sense. So one of the big things we're doing is origin stories." Rather than just offer multiple endings, Dragon Age offers multiple beginnings, too.Ooooooh....multiple beginnings.
"Say, for example, you want to be a dwarf--you'll have different choices for what kind of setting in the dwarf environment you start in. So if you pick dwarf noble, then you're part of the royal family in one of the dwarven cities, and that's where we start you off. And you spend the first hour or two of the game interacting with that world. You get to learn all about the dwarves and the plots that are going on, and major things happen to you personally. We also introduce at that point a nemesis for you--not the main villain in the game, but someone who's going to be dogging your footsteps throughout Dragon Age, and eventually you'll have to come face-to-face and deal with him. Your nemesis will be different depending on your origin.
"One of the other options is a dwarf commoner--pick that, and you start off working the sort of dwarf underclass. The nobles have their honor, but you start off down in the gritty and real dwarf environment, and you have to struggle through the street stuff...you have to work to forge your place in the underworld of dwarf society. And it's a completely different story-- you'll run into some of the same characters [that] you would as the dwarf noble, but they'll treat you and react to you differently."Sounds like it will be heavily replayable.
Once you've played through your chosen origin, world events intersect, and you'll find yourself pulled into the same plot as all the rest--with different twists and side quests based on your roots. "If you go back into the dwarf city, depending on whether you were a dwarf noble or a dwarf commoner or an elf or human from one of the other stories, the NPCs will completely react to you differently with different subplots and different stories that open up for you."
"We've basically covered all the major fantasy archetypes," says Greig. "Each race has a classic, traditional origin story, and then we've got one that's a lot more edgy. We're finding in testing that the unusual ones are the ones that people like the most."
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESECool.
Behind every good hero stands his chums--and BioWare RPGs are nothing without followers. "Every character will have access to the full set of NPCs," says Greig. "They'll treat you differently depending on the origin story, and when you get them is dependent on origin story too." Characters follow behind you in Explore Mode, and BioWare is strongly pushing the idea of party banter. Greig compares it to Saving Private Ryan: "There's a part [in SPR] when they're just walking though the area not doing anything, but the banter going on really brings them to life. We're trying to capture that."
As for A.I., "It's not just me and three meat Popsicles," Greig continues. "These are living, breathing characters...all the NPCs that join you have different agendas. If you say, 'I'll side with this faction,' that'll obviously please some of your party members, but others will say, 'I can't believe you just did that.'" Morally driven banter is one thing (party members in Knights of the Old Republic would often chide you for your dark-side decisions while blindly following your innocent-slaughtering orders) but morally driven behavior is another--and Greig hints that NPCs might even go so far as refuse to fight if they feel you're way out of line.I like the sound of this...
NPC management is similar to that of KOTOR 2; every major area you enter has a "base camp" with activities that change depending on location, and selecting the appropriate NPC for the location will be important. "When you go into the city, it's probably not the best idea to bring the 9- foot-tall war golem with you," says Greig, pointing to a character modeler's monitor where a large rock creature is on display--an imposing, runecovered "dwarven war golem" named Shale. "This is one of the NPCs that joins you.... The dwarves used to make these guys for their wars, but the art of creating them has been lost. But you run into one of these guys and he gets to join up with the party--and as the prime mover of the world, you have influence over how this guy turns out. You can explore his past and get into the details to make him a living, breathing person--as far as dwarven war golems go--or you can turn him into a blind follower who'll basically kill at your every whim." A Dragon Age analogue to Knights of the Old Republic's space-age HK-47, it seems. "You'll also be able to upgrade him--carve new dwarven runes into him to gain new powers. You'll be able to customize every one of the party members in some way."I hope it'll also be supported on Win XP, too....
Down the hall, Greig shows off a "visual fidelity" test--an impressive blue-tinged torture chamber where stained glass windows pour colored light on the wall and sunlight flickers on the floor in distorted waves.
"The art philosophy is 'fantasy painting come to life,'" says Greig, invoking Frazetta once again. "It's dark. It's gritty...it's all about dirt and texture detail." Over by the in-game wall, he points out "the best barrels you'll see in a videogame...running on a high-end PC, you'll see the level of detail...[we're definitely thinking about] DirectX 10 and beyond."
A giant disfigured blue demon plays bouncer at the door. "The artists went a little bit overboard with him," says Greig. "You can actually see a reflection of the room in his eyes. They also actually went down and did scrollwork on the [treasure] chests," he says, zooming in ultra-close to reveal detailed elvish runes on thin strips of metal. "One of the reasons for this test was to figure out how much is too much."Nice.
But when it comes to character close-ups and conversation, detail can make or break the deal. "There are two ways to go in the game industry for cinematics," says Steve Gilmour, director of animation and cinematics. "You go can go the sizzle, prerendered cinematic route, but because we're a story-driven game company, and because we allow you to build characters however you want them to be dressed and with whatever weapon that you've given them, we focus on in-game cinematics." Even now, in-game cinematics often means blocky figures with triangular mouths and cut-rate lip-synching--but BioWare is way ahead of the curve when it comes to crafting convincing digital actors.
Dragon Age uses a modified version of the Mass Effect conversation system, much lauded at last year's E3, in which characters' facial expressions speak at least a hundred words, lips synch convincingly to speech, and dialogue trees are distilled into bullet-point "ideas" and "tones" rather than complete sentences to make conversations flow at a more natural pace. "Ours is customized to do just what we need it to do," says Greig, "and we've got some ideas on how to make it Dragon Age.specific and work for the mouse and PC. The writing in a fantasy game is different from [that in] science fiction. In Mass Effect, they're going for a 24-ish, modern type of dialogue. The language is much richer in texture in a fantasy game. The voice actors are going to be busy, that's for sure.
"Back in Baldur's Gate, if a character needed to be angry, the writers had to write angry words. Then we got to voice acting, and so the words themselves didn't have to be angry; you could just have the actors read in an angry voice. Now we actually have a lot more options--you can say an angry word, you can have an angry voice, or you can have the character just sitting there glowering."
"A level of storytelling fidelity with digital actors that we've never really had before," says Gilmour. "That's what I'd say 'next generation' really is."
CRITICAL HITSSweet.
BioWare tends to roll 20s. "We've had the opportunity to work with some of the best licenses, IPs, and world settings," says Greig. "We worked with D&D, Star Wars...and those have been great. The license holders have been good about letting us create stuff in their worlds. But no matter what you do, someone else actually owns it, and you have to respect their wishes and desires. And we'd come up with killer ideas that just didn't fit into those world settings. If you're building your own, it gives you a chance to explore those themes.
"There's been a great tradition of D&D; a lot of our fans grew up playing it, [and] we've grown up using it, but we wanted to do something more in line with a modern audience...like the old Battlestar Galactica series compared to the new one--how they've taken the same themes, characters, setting, and brought it to modern sensibilities."
For Greig, that's something worth bleeding for.
That said, some tried-and-tested formulas are also used - such as party-based adventuring. Your main character will be joined by up to three comrades. "All the characters have their own agenda," says Scott. "We're very clear about what they want, and it's not just straightforward good or evil. We're going to be clear that when you act, there will be fallout."Cool
Your hero will also be invested with an Origin Story. There'll be two to choose from for each race - the example they give is a dwarf noble or commoner - and this choice entirely dictates your first couple of hours in-game, giving some texture and logic to your involvement in the main quest. It will be a recurring theme later in the game, too: there'll be a nemesis specific to your Origin Story who'll be back to haunt you throughout your adventure and if you, as a dwarf, ever venture back to the dwarven lands you came from, your history as well as your choices can impact the plot.Sweet.
All the Origins lead to the same starting point for the overall plot after an hour or two, but their influence continues throughout the game, creating different subplots later on. For each race, there's one traditional fantasy Origin, and one that's "a lot more edgy."Cool.
From three archetypes - fighter, rogue, mage - before long you'll get a chance to specialize your main character's class (and those of your party). Later in the game, yet another level of choice will enable you to mix and match abilities in a way old-fashioned D&D wouldn't dream of.Okay.
Wondering about that name? Think "Bronze Age" or "Iron Age" - the game takes place in an era dominated by dragons and powerful magic. "Magic is a really big deal. If someone were to walk into a pub, point the finger and you burst into flames, that would have real consequences in the world. There'd be all kinds of controls put on the use of magic." Scott's point is that this world isn't complacent about magic, death and destruction. The idea is to make us feel the results of our actions more keenly.Okie dokie.
To that end, in combat, weapons no longer swoosh through the polygons of your foes - Scott Greig and lead animator John Santos beat each other up with sticks and wooden shields in a parking lot to prototype how the animations should fit together. It's physical and it's brutal. Instead of people standing toe-to-toe and swinging repeatedly, they're ducking and dodging and moving to attack.Nice
They also wanted to get large-scale combat right - presumably because there's likely to be dragons to fight. "We really want it to feel like the cave troll scene from The Fellowship of the Ring," explains Scott. "The key thing is that you're not in control of one person, you're in control of the whole battle. You've got the party guys running out, with one guy jumping up on the back and stabbing, the other guy ducking between the legs. Maybe one character distracts the dragon so another can sneak up behind it, while magic-users find cover and cast spells. Maybe your wizard turns over a table and shelters behind it. Or maybe you're under attack from a wizard behind an overturned table, and you just blow that table away."Sweet.
Perhaps the most remarkable goal, given the complexity of the technology, is that BioWare aim to give us the power to design our own adventures, as with Neverwinter Nights. "I was the first programmer on the Neverwinter Nights project," says Scott. "We expected a certain level of community involvement, but it's gone beyond our wildest dreams. We'll be including a similar level of support for custom content in Dragon Age. But the training wheels are off. You'll be able to create a game as detailed as Dragon Age using our tools." The same claim was made for NWN, and the results ranged from paltry to professional. Yet the quality is not the point - it's about empowering gamers, letting us unleash our creativity.I'm looking forward to this one.
It's hard to think of a BioWare game that hasn't been hugely ambitious in one way or another. In aiming to push storytelling in particular to a new level, the Canadian (and now Austin, Texax-ian) goblin-lovers are setting goals that, even if only partially achieved, will please their fans and further open RPGs to a wider, more mature market. BioWare is back and it's about time.
This will be so great.
GDC 2008: BioWare Bosses Speak Out
On Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and their design philosophies.
by Charles Onyett
February 21, 2008 - BioWare bosses Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk were on hand at GDC 2008 to answer questions regarding the company's many projects and the design philosophy behind their titles. They had little to say on what's going with Mass Effect in the future, whether it will still be an Xbox 360 lead, and what exactly is going on with BioWare Austin's MMO and the Lucasarts, KOTOR 3 stories that keep popping up. They were, however, more than happy to go into their ideas on what makes a game worth playing, how to construct a believable game world, and briefly comment on the long-awaited Dragon Age.
"Dragon Age you can picture fitting back into the more core BioWare experience," said Zeschuk. "it's fun for us to get back to fantasy, there's a huge amount of passion for that." The game will take on a dark, brooding atmosphere, they say, yet remain a heroic experience. "We'll certainly have humor, but the world is a pretty heavy world. I don't think it's a direct social commentary, but there's a lot of strife…it feels very mature. It's not like a kids fantasy where there's dancing elves. It's for adults." They promised more information will start to roll out soon.
The duo sees games and their perception in the public eye at a sort of tipping point, a perspective colored by last month's controversy surrounding a Fox News report that condemned Mass Effect without actually playing the game. "It's a very exciting time to be part of the industry," says Muzyka. Zeschuk picked it up from there, "one of the premiers of one of the Canadian provinces is a hardcore gamer. Suddenly he's wanting their province to support games. That's finally when you're getting that progression point where people that are making legislative decisions actually have a context, they know what [games] are and they like them. New art forms go through these similar kinds of phases where by the end, there's acceptance."
The team is committed to the idea of games as art. "Why do you love movies that are great," asks Muzyka. "You laugh, you cry, you feel a chill down your spine, you feel like that's so cool, you just told me something about the universe. These are the things that games will do, and I think because you're actually playing them at the center of the experience instead of a passive observer watching it, you might get a more charged emotion out of it. I think games have the opportunity to be one of the most powerful forms of art."
Zeschuk chimed in with little pause in the conversation. "This whole concept of people controlling their destiny is awesome, right? It's the ultimate in fantasy fulfillment. Where's it going? Who knows? You still have to wonder, when you look at the Wii, is it a toy or is it really games? They're going a different direction. We're going for emotional engagement, they're going for entertainment." Muzyka chimed in with, "That's still emotion. You can look at narrative or emotional experiences both in and out of game. Even with the community, it's almost like layers of an onion. If you're being brought together by it, it's all part of the experience."
Before our interview session expired, we asked about what kind of rig you'd need to run Mass Effect with decent settings. "It actually runs really well on even modest machines," says Zeschuk. "It's not a Herculean powerhouse."
Saboteur, Dragon Age slated for Q1 '09
EA CEO tells analysts that Pandemic's WWII stealth actioner and BioWare's fantasy RPG won't make the 2008 calendar year.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Jun 18, 2008 1:15 pm PT
Yesterday, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello spoke at the William Blair & Company Growth Stock Conference in Chicago. Besides revealing the existence of a new Need for Speed and top-down strategy elements in Godfather 2, the executive also delivered a double shot of less-welcome news. Namely, that two of the top games from EA's recently acquired BioWare and Pandemic studios won't be arriving this year.
