Dragon Age 2 - Interview at vgames.co.il

A Bioware forumite, called OPini, discovered an interview with the Lead Level Designer, Yaron Jacobs on an Israeli game site called vgame.co.il - the interview is entirely in Hebrew, so OPini translated the important parts for us. Here are some rather interesting tidbits:

Q: What were the main designing objectives for DA2?

A: Everyone were very enthusiastic about creating a game which will be more accessible for a wider audience, without giving up the core components of the original game, while trying to add to the player pool for this game those people who felt intimidated by elements of DAO - such as the UI.
This is especially true for the console version of DA2 - we wanted to make the game more responsive and fun when you use a controller.

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And another one:

Q: Why are the city's streets not as crowded as one can expect from a city as congested as Kirkwall? Is it due to technical limitations?

A: Yes, this is completely due to technical limitation. We had more people crowding the streets in early stages of development but we had to cut the number to be able to cope with the limitations of game consoles and low-end computers.

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You should really go read the rest of the translation; this is a very interesting interview to read.
More information.

Good interview, although I far to often shouted "No it was not the right decision you git!" at my monitor.

A: Yes, this is completely due to technical limitation. We had more people crowding the streets in early stages of development but we had to cut the number to be able to cope with the limitations of game consoles and low-end computers.

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And they couldn't make a setting for this or, better yet, just measure the framerate to see if there's capacity for more citizens?? Sad. But I guess that's what modders are for.

Now, that was an interesting interview. Just in case anyone missed it, DA2 is indeed a dumb-down, console-focused rush job.

Some major publication out west ought to hire that interviewer. He/she actually had a spine that didn't automatically bend over to kiss ass.

Why do I have the feeling that will be the last interview we see from Yaron, unless it slips under the radar because it's in Hebrew?

Generic Bioware/EA corporate douchebag: Um, Yaron, I saw that interview you did in Yiddish or whatever. What were you doing? You didn't mention awesome buttons or awesomeness or planning like a general while fighting like a Spartan. Not once. Hell, you could've said it was the new, new shit or something.

Yaron: I was just trying to answer the questions as honestly as I could.

Douchebag: Right. Yaron, why don't you go back to your office and design a dungeon or something...and don't answer your phone unless it's a call from within the building. A bigger douchebag than me will want to see you in his office soon, I'm sure.

Zloth said:

And they couldn't make a setting for this or, better yet, just measure the framerate to see if there's capacity for more citizens?? Sad. But I guess that's what modders are for.

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The game have a tendancy to lose framerate in random spot, like in cutscenes.

The rendering distance is pretty low too. I can see NPCs popup in certain area. Everything on max (well beside DX, which is set to 9, because I had lockup on DX11).

It is the Lead Level designer for DA2; e.g. a bioware (high) level manager. And I'm pretty sure, he doesn not say anything that hasn't been said before. And I'm pretty sure that what he says (in part or in full) have been approved by at least one higher up senior manager at Bioware. Stanley Woo's comments the whole 'we're aware of those points, and all are valid' or something like that tells me, if you read between the lines, that yes, Bioware were (are) unhappy in what direction, EA, and the senior managers at Bioware wanted to take DA2 - mostly combat wise, I think. The whole 'we want call of duty's audience' as said by Fernando Melo is -ahem- not that great an idea, I find. Not because CoD isn't a good game, but because people playing CoD would rather be playing CoD. At least enemies in CoD don't appear out of thin air...or maybe I've overlooked something?

Interestingly, Yaron freely admits that 'the waves' are designed badly, there's nothing from with having waves and waves of enimies be thrown at you. Icewind Dale did it, and in this game, monsters could even call for help, open locked doors etc. From playing the demo, I get the feel that the waves have been poorly implemented in this game, maybe because there wasn't more time...

As for tech limitations and why no crowded streets, DA2 use the Lyceum engine (a modded Aurora engine or a new engine?) while Assasin's Creed use the Anvil engine.
Bioware obviuosly wanted those who still have single core computers like I do to be able to play the game. The Aurora/Lyceum engine have never been great when it come to have a lot people, not to say a lot action going on the screen.

If Aurora/Lyceum have a problem handling crowds than why we are told that Kirkwall is supposed to be brim full of refugees? Why not change the opening of the game to something which would explain why this city is a ghost town?

The engine seems to handle lots of people on screen during battles, but it can't in the city? Also why not have elders the in the options.say that your making the game for the least common denominator is a cop out. Why not make the game for highend machines then have sliders to reduce detail. Such as crowded to sparse population, toggle to leave dead ebonies instead of sinking in the ground, slider to select speed of combat etc.if they really wanted to make a game that appeals to everyone they would have done that. Instead they figured they'd make the least amount of game as fast as possible and use the excuse that they want it to be accessible to everyone.

I don't know any sales figures but I wonder if they'll get enough new customers to make up for all the current customers that they alienated?

There are people in town but they don't move much, have common NPC busy to some occupation is a difficult design task, it's more the design element than the technical element that made them give up setup something better.

For having features for only a part of 25% of buyers, not even all of them, and have those other 75% unable to profit of those features, it's an elitist point of view typical of PC gamers but it makes no sense.

Now get a bit confused. Since when is the difference between the city population we see and the one we should see due to lore/conversation/etc a problem? I mean, honestly? We had a Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter or the TES Imperial Capital that had fewer npcs than the population of an average European village and nobody cares? Or Dragon Age Origins where the bloody capital of Ferelden had at most 200 people in it? That wasn't a problem and Kirkwall's population is? Could someone please tell me what the average npc density per square meter is supposed to be in order to be believable?

