Dungeon Siege is a new game from Total Annihilation creator Chris Taylor to be released early next year under
the Microsoft label. Developed at his new team Gas Powered Studios, Taylor states that his new game will be a
breed of the action and fantasy style RPG to create a game that is instantly accessible yet more deep than games
such as Ultima or Diablo. In an interview with Daily Radar Taylor divulged many new details about his new project.
Here are the main points and useful tidbits from that interview.
- Dismayed at the antics of recent RPGs Taylor has said that he'd like to keep loading times and other such
hindrances down so that the player will be further immersed in a more seamless experience. When entering a
town for instance, this will be instant and have no loading screens or passages like those found in other games.
- There will be a Windows style interface employed by the game to make interaction between characters and other
objects easier. Say you want to move all the items from one person to another, there would be an easier way to
do this that merely dropping all the items then individually picking them all up again. Also, the UI (User
Interface) will feature an beginner and an expert mode. The beginner mode will feature more information and
stats, whereas the expert mode will feature a bare minimum requirement.
- There will be a selection of characters on offer, from archers to mages and packmules (presumably ponies or
horses with which to carry your gear). There will be a ten person party and this party can be made up of any
combination of characters.
- There will be one main hero, a character who is stronger and more prominent throughout the game than any of the
other characters.
- Similarly to Final Fantasy Tactics, characters can go through a multitude of job classes and gain experience in
them all. For example, and experienced archer can try his hand at sword fighting.
- There will be at least 80 enemy creatures in the game, and these will range from land, air, and sea based
infestations. The player must decide for himself with what method of attack the enemy is best dispatched with.
- The game will be a small collaboration between an RPG and a RTS (Real Time Strategy).
- Apparently, you need to be crazy to do an RPG. Taylor thinks that most developers will agree with him here.
It is assumed that he means imaginative.
- The game will feature a fully rotatable camera with a zoom function allowing some truly immersive experiences.
Taylor explains that there will be vertical horizons as well as horizontal ones. For example, on a suspension
bridge there will be a deep chasm that will feature most prominently when viewed from above.
- The main game itself will be story driven and will trigger on events such as questions or interactions with
other characters. The game itself will be challenging and players who wish to do so can step aside from the
main quest to pursue other interests in the game world.
- Dungeon Siege will introduce a FPS (First Person Shooter) style of interactivity and customization to the
RPG genre. It will feature a pack-in Siege Editor which will allow players to create their own worlds, stories,
and even sound. Textures and models may also be changed.
- There will be an online feature with the game. Ten players can control one of the ten characters each in the
party and all quests and goals are customizable using the Siege Editor. 25 pre planned maps will ship with the
game.
- The game will feature a unique try before you buy experience at shops to stop RPG store owners ripping off
gamers. Also, there will be a "sipping" technique adopted when drinking potions. If you only need 2 points of
health, the potion will only be partially drunk, opposite to many RPGs which would merely consume the entire
potion.
Finally, the game may also be ported to other consoles in the future. Once the game is finished, they will
look at their options and see what lies before them. Dungeon Siege certainly sounds promising and looks to
bring some innovation to a slightly stale RPG market that has been lacking in forward thinking recently. RPGamer
will be there with all the latest on this title.
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