Tags: BioWare; Jade Empire
<a href="http://www.shacknews.com/">Shack News</a> has a <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/020907_jadeempire_pcqa_1.x">three page interview</a> about the PC release of <a href="http://jade.bioware.com/">Jade Empire</a>. There's some odd questions stemming from the XBox version like questions about the XBox controller, but they eventually steered it towards the PC version. Here's where some of it steered:
<br>
<blockquote><b>Shack: Switching between my combos on the Xbox controller tended to be trying at times, since there are, of course, only so many ways you can map control schemes on a peripheral with 8-10 buttons. How does game play control via the PC work? Tell us about the controls, what does what (i.e., what is the default method to switch between combos, etc), and the like.
<br>
<br>
Diarmid Clarke:</b> Right from the beginning of development we set the goal that the Mouse/Keyboard controls had to be not only an acceptable alternative to controllers but actually better. We really think we surpassed that goal, and you hit the nail on the head when you mention a controller's flexibility: the keyboard and mouse allow a much more fluid experience. For example, I just map all my fighting styles to the number keys, and that way I can easily switch styles on the fly, as opposed to only the 4 that were possible using the original Xbox directional pad.</blockquote>
<br>
Wonder if we get to go through the, <i>Hey, how come it takes me 15 steps to get something out of my inventory when most PC games only take two or three?</i> deal like we did with <a href="http://www.lucasarts.com/products/swkotor/">Knights of the Old Republic</a>? Changing the interface so the keyboard is just like an XBox controller with 90 extra action buttons isn't really doing much.
<br>
<a href="http://www.shacknews.com/">Shack News</a> has a <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/020907_jadeempire_pcqa_1.x">three page interview</a> about the PC release of <a href="http://jade.bioware.com/">Jade Empire</a>. There's some odd questions stemming from the XBox version like questions about the XBox controller, but they eventually steered it towards the PC version. Here's where some of it steered:
<br>
<blockquote><b>Shack: Switching between my combos on the Xbox controller tended to be trying at times, since there are, of course, only so many ways you can map control schemes on a peripheral with 8-10 buttons. How does game play control via the PC work? Tell us about the controls, what does what (i.e., what is the default method to switch between combos, etc), and the like.
<br>
<br>
Diarmid Clarke:</b> Right from the beginning of development we set the goal that the Mouse/Keyboard controls had to be not only an acceptable alternative to controllers but actually better. We really think we surpassed that goal, and you hit the nail on the head when you mention a controller's flexibility: the keyboard and mouse allow a much more fluid experience. For example, I just map all my fighting styles to the number keys, and that way I can easily switch styles on the fly, as opposed to only the 4 that were possible using the original Xbox directional pad.</blockquote>
<br>
Wonder if we get to go through the, <i>Hey, how come it takes me 15 steps to get something out of my inventory when most PC games only take two or three?</i> deal like we did with <a href="http://www.lucasarts.com/products/swkotor/">Knights of the Old Republic</a>? Changing the interface so the keyboard is just like an XBox controller with 90 extra action buttons isn't really doing much.
<br>
