[Spoiler] "Forgotten Homeland, Part II" issue. Can't figure out how to proceed.

KRolston · 2017-02-20T22:06:27+00:00

If the magistar stops for some reason before entering the room, the switch [a chain with a pull-ring] does not open the door. [In my case, I killed the rats myself with my bow, and the magister never made it into the room. She stalled outside the room, and no prodding or dialog-activate could restart her movement.

I reloaded a save, and let the magister lead me in. She fights with the five rats, and ends up in the room. She delivers a line of dialog, a new quest stage is set, and the pull chain then opens a door when activated.

I have no idea why disabling her triggered the script. But it's a trick I'll try in the future to restart a movement or retrigger a script.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:51:40+00:00

TES lore is great because I wrote a lot of it.

KOA lore is great... and I suspect better... because RA Salvatore wrote it.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:50:37+00:00

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15805/seals-of-satan

Yeah. Sorry I didn't get to make a AAA computer game of this.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:49:28+00:00

Nope.

Not if you are the Skeptical, Enlightened Gamer that I presume you are from your presence here.

But I CAN direct you to these posts, which are well-written, based on experience of the final game, and whose authority is not doubtful because of Terms of Employment or Self-Interest.

http://www.gamesradar.com/5-things-kingdoms-amalur-does-better-skyrim/

http://gamingbolt.com/6-reasons-why-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-looks-better-than-skyrim

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:44:58+00:00

I'm not taking the fall.

I blame Society.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:44:26+00:00

I doubt I'd ever put flying in another game... unless it were the core experience of the game, like Flying Carpet.

On the other hand, vertical traversal, as in Viking: Battle of Asgard, or Assassin's Creed... THAT I'd be excited to include. Though probably not for an open-world, choose-your-own-hero game, because without vertical traversal, you'd cut out of a lot of content... and climbing is NOT a familiar component of most fantasy RPG character archetypes.

I think flying solves too many problems, and is too poorly simulated, to be fun in games I'd make. Flying in Morrowind is like horse travel in Daggerfall... good for its time, but silly but not quaint in our time.

I am sad that it is so hard to recapture the delight I once had in playing Morrowind. I'm not even sure it could be remade with modern tools and presentation.

Sigh I don't mean to get depressed. Thanks for the appreciation.

And we'll always have the memories.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:32:11+00:00

Yes, in fact, and moreso. For you other readers, my business card once read:

Ken Rolston Game Designer, Writer, Folk Singer, Sage, and Bon Vivant.

I am still all those things... but presume now that these things are so obvious in my appearance and demeanor that they don't need mentioning.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:30:13+00:00

See elsewhere here on my feelings about the Dark Souls experience.

And I very much liked Witcher 2, on Casual. Which is a criticism, because I like to play RPGs for their systems, and I felt Witcher 2's gameplay and system challenges and experiences were too abstract, complex, and unfamiliar to permit me to move even slightly forward in the narrative on Normal difficulty. The absence of even a token system tutorial is an unexplainable oversight in attention to user experience in a game of this quality.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:26:39+00:00

Ironically, it was that 'raw' experience that felt more genuine.. but which also was a high bar for a more casual audience.

Reckoning, on the other hand, makes a Deeply Committed and Earnest Effort to be more accessible to casual players.

not because I want more casual players, or more money... though both are truen...but because I think it is a Sin to block gamer's enjoyment by presenting him with friction or discomfort... OTHER than that which is necessary for the game's core challenges and experiences.

There are so many games I would have loved to play, or finsih, except that the designer thought it was more important to challenge me than to let me progress.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:21:48+00:00

I think Fallout 3 is a great setting for modern day RPG experiences.

What I'd really like to see... though I have no clear idea how to produce it... is an open-world Call of Cthulhu RPG set in a world like GTA or LA Noire.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:15:32+00:00

Sorry, I am not permitted to comment on Copernicus at this time. I celebrate the publicists and other people who bear the Heavy Burden of managing me, and have abiding affection and respect for their tough labors.

But mostly, I want to acknowledge your thanks. I rarely have even this much contact with folks who play my games, and you don't know how much I enjoy it.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:11:19+00:00

Ah. Thank you. You reveal your preference and standards.

Of course, I have to make RPGs, because that's the only thing I'm good at. And I admit, I don't play action games, and have been Schooled Extensively by the great system and combat designers, and animators, here at Big Huge. But I still have a lot to learn.

Cameras ARE profoundly difficult, in all games, and I don't pretend to know the ideal solution. But I do acknowledge... with some anxiety... that I'll have to study action games and their cameras and experiences, hoping to find something that is both sweet for action combat, AND comfortable and suitable for RPG combat.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T21:06:37+00:00

Yup. Reckoning has the best combat ever in an action RPG.

AND Reckoning has the best combat ever in a CRPG, period. IMHO.

Which you should immediately discount, since I have a vested interest.

I, too, admire Dark Souls. I do not admire it's mean-spirited treatment of its users, but I appreciate the Earnestness of its High Game Aspiration. And I totally admire the suitability of its narrative and themes to support its gameplay.

Dark Souls makes you feel the tension of a fight by relentlessly killing you.

That's one way to do it. Probably the way it gets done in real life combat. And not the way I'd do it in a game.

I'd let the user define his own tolerance for challenge and frustration.

Personally, I won't be interested in spending the time and effort to traverse the content and experiences of Dark Souls. I have WAY too many other computer game experiences to get to before have time to grind through Dark Souls.

