Dragon Age: Origins Catch-All

Montalban wrote:

I'm not a hater, and I'm probably not playing this correctly, but my "journey has ended" pretty much every 20 minutes so far.

I mean, I loved STALKER. I enjoy my old school gaming and harsh penalties with the best of them. But it really ruins the epic mood and great storyline when my "journey is ending" every time a battle gets more complicated than one or two enemies. Not to mention at least one person in my group is getting KO'd every battle. And I'm playing on normal difficulty.

I think I need to download the manual and figure out what I'm doing wrong. But the voice acting, storyline and production quality is phenomenal. Don't misunderstand me.

As others have mentioned, spacebar = pause. Not sure if you played Baldur's Gate and/or Neverwinter Nights, but these type RPG's have a fairly heavy tactical element to them. Think of combat as a turn-based strategy game, not a real-time action game. If you just click and go real-time, you're probably going to lose ... a lot.

I'm not sure of your level of familiarity, but note that you can pause and switch between party members, and use their special abilities. Watch for the cooldowns and re-issue them every chance you get.

Use common sense battle tactics, like having a warrior type up front in melee, a rogue flanking to the rear for backstabs, and a mage off at a distance casting.

Also remember to hotkey your health potions and if someone is getting beaten down, pause and press that key, they'll drink up mid-fight.

You may know all this, but posting it anyway in case you don't, or maybe to help someone else struggling a bit with the combat.

Kehama wrote:

I think I'm about to have a stroke from gamer rage. Earlier I bought the 360 version because my PC's glitched out. Well, it was a bad disc. Unreadable with physical defects on the back. I take it back, exchange... and the new disc has the same problems though at least the defect patterns on the back look different. Somebody out there doesn't want me to play this game. I've now sunk over 110 bucks on a game I can't even play.

What kind of problem do you have with your PC anyway? Did you try the usual troubleshooting steps? (Reinstall your drivers, making sure that you used a cleaner program to clean any left overs of old driver first; check nothing in your system is overheating, etc.)

Kehama wrote:

I think I'm about to have a stroke from gamer rage. Earlier I bought the 360 version because my PC's glitched out. Well, it was a bad disc. Unreadable with physical defects on the back. I take it back, exchange... and the new disc has the same problems though at least the defect patterns on the back look different. Somebody out there doesn't want me to play this game. I've now sunk over 110 bucks on a game I can't even play.

That is beyond fu*ked up. I am sorry, man. Do your other 360 games play ok? Is there another 360 (friend or whatever) you can try the DA:O disc on? That is bizarre that you'd get 2 bad ones in a row, unless that store got a bad batch or something. It does appear you're cursed today. Every gamer has that happen at one time or another. I'm sure it'll get worked out. best of luck.

Kehama wrote:

I think I'm about to have a stroke from gamer rage. Earlier I bought the 360 version because my PC's glitched out. Well, it was a bad disc. Unreadable with physical defects on the back. I take it back, exchange... and the new disc has the same problems though at least the defect patterns on the back look different. Somebody out there doesn't want me to play this game. I've now sunk over 110 bucks on a game I can't even play.

Two discs, both unreadable? Could you see scratches? I recently had Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST begin randomly freezing with "unreadable disc" error, but the discs worked fine on other machines (and looked fine). Apparently a small number of people had the same issue:

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=37231830

Microsoft appears to have rolled out a change affecting a minor number of people. Do you have access to either of these games? If your Dragon Age discs look fine but appear unreadable, I'd be interested to know if the Halo games work on your machine. You might save me the trouble of buying and reselling a copy of Dragon Age.

Speaking of the beloved spacebar, does the game have the option to enable 'pause after every turn/round' like the old BG series? I used to love that, not having to hover over the spacebar, instead just enjoying the fireworks and waiting for it to be my character's turn again to contemplate my options.

I have a problem. It's 10:33 PM, I have work tomorrow, I didn't really get any sleep last night, and the download will be done in less than 20 minutes. Do I risk not sleeping for a second night?

Thanks for the advice, all. I could go into more detail, but instead I think I'll just give it another go tomorrow and maybe my brain will have re-set.

Probably 90% of the problem? I had just finished Torchlight 10 minutes before I started decrypting the game file on Steam.

cube wrote:

I have a problem. It's 10:33 PM, I have work tomorrow, I didn't really get any sleep last night, and the download will be done in less than 20 minutes. Do I risk not sleeping for a second night?