Roi Danton said:

Now get a bit confused. Since when is the difference between the city population we see and the one we should see due to lore/conversation/etc a problem? I mean, honestly? We had a Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter or the TES Imperial Capital that had fewer npcs than the population of an average European village and nobody cares? Or Dragon Age Origins where the bloody capital of Ferelden had at most 200 people in it? That wasn't a problem and Kirkwall's population is? Could someone please tell me what the average npc density per square meter is supposed to be in order to be believable?

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I haven't played DA2 myself yet (though do catch glimses of the better half playing it), but I think things like expectations of NPC density vary depending on the nature and setting of a game. When you have multiple, sprawling, environments it's somehow easier to forgive a more sparse distribution, yet when you have an almost exclusively city game setting the NPCs become a much more prominent feature of the landscape. And we've been spoilt by other games like Assassin's Creed that have a similar level of graphical fidelity and still manage to flood town environments with NPCs.

Roi Danton said:

Now get a bit confused. Since when is the difference between the city population we see and the one we should see due to lore/conversation/etc a problem? I mean, honestly? We had a Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter or the TES Imperial Capital that had fewer npcs than the population of an average European village and nobody cares? Or Dragon Age Origins where the bloody capital of Ferelden had at most 200 people in it? That wasn't a problem and Kirkwall's population is? Could someone please tell me what the average npc density per square meter is supposed to be in order to be believable?

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When you make a city a major focus of your game you better make it worth it.

I don´t think the main problem is necessarily the density of population, it´s more matter of how these npcs are used, environment design and attention to detail put in it, ambient sounds, etc.
These aspects constitute the overall feel of locations and in the case of Kirkwall, the result is the city feels lifeless and sterile.

Most of npcs are nothing more than silent drones, interaction is limited only to those with quests, there are no daily routines to speak of, at night the city is nothing more than a combat arena, ambient sounds are limited and most of the audiospace is taken by industrial-ish hum, the city is designed in a very box-y fashion with a distinct lack of interesting landmarks or areas and it almost doesn´t change throughout the years.
Also, as far as I remember there´s not even a cinematic which shows Kirkwall in all its "glory".

And you spend a lot of time in it.

The city areas in DA2 are small sections of a larger city, much like Bioware's previous games. Honestly the only area the population seems thin is Hightown, which being right at the foot of the chantry and palace should certainly be more bustling.

The larger problem for me is that over the supposed "10 year narrative" every citizen is in the same place doing the same thing.

DoctorNarrative said:

The larger problem for me is that over the supposed "10 year narrative" every citizen is in the same place doing the same thing.

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Sounds like the town I grew up in...

Captain Buzzkill said:

Sounds like the town I grew up in…

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Lol, not to mention DoctorNarrative is exaggerating a bit. Some shops can disappear, some banner changes, group of anonymous people aren't exactly the same not at the exact same place. But it's right that at my first play I haven't quote much changes of the town between chapter 1 and 2, other than the details I mentioned above.

In general the game seems have a real trouble to change a 3D area. For example there's many selectable items that will be here after you pick them and… even before you can even select them. The area reuse are done with almost no changes apart for blocking stuff, NPC, some boxes or chests.

That said if the time jump between chapter 1 and 2 is quite well done anyway, it's a lot more artificial between chapter 2 and 3 and there's probably a bit more visual changes in town but nothing impressive.

Dasale said:

Lol, not to mention DoctorNarrative is exaggerating a bit. Some shops can disappear, some banner changes, group of anonymous people aren't exactly the same not at the exact same place. But it's right that at my first play I haven't quote much changes of the town between chapter 1 and 2, other than the details I mentioned above.

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What shops change? I never saw a shop change, ever.

As for people and banter, perhaps there are some minor changes but overall it's very much the same. 10 years later the same guy is in the viscount's palace bitching about how long he's been waiting. 10 years later the same elf servant is wandering Hightown muttering about her shopping list.

Well I had 4 shops changed, two disappeared forever, one disappeared and appeared again later, for at least one there was a chest and later it had only an exposure table or something. If you are going in details like you quote I bet I can quote more than you, for example the women insulting you close to the porn house disappear, the qanri door become a barricade, it's new groups that invest the various town parts at night, the people present at place at bottom of ducal road change a lot, and quite more. You seem pretend nothing change and that's not right, not at all.

But I do agree it's just details changed and some details aren't changed like probably the elf you quote, and overall it's quite minor changes and I haven't quote any clear changes of the town itself apart some insignificant details.

If changing the city over 10 years had been more drastic it might actually have been interesting. Imagine a whole section, like Lowtown maybe, that was normal in chapter one and then bombed out post-apocalypse looking in chapter 2. That kind of thing would have been neat.

Adding some walls here and there and changing some of the crowds around doesn't do much for me. And I swear to God none of the shops changed on my playthrough.

I agree on that but that's different than saying details don't change.

I just pick 2 saves during chapter 1 and chapter 3, and checked two places and there was so many little changes that I get bored and didn't attempt list. Among the changes not that minor it's NPC talk, for example at some point I had many people that thank the hero for the help of the town.

EDIT: So you had the North Something shop during chapter 2&3? And you have the Bone Mine merchant at beginning of chapter 3 (or chapter 2)? And you have the Dwarf shop at chapter 2 despite at this point it is in your house?