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Tous ces messages ont été posté sur l'Avatar's Corner de Stratics. La plupart sont de Calandryll, designer en chef d'UXO.
The Path of Nature is Druid, Ranger, and Shepherd.
Hope everyone had a good time. My apologies to anyone I missed and to
anyone who's questions I wasn't able to answer. Needless to say I'll be
here quite a bit now that I can finally talk about the game! But for
now, it's time to pack, get some sleep, and go back home.
Edit...To answer a few random questions I saw here:
-There will be multiple characters per account per server. How many
slots you start with is to be determined.
-The idea of quests coming to you and the use of private areas doesn't
mean you have to wait in line. Quite the contrary actually! More on this
later.
-We're hoping to have ambient creatures (like deer, bears, etc.) in the
game. But, they will not be targetable monsters. No bunny bashing! "If
it's in a zoo, it's not a monster". Ambient creatures is still "in the
air" at this time though as far as making it for ship.
-NPCs will be present as townspeople, shopkeepers, and adventure
characters. They will also be aware of and react to the Virtue choices
you make while adventuring...more on this later!
-6 races. Humans, Elves, Gargoyles, Orcs, Pixies, Phoda. Races are not
tied to the Paths. So there is no disadvantage to playing a Pixie
Barbarian over an Orc Barbarian. Character race is more of a
customization choice rather than a min/max design.
Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer, Ultima X: Odyssey
a wizard did it
Correct. We have zones.
>From a design standpoint, this is mostly because of the private areas.
We couldn't create private instances of individual maps if the world was
one big map and we wanted the private instances to be the same maps as
their public counterparts.
The depth of gameplay and story that private areas allows us to create
within the quests is well worth the load times. The private areas and
how they will be used with adventures (and why they are so great) is a
larger discussion that we'll be covering as we release more info. Many
of the outdoor maps are pretty big too (you could easily spend an entire
gaming session on one map), and of course, we're always working to
lessen the load times.
1) In thou art in combat and head to a zone "line", what happens?? If
the pursuer is a mob will it follow?? If it's PvP will you even be able
to go to another zone??
- The monster would not pursue past the zone. In the case of PvP, we
can either remove your ability to zone during a duel or we can
disqualify the character that zones. Good topic for discussion actually.
2) When you do cross over to a new zone and your waiting for it to be
loaded, can you character be attacked or is the character "invisible"
until the map is done loading??
- Still working on this one. Definitely don't want people getting
killed while they are loading. Monsters won't spawn near zone points and
we are putting in code to avoid training (ie: bringing monsters to a
zone point and then leaving them there would result in the monster going
back to its home location), so it shouldn't be a problem.
1) Since there will be "safe" areas, will there be anything to prevent
people from abusing these areas?? Like if the person runs into the safe
zone have the mob get reset and teleport back to its spawn point with
its stats refilled Or I guess to really stop it have something like the
guard zones in UO. 2) Will monsters follow for long distances or will
they realize they are getting lead away and retreat back to some point??
On the big mob's it would be cool if they called in reinforcements
rather than running
- Still working on monster AI so I can't get into specifics. But, you
won't be able to "ping-pong" a monster by attacking it, running away,
making it walk back to its start location, heal yourself, and then
attacking again. Monsters will eventually give up chase if you get far
enough away from their spawn location. We can set how strong the
monster's desire is to "guard" it's spawn location so this can vary from
monster to monster.
Will it be possible for a LONE player to do quests?
- Yes. Although some quests might require groups, many will not. We
definitely want to support solo play.
And if the first character you develop gets disciples, will those
disciples HAVE to have similar skill sets to the first?
- Nope. The Disciples can be any Path and Race combination you want.
More on the Ascension system later.
For me, Elves are a great example of the toughest part about being a
designer...putting in something you yourself wouldn't play. I don't play
elves. Never have, probably never will. But, we're not making this game
for *me*...we're making it for players. So...
Elves were in Ultima 3...so they do fit. People like to play Elves.
You don't have to play an Elf if you don't want to...we have 5 other
races to choose from.
