Ama's Lullaby - New Website & Dev Logs
 

Ama's Lullaby finally has a new website for more information on the game, and the developer has posted a few new logs about the games development.

More information.

Interesting project, probably story-heavy, TB combat, survival - nice. Looks like something based on real vision about story and characters and depth, not on mimicking of other games or trends or flashy action. I wish them success with KS.

BTW: French RPG team? Spiders B? Hopefully they are (at least) equally talented, only smaller and indie. :)

I hope so as I've been following the game on Facebook. From what I've read the concept sounds interesting, and promising. Can't wait to see more game footage though.

It's cool, but please don't make us fight with the camera again (like in Wasteland 2). Either implement transparency (like in XCOM) or lower the angle of vision. The video with the character in the street was painful to watch, it was like being in the Temple all over again (Wasteland 2) 'fighting' with the walls and other objects hiding the PCs. How anybody thinks that is 'fun' is beyond my ability to understand developers.

Would back if it were FEAR 4: Alma's Lullaby

You can back it anyway and then fear for its quality. :biggrin:

Trying not to be picky, but I personally don't get the high camera and steep angle devs adopt. Is it a stylistic tic they feel they must follow for this type of game? I'm asking a serious question. What useful purpose does it serve? Why not an eye level camera? Does that violate some sort of 'retro code' for game devs? My feeling is if I love 80s and 90s era games with all their limitations and conventions, I'll buy them from GOG. It's 2014; time to get with the program.

And lest you think I'm some 20-something, console button-masher, I'm a 66-year-old grandfather. I've been a programmer since 1979 and played all sorts of games since then. Never cared for FPS or MMPORGs or any online games.

In the early days, all there was to play were the turn-based, party games with either overhead or bird's eye view. I was glad when single-player 1st/3rd person, real time combat, and over-the-shoulder, eye level camera came on the scene. Much more realistic and immersive to me. Even back then, TB seemed stupid to me. So, my character stands there like some paralyzed zombie idiot, sword in hand, and waits while his opponent winds up with a huge meat-axe and delivers a devastating blow. Critical hit! I'm down to 2 hit points. Yes the game is fantasy, but it's also stupid game play. It's much more immersive and realistic to attempt a block or counter in real time than to wait for a behind-the-scenes dice roll to tell me what happens.


Just my thoughts.

@Zephr: I'd argue that RPG combat doesn't need to be "realistic", but rather to be challenging and tactical. Turn-based tatical combat is certainly an abstraction but the advantage is that, much like a game of chess, it allows the player to think about tactics (i.e., come up with a plan and execute it) and take as long as you want rather than having to react instinctively. Whether or not your characters are hit depends on numerous factors (e.g., his / her natrual dexterity / dodge skill, equipment that boosts said skill, spells / other buffs, etc.). It's all about how you build, customize, and advance your character… Likewise, whether or not your character hits is based on your character's strength and skills. Sure there is usually some randomness involved, but in a well developed TB combat system, your strategy, tactical choices and optimization should have a big impact on the outcome. Since CRPGs were originally made as adaptations of tabletop RPGs, the tabletop experience that some people enjoy is implemented much better with a TB system.

In a real-time combat system, what determines whether your character's hit strikes or whether your character dodges? Presumably player reflexes and timing. The problem is, if it's a role-playing game your character should have his own dexterity strength, etc. stats, so why should your own reflexes be the determining factor? …
Well, alright I suppose you could ask a similar rhetorical question about turn-based (Why should your own intelligence and cunning be the determining factor?)

Basically, in a "twich based" or real-time combat system, it all comes down to
hitting buttons quickly / at the "right" time; much like learning combos in a fighting game. And to me, that usually amounts to little more than button mashing, as that has often been an effective strategy in Action RPGs. It quickly becomes very repetitive in my experience. Even with the better action RPGs, you're usually not required to do a lot of thinking / strategizing outside of boss fights. Moreover, how is hitting gamepad buttons / keys / mouseclicking to simulate swinging a sword or dodging "realistic"? It's still an abstraction.

If you want RPGs to be realistic, your character should get tired. Your character should be slower to act when wounded or when they haven't eaten or slept in awhile. Your character should probably stumble sometimes because even experienced warriors make mistakes in the heat of battle. Serious wounds should take months to recover from, not one night's rest in the inn. Your character should probably die from one or two sword blows, rather than being able to live from an arrow in the heart or an axe to the head.. I doubt you'd enjoy a game that had such levels of realism. We put up with a lot of "unrealistic" qualities to games for the sake of making them fun and enjoyable.

I don't expect to change your opinion on turn-based combat anymore than you could ever hope to change mine on real-time. We just have different preferences. But as much as I generally dislike it, I wouldn't necessarily call real-time combat stupid… it's just not my cup of tea.