As word of Dragon Age 4’s full title breaks, a detailed video from the former series director reveals that the once-maligned Dragon Age 2 “is now all the rage, as it’s the first BioWare game to deliberately put to the characters first.” Former BioWare RPG Project Manager Mark Darra has released a video in his Memories and Lessons series detailing the fantasy game’s rapid development and the accomplishments he’s most proud of on the team.
“Dragon Age II is a game about limits,” Darrah says in an hour-long video posted on his Old Game Developer Tips YouTube channel. He explains that after EA closed the acquisition of BioWare in 2008, shortly before the release of Dragon Age: Origins, the publisher was eager to release BioWare’s MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic as a competitor to World of Warcraft. According to Darra, the game’s abandonment in fiscal year 2011 made EA “quite angry with BioWare” and insisted that the game be released to “plug the hole” in that fiscal year.
This led to the decision to redesign Dragon Age II, which was originally intended to be the counterpart to what would later become Dragon Age: Inquisition, into a game that could meet those needs. While some of the work from what was originally the second expansion pack for Origins has been added to the project, Darr says he doesn’t like the wording that suggests the game is “built from an expansion pack” because it hasn’t been much no resource or level has been created. and he believes that understates the team’s success in producing the game in less than 15 months.
Characters are “BioWare’s secret sauce,” notes Darra, “they’re written quickly and rarely require too many rewrites.” A character-centric story also doesn’t put as much pressure on time-consuming aspects of development like level design and resource creation. He also addresses the controversy over the multiple reuse of Dragon Age II assets, saying that it’s “hard to defend” how much is in the game and how relatable it is. Darra notes that he is “a strong advocate of asset reuse and that games should do that more than they currently do.”
Reusing the town at different times was part of the game’s design and wasn’t hidden from players, says Darra, and she finds the overall levels of the warehouse acceptable, as the focus is on the events or encounters that take place there rather than the areas themselves. However, according to him, the reuse of the cave’s resources is a major problem. Over the course of the game, the player visits several supposedly different caves, but Darra points out that the cave’s design was too specific, with unique and recognizable features such as a cave-in that highlighted environmental reuse. It’s “punching people’s noses with reuse,” he explains.
The game originally had a different title, Dragon Age: Exodus, which Darra felt was a better fit. According to him, executives eventually pushed for the Dragon Age II brand, which created fan expectations for a game similar in size and scope to its predecessor. The marketing also encourages fans of the series to react thoughtfully against the game’s faster, more action-oriented combat, emphasizing this during promotions, Darra adds. As more and more players move away from the original version, he says, players are beginning to appreciate the game’s strengths, such as character work.
You can see the full development details, including a more detailed discussion of the endgame, below:
If this got you thinking about going back to Dragon Age II, we think it’s one of the more accessible RPGs out there. Otherwise, be sure to stay tuned to our coverage of the Summer Game Festival for more updates on the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf game.
Source : PC Gamesn
