Tabula Rasa.. finally some hope!

Carbide

Well my fellow SWG exiles I can finally say another game has caught my interest!

Initially I had written Tabula Rasa off because it was not going to incorporate PvP which for me is essential.  However, according to the MMORPG.com article on it, the developers of Tabula Rasa are now planning to incorporate PvP in one form or another, and they're doing so in a way closely resembling my favorite form of combat in SWG... PA vs. PA wars.  I never had more fun in SWG then when my guild on Bria (Rebel Force Recon) was at war and you had to be on edge everytime you jumped from location to location.  I'll let you read about some of the conceptual specifics yourselves but I am really excited about the news.

Unfortunetly they still dont have plans for player housing and crafting seems fairly limited (all combat based, weapons, armor) but one major drawback for SWG was the player housing which got fairly out of control on the larger servers, especially with the dead houses and harvestors.

Anyway I just wanted to spread awarness of the new development in Tabula Rasa which has gotten me excited for a game since I left SWG... ofcourse I still hope that around 2009ish a new SWMMO will come out, for now I'll be following TR pretty closely!

Kehn

Looks interesting.  I hadn't considered it as MMORPG has it listed as Fantasy, but it's clearly more Sci-Fi.

Shayde

They lost me at FPS.

And I had such high hopes for Lord British and NC Soft.

britoca

yeah is this first person only?  and if it is, does it require constant aiming like post-NGE or does it lock on the target, do you know?

Rekrul

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Originally posted by Shayde
They lost me at FPS.

And I had such high hopes for Lord British and NC Soft.

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FPS is not necessarily bad.

The button mashing MMOs are a dying breed, action combat is in. This doesn't mean it will be SWG-style whack-a-mole type of combat.

I recently gave Auto Assault a spin. "FPS" type combat, need to aim, drive the car, watch for terrain. But it's decently playable and quite enjoyable. Of course I can't play a game where you're a car, but it's still well done.

voodookhan

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Originally posted by britoca
yeah is this first person only?  and if it is, does it require constant aiming like post-NGE or does it lock on the target, do you know?

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No, it's 3rd person...Basically, it's an MMORPG with very FPS-like elements. IMHO, they are not trying to be like a Huxley, more like what SWG is trying (and failing) to be (or like what Auto Assault is).

I'm looking forward to this game, but I doubt that it'll fill the void SWG has left. Crafting, as the OP said, is no where near as robust, and there is no space portion. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, you will go from planet to planet, but not in your own ship.

Carbide

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Originally posted by Shayde
They lost me at FPS.

And I had such high hopes for Lord British and NC Soft.

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"The key is that they provide the illusion, excitement and pace of an
FPS, without making the game twitchy and entirely reliant on player
skill.."

From the article is seems like the only "FPS" element is the targeting mechanics and the use of terrain as cover... seems a lot like classic SWG to me.  I remeber auto-targeting my marks as a BH and using buildings to keep them out of LOS. Only difference seems to be that in TR you can't miss.  They haven't releaved yet how you actually fire (ie whether you autofire and select skills like in classic SWG combat queue or mash the mouse button like in SWG for Idiots)

KenshuAni

E3 Interview with the Tabula Rasa Dev's

"The game uses a console style FPS attack system where characters can quickly lock on targets and fire their weapons. There is no missing in the game when locked on – it’s simply not fun according to Long – but the damage you do is based mostly on character and enemy skill. The FPS elements have to do with positioning. For example, if you’re character crouches half behind a rock, there is much less chance you’ll get hurt."

FPS hybrid with RPG elements.  Sounds like a crappy system that I just used a free trial on.  I don't think I'll be paying for TR unless I see more about their combat.

KenshuAni

I just watched my recording of an E3 interview with Richard Garriott from G4TV.

Richard Garriott:  "It is very fast paced.  You have a weapon on your one mouse button, an ability tied into your other mouse button and you are looking through your targeting reticle at your opponents you are shooting at, at the time.  But to keep it from being an arcade game, we have what we call 'sticky targeting.'  So when I sweep past an opponent, it sticks to that opponent, it knows that that is what I mean to be..."

Kevin Pereira:  "Sure, you want to lock on to that, not the tree that is being drawn behind it"

RG:  "Exactly, that is why it is not truly a shooter in that sense"

Curiously, no question was asked about what the "sticky targeting" would do if there were a large cluster of opponents gathered together...

Ouchmuch

 I actually think you can see some of this system in action in Auto Assault.. turrets "lock on" and swing around as the battle lines shift, but damage and such seems to be dictated by weapon damage types/defensive stats/offensive stats of the attack.

