Q&A - Ask a question, Get an answer

Sanctus · Post by **Sanctus** » August 22nd, 2006, 9:34 am

At the beginning of the game will there be very powerfoul creatures also?
Or at least if you venture off the path...
I hate the games in witch the enemies progress as the game is beeing played...

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 22nd, 2006, 7:53 pm

Sanctus: Yes, you can pretty much go anywhere in the world from the very start of the game...that means you can easily encounter creatures beyond your combat ability.

(edit) Yes, quest completion generally pays more XP than combat when sticking to the main quest. But for people who venture out and just plunder, they'll probably get more of their XP from combat.

syrio · Post by **syrio** » August 24th, 2006, 7:02 pm

Can you tell us anything about the game world? Not spoilers of course, but things the player would experience in the first few minutes of playing. For example, are there other races beside humans? Like the usual fantasy races, dwarves, elves and such.
What is the setting of the game in terms of magic/realism? Is magic and the supernatural common in the world? Do you find mages and magic users in every pub, or in every adventurer party, or, say, is magic reserved for a selected few? Does every little peasant bother you about ghosts haunting their homes, or does every town graveyard happen to have a local evil zombie infestation that no one else can clear but YOU!
Or is it more realistic, focusing more on feuding lords, wars, common problems of the common people, bandit attacks and such?

But this is getting too long, so one last question

Do monsters respawn in the game in any way?

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 24th, 2006, 8:23 pm

The game world does consist of different classic RPG races, but you will not see them all in Book I due to the scope of this game. Book II and III, like all good sequels, will be larger than their predecessors (if Book I is successful, that is.)

Magick (pardon the odd spelling...it's how it's been spelled in the game docs for years now so it has stuck) is somewhat common. As we have said, anyone can learn to wield magick if you spend the Skill points, so it's likely that anyone/anything you meet in the game world may possess some level of magical abilities.

Quests: the overall storyline deals with a more realistic plot of conspiracy and betrayal, but in wandering around the world you'll find plenty of classic quests along the lines of "please rid my basement of Salamanders!". Remember, this is old-school baby!

No, enemies do not respawn...but new enemies can be triggered based on certain events. Generally though, if you clear an area, it's cleared for good.

Saxon1974 · Post by **Saxon1974** » August 24th, 2006, 10:56 pm

Will the character progress levels rather quickly or will it take a while? I think todays games have to many levels and level up too quickly.

The old style games were more challenging to level up and I found this much more rewarding when you finally do.

Ok; 2 questions here. Will got be plentiful or will it be difficult to come by? I also find that games were its too easy to get rich make obtaining gold not very fun.

syrio · Post by **syrio** » August 25th, 2006, 5:35 am

Heh, Magick always reminds me of Crowley and his crazy cult, so I rather stick with "magic"

I'm a bit disappointed about monsters not respawning.. It always gives me that uneasy feeling that I can't leave any monster behind, because I can't get that loxt xp back ever. I thought that at least animals in the wilds would respawn after a while, or that there would be random encounters.

And a question, someone earlier asked if you could beat the game with an archer. Now I ask if you can beat it with a sneaky type character? Are there assassination quests, or can you threaten or convince people instead of fighting them, even in the main quest line? Or like finding a group of adventurers to clean some nasty dungeon , YOU being that mysterious shadowy figure in the back of the inn this time

I hate games where they announce to play the game the way you like, and while it's fun sneaking around in town, pickpocketing people, they forget to mention that you'll regularly face 3 headed ogres of mass destruction, and the main boss happens to be a 5 meter tall demon from hell, where, unless you're wearing magic armor from head to toe, or unless you're a flame-throwing floating demigod with mana shields, you're pretty much screwed. Good luck sneaking around in a well lit room, and stabbing them in the back... like 30 times

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 25th, 2006, 6:44 am

You got me there...I forgot about camping. When camping, the game does occasionally spawn creatures as part of it's random encounter routine, but generally a clean area is a clean area. However, for people who enjoy the hack-n-slash style of RPGing, we have regions in the game that exists for no other reason than to be hunting grounds. The main quest will never actually take you through these areas, so when you find them you can just hack-n-slash as much as you want (or skip the area completely).

I'm not sure how to answer the second part of your question. I think sneaking around picking people's pockets is fun, but that's not really a way to develop an all-around "adventurer" character. I mean, I wouldn't expect the average pick-pocketing street thug to know how to deal with a 3-headed Ogre. To play the game through successfully you are going to need to develop a wide variety of skills. I like to think of thief/rogue characters in Eschalon being closer to something like "Robin Hood"- masters of stealth and excellent fighters.

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 25th, 2006, 6:54 am

Saxon: Hopefully leveling frequency and gold amounts will be just right. Seriously, I don't play most modern RPGs and I don't know how leveling/gold works in those, so Eschalon will go at about the same pace as most classic RPGs.

(edit) To clarify, I don't play any MMORPGs. I did play a few hours of Oblivion and I always check out the latest indie RPGs.

Saxon1974 · Post by **Saxon1974** » August 25th, 2006, 12:56 pm

BasiliskWrangler wrote:Saxon: Hopefully leveling frequency and gold amounts will be just right. Seriously, I don't play most modern RPGs and I don't know how leveling/gold works in those, so Eschalon will go at about the same pace as most classic RPGs.

Ok, just dont make it too easy! Thanks.

syrio · Post by **syrio** » August 25th, 2006, 2:14 pm

It's good to hear about those hunting grounds, thanks

What I meant about the rogue-y class is that their attacks usually consist of sneaking-backstabbing, fast attacks, and dodging, which are highly situational. And game developers tend to forget about them when setting up the obstacles in the game. Nevermind

And another question, does the game switch to a world map to travel when leaving "points of interests", or is the whole world modeled in real-time(or whatever you call that) ?

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 25th, 2006, 2:28 pm

There will be special attack options depending on which Class you choose to play. Also, if you are designing a Rogue-like character, then it's assumed you'll specialize in picking locks, disarming traps, spotting hidden items, moving silently, etc. All these skills are well utilized in the game world. For example, there are secret spots in the game world that some players may never find if their Spot Hidden skill is too low, but a decent Rogue will see them! Hopefully each character type will find cool situations in the game designed to utilize their skill set.

Remember, Eschalon is not class-based. It is skill based, so any character can technically possess any skill. It's all up to how you want to play it.

Gallifrey · Post by **Gallifrey** » August 25th, 2006, 2:56 pm

Will there be a variety of options geared towards a character's particular "alignment", or is it set up primarily for "good" characters? Will a character have underhanded options and the like, and will there be paths (either of adventure or dialogue, or both) available to certain "aligned" characters?
For example, would an unscrupulous thief have adventure options that wouldn't be available to the principled fighter, and vice versa?

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 25th, 2006, 3:25 pm

Your character begins the game completely unaware of who he is. As you uncover your past, you are able to make certain decisions based upon what you discover about yourself. Good and evil become subjective.

The game does keep track of when you kill an non-threatening NPC or steal (whether you are seen or not) and this will affect your character in some ways. Having said that, there are a few quests in the game that will only open for "notorious" characters.

Gallifrey · Post by **Gallifrey** » August 25th, 2006, 4:59 pm

I like the sounds of that

Now, about keeping track of stealing whether seen or not, that is purely in terms of how it effects the character, right? It's not an external matter, where everyone knows what you've done?

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 26th, 2006, 10:48 pm

That is correct. Someone might see you stealing something which would cause an immediate reaction from an NPC, but even if nobody sees you commit a crime the act itself is still tracked by the game and can affect your character.