Tuesday - February 26, 2002
A lengthy posting by developer Haden Blackman at the official forums talks about crime in Star Wars: Galaxies. Here's just a small part of this interesting forum tidbit:
1) The only “criminal” stuff we plan to include at launch are slicing and smuggling skills.
The sad fact is no game is every going to be all things to all players. We can’t possibly anticipate the desires of every single player, nor do we have the time to include everything that everyone would want. Some systems and playstyles are going to receive less attention than others, unfortunately.
When we first starting working on Galaxies, we knew that we wanted to place players into the Star Wars Universe. We also want the game to have mass-market appeal, which means that the elements we focus on need to be the most recognizable areas of Star Wars that we feel will appeal to the widest audience. The vast majority of players will want to shoot a stormtrooper, so we’d better make sure that shooting a stormtrooper is fun and compelling. A significantly smaller number of players will want to be “criminals,” so when it comes time to make tough prioritization calls, anything dealing with a criminal playstyle is probably going to get downgraded in priority when positioned against anything dealing with, say, raw combat.
With that said, “smuggling” and (to a lesser degree) “slicing” are recognizable aspects of Star Wars that we desperately want to include. They are both important skill sets in the game and we’re supporting them just like we’re supporting other skills – being a smuggler is a viable profession with missions and interesting prerequisites, etc. If we need to cut skills, there are others that I would drop before I touched the smuggling or slicing-related skill groups.
Our post-launch plans for any criminal activities are still up in the air. We’ll decide what to add to the game based on feedback from players. If there’s great demand for specific skills that would enhance the “criminal” playstyle, then we’ll address that, but not at the expense of what we perceive to be more important elements.
I’d also add that we’re not creating a crime sim. That was never our intent. We’re happy with the “criminal” skills that we’re including and we’re excited about having a faction that gives out missions with a decidedly shady bent, but out-and-out criminal characters have never been the focus of Star Wars Galaxies. We’re comfortable including “smugglers,” “slicers,” and even bounty hunters (and perhaps someday “spies” and maybe even “assassins”), but roles like “thug,” “murderer,” and “mugger” are being reserved for NPCs. | | Source: Voodooextreme |
RPGVault published the second part of their Lost Continents Interview. Lead Game Designer Keith Baker talks about storytelling, player characters and various design elements related to combat such as weapons, adversaries and more:
Jonric: What are the player characters' primary attributes, and what range of choices will players have in terms of customizing them?
Keith Baker: Characters have a handful of primary attributes - Strength, Speed, Charm, Endurance, and Awareness - that have all sorts of trickle-down effects. The combination of archetype and specialty will determine a character's starting attributes, and you will have a chance to modify them as your character advances in level. Characters also possess skills - special abilities that increase in power as the character advances in level - and talents, which are special onetime bonuses. To show the relationship between these, a character's Charm attribute trickles down to provide him with a bonus to his Haggling skill; later in life, he acquires the Streetwise talent, which allows him to haggle with black market merchants who wouldn't deal with him before that.
Players will have a number of ways to customize physical appearance. Race and gender are cosmetic decisions and do not affect the character. Most specialties are available to characters of any race; the only exceptions are specialties that are indigenous to the region (tribal mystic, say), which are only available to native characters. In addition to choices of race, face, hairstyle and color, we are working on a wide assortment of clothing. Our component system is designed to allow players to customize the appearance of their characters over the long term. Instead of being forced into a particular look because of efficiency - "I hate the way the Slimy Armor looks, but it's the best thing for my class" - players will be able to upgrade almost any type of clothing. So it's up to you if you want to wear a leather jacket, a lab coat or a tuxedo. |
This is from Dimensions of Arcanum about some new mods they have for you:
- We've added some more stuff to the Tinkerer's Workshop and the Fanfic Gallery.
- A follower modification made by Nocturnus, lowering the level requirements for some followers, so they may join your party earlier.
- A couple of modifications made by Otto Krupp, rebalancing the ranged weapons, fixing the Medical Arachnid and Maxim's Mechanised Gun as well as adding a weapon sound kit.
- An updated version of Amitiu's Arcanum UnDat utility, which lets you see the contents of *.dat files and extracts either selected files or the complete *.dat file.
