just watched the trailer/teaser thing. You can pause! You can rotate without the screen going nuts and zooming in! You can play single player, two player, three player or four player! You can customize!
I dunno... I have some doubts, specially with the Dragon Age Origins team being involved... Maybe they're only there for writing, but combat in that game was just painful...
And the DM option, sure it could get boring without variation but giving control of the variation to a player, who's to stop them from just wiping the party with tons of enemies for no reason?
@Kaltzor If the DM is an as**ole, you just block them and move on. I'm sure that with time, legendary Dungeon Masters will emerge and you can collect a pool of good DM's from which to choose your adventures from.
Looks great. I wish it were 2E, but I don't know enough about 5E to make a judgement. And besides, I am sure I can learn just like I did with 3E etc...
mmorg.com has interviewed Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for Dungeons & Dragons & Wizards of the Coast and Dan Tudge, President of n-Space.
The interview is very much about the things we mention in this thread.
MMORPG.com: How does Sword Coast Legends compare to Neverwinter Nights, as many will likely draw comparisons? Tudge: Right now a lot of people are talking about how Sword Coast Legends feels reminiscent of Neverwinter Nights (NWN); it's a comparison that is definitely warranted. SCL is a classic Forgotten Realms adventure on the Sword Coast. It features tactical pause and play combat with an isometric camera in real-time 3D environments (vs. pre-rendered backgrounds). However, it's the inclusion of DM mode where comparisons to NWN are probably the strongest. Despite both having DM capability, players will find the DM experience in SCL quite different from NWN, finding instead a system that enables DMs to quickly jump in and immediately start playing in real-time. All told, our inspiration has come from many sources, from a lifetime of playing D&D on the tabletop and to the legacy of so many great RPGs such as Dragon Age: Origins and the Baldur's Gate series – inspiration that will enviably invoke comparisons the more of SCL we show to the world.
MMORPG.com: Will other maps, customizable adventures be added over time? Tudge: Absolutely! We see Sword Coast Legends growing in much the same way as tabletop D&D -- an ongoing experience for both adventurers and DMs. We have a lot of stories to tell, characters to meet and places to visit, but we cannot create them all this year! We plan to keep going as long as people keep playing. MMORPG.com: How much control over how the adventures play out does the DM have? Tudge: The DM is fully capable of customizing experiences and significantly altering a player's adventure by changing encounters, placing traps, spawning monsters, creating quest NPCs, generating secret areas, locking doors -- all in real-time. We also have deep campaign tools that enable DMs to build near limitless campaigns for their players (more on that later!).
MMORPG.com: What have you done developing this game to make it feel like fifth edition as opposed to 3.5, 4.0, or the open 20 systems? Stewart: As Wizards of the Coast was developing the latest edition we very specifically wanted to take emphasis off the rules and focus on the feel of the game. As part of the playtest and creation of the new edition we looked back at all previous editions and made sure we had clear ideas and descriptions for the most important elements. An example is magic, more specifically let's focus on the fireball spell. It isn't important that the Fireball spell does 8d6 damage or has 150 range in all our games, but is instead important that in each instance it is a mid-level spell that explodes and causes a wider range of damage. In other words, for our partners it's critical they capture the feel of the latest edition of rules, but not necessarily the specific mechanics.
Hmm, I'm kinda curious if the DM's will have Tarrasques at their disposal... or Noobers.
The Tarrasque was created by Primordials to destroy celestial armies, so I hope not. Would be a pretty epic encounter, though.
Getting to kill Szass Tam would be awesome btw.
@FinneousPJ I was rather thinking that you can join a random DM's game, not the other way around. There has to be some kind of tool to find those DM-created adventures. Then you just download the content and get to it.
Yeah, and if you're joining their game, why would there need to be a blocking feature? In NWN the DM's would advertise their campaign on the community site, so you wouldn't be joining a random DM.
Yeah, and if you're joining their game, why would there need to be a blocking feature? In NWN the DM's would advertise their campaign on the community site, so you wouldn't be joining a random DM.
