Interview Drakensang interview at RPG Dot

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Drakensang

<a href=http://www.rpgdot.com>RPG Dot</a> has scored an <a href=http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=1228&sid=eb63ea39e75d0427991ea8d96101f3f3>interview</a> with <a href=http://www.radonlabs.de/>Radon Labs</a>, a large German studio known for many unknown projects and recently announced Das Schwarze Auge: Drakensang, the REAL rpg.
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<blockquote><b>Can you summarize Drakensang and the gameplay it will offer?</b>
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The most telling description of DSA: DRAKENSANG might be something like Baldur's Gate in 3D, but based on The Dark Eye, Germany's biggest RPG system. This means: classic party-based RPG, no irritating button mashing, but tactical, pausable combat, a skill-based dynamic dialogue system, unique characters and an epic story as a primary element. All this set against the backdrop of a classic low fantasy world with elves, dwarfs, orcs - definitely no spaceships and time travel, but an almost historical and very deep medieval world.
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<b>You described Drakensang as a "Baldur's Gate in 3D", which actually sounds quite different to the previous Arkania titles. What features from Baldur's Gate do you want to emulate and why?</b>
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We once again wanted to develop a "REAL role-playing game", which means a party with characters that are funny and worth remembering, pausable combat that is rooted in a turn-based system, multiple-choice dialogues, extensive inventory management and a beautiful and believable world.
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We do want to modernize and speed up the combat though, which has too often become bogged down throughout the years. While we do have a pause function that you can use at any time, be it to switch weapons or to take a potion, our aim is for the player to have to use it as little as possible. In order to achieve this we're refining gameplay with such things as special party moves, quick shots and of course a well thought-out interface that offers the player precise feedback at all times.</blockquote>That certainly sucks. Oh well...
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Here is a brief overview of the rest:
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<blockquote>Aventuria is a classic fantasy world: elves who live in harmony with nature and work strange magic, grumbly dwarves that are as proficient with the wrought iron...
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Dialogues are a vital part of the gameplay. ... On the other hand, we don't want to force the player to plough through page after page of text in order to be able to follow the plot. We want to put an emphasis on short and vibrant dialogues.
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The main quest is mostly linear...
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<u>We feel that a purely turn-based system only addresses a minority of today's RPG audience. For that reason we are trying to make combat more fluent - as has been done in Baldur's Gate - and make it a special experience with brilliant animations, crisp sounds and graphics effects...</u></blockquote>Lovely.
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[FrancoTAU]

Geez, just as I was telling Saint P that BG2 isn't the inspiration for all these new games.... Shit, what is this... the second BG2 clone announced this week? On top of Dragon Age and NWN2 as well.

 

[Nightjed]

ooh, joy, this game just reeks of originality, with fluent combat (consecutive-turn real time combat bleh), funny characters (80% chance "funny" becomes "incredible anoying"), crisp sound (Cp. Pickard strikes back ?), great graphics! (aka very detailed big boobed female elves in thong armor +50) with beautiful animations!!! (exagerated bouncy boobies!)

is there any chance anyone, just anyone dares to try to do something different ?! jeez ... its like reading the same previews over and over again, the game "ideas" are so similar im starting to get them confused -_-

 

[Mefi]

At first glance, I thought "ooo Darklands.."

And then I read it properly.

Oh well. RTwP stinks but it's never put me off a game by itself yet. I guess I'll hold back until more is known.

 

[EvilManagedCare]

This doesn't look like BG2 in 3D at all. Watch the trailer, looks like fucking Dungeon Siege. Sounds like it's going to be damn near the same thing too. I still have my doubts this title will ever see the light of day, or at the very least see a US release.

That said, even though this will be the faintest shadow of its predecessors, I so loved them I would buy this gigantic turkey anyway. Which of course reinforces the developer's ideas of what players want (i.e. "phased-time" clickfest combat, crappy, linear dialogue, etc). So in a sense, I will also be helping kill this genre. What a quandry.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Geez, just as I was telling Saint P that BG2 isn't the inspiration for all these new games....

pwn3d.

 

[HiddenX]

We feel that a purely turn-based system only addresses a minority of today's RPG audience.

I am belonging to this minority

Jagged Alliance, Fallout, Wizardry and Incubation combat rulez.

 

[deus]

This doesn't look like BG2 in 3D at all. Watch the trailer, looks like fucking Dungeon Siege. Sounds like it's going to be damn near the same thing too. I still have my doubts this title will ever see the light of day, or at the very least see a US release.

That said, even though this will be the faintest shadow of its predecessors, I so loved them I would buy this gigantic turkey anyway. Which of course reinforces the developer's ideas of what players want (i.e. "phased-time" clickfest combat, crappy, linear dialogue, etc). So in a sense, I will also be helping kill this genre. What a quandry.

You can be like me and hope that the real Realms of Arkania 4, The Lady, The Knight and the Mage, actually comes out. Granted, it was announced with little fanfare 5-8 years ago, but I'm still hoping.