When asked by an analyst about which of EA's new intellectual properties would be among its internal top 10 bestsellers for 2008, Riccitiello began listing his picks. "Mercenaries 2, Mirror's Edge, Spore, Dead Space, including subscriptions Warhammer [Online]--but that won't show up in NPD, Battlefield: Bad Company...that'll certainly get in there," he predicted. Then, the executive added "Saboteur and Dragon Age" before quickly tacking on the qualifier, "but those two won't make the calendar year because they're coming in fiscal Q4." EA's fiscal year ends on March 31, 2009, which means that both games will now arrive in the first three months of next year.
Today's revelation will be a blow to those awaiting Saboteur, which had been expected on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2008. First revealed last March, the game aims for a different take on World War II, casting players as a member of the French Resistance using stealthy commando tactics to battle Nazi occupiers. After an early version was shown to the press last year, the game has remained largely in the shadows.
Riccitiello's words were less of a shock to role-playing gamers awaiting Dragon Age, which EA previously announced would arrive before April 1, 2009. The PC game is a completely original IP, unlike BioWare's last Western-fantasy RPG, the Dungeons and Dragons-based Neverwinter Nights (2002). (BioWare farmed out development of its 2006 sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, to independent RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment.) Currently, the Canadian studio's most public property is the sci-fi RPG Mass Effect, which was recently released on the PC after its 360 debut last year.
Dragon Age Trailer to Debut on SpikeTV
Dragon Age: Origins, the highly anticipated dark fantasy epic is set to debut on GameTrailers TV airing this Friday night at 1:00am on Spike TV and Spike HD. The trailer will be available in High Definition after it airs at gametrailers.com
E3 2008: Dragon Age arises on consoles
BioWare's epic fantasy RPG billed as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate will arrive on unnamed home platforms in addition to PC.
By Tom Magrino, GameSpot
Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:07 am PT
Compared to the information dump at Microsoft's press conference yesterday, Electronic Arts offered a relative trickle of new details at its event later that day. That's not to say the publisher's press conference was bereft of announcements, however, with EA's id Software publishing partnership on the famed developer's Mad Max-inspired car-combat/racing game Rage taking top billing.
While the id alliance was certainly a win for the publisher's EA Partners program, EA had news from its internal studios as well. Namely, during BioWare president Greg Zeschuk's demonstration of Dragon Age: Origins, the executive revealed that the game would arrive on consoles in addition to the PC. Unfortunately, the developer would only say that the titles would arrive "in the future," and Zelschuk did not elaborate on whether the title would surface on all platforms simultaneously.
Billed as a spiritual successor to the gamemaker's acclaimed Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age: Origins offers a classical Western role-playing experience of swords-and-sorcery combat and an epic storyline. EA expects to release the game as part of its current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009.
For more on the game, which just recently received its Origins subtitle, check out the game's first trailer and GameSpot's just-published impressions from the E3 Media & Business Summit.
Yay!
I can finally let my mouth go.
Yes we are very happy to confirm the toolset.
A fair warning though, there are still some things that I am not allowed to talk about. <looks around>
So ask away....
(What did I just get myself into?)
thx
Quote: Posted 08/15/08 23:44 (GMT) by Hugie
I just got the email (sent to people who subscribed to World Builders' newsletter) -- W00t! Long story short, the toolset for DA is confirmed. Looks like a blend of NWN1 and NWN2 GUI-wise, with the one (expected) hitch that you can't create areas in the toolset itself. Wicked sweet!Quote from: MeadowsIt's actually more like the style of Jade Empire toolset, upgraded though.
We were fortunate to be able to create it from the bottom up so we could tailor it to the needs of the designers a lot quicker.
thx
Will there be quest/NPC/trigger wizards?Quote from: MeadowsThis is one of those, You get what our developers are using answers.
There are no wizards, in the vien of NWN style, at this point in time.
That is to not say we won't do any in the future.
And it doesn't mean that you have to set every little thing before you can test out the area either.
thx
Dragon Age Toolset Plans [August 17, 2008, 2:28 pm ET] - 2 Comments
BioWare announces the Dragon Age tools and plans to demonstrate to toolset at Penny Arcade Expo at the end of this month (thanks Gamer's Hell). Word is:
Introducing the Dragon Age Toolset
The Dragon Age Toolset provides builders with powerful, developer-grade tools.
Key features include:
Create Original Adventures: Using Dragon Age's rich set of assets and locations as starting blocks, you can modify these stunning areas by adding new quests, characters and scripting to create your own adventures, conversations and cut-scenes.
Powerful Script Editor: You can fully customize combat and creature AI to create detailed action sequences full of heart-pounding party-based tactical combat.
On-Going Toolset Content Updates: We have plans to release additional assets and features for the toolset in the future, allowing for expanded creation of new areas.
Live Toolset Demonstration at the Penny Arcade Expo
The Dragon Age Toolset will be part of a stage demonstration during the Penny Arcade Expo, August 29-31, 2008, at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.
At the time of this writing, you can attend the live demonstration scheduled to be on the PAX main stage Sunday, August 31, at 1:30 PM Pacific Time. For more PAX information and coverage please check out our Conferences 2008 web page.
Toolset Demonstration Highlights
At PAX, Dragon Age: Origins Producer Fernando Melo and Senior Designer Ferret Baudoin will be presenting a 45 minute overview of the toolset for Dragon Age fans.
The demonstration takes place in the Ruins of Ostagar area
A quick look at the extremely flexible Face Morphing feature
Clothing, armor and weapons will be selected giving a quick look at the variety
Enemy monsters will be selected and placed in the area
The new dialogue editor will be featured
The module created on stage will be played through live in the Dragon Age: Origins game
We hope to see you at PAX. Stay tuned for more toolset updates and information.
BioWare already planning Dragon Age: Origins follow-up
By Wesley Yin-Poole - 21/10/2008 - 2:09pm GMT
Will be out 'before people have forgotten about the franchise'.
BioWare is already planning a follow up to Dragon Age: Origins, and has promised fans it'll be out "sooner rather than later".
Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview to be published tomorrow, lead designer Brent Knowles revealed that BioWare is already planning where the Dragon Age IP is going to go and said there are still "lots of exciting places and events for players to experience".
Dragon Age: Origins, described by Mass Effect developer BioWare as the spiritual successor to its cult RPG Baldur's Gate, is scheduled for release on PC early 2009, with a console version to follow after.
When asked if Dragon Age was a franchise BioWare intends to return to in the future, Knowles replied: "We're already planning the future, what the team's going to do, where the IP's going to go. We've spent years developing the world. There's many more countries in the world than the one you're visiting in the first game, there's thousands of years of history, there are a lot of exciting places and events for players to experience, so we're definitely hoping to see the Dragon Age IP have a really bright life after the initial release."
While Knowles couldn't suggest when fans will see the next Dragon Age game, he did say it'll be out before "people haven't forgotten" about the franchise.
"I think we wouldn't be looking at a long drought," he said. "We want to keep players engaged in it. Post release content will be coming out fairly regularly for people to download. And then we'd obviously want to have some other product out in a reasonable time frame so people haven't forgotten about Dragon Age by the time it comes out. So it'd be smart of us to have stuff come out sooner rather than later."
You can check out our first-look preview of the hotly anticipated RPG right here. Be sure to check the site tomorrow for the full interview with BioWare's Brent Knowles.
Dragon Age DRM "Different" Than Mass Effect
Feb 02, 2009 at 11:16 AM - Robert "Apache" Howarth - 14 Comments
The latest issue of PC Gamer is sporting a hands-on preview of Dragon Age. GameBanshee snipped out (http://gamebanshee.com/news/static/EkFFVVVpFllHPgQEos.php) a few of the more juicy details in case you're interested (don't worry, there aren't any scans, ahem).
What Dragon Age's Got
"Different" DRM than Mass Effect
DLC - new areas and quests, at the least
More written dialog than any BioWare game
Spell combos
Item crafting
Six origin stories
Campaign creation toolset
Choose-your-own-morality
Epic dwarven beards
Leading on the PC, not consoles
What Dragon Age Hasn't Got
Multiplayer
You can play the game from the traditional Baldur's Gate perspective by zooming out and controlling the entire party as a squad. It's more enjoyable, however, to zoom way in behind a single character and lead them around with the standard WASD setups.Which is what you can do with NWN2 games, as well.
Attacking and interacting with objects is handled with a simple right click; there's no need to click for each attack. F1-F4 allows you to switch from character to character, but you can also switch them up by clicking their portraits on the left side of the screen. Special abilities are located in a simple hotbar at the bottom, so you fire those by clicking on the icon or hitting the appropriate 1-0 key on the keyboard. We're not sure yet how the console controls will shape up, but the simplicity of the system should make it relatively easy to adapt.That sounds like a pretty good control set-up for the KB/mouse, to me.
One of the coolest aspects of the game is the tactics system. This is a very versatile tool that lets players set a variety of conditions and circumstances for particular actions for each character. When you open the tactical page, the game pauses and you can choose from a number of expanding lists to create specific responses for each character to take in specific tactical environments. First, you'll choose a target, either a general category of character or enemy, or a specific character within your party. The system even lets you define your targets based on health levels, class or race, distance, or attacked in a certain way or at a certain range.That just sounds awesome.
With the right targets selected, it's time to associate a command with that target. Here's where you choose whether to attack the target, use a special ability like a spell or a skill, switch to different weapons, or even move to a new set of tactics.
So for instance, you might have a starting tactics with your mage to cast flaming weapons whenever your party is being attacked, or to cast a protective spell on a warrior whenever he or she is being attacked by more than one enemy at once. You might set up your long-range archers to target enemies with low armor, and then switch to melee weapons if your front line fighters fall below 50% health.
In all it's a very flexible system, and surprisingly easy to use given all the options that are available. You'll basically run through a series of collapsible menus to find just the right conditions and actions you want to take in a situation, and then you can chain a number of actions and conditions together for a specific response to a combat situation. And since you can use tactical conditions to switch from one set of actions to another, the range of options is nearly unlimited. While you can still play the game in pause-and-go mode, giving individual commands to each of your party members as needed, the tactics system gives you more security to let the AI handle the other members of your party while you focus on what's important.
Still, there are some kinks to work out of the system. We set up our mage to use a fireball on any group of three or more enemies, but we failed to specify a range at which to use the power. Whenever she saw a group of enemies, no matter how many other friendly players are standing nearby, she's just let loose and fried the rest our party.Ick.
Hopefully, we'll be able to refine our tactics a bit between now and the time the game is released.Hehe.
Argument: Why ‘Dragon Age’ Might Not Catch On With Console GamersShame on you!
Posted by Patrick Klepek on 2/18/09 at 11:00 am.
I haven’t played “Baldur’s Gate,”
...but I have played BioWare’s spiritual successor, “Dragon Age: Origins,” and after a 10-minute session (albeit one without a proper tutorial), it planted the idea this style of RPG might not resonate with players who’ve come to expect differently from BioWare.You mean from a console gamer's perspective.
***Which both of those games (Jade Empire and Mass Effect) have LESS control over tactical combat for your characters, but instead have MORE control of direct action-style of combat.
If you’re like me, your first experience with a BioWare RPG was “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.” I knew “Baldur’s Gate” was beloved by PC gamers, but BioWare’s action-y take on traditional combat resonated with me.
“Jade Empire” and “Mass Effect” took this combat philosophy in new directions, both giving more direct control over combat to the player.
“Dragon Age: Origins,” which BioWare has billed as their spiritual successor to the now Atari-owned “Baldur’s Age” series, is not like these games. The combat in “Dragon Age” is more methodical and tactical. It actually feels like “Final Fantasy XII,” a game whose combat seemed interesting but didn’t grab me.Personally, I can't wait for DA: Origins -- I've been waiting a good while for a good huge-party based RPG to come around.
In the 10 minutes I spent trying out “Dragon Age” a few weeks ago at Electronic Arts‘ Redwood Shores offices, I died quickly. That’s mostly because BioWare dropped me into combat without walking me through a proper tutorial, but it only takes a moment to realize “Dragon Age” combat is different than anything BioWare has attempted for a console game before.DA: Origin's is more like an old-school PC tactical RPG, from the looks of things -- if you as me.
Like “Final Fantasy,” it didn’t hook me. It feels MMO-like, and immediately made yearn for “Mass Effect 2″ in my head. That said, if you are looking for a new “Baldur’s Gate”-style game from BioWare, “Dragon Age” looks absolutely poised to deliver. Like Stephen admitted yesterday with “Street Fighter IV,” maybe this is a case where I’m just the wrong audience.I'm thinking this kind of tactical RPG is just not for him.
That could change, though.
We haven’t seen what BioWare plans to do with the console versions of “Dragon Age.” Maybe the interface overhaul will make “Dragon Age” more friendly to someone like me. In its current state, I can’t see how it would directly map to a controller, but BioWare hasn’t let me down yet, so I’m keeping an open mind.
Are you like me, readers? I’m giving BioWare the benefit of the doubt, but from what you’ve seen of “Dragon Age,” do you share my concern?
MTV Multiplayer: Different game developers have had different strategies for DLC and gamers have had varying reactions. What’s BioWare’s philosophy on DLC?
Greg Zeschuk: We have a very strong philosophy — it’s got to be valuable. This is one of the most important things that we believe: anything we give to our consumers, like to sell to them, whether it’s smaller or bigger, if you’re selling something to someone it’s got to be good and it’s got to be a certain value for the money they’re paying for it.