- A new part of Scratch's fanfiction "Reflection on Adventure, part VI">
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| To conclude our screenshot frenzy: ActionVault has published a handful of screenshots from Endless Ages, a genre mix hard to describe, but MMOG with shooter, RPG and other influences could describe it best *g*. Shots aren't really groundbreaking, though... | | Source: Blues News |
| New screenshots from Warlords Battlecry 2 can be found at PC Paradox... |
| GamePro has captured some screenshots from Irrational Games' upcoming superhero RPG Freedom Force. |
The official site for Icewind Dale 2 holds five new screenshots along with a small dev update at the front page:
Hello all. Here's a quick update on what we're doing around here. At the end of last week we selected our ads so you should be seeing those in your favorite gaming pubs soon. I have been harassing my Q.A. team to take hordes of screenshots so you should be seeing a lot more of them around too (check out 4 new screens here). All of the producers and some of the designers are answering questions from the various journalists out there. Darren is helping out with the programming too. I have been busy with marketing and PR and working with Q.A. Kevin is keeping busy with the buglist and trying to make everyone's job a little easier. This is all in addition to combing the message boards every day looking for suggestions and putting out any fires as they come up. The new interface is coming along very nicely and Brian Menze is redoing all of our spell icons to match up with the changes being made. The area designers are almost finished with the final areas in the game and most are concentrating on bug fixing and polishing up anything that needs it. Justin Sweet is working on our new portraits (you can see one of them on the website under Visuals\Portraits). Everyone else is really pushing to get the game finished to make our deadline. It looks like we're finally approaching the home stretch. Unfortunately that also means "crunch time" is just around the corner. Time for the caffeine I.V. Talk to you all soon.
Doug Avery
Black Isle Studios
Associate Producer - Icewind Dale II |
This is from the Lineage site, announcing that Episode X is being delivered (this should be finished by the time we are writing this newsbit:
The publish of Episode X: Lair of Valakas is scheduled to be completed during the 10:00 AM CDT maintenance period on Tuesday, February 26th. All Lineage servers will be unavailable for approximately two hours while the update is completed. In addition to the contents of Episode X, we have also updated the Lineage website and contact URL to http://www.lineage.com. This new, shorter URL is available for all methods of contacting NC Interactive, including email. For example, you may now contact Lineage North America customer support by emailing support@lineage.com, support@lineage-us.com, or support@ncinteractive.com.
To avoid an excessive patching period on Tuesday, we recommend Windows users download the version 1.81_17 game client at ftp://ftp2.lineage-us.com/USLin181_17.exe. Macintosh users who connect to the Lineage servers prior to Tuesday will not need to download an update. There will be an additional small file patch to this client following the Tuesday server publish.
Additionally, please be aware that Windows users accessing non-North American servers, modifying the Lineage desktop shortcut, or running Lineage directly from the executable file in the Windows Lineage directory may interfere with the patching process. If you have done any of the above, you will need to reset your Lineage desktop shortcut. To do so:
• Right-click on the Lineage desktop shortcut and choose “Properties”
• Select the shortcut tab and locate the “Target” line
• Your target line should read “C:\Program Files\Test Lineage\lineage.exe” /us
• Adjust the target line to match if necessary.
• Click ‘OK’ to close.
In some cases, you may need to create a new desktop shortcut to edit the Target line. To do so, go into your Lineage directory and right-click the Lineage.exe file and choose the "Create Shortcut" option. Copy this file to your desktop and right-click it to edit the Target line. |
| XBoxPic has some scanned screeshots from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Bioware is developing this game for PC and XBox, and if the screenhshots are for real, this will look amazing indeed. Set in a period roughly 4000 years before the time of the films, the game will follow an all-new storyline depicting a legendary battle between the Jedi and the Sith... |
 MMOG Editorial at Stratics Central
Posted by Rendelius @ 15:01 - Top 
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| Remember when you first started playing your MMOG? Rich Adams, a self-proclaimed noob of three years, takes you back to the early moments of exhilaration and the newbie learning curve. The nice editorial at Stratics Central can be found here... |
The Shadowbane Beta Journal continues at the official site for this upcoming MMORPG. It's a report of someone being in the closed beta, and here's a bit from that:
Anyone who likes having options, having control, being able to do many things at once -- anyone with the mental fortitude to chew gum and walk at the same time, will eventually love the way Shadowbane plays.
The rest of the interface is equally customizable. Hotkeys can be set, button shortcuts can be dragged onto the screen, transparencies can be adjusted, chat menus setup, map, group screen, -- what gamers have come to expect are all there.
The socials were a hilarious surprise to me, real quick. There are tons of them, and the character movement is extremely lifelike. Obviously somebody at Wolfpack was in the motion-capture suit creating these gestures. Attention to detail, even on something like the "roflmao" gesture, is evident within this game.
