Fast Forward Time

[ECM_specialist]

Hi, guys.

I would like to suggest a feature that I would like to see in DeusEx3 : Fast Forward Time.

The main idea is that during the stealth approach, you rather frequently have to be for long time in the same place, carefully observing the patrol routes, waiting for them to be in a proper position, waiting for them to turn away etc. Sometimes, as for me, is was so annoying, that I had strong desire to run to the guard and stab him with my trusty Dragon Tooth.

Now, imagine the following: you hit the button, and game time accelerates, say, 5x. You have much less of subjective time to wait. Then release the key and perform planned action. Much less annoying, much more fun.

What do you think?

[Malah]

I agree! They should also add bullet time, but call it "Sniper Mode" so you don't have to wait ages to get that perfect shot!! And while they're at it, they should also remove all NPC's and replace them with Hello Kitty dolls!

[Ashpolt]

^^ Don't joke, I'd be more than happy to wager that bullet time will be in there under some name or another. Because, as we know, the industry as a whole has grown up.

As for the OP's suggestion...that's exactly the kind of thing I don't want to see in a Deus Ex game. Not because it's a bad idea per se, but because it's pandering to the Gears of War crowd. If you play the stealth route, you should accept the fact that you're going to be skulking around in the shadows (or, rather in this case, behind cover) and it's not going to be all action, all the time - if you want that, go the "guns, lots of guns" route. On top of that, the time you spend waiting for that perfect moment is what creates the tension of being the stealthy player. Add the ability to speed up time and that tension is shattered.

[Viktoria]

I don't like the idea myself. In reality, you would have to watch the guards' patrol routes carefully, there's no control of time as such. Watching carefully is part of the gameplay and adds to the suspense. Move too soon and you get caught out, move too slow and you missed your chance.

[WhatsHisFace]

Originally Posted by ECM_specialist

Hi, guys.

I would like to suggest a feature that I would like to see in DeusEx3 : Fast Forward Time.

The main idea is that during the stealth approach, you rather frequently have to be for long time in the same place, carefully observing the patrol routes, waiting for them to be in a proper position, waiting for them to turn away etc. Sometimes, as for me, is was so annoying, that I had strong desire to run to the guard and stab him with my trusty Dragon Tooth.

Now, imagine the following: you hit the button, and game time accelerates, say, 5x. You have much less of subjective time to wait. Then release the key and perform planned action. Much less annoying, much more fun.

What do you think?

[GmanPro]

Lol. Speeding up time so that you can play the slow play-style without playing the slow play-style.

Doesn't anyone else besides me think that playing slow games can be fun?

[Blade_hunter]

Because do you think this is a speed up the game suggestion ?
DX 3 would be faster than the previous games, it was said on the news, but it's a pretty different case here.
But I won't express anything about the idea, because after knowing the results about slow mo, I prefer to stay shut and wait for the "reverse suggestion" ....

[GmanPro]

The last thing this game needs is more action. Everything I've heard about DX3 so far suggests that the studio is catering to the action side of the game. The regenerating health feature most of all. The reasoning they used to defend their decision leads me to believe that there will be multiple such features throughout the game that are too subtle to mention in the development stage. Other things that will "speed up the gameplay" and prevent any "breaks in the action." Things to make the came more accessible (I've come to hate that term now), like automatically adding items to your inventory after a fight (Mass Effect) or reducing the text in conversations to an absolute minimum because some players don't want to read (also Mass Effect, but in other recent rpg's as well. Fable 2 didn't even have text responses).

[WhatsHisFace]

Originally Posted by GmanPro

Lol. Speeding up time so that you can play the slow play-style without playing the slow play-style.

Doesn't anyone else besides me think that playing slow games can be fun?

As a big fan of Deus Ex, Thief, SplinterCell and STALKER... yes.

If I want a fast game, I'll get Serious Sam or Gears of War (which I also love). But if there's a fast Deus Ex, I'd be less interested in that, than I would be for an IP that was intended to be fast, like Doom or Quake.