You have to remember that video game consumers are some of the smartest, most connected people on the planet. You can’t trick them with anything, so don’t even try. I don’t think it’s so much as to trick them, as it is the strategy behind it has to be fully thought out. This is the reason that with “Dragon Age,” our DLC strategy is doing it in maybe a year and-a-half or two years, planning exactly when you’re going to do it and how you’re going to do it. Some of our fans would really like us to extend the world, so it’s going to be something that will make the world even bigger and more interesting. It’s not going to wreck it or break it.
Yeah, that worked out real well for Mass Effect and the whopping one piece of DLC you did for it, that was about an hour and a half's worth of content. I'm totally convinced.
For Disney? I don't know if I want to play a game that somebody that fucking stupid was leading.I scratched my head, too.
Dragon Age: Origins voice-over cast 144-strong
by Randy Nelson { May 2nd 2009 at 12:01AM }
Oh Twitter, is there anything you aren't used for? (On second thought, don't answer that.) We know that you were recently the means by which BioWare asked fans to guess the number of voice actors working on its upcoming RPG Dragon Age: Origins. (Random, we know.) It turns out the correct answer (http://twitter.com/dragonage/status/1670927259) is a mighty-impressive 144.
Our response was "one," but only because we knew this guy could do them all. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4e86PSSrJk)
[Via That Videogame Blog] (http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/05/01/dragon-age-has-a-helluva-lot-of-voice-actors/)
Hi Everyone,
I have some good news to pass on to you today that answers one of the most frequently asked Dragon Age: Origins PC questions.
We’re happy to announce that the boxed/retail PC version of Dragon Age: Origins will use only a basic disk check and it will not require online authentication. In other words, the retail PC version of the game won’t require you to go online to authenticate the game for offline play. We have chosen not to use SecuROM in any version of Dragon Age that is distributed by EA or BioWare.
Some other cool stuff that we hope you’ll like - we have already launched the Dragon Age toolset beta, which offers developer-grade tools, and we’re looking forward to what fans will create with it. We’ll also be supporting the game with a ton of great downloadable content that will be available for purchase after the game’s release. Together these features will provide some very cool reasons to go online with Dragon Age: Origins.
We’re really excited as we head towards the release of Dragon Age: Origins this fall on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, so keep an eye out for more news as we’ll be providing you with more details shortly.
Stay tuned for more coolness to come…
I hope this is partly EA letting up on the DRM junk.
I would highly doubt it. What would be the point of switching to a mere disk check if you're going to use the most hated DRM that exists?
BioWare and Green Ronin to Publish Dragon Age Pen & Paper Role-Playing Game
BioWare’s Highly Anticipated Epic Fantasy Video Game Gets the Pen & Paper Treatment
EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that Green Ronin Publishing will launch a pen and paper role-playing game (RPG) based on the highly anticipated video game, Dragon Age™: Origins. The pen and paper game extends the Dragon Age universe, making it more accessible to passionate RPG fans looking for another way to experience the epic fantasy world of Thedas.
"We’re delighted to be working with Green Ronin to explore more of the Dragon Age universe through a pen and paper role-playing game. We’re excited to deliver Dragon Age’s unique dark, heroic fantasy to our audience in a brand new way - a perfect complement to the landmark game we’re launching on PC, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 this fall," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA. "Our development teams craft rich, deep worlds, and this is an excellent way to expand the franchise."
"Dragon Age: Origins has been described as the spiritual successor to BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate™, one of the most highly-acclaimed fantasy computer RPGs in the world, so when BioWare approached us to do a pen and paper version, we had to say ‘yes!’," said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas. "With our work on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Black Company, and Thieves’ World, dark fantasy is in our blood and Dragon Age: Origins is the best in its class. An opportunity to collaborate with BioWare on Dragon Age: Origins was not to be missed."
The Dragon Age pen and paper RPG will be available at card shops, book and comic retailers in summer 2009. The first release will be a boxed set -- perfect for new and experienced role-players alike. Green Ronin plans to release additional boxed sets and supplemental books, expanding the Dragon Age world even further.
Dragon Age: Origins from BioWare invites players to create their own heroes and join the fight against the darkspawn in a world of violence, lust and betrayal. The game will feature deep character customization, challenging decisions, and a wealth of gritty, mature plots that, combined with the BioWare heritage, make it one of the most highly-anticipated releases of 2009. Dragon Age: Origins is scheduled to release this fall on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC.
Dragon Age: Origins is rated RP by the ESRB. No PEGI rating is available at this time. For more information about Dragon Age: Origins, visit www.dragonage.com. Pre-order the game now atwww.eastore.ea.com.
Dragon Age: Origins - "The Violence and Sex Trailer"So I learned the other day that the trailer wasn't some fanmade revision of some E3 trailer, but an actual EA trailer.
Holy crap... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SuJ5T9sfAA)
This trailer left me with mixed feelings. Taking the time to establish a deep world with a fine narrative should have been the trailer’s first priority, and sex and violence would have fit in fine with that as well. This trailer was too 'in your face'
The trailer was called "The Sex & Violence Trailer" -- probably for a damn good reason, too.
What did you expect from *this* trailer?
Did you expect *this* trailer to show you lots of deep strategic elements and all kind of RPG elements?
We've already seen a good deal of gameplay vids and That GT Trailer that showed off the epic-RPG side of things that we come to expect from deep Bioware type of RPG's.
Do we really need to see the same type of stuff all over again, Pug?
Huh... I didn't hear the music because I was on my laptop at the time. Now that you mention it, though, I think I did see some text in a corner saying what the song was, but I didn't really pay much attention.
Manson of all the fucking people. That really fucking sucks. Not only that they'd have something like that in a trailer for a game of this type, which is horrid regardless, but that they'd pick such an awful one. But of course they would. It doesn't matter what genre, all the licensed music in any EA game is always the worst kind of slop that exists, so I guess it makes sense they'd do that to this as well.
What's really vexing is that Bioware would even allow it. The trailer did seem a little... sub-par. But it was what it was, showing the mature nature of the game. But tossing the music in on top of that is fairly... awful. That changes the entire spectrum of what colors they're showing, not to mention how seriously one can take it, and it does seem to really play up the wrong qualities of what we think when we think "mature". It's not sending the right message at all.
Some weird news about this game from the forums:In the thread, a Bioware developer says there is an ITEM limit -- which can be increased and decreased, as you go along, though.
Apparently, the world has no weight (huh?). Your characters can carry as much as you want.
http://daforums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=678057&forum=135&sp=0
Dragon Age: Origins isn't just a role-playing game, it's a world of violence, lust and betrayal. Or so says BioWare lead designer Mike Laidlaw who walked us through the game last week at Electronic Arts.Oblivion or Diablo, anyone? :oP
Does spicing up an RPG with a trifecta of sins give the game enough to separate it from all of those other role-playing games out and coming out?
What Is It?
In role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins you play as a Grey Warden, an ancient order of warriors and mages fighting to stave off a demon invasion.
What We Saw
I played a section of the game that had my group taking on Uldred, a mage who has made a deal with the demons and is now converting other mages to his way. After an initial chat with Uldred he becomes a fairly large demon himself and begins laying down the demon hurt.
How Far Along Is It?
Due out later this year, the level we played seemed very polished.
What Needs Improvement?
Clutter: With four characters to control and plenty of spells to go around, the screen can get pretty packed when you throw in enemies. The different view modes help, but zooming back all of the way to a view reminiscent of Baldur's Gate sort of defeats the purpose of all of those spectacular graphics.
Confusion: It was a little difficult in the heat of battle to figure out when a spell landed and what it did. Granted they dropped us into a very difficult level with four characters to control and a room full of demons. It still would be nice to amp up some of the spell effects though.
What Should Stay The Same?I liked the Mass Effect conversation system, myself.
Conversation System: Borrowing heavily from Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins conversation system has you selecting from a variety of choices displayed in a list. Your choices then trigger a fairly well voice-acted conversation.
Intuitive Controls: Character portraits are lined up along the left side of the screen and spells along the bottom, World of Warcraft style. You can switch characters on the fly by selecting a portrait. Movement is controlled with the keyboard and you can zoom in and out of the scene with the mouse wheel.
...
Live Pause: The game can be paused at any time by pressing the space bar. Maybe after you've been playing the game for hours the pause button won't be necessary, but it was invaluable while trying to learn the ropes.
The Look: Graphically, Dragon Age: Origins is amazingly slick. The detailed graphics were backed by a butter-smooth framerate. This was all on a high-end PC, not a console, so that may not be the case for PS3 or Xbox 360 gamers.I'd like to know how it ran on a mid-range PC. I'd expect it to run smooth (hopefully) on a high-end PC!
Final Thoughts
Dragon Age: Origins looks like a high-end blend of World of Warcraft and Baldur's Gate, blending the best of both worlds in a dark heroic fantasy setting.
I'd expect it to run really smoothly on a high end 8 series card.
PC RPGs have always been a genre I've been interested in but never really given much of a chance. I've got to say that the Dragon Age marketing makes me want to get excited. The impressions of violence and rawness I get from the talk about the game, and the metal soundtracks to the trailers pique my interest. I guess I don't fall victim to marketing much because most marketing aims for a general audience, and thus misses the markf or me. This makes me feel like they specifically made the trailer to get ME to buy the game.
This is one of the most blatant attempts at marketing to the masses I've ever seen. It doesn't fit anything that the usual fans of the genre are interested in and is attempting to use sex, violence, and image to sell a product to people that don't normally buy it.They had me sold with "spiritual successor to BG2," a LONG time ago. The rest is just gravy on top, if you as me -- as long as it's done well, of course. Personally, this is Bioware -- and well, compared to most companies, I actually trust them.
I don't think the game is trying to be adult. Or maybe it is and they just aren't marketing it right, but all this screams to me is immaturity. I was pretty interested in the game and nearly convinced I should own it, but with how they've portrayed it recently, I'm now fairly certain I'm not going to buy it just because I don't want to take the risk. Yeah, maybe it's just silly marketing and the core game is great... but what if it isn't? Or what if there's just enough of a bent toward bullshit that rubs me the wrong way? I didn't really have those suspicions before, but I certainly do now.
The Dark Spawn Trailer (from E3 09)
Yeah, maybe it's just silly marketing and the core game is great... but what if it isn't? Or what if there's just enough of a bent toward bullshit that rubs me the wrong way? I didn't really have those suspicions before, but I certainly do now.
Once we’ve ambiguously agreed to her advances a couple of times, it cuts to a glimpse of an awkward sex scene that saw everyone in the room burst out laughing
I was listening to the GWJ podcast talking about Dragon Age at E3, couldn't help but agree how they should really axe the marketing team. The aspects they are focusing on seem meaningless to what Dragon Age is about.
Windows XP Minimum Specifications
* OS: Windows XP with SP3
* CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4Ghz or greater
* AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
* RAM: 1GB or more
* Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater
* NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space
Windows Vista Minimum Specifications
* OS: Windows Vista with SP1
* CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
* AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 2.2GHZ or greater
* RAM: 1.5 GB or more
* Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
* NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space
Recommended Specifications
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
* RAM: 4 GB (Vista) or 2 GB (XP)
* Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
* NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
* DVD ROM (Physical copy)
* 20 GB HD space
Speaking to the single core questions, the game actually runs OK on a single core depending on the clock speed. We change the threading model slightly to take that into account and Andreas is saying it is about 20% slower, with likely a few dips in a larger heated combat. The min-spec was actually supposed to be an Intel Core 2 (single core) although that is not very clear. If it was a single core though, I'd want to run at higher than 1.4Ghz.
To the older AMD questions I ran the game all through development on the following system:
AMD 64 X2 Dual 4400+ 2.21Ghz w/ 3 gigs of RAM which I assume is DDR 2 without pulling the box apart. I tried and it runs really well on 1.5 Gigs but I constantly had a crapload of other apps running so hence the 3.
The video card I had was a 256MB 7800GT.
OS was XP
I ran on medium settings and the game ran really well - 99% of the time about 20fps and usually between 25-40.
Most of our single core work was done on a similar system with 1 core disabled.
We did a lot of work to make it run on lower end PC's well and if you have the minimum you will have an OK gaming experience. If anything I'd recommend closer to a 2Ghz and above processor before upgrading to a dual core (or a quad) if you can do that cheaply. And before upgrading you should try the game - because it might just surprise you
That is some good feedback, and we certainly have a chance to change what min/recommended specs actually make it onto the box. Based on the feedback we are getting for the min and recommended one change that comes to mind is lowering recommended to 3Ghz+ dual core. Another might be to specify single core, but with 2Ghz. We have some time still to do some more in depth tests in-house.
It is always tough as min and recommended mean different things to different people and from developer to developer. Our goal for these specs was to give playable specs (not runnable) if that makes sense. So minimum is actually playable, even though it will run on less. And for recommended you will get 100% of the game at an FPS that never drops below 30 (and frequently sits well above 40).
In any case our goal is to be as up front as we can about what sort of machine you will need to run the game, so keep the questions coming and we'll take the feedback to heart.
... I ran the game all through development on the following system:
AMD 64 X2 Dual 4400+ 2.21Ghz... it runs really well on 1.5 Gigs... The video card I had was a 256MB 7800GT. OS was XP ... I ran on medium settings and the game ran really well - 99% of the time about 20fps and usually between 25-40.Quote from: BobHey Ross!
That's my home PC almost exactly (I have 2 GB of RAM, not your 3, and I run Vista). Thank you for sharing the average FPS totals. Makes me feel confident that I can get it on the 360 or the PC. Decisions, decisions.Quote from: RossHey Bob. Ya, you're good to go buddy - at least at 1024 by 768. Oddly enough it runs slightly better in windowed mode on the 7000 series due to the way our renderer works with that series of Nvidia cards.