Oh and for those that do like Elves...don't worry, I won't gimp them and
they will be cool.
Hehe, not really. We had tons of ideas for races, but I think the six we
have are really cool and different. They're not all just humans with
different heads...can't wait until we have models for all of them.And
what was discussed and/or dismissed:Just about everytime we saw a new
sketch for a biped monster someone said "that would be a cool race!".
Everything from Trolls, to Gnolls, to even the Rhinork.
And no, none of those are being added, so don't ask.
Let me clarify the way the whole private area thing works.
The entire world, every map, is public. When you first enter the world,
you'll be on a fully public map. In this sense, the world is just like
any other MMORPG. Private areas are created when you go to a map as part
of a quest.
For example, you're playing the game and just fighting monsters. You go
to Red Fang Keep (a dungeon map filled with Gnolls) while not on a
quest. When you arrive in the Keep, you'll be in the public version of
that map with any other players that happen to be there. Again, just
like any other MMORPG.
Later you get a quest that asks you to find and challenge the Gnoll
leader. This time when you enter the Keep, a private version of the map
is created for you and your party. Nobody else is on this map. The spawn
is set up differently than the public map based on the quest and even
based on your party size. Once you complete the quest and leave the
Keep, you're back in the public world again.
So again, the entire world is public. But, we can create private
instantiations of the maps when the quest system dictates it.
Make sense?
Aby, some quests will take place in public areas. In fact, the quest we
demoed as a team (The Demon Within) was fully public. Other quests will
open private maps. Those quest will require the private map. There are a
lot of reasons for that...and I'll get into those once we start talking
about the adventure system in more detail.
Quests will definitely use private areas. As far as players being able
to open there own (for fighting monsters or guild wars) that is still
being researched. It's basically something we *really* want to do, but
we need to find out how it will affect the servers and what, if any,
limitations we'd need to put in place on player-generated private areas
to make it possible.
Yes jumping is part of the game. There is also no falling damage.
Players at the event had a lot of fun jumping down the stairs of the
Frost Giant Citadel and down the slopes of Mt. Bol! d to escape some of
the monsters.
1) Will monsters have level limits like in EQ or will mobs all be freely
attackable no matter what level/race/class/etc.. you are??
-You can attack any monster you want...of course, you might get your
tail kicked in if you attack the wrong one!
2) Will there be mobs that are so weak that you can't gain anything from
them once you are at a high skill level or will they always at least
give a few points??
-At most they'd give very, very little XP. If it's *much* weaker, then
you'd get nothing.
We'll have both solo and group quests. So if you want to solo you can,
but sometimes we'll want to build a quest that is for a group where
scaling it down to soloing would ruin the quest.
But, the majority of quests will probably be either, meaing they will
scale...it really comes down to how scaling will affect the quest.
I could be wrong, but I don't think SirBruce is saying he never wants to
group...just that he doesn't want to be forced to do it all the time. I
think a lot of players share that feeling...in fact, I know it as we've
talked with lots of players that want the option to solo without missing
out on key features.
The idea is pretty simple. If you want to group go right ahead, there
will be stuff for groups to do. If you want to solo, go for it...they'll
be stuff to do by yourself too and you won't be penalized for choosing
to do so.
There might be some benefits to grouping (we're still working on XP gain
in groups for example) but not so much that soloing becomes a waste of
time.
I hear ya SirBruce. We wont make Group quests "better" than the
solo-only quests though. They'll just be different. Some quests really
wll require more than one person because of the way the quest is built
and scaling simply won't be an option in those cases. But again, that
won't be the majority of quests so there will be PLENTY for the solo
player to do.
Whoa, hang on folks. Actually it IS your first character that becomes
the "uber" Avatar. I don't want to post the details of the Ascension
system before it's on the site...but had to clarify that one. The first
character becomes more powerful as you build up Disciples.
Funny thing is, it used to be the 9th Disciple that became the "Avatar",
but one of our programmers convinced us to change it. From the comments
here, seems like he was right.
Well fictionally, the idea is that the Disciples are different people in
the world.
Gotta have unique names...customer support would string me up (and
rightfully so!) if we even considered not doing it.
