Murdoc

Ah crap did this start up? I was just coming to post to see if anyone was up for a game.

Haven't installed my copy, but I'd totally be up for it. MP is basically why I bought this again so I'd love to give it a shot sometime.

Hey, Does anyone read Italian enough to find out or know if I can get the kind of data I am looking for. So here in the US there is a website where you can scroll through the United States map and get a geographical data from practically anywhere in the country. http://nationalmap.gov/viewer.html Looking around, I found a site that is similar to the US one... but I can't tell if I can extract any data from it. http://www.igmi.org/geodetica/ or perhaps this? http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/viewer/ If anyone is fluent in Italian, could you take a look at this and see if there's anyway to download geological data from this? Much appreciated!

Despite everything from the internet and my distaste for AC games, I bought it anyway for 30 bucks. I just want to see the crowds and environments, probably worth $30 for that.

The game is a little random too, I played a ton of it and no matter what class I played, a lot is up to randomness. How the difficulty progresses, what powers you get. It has a great arc though, if you can make it, you start out a lone soldier trying to survive and by the end you're a demi god that can't be stopped, It's a pretty fantastic feeling.

Pretty excited about these descriptions, just as soon as I can see what the interface to actually playing this is, I'm sure I'll buy in.

Strange, I think this is the first year where nothing really stood out. I played some good games, and, sure I could pick one out of that list, but something that stands heads and shoulders above the rest? Something that will remain in my memory until the end of time? Can't think of a single one, indie or AAA. Maybe the bar was so high this year and we just hit a really good consistent average, I'm not sure.

I think I'm at the end, the design feels like I'm at the end, which means the pacing of this game is totally disjointed and wack. I can't help but feel I played the game incorrectly. But yes, so far I am pretty disappointing at the dialog tree missions, main quests, and general party dialog. It's probably the lightest of any Bioware game I've played so far. Neat game, but very rough and I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in it as a whole. Some very strong foundations there, but just not enough of the things I liked from Origin to keep me vested in it.

That's interesting, because I've been using those commands from the start and just lately getting a lot of sound, interface (dialog trees not showing up) issues. I was about to do a main story cutscene, no sound, no animation, no interface, so I alt cntr, deleted out. When I start up the game it just freezes up at the start screen. Pretty much thought I was screwed, turns out I just had to delete the latest save file, luckily, didn't lose too much progress, but scary never the less. Think I might remove those commands if it's causing these issues.

So they do actually refer to the Hero of Feralden and the blight? I've only seen one mention of it in a loading screen and a small comment in a conversation about a blight ten years ago. It seemed odd they wouldn't mention more of it since, at the time, it seemed kind of a big deal. Also, I may be mistaken, but didn't Lelianna have more of an Orlesian accent in the first one? I think thats part of the reason I didn't make the connection that it was her at first (that and I forgot who she was) but she sounds English to me now. I might be wrong, but if true and the intention was that she has spent so much time in Feralden now, that's a neat touch. I'm enjoying the game, but starting to get the impression that the game takes place mostly in the hinterlands. It's a gigantic space with a lot of variety and seems to be where the bulk of the content is taking place. The other areas are diverse and pretty gorgeous, but I have yet to go somewhere that has the size and variety of the hinterlands. I get that they wanted the game to be a globe trotting adventure and feel larger than life like the first one, but loading these separate places that are more or less kind of one off spaces has the opposite effect on me. I think I would have preferred a contiguous open world. I also lament a little at the quest variety, while there is plenty to do and "explore" the quests seem to be reduced to "go here, collect this or kill that". I understand that the bespoke nature of conversations, cutscenes, and variety of Origins is hard to achieve again(it's fing time consuming and expensive) but that was one of the key things I loved about the Origins, there was an equal amount of content of talking to different characters and solving problems with the combat. To be fair, I did stumble on a quest where I had to talk to some cult people or something, but I needed a certain item equiped and didn't realize that until after I had killed them all, so maybe I'm missing a few of these events because I wasn't paying attention enough. One last thing, but last night the game deliberately tried to kill my character.I don't think it was a bug, but there was certainly some AI Direction schenagians going on, which I was unaware that the game featured anything like that and its very possible that it might now, this is just my interpretation of events. I get out of a fight that has hurt my crew pretty badly, some of them have no potions and low health. THere is a camp site a head so I start moving, cautiously avoiding some enemies on the peripheral. As things go, I unluckily ran into an elite great bear or something, it was only one, so chances are we could survive. The bear almost dead, another one shows up, but we're still managing, then two of my characters go down; assassins!(or something) So I start running. The bears are now fighting the assassins, the assassins chasing me, the Herald is the only one left running, I'm dropping fire walls and explosions as I run, eventually kill teh assassins, the bears now attack me, two of them left. Kill one and keep running around in a circle around this camp site, another bear shows up. Eventually kill them and hope to get out of content so my party wakes up, templars show up. Eventually kill them too and a bear literally spawns(pops) in right in front of me before it takes me out of combat. Long story short, managed to survive, but it really felt like when the shit hit the fan and when I was at my lowest it was just bringing in more enemies(especially after seeing a bear materialize in front of me just to try to finish me off). Anyway, it was actually pretty exciting if not a hilarious hassle. It reminded me a bit of the excitement of the slog you had to go through in the Deeproads, except this was systemic and probably just happenstance. Pretty cool either way. Oh and I finally got some new party members, the crazy Russel Brand-esq one is pretty interesting.