[Ashpolt]

Originally Posted by GmanPro

[...]or reducing the text in conversations to an absolute minimum because some players don't want to read (also Mass Effect[...]).

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Lois, this is not my Batman glass.

But seriously, I can't agree with you there. Love the game or hate it, Mass Effect had as much length (if not necessarily depth) of conversations as any other RPG - have you even got to the bit on Ilos with the Prothean AI? That conversation went on for ages.

[Blade_hunter]

The thing is the suggestion wasn't about pure speed, it was about time control and faster controlled speed to avoid the undesired patrols ...
And personally I liked the speed of Deus Ex, but that's not the subject isn't it ?
As I said, I wait for the [XXXXXXXX] suggestion to express what I think about that ...

Deus Ex 3 is faster than before (previous games) and that doesn't mean I like that.

[Blade_hunter]

Originally Posted by pha

How about an option to fast forward to the ending credits?

Sorry ECM specialist, but in DX nobody forces you to choose a stealthy approach. It's your decision alone. If it's too boring and too long for you and you want to stab them with your Dragon's Tooth instead, just do it.

+1

Really I think the same as you, he should uses the physical force if it's more his own style.
This is really why Deus Ex is so great, because it allow players who like gunfights like farcry/action games and/or infiltration à la thief 2 that made the game so great and keep always a tactical simulation aspect with many aspects balanced by the RPG element

[Sean D]

F**king up the gameplay for some users to feel more comfortable, is lame.

Removing car damage from Need For Speed, so that the straight-to-the-wall drivers can finish the game;
Adding health regen so that people without the instinct of self-preservation can survive;
Adding ammo regen so that mindless shooters can do their mindless shooting;
Adding the ability to defuse bomb past its timer's zero count;
Refunding the player with game money when they're bankrupt;
Anything of this kind is totally lame and doesn't belong in elite games. Especially in Deus Ex.

[GmanPro]

But seriously, I can't agree with you there. Love the game or hate it, Mass Effect had as much length (if not necessarily depth) of conversations as any other RPG - have you even got to the bit on Ilos with the Prothean AI? That conversation went on for ages.

That's not what I meant. I'm talking about the actual responses that the player can choose from.

I remember reading an interview by someone at Obsidian talking about Storm of Zehir and one of the things he said about conversations really ticked me off. In order to make the game more accessible, they intentionally reduced the player dialogue choices down to basically black and white responses. They did this because they wanted to avoid situations where the player is forced to say things that they don't want to. In the end all they succeeded in doing is making the dialogue very very forgetful.

I mean, look at Mass Effect. I can't remember any of the player responses. None of them stand out, because they were not supposed to stand out. Awful design choice. Games like BG are full of memorable responses and the games were better for it.

What I don't want to see happen in DX3 is for the player responses to be streamlined into oblivion (pun intended)

"I don't like our boss AJ! He makes us work too hard too hard so we should overthrow him!"
-1- [AGREE]
-2- [DISAGREE]
-3- [CHANGE SUBJECT]



*Shudder*

[rokstrombo]

Yeah, I can think of a few more choices that should most definitely be offered during conversations:

-4- [OBNOXIOUSLY REPHRASE PREVIOUS STATEMENT AS QUESTION]
-5- [SUFFIX "PUN INTENDED" ONTO STATEMENT, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE WAS AMBIGUITY OR NOT]
-6- [RANDOM QUOTE FROM BASH]
-7- ["A BOMB!"]

[OuttaZyme]

Originally Posted by Malah

I agree! They should also add bullet time, but call it "Sniper Mode" so you don't have to wait ages to get that perfect shot!! And while they're at it, they should also remove all NPC's and replace them with Hello Kitty dolls!

And at the end of the game, you get to choose whether to merge with the Helios Kitty AI, plunging the world into a nauseating age of red-and-white, Badtz Maru-mischief and cuddly, preadolescent despair, or to restore the once-powerful, secretive alliance of the rich and powerful known as the Bush family Illuminati.