Quick hits on death which we discussed at the event...
-You don't lose XP.
-There is no XP debt (which is basically the same thing as losing XP in
the end)
-You don't lose items.
-Temp stat and ability penalty
-Right now, you do become a ghost...specifics on this are pending.
We have a different take on bind points and even on death itself that
I'll save for later.
Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer, Ultima X: Odyssey
a wizard did it
-That's a demon, not a gargoyle.
-Gargoyles won't fly. We may do some emotes that take advantage of their
wings though.
-Wingless gargoyles are a possibility, not sure yet.
We're trying to stick very close to Ultima lore and to use Ultima lore
as inspiration.
That said, we also do want to do some new things (like having female
gargs as a playerable race) when we feel like doing so will make the
game better. For example, while we do have all 8 character classes from
U4 represented in the game (fighter, paladin, bard, druid, shepherd,
tinker, mage, ranger), we also wanted to come up with some new stuff too
(barbarian, knight, necromancer, sorcerer) to round the character Path
system out. The Ultima games were renowned for innovating and adding
with each new game. We'd like to keep that tradition alive.
You will be able to redistribute spent ability points within your Path.
How that will work exactly is TBD. Another good topic for discussion.
Q: Will there be NPCs with personalities (and schedules) like in Ultima
6-9 or will the NPCs only be hollow "dummies" that are just there for
the purpose of giving a quest or buying and selleing items (like I fear
they will be)?
-NPCs will be more than just dummies that give out quests and buy/sell
items. For example, they will actually be aware of the choices you make
duing questing and react to them. More on that as we reveal more info on
the adventure system.
Q: What about item interaction? Will every item be moveable, useable,
combineable like in Ultima 6-9? For example, can I sit in chairs? Can I
move a mug around and drink from it? Can I drop items to the ground? Can
I move a bucket around and even fill it with water from a well etc.?
-Don't expect to have a lot of this at the start. It's difficult to let
people pick up objects and move them around in a public map. We'd wind
up with every moveable object scattered all over the countryside!
However, allowing for this in private areas is something we're looking
into...but not something I'd promise yet.
Q: Will we be able to experience and learn the history and background of
this new world and its people?
-Yes.
Q: I know that you plan to include ambient creatures like bears, deer
etc. and I hope that they will be in the final game as they add a lot to
the atmosphere of being in a living world.
-Agreed. There is a design for these already, it all comes down to time.
Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer, Ultima X: Odyssey
a wizard did it
"This is the BEST music I have heard since Howard Shores did the score
to Fellowship of the Ring."
-It's funny you should say that since Chris actually wrote the score for
one of the Lord of the Rings trailers.
There will be plenty of weapons aside from blades. In fact, we had a
mace and an axe in the game at the event, in addition to a few swords,
including the ankh sword (complete with the word "valor" carved on it in
runic) you see on the Computer Games cover. The Path of the Blade is not
limited to swords.
Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer, Ultima X: Odyssey
a wizard did it
Still working on the item lists...but we're going to try to make them
all fit with each other. So right now, we don't have katanas or throwing
stars.
Armor could get pretty exotic looking (the demon armor we had the demo
for example) and we expect to have quite a good number of different
wearable choices.
As far as customizable, we will have hueing and of course you can mix
and match within the wearable system. We're also looking into putting
guild symbols on different wearables as well.
Not sure about crossbows yet. Right now we don't have them. It's
basically a time issue tied to creating the animations so I don't want
to say we'll have them until we know for sure. We do have bows and there
will be different kinds of bows though.
No idea what the intro movie will or wont have in it...but we will make
sure that those who didn't play the single player games aren't left in
the dark. We want this game to appeal to RPG fans, from those who have
been playing Ultima since the beginning to those who this game might be
their first one.
Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer, Ultima X: Odyssey
a wizard did it
Funny to see that, considering I actually wrote a lot of the Gargoyle
dialogue in U9. The voice actors didn't read it anything like what I'd
heard in my head while writing it, though. :/
Anyway... NPC Gargoyles and races could talk that way, and very likely
will... but there's obviously no way we can enforce any particular way
of characterization acting for players.
