I wish to *know* more: 20 questions on AoD

[katzenjammer]

VD, this game has really piqued my interest recently and so I've come up with some questions I don't think anyone's asked yet. Even if they have, a little clarification never hurt anybody, right?

Oh, and apologies for the almost interview-like length of this. I figured it was best to get everything off my chest in one go.



Here they are:

1) Will there be cheat codes or debug commands available in the game? If so, will they be sophisticated enough to set plot flags/variables?

2) Would it be possible to post a pic of the Options menu? I'd like to see how customizable the game is in terms of keyboard button remapping, audio/visual/interface options, turn-based combat speed, difficulty sliders, etc.

3) Any plans for a soundtrack CD? If not, will it be difficult for gamers to rip music from the game for their listening pleasure?

4) Is there any voice acting in the game at all?

5) To what extent do you expect the game to be moddable by players? Will it be difficult to create custom quests, items, characters, skills?

6) Will there be any non-interactive cutscenes (either FMVs or ones rendered in-game)?

7) Will diplomatic PCs be forced to run from combat encounters in order to remain a pacifist? i.e. Will there *always* be an opportunity for me to defuse conflicts before I'm forced into combat mode, or will even diplomats sometimes have to run like hell?

8) How do shopkeepers work? Are they like in Arcanum, where you can actually steal their items in a break-and-enter? Or is it like the BG games where if you kill the shopkeeper, their inventories are no longer available?

9) Is it possible to be defeated by enemies in combat and yet have them spare you? Since, for now at least, it appears whenever the PC wins a battle he or she can treat their combatants non-lethally.

10) Is it possible to quietly kill NPCs in a back alley without alerting guards? (Unlike in many RPGs where if you commit a crime the whole city goes aggro on your ass immediately).

11) Will there be vulgar language (e.g. FCC's 7 dirty words, racial slurs) or nudity in the game? Does the setting have its own lingo and slang, à la Planescape?

12) Will there be flirting or romantic possibilities with NPCs, and if so, will the interactions be strictly heterosexual? For comparison, I'm thinking of ToEE's gay marriage and Bloodlines' seduction options that are (sometimes) gender-irrelevant. Also, will sexual favours be a way to accomplish certain quests?

12) If it's true that works of art are often products of their times, would it be fair to say that AoD has thematic or allegorical references to the world's current political/cultural landscape?

13) Is there any procedurally-generated content in the game at all, or is everything hand-crafted/scripted?

14) Is the world of AoD patriarchal and systematically sexist? e.g. Is this a setting where women are expected to be domestic caretakers, and so a female knight PC would be an unusual thing? Or is it "anything men can do women can do just as well"?

15) What happens when the PC dies? Will we see a simple "game over" screen and the usual load/restart/exit buttons?

16) Suppose I activate Godmode and go about slaughtering everyone I meet without talking to them first. Will I be able to complete the game, or will I eventually kill some plot-important NPC that is crucial to game completion? (I ask this because I'm not sure if the game is designed in such a way that immortal NPCs are unnecessary.)

17) Is the sheathed vs. unsheathed status of weapons relevant in this game? Will the PC be harassed/greeted depending on the emblems, armor, gang signifiers, etc. they wear?

18) By power/metagaming and taking some shortcuts, players could complete Fallout in under ten minutes. Can this be done in AoD? Have any measures been taken to prevent this from happening, or is your attitude one of "people can play the game however they like"?

19) What's the largest number of foes we can expect to face in one encounter (cf. the siege in Hordes of the Underdark)? How long will enemy corpses remain on the ground after combat? Also related: Will items dropped on the ground disappear over time or will they lie there forever?

20) Can the camera angle be panned and adjusted such that we can admire our characters or look at the starry sky? When architecture obscures the player's view, does it automatically fade away? Will it be possible to play from unusual angles, say, first-person or a top-down bird's eye view?


And lastly, a bonus question...
21) Will you be including an easter egg for the credits screen where we can read obscene and perverse remarks by the developers? If not, would you please reconsider?




Please know that your time is very much appreciated and I respect the open communication you have with the people who'll be playing your games. If I can come up with any more things to ask, I'll be sure to add them here :wink:
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How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?

[Lord Chambers]

I'm curious about people who have such specific questions about games. What goes on in your head? Do you sit in a chair trying to picture the game in full detail? Or do you hold these kinds of questions in your head all day when you walk around, when you read game reviews, and when you play games?

Cause none of this is on my radar. Really at all. And the parts that almost might be aren't important enough for me to ever ask, so I just don't get it.
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[katzenjammer]

Meh. I basically challenged myself today to think of as many things I could ask about the game as possible. I only brainstormed them (er, "thought-showered" them) a little while before I made the post.