Advancing character levels should seem familiar to experienced MMORPG players. Kill a mob, maybe you get some gold, or on a rare occasion, a piece of equipment. There are no useless items which are harvested from mobs, no troll ear, no rope, and no spider silk. The only possible loot is gold and equipable items. |
Just in case you are an absolute junkie, Gamezone has done (surprise, surprise) a preview of Warcraft 3. It's hard to find a snippet with something that has NOT been said before, but well, let's just try:
There are times when playing an RTS without a manual nearby is like falling from a trapeze knowing you don’t have a net. But even those with cursory RTS experience will find the intuitive player interface of Warcraft III very user friendly. It may take a while to recognize that those wisps are actually your night elf workers, but each element of this game is well defined.
Just rotate the camera, or zoom in to ground level to see the remarkable textures and characterizations of this game, and you will have to acknowledge that Warcraft III is visually stunning. The sound is somewhat standard with certain characters barking out the same repetitive phrases
Another preview can be found at GamersPulse... |
Shane Dabiri, project leader for Worlds of Warcraft, was partner in an interview over at C&VG. Here's a part of what he had to say:
Why should someone play World of Warcraft as opposed to any other MMORPG?
Dabiri - I won't use the normal statement and just say "Blizzard!" [laughs]. One of the things we're really committed to, and you guys are probably sick of hearing this, is ease of gameplay. It's very easy to get into all of our games; you don't have to spend one or two hours to work out the interface and figure out what all the hidden commands are. You know that when you buy it you can have fun right off the bat. Secondly, the level of quality we've given to all of our games is evident from our past, and we're hoping to maintain that. We have to make sure we keep that up.
Also, with Warcraft III coming out, and our previous titles Warcraft I and II, there's a world that's already established and there's a good number of people out there who are familiar with it. People who have played Warcraft II will be able to experience places they've visited in the RTS, and they'll be able to go: "Ah, there's the tower - I remember going in there and killing so-and-so." Now you get to go inside the tower and explore.
Also, one of the big mistakes that MMORPGs make is to say they're going to have 15 races and 25 classes in the beginning but then say, oh, we're only going to have ten, or five. They commit to something initially that they can't deliver. We just want to commit to things we're actually implementing. |
Claus Grodval from Razorwax lets us know that they have a Darkfall Chat tonight:
Today February 26th at 6:00pm PST, the Darkfall Development Team will feature in a Stratics House of Commons IRC live chat.
You can participate in the chat by connecting to either irc.stratics.dhp.com, stratics.frws.com, coldfront.gamers-irc.org or stratics.truefear.net. The chat will be held in the #darkfallhoc channel.
The Darkfall Development Team will answer questions live from the participants of the chat. |
The next review of Disciples 2 can be found at Entertainment Deopt. Their overall rating is 7/10, and they conclude their review like this:
I was never much a fan of turn-based titles before Disciples II: Dark Prophecy, but this little gem has converted me. While I did try my hand at Heroes of Might and Magic 2 some years ago, I never saw the various nuances that made turn-based games so appealing; Disciples II: Dark Prophecy immediately drew me into its world and forced me to play for hours on end. The bugs are a problem, and knocked both gameplay and overall scores down some, but I can’t deny the sheer enjoyment I had playing with all of the races while enjoying the in-game storylines. This is a must-own for strategy fans and could very well be the title to convert those who haven’t been able to enjoy previous turn-based efforts. |
Game Over has written up a review of Dark Age of Camelot. The rating couldn't be more enthusiastic: 96%. Here's their conclusion:
I strongly recommend this game. It is the best, most enjoyable and most addictive game I have seen in 19 years. If you enjoy fantasy role playing games, then I urge you to check this game out. I’ve had some truly hysterical game moments of the kind that I usually only see in paper and pencil role-playing games. Please take the comment about addictiveness as fair warning, though. People may become concerned about your health. I was cutting sleep to play this game for the first two weeks I had it. I’ve backed off some, but my wife is still somewhat concerned. (She is also campaigning for a second phone line or a DSL connection, so there may be additional costs to the game beyond the obvious.) |
A new forum has been added for Icewind Dale II, discussing the rules of the games. Here are the current discussions:
Base Attack Bonusses
IWD uses 3E's Base Attack Bonus instead of the traditional 2nd Ed. THAC0 system. Base Attack Bonus operates in the following manner: each class has a progression rate. Fighters, rangers, paladins, and barbarians have the best rate, followed by monks, clerics, druids, bards, and rogues. Wizards and sorcerers have the slowest progression. As a character gains levels, their BAB increases. Their BAB is applied to their attack roll. When a character's BAB reaches +6, he or she gains an additional attack every round, at -5. Every +5 BAB after that, the character gains another additional attack at -5 beyond that.