 Though to be honest there is no way of knowing how the system works until we get a chance to try it out, I'll be watching this pretty closely to see where it goes and how it turns out.

Carbide

It might rock, it might suck, it's as close as I've seen a new game get to being worth my time and money.  

Shayde

Ok, at first I thought battlefront and would give it a chance.

NOW I am thinking NGE.

Lord British.. DON'T FAIL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

EE


e

War_Dancer

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Originally posted by voodookhan


I'm looking forward to this game, but I doubt that it'll fill the void SWG has left. Crafting, as the OP said, is no where near as robust, and there is no space portion. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, you will go from planet to planet, but not in your own ship.

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I doubt space is needed to fill the void for the old SWG. A game that had skill progression instead of leveling, a player created economy instead of a loot one, and supported multiple play styles instead of just combat would have a large number of ex SWG vets I think. Basicaly a sandbox game.

Elnator

My thoughts on TR:
Interesting but I will wait till I get into Beta or a Free Trial before I make any kind of decision on whether I will actually buy it.  However, I have much more faith in them, at this point, than in NGE ever becoming a decent game.

Shayde

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Originally posted by Elnator
My thoughts on TR:
Interesting but I will wait till I get into Beta or a Free Trial before I make any kind of decision on whether I will actually buy it.  However, I have much more faith in them, at this point, than in NGE ever becoming a decent game.

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That goes without saying. We'll pay off the national debt before the NGE is playable.

xPaladin

Mmm... this could go either way. FPS style would attract many people, but 100% hit rate is a huge turn off to anyone that's ever played a FPS game.

Personally I think that a lovechild between a RPG and the game Full Spectrum Warrior is a likely bet to succeed as an immersive combat engine.

Elnator

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Originally posted by xPaladin
Mmm... this could go either way. FPS style would attract many people, but 100% hit rate is a huge turn off to anyone that's ever played a FPS game.

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QFE

voodookhan

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Originally posted by War_Dancer

Originally posted by voodookhan


I'm looking forward to this game, but I doubt that it'll fill the void SWG has left. Crafting, as the OP said, is no where near as robust, and there is no space portion. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, you will go from planet to planet, but not in your own ship.

I doubt space is needed to fill the void for the old SWG. A game that had skill progression instead of leveling, a player created economy instead of a loot one, and supported multiple play styles instead of just combat would have a large number of ex SWG vets I think. Basicaly a sandbox game.

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I dunno. To me space was a big deal. I liked having my own ships, I liked the combat, and so on. I agree that SWG was a good sandbox, but I'm not 100% convinced that Tabua Rasa is really going to be a sandbox game. I think it looks really fun and interesting, but very combat orientated. No real place for crafters and entertainers, in addition to the lack of space activites. I could be wrong, it's still early.

KenshuAni

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Originally posted by KenshuAni

I just watched my recording of an E3 interview with Richard Garriott from G4TV.
Richard Garriott:  "It is very fast paced.  You have a weapon on your one mouse button, an ability tied into your other mouse button and you are looking through your targeting reticle at your opponents you are shooting at, at the time.  But to keep it from being an arcade game, we have what we call 'sticky targeting.'  So when I sweep past an opponent, it sticks to that opponent, it knows that that is what I mean to be..."
Kevin Pereira:  "Sure, you want to lock on to that, not the tree that is being drawn behind it"
RG:  "Exactly, that is why it is not truly a shooter in that sense"
Curiously, no question was asked about what the "sticky targeting" would do if there were a large cluster of opponents gathered together...

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Just for an update, I would like to point you all to this quote from Thunderheart.

Targeting: Enhanced combat targeting and non-combat targeting will also be a part of the Test Center 2 changes.  Sticky targeting will help make combat targeting easier to control. Non-combat targeting will be re-introduced to make items in houses more easily movable.

What is up with this?  Do all the various game companies hold secret meetings to make all their games similiar?

xPaladin

@kenshu

Sort of. There's collaboration between projects (or more specifically, collaboration between designers) at times. It's part of the business process.

Also, developer conferences for games tend to focus on best practices to improve the industry as a whole. It's in all their interests to make good games and make somewhat similar games, because that means people will play and have some variety.

But also, games will emulate other games if they're short on design ideas or just like the functionality of a certain game. SOE liked the pace of WoW, so EQ2 got a bunch of changes to make it more along that pace, while keeping true to their vision of EQ2. My opinion --- emulation doesn't really work. But it gives programmers something to do, I suppose.