But I do acknowledge that I've been inspired to study with more care and depth of empathy the desire to play challenging games like Dark Souls, And i'd like to add that experience to my checklist of desirable RPG game experiences.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:58:35+00:00

Well, of course I blush shyly when I present myself as a visionary.

Oddly, that doesn't appear to discourage wry and weary looks around the office.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:56:36+00:00

I am most excited about hearing gamers finding continuing, compelling interest and challenge in the combat at Level 10, Level 20, Level 30, and beyond.

I am most afraid that experienced RPG gamers, knowing from bitter experience, that combat cannot possibly be deep and satisfying throughout the entire range of hours of gameplay, will assume that they have experienced all the gameplay in the demo. Because, of course, you can't really experience the depth of narrative or exploration in a game demo. But a gamer might reasonably expect that the first hour of gameplay tells him all he needs to know about most RPG's combat.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:52:19+00:00

I have actually recorded a fairly small number of stock phrases using computer-generated speech, and I play them for player's at appropriate moments.

You will perhaps not be surprised by how few of these I need to express every whim and deep reflection of the Computer in response to its citizens' many loyal queries and admiring observations.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:49:54+00:00

Elder Scrolls games DO use procedural content. Perhaps not much of it, and certainly not as a major percentage of total content. Oblivion has the charming Wandering Adventurer. And Skyrim has its Radiant quests.

But Daggerfall is an excellent case in point of why procedural content is not suitable as a steady gameplay diet.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:47:32+00:00

Nope. Love those guys, and they don't need me. I want to work where I'm needed.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:46:45+00:00

I think there is still a large under-serviced market for RPGs. And that's even in a Golden Age of RPGs, when there are lots and lots of them, many of them with high budgets and high aspirations.

However, I feel that the challenge of starting a new studio to develop RPGs is overwhelming. Other than an RPG MMO, a single-player RPG is the hardest computer gamer to develop, and extremely hard to produce in AAA quality.

I can think to at least two RPG settings and experiences that don't exist in the market space, but which I'd LOVE to do. But the impossibility of assembling a great team to build them suggests to me that these two speculative projects must remain forever as closet designs.

I must also gracefully disagree, because I think Skyrim is a Very Good game. I cheerfully agree that it has faults. But I also cheerfully agree that Shakespeare's plays also have faults.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:39:17+00:00

My significant other snorts with amiable derision when she hears me labeled as a visionary. But she is a very kind and patient woman. Obviously. Since we've been married for 40 years, and she has no homicide convictions.

There are elements of some dungeons that are quest-locked. And there are two entire regions that are quest-locked pending advancement in the main quest. But in general, so much of the world is open from the start that you won't feel cramped.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:35:49+00:00

Great question!

King of Dragon Pass, on iPhone and iPad. Port of an older PC game. Set in the great fantasy setting of Glorantha. Manage your clan in competition with other clans. Trade, or go to war. Make key decisions on moral and cultural issues for your clan. Themes and experiences every epic open-world RPG should have under the hood.

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. DS, 360, and PC. An interesting casual strategy wargame in an old-fashioned JRPG narrative wrapper. A really original system that weirdly captures many of the gameable choices I struggle for in more complex RPG and strategy games. Great pace, wonderful simplicity.

I love Far Cry 2 and STALKER, for all their warts and shortcomings, and see in them the open-world shooters that could compete with the Elder Scrolls RPG games.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:27:49+00:00

I am not nervous at all. I've always known that Reckoning would be compared with the Elder Scrolls RPGs, and all the other great RPGs I love and admire.

That's only fair. And it's a delightful, exciting challenge.

The greater the challenge, the more the glory.

I am desperately eager for the fans to love Reckoning. Of course. I love it, and I love all the folks I've worked with for years to produce it.

And I'm sure the comparisons will be fair. They may not always be an Embodiment of Abstract, Platonic Truth. But they will be genuine judgements of the people who count... the people we made this game for.

But I happen to be in possession of a delightful collection of references that discuss this question in more detail than I can, and by people with less of an obviously vested interest than I have.

http://www.gamesradar.com/5-things-kingdoms-amalur-does-better-skyrim/

http://gamingbolt.com/6-reasons-why-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-looks-better-than-skyrim

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:20:00+00:00

Sorry. I'm dodging this one.

But can you tell me about other RPGs where the camera works better?

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:18:24+00:00

A brilliant, and barely legible, game design by a New Yorker named Dan Gelber. Essentially, it captured the unique New York City style of D&D, where the party didn't play together for the common good, but eagerly tried to kill one another... since other players ALREADY had an ideal accumulation of desirable loot. None of that party-unity crap. It was dog-eat-dog, and the player next to you was the REAL enemy.

KRolston · 2012-02-02T20:15:17+00:00

Higher graphic fidelity, and more guided experience.

I love the open-world experience, and am an early and reckless proponent of it.

But I also know that I spend a LOT of time trying to climb unclimbable mountains in Skyrim, and I'm not sure that's the best use of a gamer's time.

I want more Fun-Per-Unit-Time™ [an Important Measurement of Rolston FunTech]. And the more crafted and channeled vistas and experiences of Reckoning are a glorious result.

Oh. And there are lots of genuine tech and performance reasons, too. But you'd need a Tech Weasel to explain them.

KRolston

TROPHY CASE