If the DM turns out to be an As**ole that keeps dropping Illithids and Red Dragons on your lvl 8 group? Some people abuse stuff like this.
An example is magic, more specifically let's focus on the fireball spell. It isn't important that the Fireball spell does 8d6 damage or has 150 range in all our games, but is instead important that in each instance it is a mid-level spell that explodes and causes a wider range of damage. In other words, for our partners it's critical they capture the feel of the latest edition of rules, but not necessarily the specific mechanics.
the &$%* is this supposed to mean
edit: because to me it sounds "oh rules. yeah no, we're going to give you a half-assed, watered down version of a rule system because accessibility"
edit: because to me it sounds "oh rules. yeah no, we're going to give you a half-XXX, watered down version of a rule system because accessibility"
To be honest, almost every game that has come out has had to provide "A version" of the game. If you compare even the mighty BG against the PnP rules, it will come up significantly wanting.
I suspect that they will make every effort to get as close as they 'Reasonably' can given the constraints of the PC and timing and in an attempt to make it the most fun. Beyond that, if they go all "Dark Alliance" on the community, I think they will kill the franchise which nobody wants.
Am i the only one who thinks 3D doesn't work that well for isometric games, its really the backgrounds that get me. something that is beautifully painted "ie Diablo 3" will always look better than stock standard modeled stuff with decent textures. Also it says one 1to4 players so hopefully, there is a single player campain, if not I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole somebody else is holding for the simple fact if im playing a story driven rpg im doing that for many hours at a time and some of friends have social lives and such, so I cant really see us getting anywhere in this game
I agree that 'up to this point' attempts at 3D RPGs are not as pretty. However, if you look at Skyrim or Dark Souls (granted these are 3rd person), they are amazing to look at. Given that level of advancement, I think a really decent game could be had.
I am so with you on the "If there isn't a single player mode, I am not touching it". I love RPGs and always have. I spend hours and hours at them. My schedule is not the same as those whom I would play with. I do not want to be beholden to them to play. Nor do I want an MMO style game if at all possible.
MMO games can be fun, but these are not (IMHO) Role playing adventures. I mean yes you play a role. But the vast majority of these games consist of farming or 'Camping' individual encounters for a quest. The world 'Respawns' after every group kills off the baddie. You can't complete any quests that thousands of others haven't completed and rarely if ever does completing a quest have any material impact on the surrounding environment. Single player games, and discrete small group multi-player games like NWN and BG actually have progression and a sense of accomplishment when a quest is done. It won't respawn 5 minutes later.
@SmilingSword@the_spyder It was already stated there will be a single player mode. As for painted backgrounds, yes, they are beautiful. However, they are unsuited if the game is to have campaign building features. Making new areas is impossible without professional resources.
@FinneousPJ - thanks for that. I actually had noticed that earlier. I was merely commiserating with @SmilingSword in his sentiment about that type of game. Sorry for the confusion.
And I agree that 3D environments must be modular, and not painted, in this type of game for the simple reason that they want something that people can write their own adventures in. You 'Could' merely re-use the same art work over and over again, but that wouldn't be the same.
It is my hope that, with the resources available today, the vision akin to what NWN was supposed to be can be achieved. Certainly the visuals in the video look amazing. I don't think that they look blocky or bad at all. I hope the game play is equally as satisfying. If not "Necessarily" Baldur's Gate, at least fun to play.
A new interview with Dan Tudge reflects on of the Dungeon & Dragons' 5th edition ruleset adaptation in the game.
"There's things that just don't translate from a six second round on the table top to a real time practical RPG, he says. "We've had to make some adaptations, but I think that's one thing that's really great about the fifth edition rules. They are almost more about the spirit of D&D, and the spirit of playing a great adventure with your friends. So it's actually been a very good rule set to adapt."
According to Tudge, the benefit of fifth edition is that players have more to do in combat. "It's been balanced in a way where you do a lot more hitting ... The fights don't end any quicker or any worse, but it's balanced in such a way that everybody still gets to have a lot more fun, because they're hitting more and wizards and casters are doing a lot more hitting. They're not limited to one or two things per encounter. And I think that's made it way more enjoyable for groups to play."
