Dragon Age at Comic-Con

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Shir'le E. Illios
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Dragon Age at Comic-Con

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Last weekend was [url=http://www.comic-con.org/:26bn1s2l]Comic-Con[/url:26bn1s2l], a convention originally started to showcase comic books but gradually including more and more pop culture elements including video games. And BioWare was there showcasing Dragon Age, so a few more articles have been popping up across the web.

First there’s BioWare’s own [url=http://blog.bioware.com/:26bn1s2l]BioWare Blog[/url:26bn1s2l] where they recount the events of the conference in five parts. Though this is behind-the-scenes stuff and doesn’t have details on the game itself, it can still be a nice read:
[list:26bn1s2l][*:26bn1s2l][url=http://blog.bioware.com/2009/07/20/drag ... /:26bn1s2l]Dragon Age Comes to San Diego[/url:26bn1s2l][/*:m:26bn1s2l]
[*:26bn1s2l][url=http://blog.bioware.com/2009/07/21/pack ... /:26bn1s2l]Packing up the Dragon[/url:26bn1s2l][/*:m:26bn1s2l]
[*:26bn1s2l][url=http://blog.bioware.com/2009/07/23/comi ... /:26bn1s2l]Comic Con Cometh[/url:26bn1s2l][/*:m:26bn1s2l]
[*:26bn1s2l][url=http://blog.bioware.com/2009/07/24/san- ... /:26bn1s2l]San Diego Comic Con Day 1[/url:26bn1s2l][/*:m:26bn1s2l]
[*:26bn1s2l][url=http://blog.bioware.com/2009/07/25/this ... /:26bn1s2l]This. Is. COMIC CON!- Day 2[/url:26bn1s2l][/*:m:26bn1s2l][/list:u:26bn1s2l]More interesting perhaps is the [url=http://comic-con.gamespot.com/story/621 ... y:26bn1s2l]Updated Impressions[/url:26bn1s2l] at GameSpot. Though fair warning, the article does contain spoilers (particularly for the Dwarf Commoner origin). The article also includes a video interview with Mike Laidlaw.

Here is a (spoiler-free) excerpt from the article:

[quote:26bn1s2l]The first challenge you’ll face in Dragon Age: Origins is choosing a character you can live with throughout hours and hours of epic adventure. You have to choose a gender (male or female), a race (human, elf, or dwarf), and a class (warrior, mage, or rogue). Then you choose an origin story. As a female dwarf warrior, our choice was between noble and commoner. The dwarfs have a rigid caste system in their society, so a noble dwarf was sure to start out with advantages like expensive armor and three hot meals a day. We went the other route, interested to see how the other half lives. After customizing our dwarf with suitably rugged features, we took a brief glimpse at the character attributes and skill tree. Adding a few points to strength and constitution seemed warrior-appropriate, and we invested our skill points in some dual-weapon skills that would allow us to hack enemies up twice as fast (or so we hoped).[/quote:26bn1s2l]
GameSpot also has three other videos, one showcasing a bit of gameplay and the other two showing some of the Dwarf Commoner and Human Noble origins (both of which containing spoilers):

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Kotaku also has a [url=http://kotaku.com/5322780/dragon-age-or ... n:26bn1s2l]hands-on article[/url:26bn1s2l] where they detail some of their experiences playing the Xbox 360 version. Note that this article contains some spoilers for the Human Noble origin.

Here’s a spoiler-free excerpt:

[quote:26bn1s2l] BioWare should be commended for its ability to get a complicated title like [i:26bn1s2l]Dragon Age: Origins[/i:26bn1s2l], with a rather complex menu system, to work with a standard controller. After a few minutes of fiddling, we quickly became accustomed to navigating [i:26bn1s2l]Dragon Age[/i:26bn1s2l]'s deep set of options. A color-coded inventory system and auto-leveling option makes exploring its depth that much easier, particularly for some of us who shy away from the more complex BioWare titles.

Based on our hands-on time with the Xbox 360 version—and discussing the classes and races we didn't play with other members of the press—[i:26bn1s2l]Dragon Age: Origins[/i:26bn1s2l]' story line looks to feature the depth and breadth that will ensure multiple playthroughs of the RPG.[/quote:26bn1s2l]
Previously I already reported on the [url=viewtopic.php?t=1420:26bn1s2l]Dragon Age Builder Event[/url:26bn1s2l] that BioWare held, but this weekend the Player Resource Consortium (a modding group for Neverwinter Nights) held a Builders Chat including a number of the builders who were lucky enough to attend the event as well as some BioWare developers. The PRC has put up [url=http://www.nwnprc.com/articles.php?cat_id=3:26bn1s2l]all the chat logs[/url:26bn1s2l] (there are three: the main chat, a side-chat with BioWare and an after-chat) all of which contain details of interest to those interested in building modules for Dragon Age.

Here’s an excerpt from the side-chat:

[quote:26bn1s2l]Level Editor Question: Interiors and exteriors, how do they vary? Can we blend them together in one area where we can move from one to the other without facing a loadscreen?
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBrianC[/u:26bn1s2l] technically you can
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBrianC[/u:26bn1s2l] but there are other issues with that...
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBryanD[/u:26bn1s2l] You can avoid loadscreens by putting several areas together into one "area list" - all areas in an area list are loaded into memory together when you enter one of them. The main difference between interiors and exteriors is the presence of a terrain mesh, I believe. You can use all of the same tile pieces and props in both interior and exterior layouts.
[u:26bn1s2l]BioCraig[/u:26bn1s2l] when trying to include multiple tilesets in one area the main issues you will run into are performance ones, I believe
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBryanD[/u:26bn1s2l] As I understand it, the main problem with walking inside buildings in an exterior level is handling the fade cutaway. As far as I'm aware we don't have that set up right now.
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBrianC[/u:26bn1s2l] memory mostly, due to all the textures and models and objects being in memory
[u:26bn1s2l]BioBrianC[/u:26bn1s2l] we can sort of get around fading obscuring geometry, but like NWN it's based on camera angles, no scripted "fade this stuff when you use this door"[/quote:26bn1s2l]
Interesting read if you’re interested in player-made modules.

And finally a [url=http://www.dragon-age-origins.de/2009/0 ... /:26bn1s2l]German Dragon Age site[/url:26bn1s2l] seems to have gotten hold of another new Dragon Age video showing some of the “Fade” realm (which is related to magic use as I understand it):

[center:26bn1s2l][html]<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?heig ... "></script>[/html][/center:26bn1s2l]
Overall some very interesting things. The way Dragon Age: Origins is shaping up it should be a great game. :)


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Shir'le
F'sarn natha tithaur wun l'su'aco.

-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
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