Since any player could be any race while going through any quest (as far
as I know, there are no race-specific quests... yet), this means that in
all quests, the player's speech needs to stay somewhat neutral. In other
words, if you play the game as a Gargoyle, you won't find yourself with
text options presented in the Gargoyle dialect.
~Morgaine~
SirBruce, I'm curious to hear the sources for your assertion that MEO,
EQ2, WoW, Lineage 2, Dragon Empires, Mythica, and Wish all have higher
poly counts and larger textures than UXO.
You have stated quite a number of times that you are not a fan of the
art style we have chosen, and I can certainly respect your right to
prefer one style over another. However, I believe the assumptions you
have made above are incorrect. Let me know what the poly counts and
texture sizes are for the games listed above, and I'll be happy to
constrast them to those in UXO for you.
Yeah, let me jump on the bandwagon here. We are indeed re-concepting
pixies right now. Fortunately, the point of concept art is just to get
an idea whether a creature merits being built out as a 3D model. Pixies
as shown in the concept sketches, just haven't gone over too well, so
we're going back to the drawing board with them. Stay tuned.
When people ask me what games we are most similar to, I start listing
off a bunch games and it takes me to about the 10th game before I even
mention another MMOG. I really think that between our combat, the
adventuring system, being heavily themed around the Virtues, and even
our interface, we're much more similar to single player games than to
any other MMOGs. Of course, we *are* a MMORPG...which I think is going
to create a very different experience than anything you all are used to.
SirBruce - Please don't misunderstand, I wasn't intending to paint you
into a corner or ask you to prove your comments or shut up. I was
responding to the assertion you made (which seemed pretty clear when I
read it) that those other games contain higher poly counts and larger
textures than UXO. For what it's worth, attempting to create the
exaggerated surfaces in a more cartooney style actually tends to require
MORE polys than the realistic models.
Our choice of aesthetic was driven by a number of different factors, the
most important of which was a desire to "not follow the herd." We wanted
to try to be a bit different. It's much the same sort of decision that
is constantly being addressed in Hollywood. Movies like Shrek can stand
side-by-side with Lord of The Rings. Clearly one is cartooney and one is
live-action with realistic special effects. Each film chose its own
medium within which to present its story, and each was successful in its
own way. One could argue that the LoTR movie demonstrated that Hollywood
special effects are now capable of presenting medieval fantasy in a very
realistic and believable fashion, so a movie like Shrek could easily
have followed suit. But they chose not to, and instead established their
own aesthetic.
The art style in UXO was a conscious choice, not a reflection of
technological capability. Our texture maps are clean and simple in level
of detail because that is consistent with the choice we made. Our
polygon counts, too, are actually comparable to most of the games you
mentioned.
It is true that we could have opted to make a game that required a
liquid oxygen cooled supercomputer to run, but of the two dozen people
on the planet who could actually play the game we'd probably find that a
percentage of them would still disagree with our art style no matter
what style we chose. That's the thing about aesthetics. No choice will
be met with 100% approval. In an ironic twist, many players are
constantly urging game companies to "do something different," yet
whenever strong differences are attempted, there will be strong opinions
both for it and against it. The hope is that the former outweighs the
latter.
We have made some strongly defining choices with UXO, and have received
lots of great feedback, including your own, on those choices. Some
people have stated that they really like our art style, while others
prefer a more photorealistic look. There is certainly room in the gaming
industry for both options. But as still other people have noted,
graphics is but one aspect of the whole game experience. All I can hope
for is that those things you do agree with are compelling enough to make
the game a good experience in spite of the things that you have a
differing opinion on.
Hehe, sorry about that! I asked our marketing staff about releasing
music. We're in the process of putting together a "making of" video for
the music and I believe that is when we will debut it. Not sure when
that will be exactly though, so stay tuned!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna Lead Designer
Actually, we did show some of those shots during
the flyby sequence (the one that had the actual music in it) and some of
the still shots. Funny thing is, that water isn't even our final water.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
Yes indeed Dennis does some outstanding work. However, we had heard
through the grapevine that he was working on another game, so we are
currently working out a contract with a well known artist whom we hope
you'll be pleased with. As soon as the details are finalized, we'll let
you know.
