Bugs! Get 'em off! Get 'em off!!!

As I wrap up my Void Shadows playthroughs (which have been oodles of fun), the surprising amount of new bugs that shipped with the DLC has left me scratching my head (pun intended).

I mean, Owlcat is developer and publisher of Rogue Trader: they are beholden to no one and can dictate their own release schedule (as evidenced by Void Shadows getting pushed back to, um, iron out the kinks...). And while Rogue Trader is a complex game, Owlcat has more than twice the staff of Obsidian (who also developed complex RPGs which were buggy on release); and about 100 more people than BioWare (who developed complex RPGs that weren't all that buggy).

How, after a month's delay, the DLC still shipped with infrequent CTDs (of which the base game had zero); archetypes turned on their heads (assassins – who used to be able to down powerful opponents in a single shot – now struggle to kill run-of-the-mill grunts in two, while soldiers – who made a lot of noise to little effect – are suddenly capable of wiping out dozens of opponents in 30+ shot volleys that deal up to 200 damage a pop); abilities and accessories that don't work properly or wonky space combat, is something of a mystery...

On the other trotter, the best measure of a game (in my opinion) is how much guff you're willing to put up with to keep playing. By that metric, Rogue Trader (and Void Shadows, by extension) remain eminently likable as not even the new crop of bugs is enough to discourage this pig from playing.

I'm sure that, over the coming weeks, we'll be seeing new patches that'll address the issues introduced by the DLC — which is the Owlcat way. But, to be honest, I would have much preferred an even later release that worked properly from the get-go.

While I couldn't nail down an exact number, Baldur's Gate 2 (which I think we can all agree is a vast and complex game) was patched a mere handful of times in the 24 years it's been available. In the year Rogue Trader's been out, it's been patched about a dozen times — and oftentimes to introduce new features that should have already been included rather than to simply troubleshoot.

I don't know what's happened to project planning since the 2000s, but – for my own part – I much preferred the old way of doing things...

Run-on nostalgia

Speaking of things that I miss – I've been (slowly) finishing my Arcanum playthrough ("slowly" because I've forgotten just how extensive and involving the game really is); and it's occurred to me that quest design has – for whatever reason – also run away barking.

In a "modern" game, like – say – Cyberpunk, Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Dying Light overall quest structure is limited, linear and uninventive. More often than not, it boils down to two quest flags (quest started and quest completed) separated by game mechanics which are meant to provide the brunt of the "entertainment."

Rather than present the player with multiple ways of completing a quest, the quest objectives are static ("grab a doodad," "sneak past guards" or "kill a guy") and the only real variety stems from how the player accomplishes said task by using the game's mechanics (basically, going by the Dying Light example, will you use a plank or a crossbow?).

Now consider the dodge and melee mastery quest chain from Arcanum.

You meet a pompous jerk named Sir Garrick Stout who will bestow you the title of melee master if "only" you force a woman who hates his guts to marry him (which you can do, if your playthrough is leaning evil). However. Should you first visit the town of Stillwater, you can make the acquaintance of a bitter blind man called Adkin Chambers who remains the dodge master despite his handicap and will share the knowledge if "only" you kill Garrick Stout who, as it turns out, needlessly blinded Chambers during a duel.

As dodge and melee are complimentary skills, you are presented with something of a dilemma. Morally, you oughta side with Chambers and forget melee mastery. Pragmatically, you could side with Stout and forget about mastering dodge... But here is where things get interesting.

If you meet Chambers first and agree to kill Stout, you can then accept Stout's quest, free Lady Druella (who, as it turns out, was Chambers' lover and the reason for the duel); get a potion that will restore Chambers' eyesight as enticement to have her marry Stout, tell Stout she'll marry him in exchange for the potion, have him train you in melee mastery, kill him, give the potion to Druella and allow her and Chambers to be reunited in an out-of-the-way Roseborough cottage (where Chambers will train you to master dodge) for a blissful, happy ending and one of the most inventive quest chains it's been my pleasure to experience.

Not all of the quests in Arcanum are that complex, but – then again – name me a "modern" game that has even a single quest that elaborate. Bet you a spud you'll come up short...

I don't think it's a case of "modern devs are lazy" (although, hey, going by the law of averages, lazy devs are probably a thing): with how much work is devoted to visuals, nowadays, I think companies simply don't have the resources for a "two front burners" setup, as it were.

But – in my opinion (and given the choice between slick graphics and complex gameplay) – gameplay is what, ultimately, makes a game fun. After all, if your main attraction to a medium is visuals rather than interaction, why not watch a good movie instead?

The appeal of things you can't have

Whenever I'm waiting for a big file to download, want to keep my hooves occupied while listening to an audiobook or simply don't want to think for an hour or so, I like to hop into Euro Truck Simulator 2 and run a delivery to someplace out of the way.

As I mentioned previously, my copy of the game is limited to SCS offline releases (before the game moved exclusively to Steam), but that still offers enough places to go to ensure that – eight (in game) weeks and 105 deliveries later – I've "only" driven on 46.46% of the available roads...

Yesterday, I finished a 2,000km stint to Bari, Italy, ferrying "medical vaccines" and – not for the first time – I've really wished the game would let you step out of your truck and walk around town a little.

As befits Czech sim specialists, SCS did such a great job on what's supposed to be The Mere Backdrop for the game's core focus that I often find myself paying more attention to the environments than the road (with foreseeable – and oftentimes finable – results).

I think I read somewhere that American Truck Simulator lets you climb out of the cab and walk around your truck during stops, at least. With how genuinely pretty ETS2 environments are, I really wish SCS bundled the game with a basic walking simulator as well...

Of course, if they did, I'd probably wish you could talk to people next and – before you know it – the list of Things To Do in what was supposed to be a driving simulator would exceed practicality, budgets and (probably) available hard disk space. But that's the nature of being a dreamer: no sooner do you get your mitts on something you want that you're already yearning for something you can't have.

Pig — out.