Companions

Discussion in 'Avatars & NPCs' started by High Baron Asguard, Jul 24, 2014.

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  1. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    Hmmm, it seems that party members/companions can add atmosphere, depth, fun and even playtime to an RPG, who would have thought that? ;)

    "But in true BioWare fashion, that broader story often takes a back seat to smaller character conflicts. The Inquisitor pulls together a huge group of followers, including nine playable party members, and each has reams of dialogue conveying a fully developed personality.

    While I had my personal favorites, there really isn't a weak character in the bunch this time around. From the snarky dwarven crossbow expert Varric (a returning character from Dragon Age 2) to deadpan mercenary Iron Bull (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.!) to the immature, butt-obsessed elven rogue Sera, I was pushed to spend time with and get to know every single party member.

    Their depth is reflected in how much I grew to respect even my least-liked companions. I often found myself changing directions based on their thoughts. If Solas — the driest character in my crew — suggested I approach a situation involving magic in a different way than I intended, I would listen to him more often than not.

    Those party members also offer plenty of sidequests, which sent me out into the world at large. Rather than a full "open world," Dragon Age: Inquisition is made up of numerous zones that I could teleport in between at will. However, each of those zones is gigantic in and of itself. In the 80 hours I spent playing Inquisition, I only fully completed two zones, and each of them took me around 20 hours of exploration, questing and monster-bashing."

    http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/11/7...uisition-review-ps4-xbox-one-playstation-4-pc
     
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  2. rune_74

    rune_74 Avatar

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    I'm not sure why being in first person would affect having companions....?

    It worked fine in elder scrolls games and dragon age....
     
  3. Caliya

    Caliya Avatar

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    Well, things I never expected to have to pay for are add-ons, like boats, pack animals and pets, or even horses.

    Things that were never in the original KS have been added rather than developing things that were stated in KS, and development time used, like wedding dresses (really? this was a priority!?), riding outfits (???), tools for crafting.

    I do not understand how they prioritize what will be developed and when. It doesn't make sense to me.

    Suggesting putting a companion in the add-on store makes as much sense, but perhaps if they could make extra $$, it might light a fire under them. Or at least the ability to make a specialty companion while other companions are standard.
     
  4. Lord British

    Lord British Lord British SOTA Developer

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    Fear not! You are all well aware, that only a year ago, we started letting you all play when we had only a generic avatar standing in a small room, with a chicken. We have come a LONG way since. But there is an order to the development operations that may not be obvious. We add systems and data based on how they interrelate or build on each other. For example, the best way for us to test combat was for we the developers to fight each other, thus you too could fight each other, well before creatures were much fun or balanced, and are only now gaining some real intelligence to fight back. This was not meant to imply more focus on PVP vs PVE, it just helped the development process.

    For many months now, we now have had our AI programmer (Erik) dedicated to the framework to making creatures and NPCs much smarter! I got a run down from him on the “Finite State Machine” and “NPC Interest” system. You may have seen the beginnings of this in the NPC lamplighter schedules, though they were a bit off. It looks to be very powerful now, and at a state where we can begin to request the simpler high-level things that will begin to make all of this “NPC life” come to, well, life.

    With this tool in hand, we are now finally to the point where NPCs are beginning to get some smarts and we can start placing and tuning NPCs to do a variety of things. You will see more and more things like guards and villagers turning on/off lights and closing doors, and being "aware" and interacting with their environment. Soon you will see scheduled activities like waking in the morning and going to bed at night. NPCs who farm or fish or do other activities to bring the world alive and help support the story which is the core of the solo experience but also available in multiplayer.

    “Companions” are the most difficult part. Exactly “how smart” or how “deep” a companion will be for episode 1 remains to be seen. Clearly we will have non-conversational “pet” type companions. We even expect to have household “staff” that may be more conversational, but less like a “travel companion”. How far we get in blending the two, has not even been reviewed in some time, as we have had other bigger fires to address.

    I beg for your patience and understanding as we work one issue at a time. I myself started playing in fully solo player mode only a few weeks back. Me and Chris Hirokawa who works in our NYC office, are specifically combing through the main story as it is finally just getting enough “meat” to really test in game. In the next few releases, I think the solo player, virtual world sim folks will see worthy progress. I know many of you are trying NOT to get too exposed to the maps and story of the final game to keep it fresh for release… but I hope some of you join me and Chris on our quest to offer the team important feedback and polish advice as it comes online.

    - Lord British
     
  5. Sold and gone

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    Even a Lich Lord Bows to the King! Thank you for this response, many where looking forward to it! :)
     
  6. Arkah EMPstrike

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    Bartenders with a friendly ear for problems. In real life people often use generic, broad responses to give the person the feeling that they are being listened to.

    EDIT: I was thinking "out loud" about a bartender NPC for houses in the game. After looking back it might have seemed liek i was talking about the devs >.< I'm DEFFINATELY not. you guys are doing fantastic in my opinion.
     
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  7. Akrondar

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    Thanks Lord British for your answer. I think i was right, in a positive way, about what to think about your compromise on the single player aspect of the game.

    Keep up the good work!
     