I'd be
reluctant to make the last name the unique identifier because your first
name is what people see as your identity. Since last names won't show up
in chat windows (having both first and last name appear is a LOT of
space) or in most interface windows (like party lists) the first name
has to be unique. I understand the concern about getting your name (I
don't always get "calandryll" or "cal" in every game), but I think the
benefits of unique names (both in game systems and cutomser support)
make it an almost necessity.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
We're still working on the name requirements/limitations. Personally, I
am ok with one capital letter (in addition to the first letter) and
things like hyphens, apostrophes, etc. We'll try to avoid letting
players name themselves "KoOlDeWd217" and the like though.
Although why someone would want to name themselves after the coward of
Trinsic I'm not sure.
(hehe, for those of you that don't know, Angus was one of the major
players in the Lake Superior Divided Lands that I was in as a player, so
I can say stuff like that to him )
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
We have no plans of offering "advanced characters" in UXO. And then
finally a note from Stellerex on whether or not solo players will be
able to take on the toughest creatures in the game:Rhoabwyn and
Bengione66 - Although one of our design goals is to allow players to
solo (and advance) at any level, there will indeed be some creatures in
UXO that are too powerful for even an ascended character to take on
alone, and will thus require a team effort among players.
So from what we've been told, there are a total of 8
Disciples that you get, in addition to your original character. But that
makes 9 characters total, with only 8 Virtues available for you to
Ascend with. So my question - How the heck does this work? The numbers
just don't seem to be matching up. 9 Characters but only 8 Virtues
equals....one character left out in the cold. Anyone out there that can
explain this so that it makes sense? -- Joshua Rowan
Without giving away too many details, here is how it
basically works.
-You build a character and hit his stats, abilities, and virtue caps.
This character can then ascend. You do not need to max out a specific
Virtue with this character.
-You can then create Disciples. These Disciples must hit their stat,
ability, and virtue caps...but they must also max out at least one
Virtue. Each Disciple must max out a different virtue (hence 8
Disciples) in order for the Ascended character to grow in power.
-As your Disciples hit their caps, the Ascended character gains in stat,
ability, and virtue caps. Basically this means the character can become
more powerful and gain more abilities. Disciples will gain xp at an
accelerated rate (TBD).
-Once you have built a Disciple in each Virtue, your first character
becomes an Avatar...meaning he can gain the maximum value in every
virtue.
Now, there are other aspects to the system that I don't want to get into
too much detail until we announce the system on our site. The basics
involve making the Disciples more useful to your Ascended character...so
they aren't throw away characters.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
Heh, no it won't take nine years. One of the nice things about this
system is it allows us to have a faster character progression than most
other MMORPGs. Just how fast is TBD though.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
Will this require you to create the additional 8
Disciples on your account, or can you also "recruit" other players
towards your original character's ascension?
-Right now yes. they have to be on your account. The idea of
having other players be Disciples is something we've talked about, but
may cause conflicts if we decide to let the "Ascended" character use the
Disciples (such as summoning them into battle with him) since you
wouldn't be able to use characters not on your account.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
Summoning a Disciple is still being designed and may or may not go in.
That said, the idea would be you summon them for a short period of time
(kinda like a summon pet spell). They would not gain XP during this
time, but could help you during tough battles. We'd place limits on how
often you can summon them and how many you can have summoned at one
time.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
Houston Dragon: 1) Virtues - Since UOX takes place on a world other than
Britannia, it's safe to assume that as with Ilshenear there will be
various shrines dedicated to the Virtues. Will these require the same
"process" for the Ascension system as in the previous Ultimas? ie: rune,
mantra, sigil, etc. Also, will there also be reference and/or structures
dedicated to the actual Principles in the new world, as there was Empath
Abbey, the Lycaeum, and Serpent's Hold for the three Principles in
Britannia?