 

[Johannes Teugen]

He's right, we are a minority. A minority of people read Joyce and Yeats and listen to Bach and Glass and so forth and so on.

*shrug*

I just want someone to say, "Yay for people with good taste, we're going for that demographic.", not, "Yeah, we're doing Romeo and Juliette, but with kung-fu."

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

I am not specifically a TB fan, and RTwP is a "neutral" system to me, I don't particularly love it, but it has never been a problem for me either.
Well, at least they put significant emphasis on dialogue, although there is the worry that "not... pages and pages" really means "as ittle and simple as possible" in the end. Let's hope not.
I am not sure how this one is going to turn out, but I would really like a new game set in Aventurien, if just for nostalgia's sake.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I am not specifically a TB fan, and RTwP is a "neutral" system to me, I don't particularly love it, but it has never been a problem for me either.

RT isn't the problem, RT done for all the wrong reasons is. I would have been happy if they said "we love RT, it's a great system, we know it well, and can deliver a bitching combat system" instead of "uh, we've heard that it sells well, so, uh, that's what we gonna do, and, uh, we'll focus on the combat visuals and sounds".

Well, at least they put significant emphasis on dialogue, although there is the worry that "not... pages and pages" really means "as ittle and simple as possible" in the end. Let's hope not.

Doesn't sound impressive either. What they used as examples sounds like what IWD/IWD2 had - a few class/race specific lines here and there. They do care about the market and what sells too much to do decent dialogues that may upset the anti-reading trigger-happy crowd.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

"We once again wanted to develop a "REAL role-playing game", which means a party with characters that are funny and worth remembering, pausable combat that is rooted in a turn-based system, multiple-choice dialogues, extensive inventory management and a beautiful and believable world. "

That is somewhat of a retarded definition of "REAL RPGs"

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

RT isn't the problem, RT done for all the wrong reasons is. I would have been happy if they said "we love RT, it's a great system, we know it well, and can deliver a bitching combat system" instead of "uh, we've heard that it sells well, so, uh, that's what we gonna do, and, uh, we'll focus on the combat visuals and sounds".

Well, even if they'd said the first one, they would have really been saying the second one under a few choice coughing sounds.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

I am not specifically a TB fan, and RTwP is a "neutral" system to me, I don't particularly love it, but it has never been a problem for me either.

RT isn't the problem, RT done for all the wrong reasons is. I would have been happy if they said "we love RT, it's a great system, we know it well, and can deliver a bitching combat system" instead of "uh, we've heard that it sells well, so, uh, that's what we gonna do, and, uh, we'll focus on the combat visuals and sounds".

I honestly don't care that much about developer motivations (or "track records"), what counts is the actual final product. Motivation may influence the quality of the product (in so far I may agree with you htat theirs isn't a particularly good sign) but it's only one of many factors, so it's pretty irrelevant to me in the end.

And BTW, what you said was pretty much what the Broken Hourglass people said - and nobody cut them much slack because of it, did they?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I honestly don't care that much about developer motivations (or "track records"), what counts is the actual final product.

Ok, let me rephrase, when it comes to books, can you tell the difference between a fantasy book written by an author who loves fantasy and an author who writes fantasy because it sells? Wouldn't you say that the actual final product would be affected by such motivation?

And BTW, what you said was pretty much what the Broken Hourglass people said - and nobody cut them much slack because of it, did they?

I beg to differ.
"Why" is that, simply put, it [real-time combat] seems to work pretty well for a pretty substantial segment of the player base."
In other words, most people like RT, so that's what we are going to do.

 

[bryce777]

At first glance, I thought "ooo Darklands.."

And then I read it properly.

Oh well. RTwP stinks but it's never put me off a game by itself yet. I guess I'll hold back until more is known.

Darklands was realtime with pause, but this still sounds like it will suck.

 

[Red Russian]

I can see it know. You see they...

...want to put an emphasis on short and vibrant dialogues...

...that has sentences that's only got between 3 and 6 words that they are going to use to not only make...

...a skill-based dynamic dialogue system...

...but it's fast to write, easy and works for the masses since then they don't have to...

...plough through page after page of text in order to be able to follow the plot...

And also their...

...main quest is mostly linear...

...which is...

...set against the backdrop of a classic low fantasy world with elves, dwarfs, orcs...

...with elves dressed in thongs and mindless cannon fodder orksies, and also they've got...

...brilliant animations, crisp sounds and graphics effects...

Simplistic RPG made for the masses. But still, I'll wait for more info.

 

[Nightjed]

lol, nice selective quoting, Red Russian :D

 

[Screaming_life]

Well, at least they put significant emphasis on dialogue, although there is the worry that "not... pages and pages" really means "as ittle and simple as possible" in the end. Let's hope not.

Didn't they employ someone to work on nothing other than making dialogues as "short as possible" ?

