Dragon Age: Origins

[InCrYsIs]

Games enter my dreams all the time, it doesn't really matter what the genre is. The latest one I dreamt about was Batman: Arkham Asylum .

 

Anywho, since this is single-player only, I think it's easier to control oneself, since you're not directly competing with anyone or trying to maintain the same level as someone. I mean sure, you can still get addicted, but at least you can take a break from the game for a day or even a week without feeling like you're "losing ground".

 

PS. For those that have gotten the game and installed it, two questions:

 

1) How much space does a fully installed game take up?

2) Did the retail version include the toolset or do you have to download it separately? If the latter, is it available immediately?

 

I now have it in my hand. The box says 20gb needed. And it actually has the ATI logo on the back.

Edited November 3, 2009 by InCrYsIs

[ClayMeow]

I now have it in my hand. The box says 20gb needed. And it actually has the ATI logo on the back.

The 20GB spec has been known for awhile, but that doesn't mean that's how much it actually takes up, nor if that is with or without the toolset.

 

But darn about the Ati logo...Guess that means no Phsyx

[InCrYsIs]

The 20GB spec has been known for awhile, but that doesn't mean that's how much it actually takes up, nor if that is with or without the toolset.

 

But darn about the Ati logo...Guess that means no Phsyx

 

 

My bad. I have never payed any attention to the requirements since my system typically exceeds them significantly.

[WhenKittensATK]

I actually daydream about video games whenever I try to study. A teacher giving a lecture on magnetic fields and all I can think about is boxing with a Heavy in TF2. But most of my dreams while I sleep are really weird and strange. Multiple settings that change rapidly around each corner. Although I can never remember anything about them after I wake up.

 

1) How much space does a fully installed game take up?

2) Did the retail version include the toolset or do you have to download it separately? If the latter, is it available immediately?

 

1) 15.1 GB about the same as any modern released RPG.

2) You can download the Toolset separately here: http://social.bioware.com/toolset.php#details

[ClayMeow]

For those who haven't pre-ordered and are wondering what version to get, as if the toolset wasn't enough reason to choose PC, here are some quotes from the GameSpot review (a site that is usually biased toward consoles):

 

Your comrades aren't just AI-controlled henchmen; you can take full control of any party member at any time, though how you do so depends on the platform. PC owners get the most versatile and rewarding experience in this regard. You can zoom the camera in to a close third-person view when exploring and conversing with non-player characters, or pull the camera back to a tactical view, which makes it a breeze to quickly and easily micromanage every spell and attack, in true Baldur's Gate tradition. On consoles, you always view the action from behind a single character, and you use a shoulder button to switch among them. It's a great way of experiencing the buzz of battle, though occasional pathfinding quirks are more apparent in the console versions, simply because you experience the action from a single perspective at a time, rather than while managing four characters simultaneously.

 

Allies will join you in the biggest battles, and the best of these, particularly those toward the end of the game, are thrilling. On the PC, they're particularly challenging, and many battles benefit from frequent pausing and tactical thinking, so that you can queue up attacks across your entire party. The same battles on consoles are noticeably easier.

 

The PC interface is brilliant, letting you browse through your inventory and tweak your quickbars quickly and easily. The console versions do a surprisingly great job as well, making it simple to sort through your quests, and to queue up actions while battle is paused. One particularly useful feature is the ability to identify inventory items as trash and sell them all with a single button press once you're back in town. There are some console-specific interface irritations that could have been cleaner, however. For example, identifying new codex (that is, lore) entries can be troublesome, because the list doesn't scroll down until your highlight cursor reaches the bottom of the window. As a result, you can't always distinguish new entries from old ones, which is an issue that doesn't plague the fantastic PC interface. The consoles' radial menu, on the other hand, is an excellent way of letting you access every battle skill, and it works somewhat like the similar interface in Mass Effect--albeit with a few more layers.

 

Dragon Age doesn't look amazing on the PC, but it's an attractive game nonetheless. Zooming from an isometric view to a third-person perspective is slick, and while environments don't hold up quite as well when viewed up close, they're consistently lovely when viewed from above. On the flip side, the Xbox 360 version looks positively disappointing. Textures are highly compressed and colors are washed out, though the upside is that this version maintains a smoother frame rate than on the PlayStation 3, where things might get jittery when swiveling the camera around. The PlayStation 3 version features higher-quality textures than those on the Xbox 360, better color saturation, smoother facial animations, and shorter load times. Minor visual hiccups, like corpses that disappear and reappear, are a bit more common on the PS3, however. The PC version is the superior experience, but if you're choosing between the two console releases, the PlayStation 3 has the upper hand. Some minor glitches are shared between the console versions, however, such as rare occasions when the soundtrack or voice-overs disappear.

 

And I guess this answers my question about the toolset:

PC owners even get an extra dash of depth via the downloadable toolset, which lets you create new levels, spells, skills, and even cutscenes.

 

To summarize: PC >>> PS3 > 360

[InCrYsIs]

I believe there is DLC today as well. The Warden's Keep for 7 bucks. I believe that to be accurate.

 

 

I can't ever imagine playing a game like this on a console.

Edited November 3, 2009 by InCrYsIs

[WhenKittensATK]

Yea, this is just one of those games that is better on the PC.

[tsamb.]

Decrypting DA:O games files on Steam as I write! Too bad I have to be at work in 20 minutes. And the damned RAID array is initializing after a dirty shutdown.

[bp9801]

Well, I got my characters uploaded last night at last. I doubt I'll get the ring they were offering with it but I got it uploaded my midnight pacific time so maybe. Did anyone else get the ring from uploading their characters?

 

I'm just waiting on my orders to ship and get here lol. I should have them by the weekend hopefully, if they ship fast. I'm eagerly awaiting the game but I still have Mass Effect to tide me over until then. I just hope I don't beat that again before Dragon Age arrives.

[ClayMeow]

Well, I got my characters uploaded last night at last. I doubt I'll get the ring they were offering with it but I got it uploaded my midnight pacific time so maybe. Did anyone else get the ring from uploading their characters?

 

I'm just waiting on my orders to ship and get here lol. I should have them by the weekend hopefully, if they ship fast. I'm eagerly awaiting the game but I still have Mass Effect to tide me over until then. I just hope I don't beat that again before Dragon Age arrives.

I didn't know they were giving a ring for uploading characters...where do I find that? I got some unlocks from dragonagejourneys.com though.

[WhenKittensATK]

I didn't know they were giving a ring for uploading characters...where do I find that? I got some unlocks from dragonagejourneys.com though.

 

The Lucky Stone

Adds +1 to all of your stats

The Lucky Stone is available from within DragonAge: Origins after you have uploaded a character using the Character Creator.

 

At the very bottom: http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/

[ClayMeow]

The Lucky Stone

Adds +1 to all of your stats

The Lucky Stone is available from within DragonAge: Origins after you have uploaded a character using the Character Creator.

 

At the very bottom: http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/

Oh sweet. Thanks. I guess them mean upload into the game itself and not the social network. I've done the latter, but not the former yet, as I have to first pick up the game after work.