Codex Interview RPG Codex Interview: Umbra

[Zed]

Tags: SolarFall Games; Umbra

Umbra is a hack-n-slash action RPG from the frenchies over at SolarFall Games. RPG Codex would normally not bother too much with a game of this sort, but Umbra is an unusually interesting game. At least to me, and that's all that matters (haah!). So I sent them some questions, and I received answers from their Game Director and Lead Programmer Daniel Dolui. I should probably mention that they're currently running a successful Kickstarter campaign for Umbra, and that it's a good place to read up more about the game.

Here are the first two questions and answers – mostly because it's the norm for us to post small interview snippets. You really should just read the interview in its entirety!

RPG CODEX: SolarFall Games is a new studio. You seem to have a lot of experience with visual technology and CryEngine. What else can you tell us about yourselves? And what led you to creating an action RPG as your first title?

DANIEL DOLUI, SOLARFALL GAMES: Well since we are on RPG Codex, it is important for us to let you guys know that we are also classic pen & paper RPG players. It has helped us a lot designing some of the cool feature of Umbra, like the Apocalyptic Form and the universe of the game. We are also huge video game players. Among our favourite games are Diablo, Morrowind and Dungeon Keeper.

Umbra’s development started as a modding project. At the time, Crysis modders were looking for a way to change the FPS into an RPG game, but didn’t have programming skills to do so. I decided to create an open-source “platform” for people to use and develop their own mod. The project evolved a lot, and quickly oriented to a Hack & Slash system. Then it soon became clear that Umbra should become a game it in its own rights.

We chose to develop an ARPG simply because it is the kind of game that we enjoy the most, and we had several cool ideas that have never implemented before. That’s how Umbra was born!​

Aside from the graphics – what sets Umbra apart from the legions of other action RPGs?

The Apocalyptic Form is the feature I am the most excited about. Apocalyptic Form is a customizable ultimate power every player will get. It allows you to turn into a personalized Avatar of Destruction for some time. It is built from up to three “Apocalyptic Upgrade” options, unlocked by your character according to your play style. Apocalyptic Upgrade can very different, for example, getting horns on your head to rush and knock down every enemies, or getting wings to make huge leap and access unreachable areas, having a third hand to equip with a new weapon and fight, or having an Aura of Death raising undead everywhere you walk. I can’t wait to see the combos that players will find and how they will manage to get the most out of it!

The freedom of development, allowing you to pick any skill from any specialization will also bring a lot of interest to me. I always wanted to be a barbarian with a huge mace walking in the middle of my zombie horde!

Our crafting module is also really cool, and quite a bit different from other games. We hope that people who don’t enjoy crafting will actually like ours, since it is a quite addictive and rewarding skill based mini-game.

Elemental Effect Interaction, managing the effects of Lightning / Fire / Water / Ice is also a very cool addition to the gameplay and will bring tons a great combos to the game.​​

Read the full article: RPG Codex Interview: Umbra

 

[ERYFKRAD]

 

[Aenra]

RPG Codex would normally not bother too much with a game of this sort, but Umbra is an unusually interesting game

Was Diablo 3 also an interesting game Zed? 'Cause i sure do remember you news posting about it. Am new and dumb, so someone should help me understand. It even rhymes!

 

[Zed]

RPG Codex would normally not bother too much with a game of this sort, but Umbra is an unusually interesting game

Was Diablo 3 also an interesting game Zed? 'Cause i sure do remember you news posting about it. Am new and dumb, so someone should help me understand. It even rhymes!

Not interesting in the same way.
D3 was interesting because of hard it failed at almost everything when it launched. IIRC that's what we posted about.
This game is interesting because it sounds fun.

 

[Drowed]

If they're using Path of Exile as a guide, then yeah, I can see this game going places. Most of the answers were somewhat generic for my taste, but I found interesting the idea that you can take the power of a unique for use in other weapons. They clearly like ARPGs and don't hide it - which is not really a problem. I don't think we should expect much from the "RPG" part of the game, but if it offers varied and interesting builds and a good number of skills then, yes, I think it has the potential to be a good game. It sure looks nice, at least.