AH damn it. I think I like this game. I started over, I took some time to create a character I like seeing walk around and talk, so that helped. After starting over I spent more time in Haven to talk to characters and did a bit of research online to know the different systems about sending operatives, the requisitions, the armor upgrade system, etc... I don't know if the game was ever going to walk me through this, but, wow I would have missed some of this stuff if I didn't read about it. Like Haven, it's a whole god damn area past the gates, I saw a door closed so figured I couldn't go outside.... nope, theres a ton of shit out there for you to do. When playing Dragon Age Origins I called in Mass Effect 1.5 (this was before Mass Effect 2, I think) in a way that I could see many of the systems from Mass Effect 1 built and expanded on, it's why I loved it so much. After Mass Effect 2 and 3 I saw that series go in a very different direction system/design wise and didn't enjoy it as much. Playing through Inquisition I see those old ties with Origins/Mass Effect 1 and am really enjoying it now. One I wrapped my head around the layout of the game it feels very much like an expanded and improved upon set up of Origins, with a few exceptions. Looking back we now see this design divergence of old Bioware RPGs going to Mass Effect and splitting into different directions. I much prefer where Inquisition is sitting and get the feeling Mass Effect 4 will return some of these philosophies to that series. Also, I got a new video card, running everything on high now and I honestly don't notice much of a difference. My frame rate is much improved at least, so that helps, but the draw distance, pops and such are all still present. I think as long as you have mesh quality on high, everything else seems to improve it marginally. I was kind of hoping for a bigger jump with shader and texture quality, but it's not that big of a difference. Still looks great though. One thing though, going back and forth between this and Mordor, Mordors graphic settings and benchmark utility was amazing compared to Inquisition where I was blindly changing settings, having to restart the executable and load up a game to see what the difference was. Developers should take note of what SoM did.

Yeah I did a search and I guess that is her, but with a hood. It's been like 2-3 years, so my memory is fuzzy. Also, I was pretty sure she had a heavier accent, but maybe I wasn't paying attention. This kind of goes back to my original comment about how the game does a really poor job setting up the world. I will say the subtle way they throw in a Dragon Age 1 character there without any sort of reverence is somewhat cool in it's own way.

What? Ok, I checked my keep and she totally is alive but I'm pretty sure she isn't my spy master. I guess the quarter master mentioned Logain and such, but that was basically the only mention I heard. Granted, I've played for not very long and my companions just started to chat to each other now, I was about to comment on how they have been completely silent, but they are getting chatty now.

