Croaker's Development thoughts

[Croaker]

First off, I'd like to thank Cap'n Drow for inviting me here to share my thoughts.

I'm creating a new thread because I find it to be more coherent than having everyones thoughts jumbled together. Feel free to comment on my ramblings and move any worthwhile ideas to a compilation thread.

<b>Who am I</b>: I am a 40 year old, 'hard-core' gamer that has been playing games his whole life. My father was a programer, who wrote logic games me, before computer games or graphics even existed. Profesionally I am a chemical engineer and I view gaming only as a hobby. I have not written any code in 30 years. I have made some simple mods for Bethesda games using their tools.

All of my comments will be based on what I assume is being requested below, which boils down to A) What do you think would make a good game, B) What will make this game succeed in the "West". I actually think AoP2 is currently a very good game, but has very poor marketing, so 99% of Mr. Zaitsev's concerns could be fixed by addressing that.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Edward Zaitsev wrote:
Hello, Pieter.

We've been doing a game with the Russian name Corsairs 4. Here it is possible to look the first screenshots of techno-demo.
<a href="http://www.ag.ru/screenshots/korsary_4" target="_blank">http://www.ag.ru/screenshots/korsary_4</a>

I can send on Monday tiser and the game kontsept-document, but to expose it for the general access while it is impossible. The project is developed on Gamebryo Engin though from it remained only render already. Shades from all on everything, the real physics of the ships and sails, jointless world... Put it shortly, all very technologically. But we do not pay off in Russia with such project, therefore should consider the western requirements. I against attraction of the western experts as there were cases when it badly worked. Your consultations in the course of game working out are necessary to me. In exchange I can offer all source codes CoAS, and as probably access to Constraction Set after release of new game for your mods.

Best regards,
Edward Zaitsev.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Marketing:</b> I played the origional Sea Dogs and PoTC but only recently discovered AoP2 due to an <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/142/14293619.html" target="_blank">IGN acticle</a>. I had no idea AoP had even existed or these previous games were getting mod support. It is important to note that I am the kind of person who is constantly digging for information on new games anywhere I can find it. If marketing wasn't reaching me, then they have no hope of reaching the average person. I highly recommend buying banner space from Gamespy, IGN, Gamespot, ect. No doubt that also helps to get favorable reviews and feature articles. They also need to attend game expos to promote the game.

<b>Format:</b> The games need to be released on a console format. Quite frankly, PC gaming is dying a slow death. Over the last few years inventory of PC games has been shrinking or has even been discontinued in some stores. IMO all of the gameplay elements of AoP2 could easily be ported over to either the PS3 or Xbox control system. I realize this will be an unpopular opinion with this modding community, but a PC version can still be released too. I personally bought Fallout3 for the PC simply because of the availability for mods, but we are not the demographic that makes a game profitable.

<b>Gameplay:</b> Now this all falls within personal opinion and we are all going to enjoy different things. These aren't things what are going to help sell more games, they are just going to help them get a getter review from me. I am still playing through AoP2, so I am not 100% on what it doesn't or does contain, but here is what I would love to see in a pirate game...

- Personalization of ships - I like that we can give our ships custom names and upgrades certain features in Bermuda. I would love to see this expanded upon. We gain loads of 'piasters' during gameplay, give us something to spend them on. Getting rich is a hollow victory if there is nothing to spend the money on. Allow shipyards to customize/upgrade sails, paint, crests, lights, cabins, crew uniforms, mastheads, and decorations.

- Colony management - I was hoping for expanded colony management in AoP2. I liked what I saw in AoP and I am very exited about the <a href="http://translate.google.bg/translate?prev=hp&hl=bg&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsea-winds.ru%2FDamnedDestiny_Announcement.htm&sl=ru&tl=en&history_state0=" target="_blank">Seven Winds Project</a>. This could be greatly expanded upon further. The game Tropico 2: Pirate Cove was a fun little pirate town sim, but it lacked any seafaring fun. A lot of cool ideas could be gained by looking at that game. i would love to have the ability to find a deserted island and found my own pirate colony instead of just taking over an existing town. I would get great enjoyment out of supplying seeing building appear as my town was upgraded.

