D&D 4E Is there any D&D 4th computer game?

[Majoru Oakheart]

TB games are dead only in the eyes of Publishers who're drowning in creative bankruptcy and praying that if they keep releasing FPS's they'll be able to stay afloat one more year. Everyone else releases them and does just fine.

It's not JUST that. More people like real time games than turn based ones. Even the new Numenera game coming out which is the spiritual sequel to Planescape: Torment had a poll to ask all their kickstarter backers if they wanted the game to be turn based or real time and real time won by quite a bit. Though, they are going to make it pseudo turn based by having predefined pause triggers like Baldur's Gate.

Turn based games are just kind of a niche market these days. If you want to make lots of money, you make your game real time. X-Com succeeded, I think, mostly due to nostalgia than because there are a huge number of people who want turn based games.

I used to play X-Com like crazy along with all the old turn based RPGs...these days I think about sitting down to play a game that's turn based and I dread it. It seems SOOO slow that I don't really want to play it. I even bought X-Com and haven't been able to convince myself that I want to dedicate that much time to making tactical decisions so I've never opened it.

A lot of people were not all that thrilled that 4E changed so much of the established settings (Baldurs Gate/Neverwinter).

Which brings me to the one "4th edition" game that did come out: Neverwinter. It isn't turn based and the powers that exist in the game are more inspired by powers in 4e than taken from the book. However, it does follow the basic structure of At-Will, Encounter, Daily powers and the class names and basic concepts are taken from 4e D&D. Ostensibly, it is a 4e game.

D&D: Daggerdale was also a real time 4e game for XBox 360 that once again was more "inspired by" than actually using the 4e rules.

 

[Raith5]

I used to play X-Com like crazy along with all the old turn based RPGs...these days I think about sitting down to play a game that's turn based and I dread it. It seems SOOO slow that I don't really want to play it. I even bought X-Com and haven't been able to convince myself that I want to dedicate that much time to making tactical decisions so I've never opened it.

Which brings me to the one "4th edition" game that did come out: Neverwinter. It isn't turn based and the powers that exist in the game are more inspired by powers in 4e than taken from the book. However, it does follow the basic structure of At-Will, Encounter, Daily powers and the class names and basic concepts are taken from 4e D&D. Ostensibly, it is a 4e game.

D&D: Daggerdale was also a real time 4e game for XBox 360 that once again was more "inspired by" than actually using the 4e rules.

I agree with your comments about turn based games - I do kind of dread them too - but I do really like the Baldur's gate and Dragon Age mechanism of pausing the game, setting up your actions, then playing a bit. It is fluid but still very strategic.

I also agree that Neverwinter is a very loose relation with anything particular to 4th edition. It is a pretty good game for a free MMO but daily powers recharge in a totally different way than the encounter/ milestone setup. I think the mechanism of recharge rate differing for different classes (clerics get a recharge based on healing, rouges doing damage etc) is a pretty good idea.

I still reckon the Temple of Element al Evil computer game from quite a few years back was the most faithful representation of a D&D ruleset (In that case 3rd ed rules).

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

X-com
Valkyria Chronicles
Wasteland 2
Torment 2 (Can't remember it's name right now)
Civilization
Warlock
Half of the game in any given Total War game

TB games are dead only in the eyes of Publishers who're drowning in creative bankruptcy and praying that if they keep releasing FPS's they'll be able to stay afloat one more year. Everyone else releases them and does just fine.

X-Com, an early 90's title that failed to garner enough interest to keep Micropose afloat. Ironically Hasbro owned this title and sold it to Atari, who then resolutely refused to release any sort of decent D&D title for years... Admittedly its the one exception, this game has had modest success in the last couple years.

Valkyria Chronicles is a stretch to call a CRPG, its more of a turn-based tactical wargame with a thin veneer of plot. It also kinda sank without a trace and hasn't resurfaced in what 6 years?

Wasteland 2 is the sequel to a game published in 1988, AND is famously vaporware.

Torment: Tides of Numenera is a sister game of Wasteland 2, also not released, though presumably it will be. Honestly, I don't even know enough about either of these games to clearly state that they ARE turn-based, but we'll just give you the benefit of the doubt here.

Civilization - This isn't a CRPG.

Warlock was released 19 years ago, it hardly proves anything.

Total War is not IMHO anything like a CRPG. First of all its only partially turn-based, the tactical part of the game is an RTS that's grafted onto a turn based campaign war game. The RP aspects are minimal plot gloss.