Yeah it's going to be all kinds of dumb, but I'm a sucker for Jurassic Park, so the idea to see the fully realized park at least for a moment, is something I'll go see. I'm not even "one of those people" that does this, it's just that this has dinosaurs and we don't get that too often with this kind of budget.

Yeah, I feel like they are talking more about Dragon Age 2, which I did not play and could give no shits about, so I feel totally disconnected. I played another hour last night, still might restart just for my character appearance. I don't think I like this game and I can't put my finger on why that is... Since it is American Thanksgiving here this weekend, I'm either going to play it for 4 days straight or a little at a time and that will pretty much tell me if I actually enjoy the game or not. I'm having a tough time wrapping around the structure of the game and I think thats why I can't tell if I'm actually enjoying it or not. It's seems to have the design of a little from column A (like an arkham game/assassins), a little of column B (Bioware RPG) and a little of column C (Bethseda RPGS and other things). I can't tell if it's doing anything particularly well, it's just a weird collection of features and structures that is kind interesting, but sort of sloppy. Specifically, I noticed traversal. It's got all these hidden areas and even secrets to places you normally should not get to in a Bioware game, but is more akin to an AC or Arkham kind of open world, yet the animation system and movement system wasn't designed for it, so it feels like an old school 3d game where it feels like I am breaking the game or doing something I shouldn't do to get into these areas... it's kind of off putting for something at this level of detail, but also kind of fun for that old school PC gamer in me. I just don't know how I feel about the whole thing. ** The streaming/loading shouldn't be hard drive dependant, but CPU. I only noticed it really badly in Haven, so I think my issues are still GPU, but they have mostly settled while I am roaming the hinterlands.

It's been a couple years in America and I've always ignored black friday as it seemed kind of dangerous and only slightly sad to watch the news that day. However, it's about time I get myself an actual tv so I can actually enjoy the games and movies I play, so I figured waiting for next week would be the time. Does anyone have any advice, is it worth even going to the store that day or can I get a pretty decent deal online? I just want to avoid having to step on a grandmother or get clobbered by people, also not really into camping out in front of a best buy at night. Just wondering if anyone had an experience and found the deals marginal between now and then?

That's kind of a shame, because I always thought the whole Circle vs Templar thing was always the most interesting thing out of DA, so I wanted to play Mage. I essentially just remade my character from DA1, but maybe it's time to play something else since I am so early in. edit: Also, trying to narrow down my performance problems in my head (Rather than just playing with settings at home) and just wondering if anyone notices hitching when they think the game is loading in content? I noticed it in the inquisition hub, between the church and outside, it seems like they were loading content inside when I was outside and my poor PC grinds to a halt. I can't imagine this is GPU stuff, which means my CPU is also having problems.. which would be very disappointing because that isn't getting changed any time soon.

Yeah, I figured I could get rid of him eventually, but I might just make a different character. I'm not sure if Mage is the most interesting choice for this game.

Yeah, I apparently still live in 2005 and think HDMI on a video card wasn't happening.Turns out my graphics card, as old as it is, has a mini HDMI port, I just never used it because my monitor was pre-hdmi. I ended up going with the 50inch LED. I got hosed on the version number of the panel (so the internet tells me) but I honestly can't tell the difference, it's a gigantic tv that ruins my living room but looks fantastic. I spend the weekend watching movies and playing games, it's great. Thank you for all the help! While I shouldn't be spending any more money right now, I'm in the market for a new video card since Dragon Age is running into some issues, so I'll be on the watch Friday and Monday for something decent.

