The Age of Decadence Interview
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GB: How much work has gone into enemy AI? What might we expect to see during combat from one of the game's wittier opponents? Vince: While the game is focused on choices & consequences, combat is an important part of the game, so we did spend enough time tweaking the combat system and combat AI. Different enemies have different combat scripts and thus capable of surprising you with different tactics. You would be able to quickly see the difference between a simple thug and a well-trained, well-equipped Imperial Guard. While the former will attack chaotically, the latter will use a variety of equipment (anti-shield pilums, throwing nets, even acid to eat through your armor) and attacks that work best against your combat style.
Don't read too much into it though. We are not talking about emergent gameplay here, but basic scripting.
GB: What can we expect from the game's quest system? How many mandatory/side quests are you planning to implement? Will there be some sort of journal that logs all quest steps?
Vince: All quests were designed with 3 criteria in mind:
- 1) No FedEx quests
2) Several distinctive skill-based solutions to each quests
3) Different consequences affecting factions dynamics
- 1) The Imperial Guards take over the gate, the town guards fortify the towers, and the town is split in half, which would affect many other quests.
2) The Imperial Guards take over the gate AND the towers, eliminating the town guards, effectively taking over the town's perimeter, also affecting many quests.
3) You get kicked out from the Imperial Guards, so don't count on them in the future quests.
GB: How will inventory management work in The Age of Decadence? Will encumbrance be a factor? If so, will players have a place to store items they want to keep but no longer have room for?
Vince: The inventory system is weight-based, similar to Fallout's inventory system. Space isn't a factor, so as long as you can handle the weight, you can add an item to your inventory. There are no encumbrance levels and penalties. If you are overloaded, you can't move until you drop something.
You will be offered quite a few (headquarters), ranging from a simple room in an inn to more prestigious (it actually does bump up your Prestige rep) quarters in a palace. You can store all your junk there.
Going back to the example above, option #2 gets you the former captain's (the same captain who could be very helpful if he stays in power) quarters in one of the towers.
GB: How varied will the game's weapons and armor be? Will there be different qualities of the same weapon or armor and will items deteriorate with use?
Vince: 32 unique weapon models, 8 helmet & armor models, and 4 shield models. Multiply it by 5 different metal types (i.e. bronze short sword, iron short sword, steel..), not to mention numerous crafting upgrades (masterwork, balance, edge, flaming, poison, etc). You can easily craft a simple bronze hammer into a deadly weapon far superior to average steel hammers, for example.
The items don't deteriorate with use and are always in mint condition. We did a survey long time ago and asked 3 questions:
Is it fun to repair armor and weapons in games?
Did you like that feature in games that had it (Arcanum, Morrowind, Diablo 2)?
Did you miss that feature in games that didn't have it (Fallout, Baldur's Gate, ToEE)?
The answers were mostly (no).
GB: Are you going with static or randomly placed loot throughout the game? Will there be unique items that can only be found in certain locations or on certain opponents?
Vince: Hand-placed. There are unique items like Power Armor powered by a magical equivalent of vacuum tubes (same affect, achieved through magical means) and less exotic stuff that could be found, like you said, in certain locations or on certain NPCs. One of the vacuum tubes, for example, is being worn on a chain as a magical pendant by a noble. As most other ancient (objects of power) they don't do much for their proud owners, but show that they are rich enough to afford them.
