Meta:Two Worlds: The Temptation – Interview

This Q&A was posted to the website crpg.ru by Alexander Kulyaev on April 27, 2008.

Questions and Answers

CRPG.RU (Alexander Kulyaev): First off, would you be so kind as to tell our readers who you are?

Miroslaw Dymek: My name is Miroslaw Dymek, CEO and Technical Director of Reality Pump. We are established game developers, best known for the award-winning Earth 21x0 RTS games - and the "Two Worlds" label of course. Our team has been creating quality games for more than 10 years. My job as technical director is to supervise development and design the games.

CRPG.RU: It's a well-known fact that Two Worlds got a rather controversial reception, both from the game press and the gamers themselves. Do you consider your first RPG project to be a success or it simply didn't go the way you have planned? Are you disappointed?

Miroslaw Dymek: No, not a chance! For us, this first RPG was a great success! Of course there are always some areas ripe for improvement in every game - and the criticism was sometimes harsh indeed - it did hurt a little. But we also got lots of praise from the press and compliments from players as well, and that gives us hope for the future - so we believe that with the good basis "Two Worlds" has given us, we can now create a really complex RPG universe.

CRPG.RU: I'm sure you have analyzed the final results and the community reaction pretty closely. What were the major flaws of the game that prevented it from achieving its full potential?

Miroslaw Dymek: As I said, we believe that the foundation of the game is truly excellent - and we'll be building on that. Naturally there were grey areas - and they'll be eradicated in "The Temptation", my word on that... The feedback we got from the Community really helped us a lot as well... and as a result, we focused on creating a good story and sophisticated balancing in the new development... but I'm sure we can put in even more creativity... and we have hired some experts to help us do just that.

CRPG.RU: So, the Temptation. Is it really an add-on or more of a sequel?

Miroslaw Dymek: We are developing "The Temptation" as a stand-alone sequel. In the last few months, we've realized a tremendous amount of ideas for the sequel of this RP game - and we've also written a great story, together with a professional storywriter. The solid fan feedback we received was so important for us - and "The Temptation" will give those fans what they want!

CRPG.RU: Did you plan to divide the whole game into these "two portions" from the very beginning or did the expansion idea occur to you only after the release of the original game?

Miroslaw Dymek: From the outset, we wanted to create a universe around Antaloor. That's why the "Two Worlds" story leaves some plots hanging, so to speak... but some of these will be solved in the "The Temptation" - we also have other advanced plans, I must add.

CRPG.RU: According to those tidbits of information on the Temptation, it continues the storyline of the original. Are we playing the same protagonist or a new one? And if it's the same one, do we give him a fresh start or are ought to load the save-games from the Two World?

Miroslaw Dymek: We want to advance the story bit by bit, "The Temptation" does continue with the 2W story - and the protagonist is the same. However, at the start of the game something very dramatic will happen - and that will explain, logically, why the hero has to start from the beginning. Players can't take over the character - the story of "The Temptation" will provide a beginning which will match both potential endings in 2W.

CRPG.RU: Can you reveal some details of the plot? Where do we start and what task lies ahead?

Miroslaw Dymek: At the start of his adventure, the player will be taken to the desert city of Hatmandor on a search for the powerful Mage Andar Hog. The new center of Drak'ar is famous, thanks to a mysterious magical raw material called "Glow" - it's this that has propelled the city to prominence. When he gets to Hatmandor, the player will be caught up in a complicated game of cat-and-mouse in the workers' quarter in Hatmandor. This is where the laborers live - the ones who get the Glow out of the desert. The player can then gradually start to gain a reputation with the various guilds and groups, getting hold of some important info about the whereabouts of Andar Hog as he goes.

With this knowledge, the hero then goes to find and destroy Gandohar's power source - and save his sister Kira at the same time.

CRPG.RU: Some say that the main storyline in TW lacked depth. Is this an issue you recognize - and will this problem be resolved?

Miroslaw Dymek: As I said earlier, we've taken this into consideration for "The Temptation" - and we'll be telling a much deeper, more convoluted story. We even got a professional author on board - and some of his ideas are great!

CRPG.RU: Where does the action takes place geographically? We know there are going to be lots of new areas and locations - but I don't know yet if the old ones will be included (like Thalmont). If they are - are you going to rework them?

Miroslaw Dymek: The world of "The Temptation" is roughly as big as the one in 2W. The game begins in the familiar region surrounding Oswaroh and Drak'ar. But we've completely rehashed these areas and have a multitude of new locations as well. The "old" world amounts to about 10% of the old one. The new story is cleverly structured and layer-linked in comparison to the old one. But the hero will still have to fight his way through the old world first, before he can reach the new regions. In the "The Temptation" however, both the old and the new worlds offer much more graphic creativity than the predecessor.

CRPG.RU: Tell us about the new cities. Will they be in any way different from the ones we've already seen?

Miroslaw Dymek: There will be two completely new cities. On the one hand you'll have the desert city of Hatmandor and on the other an Elven city - but don't ask me for its name, not yet anyway! Both of these locations are really different architecturally from what has gone before - and they'll provide new challenges during gameplay. Since the hero now can use ladders and can climb, city buildings take on a new meaning!

CRPG.RU: Some details about the new locations perhaps?

Miroslaw Dymek: In the new regions, we'll be introducing a few new climate zones - we'll have steppes, jungle and large islands - and we've got the corresponding animals too - rhinos, vultures and many other animals will grace "The Temptation".

CRPG.RU: Is there room for improvement in the quest system? Is it on your agenda?