- Get rid of sailing on the world map - I would like to do all of the sailing on the 3D map. Sailing by the stars. The world map would only be used to get an idea of where you were. It wouldn't give an exact location, but only a rough estimate based on your navigation skills and the quality of your quipment. Maps you buy from vendors would fill in details of an initially very poor quality map.

- More crew interaction - I have become used to games that supply companion based quests. More of these would be nice.



Ok, thats enough for now. It's Friday and I need to go drink some rum with my crew before they mutiny. I'll add more thoughts as they come.

 

[Peter Willemoes]

Hi Croaker, and welcome.

What a bunch of fortunes dropping nicely into our turban in one day! You, being the son of a programmer+engineer yourself == not that far away from programmer in PiratesAhoy! terms <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> ("stay, wont you please stay? I-beg-you-or-I'll-kill-you! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />"-Achmed the Dead Terrorist).

Nah alright. I think I speak for all when I both agree in your opinions on the marketing/console issues and the personal customization options. We have had discussions forth and back about differencies in russian vs western cultures and these are indeed area for improvement.

You should know, most of us dont even have AoP2 yet due to those marketing "issues", though. So, any comparison between the two games go above my head <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />

The "worldmap: wether or not - and why?", is an eternal discussion, probably ending in a compromise between aiming for the broad consumer market or the elitarian hardcore gaming market. However, in the PotC Build Mod it is possible to sail between the islands without consulting the worldmap. It is called DirectSail.

I never heard of the "Seven Winds" project, thank you very much for enlightening me. Additionally, it seems Google Translator was in a good mood when translating the site - it actually makes sense! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

 

[Sordid]

Nah-uh, I don't agree with the console thing at all. Firstly, the idea that PC gaming is in decline is a myth. If you actually look at the numbers, you'll see that it is in fact <i>growing</i>. As for marketing, I think it's obvious from this latest COAS fiasco that plastic discs in carton boxes are dead. Digital distribution is the future, and the best digital distribution platform seems to be Steam. So go for that. Worked wonderfully for a whole bunch of unknown and indie titles from small dev groups, no reason why it couldn't work for C4.

 

[Tahlendorf]

Like Croaker, a "Say hello" post would be needed at least in my case... I´m a freshly new member and my interaction with the Forum has been little, so I were the first surprised with the Cap`n Drow PM I received with the invitation to get part on this, so better introduce myself to everybody.

<b>Who am I:</b> I´m a spaniard of 28 years old that loves good games, don´t know properly if I will fit on the 'Hardcore gamer' label. My real name is Pedro Ruiz and I´m a pro-musician with ended career on music teaching, specialty Piano, and I earn my living playing in a professional dance orchestra (liven up festivities all acros the northern part of Spain) playing all kinds and styles of music. My contact with videogames was as a hobby in my spare time, but become 'more' when I found Racing Simulators. Then I discovered the online world (2004, that was very late), the Communities and start to be an active member in a community of an old F1 game released on 2002, Grand Prix 4. The community name was GP4Argentina and many people speaking spanish come there (from Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Chile...). Then I discovered modding and how a game could be edited by anybody interested and make a game better. Time passed, I become one of the admind on GP4-Argentina and started a role of 'foreign-ambassador' for GP4-Argentina in the other english-speaken sim related communities. During my university times I also discovered PoTC, I loved the movie, I played the game and also discovered the BUILD mod... unluckily, when I discovered the BUILD mod it was the hard part of my musical career so it was my duty to take a break from videogames in order to succes in my studies. I get back on gaming, get back to my community of SimRacing but time passed and PoTC game was something forgotten (don´t hang me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blah:" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> ). Recently I discovered again CoAS, and at the moment of seeing the developers my mind flashes to PoTC and then Pirates Ahoy! came to my mind again. I´ve played CoAS, I registered here and participated in the Forums, to my surprise it seems that my ideas and thoughts have some kind of approval so here I am.

I´ve readed the 12 pages of the General Discussion thread (dense reading and time consuming) and now I´ve a more detailed picture of the situation (vastly wide than when I throw myself to express my thoughts about bettering the actual Storm engine fighting mode on CoAS)....