Either way, we're rather f***ed.

[Blade_hunter]

To be serious and I hope ECM_specialist wouldn't take for bad the comments we did, I consider time control in FPS as a cheating option, the slow motion too and even the fast forward time.
Many persons seems to think the same about that (perhaps ?)...

Normally A gamer that want play infiltration in Deus Ex needs to be patient.
That's the first main quality of that kind of gamer.
Sneaking and wait the right instant to make a shot it's an action that require patience.
Avoid undesired patrols requires patience.
Patience is a player's skill required for that kind of gameplay.

Deus Ex wanted to allow players that are good or bad on shooting games to play the same game, this is what I call genius isn't it ?
If you are good on shooting,then shoot and if you are bad on shooting don't shoot and sneak around !!

A gamer that is good on shooting doesn't need to be so patient, he just needs to rely on its reflexes and aiming skills
The stealth element for those players is used pretty much like it was used in FarCry, to take an advantageous point (covered positions, points difficult of access, etc) to shoot your foes and don't take much damage.

To conclude Deus Ex required skills whatever the playstyle we got. Patience and Reflexes.
You add time control even temporary, you kill instantly that thing.
A game normally requires a minimum amount of skill, that's for that reason, we got difficulty levels in games.
You are skilled play hard or nightmare modes, you aren't skilled play easy or tourist modes.
Slowmo kills Reflexes, Fast forward kills patience then that mean Time control is bad for the gameplay.

[VicMackey]

Hahaha, "LOL" times 9,000. This is such an asinine, stupid idea.

But hey, who gives a f**k? Include it, why not. This game is clearly not going to be "good", so Eidos Montreal's best hope now is to make it something so *****ty that you just have to play it. Incorporating this idea would go a long way towards reaching that goal.

Actually, this idea would accomplish the goal all by itself.

[ilweran]

Originally Posted by OuttaZyme

And at the end of the game, you get to choose whether to merge with the Helios Kitty AI, plunging the world into a nauseating age of red-and-white, Badtz Maru-mischief and cuddly, preadolescent despair, or to restore the once-powerful, secretive alliance of the rich and powerful known as the Bush family Illuminati.

Well, I for one would play it. Maybe a third ending could be nuking the whole planet, then we could have a Hello Kitty/Deus Ex/Terminator cross-over sequel.

I really should be doing some work.

[binlargin]

I don't like this idea because I don't like the idea of robotic NPCs with clearly defined patrol routes.

[WhatsHisFace]

Originally Posted by binlargin

I don't like this idea because I don't like the idea of robotic NPCs with clearly defined patrol routes.

In real life, security guards have clearly defined patrol routes.

[K^2]

I like the idea. I don't think I'll like what will happen with the idea when it becomes a gameplay gimmick, rather than a tool for the player.

[Sabretooth]

Reminds me of Operation Flashpoint, which had a speed-up time control (wasn't exactly a feature, and most people didn't even know it was there), thought to be fair, it was to counter the epic scale of the game. Traversing miles of land on foot or waiting for an event to happen took ages in the game, so it was actually helpful to get to the action.

I wouldn't want to see it in Deus Ex though, it'd be completely unnecessary.

[Ninjerk]

Originally Posted by K^2

I like the idea. I don't think I'll like what will happen with the idea when it becomes a gameplay gimmick, rather than a tool for the player.

I used to use sped up time on SSB:M all the time to train my reflexes (although it didn't do wonders for timing combos and such since the intervals changed). If there is a similar utility for a similar need in Deus Ex 3, I could see it working. Other than that I don't know.

It honestly sounds like it would be something easily abused to destroy tension. FF until the guard passes, and if he spots you, quick load. Sounds like fun...

[K^2]

But if nobody's forcing you to use that feature, it's not so bad. It doesn't give you any real edge, just a quick "run through" tool for the impatient.

My worry is that it will be modified in some way to become some gameplay feature. In that case, you'll actually need to use it to stealth successfully, and together with health regen, it will slaughter stealth all together.