E.g., Edward Raith has a +16 BAB. He gets one attack at +16, one attack at +11, one attack at +6, and one attack at +1. Spells that increase a character's number of attacks grant an additional attack at the highest BAB. Spells that increase attack bonus should not be confused with the derivation of BAB, which is done solely through class/level.
Multiclassed characters use the best BAB between their classes and levels.
Monks gain additional unarmed attacks at an increased rate. For monks, they gain an additional attack at +4 BAB, -3. This increases every +3 BAB after that. E.g., Kendel has a +10 BAB. He has four attacks at +10/+7/+4/+1.
Spell Disruption
When a caster takes an amount of damage over 0, there is a chance that the caster's spellcasting for the round will be disrupted. Use the following formula on each ROUND in which the character takes damage.
The spell disruption difficulty is defined in this manner:
* 10 + Spell Level - Caster Level/2 (round down) - Constitution /2 (round down) -5
spell disruption roll is defined in this manner
* Random 1-20.
If spell disruption roll >= spell disruption difficulty, the spell is cast successfully. Otherwise, YOU BLEW IT.
Concentration is what is being checked. The idea is that an 18th level mage is so accustomed to casting 1st level spells that maintaining concentration over such simple magic under pressure is not difficult.
Once casters get a total of +14 to Concentration (skill ranks + con bonus + whatever). Defensive casting eliminates all ability to disrupt spellcasters unless you have a readied action, which almost never happens.
It depends on the level of the spell being cast. However, a 1 never fails. If you're a 10th level mage (decent level, but not mind-blowing) you can have 13 ranks in Concentration and a 14 Con for a +15 to your roll. Casting a 1st level spell is automatic. Casting a 9th level spell would happen on a roll of 9 or more -- 55% of the time. Those are pretty good odds.
Use magic Deveice
Any character with a score above 0 in Use Magic Device may use the skill. Only thieves and bards are allowed to take points in it.
A character with points in Use Magic Device can use Scrolls and Wands that are normally not able to be used by their class. The items show up with a yellow tint that indicates they can only be used via use magic device. When these items are actively used, they trigger the skill resolution.
Skill is equal to the character's skill + 5([Charisma/2]-5)
Difficulty is equal to the level of the power being activated (specified in the spell/item) * 5.
Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty is equal to Skill - Difficulty.
Use_Magic_Device_Roll is a random 1-100.
If Use_Magic_Device_Roll <= Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty, the spell is cast successfully.
If Use_Magic_Device_Roll > Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty, the "charge"/item is used, but instead of its intended effect, the user takes 1d6 points of Magic Damage per level of the power being invoked.
Saving Throws
IWD2 uses 3E saving throws, which are categorized as follows:
* Fortitude -- Protects against physical attacks (poison, disease, death spells, etc.). Modified by Constitution.
* Reflex -- Protects against attacks that can be dodged (fireballs, lightning bolts, etc.). Modified by Dexterity.
* Will -- Protects against attacks that affect the mind (domination, hold person, etc.). Modified by Wisdom.
Generally, most classes have one or two good saving throw categories and one bad saving throw categories. A few classes, like the monk, have good saving throws across the board.
When a character attempts to roll a saving throw, a random number from 1-20 is generated. The character's saving throw bonus, and modifiers, are applied to that roll. If their sum is equal to or greater than the DC (difficulty check) of the attack, they successfully save. While some saving throw DCs are arbitrarily derived (a dragon's breath, for instance), most spells are derived using the following formula:
* Spell Level + Caster's Ability Bonus + 10 = Spell DC.
E.g., Marfain Vaer casts a fireball. She is a sorcerer with a 16 Charisma. Since fireball is a 3rd level spell, and her ability score modifier is +3, the DC of her spell is 16 (3 + 3 + 10 = 16).
Armor Class and Armor Type
IWD2 uses distinct armor types to arrive at a total armor class. These bonuses are defined as follows:
* Armor Bonus: bonuses granted by suits of armor or magical bracers.
* Shield Bonus: bonuses granted by shields.
* Deflection Bonus: bonuses granted by other magical devices.
* Dexterity Bonus: bonuses granted by a high dexterity.
* Miscellaneous Bonus: all other bonuses.
Excepting miscellaneous bonuses, only the highest bonus of any type is applied at any given time. E.g, Alender Kaan puts on a suit of leather armor that grants a +2 armor bonus. He also puts on some bracers that grant a +1 armor bonus and give him a bonus spell slot. The leather armor's higher armor bonus is the only bonus applied. Alender still gets the benefits from the bracer's bonus spell.
Armor class is added to 10 instead of subtracted. Generally, bonuses to armor class are the same as they were in 2nd Ed.
