Peter Ohlmann: The development started in 2010 already, but after a couple of months money ran out and we had to switch to a commercial production. In early 2012 we were able to resume the work on Chaos Chronicles. Today, the game is in Alpha Stage – you can play all main components of the game but none of them are really finished yet.​

PO: This statement isn’t 100% correct, because JA:BIA wasn’t planned as a turn-based game. And as a contractor we weren’t involved in those kind of decisions anyway. Our company was hired for this production and there have been serious discussions about this topic on both sides. For further details, please ask the publisher of JA:BIA. We are pleased with the introduced Plan&Go combat system, although we can fully understand those angry fans who expected the original turn-based mode of Jagged Alliance 2.

But ‘Chaos Chronicles’ is a different story. It’s our concept, our game and we planned to use turn-based combat from the beginning of the concept phase. In contrast to our previous production, we have full control about any creative decision in CC. By the way, we wrote about this particular topic on our development blog lately.​

PO: Honestly, JA:BIA is definitely not a game for casual players. Sure, it’s not turn-based and it’s not as complex as ‘Jagged Alliance 2’ was but it’s still tactically challenging. And we never designed this game towards the “casual crowd” at all.

Chaos Chronicles intentionally aims for players who are into classical role-playing games and tactical turn-based combat. I am not sure how hardcore you need to be to enjoy our game, but you should be familiar with terms like ‘Armor Class’ , ‘Attack of Opportunity’ and ‘Saving Throws’.​

PO: We are using the 3.5e Open Game Content and our guides regarding the combat implementation are Temple of Elemental Evil and Knights of the Chalice. If you like the combat system of those games, you will like ours as well. We didn’t choose ‘Pathfinder’ because nobody in our team had any relation to it – we didn’t even evaluate it because of that reason. And, as far as we know, Pathfinder still has some copyright regarding the characters, scenarios and campaigns.​

PO: We will use the 3.5e OGL in many aspects of the game, but in some details we will choose our own solutions. Especially when it comes to the skill system and spell memorizing. We will talk about those details in future blog entries after we fully tested those changes in the game.​

PO: Since we are using the 3.5e OGL, our combat will not be so different from ToEE's. The main difference will be our hexagon grid. All 3.5e OGL combat rules are designed for squares and ToEE has no grid at all. That’s why we are investing much time to adapt 3.5 actions and spells to our grid. I think introducing this hex-grid to 3.5e will be the main improvement of our game.​

PO: At the moment we are experimenting with all 3.5e combat features and soon we will be able to talk about our final feature set. At this moment, I can only say that we want to implement as many 3.5e combat features as possible. But we honestly don’t like the fact that all classes can perform all combat actions to the same degree. Actions like ‘Charge’, ‘Bull Rush’ or ‘Grapple’ should be Fighter-only in our opinion. And compared to melee classes, spellcasters are already very powerful and it wouldn’t hurt to disallow those (obvious melee-like) actions for them.​

PO: We are planning to add prestige classes, but we currently don’t know when exactly. Before we can do that, we have to balance and polish the core classes first. We will not use multi-classing because this element is technically very expensive to implement. We decided to spend this time to add a proper system for prestige classes.​

PO: During your journey through the wilderness, you will use skills like Hunting, Cooking, Healing, Pathfinding etc. And in cities/villages you can use skills/feats like Bluff (when gambling), Diplomacy or Lockpicking. We don't plan on implementing crafting yet.​

PO: The spell system will be very similar to the 3.5e open game content but with some minor improvements. For example, in Chaos Chronicles the Wizard doesn’t need to memorize one particular spell to use it later – he can choose from any spell in his book as long as he has free daily ‘slots’ for this spell level remaining. In this way, the player will also use very exotic spells that are usually never been taken since nobody wants to waste a slot for them. We definitely have tons of arcane and divine spells in our game, but we didn’t decide on psionic powers yet.​