No gas, ulcers, or lost sleep due to my eagerness to ask VD these questions, I can assure you.
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How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?

[Country_Gravy]

You're still a bitch

[katzenjammer]

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How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?

[Nutcracker]

[katzenjammer]

[Fez]

I'm sorry but you will have to leave now. We have already filled the gay, pervert and furry quota mandated by internet law.
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In Soviet Union, the role plays you! ~Major_Blackhart
Feeling depressed kids? Mom won't let you watch TV? Turning emo? Listen up kids!
"Everyone's a girl when they're face down."

[Stark]

Yes, and when Fez leaves, you may come back.

[Fez]

Damn right. I don't want anyone competing on my patch, honey.
_________________
In Soviet Union, the role plays you! ~Major_Blackhart
Feeling depressed kids? Mom won't let you watch TV? Turning emo? Listen up kids!
"Everyone's a girl when they're face down."

[Vault Dweller]

[Nick]

[Roqua]

1) Will there be a garveyard with the names of community memebers on the gravestone?

2) Where is my beta download?

3) Depending on distribution methods, have you had to check out ratings? Or will it just default to unrated? If it sells a lot could this be a problem, or does it not matter? Iron Tower is a LLC right? Or is it a LLP? What is the taxes looking like in Canada? How are you going to pay employees? Do you have to issue paychecks through a roll, and pay whatever Canada's equivalent is to SSI, ect? Or are you just going to pay employees with a check and let them figure out all that tax bullshit? I liked the way PtD and whats it called(I forget the name at the moment, the action game that started taking preorders a long time ago and it still isn't a final release yet) took online payments a lot better than Spiderweb does (it fucks you on the weekends) what are you looking at?

4) Can I be on the cover?
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The dumbest of the fucks, you could say I'm their king. King dumbfuck I am!!!!!!!!! I love emoticons, rpgs like Halo and Stalker and Thief because they are AWESOME!!! I also like little boys, and seeking vengeance on old men. I also like fat white fuckers and Walmart, and picking up girls at Walmart, and the occasional little boy. Did I tell you guys I'm also a millionare ninja? I mean billionare. I'm also a very successful programmer and game designer. I have seven hot girlfriends that like it in the ass and sucking my dick at the same time. I also like to post on the internet. Sometimes I say I hate games and then I play them a lot. I'm silly. And also AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vault Dweller]

[Lumpy]

1) Can I be a pure evil villain focused on burning everything in his path and asking for money from every single nobleman employer?
2) Are those screenshots fake or are you and your graphics really that pathetic?
3) How hard will the game be? Will in-game hints and a walkthrough NPC be toggleable or will they be forced? I hope for the former, even though I'll probably use them anyway.
4) No anthropomorphic animal races? Who are you trying to sell the game to anyway?

[Roqua]

[MacBone]

Too easy.

[Claw]

[Sitra Achara]

I wish to know a bit more:

1 ) What's the final word on vignettes?
2) A while ago, somebody suggested a horse with saddlebags for carrying phat loots and fast travel, similar to the Fallout2 car. Is this in?
3) Commenting about walking back and forth in AoD, you said that you've "tried to eliminate all redundant tasks", and it seems that you confirmed multiple map markers for each location a la Fallout and ToEE's Hommlet (which is wonderful). What other measures have you taken?

[Vault Dweller]

[Elhoim]

Excelent questions.

[Seboss]

[Vault Dweller]

[Lumpy]

Hah - let's see what all those Codexers who complained about Oblivion's fast travel have to say about that.
Myself, I think it's a great feature, as long as it's used reasonably. You should let the player get supplies when it could be necessary.

[galsiah]

The main issues with Oblivion's fast travel are:
(1) Incoherence: manual travel is dangerous, automatic travel isn't - even though the character has travelled by the same means. [compare to the coherent fast travel of Morrowind]
(2) Design implications: no need to put much effort into area X if many/most players will only see it once. In a game that champions [the option of] exploration as a major strength, this sucks.

Hopefully things are reasonably coherent in AoD. If it's usually impossible to get from A to B without five bandit attacks, then teleportation seems dodgy; if such encounters are rare, or can usually be avoided, it's not bad.
AoD isn't championing a go-anywhere-do-anything exploration aspect, so that's no great issue.

I'd rather there were the option to delay things a little though. It's all well and good that a quest won't wait around forever, but I'd rather not have the only options be "Go right now" and "Refuse quest". An "I need to take care of some stuff first" option is always nice. The player should usually have the option to delay as long as makes sense - but no longer.