Ok, what have we heard in todays chats (LB stands for Lord British, CS for Chris Spears):
But first a disclaimer: Since SotA is Pre-Alpha, many things can change. Also I‘m summarizing the chat-log, so missinterpretations from myself are always possible. So please don‘t use this as amunition for attacks against the developers. And don't forget to voice your opinions and concerns in the Forum:
Story:
- Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott are working on the story (LB); the „foundation“ is set
something is coming this week about the story, but they still consider, what they can tell without spoilering too much (LB)
- Story will be „a great „homage“ to the past, and a dark introduction to that lies before you!“ (LB)
- about the „darker side“ (players, that act not so much according to the virtues): that‘s one of the things, that exites LB at most: what to do with players, that fail to meet the high standarts (LB)
- Intro and Cut Szenes: there will probably a intro cinematic; and the cut scenes are done probably in the game engine (LB)
- The world has been renamed several times and the final name will be up to LB (CS)
something is coming this week about the story, but they still consider, what they can tell without spoilering too much (LB)
- Story will be „a great „homage“ to the past, and a dark introduction to that lies before you!“ (LB)
- about the „darker side“ (players, that act not so much according to the virtues): that‘s one of the things, that exites LB at most: what to do with players, that fail to meet the high standarts (LB)
- Intro and Cut Szenes: there will probably a intro cinematic; and the cut scenes are done probably in the game engine (LB)
- The world has been renamed several times and the final name will be up to LB (CS)
Cities/Villages/Towns and housing:
- each city is unique and different (LB)
- Cities have a „protective wall“ and roads, so they look like a tic-tac-toe board (LB)
- center square of cities has the „central services“: shops, banks, etc.: so lots of foot traffic in the core of the town (LB)
- Cities Cont: approximately 8 outer areas: for player ownership only (mostly): could be houses and shops; shops especially valuable in cities, because of most traffic; (LB)
- Villages: have one major reason to visit: one unique shop or a major NPC activity of some kind; rest is up to players (LB)
- villages are generally larger than cities (more spread out), so they have more room for housing; they are also somewhat cheaper at first (LB)
- players can build many „amazing things“ in a town or village: so they can create traffic of their home (LB hopes, that for example people of „Pax Lair“ come to build a city of their own in the new world); (LB)
- „dimensions“ of villages/towns are still settled: likely the total demands of a house will be similar if not exactly the same, so you can pack your house and deploy it in a new lot; but: internal volume and things like gardens will vary greatly by house type (LB)
- Cities have a „protective wall“ and roads, so they look like a tic-tac-toe board (LB)
- center square of cities has the „central services“: shops, banks, etc.: so lots of foot traffic in the core of the town (LB)
- Cities Cont: approximately 8 outer areas: for player ownership only (mostly): could be houses and shops; shops especially valuable in cities, because of most traffic; (LB)
- Villages: have one major reason to visit: one unique shop or a major NPC activity of some kind; rest is up to players (LB)
- villages are generally larger than cities (more spread out), so they have more room for housing; they are also somewhat cheaper at first (LB)
- players can build many „amazing things“ in a town or village: so they can create traffic of their home (LB hopes, that for example people of „Pax Lair“ come to build a city of their own in the new world); (LB)
- „dimensions“ of villages/towns are still settled: likely the total demands of a house will be similar if not exactly the same, so you can pack your house and deploy it in a new lot; but: internal volume and things like gardens will vary greatly by house type (LB)
Character Development:
- LB was very proud in UO about the many Non combatant players; he hopes that players can follow the story without the demand to be a fighter or wizard; But even Frodo wore a swort to Mordor (LB)
Crafting:
- since Chris wasn‘t happy with the crafting video, he wants to do it again (CS)
- there are currently 5 planned ressource collection skills: fishing, hunting, mining, forager and lumberjack
each skill is plit in a gathering and refining tree with at least 4 skill groups in each currently
those then feed into the crafting skills (CS)
- there are currently 5 planned ressource collection skills: fishing, hunting, mining, forager and lumberjack
each skill is plit in a gathering and refining tree with at least 4 skill groups in each currently
those then feed into the crafting skills (CS)
Food:
- Cooking is one of the five major crafting categories (CS)
- Chris doesn‘t like hunger in the game; he doesn‘t want to punish people(CS)
- one idea is to go a bit old school, but give „more a carrot thant the stick“; so food will probably give buffs, faster healing, etc. and doesn‘t penalize; but LB hasn‘t weighted on that idea yet and he likes the stick
- Chris doesn‘t like hunger in the game; he doesn‘t want to punish people(CS)
- one idea is to go a bit old school, but give „more a carrot thant the stick“; so food will probably give buffs, faster healing, etc. and doesn‘t penalize; but LB hasn‘t weighted on that idea yet and he likes the stick
Accounts and Characters:
- Transferring of Characters and power level/difficulty balance across expansions: power curve isn‘t as steep and there is more skill in combat => they don‘t have to give too much to players, that missed game 1; players starting with episode 2 will be sufficiently equipped (CS)
- not steep = in most games you stand no chance against enemies 10 levels over you; not here: broadth of options increases greatly, but power ramps up more slowly (CS)
- same goes for single player: main quest line will give all you need to survive the episode (CS)
- do you have to import your character after each episode or may you retain it? current plan is, to retain the character between episodes, but that‘s a decision of Richard and Tracy (CS)
- not steep = in most games you stand no chance against enemies 10 levels over you; not here: broadth of options increases greatly, but power ramps up more slowly (CS)
- same goes for single player: main quest line will give all you need to survive the episode (CS)
- do you have to import your character after each episode or may you retain it? current plan is, to retain the character between episodes, but that‘s a decision of Richard and Tracy (CS)
Technical:
- main server is responsible for match making and transaction verifications; but most logic will be simulated locally and verified remotely
Coming Updates:
- next week will be crazy business; a 24/7 web cam will broadcast through the end of KS (CS)
- a crafting video is done, but he doesn‘t really like it and wants to redo it (CS)
- Chris wants to capture at least one more ingame scene for a video next week, but they are a bit starved for character modelers (CS)
- a crafting video is done, but he doesn‘t really like it and wants to redo it (CS)
- Chris wants to capture at least one more ingame scene for a video next week, but they are a bit starved for character modelers (CS)
Thanks again to Umbrae for the transcript and off course to the team of Portalarium for the infos.
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