Miroslaw Dymek: Yes, definitely. In "The Temptation", a modular system will enable much more flexible dialog management. The main advantage here is that the dialogs will be more natural - because the quests are based more on what the player does than jus strictly following the dialog. We've taken the stiffness out of the dialogs - and that's what made them sound a bit unnatural. In this way, things can happen in the background even during a dialog - things that will have an effect on that dialog. Here are some more advantages: the hero can address other people now - not just the Questgiver - and they can give their info to him as well. Apart from that there's a wide range of events in the world that will also influence the current quest.

CRPG.RU: Are we going to see any changes made to the combat system? Specifically to the riding-mount combat element?

Miroslaw Dymek: "The Temptation"'s combat system is very varied - it profits from our really powerful game engine. There are two different combat styles for each weapon. Either a Combo, combining 4 quick blows in succession, or a Power Hit, which is a little slower but causes much more damage. The different combat techniques can be expanded with skills. Apart from that, it's now possible to carry a lance that will wreak havoc on your enemies on the ground when you're on your horse.

Another main element of the combat system is the active blocking option. You can block with any weapon, but the shield is of course the most effective. Blocking can also be improved with skills.

CRPG.RU: Can we expect new skills to be implemented and improvements to the role-playing system to be made?

Miroslaw Dymek: All of the hero's possible attributes aren't available at the start of "The Temptation" - he'll gain them bit by bit. In this learning chain, only one attribute after another can be gained - not two or more at once. And independent levels will ensure that some skills will only become available later on in the game. Naturally we'll have Trainers standing by to impart their knowledge to the player. Some of the skills are: Combo-Hit, Power-Hit, Parrying, Running, Carrying Power (Inventory Size), Regeneration, Mana-Regeneration, Elektro-Absorber, Blacksmith's Art, Weapons Maker, Armor Maker, Jump (horse), Bowmaker and the armor skills of Iron Bones, skin and muscles.

CRPG.RU: We've heard that the physics engine has been seriously enhanced. How will it affect the gameplay?

Miroslaw Dymek: "The Temptation" will offer a much more intensive type of behavior towards the player, in addition to the super optical enhancements for the NPC's. As soon as the hero draws his weapon in a town or in a guarded area, the guards will attack him with drawn weapons and demand that he sheathes his weapon. If he does this, the NPC guards will sheathe theirs and leave. But if the player ignores their warnings, they'll attack. However, "normal" NPCs react to what's happening as well - if the hero draws his weapon and advances on an unarmed NPC, or on a much weaker character, the NPC will run away. So in towns you can have the scenario where the player draws his sword and the guards come running, while the normal NPC's take to their heels, only returning when the conflict's over.

CRPG.RU: The "sailing" feature is something we find very exciting. Can you tell us about it? Rumor has it that we'll be able to operate a boat (or a ship?) in real time while sailing over the nearby seas.

Miroslaw Dymek: Yes, in "Two Worlds" - The Temptation" the player has yet another form of transport available. The new region of Tarea has a huge bay with lots of islands. And you'll be able to reach these in a sailboat! When you've learned the relevant skill, you can get into the boat and steer it to your desired destination. The direction of travel is set using the tiller at the stern, just like a real sailboat - but you'll have to watch the wind - a red flag at the tip of your mast will tell you which way it's blowing. Depending on that wind direction, you might have to hoist your sail to move over the water faster. Special series of quests, like a smuggling adventure, for example, have been specially designed for the boat feature - and you'll have to put to sea sooner or later in the Main Quest as well!

CRPG.RU: There were also some rumours on sets of armor to appear in the sequel. Will we really see them in-game and how will this feature work? Any examples?

Miroslaw Dymek: You can put together 4 different sets of armor in "The Temptation" inventory. Each set consists of a whole suit of armor, primary and secondary weapons and magic power-ups like rings. During the game, the player can issue a command to change between different sets. This means that you can now select a complete package with light armor and magic power-ups for Dexterity if you want to shoot a bow and arrow, for instance. So the old individual selection stuff is now a thing of the past.

CRPG.RU: Something that irritated most gamers was the 3 slot-restriction on magic spells. Do you consider this to be an inconvenience for the players?

Miroslaw Dymek: OK... we do still have the familiar Spell Book - but we've made the allocation of spells much easier - the player can now allocate each spell card or booster to a hot key between 0 and 9 - that means you can call up up to ten spells in a flash! And a booster card will be used automatically if it's also been assigned to a spell's hotkey.

CRPG.RU: The balance problem seemed to be crucial in the original - it was too easy to get overpowered (though that was partly resolved in the later patches). Are you planning to continue working on the balance?

Miroslaw Dymek: Yep, as I said, balancing is high on our list of to-do's.

CRPG.RU: Will Harold Faltermeyer be working on the soundtrack for the add-on? What sort of music will the Temptation have? New motives, perhaps? And will orchestral rock ballads make their come back?

Miroslaw Dymek: We'll still negotiating - I can't tell you anything concrete about the music.

CRPG.RU: You recently released a DLC expansion pack titled Tainted Blood on Xbox Live. Can we expect this one to come to PC as well?

Miroslaw Dymek: The add-on will be available as a free download for PC gamers on www.2-worlds.com - from the 1st of May... and there will various partner Internet pages too. The add-on also contains the update 1.6 - that's the one that enhanced the balancing.

CRPG.RU: What changes and new features are coming to the multiplayer?

Miroslaw Dymek: We're aiming at making that much more attractive and exciting. BUT.... can't tell you more... sorry!

CRPG.RU: At what development stage is the project at the moment? What were the reasons of moving the release date to this Fall?

Miroslaw Dymek: We decided to develop a full-blooded sequel when we'd already started work - and we didn't want a simple little add-on. That of course means a lot more content, creativity… and development time.

CRPG.RU: Thank you very much for the interview - you've certainly filled in a lot of blank spots for us! Our best wishes to the development team!

Miroslaw Dymek: Thanks for your interest! We're very determined to bring a really great game this Fall and make sure gamers will like it.