In IWD2, touch spells ignore armor bonuses. Thus, the caster only needs to overcome shield, deflection, dexterity, and miscellaneous bonuses to hit their target. E.g., Alender attacks a Zhentarim agent wearing a suit of chain armor, a small shield, and a ring of protection +1. Normally, the Zhent would have a 10 + 5 + 1 + 1 = 17 armor class. When Alender's shocking grasp spell homes in, he only has to hit a 10 + 1 + 1 = 12 armor class.
Bonusses can not be simply added. If you wore two rings of protection, or, for example, a ring of protection +1 and a cloak of protection +2, only the +2 deflection bonus from the cloak would apply.
Ability Scores
In IWD2, ability scores are initially generated using a point-buy system. All statistics start at 8 and the player has 30 points to distribute. Racial modifiers are applied to the initial scores, do not subtract from the point pool, and modify the minimum and maximum value of ability scores. E.g., an elf would start with a 10 Dexterity, 6 Constitution, and could get as high as a 20 Dexterity and as low as a 1 Constitution.
When possible, ability scores follow 3E bonus scaling. In almost all cases, the character gains a higher bonus for every 2 points above 10, a lower penalty for every 2 points under 11. E.g., a character with a 14 Strength would have +2 attack bonus, +2 to damage. A character with a 9 Dexterity would have -1 attack bonus (missile), -1 to armor class, and -1 to reflex saving throws.
Here are the things that ability scores modify:
Strength: Melee attack bonus, melee damage bonus, carry weight, bash doors
Dexterity: Missile attack bonus, armor class, reflex saving throws.
Constitution: Bonus hit points (not class-restricted), fortitude saving throws, caster concentration checks.
Intelligence: Starting weapon proficiencies, chance to learn spells, wizard bonus spells, dialogue options.
Wisdom: Will saving throws, priest, paladin, druid, ranger bonus spells.
Charisma: Store prices, dialogue options, bard and sorcerer bonus spells, turning undead, paladin saving throws.
Bonuses granted to ability scores do not stack. The highest available bonus is applied. E.g., a character is wearing a ring of strength that grants a +1 bonus. The party sorcerer casts a strength spell on the character, granting a +3 bonus. The target will only use the +3 bonus.
Weapon Specialization, Mastery, High Mastery, and Grand Mastery
IWD2 uses modified rules for weapon specialization, mastery, high mastery, and grand mastery (or **, ***, ****, and *****, respectively).
Weapon Specialization (**): Available to fighters at 1st level. Available to rangers, paladins, and barbarians at 3rd level. Character gains +1 attack bonus, +2 damage while using that weapon type.
Weapon Mastery (***): Available to fighters at 3rd level. Character gains +3 attack bonus (total), +3 to damage (total) while using that weapon type.
Weapon High Mastery (****): Available to fighters at 6th level. Character gains +3 attack bonus (total), +3 to damage (total), and an addition 5% chance to critically hit while using that weapon type.
Weapon Grand Mastery (*****): Available to fighters at 9th level. Character gains +3 attack bonus (total), +3 to damage (total), an addition 5% chance to critically hit (total), and a 10% chance to stun (Fort save vs. 20 DC, lasts one round) while using that weapon type.
NONE OF THESE SPECIALIZATION LEVELS GRANT ADDITIONAL ATTACKS.
If you are dual-wielding, you gain an additional attack with your off-hand at your highest BAB. Of course, modifiers can lower this amount, especially if you don't have any points in TWF. You never gain more than one attack per round with your off-hand.
Damage Reduction
IWD2 uses a close approximation of 3E damage reduction rules. This can be broken up into two categories: elemental damage resistance and weapon damage reduction.
Elemental damage resistance is represented by a point threshold. This amount of damage is subtracted from every elemental attack of that type directed at the character. E.g., Shikha Lilah has 15 Fire Resistance. She is hit with a fireball for 22 points of damage. She only takes 7 points of damage.
Weapon damage reduction is represented by two numbers, the former representing a physical damage threshold, the latter representing the enchantment level required to overcome that resistance. All WDR follows this pattern:
5/+1
10/+2
15/+3
20/+4
25/+5
10/+2 means that the first 10 points of damage from any physical attack are ignored unless the enchantment level of the weapon is +2 or better. E.g., Bastine and Pieter are fighting wights with 5/+1 WDR. Bastine's non-magical longsword strikes a beast for 8 points of damage. The creature only takes 3 points of damage. Pieter immediately follows up the attack with a +2 bolt from his crossbow. The attack only does 5 points of damage, but it ignores the wight's WDR.