In addition, Tudge says, racial specialisations now offer more variety. "You get some really interesting variations of other classes now based on race," he says. "That, to me, is pretty cool. So now you can also have a cleric that can do some range damage and keep out of the fight and doesn't have to go in and tank. I think there's a lot more freedom now to really create the kind of character you want and it's very well-balanced within each other."
GamesBeat: From what I understand, you’ll have five races in the game. Is that elf, dwarf, human, gnome, and halfling?
Tudge: No. It’s elf, half-elf, human, dwarf, and halfling. No gnomes. (Sorry, @Anduin )
GamesBeat: What are the six classes going to be?
Tudge: There’s no druid right off. You have fighter, cleric, rogue, wizard, ranger, and paladin. We’ll absolutely add other classes later on. It boils down, like in the previous question, to focusing on quality and making sure that what we include is very deep and polished. We’re focusing on those. We do obviously want to play, personally, all those other classes as well. We’ll make sure that, as we move on, we add those. Like Nathan mentioned, we’re also making sure that they’re brought in in a way that makes sense. Take barbarian for example. I’m sure you can use your imagination to guess what kind of content would go well with the barbarian class being introduced.
GamesBeat: The Sword Coast, that’s a huge expanse of territory. Does this also include the Sword Coast North?
Tudge: Oh, you differentiate between the two? Yes, there are portions of the Sword Coast North that we’re visiting.
GamesBeat: Will that include Waterdeep or Neverwinter?
Tudge: Ah … we’re not going into detailed locations right now. I turned over to my PR handler here, and he’s looking at me with the evil eye. We’re not going into too much about the story and locations. But I can tell you this about the Sword Coast. When we looked at all of the Forgotten Realms, the nostalgia and the way we wanted to fit in that legacy of Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter and Icewind Dale — the opportunity to place our adventures in the Sword Coast, not only because it timed out well with what Wizards was doing, but just all the nostalgia, the wash of nostalgia that came over us from being able to set our adventures in that area was way too much to pass up. That’s the main reason. In a way, you certainly visit new locales, but there are some familiar locales you’ll visit as well.
Stewart: I think a theme there is that this is the base game. We have a long tail planned for supporting it. We have a long-term partnership together. We’ll be telling stories together for a long time. It’ll become way more apparent as we roll out each new story theme that we’re telling during this time as to what areas and locations become necessary.
I like to take Waterdeep as an example of a great hub of culture and everything. It’s the New York or San Francisco, with all these cultures clashing. You can have people from out in the hinterlands or coming through on ships, a very cosmopolitan port. It works in Waterdeep. If the bigger story we’re telling has those flavor components, then that’s a great choice. Same thing in terms of our Tyranny of Dragons story, with Icewind Dale and that island off of Icewind Dale that was the perfect place for the Cult of the Dragon to be hidden in plain sight. The bigger point is that these guys know and love the Forgotten Realms. They know all these areas. I think we’ll want to play in each and every one of them. But the decisions as far as where and when different locations or cities or places above or below get done are based on the story stuff. Whether we go up into the clouds or down into the ocean, it really depends. These guys aren’t jumping in on Elemental Evil, but certainly the water element and stuff like that, that changes the locations you’re playing in. These guys are telling a fantastic story, and that’s the anchor point for the game and the locations on the Sword Coast. But I fully expect them to expand that, to go back to the roots and do that based on the stories that we’re telling.
GamesBeat: For the campaign edition of Sword Coast Legends, will it work like the LAN and the multiplayer play you have in the Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, but with an additional person running everything as the dungeon master?
Tudge: You’ll have one to four players in the party. Those players can meet up with other real players or characters you’ve met in the game. You can still play by yourself with three additional A.I. party members. Then the DM joins in as a real-time DM.
Right from the get-go, we wanted to make sure that, having been a DM — there’s a lot of work involved in preparing and having a campaign ready. We wanted to give people the opportunity to immediately jump in and start playing as a DM. We focused heavily on the real-time aspect of that. We have offline campaign tools that allow DMs to create very lengthy, almost limitless campaigns. But we’re not talking a lot about that right now.