PO: There will be spells that make your time in the wilderness more comfortable like ‘Create Food’, ‘Teleport’, ‘Cure Wounds’, ‘Pass Without Trace’ to name a few. During the exploration of a dungeon, you can use spells like ‘Detect Secrets (Doors)’ or ‘Find Traps’.​

PO: Yes, we will use the standard 3.5e character enhancements on level-up; some classes can pick their bonus feats while other classes have their predefined feats.​

PO: We will limit the combat actions like ‘Bull Rush’ or ‘Charge’ to certain classes. In our opinion, the fighter should get some advantages over other classes. Beside weapon and armor proficiencies, a class like the Paladin comes with its own spells and class features.​

PO: Yes, we definitely want to make the Fighter class more enjoyable to play. Beside exclusive combat actions (see above) the Fighter will get some more interesting features during the combat in Chaos Chronicles. But nevertheless, his gameplay will never reach the complexity of a Wizard’s spellbook.​

PO: There is a default (isometric) camera view, but you are free to fully rotate the camera to see dungeons or battlefields from all perspectives. In contrast to ToEE, our game is fully 3D and sometimes it’s necessary to rotate the camera to spot single objects or secrets.​

PO: We are offering an open world gameplay. You can walk wherever you want as long as you survive the encounters. Our world map is very similar to games like Ultima or Phantasie. While walking through the wilderness you will discover more and more locations . The main plot will lead you to some specific locations, but you decide when to go there.​

PO: Yes, many locations are not relevant for the main plot of the story, but provide secrets and hidden treasure. Most of those secrets/treasures are linked with some side-quest. I think about 30% of the content in Chaos Chronicles is more or less optional.​

PO: Some skills enable optional dialog or quest options, but you will always be able to solve a puzzle/quest without a special skill. The majority of quests have more than one solution and in many cases the alignment system will be involved (lawful/chaotic, good/evil, etc.).​

PO: Yes, the skills/feats used during traveling on the world map and with non-combat actions like talking, bargaining, gambling, etc. are automatically determined by the best value of all members in your party.​

PO: Automatic level-scaling? Kill it with fire! No, seriously, it already ruined ‘Oblivion’ and we will not repeat that mistake in our game. There are different monster types of different levels in different areas of the world. Therefore, as the player you should be very careful where you are roaming.​

PO: You will have interactions with NPCs but not with your own characters. Your own characters have no agenda since you can create them by yourself. And we just don’t have the manpower and time to create complex character decisions like in, for example, Baldur’s Gate. But NPCs can join your party and those characters can tell their very own story.​

PO: We don’t have item spamming like in Torchlight or Diablo. Our item system is a bit more low-magic, even a +1 weapon is already very powerful and expensive. The player will find magical artifacts, but in the beginning of the game even some simple rusty melee weapons will be a big help to survive.​

PO: Encumbrance is close to OGL 3.5e with real weights of any equipment item, on character and party level as well. If your party carries too much stuff, it will slow down when traveling – and this could be very dangerous. If your character’s equipment is too heavy, you’ll receive penalties in combat (reduced movement speed for example).​

PO: The 3D display of your characters reflects any change in your inventory except rings and necklace. But even changing boots will change your character appearance in the world. You will also see a detailed close-up of your character in the party screen. In this particular regard, Chaos Chronicles is as extensive as modern RPGs like Skyrim or Dragon Age.​

PO: Unfortunately, regarding the multi-player I can’t deliver details in the current phase of development. You can play cooperative and every player is responsible for one or more characters. That’s all I can say right now.​

PO: I don’t think there will be DLCs like in modern commercial games, but I personally would love to create a trilogy with Chaos Chronicles like Phantasie I-III. But that’s my personal wish and first of all we have to deliver a good first part of this game. But if we do a sequel, you will be definitely able to continue the game with your previous party like in the Wizardry series (I really loved that feature).​

PO: Our game intensively uses LUA scripting and we try to put as much game content into human-readable files as possible. Our engine and tools are developed in-house, but some of them are pretty complex, e.g. the world editor. I can’t promise anything right now, but if we manage to reach enough players we will think about supporting player made campaigns and modifications after the release.​