So, basically what we have is X-Com with 3 releases and 2 games that may or may not be turn-based CRPGs that haven't been released yet, one of which appears to be vapor. Its basically a dead genre. There's JUST enough interest that every few years it feebly attempts to rise from the dead, only to shuffle back off into the great beyond after one or two minor releases. Of course its always possible someone could do a D&D turn-based CRPG again at some point. Its not even that far-fetched, but IMHO its still unlikely.

 

[Agamon]

Rygar was listing TB games, not CRPGs. The point that there are successful turn-based games (Civ, X-Com) and successful CRPGs (pick one of many), it's not outside the realm of possibility that they blend once again. Sadly, trigger-happy FPS gamers have no patience for strategic combat, and such a game would fair no better than somewhat successful, as X-Com has.

 

[DMZ2112]

Which brings me to the one "4th edition" game that did come out: Neverwinter. It isn't turn based and the powers that exist in the game are more inspired by powers in 4e than taken from the book. However, it does follow the basic structure of At-Will, Encounter, Daily powers and the class names and basic concepts are taken from 4e D&D. Ostensibly, it is a 4e game.

It is also a lot of fun. I picked it up in December when it hit Steam, expecting to scratch the MMO itch with a mediocre example of the genre for a week or two, and I was surprised to find it a genuinely entertaining /game/, MMO notwithstanding. I'm still playing two months on, and don't expect to stop soon. First CRPG to really make me want to play it since WoW.

The free-to-play, in-game-purchase stuff can look pervasive at first, but after playing the first half of the game (30 levels) I can confirm that it all seems to be optional -- the game is not crippleware in any sense of the word. All the in-game purchases do is accelerate or decorate, trading money for time spent or cosmetic nonsense.

The funny thing is that where D&D4 never "felt like D&D" to me on the tabletop, Neverwinter /feels like D&D/. I put on some Rush (the game's score is typical Cryptic "epic synth"), log in, and geek out for hours.

My only regrets are that the class list is so short, and they haven't implemented dragonborn. And that's not really fair, because at six classes and seven races they're in line with most other MMOs -- it's just that when you're playing D&D you want to play /your/ character, and at the moment there isn't even a weapon-wielding cleric (or paladin) option.

D&D: Daggerdale was also a real time 4e game for XBox 360 that once again was more "inspired by" than actually using the 4e rules.

Unfortunately, Daggerdale didn't feel like D&D at all, in my experience, and wasn't much fun, either.

There are also Facebook and iOS D&D4 games now, although my understanding is that they don't even make an effort to approximate tabletop.

 

[Raith5]

It is also a lot of fun. I picked it up in December when it hit Steam, expecting to scratch the MMO itch with a mediocre example of the genre for a week or two, and I was surprised to find it a genuinely entertaining /game/, MMO notwithstanding. I'm still playing two months on, and don't expect to stop soon. First CRPG to really make me want to play it since WoW.

The free-to-play, in-game-purchase stuff can look pervasive at first, but after playing the first half of the game (30 levels) I can confirm that it all seems to be optional -- the game is not crippleware in any sense of the word. All the in-game purchases do is accelerate or decorate, trading money for time spent or cosmetic nonsense..

Come one those pet Rust Monsters that some players have look absolutely crucial! More seriously, I have played the game on and off the past few months I agree that you dont have to pay to play. You also dont have to play with others in a guild etc.

 

[GaimMastr]

My experiences

List of 4E based CRPG's that I've played: Daggerdale, Heroes of Neverwinter, Neverwinter MMO.

This thread has most certainly turned into a pretty big amalgam of 4e rantings. That.s for sure.

Even bad publicity is still publicity...

 

[Derren]

Even bad publicity is still publicity...

Not in the video game industry. Once your brand has the "bad" tag attached to it you will have a hard time selling it. But D&D isn't even a big brand in the video gaming industry. The D&D based games were not promoted as "D&D" but as Baldurs Gate or Neverwinter (Nights). Those brands have the fans and are valuable for publishers, but not D&D itself. The amount of attention that draws is rather low and not worth the money Hasbro is likely asking for using it and the meddling they will likely do.

 

[Greenfield]

4th edition, as a computer game?

Since an awful lot of 4e seemed to be based on WOW, that was my reflexive smart-alec answer.

After some thought though, it still is. 4e is World of Warcraft moved to a table top. If you want it back on the computer screen, look at WOW.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm not surprised there isn't a TB D&D game. Final Fantasy (the grand-daddy of TB CRPGs on console-gaming) isn't even Turn-Based anymore (hasn't been since 10, they're working on 15 now.)

Still, Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights were both good examples of "inspired by" games, as was KotOR and Dragon Age. I'd love to see something inspired by the Bioware games. Hell, even something Diablo/Gauntlet inspired could work. D&D Arena is terrible, so anything would be better than the current crop.