Favorite RPG enviroment?

Ergonpandilus said:

Gothic 3 has some nice caves, at least the one big cave system at beach near to Ardea and Kap Dun with a dragon(?) at the bottom.

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I was actually quite disappointed with most of the caves in Gothic 3, they were very small, and rarely had anything of value.

Now the mines in Gothic 1….. those were caves.

JDR has a point - when you explore in G1 or 2, you know you're bound to find something interesting. A decent weapon, maybe a permanent potion of strength/mana/dex/life, components to make such potions etc.

I didn't get that same feeling in G3 due to the random loot.

True enough, and meaningful exploration is my favorite thing in the gaming universe.

That's a strong reason I can never REALLY get into MMOs, because they have to limit that aspect severely, due to balance concerns.

There's nothing like coming across a cave, giving you the sensation that you're the first one there in a LONG time - and getting a nice sense of immersion based on scraps of paper and a bit of loot. So few games get this relatively simple thing right.

They need to look towards other genres for this, and it's probably the best part of the Shock games - because every single room you enter seems to have a story and past history of its own.

Get that into a free roaming world, even in a limited way, and you'll get one happy gamer in return.

That's how you do non-linear worlds correctly, and exploration can never feel quite right in linear games, because you know you're supposed to be there - and you know it's all part of som rigid developer vision hand-made for everyone playing.

Maylander said:

I didn't get that same feeling in G3 due to the random loot.

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Although this is true of most chests in G3, there are "special" chests where loot is taken off a particularly high powered list. The more of the special chests you open, the better the loot. So it does give some incentive to explore.

Can't recall if this was in the original game or was patched in by the community team.

coaster said:

Although this is true of most chests in G3, there are "special" chests where loot is taken off a particularly high powered list. The more of the special chests you open, the better the loot. So it does give some incentive to explore.

Can't recall if this was in the original game or was patched in by the community team.

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Yep, you're talking about the "Old Chests", they've always been there.

I never liked how the contents of those chests were determined by the order in which you opened them.

Yeah, I know about those, but you need to find so many of them before they actually contain something useful. It just doesn't get me as excited as finding top notch loot after a dozen reloads to bring down some big, scary monster.

Getting back to environments. I think Alan Wake, although not a RPG, captures the northern dark forest really well. I'm hoping the Witcher 2 will have some forests like this:

http://gamernode.com/upload/manager///News Images/Industry/alan_wake_dlc1268675306.jpg

Lemonhead said:

Getting back to environments. I think Alan Wake, although not a RPG, captures the northern dark forest really well. I'm hoping the Witcher 2 will have some forests like this:

http://gamernode.com/upload/manager///News Images/Industry/alan_wake_dlc1268675306.jpg

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Brilliantly executed environment, but too much of the same

Something that only the Gothics have done fairly well (among games I played) is mountainous, and canyon-like terrains, with lots of steep cliffs and deep valleys. Specifically both the desert and the lush canyon areas in NOTR were great. Overall, I can't really name one favorite type of environment though, I have enjoyed very different types of environments equally.

Somebody mentioned earlier about Repetition and i have to agree, even the lushest of forests suffer quickly due to repitition. To me it's about nooks and cranny's, a path you passed by a few times and discover it takes you to an area you didn't know existed. Seeing a mountain top you want to explore but through proper design the path or paths are concealed in such a way that a sense of mystery and tension are the forefront of your journey.

In my opinion, no-one has captured this better than Piranha Bytes. The proper mix of ambient sounds and music help to enrich any atmosphere and PB captures these ambiences nicely. Take any atmosphere whether its Desert, Swamps, Dungeons, Caves, Winter settings or Forests and do it right and i'll enjoy it. Oblivion?....Yawnnnn