Voodoo Priestesses and Personal Pirate Ships
Voodoo Priestesses and Personal Pirate Ships
Interview - posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Fri 29 July 2011, 12:03:57
Tags: Piranha Bytes; Risen 2: Dark WatersGamespot chatted with Deep Silver's Daniel Oberlerchner on the topic of Risen 2: Dark Waters.
GS: We understand that Risen 2 will include a more fully-realized world with characters that go about their own daily schedules regardless of whether players are present or not. While this is definitely an interesting addition, what will it add to the game? How will the hero interact with, or benefit from, characters who wake up every morning to tend to their farm, or sneak out to the tavern every evening?
DO: To understand the focus on daily routines, the AI of the NPCs, and other design decisions, we have to dive a bit into the origin of the Gothic series. When Piranha Bytes created Gothic in 2001, their aim was to create an RPG which follows the tradition of the old Ultima games. The Ultima games in the '80s and '90s already offered a lot of the game mechanics we take for granted in a modern RPG even though the presentation was of course in no way comparable to what players are used to seeing on the screen nowadays. In Risen 2, every NPC has a daily routine and will react to the player based on a set of rules. Many of those rules are similar to the rules in our society: Don't steal or you will be punished. Don't attack or threaten people unless you're ready for a fight yourself. Don't sneak into people's houses when they are awake/nearby or you will raise their attention. All those basic rules give the player a sense of actually having a place as a person in society and thus convince him that this is a real world he is playing in.
Risen 2 does not throw the player into a huge city with thousands of citizens where none of them react to what you're doing. The appeal of the games of Piranha Bytes is to observe the NPCs, and then either play along or try to outsmart the AI by developing devious ways to get to your goals. What we offer is a lively and immersive gameworld to play with, and we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game. All decisions you make in the game will influence which skills will be available from trainers throughout the gameworld. Additionally, the game will not only react on your actions in the short term, but NPCs will remember that you fought or argued with them and, depending on the outcome, admire or hate you.
Thanks to Krokar for pointing this out.
GS: We understand that Risen 2 will include a more fully-realized world with characters that go about their own daily schedules regardless of whether players are present or not. While this is definitely an interesting addition, what will it add to the game? How will the hero interact with, or benefit from, characters who wake up every morning to tend to their farm, or sneak out to the tavern every evening?
DO: To understand the focus on daily routines, the AI of the NPCs, and other design decisions, we have to dive a bit into the origin of the Gothic series. When Piranha Bytes created Gothic in 2001, their aim was to create an RPG which follows the tradition of the old Ultima games. The Ultima games in the '80s and '90s already offered a lot of the game mechanics we take for granted in a modern RPG even though the presentation was of course in no way comparable to what players are used to seeing on the screen nowadays. In Risen 2, every NPC has a daily routine and will react to the player based on a set of rules. Many of those rules are similar to the rules in our society: Don't steal or you will be punished. Don't attack or threaten people unless you're ready for a fight yourself. Don't sneak into people's houses when they are awake/nearby or you will raise their attention. All those basic rules give the player a sense of actually having a place as a person in society and thus convince him that this is a real world he is playing in.
Risen 2 does not throw the player into a huge city with thousands of citizens where none of them react to what you're doing. The appeal of the games of Piranha Bytes is to observe the NPCs, and then either play along or try to outsmart the AI by developing devious ways to get to your goals. What we offer is a lively and immersive gameworld to play with, and we equip you with the hero character, who is meant to serve as a vessel for your chosen play style. This is also why there is no character creation screen when you start the game. All decisions you make in the game will influence which skills will be available from trainers throughout the gameworld. Additionally, the game will not only react on your actions in the short term, but NPCs will remember that you fought or argued with them and, depending on the outcome, admire or hate you.
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