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

Well, short and to the point is not bad. Dynamic, multiple choice, and skill dependent are all good. It's just that the emphasis seems to be on "don't scare the kids with too much text" seems bad.

Ok, let me rephrase, when it comes to books, can you tell the difference between a fantasy book written by an author who loves fantasy and an author who writes fantasy because it sells? Wouldn't you say that the actual final product would be affected by such motivation?

With a book certainly, with a RPG combat system not necessarily. The second can be just fine if it's technically competent even if the "heart" is not in it. In a novel technical competence only goes that far.

 

[Spamminetzu]

You can be like me and hope that the real Realms of Arkania 4, The Lady, The Knight and the Mage, actually comes out. Granted, it was announced with little fanfare 5-8 years ago, but I'm still hoping.

Ummm... are you being serious? LMK will never ever come out because attic Entertainment has long gone out of business. attic went bankrupt some time in 1998 IIRC (possibly 1999).
Larian Studios (the folks behind Divinity and Beyond Divinity) were working on LMK together with attic when attic ran into financial problems and could no longer fulfill their obligations from the mutual contract.
Larian Studios (in order to survive) was eventually forced to cancel the cooperation with attic and they had to abandon LMK.
Larian then developed Project C which later became known as Divine Divinity. attic was never heard of again.

Finally, you might want to check out some of the old LMK info and screenshots. LMK was NEVER supposed to be a sequel of the Northland trilogy and thus was never meant to become "the real Realms of Arkania IV". That's just plain wrong. LMK was supposed to be based on the Realms of Arkania universe (Aventuria) but that's about it as far as similiarities are concerned. It was pretty obvious back then that they were aiming at a piece of the Diablo (clone) pie when they designed LMK. LMK was going to be an action RPG. That was a well known fact (much to the disappointment of the fans) back then.

 

[Linedog]

Here is the real shame - When I see those screen shots of purty graphics, I think of Bethesda and other pretty 'games' which are barely games at all. Also, the 50% combat is somewhat worrisome. Talk a little, walk a little oohing and ahhing at the purty graphics and fight ,fight , fight, pausing constantly too try to figure out what the fuck is going on.

 

[deus]

You can be like me and hope that the real Realms of Arkania 4, The Lady, The Knight and the Mage, actually comes out. Granted, it was announced with little fanfare 5-8 years ago, but I'm still hoping.

Ummm... are you being serious? LMK will never ever come out because attic Entertainment has long gone out of business. attic went bankrupt some time in 1998 IIRC (possibly 1999).
Larian Studios (the folks behind Divinity and Beyond Divinity) were working on LMK together with attic when attic ran into financial problems and could no longer fulfill their obligations from the mutual contract.
Larian Studios (in order to survive) was eventually forced to cancel the cooperation with attic and they had to abandon LMK.
Larian then developed Project C which later became known as Divine Divinity. attic was never heard of again.

Finally, you might want to check out some of the old LMK info and screenshots. LMK was NEVER supposed to be a sequel of the Northland trilogy and thus was never meant to become "the real Realms of Arkania IV". That's just plain wrong. LMK was supposed to be based on the Realms of Arkania universe (Aventuria) but that's about it as far as similiarities are concerned. It was pretty obvious back then that they were aiming at a piece of the Diablo (clone) pie when they designed LMK. LMK was going to be an action RPG. That was a well known fact (much to the disappointment of the fans) back then.

I was joking about it being released, and thanks for the info on the Diablo clone stuff. LMK was labeled as RoA IV in a little blurb I read when it was first announced, and then fell off the radar completely in the US.

 

[DemonKing]

<u>We feel that a purely turn-based system only addresses a minority of today's RPG audience. </u>

I think there is still a market for turn-based combat (look at the current popularity of HOM&M5), but bad turn-based combat is a real put off, as in POR2, for instance.

It's also possible to have a good combat engine, but fail to provide the player with enough challenging encounters to fully utilise the engine's strengths. TOEE being a prime culprit here, where only a handful of the combats were actually epic or memorable in any way.

On the other hand, I quite enjoyed the IE engine combat, so if they can replicate that feel I won't be too disappointed...but I really wish we had moved beyond the concept of BG in 3D = $$$$. At least Dragon Age seems to be trying to update the model a bit and the Black Hound, had it been released, would also have been interesting.

 

[Mefi]

ToEE's turn based combat is the best I've yet seen. The problem is that in vanilla it was obvious there was a rush for time - every single creature had exactly the same 'tactics' file and many just weren't properly coded to match abilities with what they did! Hence the lack of memorable battles in that. There are also issues with how the engine works behind the scenes. A bit of .dll crackery might solve those though if Co8 can find someone able and willing to start doing that again.

@bryce777 - sure. And that's why I said RTwP has never put me off a game on its own. But this sounds like it's going to have more in common with BG:DA (real time but you can use teh pawse) than with Darklands.