Works fine when I play it. Works fine when I see other people play it.
I don't think it's a problem, and in my opinion they shouldn't change it. Doing so would be a waste of resources and could potentially turn into something worse, not better.
Personally, I'm beginning to think that the current system isn't what a handful of vocal people are used to, so they're exaggerating problems in an effort to push for a system their muscle memory prefers. I might be wrong, I don't know, but it makes sense to my anecdotal observations.
I'd go back to Y axis inversion as the clearest thing I can think of, for a reason not to write it off. For many players (people like me) a game with a camera or POV that cannot be inverted along the Y axis control input is instantly unplayable. It's not just that it's taxing on the muscle memory, it's actively disorienting and unplayable for me at this point in life. I could never change that about myself as a player, but fortunately there are enough players that share this predisposition that it is almost always included in games that adopt the normal conventions of cam control with an orbital. The way that movement works right now in the BG3 game, the camera is what we control for navigation, not the character, so it seems highly relevant.
I know it was mentioned before that the camera is a separate issue, but I think it's core. The character can be issued commands, but it's the camera we're actually managing to maneuver. In this current scheme the camera is pegged to have the angle tied to the zoom distance. That is not really conventional, it is rather unconventional actually, and runs roughshod over like years of training across many games and platforms using a particular method of camera or character control in 3D RPGs. In a more standard ISO game this can be overcome cause the cam is just locked at some set distance (usually too close and at too high an angle for my tastes) but this game is really more of a driving vibe for how the cam works. The cam in WASD I mean, it's basically a 3d driver, with the camera taking up the driving view, except that unlike a normal 3D driver I can't invert. I can only to track and chase, with the tunnel click, which is really uncomfortable for my sense of equilibrium and just frustrating. It's hard to explain why I don't like this for a 3d nav, maybe it is in the bones or the muscles, but I can't ignore it hehe.
I understand the alternative, basically to play in tactical view for the duration, but for me that angle is just horrible, and trying to keep the cam in proper iso just locked also seems impossible to maintain. It works for movement at distance but not really for interaction or engaging my immersion during exploration. So it's a bind. Characterizing it as a handful of people that are very loud just kinda minimizes what is in my view a pretty legitimate gripe with how characters are controlled and selected and moved about in BG3. The cursor left click is still pretty unresponsive too, which makes chaining (among other things) a chore. Selecting an action or another character or anything really hinders the ability to use the cursor effectively. The need to cancel action so often is also a hinderance. It's hard for me to move the party around and get them going where I want them to go. This sort of control scheme can't be mapped to a controller easily either. Unless the idea is to use the left thumbstick as a track cam and the right thumbstick like the mouse cursor, which I don't I relish the idea of. I'd probably get blown up faster than Smash TV if that's their plan lol. There are many reasons for them to revisit this issue and provide more options from my perspective and bias. It's not just wasted resources if it results in more sales though, because more people can actually play the game comfortably. I've ceded I think a lot of wishful ground from where I began in this thread initially, like I've basically given up on it shaping out with an RTS style command and control option, even though to me that is the spirit of Baldur's Gate. I would totally settle at this point for something more Dragon Age in the execution or just a standard driving cam. I worry if I don't get that at least, then the game is just toast for me and I burned a c-note and a year on the boards for a game I know I won't be able to play for any length of time lol.
Right now the only way I can really play this game is at max zoom out distance, constantly reorienting the camera at the furthest possible remove and often with the environments or ceiling clipping into frame. I'm constantly stuck between zooms or at some weird angle, like a disembodied ghost fiddling with a rear view mirror or something. Always trying to get the camera to do what I want it to do, so I can see what I want to see, so I can get the characters to go where I want them to go hehe.
But much of the beauty of the game for me outside of combat comes from the fully zoomed-in view. All the exploration and ambiance and environmental detailing. So it just feels like missing out on so much due to a control issue, simply to move around comfortably, when I feel like these issues have been well resolved in many other similar games. I can't figure why they'd they limit it in the ways they have. It seems like the 3d environments and gameplay views would work fine with a more standard driver, which would accommodate me much better.
Originally Posted by timebean
I know it is unpopular, but I too find the chaining system and turn-based combat easier to manage than highlight party and RtWP-style games. It let’s me take my time and think a bit about each move and feels less chaotic to me.
I also think the UI is fine (tho I would like spell and potion sorting options in their own mini windows).
But I do agree with many posts here and in other places that the storytelling is somehow off. I find it more difficult to get immersed in the tale compared to other rpgs I have played. It feels…messy and confusing but not in a particularly fun way. But it is difficult for me to articulate why I feel that way (as I am not a writer myself except for terrible fan fics…lol).
I enjoy reading posts from those who have thought about it more than me and are attempting to reason out why and try to pinpoint the issues in a more thoughtful way. I think it is a fun exercise in disentangling the creative process and imagining what might work better.
Edited: *sorry all!! I thought I was in the “doesn’t feel like dnd” thread! Am half asleep! Ignore my ramblings!*
It's cool, raises a fair point, sometimes the sleep deprivation pays off hehe. I have tried to accept the chain as a concept that many people will find simpler particularly if the game is played with a controller and as the pathing gets less hectic. But there are still issues with how the most basic cam control and character selection/movement are working for me that are hard to get past. The tunnel click and the cam tilt, how selection works with command always before targeting (instead of the reverse which I'd think would be needed for controller play) other things like that, which would make this scheme just work better for me on the whole. Things which aren't really working for me now, but might be tweaked into something I can use, even if I don't particularly like it at bedrock for a BG game.