Dragon Age Origins Collector's Edition Bonuses
[Jul 15, 2009, 4:39 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments
A Dragon Age Origins Collector's Edition is now listed on GameStop, carrying a $64.99 price tag for the Windows edition. The SKU carries several bonuses to put the C in CE, and these include a tin case, a bonus DVD, a cloth map, three pieces of exclusive in game Dragon Age Origins content, additional (presumably non-exclusive) in-game Dragon Age Origins content, as well as an exclusive unlockable in-game item for Mass Effect 2.
GameStop is also offering a preorder bonus of still two more in-game items, and they also offer street-date guaranteed shipping so mail order customers will get the game on October 20, when it will show up in stores. Thanks Destructoid.
It starts with the new BioWare Community Network site.
It's described as Facebook meets SourceForge, equal parts social networking site and software development/project management resource. The idea is that the BioWare community will have a single destination to meet and connect with other players, to discuss their favorite games, and to download and share original community-crafted adventures. The new community site will replace the existing forums and includes a variety of social networking tools, including blogs, polls, forums, and album creation.
What makes the BioWare Community Network unique is how it also presents the project management and content distribution elements. You'll be able to find community creations here, finished and unfinished, and take part in the building process by offering up your services. The site will also link to the extensive builder wiki, a comprehensive resource for module-creators that should expand with the community.
The cooperative module creation that the new social networking site and builder tools facilitate will be responsible for bringing together modders with different skillsets and proficiencies. Bringing together a disparate set of skills will allow groups to create finished modules that can far exceed what any one member could have put together. Members of the community site can outline their talents and join group projects that can make use of their expertise. These teams can upload their works-in-progress, complete with version control. It's an effort to make it easier for anyone, be they artists, writers, voice actors, or programmers, to find ways to contribute to the creation of new adventures, without having to be a jack-of-all-trades.
Level creation is handled from a very painterly perspective, with a palette-driven interface that will feel at home to those familiar with 3DS Max. You can even select 3DS Max-style controls, if that's your thing, as an alternative to the NWN controls. You can control all sorts of different visuals, from the lighting to the shrubbery. You can lay down bricks and stones, and you can control the wind, defining exactly how your flags will flutter. Laying down objects is far easier than I'd have expected, as you can set objects to "snap to" the terrain, aligning themselves perfectly with the groundwork you've laid.
The conversation editor allows you to do far more than choose what lines are spoken. You can attach plot flags and scripts to any given line in a dialogue sequence, assign camera and actor positions, smoothly integrate cut-scenes, cinematics, and animation to these lines, and so on.
From Gold Pieces to Real-world Currency
While the console audience will miss out on being able to create their own adventures, BioWare's Online Producer Fernando Melo explained that the most popular content created by the builder community could conceivably be packaged and sold in the in-game store. Possible scenarios include taking over community adventures and adding BioWare's level of polish, adding voice overs, and repackaging the newly finished product for the console audience. Don't get too frightened, PC gamers. The approach to community-created content is still going to be to present it free of charge. The paid model is an option being considered where added value can be provided.
While the legality of all this is still up in the air (and EA's lawyers are no doubt hard at work hashing out the details), the builder community was quite intrigued by this development. What was once a labor of love for many of them could well end up being something that could make a tidy sum.
This game interests me less by the day.
This game is so close to release and rather than hearing about how awesome the gameplay will be, we constantly hear about all the weird sex stuff.
This game is going to surprise a lot of the naysayers who have been turned off by the dumb advertising -- combat definitely has got a solid BG2 feel, the dialogue system seems a step above anything BioWare has previously done in terms of offering varied conversation choices that actually seem viable and have meaningful consequences, and the world and background lore seems deeper and more interesting than I expected.
From what I've played of the game (only about 8 hours), it actually seems great, and so far has far exceeded my expectations given some of the trailers and advertising.
I'm about to remove any remaining interest Que may have.That's probably a pretty damn good guess, Idol.
DLC n' shit (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59951)
New copies have a code for a "DLC" adventure. If you buy a used copy, the "DLC" can be yours for $15! DLC is in quotes because I'm sure this is simply being locked away instead of actually being downloaded. Even if its downloaded I'm sure it was cut from the main game to do so. How else are you going to offer it on day one?
I'm about to remove any remaining interest Que may have.
Well, anyone who buys a new copy will get that stuff though.
As long as the copy is unopened, this content will be on CD.
If you’re going to say Dragon Age is one of the best games you’ve ever played… I’ve finished Dragon Age. I’ve played it extensively on PC and console. I can really stand behind it. I’ve played it a lot. On one of the play-throughs I spent 120 hours. Two hours a day for 60 days, 90 percent of the game, according to the telemetry. And I loved it. Every minute of it. I couldn’t wait to come home. After about ten hours of gameplay, every day I was talking about coming home and I played it for two or three hours, or whatever time I had free, and play it to the early hours. Luckily I don’t sleep as much as my wife. I’d stay up till after midnight and play it after she was asleep.
Jason Ocampo said the game was quite incredible. That's great to hear.
Tempting.. I kinda miss the classic Bioware style.I've been missing those kind of strategic party-based RPG's for a while. Probably b/c in the 90's and very early 2000's -- with BG series; IWD series; Fallout series (before BethSoft); Planescape: Torment; etc etc -- we had an abundance of those kind of RPG's. There's been less and less of them, in recent years -- with the success of action-RPG's and more RPG's w/ emphasis on controlling one dude.
You know, I can sort of follow the logic of having a separate team working on this while the game was nearing finalization and going through cert. It might be ready to go the same date the game hits stores, but wow does that ever make you look like a bunch of money grubbers.
See this is why I like the PC version, because I can buy the regular game and then pirate the DLC (Warden's Keep).I'm actually now hesitating on buying the DAO: CE Retail Box Edition (PC) now, since it doesn't come w/ Warden's Keep DLC. When you spend that kind of money ($60 - 64), it should come w/ EVERYTHING.
Yea D but does the digital version come with the other DLC?Digital retailers are selling two different versions for the DAO Digital Editions - Reg and Deluxe.
It is just one piece of $7 DLC so I don't care.... especially since I will torrent it anyway.Yes, DAO is going to be easily a 40-50 hour plus RPG and $7 more really isn't a big deal and all, granted the amount of content that'll be already stuffed in this game here.
It was awesome to read people being pissed about it. Fuck DLC. A load of horseshit. You can try to talk yourself out of it all you want, but there's really no excuse. You had content finished for a game you were releasing and you charged people more for it. I don't care what team developed it, you fucking ripped people off.The other thing is, if you buy any DAO Edition from digital retailers (instead of a store retailer), you can get an extra in-game item that has some sort of unique quality -- the Formari Memory Band. Just look at D2D and Impulse.
It's just as Que had said in other threads: they're just making a game then fragmenting it and selling the fragments at an additional price for more profit.Agreed.
Quite a few MMOs have done that actually. People who pre-ordered or got the CE would have unique items or access to unique gear. I think in Guild Wars (might be abother game) people who got the CE would have a blue halo glowing over their characters.Yes, GW CE's and other certain GW Editions do that little gimmicky thing -- where you get like a certain colored halo over your head or some other non-valuable cool little thing. I think even one edition of GW offered up free extra dances, if you pre-ordered it. Yeah, that was what I was driving at. :)
Either way, this is mostly just digital bogus that some companies stash with CEs that are lacking in physical stuff i.e. maps, figurines, etc.Wait...
Who cares... the DLC is just intended as an incentive to buy a sealed copy -- whether you buy it now, or years later at $20. I'd rather they do this than ram some intrusive DRM up my rear.From what I see, the best deal (price-wise) is to buy DAO - Digital Deluxe Edition digitally from D2D -- as that comes w/ ALL the "Day 0" DLC content, The Game Soundtrack, and ALL the extra (somewhat meaningless) in-game items. But, fuck that -- I don't wanna take forever to DL this monstrosity.
And does it really matter if the original thing is worth the $50 you are paying for? If you are getting your 70 hours+ out of it?Since all this DLC wasn't say done by the time the game got certified and pressed to GOLD Status, why didn't they just save all this extra DLC content as part of a much bigger expansion pack to sell in retail at a later said date?
Had they put 30% of the game up for DLC I would be upset too, but they haven't. It is just some measly DLC not even worth an hour of entertainment.I think the real question here is -- how short/long is The Warden's Keep DLC?
You are right that (just like horse armor), the anger is over the principle of the thing, and is in part caused by fear that this will lead to worse things.I wonder if we'll see more games -- especially long-winded RPG's -- just do the same Day One DLC gimmick DAO has going on.
But for some reason EA believes this will cause people to actually buy the thing (whether it be at full price now, or from the bargain bin years later). Having looked at it, I have seen that it (the DLC) is pretty worthless, and won't really take away from the 70 hours of quality game that Bioware put together.Not having it probably won't take away anything from the game, but you'll still have that "something's missing here" feeling b/c you don't have The Definitive Version.
With the amount of money PC gaming is leaking to piracy, you know publishers want to try something. I would still rather they do this than DRM. Thankfully this game doesn't have any aside from a disc check.I can understand them doing this DLC thing, since it's been a big source of income for dev's since Bioware did it w/ their Premium Modules for NWN and since DLC exploded for Oblivion -- now it's like all the designers do DLC pretty much. But, the way Bioware EA is going about it here with THREE Day One DLC's is pretty "ugh."
BTW, I had a look at the "Warden's Keep" situation, and yes, I am a little offended. Making one DLC only a part of digital distribution isn't fair when I am paying 70 dollars for a collector's edition.Exactly.
You can tell that they make more money from their online service rather than retail, which is why they are encouraging you buy it as a download. That doesn't make it right of course.They could always charge more for the Collector's Ed Retail Box then -- charge $70 for it and throw in Warden's Keep.
It's unmistakably an RPG, there really are no action elements at all. The trailer is just sort of a sizzle-reel using assets from the game. The actual combat gameplay is turn-based on a hex grid, similar to Heroes of Might and Magic.
There will be NO overhead camera like in Baldur's Gate games for the console versions of DAO.
DAO's PC version will of course have the classic camera option for an overheard view, if you want to use it. (http://kotaku.com/5382781/only-pc-dragon-age-has-baldurs-gate-camera)
Dragon Age: Origins controls well on a PlayStation 3, BioWare proved to Kotaku yesterday — mouse and keyboard not required. But if you want the classic overhead view seen in this game's spiritual predecessor, then a mouse is a must.
A BioWare rep told me that players who will want to zoom out will need to do so via a mouse scroll wheel. Then they'll get that Baldur's Gate look.
Many of our fans have been asking if we can provide system specifications for the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins. The Dev team has now been able to lock down both the minimum and recommended system requirements.
Here are the minimum requirements for XP and Vista and the recommended system requirements.
Windows XP Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows XP with SP3
CPU: Intel Core 2 Single (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD 64 (or equivalent) running at 2.0Ghz or greater
RAM: 1GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X850 256MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
Windows Vista/Windows 7 Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows Vista with SP1, Windows 7
CPU: Intel Core 2 Single (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD 64 (or equivalent) running at 2.0Ghz or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
Recommended Specifications
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual-Core 2.7 GHz or greater
RAM: 2 GB (XP) or 3 GB (Windows Vista/Windows 7)
Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space
We will be adding this to The Game page asap.
Edit: Added AMD Phenom to the recommended.
Edit2: updated system specs
The first Dragon Age: Origins review has arrived via PC Gamer magazine, which brands the BioWare game "RPG of the decade" in its 94% review.
"Thus begins Dragon Age, one of the most enormous and astonishing of games," it says. "Were the difficulty levels not so enormously silly, it would require sheer pickiness to find a major fault with this game."
PC Gamer calls Origins' gigantic environment "the most enormously detailed game world I've experienced, its history stretching back thousands of years, its cultures vivid, beautiful and flawed, the battles enormous, the humour superb.
"I've not only been to huge cities, but I've learned their past, their present, and been involved in shaping their future," it says. "This hasn't felt like passing through a series of checkpoints, but having experienced a world.
"Roleplaying games now have a great deal to live up to," it concludes.
Well Giantbomb, congratulations... you're the first people to make me want this game. I watched the GSpot video review first and actually thought, "Why does this game look so lousy?" They must have been showing the console version. The Giantbomb review actually showed the PC interface, which looks vastly superior, and the character models looked significantly more cohesive.
I still have some issues with character design and potentially with some of their other design choices, but in the end I'm betting that this stuff will have more contextual relevance in-game. Now that I've actually gotten to see some of what the game seems to want to do, I'm kind of... sold. It was pretty hard not to get a little excited watching all that stuff.
Damn it. I don't need another game to play.
But again, this is sort of what I expected to happen. Those video reviews showed a game that was exactly 100% nothing like everything I'd seen regarding the game up until now. Worst fucking ad/preview campaign ever.
EDIT - A much more sobering review from Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dragon-age-origins-review). These are some of the things that have been in the back of my mind. I don't always agree with Eurogamer, however, and often find them to be overly critical. Still, these are concerns that bear noting, but in the end I don't know that it makes any difference. As an old-school PC RPG player, what I've recently seen indicates to me that I'm practically obligated to try this.
Fucking internets. Stop making me spend money.
I will totally be pirating that DLC as soon as I can. Fuck EA in the ass.
And no worries, gpw, I'm still a Borderlands addict. I am far from interested in abandoning our ongoing murderfest.
