Dishonored

[Sakonosolo]

Okay so I just heard about this game and am really excited about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_(video_game)

It's basically a steampunk-ish stealth action game set in an open world and the AI is dynamic, which makes me think it's similar AI to the Stalker games. You get melee weapons, guns, and you have special powers, such as stopping time, that you can get. They're really going for player choice as well and one of the lead developers worked on Deus Ex.

I'm currently reading this interview with the developers and some of the stuff they're talking about is really cool, especially the part where they talk about testers doing stuff they hadn't thought of while testing the game.

Harvey Smith: Yeah, or I took these two powers and they work in combination that was not planned, but I tried it and it just worked. All the time we saw testers do things we never planned. Like, the time stop power. A guy runs into a room, there are six guys – and six guys in our game is serious problem – so he stops time, then he puts an arrow in the air, an arrow in the air, an arrow in the air [air-draws a semi-circle in front of him]… Anything touching you moves at real-time, so if you bump a lamp it falls, but as soon as it’s half a second away from you it stops. So if you hit a guard, he animates but then stops. So the crossbow bolts leave you for half a second and stop, and then when time resumes all the guards die at once, they all get hit by crossbow bolts at once. And it was magical the first time we saw somebody do that. It’s just this general purpose approach to making game systems.

I can tell you crazy ones, like a guy stops time and as somebody shoots the bullet hangs in the air, then he possesses the guy, walks him around in front of the bullet, and then ejects and then when time resumes the bullet kills him. He suicided in this weird way. There’s all these crazy combinations that we had no plans for, but we trust that if we make things general purpose, the player can get creative. It’s super-cool. That’s our main thing about the game. On one level, you’re a supernatural assassin in a retro-future world, but on another level there’s a lot of variability in this game and it’s ultimately going to be your playthrough.

Can't. Fucking. Wait.

[Sakonosolo]

Just a little bit of footage along with the devs talking about various mechanics in the game. The graphics aren't really all that special, but I'm really loving the art style they're using. It's a shame there isn't more gameplay in this video.

[Nolus]

Even though I'm more into fantasy, this sounds just like the game for me. I love going around silently~

[DarthAsthma]

gameinformer had a hub for this game quite a while back http://www.gameinformer.com/p/dishonored.aspx

It looked very interesting but there is not enough info about it out yet for me to become really enchanted with it.

[Sakonosolo]

We finally have a trailer for the game! There's no ingame footage but it shows the kind of stuff you'll be doing in the game. If the final game is anywhere near what this trailer shows it will be amazing.

[Captain Katsura]

Looks like a mix of bioshock and a bit of half life.

[Sakonosolo]

The lead artist is from HL2, the devs are mainly from Deus Ex, and the environment does look similar to Bioshock, so yeah.

[KaizokuJinbei]

Actually to me it looked more like a FPS assasins creed

[Sakonosolo]

I'm sure this game is going to have many more ways to complete missions than the AC games. And one of the things people have been pointing out is that Corvo doesn't spend 10 minutes making a speech to his victim before killing them .

[KaizokuJinbei]

@Sakonosolo:

I'm sure this game is going to have many more ways to complete missions than the AC games. And one of the things people have been pointing out is that Corvo doesn't spend 10 minutes making a speech to his victim before killing them .

I was only referring to the part with him running on the roof tops and jumping down and stabbing the guy but alright.

[Sakonosolo]

Release date is October 9th. That's around the same time as GTAV (supposedly), the new Amnesia Game, and AssCreed 3. I need to get more money.
http://www.bethblog.com/2012/05/10/dishonored-arrives-october-9th/

[DarthAsthma]

The more footage I see of this game the more it reminds me of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic which I loved. Best Orc kick simulator :P

[Sakonosolo]

Bump for gameplay video.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrpwf7_dishonored-gameplay-mgsse3-2012_videogames

Holy crap it looks awesome. And apparently there's dismemberment. Can't wait for it to come out.

[Sakonosolo]

Another gameplay trailer

It looks amazing.