First of all I´ve to say that from the gamer point of view (specially the casual gamer that goes here and there) CoAS has not advanced too much since PoTC and for the Western market (which I preffer to call European and American market) it is quite a handicap. Despite of CoAS being much more immersive, widely better on roleplaying elements and quests... the gamers first impression is on graphics, with 6 years between PoTC and CoAS graphics didn´t changed much, just a few postprocessing effects and better reflections... but just outdates to actual technologies of rendering and actual look of NextGen games... the battle is a bit lost from the beginning, wind is not on our side.
The change to the GameBryo engine is a major step forward for eyecandy for those casual gamers that graphics makes some difference... but not everything is good graphics, it´s just a point that has been solved for good this time.

The Marketing thing that Croaker pointed is really important. Here on PA! you can state that people flowing on the site AFTER Pieter achieve to get the BUILD MOD in a Dutch Gaming magazine are MORE than BEFORE the publicity and renown achieved with that publicity. I had my own experience with our SimRacing mod related to F1, FSOne series, that is builded by non-professional modders with passion, then we appeared on a Spanish Gaming Magazine and now we´re considered as one of the best three modgroups about F1 in SimRacing all around the globe, competing with ModTeams that have acces to professional resources... If things are well planned and maded, add some eye candy and good publicity.... the pie is sold before cooking.
Also the modding tools granted for the very beginning of the release is something that lengthen the life of a game and Community dedication, the real heart of games longevity. The most used SimRacing title on online communities at this time is rFactor (the one I play and mod) and it´s succes is in the help and tools provided to the Modding Community. The game was distributed online and only have 3-4 kinds of fantasy cars and 3-4 fantasy tracks... very sandboxy... but 3 years later all the world most known racing series and tracks can be used on rFactor due to the great Modding Community it has. Some other RacingSims have appeared, but no one has avhieved the succes of rFactor and will only be dethroned by rFactor2...

About Format, depending of the game nature and content it´ll be suitable to attempt for a multiplatform release... taking on account the Cprsairs 4 nature: pirates, combat, sea battles, adventure, role playing... it has the potential so 2 questions remains:
-Can be achieved witht he current game engine? -Is really needed?

The most important thing to care is about Gameplay, and this is something partly linked to the game engine possibilities.
A good combat mode is needed. More dynamic and like films. The abbility to use the scenery, look for spots to shoot better on the messy crowd of a boarding... all with natural and fluent movements. The side step is too much orthopedic in a combar situation, a side roll could be more realistic. Also fencing positions and foot-play on 1vs1 duels could be amazing, in a crowded boarding there is no need of such elegance and gallantry, but without getting to a Hack'nSmash Game Phase.
Transitions for some parts of the game are needed specially arriving on port, repairing and selling ships... I´m also with all the things about a real open world with no little.areas loading when you´re in and all the time compressing thingies, like talking to and officer and set a course or route. It´s also a good moment for some eyecandy transition, for example with the 'eagle view' techniques used on Assassins Creed, the camera goes up and take a vertical FOV as the ship/fleet moves across the course/route you give to your officers. If something happens on the course, FOV return to the ship falling of the sky and getting to normal perspective and zooming where the conversation between your officer and you is taking place (main deck or ship´s cabin, better to have some different options so the game does not look repetitive), so a balance between the broad consumer market and the elitarian hardcore gaming market can be both pleased,
About Ship combat I really like the timing can be changed right now, for 'Hardcore sailing fans' there´s the Tactical Sailing option with slower pace and for the Arcade frenzy lovers you have the Dynamic Sailing option... what to improve... ships physics related to ships configuration, even weapon mounting configuration, so ships with lighter cannons should maneuver more agile, and heavier cannons make the ship more bulky... and also the possibility to mount different type of cannons on different decks (heavier cannons on lower decks, and lighter cannons on higher decks) that would also be related on agility of the ship.
Quests is one the most important things to consider on a RPG. CoAS is amazing on this, but some questlines should be only accesible only when using some kind of character/nationality... for example, CoAS quest only for trading characters, Isabella quest only accesible by Espinosa(spanish) character, BlueBird only accesible by adventurer character... so some quest lines would be only granted for some kind of combinations of the characters backgrounds, giving more depth to RPG immersion on quests. Frankly I´m amazed by what can be achieved with CoAS in facts of immersion of RolePlaying, so I´m confident that Corsairs 4 would be even more deep on RolePlaying... just made the 'Baldur´s Gate' of Pirates RPGs.