 

[Raapys]

Devil's in the details with these kinds of games. Good itemization, fun char development, good hit feedback, solid atmosphere, high pace, etc. Looks decent enough, but impossible to say for sure without actually playing it.

 

[SolarFall Games]

Hello guys!
I'm Daniel from SolarFall Games.
As you're aware, we're working on Umbra and running a Kickstarter to secure the funds needed to complete development.
It was fun doing this interview (thanks for the chance!).
Everyone, do let me know if you have any questions!

 

[Drowed]

Hello, Daniel! I have a question about the Active Skills. As I understand it, you only get these skills when you find a book in the game world. I imagine that these books should be a "drop", found randomly in the game, correct?

Then, I wonder: how would be the construction of the character if you want to make a specific "build"? Let's say I created a character and I want him to be something in the lines of a "stealth assassin". A character who moves fast, attack enemies from behind, with skills with fast movement and the like. Even assuming the fact that the game has active skills consistent with this idea, doesn't my character depend on "luck" to find the books needed for its concept? In other words, if I am not able to find the books with the corresponding skills, I simply won't be able to follow my concept?

Also, if all you need to have any skill is a book, won't we be in a situation where, eventually, all the characters will end up having a lot of random different skills anyway? After all, if you just need to read the book to learn a skill, logic would suggest that you should learn *all* the skills you find along the way. So in the end, every character will end up becoming a generalists, with a lot of different skills with several different functions. Then, there would be no "specialized" characters, or am I mistaken? (Unless you limit yourself to not use certain skills or don't learn them, which let's face it, it doesn't make any sense mechanically speaking.)

 

[turbo elephant]

Kickstarter says "Umbra PC and Linux"

Question: Will the Linux version be released at the same time as the PC (Windows I assume) release? (some RPG studios -from Belgium for instance- promise Linux support but make us wait many months and still more)

 

[Rivmusique]

"Action RPG game".

No dice.

 

[krist2]

Hmm, I'm intrigued. I have a fondness for Hack n Slash, nice to play when I just want some fast fun, and not the more story based longer RPG's. So hope they will take good parts from original Diablo, some from Path of Exile and Grim Dawn and Sacred.
But, the only Hack n Slash I ever finished was Diablo and Diablo II, and thats many years ago.

 

[naossano]

It is not the first time an hack-n-slash is mentioned on the codex.
I don't mind it as long at it isn't in the incline list.

 

[SolarFall Games]

Hello, Daniel! I have a question about the Active Skills. As I understand it, you only get these skills when you find a book in the game world. I imagine that these books should be a "drop", found randomly in the game, correct?

Then, I wonder: how would be the construction of the character if you want to make a specific "build"? Let's say I created a character and I want him to be something in the lines of a "stealth assassin". A character who moves fast, attack enemies from behind, with skills with fast movement and the like. Even assuming the fact that the game has active skills consistent with this idea, doesn't my character depend on "luck" to find the books needed for its concept? In other words, if I am not able to find the books with the corresponding skills, I simply won't be able to follow my concept?

Also, if all you need to have any skill is a book, won't we be in a situation where, eventually, all the characters will end up having a lot of random different skills anyway? After all, if you just need to read the book to learn a skill, logic would suggest that you should learn *all* the skills you find along the way. So in the end, every character will end up becoming a generalists, with a lot of different skills with several different functions. Then, there would be no "specialized" characters, or am I mistaken? (Unless you limit yourself to not use certain skills or don't learn them, which let's face it, it doesn't make any sense mechanically speaking.)