[Nolus]

I'm not going to lie, as soon as I saw that chain-possession thing, I wondered "will it work on animals?" than bam, fishie.

This game looks like it's going to be awesome. The gameplay looks unique enough.

[KaizokuJinbei]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/03/all-star-cast-revealed-for-dishonored

The VAs of Disohnored have been revealed.

VAs include: Chloë Grace Moretz ( Kick Ass's Hit Girl) voices Young Lady Emily, Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), and John Slattery (Mad Men) also lend their vocal talents, and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) will be heard throughout the city of Dunwall, broadcasting government propaganda on a speaker system.

[Sakonosolo]

Why do they have to hire a-list actors? All it does is bump up the cost of making the game and then people complain about games costing so much to make. It's worse than increasingly detailed graphics in that respect.

[Gekko135]

Michael Madsen is dope as fuck and makes me want this game more.

[Zack]

@Sakonosolo:

Why do they have to hire a-list actors? All it does is bump up the cost of making the game and then people complain about games costing so much to make. It's worse than increasingly detailed graphics in that respect.

Yeah. I know what you mean. I find it hard to believe they can't find cheaper actors who are just as good at voice acting. I guess the hope is that it helps advertisement for the game, though I don't really care that much as long as the voice acting is good. The worst example I can think of is the 'Diana Allers' character from Mass Effect 3(though she's just a journalist from IGN).

So…..anyone think Steve Blum or Jennifer Hale'll be voicing anything in the game? :ninja:

[Green_vs_Red]

@Sakonosolo:

Why do they have to hire a-list actors? All it does is bump up the cost of making the game and then people complain about games costing so much to make. It's worse than increasingly detailed graphics in that respect.

It's money they have to burn so why not splurge. Plus people don't complain about game's costing so much to make.

They complain about games costing so much to buy.

[Sakonosolo]

Games cost so much to buy because they cost so much to make. If they have so much money to blow, why don't they spend it improving the game? I can't say much for this game as it's not out yet, but if this game is buggy as Bethesda developed/published games tend to be, then they should have spent the money improving the game instead of hiring high profile actors. It's like Call of Duty games spending all their budget on marketing instead of improving on the games.

[Green_vs_Red]

@Sakonosolo:

Games cost so much to buy because they cost so much to make.

I don't think it's just this by itself but also in part because well the price and cost of things usually go up with time. Something that seems like an unheard of concept to gamers many of whom think that games are supposed to be the exact same price they were 10-25 years ago which weren't cheap even then.

@Sakonosolo:

Bethesda developed/published games tend to be,

Well to be fair Bethesda's not developing this and neither is Obsidian (New Vegas) so who knows if the game will work on a technical and gameplay level.

@Sakonosolo:

It's like Call of Duty games spending all their budget on marketing instead of improving on the games.

I think the game's looking and feeling samey has less to do with how their budget is allocated but more so to do with how much time is spent making these games along with the fact that I don't believe anyone at Infinity Ward or Treyarch knows how to improve these games you know beyond for example adding a cover system which seems like a foreign concept to them.

[Gekko135]

@Zack:

So…..anyone think Steve Blum or Jennifer Hale'll be voicing anything in the game? :ninja:

Steve Blum is in like everything. So yeah, i'm sure I'll slice his throat a couple billion times over the course of a play through.

[Zack]

@Green_vs_Red:

Well to be fair Bethesda's not developing this and neither is Obsidian (New Vegas) so who knows if the game will work on a technical and gameplay level.

Actually, I think it's usually the publisher who's responsible for the gametesting which is why a lot of people found it unfair not to give Obsidian a bonus since they could have gotten one if New Vegas got an 85 on Metacritic, and it got an 84 due to the bugs for the most part.

[Green_vs_Red]

^Well shit .