Absolutely. DLC is just a way to gouge people. I have no problem with paying for something legitimate (like one of the better Fallout 3 mini-expansions), but shit like this? Forget it. And even with DLC that's reasonable I'll still wait for a retail release if I can.I agree 100%.
I got all the Fallout 3 stuff by buying the GOTY edition of the game.I will be buying Fallout 3: GOTY sometime down the line for the PC - when that Edition hits expansion pack pricing. I want all that extra DLC content.
The second piece, Warden's Keep, can be completed in under an hour, but it's quite entertaining and offers you some neat bonuses, like a party inventory stash and useful vendors.Warden's Keep DLC can be finished in under an hour?
Warden's Keep DLC can be finished in under an hour?
And this costs $7?
That should've just been made part of the game...
I think Que's been saying that (though perhaps more colourfully) since we first heard about DLC coming out with the game.
This looks like it's just going to be another round of Horse Armour.
Dragon Age Patch Fixes Minor Bugs, Alters Difficulty
New patch increases stats for all party members on normal difficulty, makes easy difficulty easier.
By Kat Bailey, 11/06/2009
PC players struggling with Dragon Age's difficulty will be receiving a small boost today. BioWare has released a small patch that not only fixes a few minor bugs, but slightly increases party stats as well.
The new patch slightly increases attack, defense and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty, and makes the Easy difficult easier. It also fixes a problem involving the potential corruption of character statistics.
Here's the complete list.
* Fixed potential corruption of character statistics
* Fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
* Fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
* Made Easy difficulty easier
* Slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
* Fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays
If you picked up the game on Steam, it should automatically update. Otherwise, the patch can be found on FileFront.
Yeah, I heard that the game will actually have a quest giver talk about the DLC quests and has a little "purchase DLC" button or something. Kind of goes against the whole "We made this after the game went gold/through cert!" thing.
Yeah, I heard that the game will actually have a quest giver talk about the DLC quests and has a little "purchase DLC" button or something. Kind of goes against the whole "We made this after the game went gold/through cert!" thing.
<@Quemaqua> Yeah, but they only got shitty after being teamed with EA.
<@Quemaqua> I think it's a corruption by association thing.
<Gregg> Haha, could be.
<Gregg> It's really the execution that pisses me off more than anything
<Gregg> As I've said, I don't really mind the concept of DLC....if done right
<@idolminds> too bad its rarely done right
<@Quemaqua> Yeah.
<Gregg> But this is just retarded. So, you've already paid for that content because the price of developing it was part of the development cost of the original game....which you've paid for.
<@Quemaqua> I already have issues with Warden's Keep being $7 and for the inventory thing. But the kicker was that they force you to read ads for it in-game, essentially.
<Gregg> Since it obviously shared the same development time and resourcs.
<@Quemaqua> Yeah, absolutely.
<@Quemaqua> But you know what sucks? Nothing will change because of this. People are getting pissed, but the DLC will make money, Dragon Age will sell a jillion copies, and this shit will just get worse.
<Gregg> So they try to modularize it and create a completely new revenue stream, basically charging people twice....with way more markup on the second one
<Gregg> and then they resell it right away. They could have claimed that it was developed while the hard copy was being manufactured, but instead they don't even try to hide it? Worse, they advertise it?
<Gregg> Like, if you're going to try to fuck me, at least have the respect to lie to me.
<@idolminds> Its just funny how no one scales costs in their head. Its only $7! Yeah...but thats 1/8th the full cost of the game. It is anywhere close to 1/8th the content?
<@idolminds> for a 60 hour RPG, I doubt it
<Gregg> And no one will do anything, you're right. That does suck because people will still cream over the game and it will do well
<@Quemaqua> And it sucks more so in this situation because the game *is* good, and it's obvious that a lot of love went into it.
<Gregg> That's the thing. It's like if they sold you, say, Mario Kart and then went and charged $7 bucks for the time trials....or something
<@Quemaqua> You don't get the impression that these people are just trying to milk you and don't give a shit about their game, so that makes it harder to just outright condemn it and tell people to stop supporting them.
<Gregg> It's a feature that should have been there, and the only reasonable excuse for it not being would have been a lack of time/resources.
<Gregg> However, you obviously didn't have that since you developed it using the same resource pool, you just decided to charge twice for it.
<@Quemaqua> Supposedly the inventory thing was originally in the game, they dropped it because it was bugged, they found it played fine without it and just never added it back.
<Gregg> uh-huh
<@Quemaqua> But the separate DLC team said, "What would be cool in a DLC?", came up with inventory space, and it got added.
<Gregg> what was the code that fixed the bug? a whole bunch of digits and an expiry date?
<@idolminds> So it was bugged and dropped because it would be difficult, but then the DLC team did it anyway. Makes perfect sense
<Gregg> well. at least they're lying a bit. At least they recognize that's it's kinda shady.
<@Quemaqua> I just really hope some lessons get learned, even though I know they won't.
<@Quemaqua> But hey, at least the pirates come through for us yet again.
<@Quemaqua> Those guys are my fucking heroes.
<@idolminds> haha
<@idolminds> Pirates: Giving you what you really want since 1970
<Gregg> This is probably the first time that I've found DLC actually offensive
<@Quemaqua> Heh, not me. I've found it pretty offensive from the outset, but this is the first one that's literally made me want to go out and underworld store it just because.
<@Quemaqua> And also so that my game doesn't feel broken without it. Not the inventory thing, but the broken quest you can't get from the fuckwit who wants you to pay him magical fairy money for the PRIVILEGE of helping his stupid ass.
<Gregg> Yeah, I was overly optimistic about the intentions although never planned to buy something
<Gregg> I viewed it like adding episodic content to completed products
<@idolminds> At least if you're going to drop it into the middle of a game, don't have a salesman standing there to bug you about it. If you never saw an NPC talking about it it wouldnt feel like you're missing a part of the game
<Gregg> That's the thing
<Gregg> and just wait until you get to the last boss, Que.
<Gregg> $9.99 to bring your equipment in
<@Quemaqua> "Would you like to deliver the killing blow? Only $19.99! Pay $29.99 for the extra-gorey version! Pay $59.99 to see Morrigan do it NAKED!"
<Gregg> hahaha
I don't tend to care about shit like this, but Bioware set up a sort of... I don't know what to call it. It's a site that lets you track people's progress and see what they're doing. Sort of like a Steam profile, minus the Steam. It's got achievements, shows screenshots the game takes automatically at story points, let's you see what stuff people did, what their character looks like, their spells and skills, equipment, etc.In the DAO - Character Creation, uploading your stuff is optional and not forced upon the player.
Makes sense. The game definitely doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look particularly good, either. But still, there are some nice vistas to look at and stuff, and the animation is solid. And it's definitely a better game than Mass Effect was.
I think this was the first year I had met Xessive, and he was really more about Japanese RPGs and first person shooters. I had been trying to get him into games like NWN and I think he had tried BG2 and NWN for a while, but the logic circuits in his brain just could not accept some of the D&D stuff.
I think he was watching me play NWN and at that point he had not realized the game's mechanics were based on dice rolls. I tried to bash a lock or something, and I missed... he got really annoyed in typical Xessive style hehe, and said something along the lines of, "OK, WHAT THE FUCK? I can understand you lacking the strength to bash it open, but how can you MISS? Last night, I was playing as a thief and went in the shadows and snuck behind this guard and tried to backstab him, and he didn't know I was there, and I MISSED! How can I MISS?!!! "
Of course later he really got into the whole thing, when we downloaded and played through a few modules.
Haha good times man! I remember thinking "WTF?! MISS?! F-U!!! hahaha It took me a while to wrap my head around dice rolls and stuff :P
Honestly, if you hadn't urged me to persist with NWN I never would have given it a second chance and gotten so immersed in it! So Bioware and myself owe you a big thanks! hehe :D
Not only do you have to pay $7 for an hour of gameplay, it's also broken (http://daforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=704120&forum=145)! YAY!
And if that wasn't broken enough for you, here's some more (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=920668&topic=52221588)! It's like paying money to have someone punch you in the balls.
Way to go, EA and Bioware! It's totally cool that you haven't acknowledged the problem at all and stuff. That makes you cold and hard, like gangsters.
Apparently there is a fix for the disappearing items. You have to uncheck and then recheck the DLC items in the DLC menu.
Whoever did that ad did a way better job than whoever was responsible for the actual ad campaign.
Just confirmed and added people on the Bioware Social network.
I haven't reached the point where I can warpaint my dog yet! Awesome, it's better than nothing :)
I never played Baldur's Gate II (I just watched) but I do appreciate that it's one of the most influential games in the RPG scene, and credit should not be ignored!BG2 is freakin' epic in every regard - strategy-RPG at its 2D-best (with 3D character models and effects). If you can find The Entire BG Collection on disc for like $20 or less, just get it. BG2 is amazing. :) And BG2: Throne of Bhaal Expansion is probably my favorite expansion pack of all time. That expansion is so good and long (over 40 hours!), it could've been a stand-alone product and called BG3. BG2: Throne has one of the best and most epic conclusions to a game I've ever seen.
Nah, I chose the Dwarf casteless story, I wanted to play as an underdog. I finished that whole part which I thought was really cool, but now you've made me curious about the noble one. I'll probably make a new Dwarf and just play through the beginning to check it out.
Definitely went for PC, I even added you on the Bioware social network.
* fixed potential corruption of character statistics
* fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
* fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
* made Easy difficulty easier
* slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
* fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays
* fixed an issue with Dragon Age and Windows Game Explorer
* updated Visual C runtime libraries
I am playing as a human rogue.. Working my way to duelist.
Looks like my info has been uploaded on my profile, so you all can take a look.
I faced my first major boss fight, he was pretty tough, but once I figured out how to control my guys proper I was able to take him down. I found it much easier to select as one of the range characters and switch over to melee when needed to use a health pot or ability. I also had to turn of all my tactic commands for everybody, I really needed specific control over everybody's abilities to win. I felt really accomplished after beating him.
So I guess after him the game really opens up, Im at the first town of Lothering and man there are so many little quests and interactions with people, its a little overwhelming. Ive even met 2 more party members that I easily could have turned down. I could use a healer though, haven't found one yet. Since I'm building my dwarf to be a tank, I won't be needing Alistair that much, but Ive been putting more points in him to do more damage so he could still be of some use. Also I was curious about characters standing with you since that just opened, if you piss of a party member too much, will they leave?
I also had to turn of all my tactic commands for everybody, I really needed specific control over everybody's abilities to win. I felt really accomplished after beating him
and man there are so many little quests and interactions with people, its a little overwhelming.
I won't be needing Alistair that much, but Ive been putting more points in him to do more damage so he could still be of some use.
Also I was curious about characters standing with you since that just opened, if you piss of a party member too much, will they leave?
You are right Que, while a lot of it isn't too original, it is about the presentation. And I don't know if it is the patch or something, but I have found the game to be a somewhat easy. Though a couple of battles have been quite hard.Why didn't they keep the diffuculties and just add a new default easier difficulty called say "Newbie?"
Dragon Age 'Return to Ostagar' DLC Announced
by Chris Faylor Nov 19, 2009 11:11am CST tags: Dragon Age: Origins, DLC, Screenshots
The first post-release downloadable expansion for Dragon Age: Origins has been announced by developer BioWare, with the content due "this holiday season."
Coming to all three platforms--PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360--"Return to Ostagar" is said to let players "exact their revenge and embark on a quest for the mighty arms and armor of the once great King Cailan when they revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens' darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden's fallen king."
Along with battlefields "now thick with darkspawn encamped amidst the snow," players will also encounter "a second chance to add Dog to your party."
The download will go for $4.99 / 400 BioWare Points / 400 Microsoft Points in North America--a worldwide release "this holiday season" was promised, but international pricing was not disclosed. The developer has previously stated its commitment to fleshing out the fantasy RPG with extra content, noting this could last two years.
Yea so you guys keep talking how easy this all is, how fun...
I played through the next area I chose and it was nearly fucking IMPOSSIBLE. I went to Redcliffe and it was one ridiculous challenge after the next. In fact half the battle was trying to struggle with the party AI than with the actual enemies themselves. I don't know why the game seems it necessary to throw at you 2 full groups of undead on top of a boss that can wipe your party easily on its own. I almost feel Im hitting that same brickwall that Oblivion had, you have the freedom to make your characters whatever you like, but if you make them wrong, we're sorry, your just gonna have to repeat the last 10 hours again to make a new one right.
Thanks for the advice guys, I think the reason why I was so frustrated was because I felt like I was underpowered because I was dying so much, like I had built the wrong character. But you guys are right, watching your pulls does help a good bit. The boss fight I was at involved a courtyard area and 2 groups of enemies, one group consisting of archers on top of the stairs and another on the other side of the courtyard with the boss. I kept trying to run in and handling everything at once, but every attempt failed, eventually I had to hold back my group, pull the archers down the stairs and take them out with the range without aggroing the other group, after that I went for the last group and boss. They were all melee undead, and it was still a bitch because the boss (Revenant) just hits so fucking hard, I basically had to down potions for every 2 hits he does on my tank. I also found out he does a sweep hit, damaging everybody in front of him, so I had to position everyone but the tank behind him. It was still a brutal fight. I also wanted to know, does the rogue do more damage when she is behind an enemy? I know how to make potions, I just need to carry a crap ton of flasks on me at all times. I have forcefield learned on Morrigan, I'll give her the healing spell next, speaking of that forcefield spell, I did play some good use during the Revenant fight. Even though you can use forcefield to crowd control baddies, I also used it on my tank while the Revenant just kept wailing away at him, letting the rest of the group take damage down on him.