<b>BEST REGARDS</b>

 

[Sordid]

<!--quoteo(post=331041:date=Jun 20 2009, 02:45 AM:name=Tahlendorf)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tahlendorf @ Jun 20 2009, 02:45 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=331041"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The side step is too much orthopedic in a combar situation, a side roll could be more realistic.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That, right there, tells me you've never actually held a sword in your life. Rolling <i>looks cool</i>, but realistic it ain't. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> If you want realistic, make the different fencing styles actually reflect the type of weapon. I'm sick to death of my character <i>slashing</i> with a <i>rapier</i>. Again I have to point to Mount and Blade, where you can set what attacks a weapon can be used for and what damage (and what <i>type</i> of damage) it will do with each.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->It´s also a good moment for some eyecandy transition, for example with the 'eagle view' techniques used on Assassins Creed, the camera goes up and take a vertical FOV as the ship/fleet moves across the course/route you give to your officers. If something happens on the course, FOV return to the ship falling of the sky and getting to normal perspective and zooming where the conversation between your officer and you is taking place<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Isn't that what we have now with the map mode? Well, minus the cool zoom effect but that's eyecandy with zero gameplay value.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->About Ship combat I really like the timing can be changed right now, for 'Hardcore sailing fans' there´s the Tactical Sailing option with slower pace and for the Arcade frenzy lovers you have the Dynamic Sailing option...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh yeah, that's a must. Realism is good, but if you want your game to sell well it needs to be possible to tone it down if the player so desires. A good example would be the Il-2 flight sim series, another hardcore Russian game that strikes the perfect balance between realism and accessibility - there's like two dozen different realism options that you can adjust.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Quests is one the most important things to consider on a RPG. CoAS is amazing on this, but some questlines should be only accesible only when using some kind of character/nationality... for example, CoAS quest only for trading characters, Isabella quest only accesible by Espinosa(spanish) character, BlueBird only accesible by adventurer character... so some quest lines would be only granted for some kind of combinations of the characters backgrounds, giving more depth to RPG immersion on quests.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Seems awfully arbitrary to me. I'm all for not allowing the player to experience <i>everything</i> in one game, that's a great way to increase replayability, but make it so that the quest lines branch depending on what the player does in the game, not what attributes he picks at the start. That's kinda unfair, since at that point you don't even know what's available and you're already making irreversible choices. That's a great way to make the player feel cheated (and no, you can't explain this in the manual, because a) you'd have to put spoilers in there or else it would be vague to the point of meaninglessness and b) nobody reads those anyway). Give the player a world of infinite possibilities and then have it react to his actions. That way you create immersion.
COAS already does this in a way, with the various national storylines. You pick one and you can't do the other three in the same game, because in many cases they follow the same events from different points of view. That's great! I haven't even started the first one and I already know I'm going to play the game three more times. I'd love to have even more of that, and focused more on characters rather than anonymous events. See, that's something that Sid Meier's Pirates had. There you weren't out just for the money and fame but also for something more. You had a rival whom you confronted several times, you had family members to rescue. I really miss that sort of thing. Even COAS, best of the Storm engine games as it is, feels terribly sterile. Make it <i>personal</i>.
See, that's the problem with freeform/sandbox RPGs. Often the developers feel compelled to give the player freedom and they think they can do that by removing all character from his... well, character. They don't give you any past, you're an anonymous stranger thrust into the world. I really hate that, makes it really difficult to care about the character other than his stats. Two best RPGs I've played? Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic 2. What do they have in common, besides being developed by the same team? In both you play a character with a very significant, well-developed history and a large part of the game revolves around people you've known and/or affected by your actions. COAS has a bit of that with Blood and bits like meeting your old buddy Attila, but C4 could use more of it, heaps more.

 

[LordDrow]

Well, since I invited you here, I feel I have an obligation to give you at least as much info about me and what I do as you folks share.

I'm Shannon Bentley, I'm a 42 year old computer hardware/software technician. I live in the united states, but I'm not one of those American's that feels he is god/goddess's gift to the world. I feel I am no better and no worse than any other person in any other country that lives on this same chunk of rock I do.

I program and play games because I find it entertaining and love getting to create stuff and seing it exist in a game.