[Cyborg009]

some new vids for dishonored

so many ways to play

stealth mode:

straight up killing:

personally i'd prefer the stealthy route

[Sakonosolo]

http://www.lazygamer.net/xbox-360/without-clues-dishonored-was-too-difficult/

In playtesting, Arkane found that people just weren’t all that able to go about finishing the mission using their own heads. without at least some sort of clue, people would just wander about aimlessly, hoping for the mission to complete itself.

“People would just walk around. They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t even go upstairs because a guard told them they couldn’t. They’d say ‘Okay, I can’t go upstairs.’ They wouldn’t do anything,” explained Arkane’s Julien Roby to Games.On.net

sigh

Kind of stupid but shouldn't really affect the game too much for people who want to explore and find every solution. I'm just amazed. Either at how terrible these people seem to be or at how Arkane didn't get depressed at this happening.

[valiantt]

NPC Guard: "You can't go up the stairs"
Player: "Derp, okay. I guess I can't go up the stairs."
In this era, do gamers still follow what NPCs tell them? In an open world gaming experience (I assume this is that type of game), one should know better than to follow what NPCs tell them.

[Foolio]

When an NPC tells me what I can't do, the FIRST thing I do is try it…

[DarthAsthma]

The more I see of this game the more I'm confirmed by the feeling that this is M&M Dark Messiahs spiritual successor I game I really liked.
Really the only thing that was bad about it was the unskippable long intro scene.

[Nolus]

@DarthAsthma:

The more I see of this game the more I'm confirmed by the feeling that this is M&M Dark Messiahs spiritual successor I game I really liked.
Really the only thing that was bad about it was the unskippable long intro scene.

You mean Dark Messiah of Might and Magic? I liked that game too, although not for the story, but rather the whole feeling of it.

[Silverblade]

This neat fact alone means Arkane are making a great game.

[Nolus]

@Foolio:

When an NPC tells me what I can't do, the FIRST thing I do is try it…

Haha, so do I. It's like a forbidden fruit: "You can't do that!" "Oh really?". It usually ends with said thing being true though~

[Foolio]

@Nolus:

Haha, so do I. It's like a forbidden fruit: "You can't do that!" "Oh really?". It usually ends with said thing being true though~

Yep, but I never lose faith. I can't silence the voice in my head that says "we'll see about that!"

This game does look really cool, but I hope they don't make things too obvious due to some doofus playtesters. The most fun you can have in this type of game comes from going "damn I wonder if this will even work!" and then it does.

[Zack]

I also find it hard to believe they would fall for that so easily when apparently you can just blast your way through anyway. Heck, I remember finishing at least one deus ex quest by knocking out one guy and getting what I needed rather than going on some quest for him.

[Foolio]

TBH my greatest fear in gaming is that games will become easy and mindless as the majority of gamers continue to become lazy and dumb.

[Zack]

@Foolio:

TBH my greatest fear in gaming is that games will become easy and mindless as the majority of gamers continue to become lazy and dumb.

Yeah. I know what you mean. It's fine in games that can have different difficulty settings, but in games like this where the difficulty lies purely in designing the stage and other similar issues, it can suffer from that.

[DarthAsthma]

@Nolus:

You mean Dark Messiah of Might and Magic? I liked that game too, although not for the story, but rather the whole feeling of it.

Yeah that game, and I totally agree I also don't think that there have been many games since then that could replicate quite that feeling it gave off. I think Mirrors Edge was in some ways the nearest to it.

[Foolio]

@Zack:

Yeah. I know what you mean. It's fine in games that can have different difficulty settings, but in games like this where the difficulty lies purely in designing the stage and other similar issues, it can suffer from that.

Exactly. And it says a lot about games that lately I've been setting them on the hardest difficulty from the get-go (such as Darksiders 1 and 2), as well as the fact that so many games including RPGs now have huge markers on your map showing your next objective spot. What happened to exploring and FINDING the next place to go? Thank god you can turn that off in Resident Evil 6.

[Green_vs_Red]

@Foolio:

TBH my greatest fear in gaming is that games will become easy and mindless as the majority of gamers continue to become lazy and dumb.

Yeah majority of "American" gamers.