Three hours in. I loved Dragon Age 1, I did not play 2. So far the way they introduce/set up the world is terrible, I remember the basic set up of Chantry, Templars, Circle, Grey Wardens, Darkspawn, etc... but they kind of just throw you in there without saying what is actually going on, it's all about the immediate problem of this rift. I couldn't tell you if this was before DA1 or hundreds of years after until I started talking with some characters only to find out that people from DA 1 are still alive... so okay cool, doubt I'll meet them, but at least I get a sense of where I am now. Just the tone and world feel so different, I would have expected it to be on a different time line. Races - I loved DA's fiction, but I can't tell if I got the choice to play a Dalish Elf or a city Elf; I assume the same goes with the Dwarven High/Low class... do they let you pick or are you stuck with what they got? Combat - It's different, I expected this. So far they have taken it pretty easy on me, so I can't tell if the tactical view is for anything or not? I haven't got into "programming" my buddies either, but this seems a little more like a recent Final Fantasy, I think? Environments - I'm in the first area they send you too after the tutorial stuff, seems big, open, it's kind of weird, sometimes I feel like I am breaking out of the gameplay space as there's not a lot to find out side the main paths. DA 1 was a little like this, but these feels far more expansive, it's kind of neat, but now I kind of wanted the whole game to connect in a way that Fable 2 did, but I get the feeling that won't be the case (like the first one). It may also be my poor graphic settings, but there are a lot of glitches, popping elements, shadows, mesh scattering, etc... Customization - I got totally screwed on this, I used a preset head for my elf mage (Head 3 or 4) did some tweaks and one of the first companions you meet is an elf mage that looks nearly exactly like me, only less character creator, so now I just have these two, nearly identical characters walking around, I almost want to restart. I knew going in it wasn't going to be DA 1 and I'm up for change, I just don't know how I feel about the game so far, nothing about the story is intriguing (Which was the case for DA1) and I just haven't gotten into the world fiction yet to really enjoy it. I'm still puzzled at how my "imported" world state has changed anything, because I would have expected the Templars to be gone, but they are renegades or something now, I dunno. It's still early. One this is certain, I'm going to need a better video card, Mordor suffered from my poor 550ti and Dragon Age is just kicking it's ass and not looking good. If anyone has some affordable recommendations that your using and running it smoothly, I'd love to get some.

Man, so much to learn. Thanks Jon, I appreciate the help. Looks like that samsung plasma is the way for me to go. Thank you a bunch! I've been playing on a 29-30 inch dell monitor from 2010(09?) which is clipping out extreme whites and blacks now, so anything will probably be an improvement edit: Ah nuts, that plasma has a glossy screen too. That may not work, I'll look into it though. Double nuts, nothing has PC input, I guess this went out of style? Weird.

Ah cool, Thanks Jon, much appreciated. I was certainly looking at Samsung because I remember my old samsung tv did a pretty great job. I plan on using this for my main PC monitor now, so maybe it's best to go with 120hz, I dunno, I don't think I'll care to be honest as long as the picture looks good. Also, I am years behind even thinking about this; I thought plasmas went out long ago and were totally replaced by LED and LCD? I guess they produce a better colour from what you are saying? edit: Oh just looking at that description. Ok so yeah they are best for darker rooms, which may not be very suited for me because my living room is super bright most of the time except night. For something smaller and way under budget: this doesn't seem too terrible either. LG 42 INCH LED - Amazon

Thanks guys! I figured as much, as fun of an experience of getting a door buster would be, Im too lazy. I did start to notice the deals seem to be on the lower end stuff, not that I want anything fancy. My budget is max 550ish, it'd be great to get something cheaper so I can put that into some affordable sound options too. I think 40 inch will do and while I hate having a giant black square in my living room, I think I'd want to go with 50 just to get a better experience. What's the deal with 60hz and 120hz? I sit on monitor all day since I was ten and not even sure I'd notice the difference. I did notice on one tv at a place I was staying at it made everything in a movie look stupid, I don't know why that is, maybe that was refresh rate? It's almost like the difference between 48fps and 30 (or whatever the standard I like is). Anyway, looks like I'll play it safe and go with something mid range thus on sale but not crazy on sale. Thanks guys!

video games.

Is this taking anything from a DA 1 save? I tried to do their online fortress thingy and it was basically a way for me to choose all the choices from DA1 and 2. They had my characters in their, but it didn't save any progress online or anything... I guess I would need a save file? Either way, I hacked DA1 to use the developer character creator, which broke a few things in the Fade, so it's probably for the best I don't use any save files from that if it's even a possibility.