Q&A - Ask a question, Get an answer

[gebba]

Basiliskwrangler,
I saw your post in another thread, I would suggest you to add brightnes/gamma adjustement to the game options if it is not hard to implement after this stage. You know, everyones system is different and I am usually not comfortable at most games default gamma/brightness settings.
Could you say anything how big the downloadable game file will be?
I also want to ask the animations: Are there (static) animations on the map? like water surfaces, trees, birds, fires etc?
Please make haste guys. why dont you release the game as is and patch later like most other companies do? (lol, dont!)
good luck,

[BasiliskWrangler]

Gamma sliders: we'll look into it. I agree, it would probably be a wise feature to have, although we've tested now on probably 20 different systems and have a pretty good all-around balance for luminosity. We'll finish the game first and then decide on gamma sliders before releasing it.

Download size: Probably around 100-120 MB for the full game, possibly around 50 MB for the demo.

Animations: yes, there are numerous map animations to bring everything to life.

[Fleisch]

Perhaps this has been asked before, but is the passage of time significant in the game (e.g., through timed quests, or missed opportunities/events that happen in the background while you're dawdling, a la Wizardry VII)?

Is there day and night? If so, are there hours when things are open and hours when they're closed (stores, people's homes, city gates)?

What is the role of sleep? Do you have to sleep if you're not wounded? Do you get fatigued? Can you sleep on the ground (or buy bedding) or do you have to sleep in an inn?

[BasiliskWrangler]

Perhaps this has been asked before, but is the passage of time significant in the game (e.g., through timed quests, or missed opportunities/events that happen in the background while you're dawdling, a la Wizardry VII)?

No, mostly because I've never been a fan of timed quests. However, merchant's inventory refreshes every few days, so some game events are time-tracked.

Is there day and night? If so, are there hours when things are open and hours when they're closed (stores, people's homes, city gates)?

Yep. Check the screenshots- there is a smooth day/night/day transition. No, we don't close stores at night because that tiny bit of realism tends to annoy most gamers. I have never read a post from a player who says that the added realism of daytime-only shop hours outweighs the convenience of being able to shop when they want.

What is the role of sleep? Do you have to sleep if you're not wounded? Do you get fatigued? Can you sleep on the ground (or buy bedding) or do you have to sleep in an inn?

Sleep allows time to past more quickly, so that you heal faster and night can transition into day sooner for people who don't like the added challenge of adventuring in the dark. You never have to sleep if you don't want to, but it does almost become a necessity when you are heavily wounded and don't want to risk another step into an uncharted dungeon on 2 hit points. You can't camp in town (must rent a room at an inn) but you can camp anywhere else as long as you don't hear a creature nearby.

[Saxon1974]

So if you camp in a dungeon, do you set a watch, or is there a chance of being attacked while sleeping in a dungeon?

If you sleep in town do the guards just tell you you cant, or do they arrest you? Is it possible to get thrown in jail in the game??

[BasiliskWrangler]

So if you camp in a dungeon, do you set a watch, or is there a chance of being attacked while sleeping in a dungeon?

No, you just start camping and then game rounds start passing at 60 per second. Your HP and MP regenerate at whatever rate per round your body is capable of. You can end camping at any point by pressing any key. Yes, you can get awoken by enemies (random encounters).

If you sleep in town do the guards just tell you you cant, or do they arrest you? Is it possible to get thrown in jail in the game??

No, the game just says "it's not a good idea to camp here". Jail? No comment.

[Saxon1974]

So if you camp in a dungeon, do you set a watch, or is there a chance of being attacked while sleeping in a dungeon?

No, you just start camping and then game rounds start passing at 60 per second. Your HP and MP regenerate at whatever rate per round your body is capable of. You can end camping at any point by pressing any key. Yes, you can get awoken by enemies (random encounters).

If you sleep in town do the guards just tell you you cant, or do they arrest you? Is it possible to get thrown in jail in the game??

No, the game just says "it's not a good idea to camp here". Jail? No comment.