I know we're supposed to be filthy enablers here, but honestly, good games like this should be fully enjoyed, not stumbled through in a sleep-deprived, guilt-filled haze. Get some sleep and dig in to it tomorrow after work.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

I bought the basic version off Steam last night, and everything has been smooth for me, including loading the character I created. I downloaded some free ring. The only thing I haven't done is try to download The Stone Prisoner. Game seems to be going fine.

I may have spoken a bit too soon; the game doesn't seem to recognize my Microsoft Bluetracker's scroll wheel, and the tutorial demands that I scroll. Trying another mouse.

I had that same spot and kept lightly trying to scroll the wheel. Nothing. Then I just went to town on it and turned a LOT. It finally was enough, and passed by that section of the tutorial.

Well Steam has officially gotten my last dollar. Seriously. I can't log in. I can log in to the website. Support doesn't work. Apparently my email is no longer valid for a "forgotten password". And my Steam client hangs every time I try to log in. >.< I mean, I get it, lots of people downloading the game... but being unable to log on because of people downloading later... is kind of ridiculous.

Jeff-66 wrote:
Montalban wrote:

I'm not a hater, and I'm probably not playing this correctly, but my "journey has ended" pretty much every 20 minutes so far.

I mean, I loved STALKER. I enjoy my old school gaming and harsh penalties with the best of them. But it really ruins the epic mood and great storyline when my "journey is ending" every time a battle gets more complicated than one or two enemies. Not to mention at least one person in my group is getting KO'd every battle. And I'm playing on normal difficulty.

I think I need to download the manual and figure out what I'm doing wrong. But the voice acting, storyline and production quality is phenomenal. Don't misunderstand me.

As others have mentioned, spacebar = pause. Not sure if you played Baldur's Gate and/or Neverwinter Nights, but these type RPG's have a fairly heavy tactical element to them. Think of combat as a turn-based strategy game, not a real-time action game. If you just click and go real-time, you're probably going to lose ... a lot.

I'm not sure of your level of familiarity, but note that you can pause and switch between party members, and use their special abilities. Watch for the cooldowns and re-issue them every chance you get.

Use common sense battle tactics, like having a warrior type up front in melee, a rogue flanking to the rear for backstabs, and a mage off at a distance casting.

Also remember to hotkey your health potions and if someone is getting beaten down, pause and press that key, they'll drink up mid-fight.

You may know all this, but posting it anyway in case you don't, or maybe to help someone else struggling a bit with the combat.

Also (this may be PC only; not sure), make sure to check out the actual tactics section of the menu. You can tell your NPCs how you want them to behave in terms of whom to attack, when to use special abilities, quaff potions, etc. The number of tactic instructions is limited based on each character's Cunning ability, which I think is also a nice touch. You can really help yourself (and your NPCs) out be spending a few minutes configuring these options!

I've just finished up my quest to become a grey warden. Time to call it a night.

Rat Boy wrote:

Is there any way to dial down the blood in the 360 version without having to ask Fido to lick it off of you? *shudder*

There is a campy sort of humor to every other cut scene where your entire party is bathed in blood.

I was expecting a hot mess for the 360 version and it really isn't. The graphics aren't great but they aren't horrible (still better than the last two major Bethesda RPGs). The only thing that kind of bugs me is the lack of hot keys and the radial menus (it's OK but not ideal).

However, like Blind Evil, I'm just grateful for a more plug-n-play experience right now.

Aaron D. wrote:

I'm eager to hear 360 impressions.

I know the PC version is superior, and it sounds fantastic on that platform so far, but I don't game on PC and wonder how well all the early glowing praises trickle down, filtered through the inferior 360 port.

My impressions above, though brief, are from the 360 version.

I can't speak to the graphical differences, but the game runs smoothly and is the same content wise.

My only complaint is that, as a mage, having only 6 hotkeys available is going to have me opening the radial menu more often than I'd like.

I know I'm not saying much here, but if you give more specific questions I'd be happy to answer them. The tactics menu on 360 is the same as the PC version, I noticed someone wasn't sure a few posts ago. (ah, the irony of someone having trouble with unreadable discs. I suppose I am one of the few lucky folk able to fully enjoy the game today.)

I'm noticing some folks having trouble with some of the early fights...I think the smart move is to be heavy on healing potions. I decided to play as a mage based on my time in DA:J and knowledge that life without the heal spell is not a terribly easy life.