Spells that cause physical damage always ignore WDR.
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Here's the latest from the forums:Some extra information regarding the Shapeshifter kit
BTW, I believe the arctic boar gets a chance for a gore attack that can cause a bleeding wound. The panther gets a chance for a rake attack that does a pretty healthy amount of damage.
About fighters and grandmastery
Fighters will be allowed to gain grandmastery in any weapon unless their kit denies such a possibility.
For those who weep at the thought of archers without specialization in melee weapons, remember: specialization does not grant extra attacks. Specialization gives +1 to hit, +2 to damage. A ranger without specialization in a weapon is hardly crippled.
On the question if an Archer hosuld be better with a bow than a fighter
That fighter must be pretty high level. Imagine the following scenario. You're playing a wood elf fighter. You get that sucker up to 9th level, take your big fat fifth star in bows. Man, +3 to hit and damage, +1 to critical hits, and a 10% chance to stun your enemies. You are one awesome fighter. Then Rangy McArcher sneaks past you to scout out an area. From stealth, he sees a pack of gnolls. He casts Entangle on the whole group, and then fires off a dozen called shots that do even more heinous damage -- with the exact same benefits that your fighter has.
Does that make sense? Your fighter, who gains no special abilities, no spellcasting, tracking, or stealth, the one that you made specifically to be a badass grandmaster bowman, gets outclassed by a character that did gain all of those special abilities, and uses them to devastating effect.
A response to the thought that a +1 bonus every five levels not being so big
It can be. Every five levels is not too bad, but every four, or, as previously listed, every three, is even more excessive. An 11th level archer with bow mastery and +1/+1 every five levels would get three attacks at +16/+11/+6, doing 1d6+5 damage with each shot -- assuming that the character has no other bonuses to hit or damage. In a likely scenario, a wood elf ranger with a 20 dex, bow +2 and +2 arrows would get three attacks at +25/+20/+15, doing 1d6+9 damage per shot. Ugh. They don't need an extra +1/+1 to be very effective.
Should halflings be paladins?
I think it makes just as much sense (if not more) for halflings to be paladins as humans. Halfling culture is very community oriented. Yondalla and Arvoreen are both LG deities. In fact, there are no evil halfling deities in the FR. The closest they get is Urogalan, the halfling god of death and the earth. He's LN.
The effect of INT on weapon proficeiencies
If I remember correctly, it follows this pattern:
5 or less: -2
6-9: -1
12-15: +1
16 or more: +2
Often mages can start the game with most of their WP's filled. Of course, they still have d4 hit points, so it's not like they're going to send the fighter to the unemployment line.
The effect of CON on a fighter
A fighter with a low Con would lose possible bonuses to his or her fortitude save. Wisdom modifies will saves.
WARNING TO PLAYERS: If/when you play IWD2, do not be tempted to, oh, I don't know... make a party of six gold dwarf fighters with average wisdom. Man, it's pretty funny to watch parties like that mow through melee-heavy battles only to flop around like a fish in the desert when big caster battles come up.
One of the QA guys actually made a party of six gold dwarf fighters. It's like feast or famine with them. When there are few casters to be seen, they cut through enemies like harvest wheat. It's sick.
But then you see the party come up a group of wizards with bodyguards and... forget it. The whole party gets held, dominated, or confused in the first two rounds of combat.
About thieves
Thieves are awesome in IWD2. Their only shortcomings are low hit points, so-so AC, and poopy will/fort saves. Good BAB, high reflex saves, evasion, sneak attack, crippling strike, and use magic device make them terrific characters -- single-classed or multi-. |
The seventh installment of the UO: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge Developer Diary went online at Gamespy. This time, it deals with "The Devil in Details":
Believe it or not, an enormous amount of work goes into the smallest things in games. Let's take something insignificant, as an example. While we were putting together the beta for UO: LBR, we decided that we'd never really paid enough attention to those insignificant, little screenshots during the installation process. As we thought about it, we realized "Gee, for 5 minutes or so, we've got a captive audience, and whatever we're showing them on the screen has their undivided attention. They've got nothing else to look at." That turned out to be a scary thought. Before the game was even starting, we were generating an impression on our players. And frankly, the limited amount of attention we'd paid to this aspect of the game in our previous release was surprising. We decided we needed to fix it. |
One can be found at SLCentral, the other one is the second part of the pcitural preview over at Invisible Dreams. Here's a snippet from the first one, dealing with graphics:
The conversion to 3D is nice very nice. The scenery is beautiful, although It's much better when you have larger maps with which to work. You don't feel restricted. The character portraits are likewise 3D, animated, and cartoony in the traditional Warcraft style. If the detailed units and structures covered with brilliant textures don't impress you, then the wonderful animations will. Because the world of Warcraft now has height, spells are that much more ominous. Watching ice chunks fall from a Blizzard cast by an Archmage, or a spirit summoned by a Paladin reincarnate the skeletons of the dead, is simply awe-inspiring. Blizzard has proved that their talent in game design goes beyond two dimensions. You can't really justify the transition to 3D though, other than "It's what everyone's doing". One has to admit that when you look back at their last RTS, Starcraft, the 640x480 resolution and 256 colors look as if they originated in prehistoric times. However, the alteration doesn't seem to result in battle tactics changes. And so far as we can tell, the camera can't rotate; it only stays fixed at the south end of the map. You can change the downward angle and zoom using the mouse wheel, but you can't rotate it for a more convenient angle. |
ELSA files for bankruptcy!