I also wanted to know, does the rogue do more damage when she is behind an enemy?
I'd personally recommend newer players to stick with ice, as fire spells do far more friendly fire (no pun intended) damage.Really? I don't use spells much but with the bombs apparently only the Shock bomb seems to have a friendly fire so you have to be careful. Acid, Ice, and Fire bombs are ok though.. weird.
Alright so Im getting a better grip on combat, its working much better now. Im doing better than I thought I can now, the all command (ctrl+A) has done wonders.
Now Im a bit confused about the party approval system. I understand choices I make excepting quests and making certain interactions with people can affect your approval rating, and these rating increments will jump about from 2 to 5, so relatively small increments. So tell my why in the camp area does all of this sort of go out the window. I want to get a better approval rating from Morrigan, however as of now, any conversation with her will annoy her and give me FUCKING -10 APPROVAL, not only that if I try again, it will give me ANOTHER -10! I can just keep doing this until she wants to start world war III with me. Any gifts I give will increase by like +1 or +2, thats fucking it. That just seems totally broken to me. I'll just slit her throat while she sleeps, oh wait, I can't, shes the only mage, woohoo.
Like Sten, he barely says a word about himself, but hes this big hulking dude that can swing a bigass sword, but his origins are still a total mystery to me, I keep wondering if the guy is just gonna run off. But yea, there's just so much to the world of this game I can barely wrap my brain around it.
Damn it. I want to play this so bad now. But I have so much to do. I hate my life.
Also Im curious on the path that you guys have taken through the game, since some of you mentioned you haven't even been to Redcliffe yet. Have you just been going off the beaten path of the main quest and exploring? After Lothering, I went right to Redcliffe to find Arl Eamon and played through that whole plot which is leading me to Denerim then onto a town called Haven. I've been doing Chantry quests along the way and some quests from the Blackstone Irregulars which are a total mystery to me which I'm getting a little paranoid about.
I forgot to mention something to you Pyro. When you are adventuring, hold TAB to see all the interactive objectives highlighted. It is a good way to find loot etc.
Thanks to my experience with KOTOR, KOTOR2, Baldur's Gate II, NWN and NWN2... I managed to get approval ratings of 50+ with all my party members (male or female) within 40 minutes at camp. I feel a bit ashamed of that, but whatever. :P
The conversation mechanics are basically the same in every Bioware game, though here there is the gift factor.
Basically, I started by saving before each conversation (in case it went totally wrong). Next I exhausted the dialog options, saying what the party member wanted to hear each time, and thus gaining their approval.
By the time I had exhausted all the first level dialog options, the party member's approval of me was standing at +20ish.
This is when I gave a couple of gifts (while there are plenty of gifts, you don't want to waste), which were just enough to unlock new dialog options. This is when I carried out these new, more personal and even deeper dialog options till the party member was eating out of my hand and had unlocked new abilities thanks to my therapeutic chit chat. :P
That's not to say that my method was entirely clinical.
I have to say it has been much more easier than some other areas I have done, either that or I'm getting much more tactical in how the combat works. I also defeated a bitch ass revenant, those fuckers are hard.
Yeah, the whole mage's tower was awesome. The fade part was especially cool. I'm currently doing the Dalish elves thing like Pyro but where the fuck is Orzammar? That's where I want to head next but I'm busy hacking up some werewolves. I really can't stop playing the game, although I got pissed at that stupid bridge puzzle in the gauntlet a ways back.
If you don't care for the pausing and the top down perspective, then stick with the PS3 version.
The top down perspective means nothing to me and I never use it, but the UI, the depth of control, and the bigger battles all make a huge difference.
haha you know, the whole idea of romancing an ingame character probably sounds pretty pathetic to a normal non-gamer person. But fuck normal people.Amen, Pug.
For some reason my dog found a dirty bone, and proceeded to place it in Morrigan's underwear. Needless to say, she was not happy at this show of affection.WTF?!?!? LMAO.
Amen, Pug.
Buddy, I was sorta kidding. :PSorta?
One last thing I wanted to touch on.Maybe for console gamers its revolutionary, yes - I don't think they have anything like PST, DAO, NWN 1, NWN2, BG1, BG2, IWD1, IWD2 on their consoles.
I think Que mentioned earlier that while he did enjoy Dragon Age, he didn't feel that it deserved the praise of being revolutionary.
While I do think Dragon Age is awesome, I do think it is more evolutionary than innovative. On the PC, it is like a more accessible version of a game like Baldur's Gate. It is sorta like a mixture of all their RPGs. Aside from old Bioware titles, it also owes much to RPG classics like Wizardry and Betrayal at Krondor (one the great RPGs of all time).
Regarding the reviews, a few of the more experienced reviewers were definitely more grounded in their praise; RPG vets at PCG USA and PCG UK gave it 92% and 94% respectively -- which I think are fair scores. While both the PCG publications were enamored with the title, they never went over the top.
But many critics and fans did claim that a lot of features in Dragon Age were innovative, when these features were simply revived from the great CRPGs of the past. I think there is a reason why so many people found the game so revolutionary, and I think the major reason is that for many, Dragon Age is a first time experience.
The reasons for this are many. Let's face it, the vast majority of critics and gamers are kids in their teens or their early 20s, and thus have never gotten to enjoy something like Icewind Dale -- at best they've played games like KOTOR and Mass Effect, and not even Neverwinter Nights. Then the marketing for this game drew a lot of people who wouldn't have been caught dead with a fantasy RPG. And of course, with the removal of the D&D system, many gamers were suddenly less intimidated. And let's face it, Dragon Age is quite accessible and polished for an RPG of its type, even on the PC, which again attracts a lot of the uninitiated.Right - they didn't play NWN b/c likely these gamers were console gamers. So, they never experienced anything like DAO before - they never played PC only RPG's tlike PST, DAO, NWN series, Bioware's BG series, IWD series, etc.
$35?! That's a sweet deal! I hope you enjoy it man ;D
Nice. I picked up the PS3 version for $40 today (Canadian Dollars), along with Prince of Persia for $14.99. Now I just have to have some time to play it.
One other little criticism of the game. My brother decided he wanted to play, and created a black human character... turned out his parents were still white hehe.I tested that too! Disappointing. Really weird choice to not alter the family characters to match the player at least in skin colour. I recall in Deus Ex whatever skin you chose dictated your brother's looks too.
Yea when my brother showed me that, I told him to pretend that his character was adopted. :P :PHaha that's what I told myself too :P
One other little criticism of the game. My brother decided he wanted to play, and created a black human character... turned out his parents were still white hehe.:o
Yes there is, but we are still pretending. :-|
One thing that stands out so far is the choppiness during the first cut scene and during regular game play. Hoping it's something that gets patched out.
During the opening cut scene. It's also a little jerky as I'm running around. Just enough to be a distraction.EDIT:
If it's prerendered I doubt it would be choppy. I hear the PS3 version does suffer from some framerate issues.Normally, yes. However there are some configurations that get choppy with Bink videos only. Not sure what causes it exactly, but it was the case with my older system.
Still haven't finished, but the funny thing is that I keep thinking about the characters I am going to create on my second and third playthroughs.That's the mark of a great game - if you're already thinking of what kind of character you want to create next time around.
I played a few more hours last night, and I think I've just decided to not continue until Bioware fixes the PS3 framerate issue. It's terribly distracting. IF the ps3 version is the superior console version like everyone says I'd hate to play the 360 version.
I played a few more hours last night, and I think I've just decided to not continue until Bioware fixes the PS3 framerate issue. It's terribly distracting. IF the ps3 version is the superior console version like everyone says I'd hate to play the 360 version.
I just read the IGN review and it looks like the PS3 looks better than the 360 version but the 360 version has smoother frames. Gamespot still called it the PS3 version the best on the consoles though.
Hope they patch it. Isn't it possible for you to exchange it for the 360 version for a nominal fee?
Do you even read what people write D? He's saying he doesn't want to start the game over at this point because he's invested a lot of time into his character already.
Please don't rape this thread D.
I am halfway through it and probably not worth the $7. I shouldn't have bought it, but at this point I am going to be buying anything DA:O related. Definitely overpriced though.That's what I figured - bleh @ DLC not priced accordingly.
Warden's Keep is an absolute ripoff, and I wouldn't use it. It's totally broken. A huge number of people have basically had all their items lost that were in storage due to it breaking, and a lot of people can't even get it to work in the first place. I could never even get it to run. Quest guy is supposed to run off and go somewhere and add a map marker, and he never does. And don't be fooled into thinking that if it's working it must be okay... people have used it for tens of hours and then had it break for seemingly no reason. I read two accounts of people who lost items so important to them they just quit the game entirely. And no, they haven't fixed it yet, as far as I know.
Warden's Keep is an absolute ripoff, and I wouldn't use it. It's totally broken. A huge number of people have basically had all their items lost that were in storage due to it breaking, and a lot of people can't even get it to work in the first place. I could never even get it to run. Quest guy is supposed to run off and go somewhere and add a map marker, and he never does. And don't be fooled into thinking that if it's working it must be okay... people have used it for tens of hours and then had it break for seemingly no reason. I read two accounts of people who lost items so important to them they just quit the game entirely. And no, they haven't fixed it yet, as far as I know.
Hahaha. I don't know if that guy has played many of his own games.
Yea this happens to me every time, but it lasts ten seconds as the DLC is verified.That's what used to happen before. It just took it a bit to register. Now, it just flat-out says that my DLC is unauthorized regardless of how many times I log back in. It shows The Stone Prisoner in the purchase list now, and the one in my DLC list actually has the word "unauthorized" next to it. I logged in again and it just acts like my DLC was illegally procured.
First of all don't "auto login" and always start the game offline.
When you start the game, and click "DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT" you will notice all of your DLC is in the INSTALLED CONTENT (as in bought DLC) page.
So this is where you log in.
Once you log in, you will notice that the Warden's Keep and Stone Prisoner DLC is now in the AVAILABLE CONTENT (as in available to buy DLC) page all of a sudden.
If you try to load the game at this stage, you won't be able to because the DLC is being verified. Just give it ten seconds and you will see the DLC go to the AVAILABLE CONTENT page. That's when you shouldn't have problems loading.
I hope this helps. I guess worse comes to worse, you have to play offline.
Xessive -- you will get rogues to join your group that will be able to pick locks. Obviously you will miss a few locked boxes early on though, but you do get a rogue to join fairly early on.Well, Leliana is the only rogue so far and I was able to get her to join me as soon as I made it to Lothering. The only other rogue/assassin is Zevran, who may join you later. I use Leliana to pick locks occasionally but since I have my party members level up automatically she had focused on things other than lock-picking, since she's more of a bard. I set to manual level-ups later but it's a while before I get a skill point to invest in lock-picking.
I've put about 16 hours into the game now and it's a decent game. There are definitely some problems and limitations with playing it on the console version -- the game doesn't feel polished, and there are performance issues. I'm a little disappointed with the side quests though -- I do hope they get better.
As long as you long in with your profile you can redownload those if need be.
So, um...is there like a way to toggle the labelling that happens when you hold down the Tab key? 'cause it's a bitch to constantly hold down and I feel like I'm missing a lot of stuff if I don't have it down constantly.
So, I've been playing for a little bit, and I just got past the first tower. Had all kinds of trouble killing the Ogre.I made it to the Ogre - dude been beating the hell out of me for the last hour or so...
Thanks for the infos, Pug. I'm getting more and more into the game, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit now. It's pretty dope. It's getting more and more interesting.
Man, I love Sundays. Playing Dragon Age, and watching the Bengals on television.
But I really don't feel powerful at all. But I really don't want to start over. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I'm putting my points in willpower, magic, and constitution. But I cast about 6 spells and I'm out of mana. I can't heal worth a shit, and I do crappy damage. It's hard for me and 3 other party members to kill 4 bandits. It's kind of pissing me off. I've tried different tactics, but I think I'm just missing something.
Maybe that's what the difference is... not the quality of either game or either fiction in comparison to the other, but the fact that a lot of far better dark, political fantasy has been done already, where many of the more popular sci-fi properties you're likely to be exposed to probably fall flat in those areas.
I haven't played Mass Effect yet to compare, but plan to after Dragon Age.Mass Effect has the Best Codex ever put forth in a RPG so far - end of story. The stuff already there to read is great stuff, if you ask me - but having it all excellently narrated w/ a voice-actor takes it to another level entirely. You actually want to sit there to read AND listen to it all.
Dragon Age is my game of the year, at least the PC version. I find it to be effin' brilliant. Yea the main storyline is recycled fantasy, but the characters are so richly put together, and that is what keeps me interested in terms of wanting to see what happens next. Their interactions with you and with each other is something I really really enjoy. Their various personal quests and whatnot that seem to unlock as the game progresses are also what helps keep the game fresh as it nears its end.DAO easily is my RPG of The Year so far, I think - especially if it keeps up at this rate.
And then there is the combat, the strategies, the various ways each class can play out... I realize that isn't present in the consoles, but that's whats so brilliant to me. I love that whole aspect of it, and can think of four ways I'd like to take with each class.This is what I love about DAO - the strategy is very reminiscent of other party-based RPG's such as BG2 and Drakensang. Of course, DAO takes it to another level being in 3D and having the polish that goes along w/ this game coming some 9 years or so later after BG2.
I do agree with you on The Witcher, but it is tough to do that level of consistency when you have a bigger game with more possibilities. You've got six origin stories, various NPCs etc etc.I think The Witcher is the best single-character focused RPG Of The Decade.
