Interview Vault Dweller talks about life and The New World at RPGNuke

[Infinitron]

Tags: Colony Ship RPG; Iron Tower Studios; Vault Dweller

There's a new interview with the illustrious Vault Dweller over at Russian RPG website RPGNuke. It starts with some questions about VD's opinion on the current state of the RPG scene and about his life after Age of Decadence, before moving on to The New World. The interview isn't quite as righteous as the one he did there in 2013, but it does have one great zinger. I quote:

Let's talk about your new game. It promises to be visually richer, as it is developed on the basis of Unreal Engine 4. Are there any plans for cutscenes or the narration will be conducted only through dialogue means, as in The Age of Decadence?

Only through dialogues. Animating numerous cutscenes would require resources we don't have. Apparently, Bioware doesn't have them either.

What are your inspirations for creating The New World? Aside from Orphans of the Sky, obviously.

Assorted 50's sci-fi from Asimov's Foundation to Van Vogt's The Weapon Shops of Isher and Aldiss' Non-Stop.

There will be 12 potential party members in The New World. Even if we consider that we will not meet all of them during a single playthrough, it's quite a lot. How much will they be integrated into the plot?

A lot compared to what and why?

Anyway, first and foremost, the party members are mortal and expendable, so you'll need extra companions in case you start running out. You'll get up to 3 out of 4 characters in the starting town (the Pit) to make sure you get all the help you need, the rest as you explore the ship. While they won't be as one-dimensional as Dungeon Rats' companions, they won't have tragic backstories, childhood issues, or personal quests of self-fulfillment. Their job is to watch your back, occasionally backstab you or to keep you in check, and affect your options.

Most party members will be "unlocked" via exploration and side quests, a couple will be provided by factions.

There are mutants planned to be among the party members. Will they have any abilities that are inaccessible to ordinary people?

No. Our mutants aren’t Fallout-like super soldiers but outcasts and that’s what we’re focusing on.

How will the faction reputation system work? Basically, in old games, if you were performing a task for a rival force, it would mean that all the NPCs in the location became "red" and started attacking you, which is pretty stupid and primitive. Will The New World use a different approach? Maybe they'll send an assassin for you or try to punish you in some other way?

We’ll continue developing concepts we used in AoD. Working for a faction will slowly reduce your reputation with the rival factions, reducing your employment opportunities and eventually reaching a point demanding actions (attacking your base of operations, sending bounty hunters after you, etc).

In AoD we hesitated to go too far as such actions would mean instant death for non-combat characters but the party setup offers more flexibility when it comes to the “righteous infliction of retribution”.

In one of the updates you wrote about new hit system in The New World. Can you give a detailed explanation about how it works.

Instead of rolling for passive and crits separately (like in AoD), we'll go with a single roll and 4 outcomes:

• Miss
• Graze (half damage)
• Hit
• Critical Hit (damage X modifier, which is 1.25 (default) + feat bonus)

Basically, something like this:

• 1-5 critical hit
• 6-70 hit
• 71-80 graze
• 80-100 miss

By default CS range is 5 and Graze range is 10, but they can be modified by certain weapons and attacks. For example, a shotgun would have a much wider graze range than a pistol.
​

That attack resolution system looks familiar, doesn't it? I would assume that enemy defenses are also a factor in the calculation.

 

[Vault Dweller]

We realized that we need something between a hit and a miss a long time ago but didn't want to throw in more changes that might have fucked up dodgers completely and forced more changes. Basically, it's ok to miss completely when your THC is 50% or less but when your THC is 70% or higher and you miss 3 times in a row, it's much harder to accept (even if it's hardly improbable statistically). You can roll 71 being just a point off and miss the same way as if you rolled 99. Plus in AoD the fast attacks were sorta grazing attacks - less damage but higher THC. It won't work the same way with firearms, which also calls for grazing attacks.

Plus it will lead to more customization as we have more stats connected to both weapons and attack types. For example, aimed attack: head will set the graze range to 5 (i.e. very low) but increase the critical range by 10. If you have a scoped rifle, it will give you a bonus to your "aimed THC" (but not any other THC) and a further bonus to your critical range. Alternatively, a "one-handed" SMG will have a very high graze range, which will go even higher if you switch to Long Burst, making it nearly impossible to miss at close range.

Your defenses (evasion, cover, smoke grenades, etc) will affect the enemy's THC but not the graze range directly (i.e. it won't convert hits into grazes).

 

[Infinitron]

Your defenses (evasion, cover, smoke grenades, etc) will affect the enemy's THC but not the graze range directly (i.e. it won't convert hits into grazes).

Will evasion defend against firearms (ie bullet dodging)?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

 

[Infinitron]

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

Same difference, no? Your enemy's "miss window" becomes larger, his "hit window" smaller. In the absence of cover and other factors, if he misses you where he would have hit somebody else with the same roll, the rationale for that is that you've dodged his bullet.

 

[Excidium II]

You didn't dodge the bullet mid-flight, you just anticipated his aiming and made yourself hard to hit.