@Foolio:

as well as the fact that so many games including RPGs now have huge markers on your map showing your next objective spot.

Well unless your playing Borderlands 1 and instead you get a marker that trolls the hell out of you.

@Foolio:

What happened to exploring and FINDING the next place to go?

Trial and error exploration in games isn't for everyone, especially if you're throwing players into massive world with tons of things to do, people to talk to, and places to go.

[Foolio]

@Green_vs_Red:

Trial and error exploration in games isn't for everyone, especially if you're throwing players into massive world with tons of things to do, people to talk to, and places to go.

There's a BIG difference between the game giving you just an idea about where to go next and it being marked with a star on your map. I'm not advocating random wandering at every spot.

[Sakonosolo]

I understand why exploring went away. Most of the time it's just to aggravating and not really fun. Some games it's fine in but in most games I don't want to sit down with maybe an hour or two to play and then ending up not even doing anything because it takes so long to find the place where the actual playing starts.

Yeah majority of "American" gamers.
What's that supposed to mean? The rest of the world is pumping out shit just like the US. Take a look at Dice, a Swedish company, and their BF3 which the singleplayer at least is just as linear as any CoD. They're even doing the same pay to get DLC early shit that CoD is doing.

[DarthAsthma]

@Sakonosolo:

I understand why exploring went away. Most of the time it's just to aggravating and not really fun. Some games it's fine in but in most games I don't want to sit down with maybe an hour or two to play and then ending up not even doing anything because it takes so long to find the place where the actual playing starts.

What's that supposed to mean? The rest of the world is pumping out shit just like the US. Take a look at Dice, a Swedish company, and their BF3 which the singleplayer at least is just as linear as any CoD. They're even doing the same pay to get DLC early shit that CoD is doing.

That's not fault of the mechanic but the design. Of course exploring isn't fun if you just wander around aimlessly and never find anything.
It's also not fun if it treats you like some kind of idiot that can't remember where he came from (exploration in FF13 cough).
Or if maps are confusing.
Neither is it fun if it's forced onto you exploration is something that should be incentivized not forced.
Just to cite a recent example of well designed exploration Guild Wars 2, there are certainly many more.

[Green_vs_Red]

@Sakonosolo:

What's that supposed to mean?

The lazy and dumb part. Though if they're gamers in other places that are just as or even more lazy and dumber than us then by all means I apologize for making that saying that.

[Sakonosolo]

@DarthAsthma:

That's not fault of the mechanic but the design. Of course exploring isn't fun if you just wander around aimlessly and never find anything.
It's also not fun if it treats you like some kind of idiot that can't remember where he came from (exploration in FF13 cough).
Or if maps are confusing.
Neither is it fun if it's forced onto you exploration is something that should be incentivized not forced.
Just to cite a recent example of well designed exploration Guild Wars 2, there are certainly many more.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a little freedom instead of a massive arrow but it has to be in the middle of the two. Something like Morrowind which apparently just gave you vague hints and expected you to find the place yourself is too far on one side of the spectrum at least. The game should give you hints in one form or another but I'm not entirely sure how you would go about doing that. It shouldn't be as railroading as giving you a massive arrow on your map showing you exactly where to go. It also shouldn't just describe to you a landmark or something and have you wander around aimlessly for hours looking for it. Think of in RDR, the treasure maps. I don't want that to be the standard for finding things to do in games.

Edit: The post below me made me think of something. Anyone here play Thief? That game has some massive levels and does have a map mechanic. They're hand drawn and not very detailed. They pretty much just show the general outline of areas. You can place notes on them though. Like if you encounter something that will make a place easier to find later on you can place a little marker and make a note next to it. I think that would be kind of cool to see used more. It's not too detailed that it's like a massive arrow pointing you directly to the area, but it's not too vague that it makes finding the place annoying.

The lazy and dumb part. Though if they're gamers in other places that are just as or even more lazy and dumber than us then by all means I apologize for making that saying that.

I can't tell if you're being serious or not. Calling an entire country full of people lazy and dumb (in general or even just at video games) is just a massive generalization that I can't imagine anyone saying seriously.