Then again, Dragon Age is very similar in design to Baldur's Gate II, and BG2 was easily a better constructed and richer dark fantasy.I think DAO takes the party-based combat of BG2 and both the dark-fantasy setting and epic violence of The Witcher (of course, DAO takes the violence to another whole level entirely).
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say it's bad, because it's not. It's the kind of thing where if I had more time, I'd be playing through it anyway, but I find myself drawn to playing games that are hooking me a bit more because I don't have as much time for gaming as I used to.
Also Pug, when I was reading your post, it occurred to me that some of what you were talking about is probably pretty fresh to you in some ways. I know they did some of this kind of thing in KotOR, but from what I gather not nearly to the same extent. But a lot of the interpersonal stuff is really very analogous to what was delivered in Mass Effect, though it's skewed in a different direction somewhat... but maybe that accounts for why you're a bit blown away and I'm not. I already got to play with those new toys in that game, so they didn't feel groundbreaking in this one.
I'll give you the combat, though. I think the combat is excellent, and while I haven't explored the full depth, I'd say that chances are good that it's better than what Mass Effect had.
Unfortunately, when it comes to an RPG, pure mechanics can't save it for me, so I guess that's why it isn't holding up as well. Hopefully I'll be able to give it some more time a bit down the road and then maybe it'll open up for me a bit more. I did get to like the characters, but since I wasn't a huge fan of the designs and didn't play the game all that long, they just never felt real to me in the same way that the ME crew did.
It should be noted that I don't think you can let DA off lightly by saying it's got a full party instead of a single character. It's quite simply that The Witcher had a truly dark world and a weaved a truly dark string of threads into it, coupled with a legitimately desolate-yet-decadent art style that brought it all together. DA doesn't achieve dark fantasy. It achieves average fantasy. I know, yes, there are a few darker moments here and there, but the whole of it doesn't amount to much. Which again doesn't make it a bad game, but I think they've touted the "dark" part way too much because it just isn't there.
Mass Effect has the Best Codex ever put forth in a RPG so far - end of story. The stuff already there to read is great stuff, if you ask me - but having it all excellently narrated w/ a voice-actor takes it to another level entirely. You actually want to sit there to read AND listen to it all.
I was actually a little disappointed DAO's Codex doesn't have voice-over narration thrown into the mix. I don't mind reading it and all, which I have - but there was something special about ME's Codex being fully voice-acted the way it was. It was as if Bioware set a new standard for Codexes.
Don't get me wrong, DAO's Codex and The Witcher's Codex are good reads and all - but ME's Codex blows them both away.
DAO easily is my RPG of The Year so far, I think - especially if it keeps up at this rate.
I'm probably going to be still sticking w/ Borderlands for my pick of GOTY.
There really was something very magical about Borderlands for me that even DAO couldn't give me. I think it's b/c I knew DAO would be this awesome BG2/The Witcher mix - as I pretty much expected.
This is what I love about DAO - the strategy is very reminiscent of other party-based RPG's such as BG2 and Drakensang. Of course, DAO takes it to another level being in 3D and having the polish that goes along w/ this game coming some 9 years or so later after BG2.
I think The Witcher is the best single-character focused RPG Of The Decade.
For best party-based RPG of The Decade for me, I'mma need time to think on that - probably b/t BG2 and DAO.
I still think PST is the best party-based RPG of the 90's.
I think DAO takes the party-based combat of BG2 and both the dark-fantasy setting and epic violence of The Witcher (of course, DAO takes the violence to another whole level entirely).
I hear melee dps gets destroyed by the dragon so I might use Morrigan or Lelianna
D, I saw on facebook you started with a rogue. That's what I did as well. Are you taking the archery patch, or the dual wielding patch?Dual-wielding.
Why?Immersion-breaker. This is how the gamer is "sold" The Warden's Keep DLC in-game - as he can tell you all about the quest and everything...and that's as far as it really goes, unless you buy the content.
Ah, see I wasn't aware that it was content that preexisted on the disc that you're just paying to unlock. I don't agree with that at all. But what he's advertising is one of the DLC's included with the game when you purchase it right? Sort of a "bonus" for not buying used?That sucks when it happens. However in this case it was cut before the release of the game. So basically there's DLC available for the game upon the game's release date, not as an expansion but as a nickel & dime scheme. So you buy the game and shit is missing from the get-go.
However, I stand by my thoughts on the actual implementation. I think it's pretty clever.
Still, even aside from that pile of bullshit, I can't believe anyone can find this advertising method clever. More than likely it's one of the top 5 things in the last decade that have angered me about the gaming industry. When I found out about it, I was absolutely furious. That feeling hasn't subsided much.
W7RE, what platform did you get the gift for?
The Stone Prisoner DLC code expires in April 2010.
I hope the blood dragon armor I got from the PC Dragon Age will work on a console version of Mass Effect 2.
I'm just saying pug that if someone were to buy Dragon Age later than April 2010 they will get screwed by not getting the Stone Prisoner DLC for free as the code will be worthless. It's also not worth $15, so people who decide to buy this game later are essentially getting ripped off.
The armor comes with only the collector's edition.
My Xbox standard edition has Stone Prisoner and Dragon Armor, both on opposite sides of the same card insert. So I guess the only thing I don't have is the Warden Keep DLC. (which is only like $7)
That's the beauty of it though. You don't think its worth the cash, you don't buy it. It's that simple.
True. But some developers shorten the original release only to make you pay for content later, which is bullshit.
I don't know man.. I'm not entirely convinced. In my mind it's like going to a steakhouse and ordering a pepper steak only to get your dish with nothing but a slab of undercooked beef (game equivalent: buggy) without any seasoning, spices, pepper, or a side of potatoes/vegetables (missing content). Then you're informed that you'll have to pay to get those "extras." It's still edible but it's not what expected to be paying the full price of a steak dinner for. They're cutting the core meal and charging for the sum of the missing parts. Y'know, kinda like a stingy French restaurant that charges $7 for a single snip of parsley.
In Borderlands I feel more like I was served a complete and satisfying meal, yet if I want additional portions I can order them for an added cost. Gearbox have thus far been generous with their portions and their side-dishes.
None of the DLC has felt like anything more than some sauce on the side.
For me, it all comes down to the amount of content and cost. When I look at DLC -- if it's free I'll get it, if it costs money then there's a very, very good chance I will not because in most cases, it's just 2 hours of extra gameplay at a ridiculous price point.I agree with all points.
Take Prince of Persia for example. The Epilogue DLC is still listed at $9.99, but from what I've read it barely has 2 hours of additional Batman: Arkham Asylum DLC was awesome because it was free. :)
Bioware doesn't seem to be handling their DLC very well. Look at Mass Effect and now DAO. High price points without enough content.
Exactly, so why does it cost so much?!
Anyway, I was referring to all the DLC: Warden's Keep and The Stone Prisoner. Since apparently in some cases The Stone Prisoner was not available and is instead an online purchase for $20 (or $15 in the US). Even if you did get it with your initial purchase it's treated as DLC by Bioware. It's like insincere generosity "See, look what I'm giving you. That's extra but I gave it to you to sweeten the deal. No one else would do that for you."
Remember the plugins or adventure packs for NWN? That was appropriate. Bioware did a good job with those and Atari didn't really get in the way of those getting into the hands of the public. EA, on the other hand, seems to be the biggest driving factor in milking people.
Bioware doesn't seem to be handling their DLC very well. Look at Mass Effect and now DAO. High price points without enough content.
Bring Down The Sky was free for those who bought NEW copies of the game, yes.
At least the ME DLC on the PC was free.
Bring Down The Sky was free for those who bought NEW copies of the game, yes.
DLC #2 w/ the Arena was NOT free.
And supposedly, DLC #2 sucked and didn't add much content to the game.
It is because there are idiots like me willing to pay for it. :PHaha ever feel like there are people who'd pay for anything just because someone is charging for it? Y'know, just because it never occurred to them that it was free! hehe
At least the ME DLC on the PC was free.The first DLC "Bring Down The Sky" was free. The second one wasn't. Apparently the second sucks so badly that people who bought it were pissed off they paid for it.
I bought ME from Games on Demand on Xbox. I wonder if it came with Bring Down the Sky...
Dragon Age: The Awakening Expansion Revealed?
[Dec 30, 2009, 9:20 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments
A post in Czech on Eurogamer.cz (http://www.eurogamer.cz/articles/odhaleni-datadisku-k-dragon-age) has word on Dragon Age: The Awakening, which they say is the first retail expansion for Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare's recently released RPG, saying this will offer new items and a level cap increase and is expected in March, 2010 (thanks LS). They report the revelation was made by a premature online listing for the add-on, but this is obviously still speculative for the time being.
Here is a translation from Google of part of their story:
"Details of the expansion's contents are still only preliminary and may still change. Awareness will follow the story chronologically Dragon Age: Origins and promises a huge portion of the additional content. You play as a completely new main character, including his own prologue (separate Origin Story), the new campaign. Completion of the central storyline to take approximately 15 hours, as compared to the 100-hour original is not too much, and have consequences for the rest of the game."
An expansion that takes 15 hours? WTF? Even the NWN expansions provided 30-40 hours.NWN Expansions were 20 hour minimums for the main campaign itself; then add-on whatever the side questing stuff was. So, yeah - your figure sounds about ballpark there.
K-man, you're entirely missing my point. I'm not talking about the DLC itself. Of course I won't buy the shit, but even though I have made this decision, I still have to look at that stupid motherfucker standing in my camp every time I go in. It nags at me and makes me feel like my game is incomplete. It breaks immersion and is distracting. And you know what the easy remedy would be? To have him not fucking be there, the way it should have been in the first place.
NWN Expansions were 20 hour minimums for the main campaign itself; then add-on whatever the side questing stuff was. So, yeah - your figure sounds about ballpark there.
Let's also keep also in mind - not everything in NWN1 Expansions were entirely voice-acted, either. I'd bet if DA was to expand, they'd probably fully voice-act it.
Let's look at the up-side - if all this DA: The Awakening stuff is true - well, it'll still be longer than all of L4D1 and L4D2's Campaigns put together. :P
Yea I missed the part where it says the main quest will take 15 hours. Along with the sidequests if it is about 25, it is OK.
I can see your point. But he doesn't bother me in the slightest. What bothers me is that Bioware still hasn't fixed the framerate issues on the PS3 version. And I won't play it again until they do.
In my previous post I hinted at a battle I was supposed to lose. On my third attempt I won it and it was totally amazing.Awesome! :)
Yea I agree. The battles in this game (at least the PC version) are going to set the standard for me for years to come.It really feels like almost every battle in this game is meant to be a big epic set-piece. I don't think I've seen epic battles on-screen in a strategic-RPG like this before. It really does go even further beyond BG2 + TOB w/ these epic battles - and those games really had some epic battles.
Funny, everyone loves her... I barely even use her. She annoys me.
Yea I think they were trying to make her sexy and it all went wrong.I'm just glad she's not a stereotype.. Her appearance anyway.
On the bright side she doesn't have giant boobs.
And what's with the fucking eyeshadow? Weirds me out.Yeah, I just chocked that up to living outside of society and not knowing how to use make-up. Alternatively, it could just be poorly applied wilder body paint. I think she would have been cooler if they had made her look more savage, maybe some face paint.
I like the way she looks, but I just don't like the outfit at all.
The voice acting is excellent though, as is the dialog.
Rumours of the "Awakening" Dragon Age: Origins expansion have turned out to be true Electronic Arts confirms to us today, along with full details and assets.
First off, the new content appears to be a standalone expansion (we've inquired with the publisher, so check back), and will sell for $40 USD on consoles and $30 on PC. Pricey, but you do get quite a bit for the money.
"Awakening" is writen and designed by the same team, and brings players into a fresh new area called Amaranthine, infested with an "evolved, intelligent breed" of darkspawn, or neo-darkspawn, if you will.
You'll also face off against the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon (it wouldn't be a Dragon Age expansion without more dragons), re-spec your character if you like (notably, a feature already available with PC mods), see a higher level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations, items, and five new party members. Indeed, the big fight may be over, but you know how these things go, at least when there's DLC and expansions to be had (not that we're complaining).
Story-wise, you'll be rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens (a new base called "Vigil's Keep" will be provided for this purpose), discovering just how those darn darkspawn continue to fester, resolving the conflict with the mysterious "Architect", and enjoying other content not yet noted. A cool option here is continuing with a character you've already made, or starting fresh as a new Grey Warden from the neighbouring land of Orlais.
Well looks like you can continue with your old character -- thus the level cap raise -- though you have the option to roll anew.
Trailer... looks good... but where is Manson's 'music'?
Well I finally finished it the other night, I can say I completed most of the side quests and my final time was just over 80 hours. This was such an amazing RPG, definitely ranks up there with the best I have ever played. It was a little tough at first and there was a bit of a learning curve getting used to the combat and trying to think tactically more than I usually would for this kind of game but the experience has been truly rewarding on so many levels, from its combat to the very rich and in-depth story. The story was very enjoyable if not a little typical and formulaic but its implementation of how you fit in the world and how the choices you make can change it was something much more engrossing in Dragon Age than any other Bioware game I have played, though keep in mind I haven't played anything from Bioware pre-KOTOR.
Anyhow, theres lots of big stuff that happens in the end that can really fuck with you, decision wise stuff. You can go to the Bioware social network stuff and see all the choices I made as it even tracks all that which I thought is pretty neat. But I'll explain my reasoning here.(click to show/hide)
It's just somewhat daunting that the final battle is 3 hours in gameplay length.
http://kotaku.com/5453665/the-best-role+playing-games-of-2009
A great review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/arts/television/04dragon.html?sq=Dragon%20Age&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1262617222-PUO7o7zYPWVqUTi7kp8eJw
He highlights exactly what I love about this game so much.
