Dragon Age

[Stilgar]

I edited the first post.
Nothing new, just removing some dead-links.

No "real" news about DragonAge for a year now....
Not even something to show us at E3.
Rather dissapointing, i was hoping that would be the place where Bioware would release a flood of info/screens/movies about DragonAge all at once.

All we can do is wait.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Stilgar

No "real" news about DragonAge for a year now....
Not even something to show us at E3.
Rather dissapointing, i was hoping that would be the place where Bioware would release a flood of info/screens/movies about DragonAge all at once.

All we can do is wait.

Yeah. Its a pity. I also wanted to know more about this Dragon Age ever since I've seen it at the Bioware website. By the way, I know its too early to tell how this game will turn out to be but from the handful of screenshots that are available, the game plays a tad bit like Neverwinter Nights.

[Stilgar]

You are right...you cannot say anythign from the 3 screenshots we have seen. Certainly nothing about gameplay. And I wouldnt even be suprised if the screenshots look absolutely nothing like the final product.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Stilgar

Certainly nothing about gameplay. And I wouldnt even be suprised if the screenshots look absolutely nothing like the final product.

Yeah, I agree. I was referring about how the camera angle in Dragon Age kind of reminded me of the Neverwinter Nights type camera angle. Anyway, I hated that kind of camera angle. Much preferred the 3rd person camera angle in Fable and the KOTOR series.

[Stilgar]

Added a link to the 1up preview from last week.

Part of the things posted there (and there is a scren shot )

- The story is dark-much darker than the usual BioWare fare-and influenced by "realistic" modern fantasy like George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.
- The game uses an evolved "tactical real-time combat" style of Baldur's Gate, only in 3D-you queue up orders for multiple party members, pause the game when you need to think, and your party members will be able to execute coordinated attacks.
- Large-scale creature combat will have your characters doing stuff like ducking between legs and jumping on backs of monsters (dare we say dragons?).
- Even though Dragon Age isn't a D&D game, per se, BioWare is sticking close to those roots with the class and rules systems.
- The game uses a "modified" version of the Mass Effect conversation system we're all so keen on.
- Depending on the type of character you choose, the game offers multiple different "origin stories"-meaning the first few hours of the game will be totally different depending on which character archetype you choose.

And finally some bad news: PLanned to release for late 2007/early 2008

[DesR85]

Saw the preview. Now that's strange. How come this Games for Windows magazine have recent details for Dragon Age while other gaming sites seem to be stuck with an article dated back to 2004? About the tactical aspect of the game, notably the action queue, it sounds very similar to the system used in KOTOR.

And about the screenshot, my impression is that the graphics are good, even though it doesn't look like next-gen quality. As for the camera angle, it kind of reminds me of Fable's camera angle. Is this game supposed to be a 3rd person game or top-down one?

[Catcher9]

Originally Posted by DesR85

How come this Games for Windows magazine have recent details for Dragon Age while other gaming sites seem to be stuck with an article dated back to 2004?

Probably because PR decided to go with the biggest print source (GFW is/was Computer Gaming World before Microsoft bought them). A second possibility is that a decision has been made on a publisher, which just happens to be the same as the publisher of the magazine.

Originally Posted by DesR85

And about the screenshot, my impression is that the graphics are good, even though it doesn't look like next-gen quality. As for the camera angle, it kind of reminds me of Fable's camera angle. Is this game supposed to be a 3rd person game or top-down one?

paraphrasing some of the things that David Gaider has said on the Bioboards that answer those questions. It's still an early build of the engine, though it IS the actual DA engine. The shots from E3 2004 were a revamped version of the NWN1 engine that they used because it was at hand. (It was also used to 'storyboard' the entire Story for DA since you don't need the pretties for dialogue.) I'm still amazed at the people who can look at one shot of an early engine and decide things about it's technical or art direction prowess. Pretty sure early shots like this are chosen because they're the hardest to screw up. On the camera angle, DG confirms that this is in 'exploration mode' and that we'll have the more BG-traditional isometric-style view for combat. He's alos fairly sure that there will be a variety of camera locations available; something I don't doubt given how far they came in NWN1 and that started with three views itself.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Catcher9

I'm still amazed at the people who can look at one shot of an early engine and decide things about it's technical or art direction prowess. Pretty sure early shots like this are chosen because they're the hardest to screw up. On the camera angle, DG confirms that this is in 'exploration mode' and that we'll have the more BG-traditional isometric-style view for combat. He's alos fairly sure that there will be a variety of camera locations available; something I don't doubt given how far they came in NWN1 and that started with three views itself.

Well, I was just commenting on the graphics and the camera angle. I did not say that the game will play like that or even have that kind of camera angle at all. I've seen quite a lot of next-gen game graphics and believe me, they look a lot more lighting heavy than what I've seen so far in that screenshot.

But then again, it is best to wait for more screenshots as it's hard to tell whether the game will remain like what you see in that lone screenshot. It's still too early to judge at the moment as there will be changes overtime.

[Catcher9]

Originally Posted by DesR85

Well, I was just commenting on the graphics and the camera angle. I did not say that the game will play like that or even have that kind of camera angle at all. I've seen quite a lot of next-gen game graphics and believe me, they look a lot more lighting heavy than what I've seen so far in that screenshot.

But then again, it is best to wait for more screenshots as it's hard to tell whether the game will remain like what you see in that lone screenshot. It's still too early to judge at the moment as there will be changes overtime.

On no, I was just clarifying some of the facts about the screenshot that have come out for information, not repudiation. Some folks on the Bioboards are getting really deep into some things that are really crazy to try and get from an early screenshot. DG also stated that the lighting model hadn't been incorporated into the engine at the time of that screenshot, which leads to the wonky lighting. There's still a far piece to go on this one.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Catcher9

On no, I was just clarifying some of the facts about the screenshot that have come out for information, not repudiation. Some folks on the Bioboards are getting really deep into some things that are really crazy to try and get from an early screenshot. DG also stated that the lighting model hadn't been incorporated into the engine at the time of that screenshot, which leads to the wonky lighting. There's still a far piece to go on this one.

Interesting. And yeah, this game is far from completion so, it's still too early to judge what Dragon Age looks like and how it plays. Considering that Bioware is currently focused on Mass Effect, it may take a while before the development of this game picks up. Just a hunch, though, but I think that is the closest reason why there has been no new information about this game as of late.