I've been playing the Seadogs/Corsairs series of games since the original Seadogs was released. Love sailing ships and the idea of sailing in an unknown world, getting to sea things nobody else has, fighting other adventurous souls for a share of the treasure and glory to be had by helping my comrades and possibly country get a bigger slice of the pie than the other guys. **grins**

I've done modifications for a wide range of games, including Treadmarks, Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, Carmageddon TDR 2K and others.

I am mostly a modeler with a bit of an ability to slog my way through code and figure out whats being done by playing with it myself.

I'm hoping to get back into college and get a degree in game design and animation.

Like each of you, I prefer a more involved game than the average person. I'm very much into having the ability to customize, develop and modify things with my in game avatar.

I feel that combat should be more than just attack-attack-block-thrust-block-block-attack-attack-block-thrust... or worse still.... attack-attack-attack-attack-attack....

I'd like to see varied combat styles, different character animations dependent upon the weapons you are wielding and more in the combat system.

I want to have complete control over the looks of my avatar, and I'd like to be able to change my avatar's clothing depending on whether I'm heading out to combat an enemy or enjoying social time in the game.

I'd like to see an open, multiplayer game world. But one thats not strictly controlled by the original programmers.

I'd like to seen a game that puts all the tools that the developers used to create the game and run their servers given over to the end users so they can create worlds of their own if that is their desire.

**grins** Guess I'm getting a bit too wild though, still glad all of you could join us!

**waves** Greetings and thank you to you all!

Cap'n Drow

 

[Sordid]

I'm just your average everydude, my dream is to live on a sailing boat, and I'm <i>so</i> not telling you any more than that. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

 

[cerebus23]

the lure of being a pirate or a commanding a ship on those days, or commanding a submarine in our days is your are alone, you are god on your vessel of choice, you make the decisions there is no second guessing no one to tell you what to do.

some people called commanding a sub "the last god like job in the world" i am sure commanding a ship back in those times was truely the same, no radios, no television, no sattelite mapping or navigation.

and no pc gaming is not dying, beat the same dead horse for that last 15 years that pc gaming has been "dying" best selling game of all time is on pc see world of warcraft, the sims etc. i like my games on pc and most of the games i play are moddable pc games > > > console games.

 

[Croaker]

<b>On the side topic of PC gaming longevity:</b>

I used to buy my PC games at Electronics Boutique. Then they stopped carrying PC games.

Then I started to buy my PC games at GameStop. Then they stopped carrying PC games.

Now I buy my PC games at Best Buy. Fortunatly they still sell them, but the floorspace has been reduced from 4 rows down to 1.


So my friends, the trick is to see the cliff before you are actually driving over it. If you look at the trends, console games are on the rise and PC games are declining. PC games may be 'better', but if you are a software developer that is interested in making money, you need to follow the market. The real question is, are we trying to get a better game for ourselves or are we trying to help Seaward succeed as a company?

 

[cerebus23]

see steam if you want pc games.

the next gen of console games is supposedly going for download also, so in the next 15 to 20 years there may be no retailers that carry pc or console games. just because some retailers are willing to junk their pc section so they can squeeze more fps of the month that xbox puts out or wii junk ware you could fill a whole store with that stuff.

and i am sure all retailers will find room when the next WoW expansion is due out or for the the sims, but pc gaming dying? more and more games are coming to pcs, and more pc games are going to consoles so it is a wash. heck the next metal gear is coming to pc, never thought i would see that.

can you make a bit more cash if games are cross platform? yes. can you make less money if games are one system exclusive? yes. but pc gaming is not dying it is moving more toward digital download and how many companies would go belly up over night if pc gaming was truely dying?

pc gaming will be here for ages, pcs are still the kings of the mmo, of the modding and of graphics period i remember the ceo of crytek decrying pcs for piracy and other stuff, while crysis still sold a million plus units. for the system specs you needed to run crysis at any decent framerate a million plus sales was amazing, never mind that any million plus selling title on xbox or ps3 is considered a hit.

make good games for pc and they sell. empire total war topped the sales charts and that game had/has tons of bugs. the sims continues to sell like hot cakes, heck spore garnered a ton of sales that that game was awful at the end, WoW always tops the sales charts for some odd reason .

sad fact is for those of us that like a box a manual and a disk in our hands, pc gaming is going to digital download more and more, and consoles will follow that example in the next generation.