I consider the inferiority of the graphics a price I'm willing to pay to avoid all the technical problems you see littering the thread.

larrymadill wrote:

I was expecting a hot mess for the 360 version and it really isn't. The graphics aren't great but they aren't horrible (still better than the last two major Bethesda RPGs). The only thing that kind of bugs me is the lack of hot keys and the radial menus (it's OK but not ideal).

However, like Blind Evil, I'm just grateful for a more plug-n-play experience right now.

Plug-n-play is a very good way to describe it. I learned a harsh lesson the day I bought Vanguard on D2D a few years back. A 19 GB download and consequent install...it took me damn near three days to get my game up and running.

I'm not sure why anyone would actually expect such a mess, as Bioware has been working on consoles since 2003's KOTOR. Sure the frame rate in Mass Effect could dip some, but it wasn't unplayable or even a detriment to my play experience.

Jeff-66 wrote:

As others have mentioned, spacebar = pause. Not sure if you played Baldur's Gate and/or Neverwinter Nights, but these type RPG's have a fairly heavy tactical element to them. Think of combat as a turn-based strategy game, not a real-time action game. If you just click and go real-time, you're probably going to lose ... a lot.

This.

I had one fight where it was my party of four versus seven enemies, four of whom were attacking with bows. I immediately ordered my party to run across an open area to try to put a bit of architecture in-between them and the archers. This accomplished, it forced the enemy to come from a single direction with much less opportunity to engage from range. I arranged my three fighter types in a screen in front of my archer. As enemies moved to engage, my group keep a sort of flying T formation, always guarding the archer. Anyway, the upshot was that by using some tactics, and pausing each time an enemy fell to reassess the situation, I was able to win the battle with only one friendly KO. It's wasn't unusual to have 1-2 KOs in a battle (I'm playing on normal) but it's fine since they revive after the battle, and health auto-regens.

This is a game that definitely requires at least a little consideration to tactics.

ubrakto wrote:

Also (this may be PC only; not sure), make sure to check out the actual tactics section of the menu. You can tell your NPCs how you want them to behave in terms of whom to attack, when to use special abilities, quaff potions, etc. The number of tactic instructions is limited based on each character's Cunning ability, which I think is also a nice touch. You can really help yourself (and your NPCs) out be spending a few minutes configuring these options!

I've just finished up my quest to become a grey warden. Time to call it a night.

After the first couple of hours playing on PC, I've decided that I won't use the tactics system until I understand it better. So far, it seems my companions like chugging the potions faster than I can collect them from darkspawn corpses and their targeting AI seems dodgy, but I blame my lack of understanding. Oh well, I like micro-managing better anyway.

Uh, a warning to people that got DAO and are using the antivir antivirus.

If you're using antivir, the executable, installer, and package may show up as a trojan. And, searching Avira's site, apparently, there was a trojan created in late 2006(when the game was announced) that uses a lot of "Dragon Age - Bioware" tags in the registry.

http://www.avira.com/en/threats/sect...

Hot damn. This game is exactly what I never knew I was waiting for, but apparently was. This game has made me actually feel like I'm in the role of whatever character I'm playing, a feat which no previous CRPG has ever been able to do for me. I've played through a dwarf noble warrior story (man that was vicious) and a female city elf rogue story. I played the dwarf honorably, and the elf I played like a cold, hard thief, ready to make a bargain if it gets her what she wants, but likewise ready to bloody her blade if she doesn't get what she wants. I felt like a total badass as I was leaving Denerim with Duncan on that playthrough.

Good times, good times. This is going to be epic. I only wish I knew how best to spread around attribute points on a rogue - seems they need dex, cunning, str, willpower, and constitution (is that all?). The warrior was a lot easier, seemingly. 3 parts str, 2 part con, 1 part willpower, dash of dex every now and then. Stayed up way too late tonight, but there was no way I wasn't going to.

Well, I just played through from about 6PM to just shy of midnight. It's pretty much everything I wanted it to be so far. It's a rare game I actually want to talk story points with Karla as I play, just to catch her up and decompress.

Coldstream wrote:

It's wasn't unusual to have 1-2 KOs in a battle (I'm playing on normal) but it's fine since they revive after the battle, and health auto-regens.