Posted by Garrett @ 04:51 - Top
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| ELSA, one of the leading producers of Graphic boards, has filed for bankruptcy, after 7 out of 8 banks have recalled loans for 28Mio Euro and Gigabyte has cancelled all contracts with the German company. | | Source: GameStar |
You wouldn't have believed that this day goes without the mandatory Warcraft 3 preview, would you? So it might not surprise you that GameZilla has done one :-). Snippet serverd here:
The biggest and best addition to the Warcraft franchise is the inclusion of a strong adventure element to the game. Instead of building up faceless, nameless legions of troops and sending them off to batter at the other guy, you get to enhance your armies with the construction of heroes. Each race has three to choose from, and over time you can create all three. Each of the heroes has a unique style of fighting that enhances specific types of attacks. For instance, some are good at absorbing damage and wading through battle in hand-to hand combat, while others are better at distance attacks or aerial assaults. On top of that each hero collects experience points when they or their troops are involved in battle. As they go up in levels they earn the chance to learn spells. Typically the heroes are given three to choose from with each spell having levels that can be increased. For example, one of my favorite heroes right now is the Tauren Chieftain of the Orc camp. His spells allow him to heal himself and those around him at differing rates depending on the level of that spell. Additionally, he can learn to reincarnate himself automatically or to cast a building unit damage spell that shoots through troops in a wave of damage. |
Not even officially announced at their site, and yet spotted by us *g*: Voodooextreme serves an interview with Doug Avery from Black Isle Studios about their upcoming Icewind Dale 2. Here's a snippet:
VE: How many Icewind Dale II specific engine features have been added?
Doug Avery: We have added a whole bunch of third edition Dungeons & Dragons rules in IWD2. Currently, we use the 3E base attack bonus replacing THAC0. We are also using 3E saving throws, armor class (it goes upward from the base ten as opposed to down), racial advantages and disadvantages, attribute scores and bonuses, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
The interface has also been given a complete overhaul so that it obstructs less screen real estate. I can't wait until we can show it off. The work in progress is very impressive.
New character scripts have also been made. Chad Nicholas, one of our scriptors, worked really hard to make additional character scripts that are more specific to how you want your characters to act in combat. Players will really appreciate his Bard song script. It plays different songs based on what your party is doing and what their current health status is. |
A new preview of Cities of Heroes, an upcoming superhero MMORPG, can be found at The Armchair Empire now. This is what our Game info database says about the game:
City of Heroes is the first superhero themed online RPG and will offer a host of exciting and compelling gameplay features. Players create their own heroes, choosing from hundreds of different powers, skills, abilities, and items and design their own unique costumes. Then they can band together with other players to fight evil, build their own secret headquarters and strive to become the premiere hero group in the city. Gamers will confront super villains, aliens, madmen, monsters, criminals, and other fearsome foes. They can take on personalized missions and rid the city of dozens of different evil organizations and hundreds of individual enemies. With success players acquire power, wealth, and fame and come to bask in the spotlight and rake in the rewards as their powers and fame grow with each successful mission and every defeated foe. City of Heroes takes place amongst the skyscrapers, slums, sewers and streets of Paragon City, a sprawling online metropolis that offers unlimited adventure and countless surprises. Players become an integral part of many and varied different ongoing story arcs as the villain groups menace Paragon City and react to player victories and defeats. |
| Spelletjesgarnaal has a really nice set of Morrowind movies on their site. The movies cover interviews with Christiane Meister, Jason Ruddy, Steve Meister, Ken Rolston and Mark Bullock, as well as ingame footage ranging from character generation to dungeon crawling. A must for fans! |
Blade's Battlestation has reprinted a Star Wars. Galaxies preview that originally appeared in a print magazine called "Star Wars Gamer". Here's a bit about the "bug hunt" during development:
Given the size, scope, and complexity of Star Wars Galaxies, there are bound to be some glitches in the game's programming code and scripting. Bugs can range from an error that causes the game to crash to a typo in a nonplayer character's dialogue. By the Pub- lic Test, the game should be relatively stable, ensuring that crashes are rare and major bugs almost non-existent.
