Only the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins will offer the top-down "Baldur's Gate-style" viewpoint, something to bear in mind if you still haven't decided which platform to go with.
BioWare has made no secret of Dragon Age: Origins' roots in the classic Baldur's Gate series of games. There's no direct connection, of course, but as far back as 2004 BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka was describing it as a "spiritual successor" and even now, all these years later, some advertising for the game bills BioWare first and foremost as "the creator of Baldur's Gate," putting it ahead of Mass Effect and eschewing the more recent Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic entirely.
But if you want the full effect, then you're going to have to play it as you played Baldur's Gate: On a PC. While taking a PlayStation 3 build of the game for a spin yesterday, Stephen Totilo of Kotaku discovered that the camera angle, controlled by the right analog stick, is limited in how far it can be pulled back; the "top-down strategic perspective" has been removed from the console versions of the game. According to a BioWare rep, only a mouse wheel - attached to a PC, naturally - will let gamers zoom out far enough for the "Baldur's Gate look."
"On the console, as far as I could see, the view will be much closer and into the action," Totilo said. "It fits the platform, but it's a difference consumers with options should note."
That assessment matches up with comments made by Dragon Age: Origins Producer Mark Darrah in a recent interview with The Game Reviews, in which he described the interface differences between the PC and console versions of the game. "The PC is designed for the mouse and keyboard. Mouse and keyboard is really good at doing a very large number of things relatively slowly. It's good for doing more tactical things, pausing the game, pulling out, looking around and issuing orders," he said.
"The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly. [It focuses on] less tactical, more action oriented gameplay, which I think is the biggest single difference you will see," he continued. "The interface was done completely from scratch. So you will see a more paper based interface on the PC. The consoles are cleaner, quicker and sleeker designed more for the fact you don't have a mouse, you have an analog stick."
If it had been a hardware issue this wouldn't bug me, but the:
"The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners. Why couldn't clicking on the analogue stick and forward/backward with it substitute for the mouse wheel? I really though we were past the days of getting an inferior product just because we own consoles. Forshame.
Generic_Dave: "The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners.
Really? I see it as the exact opposite. Like it or not, the control schemes for the PC and consoles are extremely different.
The fact that they've created the interface for the console from the ground up means that the PC version and console version practically stand apart in terms of accessibility, which means both version will be 'just right' (In terms of controls) for their respective controllers. That's awesome. That means the console version will play a little more like, say, KOTOR then Baldur's Gate in terms of camera. And I'm completely fine with that.
I love and continue to play Baldur's Gate for the story and experience, not the camera angle. I can't wait for this game.
Considering the construction kit getting released for the PC and the plethora of mods/maps which will be born from it, I'm finding it hard to locate a reason to buy this on anything not the PC.
Generic_Dave: If it had been a hardware issue this wouldn't bug me, but the:
"The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners. Why couldn't clicking on the analogue stick and forward/backward with it substitute for the mouse wheel? I really though we were past the days of getting an inferior product just because we own consoles. Forshame.
PC users had our release date pushed back for the console players, if that makes you feel any better.
Baby Tea: Really? I see it as the exact opposite. Like it or not, the control schemes for the PC and consoles are extremely different.
The fact that they've created the interface for the console from the ground up means that the PC version and console version practically stand apart in terms of accessibility, which means both version will be 'just right
Red Alert 3 rebuilt the controls from the ground up for consoles too and that didn't work any better, in my opinion, than the earlier straight ports. In fact it merely made things more confusing. I hear the same argument about control schemes for FPS's on consoles, "you can really only play this properly on a PC" and so on and so forth but I enjoy Half-life 2 on the PS3 as much as I enjoyed the original on my PC and it doesn't seem any harder to control to me.. Maybe I'm being cynical and reading into this too much, but I'd be willing to bet that this isn't the only difference between the two versions, and I'd also put money on the Console version always having the dumbed down option.
I was never gonna get this for anything but a console, So it's nice to know the controls have been worked on specifically to fit the medium.
I dunno what it is about this game, but everytime I read something new on it, or watch a new video, I'm even more interested in it. It's rare for games to do that to me, because I normally don't care enough to look into them and only if they've been given the thumbs up by like-minded people (usually my friends) then I'll consider rental.
But this has me sold completely. Just a shame my job is voluntary and I don't get paid for doing it...
Generic_Dave: If it had been a hardware issue this wouldn't bug me, but ...
It is a hardware issue in the end - the primary interface for games on a PC is still mouse/keyboard, and the primary interface on a console is a controller. I don't think anyone can argue that the two physical interfaces don't have different strengths and weaknesses.