We’re focusing more on the real-time interaction. They can change encounters, lay traps, change doors, make secret doors, spawn monsters, control monsters, promote them, demote them, you name it, all in real time to cater the adventure to the players.
GamesBeat: Are these going to be easier to use than the tools from the Neverwinter Nights games?
Tudge: I’m happy to say, absolutely yes. For me, the promise of what Neverwinter Nights offered was really exciting as a fan of D&D and a person who enjoys being a DM. Even before I worked at BioWare, I got in there and started working with those. I was a little disappointed. I come from an art background. I got in there and learned it, but I was a little — I was looking forward to something far more accessible, something that could get me creating adventures much quicker.
Right from the start, we’ve talked and made sure that is the case, that you can get together at 7 on a Friday night with your friends for a session and you can start in the lobby at the same time as the players and be DMing right away. You don’t have to spend a week preparing for the adventure. You certainly don’t have to be writing any complex scripting.
GamesBeat: What challenges do you see in bringing something like a giant or an illithid into a video game?
Tudge: Illithids, not that I’m admitting we have any of them in the game, but I can tell you right now, illithids are something that work really well in a video game. You can do some neat stuff with the mind control (hail @Southpaw ) . Even in story situations, having them invade your mind and speak through your mind, there are all kinds of great stuff you can do with them. Even down to physics with the tentacles off their mouths and everything. They’re a fun creature to put in a video game. I don’t see the challenge there. Giants, obviously, in an isometric game there are some size issues that you’ll face. That’s something the play space will have to be adapted for. But still, they’re pretty cool. Large creatures are always fun to fight in a video game. Especially in our dungeons.
Stewart: We have bigger creatures than that. We have dragons, and that I’d be more worried about. But that’s just me.
GamesBeat: From what I understand, you’ll have five races in the game. Is that elf, dwarf, human, gnome, and halfling?
Tudge: No. It’s elf, half-elf, human, dwarf, and halfling. No gnomes. (Sorry, @Anduin )
GamesBeat: What are the six classes going to be?
Tudge: There’s no druid right off. You have fighter, cleric, rogue, wizard, ranger, and paladin. We’ll absolutely add other classes later on. It boils down, like in the previous question, to focusing on quality and making sure that what we include is very deep and polished. We’re focusing on those. We do obviously want to play, personally, all those other classes as well. We’ll make sure that, as we move on, we add those. Like Nathan mentioned, we’re also making sure that they’re brought in in a way that makes sense. Take barbarian for example. I’m sure you can use your imagination to guess what kind of content would go well with the barbarian class being introduced. /
How dare they not include Druids, even though they have Sword Coast North territories!? The nerve... But worse than that is that they'll not only completely ignore Gnomes, but Half-Orcs as playable races as well!
Dropped! I can't see myself enjoying an D&D title without my favourite races in it.
It does look a lot better than NWN. The backgrounds in particular look amazing. I loved NWN, but it could sometimes feel very soulless. The aesthetics were quite poor.
That said, from the video IGN posted, I have to say that the spell effects in Sword Coast Legends look a bit vulgar. I'm a fan of subtle and understated spell graphics in games, rather than glitterbombs and fireworks whizzing about all over the place. (That said, how subtle can a fireball shooting from the fingertips really be!?)
I hope that the game accommodates people who can't spend hours upon hours playing a game with other people. A drop-in system (like Divinity: Original Sin) would be great. I love online co-op, but real life prohibits me committing a long and consistent period of time to a campaign with other people.
Comments
just watched the trailer/teaser thing. You can pause! You can rotate without the screen going nuts and zooming in! You can play single player, two player, three player or four player! You can customize!
It will be even bloodier better than I hoped!
And the DM option, sure it could get boring without variation but giving control of the variation to a player, who's to stop them from just wiping the party with tons of enemies for no reason?
I am surprised that this isn't more publicized.
The interview is very much about the things we mention in this thread.
MMORPG.com: How does Sword Coast Legends compare to Neverwinter Nights, as many will likely draw comparisons?
