Peter "NextWeek" Eykemans and Prochor "Propheet" Aniszczuk talked with
Jake DiGennaro PR Director @ TopWare Interactive
Interview taken on June 18, 2010 at E3 Southpeak Booth
How do you make a sequel to a game that was plagued with bugs, bad reviews and a fanbase that loved the idea but not the execution? Improve it in every single way. That's exactly what TopWare Interactive aims to do with Two Worlds II, an open-world single, co-op and online multiplayer sandbox RPG to be published by SouthPeak Interactive.
We were there at E3 to check Two Worlds II in action, and it didn't disappoint - the game looks&feels; awesome!
I got some hands-on time with a build of the new game on the show floor at E3 and snagged TopWare's Community Director Jake DiGennaro for a few answers to the Two World Vault's questions. The sequel takes place five years after the original and a lot has changed.
The graphical improvements in the sequel are the first thing that hit you as a big change when you take control of your avatar. The first level I played with took place in a deep cavern, with the light from lanterns reverberating around the walls, and real-time shadows dancing around the rocks. The dynamic lighting, compounded by everything being rendered in-game make for some big improvements this time around. Some characters were even built from motion-capture using Olympic athletes.
The physics came into play next as I knocked enemies off of bridges, and bumped my head on a hanging lamp that swung around the room creating jagged, flickering shadows and a beautiful effect. I was playing with a warrior-type build and my hacking and slashing soon gave way to some cinematic finishing moves as I grappled with skeleton opponents. The game smoothly transitions between general combat and the zoomed-in stronger attacks.
Jumping around I also toyed with a Mage-style character who had the power to rain anvils down upon enemies, and even swirl those anvils into a tornado shield that followed my player around. The physics involved were cool, and I'm sure players will discover even more intriguing uses of multiple spells.
Wondering how it looked, I took the opportunity to jump into a swamp near my starting area to see what the effects looked like, and although I couldn't snag any images of the action, it basically appeared as though my character faded out into the murky water. You couldn't see my legs, but the cloudy lake couldn't be seen into either. It looked pretty solid for the engine it was running on.
I saw the complex spell system, which is made up of a series of cards you choose and other cards which modify the original cards in various ways. That sounds confusing, but basically you can mix and match spell types, from projectile attacks to barriers, and modify them with speed, element and other such qualifiers. You can create bouncing fireballs, spray attacks and other deadly effects that can be switched around on the fly. You armor can also be switched on the fly in the same manner.
I had to jump off the hands-on demo sooner than I would have liked to grab TopWare's busy Community Director for a few questions.
It's interesting to see the almost universally despised franchise getting back its own - and with a vengeance!
TWVault: Two Worlds I has been received pretty bad by the critics and players. What has been done, specifically, to address the many issues players had with the game in terms of graphics...?
Jake: Well, for starters, a bit of Two Worlds II history is in order. We originally started making an expansion to the first game, called "The Temptation". However, during the development, it appeared that the proprietary engine had a 'ceiling' of sorts, and was tailored to the PC only; the original game's engine was ported last minute, but the engine itself was PC-oriented. The expansion was slanted for 2009 release, but after looking at it we decided to instead create a better proprietary engine that would not only take the graphics to the next level, but would first and foremost suit the specific platforms' needs.
TWVault: What about the productivity on the consoles...?
Jake: In terms of productivity it all goes back to that new engine. We have no actual lead platform but rather develop the game simultaneously on three versions of the engine running on Xbox, PS3 and PC. Each of the engine iterations is dedicated for its platform, so we were able to squeeze a lot out of each one graphically and in terms of productivity. On Xbox we were able to get a little bit more performance, as it's quite a potent machine - especially considering elements shown on screen at once.
TWVault: Are there any issues with lag in the online mode, especially on Xbox Live?
Jake: The rushed original X360 port (it was the Polish developer's first foray into the console gaming and they only had a few months to do the port, not create a separate engine) meant additional problems in the online mode. This time we had a lot more time to tune it. The way XBL works is very different from the regular or PC networking in that it requires developing the code to certain strict regulations and guidelines of the organization. Having had more time to check the various load situations like hosting or finding players the team was able to create a much smoother, natural experience in the online mode. For the first time we have some very limited multiplayer here at the show and we're already running it via XBL. There are no dropped frames, lag or any slowing down and players who had never experienced the game before are able to just pick up the controller and play with someone in co-op or PVP without any issue.
This time around, the game looks better even at the drawing board level, but it really shines most when played live in its new GRACE(tm) engine.
TWVault: There are some other points that players felt were simply missteps in design and not actual bugs per se. Some stuff just felt outright weird. Like, for example, there were almost no respawns anywhere in the world, so it felt empty afterward.
Jake: When we sat down and talked about it it appeared that there isn't one answer here. Some people want to clean out the world, some prefer to have something to come back to. In Two Worlds II we thus allowed some spawning. For instance, in the Savannah, one of the large, sweeping regions in the game, you'll have regular fauna like cheetahs, baboons or ostriches, and those beasts that occur there naturally will definitely respawn. However, if you go out and slaughter everyone in the Dark Lord's castle (for example), you wouldn't want them to come back afterwards. We're trying to mix it up a bit, create context-related respawning. Make life reappear only where it actually makes sense.
To redeem itself after the predecessor's many flaws, the new game tackles darker and more serious issues, but first and foremost offers a much more gripping story and visuals.
TWVault: What about too densely packed low-level mobs that swamped even the high level players, making for a distraction rather than actual challenge - how is mob positioning done now?