Calandryll: We will have Shrines. As far as the rune, mantra, and
sigils and the ascension system how they tie in is still being
discussed, but using them is definitely a plus in our opinion. Yes, we
will have the three Principle structures...although they may be a little
different than you remember as far as what's going on in those places.
Our Serpent's Hold map actually mimics the layout of Serpent's Hold
beautifully though. Our world builders did some great work on that one.
Houston Dragon: 2) Avatarhood - This is lightly connected to the
previous question, but as players "ascend" towards Avatarhood in each
Virtue, will there be NPCs similar to U4's Hawkwind to inform them of
their "progress"? Will the quests be randomized per server? (as in
someone can't tell a friend on a different shard to visit a city to
speak to So-and-so for a particular Virtue quest) Will there also be the
opportunity to "lose an eighth", so to speak, by refusing or committing
non-Virtuous actions? Also, will the parties require the same "balance"
as with the original Ultimas, meaning one person from each "classic"
character classes? ie: bard, tinker, paladin, fighter, mage, shepherd,
ranger, and druid.
Calandryll: Not sure about having NPCs that track your progress, but
the interface will. Also, we do plan on having the NPCs in the world
react to the Virtue choices you make in quests, so you'll know that way
too. Specific virtue quests for completing milestones will probably be
the same for all severs, but may include random elements so you can't
just read the solution on a website. We don't plan on having character
lose virtue, think of the Virtue quests as more like the gypsy questions
in the beginning of the Ultimas...except instead of just answering the
question, you actually play it out! The parties won't need to be
balanced, but having a good mix will probably help a party as having a
variety of character abilities will allow a party to succeed in more
situations.
Houston Dragon: 3) Prequel / Fiction - During the initial production of
UO2, OSI hired Austin Andrews to write and publish three novels, along
with a series of web "prequels", in order to further expand and explain
the game's background history. Will he be returning to produce any
additional work for UOX? Given the quality of his original writings,
along with the character research placed into the stories, it seems a
good idea to give a "refresher" course to new and returning players of
the core Ultima lore.
Calandryll: Austin probably won't be returning to write fiction for
UXO. That said, fiction is important to us and we expect to have it play
a major role in the game...especially in the quests. I agree that a
refresher course for those new to the series is an excellent idea
though. The folks at Stratics (using your site I believe) have created a
good start to that.
Houston Dragon: 4) Timeline / Expanded history - Based on the premise,
UOX is to take place following the events of Ultima: Ascension. Will
there be any further continuity to the prior Ultima titles? Will this
also include the "non-core" series, such as the Ultima Underworlds,
Worlds of Adventures, Runes of Virtue, Escape from Mount Drash, etc.
Will there be expanded historical background/characters/items/etc
brought from worlds like Pagan, Eodon, Mars, etc into UOX?
Calandryll: We plan on using segements from previous Ultimas (mostly 1 -
9) such as blackrock, certain NPCs/monsters, items, locales, etc. We may
not use stuff from the extended universe (like Savage Empire or the
console games) though. It all depends on whether we can fit it and still
retain continuity. We don't want the game to feel like a mish-mash of
Ultima stuff...but in my opinion, the more "Ultima" the better!
Edit: Wanted to add one final thought. Making this game feel like an
Ultima game is a serious priority that none of us take lightly. As I
said in the "making of" video (which should be on our site soon) it's a
great responsibility (and honor) to bring the next great Ultima game to
the Ultima fans. I think I speak for the entire team when I say we want
to do the series justice and create something that harkens back to those
great single player games.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
That's understandable. On a small side note, though, in
the Worlds of Adventure, for example, the Companions would show up as
"dream" versions of themselves. Iolo = Triolo, as an example. Will any
of the Companions from UIX be seen again in UOX?
I'm all for using the companions in the game. Perhaps we
could use them in the Virtue "missions" as the character that helps you
along those adventures (since each companion was a character class that
was tied to a Virtue). Up in the air at this point, but definitely
something that would add a lot to the game imo.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
Lead Designer
|
29/08/2003, 13h11
L'interactivité non poussée sera tous à fait applicable.
. Alors si quelqu'un est motivé pour traduire ces informations, ce serait gentil de sa part.
!
