 |
|
|
|
 |
Special Sections: Shadowbane Shadowbane is the upcoming MMO game with Guild vs. Guild Warfare in development by Wolfpack Studios. Jason "Tangent" Durall took the time out of his development schedule to talk with Valkyrie (SB Sanctum) and GameRifts about some of the behind the scenes aspects of the game. Note: This interview also appears on SB Sanctum as we shared Tangent.
GR/SBS: What have been some significant obstacles during beta or the design process that have been overcome or what types of milestones in the development process have been reached? Tangent: During the design process we made a mistake in that the development of worldbuilding tools came in kind of late in the process, so we found ourselves developing tools for worldbuilding at the same time we were building adventuring areas. So, that was a bit of an obstacle. Once the designers and the coders started taking a look at the tools and using them themselves, we found we had a very quick turnaround in getting the tools up to be what they needed to be. GR/SBS: The engine now is completely versatile? You can drop in new tile-sets, avatars, and mob skins? Tangent: More or less. The tool set is not one hundred percent what we wish it could be but it gets better all the time; it evolves. I think perhaps for the next big project - whatever that may be, we know now that tools are essential to start with, whereas with Shadowbane the tools sort of came along as they were required. GR/SBS: How has your role changed as the vision of the game went from 2D isometric to fully 3D? Tangent: Not applicable, really - I came to Wolfpack long after Shadowbane was 3D. GR/SBS: What are some of the challenges you face in creating multiple worlds in complete 3D? Tangent: HIt's a challenge to constantly have to keep in mind that players can enter the areas from almost any direction, rather than being forced to enter at one corner and working ones' way through to the opposite corner, for example. Also, because of the evolution of our world-building and custom terrain capabilities, it's been tough to visualize zones without having any of their custom terrain features, or in some cases, any of the appropriate terrain and foliage around. GR/SBS: How large will zones be and will there be a way to traverse zones quickly (i.e. RuneGates, Spells) and are there significant issues when creating portals to ensure all a players data transfers correctly. Tangent: In Shadowbane, the word "zone" applies to a few different things - from macro zones (a particular biome, used to theme a world/continent area or link together some adventure zones of similar biomes), adventure zones (a combination of terrain/biome and a theme adventure area), micro zones (small adventure areas), and point of interest zones (very small adventure areas). These nest in the order described. So, the answer would be that they can be a few dozen feet in size, to the size of a continent. We have runegates, and spells of teleportation (and the many flavors of teleportation), so getting around isn't tough. I'm not sure about the issues with player data - I'm not a programmer. GR/SBS: Some time ago it was said that there won't be typical zoning a la EQ. How will the zoning work instead, and are there any areas that will require a load time zone? Tangent: Shadowbane features a persistent world, with every area "existing" all the time, with your client loading only the areas near you in a particular radius. In the beta currently, there is a bit of lag when you enter some of the larger, more complex areas (or teleport into an area), but that will be lessening significantly or disappearing entirely as the graphics get optimized. You don't ever see a "loading" screen, or anything like that - your character and the world surrounding them are always on screen, and you should be able to move and interact with the environment at all times. GR/SBS: As far as monsters go, do you intend to follow a more D&D route and use creatures players may already be familiar with, or do you intend to lean towards creating monsters unique to Aerynth? Tangent: We've drawn a lot of our monsters from actual myth and folklore. Some are from fantasy literature and the genre, some are familiar to most gamers, while a few are entirely new. GR/SBS: What's your favorite part about working on Shadowbane? Tangent: The people. We have a great crew - almost like a family, and while we may not all get along all of the time, there is a definite feeling of camaraderie among those of us who make up the pack. We're all part of this big thing, which is pretty cool, as now that we're in the final stages of development, our contributions are all beginning to shine. GR/SBS: We've heard that there may be a slider to turn down the number of polygons on character models. Will this hold true for terrain as well? Tangent: No idea. Next question! GR/SBS: Trying to ask questions of a World Builder is hard. It's one of the most important roles that are largely underappreciated. Is that true from your point of view? Tangent: Yes and no. I sometimes find that people have no idea what a world-builder does, or how many aspects of the game I'm in charge of getting "right", but at the same time, every comment about zones, adventuring areas, and the like are the work of myself and my team. GR/SBS: Ashen Temper tells us that while his job is to get the soda's, you also have a very unique role at Wolfpack, care to share what it is with us? Something about doughnuts? Tangent: Ashen, that soda jerk! Oh well, since the cat's out of the bag, I might as well come clean. For our company meetings, I bring in some homemade doughnuts. I get up at 1:00 am, and start mixing flour and sugar and butter and stuff, and start tossing little balls of dough around. Since all of us at Wolfpack have different tastes, I usually have to make about a dozen different types of doughnuts - from jelly-filled, to bear claws, cinnamon rolls, maple bars, sprinkles, powdered sugar, old fashioned, chocolate, cake, middles, etc. Usually, I'm too tired to do any work after that, but the looks of joy and contentment on the faces of the rest of Wolfpack is worth the effort I'm just glad that I'm not Dreadflame, who leaves every night on a red-eye round-trip flight down to South America for fresh, hand-picked coffee beans to roast and grind for the office coffee. Sucks to be him, but damned good coffee! GR/SBS: Anything you would like to add? Tangent: Just kidding about the doughnut thing. You got that, right? GR/SBS: Thanks for the time! Our thanks to Tangent for taking the time out to talk to us, answering our many questions. If you would like to learn more about Shadowbane, you can find their official site at: http://www.shadowbane.com/ Discuss: Time to make the doughnuts?
|
|
|
Advertise
Privacy Statement |
Back
Main
Top
|
© Copyright 2001-2004 GameRifts.com - All Rights Reserved. All trademarks used and referred to are acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners. Use of this site in no way constitutes any special rights or exemptions from copyright and trademark laws. Content from this site may not be used or duplicated in whole or in part without the express written consent of the owner(s).
