Interview Dungeon Lords interview at Rebell

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Dungeon Lords; DW Bradley; Heuristic Park Inc.

<a href=http://www.rebell.at>Rebell</a>, a German site, asked the hypemaster <b>DW Bradley</b> about <a href=http://www.heuristicpark.com>Dungeon Lords</a>, and was kind enough to provide the <a href=http://www.rebell.at/?site=01&cnt=show_s1&post_id=311>English translation</a> for non-Germanic tribes.
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<blockquote><b>For what kind of gamer is Dungeon Lords reaching out? Is it more for the "I am so hardcore, I finished Baldur's Gate blindfolded in less than 4 hours"-guy, or for the "Help! Diablo 2 is too complicated for me"-twit? Is it based on a pen & paper RPG?</b>
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Dungeon Lords is uniquely my own creation and is not based upon any other games, p&p rpg or otherwise. As you might imagine, <u>during the past several decades my approach to creating leading edge RPG and my computer game design philosophy has evolved quite a bit, and Dungeon Lords is a quantum leap</u>, the crowning achievement of a lifetime's worth of experience to create a new class of RPG that really takes you there. </blockquote>Arcade gameplay=quantum leap for RPGs? I'd say that time hasn't been kind to DW.
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<blockquote><b>What are some of the outstanding features of DL?</b>
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There are many - certainly bringing real-time action to RPG that uniquely combines the skills of the player as well as their character hero at every moment of gameplay, the elimination of all point and click targeting and all interface clutter to provide a pristine and undisturbed view of all the action in beautiful full 3D, the magic system, inventory, and character hero development systems are to die for, and then we get into features like cooperative multiplayer design, up to 8 players campaigning together! Just a tremendous RPG experience... </blockquote>That certainly hasn't been done before
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.bluesnews.com">Blue's News</A>

 

[Sol Invictus]

Mayday! Mayday! We have a moron in our midst.

A quantum is defined as follows:
quan·tum (kwntm)
n. pl. quan·ta (-t)

1. The smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist independently, especially a discrete quantity of electromagnetic radiation.
2. This amount of energy regarded as a unit.
3. A quantity or an amount.

A quantum leap is, therefore, the smallest, most finite movement. In context, DW Bradley is literally saying that he's going nowhere with his new system.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

To his credit, he doesn't seem to indicate in this part of the interview that he believes the 'outstanding' features of DL have been done before; though he seems to think they're excellent... though they're fairly commonplace.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Outstanding = standing out from a group. As you noted, these features are fairly common and if that's all he has to say about his game, then it's rather boring and uninspiring.

Exitium, while you are correct about quantum, quantum leap is a phrase meaning "an abrupt change, sudden increase, or dramatic advance "

 

[triCritical]

For whatever its worth, a quantum leap, is kind of liking getting from point A to point B without having a traceable path. In this case, its not evolution, because that would require a series of small steps that made sense, sort of. Quantum leap is like going from TB to Arcade, with no friggin explanation and from sci-fi-low-fantasy to high fantasy, with no learning of the new roots, or anything...

 

[space captain]

how do you get from Wizardry to this??

im willing to try it out though...

 

[4too]

Hyperbolic

Hyperbolic

Quantum leap in this context implies a "dramatic" leap in his evolution.

Signifies a jump that's not anticipated by the traditional Newtonian Physics of F = MA.

Implies a conceptual shift to a new or different physical model of the universe to "grasp" the true nature of phenomenon.

But the "buzz" he's generating relates to perceptual and aesthetic leaps that have their own whimsical laws. Not a astronomical construct but a astrological forcast that will be more under the influence of the gravity of the marketplace, the phases of some dark lurking moons and planets of hype.

A trajectory measured in dollars vs time for us mortals, and dollars vs time vs time for the accelerated high priests of hype: the market'eers and their fellow travelers, the "'bean counters'".

At this point, in space/time, our observations detect a HYPERBOLIC path , some where,
some time, before the 'peak' and destined for a path of 'decay' as market forces gobble up another "shooting star".

If escape velocity has been achieved, it may be an orbit limited to his own personal universe. The big bang that dwells between his shaggy old ears.

... during the past several decades my approach to creating leading edge RPG ...

Legend in his own mind?

"" Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun"'" in the best "Pink Floyd" naval sniffing self absorption?

Holy """""Ummagumma"""""" space cadets!




4too

 

[Anonymous]

I think this game might be a contender to Lionheart as one of the worst CRPGs ever made.

 

[the_dagon]

what a change...

I this the guy who made Wizardry, Wizards & Warriors, and so many good CRPGs ?

for me, DW Bradley knew exactly what I love in a CRPG... the scenario was always fun, and more important, the background and subquests were good ! Remember the pyramid in W&W, the two towers in Wiz6... No fedex quests there...

I think Dungeon Lords won't be a CRPG. An action game, ok. Maybe even a good game, a very good game, but NOT a RPG.

Seems nobody asked Mr Bradley what RPG elements will be in his game... I didn't find any in his description

 

[Sol Invictus]

I don't mind the fact that it's an action game but it's looking a lot like a simplistic arcade action hack and slasher (e.g. LOTR) at this point.

 

[Dhruin]

That's exactly my beef. If the action-combat system is well-done, it might even be fun but he seems determined to hype the depth and roleplaying without actually explaining it. It doesn't even have the 8 races that are always claimed (not that that is "depth", anyway) - as far as I can see it's 4x races, male and female.

 

[Llyranor]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dungeonl ... 00790.html

"GS: We've heard that there are eight playable races in the game. What are these races and classes, and how will they impact the way the game is played?

DWB: I'll only tell you six! Three are familiar to all RPG fans: human male and female; elf male and female; and dwarf male and female. The other races are all special subhumans (called the Demigoths), and three of these are Urgoth (big, furry bestial guys), Wylvan (wolfish characters), and Thrall (sneaky mean, little, hairy dudes). The chosen race for the player's hero primarily determines certain tendencies in how that character develops in the game, and it can be a factor in dealing with NPC characters in the world. Racial choice may offer possible opportunities and also offer certain special characteristics that the character may acquire."




In any case, I'm actually pretty interested in this game, but it's still a wait-and-see. I *like* console fighting games, and if the battle system is any fun, I'll enjoy playing this coop. As for the rest of the game, I can't say much about it yet. Wait and see.

 

[Rosh]

Unfortunately, it sounds just like every other race combination in any Wizardry or his W & W crap. About the only good thing Heuristic Pork has done for the industry was to provide some animations for Nox. Oh, and to provide some laughs.

Deepsix wasn't just a clever name for the executable. It was explicit instructions on what to do with the entire game.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Hey, that actually sounds mildly interesting. Now... as to the implementation, if it's anything as poor as W&W, I'll pass.

 

[the_dagon]

w&w

Am I the only one who really liked W&W ???

it had many flaws, but I really enjoyed the scenario and quests ! ...much more than Wizardry 8's

bah, best crpg was questron I on apple II

 

[Dhruin]

@ Llyranor, my error - thanks.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Re: w&w

bah, best crpg was questron I on apple II

Questron rules. That was the first CRPG I can remember playing.