 

[Peter Willemoes]

It may have seemed like an act of impoliteness by not returning your introduction, its just that we never used that before. But I like that idea of knowing who I am talking to, so here it is <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

I am Anders Berthelsen, 38 years old Dane, former soldier and aware of heritage of mankind - hence I tend to talk a lot, give philosoph and history lessons to others in these forums, while trying not to be a pain in the ass doing it (is yet to succeed in the latter). I am an educated blacksmith and later, social worker. True to my adventurous and impatient nature, I tend to switch jobs often. I work for a living, not the other way around <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
My father was tallship-captain and my childhood vacations was on deck. As soon as I could walk, in the rigging too. My first perspective of Europe was made from regattas and tallship races in Ipswitch, Amsterdam, Kiel, Bremerhaven and Zeebrugge etc. I later attended the ship for a full education as a sailor and crossed the Atlantic from Setubal to Baltimore further on to Mystic, Ct, New York to our former colony, the US Virgin Islands, before we headed home via the Azores. These great moments in life shaped me, and while some people need nature or a book to relax, I need some waves to stabilize.

I played games since I got that Commodore64. I tend to be on and off and do not consider myself a "real" modder - I did not put my stamp on anything made in the Build. I did some communication, leading to the acquisition of the tools from Akella, we are currently using. This made people able to put new stuff into the game. I used to be associated with various Half-Life mods and did official maps for the mod Action-Halflife several years ago.

Later in life, I finally did attend some courses in math and programming for a programming education at the university, but learning programming is mostly about theories and solving abstract hyper-complex problems, which I found myself just not that good at, so I stopped. I do a little photoshop for texturing and mapping for myself to keep my skills up - Maya and 3DS are too hard for me to learn (or I am too impatient <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />)

What I want from a game like this, is foremost a sailing simulator. I carry a lifelong interst in maritime history and I would like the world to be as realistic as possible in the areas of historical correctness, without too much random interference from game AI. I leave everything else open for others to decide.

Until technology once again extends reality (and decrease my ability to imagine most things myself) further, this game still can awake enough passion for me to just start the game and take a trip around an island in sailing mode. But not for long, I hope <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

 

[Tahlendorf]

<!--quoteo(post=331064:date=Jun 20 2009, 04:47 AM:name=Sordid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sordid @ Jun 20 2009, 04:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=331064"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That, right there, tells me you've never actually held a sword in your life<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
LOL <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> you can´t be more right.... I didn't wield a sword in my life and I don´t have any idea about fencing... movies hurt <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

All the Multiplatform discussion can be avoided... as I have read, the GameBryo (and GameBryo LightSpeed) engine is also optimized for PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360 and even Wii, so if the game is fully coded for this engine the game portability to any of the actual platforms can be achieved easily as the engine allows it.

Getting back to the combat mode, different styles of combat depending of the weapon selected is a must. I also played Mount&Blade (and some of the good mods it has) and I love the different combat situations you can get depending of which weapon are you using, as the different type of attacks and damage all depending on the weapon used... just brilliant. The combat in Mount&Blade is well done, but more dynamic situations (blades clashing when both fighter attacking at the same time, not only when trying to deflect an attack.. or any situation that can be REAL). The block system of M&B is also good, you try to block a kind of attack, one side, a higher one... but if you missed the direction and the hit comes from another you´ll get hitted... the only thing I criticise is that it results easier to block on 1st person view than on 3rd person view, so finding other alternatives would be fine too.

Back to Gameplay, Cinematics for quests and for putting more atmosphere to the game is also something not widely discused. A text-dialog is not enough for nowadays games and creating a deep atmosphere for the game with cinematics is also needed. Of course not for everyday situations like going to the shop/moneylender/shipyard.... this everyday situations doesn´t need a full cinematic, just little text-dialog and the buy/sell screens (also not needed different dialoglines to get to goods or weapons, a single SHOP windows with different TABS could make it better than the actual different dialoglines). All the major questlines should have all its quests properly introduced, continued and ended with decent cinematics (like the GTA series has on every mission and helps to create a more credible game ambient and better film atmosphere). You have them on most of the actual games, even good RPG´s like the NeverWintersNights saga, Dark Messiah of Might&Magic...