[Zack]

@Green_vs_Red:

The lazy and dumb part. Though if they're gamers in other places that are just as or even more lazy and dumber than us then by all means I apologize for making that saying that.

No. You're right. All gamers everywhere else are hardcore. They don't even make maps. They draw their own!

[Green_vs_Red]

@Sakonosolo:

I can't tell if you're being serious or not. Calling an entire country full of people lazy and dumb (in general or even just at video games) is just a massive generalization that I can't imagine anyone saying seriously.

Well yeah I'm obviously not doing that since I would be throwing myself and half the people who on post these boards under the bus. I should've been more clear and less cynical about it though.

[Nolus]

@Foolio:

Exactly. And it says a lot about games that lately I've been setting them on the hardest difficulty from the get-go (such as Darksiders 1 and 2), as well as the fact that so many games including RPGs now have huge markers on your map showing your next objective spot. What happened to exploring and FINDING the next place to go? Thank god you can turn that off in Resident Evil 6.

I remember playing Morrowind. I HAD to listen to the quest-givers carefully or else I'd have never found those caves/dungeons they sent me into.
Hahaha, there was one quest where I had to find someone and ask for money from her, but I just couldn't find that damned cave. I even laughed at myself and said: "It's probably here somewhere" and then, there it was. Oh boy, was it a great feeling. Map markers make things way too easy nowadays.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Sakonosolo:

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a little freedom instead of a massive arrow but it has to be in the middle of the two. Something like Morrowind which apparently just gave you vague hints and expected you to find the place yourself is too far on one side of the spectrum at least. The game should give you hints in one form or another but I'm not entirely sure how you would go about doing that. It shouldn't be as railroading as giving you a massive arrow on your map showing you exactly where to go. It also shouldn't just describe to you a landmark or something and have you wander around aimlessly for hours looking for it. Think of in RDR, the treasure maps. I don't want that to be the standard for finding things to do in games.

I think Morrowind had the map and mostly enough info for the players to be able to find the quest places. Of course there are times when one overlooks a cave-entrance, but it's still not that tedious in my opinion.

It's not for every game/gamer though and I can understand that. What if we had an option? I think I played a game lately that had something like that.

@Sakonosolo:

Edit: The post below me made me think of something. Anyone here play Thief? That game has some massive levels and does have a map mechanic. They're hand drawn and not very detailed. They pretty much just show the general outline of areas. You can place notes on them though. Like if you encounter something that will make a place easier to find later on you can place a little marker and make a note next to it. I think that would be kind of cool to see used more. It's not too detailed that it's like a massive arrow pointing you directly to the area, but it's not too vague that it makes finding the place annoying.

I do (at least the third one which has the same simple in-game maps). About the markers, I actually think most big games have that. At least Morrowind etc.
@Green_vs_Red:

The lazy and dumb part. Though if they're gamers in other places that are just as or even more lazy and dumber than us then by all means I apologize for making that saying that.

There are lazy gamers all over the world who do not want to experience something great while playing, and don't want challenges that go beyond shooting an enemy before he shoots.

[Sakonosolo]

That could actually be a difficulty toggle thing. People complain all the time about playing on a higher difficulty only affecting enemy strength and player health, well this is a perfect thing to change with the difficulty. The amount of info/the ease of finding locations.

[Zack]

@Nolus:

I remember playing Morrowind. I HAD to listen to the quest-givers carefully or else I'd have never found those caves/dungeons they sent me into.
Hahaha, there was one quest where I had to find someone and ask for money from her, but I just couldn't find that damned cave. I even laughed at myself and said: "It's probably here somewhere" and then, there it was. Oh boy, was it a great feeling. Map markers make things way too easy nowadays.

I'm still looking for the GOTY PC edition somewhere. My first experience with the regular version was hilarious though. 'Okay. I just need to deliver this item. Okay, here I am, and….....I think I may have sold the item somewhere by accident. Well.....shi*.'