I'm actually very glad that they made a very clear decision to develop different interfaces for each platform from the beginning. Most developers of multi-platform games create a single interface (usually console, as it's the most limited) and try to shoehorn everything into it. Thief and Deus Ex in particular were bad at this.
Though I suppose we won't get to determine how effective they were without seeing the reviews for both versions. It would be nice if the PC version had a 'switch' to use the console interface if you plug in an Xbox 360 gamepad though, just to see the difference.
PC users had our release date pushed back for the console players, if that makes you feel any better.
I'm afraid I'm just not that sadistic. Also I feel in the pit of my loins that the only reason that the PC version was put back was so they wouldn't lose chunks of the console market to pirates...
Thanks for trying though...have a cookie for you efforts.
Generic_Dave: If it had been a hardware issue this wouldn't bug me, but the:
"The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners. Why couldn't clicking on the analogue stick and forward/backward with it substitute for the mouse wheel? I really though we were past the days of getting an inferior product just because we own consoles. Forshame.
It IS a hardware issue, it was due to memory problems. I've known about this for a long time, i hang out in the DA:O forums so i would know.
I'm really interested in this game and I like how the combat looks more like BG than KotOR (spam power attack = win). I do like KotOR too, but the combat system wasn't that good.
Baby Tea: Really? I see it as the exact opposite. Like it or not, the control schemes for the PC and consoles are extremely different.
The fact that they've created the interface for the console from the ground up means that the PC version and console version practically stand apart in terms of accessibility, which means both version will be 'just right'
Red Alert 3 rebuilt the controls from the ground up for consoles too and that didn't work any better, in my opinion, than the earlier straight ports.
Ahh ahh ahh, but now we're talking totally different genres. The only passable RTS I've ever played on consoles was EndWar, and that was all thanks to the great voice commands. Even the controls Halo Wars were designed specifically for the controller, but they were still bad. Why? Because an RTS game depends a quick precision that controllers cannot give, flat out.
But this isn't an RTS. You control party members, sure, but the game can be paused (And unpaused) at any moment to ensure that even the slowest of users can carefully and leisurely place their commands and watch the action unfold, stopping as necessary.
That, I think, is the fundamental difference here. And I still cannot wait for this game. And, yes, I'll be buying it for my 360.
Baby Tea: Ahh ahh ahh, but now we're talking totally different genres. The only passable RTS I've ever played on consoles was EndWar, and that was all thanks to the great voice commands. Even the controls Halo Wars were designed specifically for the controller, but they were still bad. Why? Because an RTS game depends a quick precision that controllers cannot give, flat out.
But this isn't an RTS. You control party members, sure, but the game can be paused (And unpaused) at any moment to ensure that even the slowest of users can carefully and leisurely place their commands and watch the action unfold, stopping as necessary.
That, I think, is the fundamental difference here. And I still cannot wait for this game. And, yes, I'll be buying it for my 360.
I understand what you're saying there, but what I meant was more that even though it was designed specifically for the console it was still a sucky control system which worked worse than the PC based control system of earlier ports. I just have little faith, I hope that it's going to work, but I'll always have this itch in the back of my mind until I've actually played the damn thing...
Generic_Dave: I understand what you're saying there, but what I meant was more that even though it was designed specifically for the console it was still a sucky control system which worked worse than the PC based control system of earlier ports. I just have little faith, I hope that it's going to work, but I'll always have this itch in the back of my mind until I've actually played the damn thing...
Fair enough, you certainly have a valid concern. I would take comfort in the fact that the control scheme for KOTOR was fantastic for consoles, and it was also made by Bioware. I never had an issue or struggle with it, and I certainly played that game extensively. Whether or not it'll be similar here remains to be seen, I suppose, but I have great faith in Bioware.
I'm actually very glad that they made a very clear decision to develop different interfaces for each platform from the beginning. Most developers of multi-platform games create a single interface (usually console, as it's the most limited) and try to shoehorn everything into it. Thief and Deus Ex in particular were bad at this.
there is also the issue that some games don't need such an overly complex control scheme, no matter what platform they're on, such as fps games.
then again there are some companies who are horrible at doing multi-platform schemes, yeah i'm looking at you Activision and your PS3 control schemes
Generic_Dave: "The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners.
Really? I see it as the exact opposite. Like it or not, the control schemes for the PC and consoles are extremely different.
The fact that they've created the interface for the console from the ground up means that the PC version and console version practically stand apart in terms of accessibility, which means both version will be 'just right' (In terms of controls) for their respective controllers. That's awesome. That means the console version will play a little more like, say, KOTOR then Baldur's Gate in terms of camera. And I'm completely fine with that.
I love and continue to play Baldur's Gate for the story and experience, not the camera angle. I can't wait for this game.