<b>BEST REGARDS</b>

 

[Sordid]

<!--quoteo(post=331081:date=Jun 20 2009, 06:23 AM:name=Croaker)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Croaker @ Jun 20 2009, 06:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=331081"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>On the side topic of PC gaming longevity:</b>

I used to buy my PC games at Electronics Boutique. Then they stopped carrying PC games.

Then I started to buy my PC games at GameStop. Then they stopped carrying PC games.

Now I buy my PC games at Best Buy. Fortunatly they still sell them, but the floorspace has been reduced from 4 rows down to 1.


So my friends, the trick is to see the cliff before you are actually driving over it. If you look at the trends, console games are on the rise and PC games are declining. PC games may be 'better', but if you are a software developer that is interested in making money, you need to follow the market. The real question is, are we trying to get a better game for ourselves or are we trying to help Seaward succeed as a company?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wrong, wrong, wrong: <a href="http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/06/17/computer_vs_the_console/" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/business/technology/...vs_the_console/</a>
What is declining is sale of plastic discs in carton boxes. PC gaming, on the other hand, is booming. The advice to seaward therefore seems pretty obvious to me: Don't rely on plastic discs in carton boxes to sell your game. Nobody wants those anymore. And I would say that is <i>the</i> single most important thing in regards to marketing the game. Yeah, sure, do a boxed version, but focus mainly on online distribution and advertising.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

<b>Who am I:</b> My name is Pieter Boelen and I'm 23 years old. I have always been interested in ships and the sea, both historically and modern.
In fact, I'm about to finish my education as Maritime Officer (eg. officer aboard a merchant ship) in a week.
I spent 10 months as Cadet Officer on the Holland America Line MS Zuiderdam and
will probably get to work as Fourth Officer with Holland America Line in a couple of months.
I am also very much interested in historical sailing, the age of discovery and, by consequence, pirates too.
I like films involving historical sailing ships (plus the music accompanying them) as well as books and games on them.

What I would like from a future "best game set in the historical age of sail" are:
- Realistic historical game world, though possibly with some hidden supernatural elements for a bit of added fun
- Ability to play different game styles, including pirate and navy and merchant and maybe even discoverer
- Variety in locations, so different parts of the world represented and not "just" the Caribbean; maybe different periods too
- Open-ended gameplay where you are captain of a ship and you have complete freedom of what you want to do and can influence the game world too
- Possibility for filmic experiences, including action-packed and intuitive swordfights and interesting multi-ship sea combat

I would suggest we can keep this thread for "introductions" and keep actual discussions grouped together in subject-related threads.
Discussion your own views in a seperate thread is going to get confusing sooner or later... <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

 

[cerebus23]

ok i am me, i am a graphic artist, 2d work mostly, when i went to school 3d animation was so primitive to be laughable, photoshop is my expertise, flash i kinda know but not overly well. illustrator, pagemaker, indesign all programs i have used in work.

i once got drafted into IT work, when our companies IT guy left for another job had to manage NT server with mac and windows workstations all this on top of my art duties.

been gaming since commodore 64 (sid meyer's pirates, gunship, f19 stealth fighter ftw). i am a all over the place gamer. i have been heavy into sims early on, flight sims, sub sims, combat sims, racing sims, etc. play fps, rpgs, rts, mmos, all kinda games and styles of games.

been modding games since umm commodore 64, hacking jeopardy to ask dirty questions and such. later i got into modding skins and stuff for quake 2, the old nfs games, and fallout 2. even made level or 2 for quake 2 and 3, loved compiling quake 2 maps in a p3 800 mhz and 512 meg ram all day affair.

been off and on teaching myself 3dmax, mostly off just do not have the time to sit and figure out all the ins and outs of the software or the occasion to use it all that much, tho i can get around in the software i am sure it takes me 3 times as long as someone that actually knows what they are doing.

i live in the usa, love junk food, love music from tori amos to TOOL depending on my mood.

 

[Croaker]

<b>Rating:</b> Age of Pirates 2 has an "M" rating in the US. This seems totally out of line with the game I am playing. The level of violence is actually far below what is commonly found in "T". The box lists Blood, Language, Sexual Themes and Violence. Seaward really needs to fight to get a better rating is they want to sell games in the "west".