D'Juhn Keep on 18/6/2007 at 20:26
I did intend to play all these, indeed, they are all installed. Unfortunately just after installing I came down with a bad case of BG2itis and also started working 12 hours a day 7 days a week so it'll be a while before I can actually contribute ;)
Macha on 17/3/2009 at 11:49
Nice thread, better add the nameless mod though.
D'Juhn Keep on 18/3/2009 at 11:03
Well I managed to never get around to playing them (thanks, Baldur's Gate) but I've stopped playing it now so I think I'll manage to soon.
Opinions would be great and I'll add any ratings you'd care to give to the first post
henke on 18/3/2009 at 12:29
Quote Posted by D'Juhn Keep
also started working 12 hours a day 7 days a week
Where do you work? Vietnamese sweatshop?
D'Juhn Keep on 18/3/2009 at 12:55
That was way back when I was doing festival site work - from the date that was the Hyde Park festival
Jonas Wæver on 18/3/2009 at 16:22
I've played most of these, so here are my contributions. I'm assuming "roleplay" is just a term for character interaction of any kind, including the quality of the writing.
The Nameless Mod:
No, you don't want my review of this :P
Burden of 80 Proof:
Roleplay: 8/10
Combat: 5/10
Hotel Carone:
Roleplay: 4/10
Combat: 8/10
ZODIAC:
Roleplay: 8/10
Combat: 10/10
Redsun2020:
Roleplay: 6/10
Combat: 7/10
The Cassandra Project:
Roleplay: 10/10
Combat: 3/10
ZylonBane on 18/3/2009 at 20:27
Quote Posted by Jonas Wæver
The Cassandra Project:Roleplay: 10/10
Combat: 3/10
Listening to characters prattle on and on and on about themselves counts as roleplaying now?
Jonas Wæver on 20/3/2009 at 12:54
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Listening to characters prattle on and on and on about themselves counts as roleplaying now?
Quote Posted by Jonas Wæver
I'm assuming "roleplay" is just a term for character interaction of any kind, including the quality of the writing.
I'm not sure I'd say Deus Ex features a lot of roleplaying, and interestingly what roleplaying the game does have is a lot more action-based than any actual roleplaying game I've ever played. In Deus Ex, you don't just choose your character's personality through the dialogue, you actually
play your character like you want him to be - stealthy, gung-ho, lethal, merciful...
So we could define roleplay in Deus Ex mods in two ways:
1) How well does the world respond to your play style?
or
2) How detailed and interesting is the character interaction in general?
Since Deus Ex operates with a tabula rasa of a protagonist, there's not a lot of opportunities for self-expression in the character interaction, so what makes it interesting becomes the personalities and reactions of the various people you talk to.
The first definition is great in my opinion, but the second definition is easier to handle, especially next to a vague "Combat" parameter that I assume covers all the action gameplay (including sneaking past enemies, ambushing them, or hacking past obstacles).
In other words I interpret "Combat" and "Roleplay" in this instance to "Action" and "Character interaction". In which case I thought TCP was excellent in the latter department, having really well defined characters and lots and lots of detail in how to interact with them.
But then that's just my opinion, you're free to present your own opinion if you'll take a moment out of being a douchebag long enough to form one ;)
ZylonBane on 20/3/2009 at 14:41
Quote Posted by Jonas Wæver
Since Deus Ex operates with a tabula rasa of a protagonist, there's not a lot of opportunities for self-expression in the character interaction
This statement makes the exact opposite of sense. A blank-slate character is the PERFECT medium for player expression. The more personality you bake into your avatar, the more constrained your range of plausible interactions become.
And I found TCP to have mostly obnoxious, self-absorbed, entirely-too-impressed-with-themselves characters. Which, considering who wrote most of their dialog, isn't entirely surprising.
DDL on 20/3/2009 at 17:19
Well thank god there's enough "obnoxious, self-absorbed, entirely-too-impressed-with-themselves"-ness to go around, eh? God knows what you'd come up with if you didn't have that to fall back on. :tsktsk:
As for the tabula rasa re: expression, the problem is that while a fully developed character may have a limited range of plausible interactions, a totally blank slate has essentially infinite plausible interactions, which is really fucking difficult to write dialogue for.
Every option you give the player inherently refines the character's personality purely by virtue of all the options you DIDN'T give the player. A JC Denton who can be "violent or pacifistic" in a conversation is already one who isn't completely indifferent, or bored, or hyperactive, or really wanting to dress as a clown, or whatever.
So it becomes quite difficult to generate player-derived self-expression without imprinting quite a lot of your own, if you get what I mean.