 

[Infinitron]

You didn't dodge the bullet mid-flight, you just anticipated his aiming and made yourself hard to hit.

 

[Irenaeus]

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

Same difference, no? Your enemy's "miss window" becomes larger, his "hit window" smaller. In the absence of cover and other factors, if he misses you where he would have hit somebody else with the same roll, the rationale for that is that you've dodged his bullet.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

Same difference, no? Your enemy's "miss window" becomes larger, his "hit window" smaller. In the absence of cover and other factors, if he misses you where he would have hit somebody else with the same roll, the rationale for that is that you've dodged his bullet.

Only in the most general way.

In AoD dodge and block were the only form of defense, which required them to be very effective abilities, capable of completely negating an attacker's weapon skill. In addition, block had an additional 'complete block' roll. In the CSG, the main form of defense is cover or energy shield (i.e. a man standing in the open should be easy to hit no matter what his Evasion is), so Evasion provides a minor bonus on its own but becomes more useful in combination with certain feats, effects (like the above mentioned smoke grenades or reality distortion field, which is a risky way of playing), and tactics.

 

[valcik]

Evasion seem to be misleading term, needs to be renamed to mobility or something..

Basically, it's ok to miss completely when your THC is 50% or less but when your THC is 70% or higher and you miss 3 times in a row, it's much harder to accept (even if it's hardly improbable statistically).

There's nifty optional perk (Fast Adaptation?) in Battle Brothers reducing the amount of shots missed in a row. With this perk each missed attack adds +8% CTH bonus to the next one, being reset back to zero after successful hit.

 

[abnaxus]

 

[Vorark]

how-to-kill-a-mudcrab image

 

[l3loodAngel]

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

Same difference, no? Your enemy's "miss window" becomes larger, his "hit window" smaller. In the absence of cover and other factors, if he misses you where he would have hit somebody else with the same roll, the rationale for that is that you've dodged his bullet.

Same as in FO?

 

[Zanzoken]

Are you planning on having Guns skill affect weapon damage? I am not a simulationist fag or anything but I really hate that.

Obviously skill should affect THC and probably crit chance too. But for damage purposes it doesn't matter if you get shot by Chuck Norris or my grandma. If it hits center mass then you are fucked.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Apparently, Bioware doesn't have them either.

Savage!

 

[deuxhero]

Really, the most "realistic" way to make gun experts deadlier with higher skill is to reduce the AP cost for shots, possibly make them better at moving while shooting as well. Improving follow-up speed and shooting while moving are the two skills firearms training focuses on after the basic "don't hurt yourself and others" level training. This also gives reason to use something other than the biggest, heaviest gun you can find (a common problem in shooter RPGs). Notice that once repeating arms became common everyone in the real world went for intermediate calibers so they could make faster followup shots, starting with the WW2 developments of 30 carbine, 7.92×33mm Kurz, and 7.62x39 (though 7.62x39 was never fielded during the war beyond tests), then leading to the modern standards of 5.56x45, 5.45x39, and 5.8×42mm).

Vault Dweller needs to get his PAL, a 22 rifle, an SKS and a bucket of ammo for both (all of which are apparently cheap in Canada because Chinese imports are still allowed).

TB with guns can take many forms: Wasteland 2, Silent Storm, Jagged Alliance 2, Fallout, Shadowrun, XCOM, etc.

Are Silent Storm and Jagged Alliance 2 really that different combat wise?

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Basically, it's ok to miss completely when your THC is 50% or less but when your THC is 70% or higher and you miss 3 times in a row, it's much harder to accept (even if it's hardly improbable statistically). You can roll 71 being just a point off and miss the same way as if you rolled 99. Plus in AoD the fast attacks were sorta grazing attacks - less damage but higher THC. It won't work the same way with firearms, which also calls for grazing attacks.

So if your THC is high enough the miss range will just disappear, leaving a graze as the worst outcome? If it gets very high (like 95%?) will the outcomes narrow to just crit or hit?

Assorted 50's sci-fi from Asimov's Foundation to Van Vogt's The Weapon Shops of Isher and Aldiss' Non-Stop.

No Book of the Long Sun? Heresy!



Why the focus on Golden age sci-fi? Is the tone more appropriate for what you want to do? Just happen to like those particular works better?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Really, the most "realistic" way to make gun experts deadlier with higher skill is to reduce the AP cost for shots...

We tried it in AoD (the old 'balanced' crafting technique) and it was too much. The only way to make it work is to switch to two-digit AP cost a-la Silent Storm but we don't want to do that.

Basically, it's ok to miss completely when your THC is 50% or less but when your THC is 70% or higher and you miss 3 times in a row, it's much harder to accept (even if it's hardly improbable statistically). You can roll 71 being just a point off and miss the same way as if you rolled 99. Plus in AoD the fast attacks were sorta grazing attacks - less damage but higher THC. It won't work the same way with firearms, which also calls for grazing attacks.