The way we currently manage the system is the following:
Some basic skills from every "trees" are available from merchant or quest rewards.
You always have a choice to pick the one you prefer.
According to the way you play (skills you use), the game will unlock more skills that are related to it, or can combo with it.
The more "efficient" you are using a skill, the more skill level you will gain with that specific skill - So unless you play a very long time and level up every skills, you won't be a generalist

To make sure you can find the skills you are looking for, important quests will feature a large variety of skills as reward, so at some point, you should always find the skill you are looking for!

Kickstarter says "Umbra PC and Linux"

Question: Will the Linux version be released at the same time as the PC (Windows I assume) release? (some RPG studios -from Belgium for instance- promise Linux support but make us wait many months and still more)

We will do everything in our power so that it does. Most of the Linux port complexity is actually managed by Crytek – they do the real work on porting the engine to Linux. We mostly need to rebuild our version properly and run various optimization tests. I have great faith in Crytek’s people, they are very talented and I believe they will provide us the very best tools to release the game on Linux and PC simultaneously.

 

[ArchAngel]

From the video and screenshot there seem to be only a few slots for skills? Do you plan to limit the number of active skills players can use at one time like in D3 and PoE or will you let players use many like in Diablo 2?
And why?

 

[SolarFall Games]

From the video and screenshot there seem to be only a few slots for skills? Do you plan to limit the number of active skills players can use at one time like in D3 and PoE or will you let players use many like in Diablo 2?
And why?

In the beginning of the game, you will be limited to 6 skill slots. However, there are somme passive skills, Apocalyptic Upgrade and items that will provide you additional skills slots!
It will be up to you to choose between additional slots and other bonuses

 

[MicoSelva]

Umbra's development started as a modding project. At the time, Crysis modders were looking for a way to change the FPS into an RPG game, but didn't have programming skills to do so.

We are thinking about a turn-based RPG game. I am really excited about all the idea we have for it, but I cannot say more at the moment. It is just an idea in our heads!

'RPG game'

Every time I see this phrase I get the feeling that whoever says/writes it does not know what 'RPG' even stands for.

Umbra looks nice, though, and the KS campaign seems to be on the right track, so I will keep one eye on it.

 

[4249]

Huh, at a quick glance this definitely caught my attention. While it's combining a lot of familiar elements, seems like pretty fresh mix for a Diablo clone. Will give the pitch and interview a better read once home and probably throw some money at their kickstarter. I wholeheartedly hope they can pull off a decent open-world experience. Still a bit butthurt about Grim Dawn completely failing on that front.

 

[4249]

The other part is called “Forge” and will allow you to change the effectiveness of your weapons. It is a very cool mini game putting you in the role of a smith, where you need to strike your weapon in the right time to give bonus to your weapon. It is a rewarding but punishing module, because you can also break your weapon that way.

Not really a dealbreaker, atleast for me, but sounds pretty lame.

The less powerful enemies will always be reinforced to fit your character’s power, to make sure the game remains interesting wherever you go. However, the stronger enemies won’t be scaled down. That’s our current approach.

Although not scaling down the stronger monsters is the more important part, infinitely scaling the less powerful ones could be a dealbreaker, I'd prefer no scaling at all or at the very least some sort of level ranges for the scaling like in Grim Dawn.
Don't think I'll be throwing money at this thing just yet after all

 

[Crooked Bee]

Live Q&A with the dev(s): http://www.twitch.tv/crytek

 

[tyrannosaurus rex]

Hello guys!
I'm Daniel from SolarFall Games.
As you're aware, we're working on Umbra and running a Kickstarter to secure the funds needed to complete development.
It was fun doing this interview (thanks for the chance!).
Everyone, do let me know if you have any questions!

We're all aware that this is an early build, not optimized, but do you have an idea about the technical specifications?
Do you think playing it on a relatively high end laptop by 2015 standards will be possible, or are you pushing some technical boundaries ?




I've been hoping for a proper top down RPG since Diablo 1 was released, and it turned out all those ARPGs had to be linear for some reason. I was hoping Grim dawn would do it, sadly no.