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  8. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    We also have a "Thinking Outside of the Box" thread on this subject...
    If anyone has some anything to add to it, please feel free :) and just hit the link to Myrcello's above quote :rolleyes:
    It's always great to hear our Portalarium is thinking along the same lines as it's players!
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
  9. rune_74

    rune_74 Avatar

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    This is all I was really looking for...some comment on where it's going or that it hadn't fallen off the map completly, thank.
     
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  10. Lord British

    Lord British Lord British SOTA Developer

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    Interesting suggestions!
    1) Invisible companions, starting with one named "Harvey", for the old timers who get the ref... :)
    - LB
     
  11. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    And a second one named George... who keeps making references to angels getting wings?
     
  12. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.
    Well it got calm in here all of a sudden.
     
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  13. rune_74

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    Like I said it was what I think a lot of us were looking for. The first we have heard on the matter in almost a year.
     
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  14. smack

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    A lot of players will definitely be looking forward to NPC AI / schedules like this. The world needs to feel alive, and NPCs that stand in one spot 24x7 or wander aimlessly around town without doing anything kills that. NPCs that repeat the same schedules daily is a start, but can become stale very quickly since we'll experience that hourly. They need variation in activities.

    This is also another key area that many single player RPG fans in this community are looking forward to. The classical Companions of the Avatar. While the tech currently doesn't appear to support this as you state above, we will need to revisit this issue in the months to come. The baseline many have set here is Ultima 7, in terms of NPC schedules and Companions (i.e. not pets or servants or hirelings).


    Thank you for giving us an update on the current direction and what's to come. Many of us are very much looking forward to the single player experience but understand the needs of development scheduling. As such, the Q4 schedule does not speak to any of these single player features. But we look forward to the Q1 Schedule that DarkStarr will publish next quarter and hope to see these sort of single player elements included.
     
  15. mike11

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    Good to know that companions will be getting a good look at, later on.

    What do I think they should be? I think companions is something could (obviously) become a very huge project perhaps much more than intended? Anyways I have seen some cool companion systems where you can rotate through your companions (and even group) so that you can play any one in similar fashion to your main... Lots of potential there for adding content via companions, hell maybe you can even totally customize your companions so they are unique?

    On the other hand companions that are integral to the story are interesting because of the way they will connect with the world around them, they would need to also act as other NPC's and have lives and behaviors all of there own. I hope it won't become too complicated to have something robust that will server companions as a important part of the game..
     
  16. Sir Cabirus

    Sir Cabirus Avatar

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    This is neither the answer I was afraid of nor the answer I've wished to hear. But the worst answer is no answer and so I'm very thankful for your response dear Lord British :)

    I had a dream about companions like in Ultima VI or VII - companions which are integrated in the story (Shamino: "I do not see our old friends often, and Lord British rarely find work for me. I certainly have no time for wenching or drinking -- I have grown up a bit." Iolo: "Ahem, I have heard something about an actress, no?" Avatar: "What dost thou know of it?" Iolo: "Avatar, ask him about 'Amber'." Shamino: "Thou art a swine, Iolo."). Just an example, oh how I like this pleasurable kind of stuff :) However, since the story of SotA episode has been written already and the immersion status of the companions remains vague I realize we can't expect such companions like in the former Ultima games for episode 1. SotA is made by a small team and with small money - therefore I can understand this. My hope is that SotA epiosde 1 will be very successful and episode 2 will offer companions like in Ultima VI and VII.

    Another example (Dupre: "These people still believe that any problem can be solved by hitting something or stabbing someone. They remind me of a more primitive but less complicated time. Perhaps that is the way people live here -- to escape their modern problems."

    @all Portalarium members: Thank your for all your efforts
    @Lord British: Thank you for the finest rpg series ever

    PS: the companion dialogs were taken from Ultima VII - The Black Gate
     
  17. rune_74

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    I agree with all of this, including the thanks to Port and Lord British.
     
  18. Sir_Hemlock

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    Whilst nothing new has been discussed by LB here regarding companions- it is encouraging to learn the intention is to make NPC's more lively.

    It confirms what I reasoned, that implementing Ultimaesque party-companions in a 3D game such as SotA would be very challenging.
     
  19. rune_74

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    So....after that long video question period....any news on companions?
     
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  20. MRHELLBOX

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    To play devils advocate this game really shouldnt be considered a full fledged MMO, its an entirely new entity of its own. Though it shares some similarities with Guild Wars, it must be remembered that you are the star of your own narrative in this game regardless of the online component. I am here for the story mixed with the ultima esque game environments. That being said I would love custom companions to travel with in addition to my online counter parts. Sometimes playing with others is a mixed bag. Sometimes you get people who abandon a quest or have no interest in being around you, just bide there time till they get what they need. Id rather play with NPCS and a select few people who share my interests or at least have a nice social relationship with from meeting online.

    But I think calling this game, and or promoting it as an MMO, is a mistake, sure its gonna draw people in, but remember were here for a multitude of reasons one of each is the online play, the other being great story telling, and finally a grand world to create and explore in. Dont Sneeze at companions, besides they can only add to a story not detract. (Spark Ultima 7)
     
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