May we ask which platform you'll be purchasing it on?
I'm still wondering whether Dragon Age will have more than 1 disc for the Xbox 360 version and how much memory you will need to install to your harddrive.
Standby: May we ask which platform you'll be purchasing it on?
Certainly! I'll be getting it for my 360. I only have a netbook for a computer (Though it certainly Runs Baldur's Gate just fine!), so my 360 is my primary source for games.
Does anyone have any description or indication how the console controls work? I am concerned it won't hold up for a game where you must control multiple characters and have large spell libraries use.
Also will there be miniature giant space hamsters?
Generic_Dave: "The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly."
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners.
Really? I see it as the exact opposite. Like it or not, the control schemes for the PC and consoles are extremely different.
The fact that they've created the interface for the console from the ground up means that the PC version and console version practically stand apart in terms of accessibility, which means both version will be 'just right' (In terms of controls) for their respective controllers. That's awesome. That means the console version will play a little more like, say, KOTOR then Baldur's Gate in terms of camera. And I'm completely fine with that.
I love and continue to play Baldur's Gate for the story and experience, not the camera angle. I can't wait for this game.
Despite buying this for PC, I will be using the console camera style mainly because I'm in for the action, and will only care about the tactical aspect of it after beating the game once.
Khell_Sennet: Dragon Age is going to allow Baldur's view and Baldurs' pause/command/resume style of play?
I might have to get this game now.
May I recommend the recently available Steam Digital Deluxe edition pre-order, for $65 with the Warden Keep available in the mix, as well as a statistically appetizing special pre-order ring. :)
Edit: Apologies for the double post, hey, am just overly excited about Dragon Age Origins and the ability to have sex with a shapeshifter who might as well be a cockroach (... ok ... ok ... no romance side-quest for me!).
Wandrecanada: Does anyone have any description or indication how the console controls work? I am concerned it won't hold up for a game where you must control multiple characters and have large spell libraries use.
Also will there be miniature giant space hamsters?
Khell_Sennet: Dragon Age is going to allow Baldur's view and Baldurs' pause/command/resume style of play?
I might have to get this game now.
May I recommend the recently available Steam Digital Deluxe edition pre-order, for $65 with the Warden Keep available in the mix, as well as a statistically appetizing special pre-order ring. :)
Edit: Apologies for the double post, hey, am just overly excited about Dragon Age Origins and the ability to have sex with a shapeshifter who might as well be a cockroach (... ok ... ok ... no romance side-quest for me!).
Appreciate the advice, but no disc, no game. Steam and me are like Tom Cruise and sanity, we just don't hang with each other.
Generic_Dave: If it had been a hardware issue this wouldn't bug me, but ...
It is a hardware issue in the end - the primary interface for games on a PC is still mouse/keyboard, and the primary interface on a console is a controller. I don't think anyone can argue that the two physical interfaces don't have different strengths and weaknesses.
I'm actually very glad that they made a very clear decision to develop different interfaces for each platform from the beginning. Most developers of multi-platform games create a single interface (usually console, as it's the most limited) and try to shoehorn everything into it. Thief and Deus Ex in particular were bad at this.
Though I suppose we won't get to determine how effective they were without seeing the reviews for both versions. It would be nice if the PC version had a 'switch' to use the console interface if you plug in an Xbox 360 gamepad though, just to see the difference.
And it would be nice if the PS3 version had a "switch" to detect the standard USB mouse and keyboard that this platform supports...
Trotgar: But I really hope that this won't have the same sucky only 3 intalls protection thing.
But wait, wasn't that 5? :P Just kidding, EA said that they would drop the DRM for all of their future games as a result of the negative backlash over Mass Effect, Dead Space, Spore (especially Spore) and other games. If you take a look at the requirements of the game, it doesn't say anywhere that it needs online authentication.
OT: Hitting on nostalgia, aren't you, Bioware? Not a bad thing by all means, it's been ages since Bioware's last 2d rpg (Baldur's Gate 2). On an unrelated requirements notes... HOLY CRAP! The game takes up 20 gigabytes to install!! Woah, it will take ages to install itself.
Generic_Dave: This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners. Why couldn't clicking on the analogue stick and forward/backward with it substitute for the mouse wheel? I really though we were past the days of getting an inferior product just because we own consoles. Forshame.
As opposed to dumbed down versions for PC, where they just did a straight port to 640x480 and didn't even change the "press B to jump" tutorial text to match the controls. *
I thought we were past the days when PC owners would receive an inferior product just because the console market was more important and PC was an afterthought.
Having said that, there have been some decent ports and/or multiplatform releases recently (Prototype, Prince of Persia, and Harry Potter 6 are good examples).
