D&D 5E So Why Can't 5E Get a Video Game?

[TheCosmicKid]

Also, I don't understand why some folks want DnD video games to emulate DnD mechanics. It's a different medium.

I want a game to get the point of the rules, but I can't imagine caring whether the details are the same?

This. The D&D rules are optimized for playing the game at a table with paper and physical dice. We don't determine whether we've skewered a bad guy by picking a random number from 1 to 20, adding another to it, and comparing the sum to a third number because that is objectively the best way to perform that task. We do it because it's a nice, simple way to perform that task in the physical tabletop medium. If you do it on a computer, you miss the point of why it's done in the first place, and you throw away all of the advantages you reap from having a freaking computer on your side. A computer game can easily determine a hit by calculating the precise moment-by-moment trajectory of each individual arrow (or, more commonly, bullet) according to simulated physical law. When you can do that, why on earth would you want to do it with a virtual d20, of all things, instead?

 

[Zardnaar]

Exact game mechanics do not translate ro well.

Knights of the Old Republic was d20 andwas kind of close to the d20 rpg

 

[cbwjm]

Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 were also pretty close. They had a few changes to make the ruleset work as a PC game but on the whole they were very much like 3e.

 

[LapBandit]

This. The D&D rules are optimized for playing the game at a table with paper and physical dice. We don't determine whether we've skewered a bad guy by picking a random number from 1 to 20, adding another to it, and comparing the sum to a third number because that is objectively the best way to perform that task. We do it because it's a nice, simple way to perform that task in the physical tabletop medium. If you do it on a computer, you miss the point of why it's done in the first place, and you throw away all of the advantages you reap from having a freaking computer on your side. A computer game can easily determine a hit by calculating the precise moment-by-moment trajectory of each individual arrow (or, more commonly, bullet) according to simulated physical law. When you can do that, why on earth would you want to do it with a virtual d20, of all things, instead?

Because it's a fun well balanced turn-based game that has been iterated on for over 40 years, that's why.

 

[SkidAce]

And they have successfully done it before.

 

[Lanefan]

There is a D&D video game coming.

At least according to our local newspaper here in Victoria as of yesterday: headline "Local studio Codename to release Dungeons & Dragons video game"

It'll be called Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, it'll be set in FR, it's licensed by WotC, it's been in production since last fall and (in theory) it'll be released this year.

The only platform mentioned is something called the Steam platform, which means nothing to me. What's not mentioned at all is which D&D edition it's for, though anything other than 5e would not make sense.

Full story is here: http://www.timescolonist.com/busine...elease-dungeons-dragons-video-game-1.20797970 - I think (hope?) it'll let you read it without having to subscribe.

Once you've read the article linked above you'll know exactly as much as I do.

Lanefan

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Because it's a fun well balanced turn-based game that has been iterated on for over 40 years, that's why.

Let me put it another way. What are the best extant D&D video games? Opinions will differ, but I don't think I'm gonna ruffle too many feathers if I say that it's probably the Baldur's Gate series. These are not fun and well-balanced turn-based combat video games. And that's not just because one of the few deviations they made from the AD&D ruleset was to toss out the "turn-based" part -- turn-based or otherwise, the combat in these games was never their main draw. I will wager that you have never heard Baldur's Gate's tactical challenge praised in the same breath as X-COM or Starcraft or Dark Souls. It couldn't be, because there's simply no comparison there.

And that's fine. Not every game has to be a tactics game. Baldur's Gate carries itself on its world, its characters, its story, and its roleplaying, and it does so spectacularly. So the fact that it's got a kinda ropey combat system is a minor annoyance at worst. But if Black Isle had been trying to make a more combat-focused game, they would have been well advised to drop the rules system that was originally written for collaborative tabletop storytelling, and instead adopt a system that's actually purpose-built for the medium and the genre. Like their successors at BioWare did in Dragon Age and Jade Empire and Mass Effect -- seriously, if you've played any of those games, try to imagine how much worse they'd be if they'd stuck to D&D/d20 rules.

 

[Quickleaf]

There is a D&D video game coming.

At least according to our local newspaper here in Victoria as of yesterday: headline "Local studio Codename to release Dungeons & Dragons video game"

It'll be called Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, it'll be set in FR, it's licensed by WotC, it's been in production since last fall and (in theory) it'll be released this year.

The only platform mentioned is something called the Steam platform, which means nothing to me. What's not mentioned at all is which D&D edition it's for, though anything other than 5e would not make sense.

Full story is here: http://www.timescolonist.com/busine...elease-dungeons-dragons-video-game-1.20797970 - I think (hope?) it'll let you read it without having to subscribe.

Once you've read the article linked above you'll know exactly as much as I do.

Lanefan

Good for Victoria! Yep, could read it just fine.

[SECTION]The game takes players on a quest with the goal of recruiting champions, increasing their strength and power, completing storylines and advancing to become more powerful, collect more loot and better gear.

The game, which is initially free to play, allows players to advance just by playing or advancing faster by buying items to help.

It is also an idle-clicker game, which allow players to put as much time and effort as they wish into a game as it does not require active play.[/SECTION]

Hrm. I'm not up on my video game jargon (idle clicker?), but this sounds like one of those smartphone cheap app games.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Hrm. I'm not up on my video game jargon (idle clicker?), but this sounds like one of those smartphone cheap app games.

That it does.

 

[cbwjm]

There is a D&D video game coming.

At least according to our local newspaper here in Victoria as of yesterday: headline "Local studio Codename to release Dungeons & Dragons video game"

It'll be called Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, it'll be set in FR, it's licensed by WotC, it's been in production since last fall and (in theory) it'll be released this year.

The only platform mentioned is something called the Steam platform, which means nothing to me. What's not mentioned at all is which D&D edition it's for, though anything other than 5e would not make sense.

Full story is here: http://www.timescolonist.com/busine...elease-dungeons-dragons-video-game-1.20797970 - I think (hope?) it'll let you read it without having to subscribe.

Once you've read the article linked above you'll know exactly as much as I do.

Lanefan

Steam is a platform for buying, downloading, and managing games.

An idle clicker game isn't what I would want for a D&D game. I will probably try it out and see what it is like since it is free to play but it doesn't sounds like it is going to be a winning game for me.