When a tester reports a bug, the programmers and scripters investigate and decide how best to resolve the issue. Since no two bugs are created equal, programmers prioritize them. Anything that keeps people from playing the game, like a "crash bug," receives preference. Next on the list might be those bugs that distract from the visual quality of the game: a missing texture on a krayt dragon would instantly destroy the sense of immersion, so it's important that these oversights are corrected before the game launches. The bug exterminators also focus on errors that hamper or distort gameplay—this might include a bug that creates unwanted duplicates of a powerful item or allows a stormtrooper to shoot through walls. Small nuisance bugs, like typos, have the lowest priority, but they should still be fixed before launch.
The developers are also hoping to enlist the aid of many diehard Star Wars fans during the public test period to spot any potential continuity conflicts. | | Source: gaminggroove |
| Seems the guys are pumping up the PR volume for Asheron's Call 2 - now they have published a movie for this upcoming MMORPG, which can be found at Fileplanet (waiting included). It's app. 10.8MB in size and shows high-polygon characters and details in the environment, such as waving grass. Registration (free) with Fileplanet reuqired... |
| Darkfall Warcry has opened business, as one of the first fansites for Darkfall. They bring you some new screenshots from this upcoming MMORPG as a goodie :-) |
The latest Glimpse Inside at the Earth & Beyond site brings us the thirds part of an interview with a betatester of this upcoming futuristic MMORPG. Here's a bit:
Q: Is there anything in Earth and Beyond that especially appeals to you? Anything from a certain sector, a type of skill, the community?
Whether dodging worms on Dahin surface [planetmode] or sneaking up on Brawns in Vishara's [World], the best aspect of Earth and Beyond is the community. People from all walks of life and many different generations all test/play and enjoy. Set in a gorgeous graphical world people come together to trade, communicate and join forces. The sense of camaraderie is obvious from the start: questions like - 'how do I do this' are usually answered by two or more detailed replies, cries for help are answered from all points in the sector, if not galaxy - I personally was trapped in Glory's Orbit by some particularly difficult NPCs in the early days and was rescued by several players who busted the pirate blockade.
Grouping in Earth and Beyond is also excellent - as in many RPG games the characters have different yet, synergistic skills. One of the toughest early NPCs - the Brawns of Vishara were terminated by a good group of high level players - some in support roles healing shields of others and some (Progen) forming the offensive vanguard. Now we have critical hit, signature damping, system repairing, psionic shield and many more group skills. |
Gamespy has an interview with Jeff Anderson, the Executive Producer of Asheron's Call 2. Here's a bit about the engine (some screenshots demostrate how advanced it is):
GameSpy: I had the privilege of checking out the game engine at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. What impressed me the most was the high-polygon characters and the detailed terrain: Grass waving in the wind, etc. You've no doubt done a lot of work on the engine since then. What are the highlights?
Jeff Anderson: You're absolutely right. Most of our characters are pushing near 5,000 polygons and we are motion-blending all of their animations. It's just phenomenal. And, as you suggest, Turbine's G2 engine is a quantum leap ahead of where it was even last year. Our latest builds include some amazing effects. The water is now fully reflective and ripples -- it is just stunning. We've also finished a ton of work on our subterranean landscaping that we use for the dungeons and Vaults. The lighting and ambience effects are nothing short of spectacular. Creative Director Jason Booth's vision for the sound engine will change the way that people think about music in a game world. |
IGN.PC has done a preview of Grandia 2 for PC. Grandia 2 is an anime-style RPG that has already been released for consoles. Here is a part of the preview:
As with most console RPGs, the story has something to do with saving the world from the ultimate evil one way or another. Our hero, Ryudo, is not the usual fare however. He's a smart cracking sword slasher that's a bit of a misanthrope. You see, he's a Geohound. As Ryudo himself says, "A job's a job right? That's what it means to be a Geohound." Sure thing Ryudo. So wait, what the hell is a Geohound again? My best guess is a warrior for hire. Taking odd jobs recovering objects, killing monsters, protecting damsels in distress... you get the picture. He does whatever anyone gives him money to and prides himself on getting the job done right. One thing he does not do is like people or even worse, fall in love. But this is a console RPG and the love falling will happen soon if not immediately. Okay it happened immediately. |
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