* Disclaimer: I use a USB 360 controller for ports (where appropriate).
This reeks of a dumbed down version for console owners. Why couldn't clicking on the analogue stick and forward/backward with it substitute for the mouse wheel? I really though we were past the days of getting an inferior product just because we own consoles. Forshame.
You know, lately it's been PC owners who had to suffer bad ports from consoles, or controls developed for consoles and then put directly on a pc. I remember playing some game that asked me to press the red button, and I don't have one. But hell, if you want to whine just because one game finally comes along where the PC gamers have the good stuff, go ahead.
jamesworkshop: exactly what I wanted to hear BG and IWD were the best PC games of their day and its nice to get proper refresh to make up for NWN
So you like it that us console players don't get what the PC users are getting? Are you a PC elitist?
If you want what the PC gamers are getting, get a PC. I don't complain when I get a lousy console to PC port, I just don't buy it, or I get it for my console. But as I said above, the PC gamers have been suffering more lately.
If you're not going to complain when the PC owners get the short end of the stick, at least have the decency to shut up when we're happy that the developers aren't screwing us over.
jamesworkshop: exactly what I wanted to hear BG and IWD were the best PC games of their day and its nice to get proper refresh to make up for NWN
So you like it that us console players don't get what the PC users are getting? Are you a PC elitist?
You know I read that as "OH Yay were finally getting a camera like the one in Baldurs Gate, it bodes well for the rest of the development being similar to Baldurs as well then" rather than "Ha console users getting the shaft, Hi-Five"
Trotgar: But I really hope that this won't have the same sucky only 3 intalls protection thing.
But wait, wasn't that 5? :P Just kidding, EA said that they would drop the DRM for all of their future games as a result of the negative backlash over Mass Effect, Dead Space, Spore (especially Spore) and other games. If you take a look at the requirements of the game, it doesn't say anywhere that it needs online authentication.
OT: Hitting on nostalgia, aren't you, Bioware? Not a bad thing by all means, it's been ages since Bioware's last 2d rpg (Baldur's Gate 2). On an unrelated requirements notes... HOLY CRAP! The game takes up 20 gigabytes to install!! Woah, it will take ages to install itself.
Have they really dropped that? Because if they have I'm really glad. At least they dropped the thing that Mass Effect had to connect to internet once a week. If you couldn't, the next time you could play it was when you'd find a connection.
But the 20 GB size is a problem to me. Becase I was stupid, I put only 37 GB to XP when I bootcamped. Now it has Mass Effect which has 1 install left, and it takes about 15 GB's. so DAO won't really fit to it.
I guess I have to reinstall my Windows, but I don't know where the code to it is and I'd have to use the last installation of ME.
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"Baldur's Gate-Style" Camera in Dragon Age Not Available on Consoles
Only the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins will offer the top-down "Baldur's Gate-style" viewpoint, something to bear in mind if you still haven't decided which platform to go with.
BioWare has made no secret of Dragon Age: Origins' roots in the classic Baldur's Gate series of games. There's no direct connection, of course, but as far back as 2004 BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka was describing it as a "spiritual successor" and even now, all these years later, some advertising for the game bills BioWare first and foremost as "the creator of Baldur's Gate," putting it ahead of Mass Effect and eschewing the more recent Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic entirely.
But if you want the full effect, then you're going to have to play it as you played Baldur's Gate: On a PC. While taking a PlayStation 3 build of the game for a spin yesterday, Stephen Totilo of Kotaku discovered that the camera angle, controlled by the right analog stick, is limited in how far it can be pulled back; the "top-down strategic perspective" has been removed from the console versions of the game. According to a BioWare rep, only a mouse wheel - attached to a PC, naturally - will let gamers zoom out far enough for the "Baldur's Gate look."
"On the console, as far as I could see, the view will be much closer and into the action," Totilo said. "It fits the platform, but it's a difference consumers with options should note."
That assessment matches up with comments made by Dragon Age: Origins Producer Mark Darrah in a recent interview with The Game Reviews, in which he described the interface differences between the PC and console versions of the game. "The PC is designed for the mouse and keyboard. Mouse and keyboard is really good at doing a very large number of things relatively slowly. It's good for doing more tactical things, pausing the game, pulling out, looking around and issuing orders," he said.
"The consoles are much better at giving a very small number of commands very quickly. So the controls are much more geared at keeping the action fast, letting you play the game with less pausing and more quickly. [It focuses on] less tactical, more action oriented gameplay, which I think is the biggest single difference you will see," he continued. "The interface was done completely from scratch. So you will see a more paper based interface on the PC. The consoles are cleaner, quicker and sleeker designed more for the fact you don't have a mouse, you have an analog stick."
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