Except every KO means another injury debuff for that character, which means they may be more likely to go down again in the next fight, adding insult to, well, injury. It starts to feel like a vicious spiral the way I was playing.

Only managed a couple of hours of play tonight. Can't wait to put a few solid sessions in and see how I still feel about the combat, camera, etc. I'm really liking the subtle user experience things, like how it just "works" with the default WoW controls, which is how I've come to naturally want to play any sort of RPG on the PC.

Oh, and the game is FREAKING AWESOME.

Dear Steam,

A. Thank you for offering a preload on this hotly anticipated title.
B. Screw you for totally screwing up the validation of this preload.
C. Screw you for not discovering how to fix it until after suggesting I had to delete local content and totally reinstall the Steam client, losing about 50gigs worth of games for me, as your suggested method of backup totally failed.
D. Thank you for at least boosting your server load so that I'm not downloading for two days at 90kb/s like I did for the preload.

Seriously, I don't care if I have to wait until like 3:30 AM to start playing, I don't have to be at work till 4PM tomorrow anyway. I will at least START tonight, even if I have to wait until Wednesday night to become a Grey Warden.

par wrote:

So nobody has any battle play suggestions? I'm a sad Panda

PAR

Nothing beyond "treat it like a MMO." I'm only a few hours in but it seems obvious I have a tank build character who can gather a lot of people and damage and a couple of DPS builds. Any ranged class (rogue with archer predilections or mage with boom boom predilections) needs to be told to stay the hell back and throw whatever they have. Focus fire on one enemy at a time if you can, especially if you have someone wielding a two-handed weapon, and melee rogues are best attacking from behind. If you read each of your abilities a lot of them have sweeping attacks or somesuch, those actually make where you are relative to an enemy or group of enemies really matter.

Try using archers to snipe the enemy and pull back. All the hard battles thus far have been enemies in entrenched positions waiting for you and of course you're going to get your arse kicked if you try wading in the middle of three melee enemies with five archers around them. They're tied into packs, however, and won't come at you all at once if you draw them to a spot you choose. The "hold position" command for your part seems key for setting up ambushes like this.

Oh, and there's a really good if complicated If/then statement hierarchy that you can set up for your AIs. Just dropping "IF Health < 25% THEN chug healing pot" on my tanking dude helped a lot. Also there's no healing class specifically because there's little need; when you leave combat all characters regain about 10 health per second so retreating after killing a few enemies is actually a viable strategy, especially if you're low on healing pots. Just pin some archers with your own archers and retreat. You'll at least regain a bit of health before they stagger into you, and once they're running at you single file dispatching them isn't much of a problem.

That's all I got though, I'm midway through the second area I think. Hope that helps somewhat.

bnpederson wrote:

...much appreciated tips

Hey thanks man! Greatly appreciate the tips! And they put your head on a monkey in this joint... for SHAME!

PAR

I can't IMAGE(http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9920/carch100.th.jpg) stop IMAGE(http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8418/bitsy.th.jpg) making IMAGE(http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3503/nimala.th.jpg) characters... IMAGE(http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8214/shalun.th.jpg)

"This game will unlock in approximately 2 days and 14 hours"

"because we're having a hell of a time releasing in North America so we thought we'd wait a few more days for Europe."

Nuts.

I'm too tired after playing this all night to give any kind of real impressions other then : OH. MY. GOD.

This game is so completely awesome, I can't think of a better adjective then awesomer awesomeness awesomesauce. Awesome. Really, it is.

For anyone having trouble with the combat, I'm finding it pretty challenging myself and am frequently reloading and rarely finishing a combat without someone dropping, and I thought I was good at these types of games.

The problem is that most fights involve your four against about a dozen guys, including a leader, a mage, a few archers and the rest melee. It's a balanced force to fight against, and is especially frustrating because for the most part, enemies have the same stats as your guys (only they outnumber you 3:1). Equipment-wise, you don't really have an edge there either as you're too broke to every actually buy anything (other then healing potions. You buy alot of those).

General tips I'm finding is to kill the enemy wizard quick, make sure your rogue always has poison handy, and micromanage your wizard well. Seriously, the wizard is the most useful guy you have - stuns, area effect spells and debuffs are all amazingly useful. Otherwise, the first party member you find is the shield fighter and I'm finding him to be pretty invaluable as well. Set him up with threaten and shield defense activated and occasionally shield bash with any remaining stamina and he can last a long time.