I still don't remember Jarvia, but how are you getting your ass kicked so much? By this stage your team should be fairly powerful! Go through some of the earlier pages of this thread to see some of the tips I listed regarding party management.
I still don't remember Jarvia, but how are you getting your ass kicked so much? By this stage your team should be fairly powerful! Go through some of the earlier pages of this thread to see some of the tips I listed regarding party management.
Return to Ostagar DLC is now available (http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/rto). I think I'll check it out and see if it's good or not.
but booze and games are not the same.
FYI, Return to Ostagar is not out on PSN yet.
I've had zero motivation to play this game. Just hasn't grabbed me (not even factoring in the PS3 issues).
Is it just me or is Alistar a very memorable game character? He reminded me of some of my friends from university.Now that you mention it, yeah kinda! haha ;D
Actually Xessive, doesn't he remind you of Adonis? haha. :P
edit:
Yes our friend was actually named Adonis.
Is it just me or is Alistar a very memorable game character? He reminded me of some of my friends from university.
Actually Xessive, doesn't he remind you of Adonis? haha. :P
edit:
Yes our friend was actually named Adonis.
DAO: Awakening - Anders Trailer (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62202)
I am sure the next game tackles that D.
Something I noticed. That first trailer "sex and violence" with the Manson music was so fucking spoilerific. I was near the landsmeet when I watched it again, and I realized it basically gave away the ending.
BioWare suggests that Awakening isn't about one new whiz-bang feature that totally changes the gameplay, but rather it's about offering more of what fans seem to care about most--a deep story with memorable characters and real consequences for the choices you make. The expansion is being developed by the same team of writers, designers, and artists who created the original game, but it will offer plenty of new stuff to play with, including six new characters to join your party, new elite character classes, tons of new high-level skills, an expanded level cap up to level 35, and more than 500 new items, including new, higher tiers of weapons and armor for your adventuring party.
Bitmob: The sexual relationships in Origins were another polarizing feature -- are those going to make a return in Awakening?
Fernando Melo (of Bioware): They will not. It'll be interesting to see peoples' reactions to it, because it was by far one of the things they enjoyed. I think there was a real risk, though, of us trying to add romances in [that] would've felt tacked on. The story doesn't lend itself to it; when you play through it, you'll realize the pacing is very different from Origins, there's a real impetus to just get on and solve the problems at hand. The characters that you're playing with all have strong enough backgrounds that you would need to really invest a lot of time to turn those characters around into something that was romanceable.
Time will tell; I think that we'll definitely get called out on it, but I think it was one of things that was the right decision to make, rather than trying to shoehorn something in. We'll just have to keep evaluating it based on content-to-content. Some cases where it makes sense we'll absolutely do it, and where it doesn't, we won't.
Dragon Age: Origins 1.03
Patch details:
You do not need to download patches prior to Patch 1.03. Downloading Patch 1.03 contains all previous patches. Downloading Patch 1.03 will provide you with all patch data available.
* Various changes have been made to code and resources to support the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack. Most of these changes do not affect Origins itself.
* Some players were experiencing increasingly long load times. A major cause of this problem has been fixed.
* At higher levels, non-player characters now receive a bonus to armor penetration. This mitigates an unintentional imbalance with well-armored high-level characters, since armor penetration previously did not scale as aggressively as armor itself did.
* Elite-rank enemies (lieutenants) can no longer be shattered. This preserves the intended tactical design of many combat encounters.
* Portraits for summoned creatures (like a ranger's wolf) were displaying improperly while in the party camp. This no longer occurs.
So the expansion is coming out next week... but there doesn't seem to be much hype or anticipation for it. Perhaps it's being dwarfed by FFXIII and God of War III.
Who's getting this on release day?
I am still too afraid to download that.
gamespot review:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonageoriginsawakening/video/6253721/dragon-age-origins--awakening-video-review?nonRedirectElement=1
Is it just me or does Kevin Van0rd sound like a very anal person.
A slight random aside: while the PC version requires Origins, the console versions can be played as stand-alone titles. Whichever version you play, be warned that most of your items from various Origins DLC won't be imported. Also, since it takes place after Origins, that means that, while you can bring in a character into Origins, you can't take that character from Awakening back into any DLC for Origins. What this means for future DLC is unknown, but as a general warning: whether you play it on console or PC, you need to make sure to finish Origins and all of its DLC to date, before tackling Awakening.
But all in all, Awakening is a fine expansion. It occasionally asks a bit too much of the player (really? I need to read a spin-off book for the villain to make sense?), and man, does it bum me out when it glitches. Though, this is somewhat reminiscent of a previous BioWare pattern, where Tales of the Sword Coast is a decent (yet not great) expansion to the really-good Baldur's Gate. If Tales begat the utterly amazing Baldur's Gate II, and this pretty good expansion is what we need for a fantastic Dragon Age 2 (plus another great BioWare NPC), then so be it.
This expansion is too expensive. I paid $40 for the game and got 63 hours from it. I'm not paying $45 for an additional 15 hours.
There are a lot of new skills and stuff. God it feels good to be playing this again. Hopefully it sells well enough to justify another few expansions... especially after having spent a few weeks with Final Fantasy 13 and Heavy Rain. While those two are very good games, there is just something about a hardcore PC title.
Dragon Age: Origins was an overall great game experience, and anything that provides more Dragon Age is generally going to be a good thing. Players attached to their characters will be happy at the opportunity to continue their adventures. Dragon Age: Origins-Awakening provides another quality RPG adventure with trademark BioWare production value for those players, though the events may seem a bit anticlimactic compared to the grandeur of the original campaign. Value-minded players may wish to wait for the expansion to come down in price, or be bundled with other content. Fans who can't get enough Dragon Age, though, will be happy to jump at the chance to strap on their armor once again.
Microsoft has revealed through its May schedule that some additional content for Dragon Age: Origins is on the slate – although what it is exactly, was not revealed.
Here’s the description:
This Add-on, “Darkspawn Chronicles” extends the life of “Dragon Age: Origins,” the dark fantasy epic that has you playing as a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of guardians.
With the return of mankind’s ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.
We’ll hit up BioWare for more information.
Until then, know that it will set you back 400 MSP/$5/£ 3.40/€4.65.
With the return of mankind’s ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.
Isn't that basically the story of Dragon Age: Origins?!
BioWare has kicked up a page for the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC that was revealed yesterday. This $5 standalone adventure will see you playing as a darkspawn; from the official blurb:
You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call—Denerim must burn!
* A look at an alternate history: what if your character had died in the Joining ceremony, and the Grey Wardens marched under Alistair's command instead?
* A standalone adventure in which you command genlocks, hurlocks, shrieks, and even the mighty ogres.
* Complete the module and unlock an epic Darkspawn item in DA:O and Awakening.
• Game saves on Xbox 360 were being corrupted if you sold too many items to the same merchant. Saves will no longer be corrupted if you do this.
• Daggers will now properly assign the dexterity-based damage bonus
• Updated audio drivers to fix a number of audio related crashes.
Morrigan was different. Morrigan was hard to write.
It’s funny. I don’t know if you’ve ever read this comic series called Sandman? It has a character named Delirium, who was one of the Endless. When I first started writing Morrigan, I made her like Delirium in the way she talked and related to reality. She never knew what planet she was on.
And again, that wasn’t working. Then I went to more of a hard-edged personality. It was difficult to find that place for the person who’s romancing her -- I wanted the player to feel like he got through the armor that nobody else could. I think I found it, and that felt very gratifying, but she was a hard character to write. A very, very hard character to write.
I remember Alistair actually is one in Origins who I really enjoyed writing just because -- most people don’t know this -- we had an entire version of Alistair where he was this grim, veteran warrior. An older and just a very serious type who was distrustful of you, and he wasn’t much fun.
Nobody liked him because he was so untrustworthy. We really wanted to set this up as a romance interest as well as a good buddy for a male player, and it wasn’t working.
He touched on that Carth [a KOTOR character Gaider also wrote -Ed.] vibe a little bit much, but he really hit a bad note with the male players. So, it came down as one of those revisions where we just couldn’t fix him.
Even though it was painful to make the decision to start all over, it really worked out well. I think Alistair and the fact that he’s fun really came across. He was quite a popular character.
Shale was another character where I had to go back to the drawing board. It did touch on HK-47 a little bit, but to me it’s very much a different character. HK-47 was sort of a heartless killer, and he was funny in his heartlessness in a Bender of Futurama kind of way.
I know I’ll probably get flak for this, but I always pictured Shale as this sassy black woman trapped in a body of rock. That was the image that worked for me while I wrote [laughs]. I really enjoyed Shale as well.
You can finish Witch Hunt in around 90 minutes, but that's 90 minutes you should devote to Dragon Age: Origins' other, better DLC. Even Morrigan herself seems bored by the whole thing, displaying little of her signature sneering wit in the precious few moments she appears onscreen.
The main game is, at its core, fun to play, and so you may still squeeze some amusement from the simple battles and appreciate the obscure hint of events to come. But even the most fanatical Dragon Age enthusiasts will come away bewildered by a brief and hollow addition to a universe that surely must have greater mysteries to reveal than this.
Closing Comments
If you're willing to spend money to see Morrigan again for about five minutes and get an unsatisfactory explanation of what's been going on, then you should buy Witch Hunt. If not, then it's tough to really recommend this downloadable content. The tale of how you find Dragon Age's sparsely clothed mage is a decent one filled with personality and humor, and the combat encounters, as brief as they are, can be fun, but Witch Hunt ultimately doesn't provide enough substance to satisfy.
Wow that trailer sucked.
Music does NOT fit the trailer at all....Haha wasn't that the problem with the first DAO trailer? ;D
I actually just got Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition for $15 at Target, PS3 version.Is all the DLC in that DAO Ultimate Edition for a PS3 a download code?
Looks like its on the disc since I dont see any codes in the paperwork.That's good!
1. Press Windows Key+R to open the run window and type in services.msc
2. Check to see if the Dragon Age: Origins - Content Updater service is there (usually it is not)
3. navigate to C: > Program Files (x86) or Program Files > Electronic Arts or Origin Games > Dragon Age: Origins > _Installer
4. Have them run the file DAUServiceSetup
5. Dragon Age: Origins - Content Updater will come up under services and make sure it is set to automatic
6. check to see if the content is now authorized
Sadly not. I really wanted to like the game and tried. I just couldn't stomach the averageness of the world and story. The only edgy stuff it tried to do, which they played up so much, it stole directly from The Witcher.
I'm at Level 14 with a warrior specialized in berserk and champion. I'm playing her as a good but pushy character. I get on Morrigan's nerves, but Alistair likes me just fine. I'm dumping most of my level-up points into strength and constitution, with some going into everything else except magic. I'm leaving all magic to Morrigan so far, though I'm now playing through a dream world in the Mage's tower. That mission put a healer in my party. I left the Rogue behind. Morrigan is just too important.Yes, PC version has Tactics System, as well.
I wanted my first character to be a very straightforward tank, while I got through the game's learning curve. Since I can take over any party character at any time, I've been switching a lot to Morrigan, and see what she can do. I know the PC version of the game works somewhat differently. On the 360, I have a radial menu that pauses the action whenever I invoke it. By default, you're supposed to hold down a trigger to keep it open, but I changed that to a toggle. Then lets me choose an action from any character, then it goes back to real time, though I can immediately call up the menu again, and issue the next command for anyone. Party members all have a tactics list that is executed in order. (I imagine the PC version has this as well?) So you have Condition: Action X however many slots you have developed for each character. They start out with 5. I've been playing with this programming quite a bit as well, so there are some decent default behaviors during battles. It's all a micromanager's delight.
On the down side, I'm not terribly impressed with being taken out of the world and into an overworld map where you see your trail move from one location to another, with the occasional random battle or other encounter interrupting it. I'm too spoiled by the Elder Scrolls world here.I didn't think that was a big deal myself. [shrug]
I just started the game and I have to say the character customization is shit. Don't take this the wrong way, guys. I don't want to play as a white guy. One of the best things about character customization is that I can actually play as someone who looks something like me.I do that too. I usually like to create a character that's an analogue of me in the game world. That's natural. Sometimes though I like to pretend I'm white, blonde, and blue-eyed.. But that's usually in games where I have no choice. Like Broken Sword.
I haven't played the console version but I heard it was a mess.
The PC version is the ideal one but that's not to say it's flawless. It had its fair share of issues as well.
Impressive. If EA can keep this up GOG will be my new destination for EA games.
Problem I'd have is - well, I might already own some of these EA titles at Retail disc (with no service tied to it), Steam, and/or Origin.Yeah, that would be cool.
I already have Dead Space 1 + Dragon Age: Origin - Ultimate both on Steam and Origin already.
Though, the damn No-DRM policy at GOG really still makes me want them also on GOG.
Would be nice if GOG + EA agreed to add those to their GOG Connect program. (https://www.gog.com/connect)
Yeah, that would be cool.IIRC, Battlefield 3 was one of the first to exclusive require Origin from EA.
Those games specifically were among the last batch of games that were not dependent on Origin. That could explain why/how they are able to go the No-DRM route.
By contrast, Dead Space 3, Dragon Age 2, got Origin hardwired into their code. They were all released after that EA-Valve dispute over DLC in 2011-2012; which is why they're not even on Steam.Well, that's certainly one of the issues.