malfador-off topic

[Puke]

most daedric items are leveled drops. you can try looking in ruins or strongholds, but unless one is laying about as part of the scenery, you wont get one off a monster untill you are fairly high level. like over 20, i think. the things are just too darn heavy though, especially the Daedric plate. The glass armor is pretty neat, but i feel like the Guyver when im wearing it.

[tesco samoa]

http://www.acaeum.com/

cool link.... for those who used to role the dice

[dumbluck]

I find it interesting that Shrapnel is marketing a second heavily moddable RPG. After all, there is Runesword already out there; why do they need another one? Isn't that counter productive, having two similar products out there, competing against each other? How is that good business sense?

Then again, what do I know about "business sense"?

[geoschmo]

Well Shrapnel is in the business of selling games. If Malfador has an RPG now why shouldn't they push it? RSII is several months old, and Crosscut has not made any sort of commitment to making an RSIII anytime soon AFAIK. I doubt that DO is going to affect any ongoing sales of RSII. But on the other hand I am sure if and when Crosscut has their next game ready Shrapnel will be happy to sell it too.

Think of Shrapnel as the record label and the developers as the artists. It's not a perfect analogy, but it will do. A record label wouldn't try to only sell one artists albums would they? Not if they had a choice anyway.

Geoschmo

[Richard]

Actually we see it as mutually assisting each other. Bringing another strong RPG title just helps out both products. Plus RSII has been out for awhile, so I don't see how it can do anything but help sales.

[ZeroAdunn]

Why wouldn't shrapnel push it? It is a product malfador is producing, shrapnel can't stop them, and shrapnel has a contract (I assume) with malfador. It is just common sense to sell a product you have.

How much are they planning to sell this thing for? I don't think I would pay much more than $20.

[Jmenschenfresser]

Speaking of RPGs I went down to Software ETC on 34th street. Bought Soulbringer and Icewind Dale for a combined total of 20 bucks. Cheap games are better games.

Playing Soulbringer now. Meh, it's ok being the cheaper of the two. Cost me 5 bucks. Being sprites, the eye candy characters aren't bad. Especially when I decapitate my assailants with a sabre. HAHA.

I've always been of the opinion that combat in RPGs mostly sucks. I can't stand the Final Fantasy style...ultra boring. Diablo is pointless hacking...more akin to the old Gauntlet games. I think I burned up a mouse finishing Ultima Underworld, with all the click, hold, move, unclick, etc. The realtime used in games like Planescape: Torment is a bit better, but it can get frustrating, and once you are toting around 5 or 6 NPCs in your party, a battle with several beasties can become micro-management hell. Some may remember Darklands. A bit like Torment, but slower. Honestly, I must say, one of the better systems, and it may be because of its simplicity, was the original Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo. Reason? Shield, not the sword. There was definitely a give and take feel to it. If you were attacking you were vunerable. Certain shields stopped certain things. The one I am playing now, Soulbringer has a little of that, but the computer handles the defense. It is nothing you can do really. The combat moves rather realistically, but pathfinding in this game is awkward and slow.

Point being...I've never played an RPG where I thought, "ah, this is how all RPG combat should be done."

[Noble713]

Originally posted by sachmo
Yes, but the problem with most of the above games is that the story is hard coded. Of course you are free to do what you will during the game, but eventually you have to beat the foozle and win the game. What the new Malfador games looks like is that the user is going to have the ability to, if they are so inclined, mod the game and play the entire Wheel of Time series if they wish. Or Game of Thrones. Or whatever. Now that, I personally consider superior to every game you mentioned.

So basically it will have a similar level of flexibility and world-making to Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Morrowind, however, has one critical advantage: FAR superior graphics.

I don't know about others, but a large part of being immersed in a game for me is how realistic the graphics are. I won't feel like I'm really in a game world if the characters I'm looking at are small sprites with 5 frames of animation.

I'll stick with Morrowind. I've already begun some preliminary work to reproduce the Warhammer World, largely to see some of the awesome sites and structures in it. I don't think you'd get quite the same feel without a high-quality 3d engine.

[sachmo]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THAT THE DUNGEON ODDESY DEMO WAS UP?!?!?! What a great day! Patch for SEIV and a new game to screw around with!

[JJ Sonick]

Noble713, it's true there are some really nice looking 3D rpgs out now (Neverwinter Nights, Elder Scrolls III) that are moddable, but consider that if you want to create a totally new creature for those games, you're going to have to know how to do some 3D modelling or know someone who can do it for you, and then figure out how to properly import it into the game. It's even more complex if you want create your own kinds of 3D land tiles for those games.

The old-school graphics of DO are an asset in this way. I'm sure I'll be able to make some wild creatures and different landscapes in DO that I know I'd never have the time or ability to make for the 3D games. Plus, DO can randomize certain parts of the mods. If DO mods come out that are creative and fun, the gameplay will be absorbing enough that the outdated graphics won't matter. That's what I'm betting on, at least.

[ August 15, 2002, 20:55: Message edited by: JJ Sonick ]