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Told you all the new Indy game would suck.


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Posted on Penny Arcade , whom I usually agree with on games:

 

Indiana Jones – This was the year of procedurally generated content. Every other developer was telling me how instead of having artists and animators create a game for me they figured out a way to make a computer do it. They seem to think this is better but Indiana Jones is a great example of why it’s not. Instead of animating Indy they essentially taught him how to behave and react to his surroundings. They said this was better because it means you’ll never see the same canned animation over and over. What it means is that I see different stupid looking animations all the time though. I’m not sure that’s an improvement. I’ll take God of Wars beautifully animated special moves over Indy looking like some kind of retarded marionette any day.

 

I picture decent graphics, no story, and machine guns and brawling. Maybe Lucas should make it an Arcade machine instead? Might fit it better.

 

[Edit] Yes I did post this in 2 spots, but I dont pay attention to what I'm doing sometimes.

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Saying Indy movies like a "Retarded marionette" isnt just talking about bad games in an article, its talking about how Indy looks bad.

 

If Indy moves like that in the final version, it would make the gameplay, and presentation bad, which makes the game bad. One of the things I hated about Infernal Machine was that Indy moved like he had a stick shoved up his ass. This doesnt sound any better.

 

I would love for the game to be good, but the fact is, Lucas just cant do it, they have lost the ability.

 

Think about the last good in house Lucas Arts game...And think about how long ago it was.

 

And by good I mean one you know didnt suck.

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The physics engine they've made is certainly interesting, and I like the possibilities. It's just that all the press-releases and in-game footage they've released is saying "look - hit this guy once, he lands over here; hit him again and he lands over there!!" - not a problem in itself, but it doesn't guarantee a great game.

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Doesn't guarantee a bad one either. Frankly, I think we'll just have to wait and see. i'm not saying I have the ultimate faith in LA to make an awesome INdy game because I don't, but I'm not about to shoot it down completely until I've seen more.

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Well, Gabe (or Mike or whatever his name is) is an artist, and I think he's getting at the game from an artist's point of view.

 

Animation is part of the art of a game, and what LucasArts seem to have done is sacked the guy with a bachelor's in art and animation, and hired a guy with a PhD in computer physics so that the computer can do the animator's job instead. There's a danger with this sort of thing that the animation, whilst realistic, lacks the human touch, the stroke of the artist's brush, and just comes out looking a bit bland.

 

What I agreed with most at Penny Arcade is how getting a computer to control stuff like that is not a good idea. I think that artists should have as much creative control as possible in a game.

 

Also, how new is this stuff? Wasn't this kind of done before in better looking games?

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Some time ago there was talk of computing textures. And I'm still looking forward to quality artificial voice. If done right, that kind of a thing can save a lot of time (a big factor in modern game design) and make for a very dynamic experience.

 

Ragdolls used to (and sometimes still do) look all kinds of weird, but they are getting better. I don't think animators really want to hand-animate today's ever more complex models in every detail. If they can instead use their fine artistic brush and make a template for something, then apply it to every other character model and have that interact naturally with the environment...

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Would be enough to "perform" that "wooden dialogue" he writes. So, after all, no actors needed anymore at all.

 

They'd probably do a better job than Hayden Christiansan or whatever the hell his name is.

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Some of the Star Wars games aren't horrible, but yeah we need more adventuse-class games. As for Indy, I enjoyed the fighting engine in the Emperor's Tomb, and I don't see why they need to change it.

 

Also, they showed these clips way before the game is completed. So hopefully, the engine will be tweaked to make it not as awkward.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Also, how new is this stuff? Wasn't this kind of done before in better looking games?

 

The Unreal Engine 2 had something like this. In ut2003/ut2004 the bodies used physics on the bodies after they died. I always enjoyed jumping through this goal in this one "bombing run" level because it would kill you and then the body would drop down a hole with wires coming out the sides. The body would drop like in the "peg" or "plink" things. The rest of the movement was animation though. Just the death was physics.

 

If all the animations are replaced by physics that's a bit different. They could still be using the Unreal Engine 3 though, if it's not in house.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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