So if your THC is high enough the miss range will just disappear, leaving a graze as the worst outcome? If it gets very high (like 95%?) will the outcomes narrow to just crit or hit?

Good question. I don't have an answer for you yet as such things will be defined during the balance pass. It can go either way: we can say that the min chance to miss is 5% no matter what, but what real purpose would that serve? If you manage to corner your enemy and your THC is 95%, you probably shouldn't miss. Might as well design it in such a way that if your THC is 95% your worst roll is grazing the enemy.

I don't think we'll ever go with hit or crit, that's too much.

Assorted 50's sci-fi from Asimov's Foundation to Van Vogt's The Weapon Shops of Isher and Aldiss' Non-Stop.

No Book of the Long Sun? Heresy!

It's a great book but it doesn't fit the direction/setting.

 

[deuxhero]

What about getting your PAL then?

 

[Average Manatee]

Personally I've always liked the idea of layered defenses. e.g.

You swing at someone. They have base 10 AC, +2 AC from dodge, +4 AC from shield, +4 AC from armor. You have +5 to attack. Your attack outcomes are:

Roll 1 to 6: full dodge vs. 12 AC.
Roll 7 to 10: Block with shield (16 AC). Normal crit chance to damage shield, adds shield + armor DR.
Roll 11 to 14: Blocks with armor (20 AC). Normal crit chance to damage armor, adds armor DR.
Roll 17 to 20: Full armor negation, extremely high crit chance to inflict even more damage.

Dunno if anyone has done this (PoE kind of disappointed me by not going this route). Of course for a gun-based system it doesn't make as much sense and a simple miss/graze/hit/crit distribution works fine.

Evasion doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks (i.e. no rolls to dodge attacks) but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you.

Same difference, no? Your enemy's "miss window" becomes larger, his "hit window" smaller. In the absence of cover and other factors, if he misses you where he would have hit somebody else with the same roll, the rationale for that is that you've dodged his bullet.

Same as in FO?

In Fallout being Neo also causes all of your enemies' guns to explode thanks to how the critical failure system works

 

[MRY]

I sit in front of my computer all day, basking in the healing glow of the monitor. It's an exciting and glamorous lifestyle, like being a rockstar only without the fame, drugs, or groupies.

Lies. Just because Lurker King doesn't look like Kate Hudson doesn't mean he doesn't love you!

 

[Eyestabber]

Cool interview. So the game now has a name? "The New World"? Shame, I was hoping for "Space Rats"

Anyway:

You'll get up to 3 out of 4 characters in the starting town (the Pit) to make sure you get all the help you need, the rest as you explore the ship. While they won't be as one-dimensional as Dungeon Rats' companions, they won't have tragic backstories, childhood issues, or personal quests of self-fulfillment. Their job is to watch your back, occasionally backstab you or to keep you in check, and affect your options.

Yeah, that's cool but...humble request: please don't make 3 disposable shit-tier companions like the 3 stooges from Dungeon Rats. Also, custom parties, maybe? Full respec on recruit (like D:OS 2)?

cover, smoke grenades

What exactly constitutes "cover"? And how important is it going to be? I frankly hate how cover works in nu-Xcom and its clones.

Another thing: smoke. That's pretty hard to simulate in an RPG, since smoke is tied to LoS. Well, unless you make magical buff smoke.

 

[hivemind]

Lurker King doesn't look like Kate Hudson

and you are so sure of this why?

 

[deuxhero]

Oh and one thing a lot of games miss: Suppressive fire. A lot of the time you don't shoot to hit an enemy, you shoot to keep their head down so your friends can advance on him (or just so he can't shoot your friend). This is extremely important if you incorporate cover (which you do). A group in combat moves around its machine gun support (be it an enplaced M2 that requires two people to move, or one man MINIMI/RPK/Whatever).

It's a concept hugely important in battles with repeating arms. By Vietnam bullets fired to vietkong killed was 50,000 bullets to 1 stiff and it has only gotten bigger. Without suppressive fire implemented, designated marksman rifles pretty much always become king in RPGs (Accurate, high damage, decent shooting speed).

Oh and while I'm here, these are probably worth a read for handling guns narratively.
http://monsterhunternation.com/2010/05/05/ask-correia-2-writing-gun-stuff/
http://monsterhunternation.com/2010/05/14/ask-correia-3-sci-fi-weapons/

 

[Fenix]

Assorted 50's sci-fi from Asimov's Foundation to Van Vogt's The Weapon Shops of Isher and Aldiss' Non-Stop.

When I read some random English article with shit parade "100 best sci-fi books" these books wasn't mentioned there at all, it seems such authors and books unknow by modern crowd.
Love you Vault Dweller even more.

they won't have tragic backstories, childhood issues, or personal quests of self-fulfillment

Brilliant, after TranyTehArPeeGee it is all I want.

please don't make 3 disposable shit-tier companions like the 3 stooges from Dungeon Rats.

Why? Someone completed game with them.
It was challenge, it was fun.