I like the No Comment part! I hope there are all kinds of fun ways to get thrown in jail and bust out. Breaking some NPC's out of Jail would be cool too. For some reason I enjoyed getting thrown in Jail while playing the Ultima games...maybe I have an evil side somewhere in there..

[Vennor]

Breaking some NPC's out of Jail would be cool too. For some reason I enjoyed getting thrown in Jail while playing the Ultima games...maybe I have an evil side somewhere in there..

Ultima Online jails, that's it .

On the server, on which i played, we had a 'work camp' instead of jail.

If you got there you had to mine some amount of rocks and ore to get out .

[Rune_74]

Another game by origin 2049 ad I believe did jails with a guy you could talk into giving you a key or there was a secret door that someone had craeted in the back of the cell and you could get out that way...it was cool.

[Dragonlady]

I don't recall this question being asked before...

Did you make any provision for a female character? Like a female character asks a patron in a bar a question and by way of conversation he calls her a 'cutie' or hot tomato or some other sexist comment. ??

I hate games that have NPC's make comments like "that's a good question my boy. Who told you about the Emerald Snake?" Completely ignoring the fact I'm running a female!

[BasiliskWrangler]

Certainly you've read that early in the design stage we decided to have a male-only main character? We did this to be able to have a bit more control over the storyline and to streamline the immense process of producing our first RPG, and while we originally didn't think it was that big of deal, we've had quite a few people surprised that a female character was not usable. Now that we've learned what people want in an RPG, Book II will have the full gamut of genders and races.

Also (not to make an example out of you, Dragonlady ), everyone please take the time to look back through the Q&A or do a search first before asking a question. Many of the last dozen or so questions or so have been answered before, sometimes several times before. While we love everyone's enthusiasm and we will always take the time to answer every question, if you can find the answer on your own it helps save us some time and keeps the Q&A thread size down, which is now like 19 pages long!

Thank you everyone!!

[Dragonlady]

l have the full gamut of genders and races.

Also (not to make an example out of you, Dragonlady ), everyone please take the time to look back through the Q&A or do a search first before asking a question. Many of the last dozen or so questions or so have been answered before, sometimes several times before. While we love everyone's enthusiasm and we will always take the time to answer every question, if you can find the answer on your own it helps save us some time and keeps the Q&A thread size down, which is now like 19 pages long!

Thank you everyone!!

Well, I did write that I was fuzzy in the memory dept. There's been so much I've read over the last year it kinda all blended together. Plus I was really, really sick for 5 months and forgot a lot of things.

[almondblight]

Hmm...what do you think of combining these posts into one long Q&A? It might make it easier than having people go through 19 pages. I'm not sure if anyone on this board has the time for it right now; if things ever slow down, I wouldn't mind doing it, but that's a big "if" at the moment. And I know you Basilisk guys are busy too; just throwing this out there if anyone has the time/inclination. If everyone is busy, maybe we can make it a bit of a group effort somehow.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Yep, I think that is a great idea almondblight. However, we are not going to be working on the game much longer, and once we're finished this Q&A will be practically redundant/null/pointless. I guess the best solution would have been to create a true FAQ using posts from this Q&A thread, but we should have began that last August with the first post. And actually, I should just go back through this thread from the start and prune out posts that are not a direct question or answer. We might be able to trim out 3-4 pages that way.

No worries Dragonlady! I know what it's like to have fuzzy memory syndrome! I really didn't want you to think I was calling you out specifically.

[Saxon1974]

Yep, I think that is a great idea almondblight. However, we are not going to be working on the game much longer, and once we're finished this Q&A will be practically redundant/null/pointless. I guess the best solution would have been to create a true FAQ using posts from this Q&A thread, but we should have began that last August with the first post. And actually, I should just go back through this thread from the start and prune out posts that are not a direct question or answer. We might be able to trim out 3-4 pages that way.

No worries Dragonlady! I know what it's like to have fuzzy memory syndrome! I really didn't want you to think I was calling you out specifically.

Dont spend time on this thread, we want the game! Don't eat or sleep, we want the game! I like hearing you say you wont be spending much more time on the game.