Meta:IGN RPG Vault: Two Worlds Interview - Part 2
This Q&A was posted to the website IGN by Richard Aihoshi - 'Jonric' on March 15, 2006.[1][2]
Questions and Answers[edit | edit source]
Spells you build yourself, weapons, enemies, missions et al as we finish up our overview of Reality Pump's RPG
March 15, 2006 - Many thousands of years ago, Aziraal, the god of war, fell in battle. His death deprived the Orcish hordes of their divine leader. Not long after, they were obliged to withdraw to the southern wastelands. Now, the location of his tomb is still unknown, kept well hidden by other deities who didn't dare entrust this precious secret to mere mortals. However, when a Dwarven mining expedition recently discovered an ancient holy place dedicated to an unnamed divine being, the world's most powerful factions all felt it might hold a clue to his undisclosed resting place. This possibility quickly led to many silent machinations, and the likelihood of the Orcs undertaking a crusade that would surely be bloody rises with every passing day. Unbeknownst to them all though, a far greater danger looms. The destruction of the entire world may be at hand.
This is the scenario in which Two Worlds will play out. A fantasy-themed RPG from developer Reality Pump, it seems to incorporate numerous features and elements worthy of our attention. For instance, it's described as offering players unprecedented freedom to shape the experience through their characters actions. The storyline is said to be strong and non-linear, with meaningful side quests. The advancement system will support with various careers plus the capacity to reverse choices through "career changers", and the magic system will be highly unusual if not unique in allowing us to assemble out own spells. The studio, although best known for its real-time strategy work including the recent Earth 2160, had previously released a highly intriguing cross-genre title, KnightShift. Fortunately, we found Project Leader Miroslaw Dymek willing to answer our questions, with help from regional distributor Topware's James Seaman.
Jonric: Since we know you've created an unusual type of magic system for Two Worlds, why did you decide to do so, and how does it function?
Miroslaw Dymek: We have developed quite a serious magic arsenal. There are offensive, defensive and curative spells divided into five magic schools. Summons are also available.
To cast a spell, you need magic points and at least one magic card. You know, when we were working on a magic system, there was a problem that really bugged us for a long time. The player usually spends valuable resources (i.e. Skill Points) to master a certain spell. Then, in the course of the game, it turns out to be inefficient or too weak compared to new and more advanced ones. It was a waste and had nothing to do with system efficiency. So, we introduced replaceable spell cards. You do not learn them, just keep in the spell slot, stack them for more power, mix with other cards for various additional effects and so on. Anytime you feel the spell is not good enough, you replace it with another, add more cards etc.
Skill Points, on the other hand, are spent on proficiency in a given school of magic. The more skilled you are in a particular school, the more powerful the cards you can use from that school. The system is simple; you never feel that you waste even a single Skill Point, and when you find a card you already have, you can stack it with others. It is more efficient, more interactive, more fun, and still as easy as can be.
Jonric: How have you chosen to deal with weapons, armor, clothing and items in general? How important will it be to acquire good ones? Will is be possible to upgrade them?
Miroslaw Dymek: The quality of weapons and armor influences combat results as much as character stats and skills - so it is rather important to collect or buy the best ones possible. Every item is described with several parameters. There are also various quality classes. Items of the same kind and from the same quality class still differ because their parameters assume randomized values. As a result, there is only a small chance of finding two identical items.
Upgrades are also available, but the system is slightly different than in other games. Just like in the magic system, you can combine similar weapons for better effects. If you put items of the same class and quality together, you will receive one item characterized by parameters much better than those of the components that were used. Again, we decided to find our own way to upgrade items because the standard solution was too messy. All those strange reagents overloading the backpack were just not optimal in the case of our game, so we kicked them out and found a less complicated but still entertaining gameplay element. It works very well.
Jonric: What are you trying to achieve within Two World's range of opponents? Can we expect to see any original or unusual ones, or perhaps some notable behaviors?
Miroslaw Dymek: Let the numbers speak for themselves; there are over 100 different creatures in the game. Think of them as entities with their own goals, preferred skills and tactics, and you will see how big the game really is.
As for the novelty, I do not think we're introducing any truly groundbreaking one in the field of opponents; they are just well designed - cunning, differently looking, predictable to some extent and yet sometimes utterly surprising. Ah, there is one thing, and it really may be a big difference. We want the player to know why somebody is willing to kill their characters. It builds a sort of tension when you understand why somebody wishes to see you dead. We try to give every creature in the game a reason to attack, be it an inborn instinct, a grudge or another motive. Without this, they are just walking experience points, and we wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Jonric: How about non-adversarial NPCs? How significant will they be, and what's distinctive about them, either individually or collectively?
