Cabal posts a lot of answers

Saint_Proverbius · Post by **Saint_Proverbius** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 3:47 am

[ -> N/A]

This is long, so I'll be brief.. <A href="http://feedback.blackisle.com/forums/sh ... er=2">this thread</a> <blockquote>Thanks for being patient. I've been away from internet access for a bit, so I promise I haven't been stalling. Q. Does Lionheart have the same kind of 1-click-per-swing combat as Diablo-type games? A. Not exactly, but the short answer is yes, you can initiate attacks with your mouse button(s) by clicking on enemies. It is a fairly straightforward mechanism that most gamers will be able to grasp quickly. Before you groan, and mumble a word that rhymes with 'thee Pablo', listen to the long answer. We are also striving to implement a strong sense of tactics into the combat system. First, the game will calculate your choice of weapons/attack versus the opponents armor type (certain weapons would do better or worse against a specific armor type) and also have a more sophisticated resistance system (rather than just damage resistance, we will be tracking piercing, blunt, and other weapon type damage). Second, we will be implementing a critical hit system where you can perform more selective critical hits on enemies. You could for instance, try to call head shots (for max crit dmg) or leg shots (for extra dmg and reducing enemy movement). The trade off with trying for a critical strike is that you will miss more. Combat is something we are going to be tuning throughout development to make sure that it is easy to use, but also has a tactical depth. Q. Are you targeting the action/arcade market primarily? Be honest. We all understand it's a huge market, and many of us are a part of it! But let us know who you're really making the game for, okay? A. As far as I understand, we are trying to reach a broad market including people who like action RPGs and deep story RPGs that have combat. I think it's possible to reach different types of RPG gamers by offering different ways of playing the game. The way we are designing Lionheart is that an action afficiando could attack most everything in the game. People who enjoy a more subtle path can also use speech dialogue and speech related abilities to avoid situations diplomatically where possible. This begs the question, can you use speech to avoid every possible combat situation in the game? Currently, that is not the plan, there are some creatures in the game that you will need to face that are unwilling or unable to speak with you. Q. Are you targeting the action/arcade market and hoping to draw in FO fans with the SPECIAL system along with role-playing fans by putting the designation "rpg" in the title, or is it *really* a role-playing game as you define it? And if it is *really* a role-playing game as you define it, please tell us exactly what your definition of an rpg is, and what features of Lionheart meet that definition in your opinion. A. My definition of a role playing game is literal, and therefore general, as the term RPG has evolved to encompass many different genres. Basically, a role-playing game should allow you to control a character (sometimes characters) that can assume different roles and personaes in a world system constrained by the designer(s). This is open to debate, and I know many of you have strong opinions and a lot of passion for this subject. To answer the first part of your question, we are using the SPECIAL system because it is a fantastic set of rules to help define a world system. As I mentioned before, we're trying to reach a broad audience by creating a great game. Real-time might appeal to the action gamers and SPECIAL will appeal to people who enjoyed Fallout, but the combination might also appease both types of fans, win over new fans, and yes it's possible that the combination could alienate fans from either side. We were asked by Black Isle to use our real-time engine to create a new story and a new game based on these SPECIAL rules. We don't intend to remake Fallout or copy another game, we want to try to make a fun real-time game using the SPECIAL rules in a new world setting. The conversion of SPECIAL to real-time from turn-based has required some changes to the system, but essentially the core essence of SPECIAL has been preserved. Obviously, the addition of magic and the removal of science are big changes, but elements like the statistics, perks, traits, tag skills, and many other elements have been preserved. Q. Are you targeting the RPG market, and hoping to draw in a few action/arcade fans? Just reverse the above question. Heh! A. See above. Q. Is the game completely linear, partially linear or totally non-linear in scope? In other words, will the player have choices of where to go and when to go there ala BG, or will the player be scooted along a predetermined path ala IWD. A. We are designing the game to be as non-linear as possible, in a way that Baldur's Gate allowed you tremendous freedom to do quests and explore as you like, but eventually brought you back to the main storyline. Lionheart will allow you to explore the lands and do quests in whatever order you like. There is a main storyline that threads throughout the game, although it can be alterred depending on how your character drives the story. So the answer to your question is that yes there will be non-linearity to allow you to explore, but eventually you are drawn into main chapter events of the overall story (like Baldur's Gate). Q. You've admitted the game is "combat intensive". This is designer code-word stuff, and each of us have differing opinions about what that really means. BG was "combat intensive"; IWD was "combat intensive". No way was combat in BG as huge a percentage of gameplay as combat in IWD. So is Lionheart honestly... and really, be honest... designed to be a combat game with role-playing characteristics? Inquiring minds and all that. A. As I said before, we are trying to make a new game in a new world, not a sequel to BG, IWD, or Fallout. But, I understand you're looking for a comparison to help you understand what Lionheart is. I've played and enjoyed both Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate. I suppose Lionheart fits into the middle, maybe closer to Baldur's Gate. Throughout the game, you will have many chances to define your character and propel the story along. You can take a good path, an evil path, or your own path, and these choices affect the story. There are times when you will encounter some nasty things, and you may vanquish them, or you may try to dissuade them from attacking. Other times, you'll find out, your enemies may not want to talk to you, and you will have to defend yourself. Q. The truth is that there is no real benefit in holding back the basics on your overall vision of the game for fear that some folks might leave the forum. Trust me, you do not want a bunch of frustrated, confused folks hanging around here being led to believe the game is going to be one thing when y'all know it's going to be something else entirely. Others will support me on that I'm sure. A. I like to think of myself as a community friendly developer. I will be as forthcoming as possible with answers to your questions. Understand that I do read most, if not all of your posts. Sometimes, I'll comment when I have time, and sometimes I won't for various reasons. I do want to thank you and others for showing genuine interest in the game. We look forward to many conversations about Lionheart in the coming months.</blockquote>