New Character Conversations (aka Talk)

[Bluko88]

So I realize I'm a bit late on commenting with this addition to the game seeing as the "Talk/Quick Talk" was added sometime last Fall I believe. My understanding is this was primarily done to reduce load times. Although to be frank I don't think it saves all that much time, a few seconds at best, granted I have an SSD so maybe that skews my view.

I think what bugs me the most is how bad it generally looks. Ultimately you get this very blurry, static background, and worse the camera is zoomed out father then normal for conversations. I realize the old conversation method had its issues (characters being too close, odd positions, or not present at all). But the old method just looks better most of the time. You've got actual lighting, the camera is focused appropriately, it's in-game, and any choppiness in the animations is at least hidden to an extent.

However I also think "Quick Talk" really just illustrates the need for more contextual menus so we don't have to talk to begin with. I mean the first thing running into another Party should do is bring up a menu of what you want to do said Party. Do you want to Fight, Talk, or Leave? (I'm not sure I'll be able to play without the FastDialogue mod in the future TBH.)

I mean really why do I need to stop and talk with every band of Looters I encounter? These are no-name criminals, not Lords, why would I be having a civil discussion with them unless I want them to surrender or I want to make a deal to be left alone? I mean if I got a big army why wouldn't I just run them down?

The new conversation method looks like something from a PS2 game almost:

Arguably the old method just looks better, more cinematic:

I apologize if I'm beating a dead horse here, but I wasn't able to find much on this subject. I do vaguely recall the new "Quick Talk" was just supposed to be temporary thing (not sure where I read/heard that though).

On a more positive note it's good to see even in 1.5.6 the Jack Nicholson Effect is still going (always makes my day):

 

[grunwalder01]

"Although to be frank I don't think it saves all that much time, a few seconds at best, granted I have an SSD so maybe that skews my view."
This is the case here. It takes me more than 10-15 seconds to talk but quick talk takes around 1-2 second.

But

"I mean really why do I need to stop and talk with every band of Looters I encounter? These are no-name criminals, not Lords, why would I be having a civil discussion with them unless I want them to surrender or I want to make a deal to be left alone? I mean if I got a big army why wouldn't I just run them down?"

I think, I agree with this tho. If this is about realism I would choose gameplay over realism and want to be able to just charge them without having a conversation.

 

[Apocal]

Although to be frank I don't think it saves all that much time, a few seconds at best, granted I have an SSD so maybe that skews my view.

It took about two or three minutes to load that screen on my old laptop, then another minute or so backing out to the campaign map. So yeah, the Quick Talk feature, for me, saved so much ****ing time it is ridiculous.

Most of the time they aren't even conversations I particularly need to have -- "Yes, I am attacking you" -- or moments that should be automatically fulfilled, like if I enter the town where I need to deliver the herd, just deliver it.

 

[SGT_Night]

Same as you here, i have an SSD, loading screens are pretty fast, this new dialog screen is really ugly, i most of the time prefer to “visit” instead of “talk”. But in the time it was changed i was aware that alot of ppl with HDD were having issues with the crazy loading times, so it didn’t bother me too much.

 

[Julio-Claudian]

So an SSD makes a big difference to loading times?

 

[The Bowman]

So an SSD makes a big difference to loading times?

Yes, but if you decide on buying one, make sure to do some research on the technology. Some SSDs may not be as fast as you'd hope.

 

[SGT_Night]

So an SSD makes a big difference to loading times?

Yes, loading times are much better, they vary a little, something like this:
Battles: 2-7 sec (depending on size)
Villages: 2-3 sec
Towns: 3-6 sec
Old Conversations screen: 2-4 sec
New conversation screen: instantly

 

[SGT_Night]

Yes, loading times are much better, they vary a little, something like this:
Battles: 2-7 sec (depending on size)
Villages: 2-3 sec
Towns: 3-6 sec
Old Conversations screen: 2-4 sec
New conversation screen: instantly

At least on my personal experience, idk how about other ppl with different ssd’s

 

[Julio-Claudian]

Yes, but if you decide on buying one, make sure to do some research on the technology. Some SSDs may not be as fast as you'd hope.

Yes, loading times are much better, they vary a little, something like this:
Battles: 2-7 sec (depending on size)
Villages: 2-3 sec
Towns: 3-6 sec
Old Conversations screen: 2-4 sec
New conversation screen: instantly

Thanks. Entering a town can take around a minute for me.
My hard drive needs replacing anyway.

 

[Artem1s]

Finally someone that feels the same way as I do. I mean it's a good change for people that don't have an SSD, there's been alot of talk in the past about the loading times before these new conversation screens have been introduced but I, personally, still prefer the older ones which were much more pleasing to look at. I doubt that we'll get them back officially with an on/off button but maybe modders will take care of this in the future.

 

[SGT_Night]

Finally someone that feels the same way as I do. I mean it's a good change for people that don't have an SSD, there's been alot of talk in the past about the loading times before these new conversation screens have been introduced but I, personally, still prefer the older ones which were much more pleasing to look at. I doubt that we'll get them back officially with an on/off button but maybe modders will take care of this in the future.

Yes, it could come as an option for slower HDD users, but i don’t think they are gonna add it back sadly

 

[vonbalt]

Thanks. Entering a town can take around a minute for me.
My hard drive needs replacing anyway.

If you can absolutely get a SSD at least for your system + favorite games, it'll be a world of difference in loading times and responsiveness for everything, an SSD can breath new life even in older computers that are starting to get slow to even run their OS.

I made the switch some 5 years ago and my SSD is still going strong and healthy (Samsung 850 evo), only kept my older HD for bulk storage, OS, programs and games go in the SSD.