Miroslaw Dymek: NPCs are quite important for the story. Actually, a big part of it revolves around various NPCs, their problems, goals, conflicts and so on. We're trying to give all the main NPCs some psychological depth. Through the conflict of goals and morality between player character and NPCs, we want to flesh out the personalities of both sides, deepen the story and make it more memorable. At the same time, all the choices the player makes should become a little less pragmatic and more emotional.
Jonric: What were your primary objectives for the game's quest or mission element? And will there be many optional tasks we can choose to undertake?
Miroslaw Dymek: When we started thinking of side missions, they seemed to be the easiest part of the job. You see, if you are at least moderately inventive - you can come up with dozens of them in an hour and still keep the quality.
In case of Two Worlds, things are not so easy, though. The philosophy behind the game is simple, yet quite demanding - whatever you do in the game must somehow refer to the main plot. We try to avoid the pitfall of weakening the main story with hundreds of unimportant tasks and at the same, to time give the players some freedom to roam the world and take part in various events. In the end, we created a policy of making side quests that, hopefully, will take all of this into consideration and make the game even richer in content.
The main idea is to diversify the side missions, show various elements of the gameworld, its history, conflicts, etc. At the same time, there is always something that links the mission with the core plot, be it a piece of important information, another point of view, valuable resources to use later on, etc.
Freedom to choose and resolve side missions is another issue. It is pretty standard that RPGs offer more or less freedom in this field. We also try to give some kind of purpose and meaning to the process. The results of your actions must be observed almost immediately or they lose importance, so, for example, if the town is under siege and you open the gate, the invading army pours in, kills the citizens and starts to run the place. You quickly learn to take responsibility for what you do and that makes the game rather serious.
Jonric: What are the noteworthy features and aspects of the graphics engine and the other technologies your team is using?
Miroslaw Dymek: Two Worlds will feature all the newest technology possible. We will use a highly improved engine from the acclaimed Earth 2160. Almost every module has been rewritten for better efficiency. It works quickly and gives great effects. Two Worlds has high density terrain, photo realistic vegetation and materials, great shadows and water, high dynamic range (HDR) to make the armors and different polished items look more shiny and cool. As for the vegetation, we have developed our own generators. Their quality equals the best solutions on the market, and are more flexible and open-ended for improvements.
The effects are shocking, mainly because not only are objects more detailed and realistic, but all their elements also cast shadows on each other. Imagine the look of every single leaf casting its own, true shadow on other leaves, grass, trunks, ground, and obviously your avatar. The same goes for water, which is absolutely top notch. Mountains are generated according to true geological algorithms, caves look like caves, rain like rain... It is hard to find more advanced game in the field of graphics now.
Jonric: What would you tell our readers to introduce Realty Pump? Do you and the other team members have experience developing games in general, and RPGs in particular?
Miroslaw Dymek: Reality Pump is an experienced Polish game developer. The studio is located in the very heart of Kracow, one of the most famous and most fascinating cities in Europe. We have been doing games for more than 10 years with noticeable successes. Our biggest titles are Earth 2140, 2150 and 2160. They are science fiction RTS games, quite famous here in Europe and definitely selling very well.
The team - and this may sound strange considering the situation in business - has had very few changes since the founding of the company. As a result, the accumulated experience and excellent teamwork has helped us to deal with a big enterprise like Two Worlds. Many of my teammates are avid RPG players, and several of us have worked on different titles of this genre, so when Mirek Dymek, our boss, asked if we would like to make a role-playing game, we eagerly picked up the idea. You will see the results this very year, and I really hope you will enjoy it.
Jonric: What is the current status of development? Do you have a target ship date and do you plan to release a demo?
James Seaman: This is all up in air right now, but as of this moment, we are looking at a global release in the winter of 2006 by Zuxxez and Topware Interactive.
A demo will be released after the product's launch date.
Jonric: Are there other important aspects, features et al that you'd like to note for our readers, anything you'd like to tell them, or something you want to ask?
Miroslaw Dymek: I simply wish to invite RPG Vault's readers to keep track of new information and materials on Two Worlds. As development continues, we will inform you about our progress and share more details. I also want to thank you, Jonric, for this interview and the chance to be here. Thanks and take care.
As regular readers know, we have always tried to stay ahead of the curve in terms of tracking how the game development industry is growing and advancing in various parts of Eastern Europe. Consequently, we are will aware of Reality Pump's solid record, which is a major reason for our interest in Two World. As we look forward to learning more about it over the coming months, our thanks again to Project Leader Miroslaw Dymek for this informative two-part start to our coverage.
-- Richard Aihoshi - 'Jonric'