Interview DW Bradley chats with RPGDot

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Dungeon Lords; DW Bradley

There's <a href="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=636">an interview</a> over at <a href="http://www.rpgdot.com/">RPG Dot</a> with <b>DW Bradley</b>, who is making <a href="http://www.heuristicpark.com/home.htm">Dungeon Lords</a>. You might remember the guy because he worked on some <i>Wizardry</i> games before coming up with the really awful <A href="http://www.heuristicpark.com/deep6.htm">Wizards & Warriors</a>. Here's a bit of the fun:
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<blockquote><b>RPGDot: What are the main differences between Dungeon Lords and your earlier games, say Wizards&Warriors or the later Wizardry games?
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DW Bradley:</b> Dungeon Lords is all new, a completely different kind of RPG from my previous games. <u>Dungeon Lords brings high energy action combat in combination with deep story and detailed RPG elements, including an innovative new character development system</u>. The game is full 3D 3rd person perspective view, and all real time. In Dungeon Lords, from the onset of character creation, the player controls and develops their hero with a multitude of attributes, class specializations, and skill choices to develop a truly unique personal character. Multiplayer allows a number of players to gather their individual heroes into a party and brave the dangers of the game together, and single player mode provides numerous allies that can be persuaded to join up with the player's hero as cohorts?</blockquote>
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Next up, see <b>DW Bradley</b> bring <i>tuna fish</i> to the <i>peanut butter and jelly sandwich</i>.
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Spotted this at <A href="http://www.bluesnews.com">Blue's News</a>.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

Is it turn based ?

If not then it sucks


My 2 EURO cents.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The screens look real-timish to me, so, yeah, it sucks

Well, the part about deep story and character development sound good but W&W was really awful, so I would not get too emotional about that one.

 

[Spazmo]

Neverwinter Nights allegedly has deep story and rich character development, too.

 

[triCritical]

and let me just cross another name off my christmas list

Well if it isn't obvious, to us morons, then it must be obvious to a lot of other people that what the RPG market needs is another Diablo clone in 3D, but this time with a high profile name.

 

[Psilon]

Yeah, but that guy dropped off my radar about six months before Wizards & Warriors actually came out.

 

[Sabotai]

And what's up with the treasure chest in the screenshot? Two people can easily live a comfy life in that thing. Even with the lid closed...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I thought Wizards & Warriors was pretty bad, but from the sound of it, this game will bring new shame on this guy's name. For example:

DW Bradley: Combat is one of the most innovative aspects of Dungeon Lords, and plays a major part of the game. Whereas the combat system is based upon the abilities and skills of the player's hero, it is also completely dependent upon the player's ability as well.

Oh great! Another hackkneed system where it not only relies on the reflexes of the player, but also on the stats of the character. So, I get to play around with trying to pull off special moves and then comes a roll as to whether or not I hit with that move. Wonderful!

I really hate systems like this. It's basically a double whammy. Either my skills with the control aren't up to snuff or the character's skills weren't up to snuff. Either one results in me missed. Pffffffft.

In Dungeon Lords, the player controls each moment of their hero's actions, choosing when to attack, when to cast magic spells, when to block, when to dodge and maneuver, and performing various combinations simultaneously, and all in real-time - the player is continually involved in moment to moment control of what their hero is doing, responding to enemy actions, and making split second strategic decisions based upon the unfolding challenges of the battle - hence the "Action/Fighter RPG" description of the game.

Oxymoron of the Day: split second strategic

 

[EEVIAC]

Oxymoron of the Day: split second strategic

I had a bit of a chuckle at that myself. I think in five years I'm going to be on message boards arguing with people about the benefits of RT + P, TB having been given cement shoes and dropped in a river.

 

[Binary]

I'm shocked to be honest :shock: I'm a huge fan of D.W. Bradley (I didn't think W&W was that bad btw) and now seeing him create a... errrr... arcade RPG kinda makes me scared.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt, though. I loved Wizardry 6 & 7 that much.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I had a bit of a chuckle at that myself. I think in five years I'm going to be on message boards arguing with people about the benefits of RT + P, TB having been given cement shoes and dropped in a river.

People said TB was dead a few years ago, much like people have said 2D is dead and all games will be multiplayer back in the mid-1990s. It's called short sightedness.

 

[Binary]

People said TB was dead a few years ago, much like people have said 2D is dead and all games will be multiplayer back in the mid-1990s. It's called short sightedness.

Couldn't agree more. And the worst part is, I don't believe (most of) those same people have learned anything as time passes by.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Probably not, since there are even some publishers who haven't learned that lesson either. Saying that FEATURE X(X = REAL TIME | 3D | MULTIPLAYER | ETC) makes any game better is overly arbitrary. There are quite a few games out there that would have been much better off if they hadn't been 3D or real time, etc.

 

[Rosh]

But it's a marketing thing. Then again, most marketing chimps are idiots.

There's a reason why they aren't paid to be designers, and I really question any game where marketing "logic" takes precedence over design.

 

[Psilon]

Look at the complaints about the Temple of Trials in Fallout 2. The game would have started off sanely in Arroyo if it weren't for marketing.