Obsidians - the outer world

[Grohal]

First trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGLTgt0EEqc

I confess, I am hyped.

[Woolfe]

That looks kind of fun

[PsychicMonk]

There is already a gameplay video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3cRpYG ... e=youtu.be

[Jozape]

No dialog wheel, voiceless protagonist. Nice. I hope that doesn't scare away people in 2019/2020.

EDIT: Image from Steam with the good old dialog list.

Also from the gameplay video above, the VATS replacement seems okay. If I heard them correctly it just slows down time, which is a bit unfortunate but much better than nothing. To me though it looks like it pauses the first time it is used before the larger battle in front of the bunker. Maybe it is just because everything is moving slower, or maybe it is a feature before combat is systematically engaged? Hope that is not wishful thinking on my part.

[sear]

As someone who put a ton of time into New Vegas, I am very excited that Obsidian got the opportunity to make a game that is building on all they accomplished. Looking great!

[Drool]

So, I'm a little hesitant because Obsidian can be very hit or miss and buggy, but it certainly looks like it'll be a fun blend of Fallout New Vegas and Borderlands.

[anastiel]

perfect game

[kilobug]

Sounds like it'll be more of a FPS than a RPG, so not for me... and also no news about DRM-free version nor Linux version... I hope that's not what the MS buying will mean for the future, or it's the end of the RPG renaissance for me

[Grohal]

Sounds like it'll be more of a FPS than a RPG, so not for me... and also no news about DRM-free version nor Linux version... I hope that's not what the MS buying will mean for the future, or it's the end of the RPG renaissance for me

You can be lucky if future games of MS owned studios ARE released on Steam, but even that is in doubt.

[Drool]

You can be lucky if future games of MS owned studios ARE released on Steam, but even that is in doubt.

It's only the biggest marketplace in the world.

[Grohal]

You can be lucky if future games of MS owned studios ARE released on Steam, but even that is in doubt.

It's only the biggest marketplace in the world.

Yeah, that is my fear - MS needs some good exclusives for their own store, else it stays in the shadows.

[Highwayman667]

No dialog wheel, voiceless protagonist. Nice. I hope that doesn't scare away people in 2019/2020.

I can live without a dialogue wheel... but voiceless protagonist ? That sucks, this is 2019, the Mass Effect and Witcher trilogies proved you can have perfectly well written dialogue with a voiced protagonist. I'd rather play with a person than a doll.

Still, this is obsidian we're talking about so... it'll be damn good.

[Gizmo]

I got really ticked off at clicking on Geralt's terse dialog options, only to have them expand into unexpected threats and other baffling replies.

Voiceless is highly preferred, both for quality of dialog sake, and modding, and if nothing else (for some), not having the PC parrot the text in an inappropriate voice; ie. That's not what my character sounds like! I read faster than the voice actor will deliver the lines, I've no need to have the lines read back at me. In the case of dialog quality and modding, the studio paints themselves into a corner when they record the protagonist's line. They cannot add or change anything without scheduling additional recording sessions—which might not even be possible for the actor. With just the overhead of the NPC voiced lines, they can hire anyone to speak those, and and have the PC respond with whatever they like; go back and change it at any time however they like (for free). And of course it goes without saying that modder's cannot add voiced dialog lines for the PC, so any attempt is awkward and stands out as unpolished, but if the game is voiceless for the PC, then modded quests can blend indistinguishably.

*In the case of the Witcher... that's not my character, that is Geralt of Rivia; my issue was with Dialog roulette... where I didn't know what he was going to say, or what would happen after. Once I chose an innocuous response to try to diffuse an altercation, and it ended with combat after Geralt threatened to kill the guy.

"No" to voiced PC's in RPGs with arbitrary custom characters; outside of how it's done in Baldur's Gate.

[Highwayman667]

"No" to voiced PC's in RPGs with arbitrary custom characters; outside of how it's done in Baldur's Gate.

Nay ! People can pretend all they like that a voiceless protagonist is exactly what they want... but it's not. It's a doll, you're playing a wax figure that has no personality of it's own, save for the one you create in your own mind. The only reason why developers didn't do this before was because games were not as large as they are today. Nobody would've found it sensible in the days of the Infinity Engine RPGs to hire Hollywood actors to fill an entire cast of characters in a videogame; these days ? Even actors like Freddie Prinze Jr. are making a killing at Bioware, and doing a damn good job about it !

As to your example in The Witcher, I don't believe the issue is with the voiced character, it has to do with clarity, which is an issue that almost every RPG has in one way or another, outside from those that annoyingly put a "FIGHT" or "PERSUADE" indicator next to the dialogue text.

[Woolfe]

I prefer Voiceless in most situations. I don't need to hear my character speak. Its what everyone else says that is important.

That said, it depends on the game. Witcher for example, the character is fully developed. Yes you make the decisions but the character exists before. So I am fine with the voice in that case.

As opposed to a game where you are creating the character from scratch, where you have more ownership in its development.

[Highwayman667]

As opposed to a game where you are creating the character from scratch, where you have more ownership in its development.

I understand, though some games offer different voices and accents. For all it's faults, Dragon Age: Inquisition offered two amazing voice actors for both genders.

[Woolfe]

As opposed to a game where you are creating the character from scratch, where you have more ownership in its development.

I understand, though some games offer different voices and accents. For all it's faults, Dragon Age: Inquisition offered two amazing voice actors for both genders.

As did Mass Effect...

[Gizmo]

Nay ! People can pretend all they like that a voiceless protagonist is exactly what they want... but it's not.

Yes it is.

It's a doll, you're playing a wax figure that has no personality of it's own, save for the one you create in your own mind.

Best kind. I prefer a game like Baldur's Gate (or even Curse of the Azure Bonds), because the character graphics are an abstraction that imparts the game's reaction to my choices...without nailing it down too precise. I can imagine the critical hit as far more impressive than something out of Skyrim or DNF.

These impart the the exact same event, but the latter sets a higher bar to live up to; where the first one cannot break immersion with dumb physics glitches, or animations that don't line up; or that clip.


Also, I never once fell through the map playing Curse or BG 1&2, as I have done in ALL of the Bethesda games I have played.

*But it does depend on the tone and intents of the game. Disciples series for instance, are beautiful games; practically like animated oil paintings. But they are also a high level abstraction, where the player's turn counts as one day, and in D2 combat, the units cannot move, and melee weapons are swung at opponents across several meters distant.

Nobody would've found it sensible in the days of the Infinity Engine RPGs to hire Hollywood actors to fill an entire cast of characters in a videogame;

The very first Fallout game featured these actors; among others:

[Grohal]

I am also in the "voiceless" mainchar corner. Maybe it is just that I am way more used to complete voiceless games from my beginning days. Maybe it is that I read way faster than I listen to my char what I know he is going to say anyway. But it is, like it is.

[Jozape]

No dialog wheel, voiceless protagonist. Nice. I hope that doesn't scare away people in 2019/2020.

I can live without a dialogue wheel... but voiceless protagonist ? That sucks, this is 2019, the Mass Effect and Witcher trilogies proved you can have perfectly well written dialogue with a voiced protagonist. I'd rather play with a person than a doll.

I think they had good voice acting (IMO writing was inconsistent for Shep, better for Geralt) but those are the only voices you get. And if the dialog wheel and paraphrasing are removed, every voiced line feels redundant because I've already voiced it in my head. It can still be okay like that (original Deus Ex was okay) but I prefer the flexibility and brevity of a voiceless protagonist. But now that I think of it the line could be voiced and executed before it is actually selected. Somebody should do that.