Jake: Well, to answer that you have to understand the way we approached sandbox in the sequel. Antaloor is much bigger this time around - around 30% bigger, in fact. However, unlike in the first part, where you had one giant continent to run around wherever you wanted to, we've now focused on pacing the story and narrative geographically as well. This time the world is split into islands. We're able to guide the player through the experience island-by-island, region-by-region, so, while there's definitely a possibility to run freely, you don't have to. And mobs and NPCs density and challenge have been adjusted accordingly.
TWVault: How is the difficulty setting applied? Do players respawn in a Maliel Shrine nearby after death in easy/normal mode like in TWI?
Jake: We've done away with shrines per se, and its now simply going back to savepoints or checkpoints. There's also still an autosave option which can be set at varying intervals (like in the previous game) and it'll function in the similar manner. In the original game Shrines of Maliel were simply exploited to create 'suicide tactics', you ran into a camp, killed a few enemies, died, went back, finished what's left, died again, came back and took all the loot. We wanted to give players a bigger feeling of consequence this time around, and stress the importance of staying alive.
Two Worlds II is already shaping up to become one of the best RPGs out there - and its strengths lie in the fact that developers listened to players' feedback regarding the first game.
TWVault: What was changed in terms of GUI and ergonomics, for instance in multiplayer... people didn't actually know how to leave the lobby - will they know what to do this time around? Is GUI clear, readable, easy to use in both MP/SP?
Jake: Well, this takes us back to that original point about having more time to develop the game. We now have more time for forcus-testing, so we are now making sure players know what they can and cannot do in the game very fast, learning the interface and actions on the spot. We wanted to make sure the menus are simpler and there's not that many levels of submenus to dig into, and to make sure the labeling has been clearcut. We're specifically trying to make the GUI not feel cumbersome or clunky while retaining the clean, readable interface be it in crafting, card-based magic system or inventory. We're basing a lot on the direct players' feedback and industry feedback on the UI.
TWVault: Let's talk a bit more about multiplayer, then. What is being done to balance the multiplayer matches?
Jake: Balancing is always hard. Be it in SP or co-op, arena or minigames like "Crystal Hunt" (we've added fun little multiplayer minigames to just relax a bit), it's always a pain. We are trying to find the fine line that separates powerful characters (which is good) in co-op from not too powerful toons (which is bad) in PVP, where you fight against other players. We want to avoid the win-button situations and the one-trick-pony tactics here, to eliminate the easy win possibility. We have a very nice, big QA base from our publishers and partners from Southpeak and others worldwide, which allows us a more thorough approach here. We try to make sure our QA process isn't kept internal only, so that our guys aren't just refining and refining the balance but only from their (quite biased by that time) point of view.
TWVault: Do classes matter or factor in in any way in the online mode?
Jake: While the characters from single player campaign cannot be used in the co-op or multiplayer, the "build-your-own-class" approach is retained. We definitely want to give players that feel of the blank slate when starting to play and advance their avatar with points and skills as they progress in level.
TWVault: Recent infos on preorder show that GameStop preorder is simply superb in terms of bonus content offered. Can you appease those who can't or won't buy from GameStop, what about preorders done from outside of the US or digital retail editions bought straight from your own online store?
Jake: With regards to North America we have distinct preorder bonuses for most major retailers, including GameStop, Walmart, and Best Buy in addition to some online distributors such as Amazon and Steam. Each has unique content rewards for preordering Two Worlds II, primarily consisting of exclusive equipment pieces based on the distributor, so players have a number of options regarding with whom they wish to preorder the game without necessarily sacrificing the incentives that are offered to eager supporters of the franchise.
TWVault: Could you explain a bit about alchemy in Two Worlds II - no-one has actually mentioned how the PAPAK(tm) system works this time around. Are there fixed, unique recipes to be found this time around?
Jake: We've incorporated an immense number of ingredients to be used in the PAPAK(tm) alchemy system ranging from flowers and roots casually collected while roaming the countryside to items harvested from slain enemies such as zombie thyroids and ghastly espers. Combinations will yield fixed recipes allowing players recreate potions they have discovered, and potency of the alchemical products are influenced by a number of factors including the rarity of the ingredients, as well as the number of skill points players have dedicated to mastering alchemy.
TWVault: Can you provide an example of some truly kick-ass spell that's possible in the new DEMONS(tm) system, and explain:
-the restrictions of it,
-how to create it, step by step?
Jake: Given the sheer number of potential combinations the DEMONS(tm) spell system provides, the level of kick-ass-ed-ness is really based on perception and creativity.
Balancing all the effects has been a full time job for a portion of our QA team, who have been doing an amazing job of providing designers with feedback on combinations to ensure proper tweaking for both single and multiplayer game modes.
While it's virtually impossible to describe building a spell in detail without illustrations, I'll take my best shot. Starting by opening an amulet, players insert a base card, and an "element" card if you will (though not limited to primordial elements) that make up the base spell. Modifier cards can then be added to influence certain characteristics of the spell including time extensions, multipliers, and defensive adjustments. In addition certain amulets are able to house multiple spells (up to 3) that further influence the overall effect of the spell. It all seems very complicated in text, but in application it's actually quite intuitive thanks to the UI and in-game tutorial.
An example of a spell I built at random during an interview at E3 involved an area affect spell card combined with a wind element card to create a tornado spell. I then added a 2nd layer designed to cause the effect to move with my character, and a 3rd layer causing a rain of anvils which were then caught in the tornado, essentially granting me what can only be described as "anvil armor". It seems absurd some of the combinations you can create, but it's really a blast tinkering with the cards and seeing what comes out the other side.
Unfortunately, at that point our alloted time ran out but what we've seen and talked about at E3 shows tremendous amount of promise.
Two Worlds II is scheduled for release this September on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
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