Tudge: Right now a lot of people are talking about how Sword Coast Legends feels reminiscent of Neverwinter Nights (NWN); it's a comparison that is definitely warranted. SCL is a classic Forgotten Realms adventure on the Sword Coast. It features tactical pause and play combat with an isometric camera in real-time 3D environments (vs. pre-rendered backgrounds). However, it's the inclusion of DM mode where comparisons to NWN are probably the strongest. Despite both having DM capability, players will find the DM experience in SCL quite different from NWN, finding instead a system that enables DMs to quickly jump in and immediately start playing in real-time. All told, our inspiration has come from many sources, from a lifetime of playing D&D on the tabletop and to the legacy of so many great RPGs such as Dragon Age: Origins and the Baldur's Gate series – inspiration that will enviably invoke comparisons the more of SCL we show to the world.
MMORPG.com: Will other maps, customizable adventures be added over time?
Tudge: Absolutely! We see Sword Coast Legends growing in much the same way as tabletop D&D -- an ongoing experience for both adventurers and DMs. We have a lot of stories to tell, characters to meet and places to visit, but we cannot create them all this year! We plan to keep going as long as people keep playing.
MMORPG.com: How much control over how the adventures play out does the DM have?
Tudge: The DM is fully capable of customizing experiences and significantly altering a player's adventure by changing encounters, placing traps, spawning monsters, creating quest NPCs, generating secret areas, locking doors -- all in real-time. We also have deep campaign tools that enable DMs to build near limitless campaigns for their players (more on that later!).
MMORPG.com: What have you done developing this game to make it feel like fifth edition as opposed to 3.5, 4.0, or the open 20 systems?
Stewart: As Wizards of the Coast was developing the latest edition we very specifically wanted to take emphasis off the rules and focus on the feel of the game. As part of the playtest and creation of the new edition we looked back at all previous editions and made sure we had clear ideas and descriptions for the most important elements. An example is magic, more specifically let's focus on the fireball spell. It isn't important that the Fireball spell does 8d6 damage or has 150 range in all our games, but is instead important that in each instance it is a mid-level spell that explodes and causes a wider range of damage. In other words, for our partners it's critical they capture the feel of the latest edition of rules, but not necessarily the specific mechanics.
The rest of the interview can be found here: http://www.mmorpg.com/mobile/features.cfm?read=9410&game=1238&ismb=1
Getting to kill Szass Tam would be awesome btw.
@FinneousPJ I was rather thinking that you can join a random DM's game, not the other way around. There has to be some kind of tool to find those DM-created adventures. Then you just download the content and get to it.
edit: because to me it sounds "oh rules. yeah no, we're going to give you a half-assed, watered down version of a rule system because accessibility"
I suspect that they will make every effort to get as close as they 'Reasonably' can given the constraints of the PC and timing and in an attempt to make it the most fun. Beyond that, if they go all "Dark Alliance" on the community, I think they will kill the franchise which nobody wants.
something that is beautifully painted "ie Diablo 3" will always look better than stock standard modeled stuff with decent textures.
Also it says one 1to4 players so hopefully, there is a single player campain, if not I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole somebody else is holding for the simple fact if im playing a story driven rpg im doing that for many hours at a time and some of friends have social lives and such, so I cant really see us getting anywhere in this game
I am so with you on the "If there isn't a single player mode, I am not touching it". I love RPGs and always have. I spend hours and hours at them. My schedule is not the same as those whom I would play with. I do not want to be beholden to them to play. Nor do I want an MMO style game if at all possible.
MMO games can be fun, but these are not (IMHO) Role playing adventures. I mean yes you play a role. But the vast majority of these games consist of farming or 'Camping' individual encounters for a quest. The world 'Respawns' after every group kills off the baddie. You can't complete any quests that thousands of others haven't completed and rarely if ever does completing a quest have any material impact on the surrounding environment. Single player games, and discrete small group multi-player games like NWN and BG actually have progression and a sense of accomplishment when a quest is done. It won't respawn 5 minutes later.
