jtr7 on 31/5/2013 at 04:48
TDS had the nice touch of the water crystals forming condensation and dripping. The dry-ice should build up an encrusting of frost! It is 20-frikkin'-13, ain't it? They've gone next-gen, haven't they?
With a fantasy game, magic is part and parcel, and I was so hoping for a real further fleshing out of what TDP mentioned and built up in the texts and started to build in a bit. This just screams cop-out and disdain on so many levels, like they were so eager to get rid of things they never liked, so eager they forgot to make sense with their new redesign.
I know LGS never figured out what happens to the arrowshafts, and even the promo movies just show it falling silently out of frame after the water crystal shatters, but I do like the idea of elemental planes, and the crystals being pocket planes in a shell of aether, and the specialized arrowshafts (TDP/Gold and TMA had the special arrowshafts per crystals, like the whole arrow was crafted for each type) slipping through into the other plane, or obliterating as the other plane's energy is released, but I know I'm the only one, hahahahaha!
Myth on 31/5/2013 at 07:02
Arrows disappearing was something I always attributed to engine limitations at the time. Same with broadheads that go *clang* against metal or stone. They should be there, badly mangled tips and all. But that's OK, I know the engine was pushed to the edge of it's capabilities anyway.
That's why I didn't mind guards not relighting torches and just standing there in the dark like morons. And that's why I had so much FUN in that one FM which I really like yet I always forget its name (part of a series, the first mission starts in daylight and autumn leaves flow around. You can steal a key from a window to enter a house on the left). So anyway, there was a great sequence with a guard (who I thnk carried a lantern), who entered a dark room and hit the power switch - totally a gasp moment for one who had been conditioned by the OMs that guards just like going around, blind as bats, and Garrett can dance circles around them.
Man, this weekend I'm not travelling to see my GF, i think I'll have me a T2FM/Crusader Kings II/Skyrim/ marathon with a touch of Might and Magic 6 and 7 and perhaps... Man, why can't we stay 16 and in highschool forever.. :D
jtr7 on 31/5/2013 at 07:09
Yeah, technicalities outside that world are something else.
antihero276 on 31/5/2013 at 11:32
Quote Posted by jtr7
Nope! :D
The arrowshaft was there, just the crystals were smaller and pre-shaped for attaching. No more 4-in-1 crystals with arrowshafts that appear out of thin air, and disappear when the crystal shatters. I can't tell looking at the new arrowtips, but if they are just cast- or machined metal, then they should be able to break bones empty, and smack surfaces louder than the water, earth, gas, rope/vine, and broadheads ever did.
(
http://s70.photobucket.com/user/jtr7/media/TDSElementalArrows.jpg.html)
Inline Image:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i106/jtr7/TDSElementalArrows.jpg~originalGod, they look like something I slapped together.
Ahh, I see you are right, rewatched the opening with the water arrow in TDS... there the crystal is far more prominent then the past games, it looks more natural, like it was just taken from a cave or well and used, rather then having the crystal cut to more resemble an arrow head. I like both looks to it actually, and wouldnt mind if there were those two different kinds of water arrows, maybe one is more expensive and less accurate but produces more water while the other is more accurate, cheaper, but a bit less effective. Just an idea. And yes, those arrows could be a lot better. Frankly a gameplay idea should involve having to collect your arrow shafts to cover up your presence better.
Springheel on 1/6/2013 at 11:28
Having arrow shafts disappear is really a gameplay issue, at least for most arrows (broadhead arrows spawn flinders if they hit something hard in TDM). But if guards can notice broken water arrow shafts, then it really limits their use as a stealth tool, and starts raising the question of why the player doesn't use some other delivery method, like a slingshot.
jtr7 on 1/6/2013 at 11:38
Man, heh, the AIs don't notice most telltale things.
R Soul on 1/6/2013 at 20:46
In the dark engine, the AI can only notice a doused torch if there's still at least some light falling on it. If it's in complete darkness (ignoring ambient light), it'll be too dark to see the object.
Esme on 1/6/2013 at 21:43
Quote Posted by R Soul
In the dark engine, the AI can only notice a doused torch if there's still at least some light falling on it. If it's in complete darkness (ignoring ambient light), it'll be too dark to see the object.
True, but the amount of light can be so small it doesn't show on screen so the player can't see it, if any light falls on an object and an AI is within the light radius the AI can see it perfectly (been a while & can't remember the exact name for the property)
So you can attach a glow to an object that is too faint for a player to see but allows the AI to spot it.
I used that trick in my one and only FM to get the AI's to notice the lights had been turned off and turn them back on, my beta team loved me for that, specially as it was an add on to an earlier version and I didn't warn them :ebil:
Darkness_Falls on 2/6/2013 at 02:53
Still think it's cool you named guards in your FM. Made me feel empathetic; didn't want to KO them.
As for Thief realism, I hope there's this cool gameplay mechanic added: put hands in pockets (1:10 mark)... (
http://kotaku.com/oh-man-you-are-not-gonna-believe-what-you-can-do-in-wa-510853565). Hehe. Maybe in the next Assassin's Creed, the character will put his shoes on and tie them before quests. I don't think any video game has attempted that before, but I could be wrong.
Maybe in Thief's case, the hands will dip down into purses/handbags and under coats, with the cloth reacting realistically, as Garrett steals :P I wonder if EM will release a video that focuses on takedowns and combat like this Ubisoft Montreal one. These things are very important to Thief fans... ... ... :~(
Edit: That's a lot of sarcasm for one post! My apologies. The esme FM comment wasn't sarcasm, though!
jtr7 on 2/6/2013 at 10:16
Okay, more thoughts on the Dry-Ice arrowheads, trying to reconcile some of the problems, but coming up with more in the process:
When they start out, they do contain dry-ice, but while sealed in a container that's strong enough to withstand the pressure, the nitrogen warms back to a gas, so they are just explosive CO2 cartridges, waiting for the top to get punctured/shattered. So there's the possibility for a blast of fire-snuffing air, but the sound would still be problematic, and the arrow might get launched in another direction. Just having dry-ice at all, it will be weirder than ever if the AIs don't get really hurt when fired at with one between pieces of their armor. If it was an explosive burst, a person could lose an eye, and ear, suffer an embolism. Yeesh.