Stepping down off my soap box now...
And I agree that 3D environments must be modular, and not painted, in this type of game for the simple reason that they want something that people can write their own adventures in. You 'Could' merely re-use the same art work over and over again, but that wouldn't be the same.
It is my hope that, with the resources available today, the vision akin to what NWN was supposed to be can be achieved. Certainly the visuals in the video look amazing. I don't think that they look blocky or bad at all. I hope the game play is equally as satisfying. If not "Necessarily" Baldur's Gate, at least fun to play.
"There's things that just don't translate from a six second round on the table top to a real time practical RPG, he says. "We've had to make some adaptations, but I think that's one thing that's really great about the fifth edition rules. They are almost more about the spirit of D&D, and the spirit of playing a great adventure with your friends. So it's actually been a very good rule set to adapt."
According to Tudge, the benefit of fifth edition is that players have more to do in combat. "It's been balanced in a way where you do a lot more hitting ... The fights don't end any quicker or any worse, but it's balanced in such a way that everybody still gets to have a lot more fun, because they're hitting more and wizards and casters are doing a lot more hitting. They're not limited to one or two things per encounter. And I think that's made it way more enjoyable for groups to play."
In addition, Tudge says, racial specialisations now offer more variety. "You get some really interesting variations of other classes now based on race," he says. "That, to me, is pretty cool. So now you can also have a cleric that can do some range damage and keep out of the fight and doesn't have to go in and tank. I think there's a lot more freedom now to really create the kind of character you want and it's very well-balanced within each other."
http://www.pcgamer.com/sword-coast-legends-dev-on-adapting-5th-edition-dd/
GamesBeat: From what I understand, you’ll have five races in the game. Is that elf, dwarf, human, gnome, and halfling?
Tudge: No. It’s elf, half-elf, human, dwarf, and halfling. No gnomes. (Sorry, @Anduin )
GamesBeat: What are the six classes going to be?
Tudge: There’s no druid right off. You have fighter, cleric, rogue, wizard, ranger, and paladin. We’ll absolutely add other classes later on. It boils down, like in the previous question, to focusing on quality and making sure that what we include is very deep and polished. We’re focusing on those. We do obviously want to play, personally, all those other classes as well. We’ll make sure that, as we move on, we add those. Like Nathan mentioned, we’re also making sure that they’re brought in in a way that makes sense. Take barbarian for example. I’m sure you can use your imagination to guess what kind of content would go well with the barbarian class being introduced.
GamesBeat: The Sword Coast, that’s a huge expanse of territory. Does this also include the Sword Coast North?
Tudge: Oh, you differentiate between the two? Yes, there are portions of the Sword Coast North that we’re visiting.
GamesBeat: Will that include Waterdeep or Neverwinter?
Tudge: Ah … we’re not going into detailed locations right now. I turned over to my PR handler here, and he’s looking at me with the evil eye. We’re not going into too much about the story and locations. But I can tell you this about the Sword Coast. When we looked at all of the Forgotten Realms, the nostalgia and the way we wanted to fit in that legacy of Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter and Icewind Dale — the opportunity to place our adventures in the Sword Coast, not only because it timed out well with what Wizards was doing, but just all the nostalgia, the wash of nostalgia that came over us from being able to set our adventures in that area was way too much to pass up. That’s the main reason. In a way, you certainly visit new locales, but there are some familiar locales you’ll visit as well.
Stewart: I think a theme there is that this is the base game. We have a long tail planned for supporting it. We have a long-term partnership together. We’ll be telling stories together for a long time. It’ll become way more apparent as we roll out each new story theme that we’re telling during this time as to what areas and locations become necessary.
I like to take Waterdeep as an example of a great hub of culture and everything. It’s the New York or San Francisco, with all these cultures clashing. You can have people from out in the hinterlands or coming through on ships, a very cosmopolitan port. It works in Waterdeep. If the bigger story we’re telling has those flavor components, then that’s a great choice. Same thing in terms of our Tyranny of Dragons story, with Icewind Dale and that island off of Icewind Dale that was the perfect place for the Cult of the Dragon to be hidden in plain sight. The bigger point is that these guys know and love the Forgotten Realms. They know all these areas. I think we’ll want to play in each and every one of them. But the decisions as far as where and when different locations or cities or places above or below get done are based on the story stuff. Whether we go up into the clouds or down into the ocean, it really depends. These guys aren’t jumping in on Elemental Evil, but certainly the water element and stuff like that, that changes the locations you’re playing in. These guys are telling a fantastic story, and that’s the anchor point for the game and the locations on the Sword Coast. But I fully expect them to expand that, to go back to the roots and do that based on the stories that we’re telling.
GamesBeat: For the campaign edition of Sword Coast Legends, will it work like the LAN and the multiplayer play you have in the Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, but with an additional person running everything as the dungeon master?
Tudge: You’ll have one to four players in the party. Those players can meet up with other real players or characters you’ve met in the game. You can still play by yourself with three additional A.I. party members. Then the DM joins in as a real-time DM.
Right from the get-go, we wanted to make sure that, having been a DM — there’s a lot of work involved in preparing and having a campaign ready. We wanted to give people the opportunity to immediately jump in and start playing as a DM. We focused heavily on the real-time aspect of that. We have offline campaign tools that allow DMs to create very lengthy, almost limitless campaigns. But we’re not talking a lot about that right now.
We’re focusing more on the real-time interaction. They can change encounters, lay traps, change doors, make secret doors, spawn monsters, control monsters, promote them, demote them, you name it, all in real time to cater the adventure to the players.
GamesBeat: Are these going to be easier to use than the tools from the Neverwinter Nights games?
Tudge: I’m happy to say, absolutely yes. For me, the promise of what Neverwinter Nights offered was really exciting as a fan of D&D and a person who enjoys being a DM. Even before I worked at BioWare, I got in there and started working with those. I was a little disappointed. I come from an art background. I got in there and learned it, but I was a little — I was looking forward to something far more accessible, something that could get me creating adventures much quicker.
Right from the start, we’ve talked and made sure that is the case, that you can get together at 7 on a Friday night with your friends for a session and you can start in the lobby at the same time as the players and be DMing right away. You don’t have to spend a week preparing for the adventure. You certainly don’t have to be writing any complex scripting.
GamesBeat: What challenges do you see in bringing something like a giant or an illithid into a video game?
Tudge: Illithids, not that I’m admitting we have any of them in the game, but I can tell you right now, illithids are something that work really well in a video game. You can do some neat stuff with the mind control (hail @Southpaw ) . Even in story situations, having them invade your mind and speak through your mind, there are all kinds of great stuff you can do with them. Even down to physics with the tentacles off their mouths and everything. They’re a fun creature to put in a video game. I don’t see the challenge there. Giants, obviously, in an isometric game there are some size issues that you’ll face. That’s something the play space will have to be adapted for. But still, they’re pretty cool. Large creatures are always fun to fight in a video game. Especially in our dungeons.
Stewart: We have bigger creatures than that. We have dragons, and that I’d be more worried about. But that’s just me.
The interview is huge and includes even more, check http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/01/how-sword-coast-legends-is-a-digital-boxed-set-and-on-the-bleeding-edge-on-realmslore/view-all/
But worse than that is that they'll not only completely ignore Gnomes, but Half-Orcs as playable races as well!
Dropped!
I can't see myself enjoying an D&D title without my favourite races in it.
That said, from the video IGN posted, I have to say that the spell effects in Sword Coast Legends look a bit vulgar. I'm a fan of subtle and understated spell graphics in games, rather than glitterbombs and fireworks whizzing about all over the place. (That said, how subtle can a fireball shooting from the fingertips really be!?)
I hope that the game accommodates people who can't spend hours upon hours playing a game with other people. A drop-in system (like Divinity: Original Sin) would be great. I love online co-op, but real life prohibits me committing a long and consistent period of time to a campaign with other people.
@Aedan @Anduin @Kamigoroshi
I know. I read that. I just wanted to be dramatic
I say no to this game. We all should say no until Gnomes and half-orcs are put in.