King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame II Interview

We're able to glean some of the very first details about Neocore Games' King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame sequel from this two-page interview with designer/writer Viktor Juhasz on GameSpot.
GS: We recall the huge field battles of the original game. How will these real-time skirmishes be improved?

VJ: There are numerous improvements to the system of battles. We've added a lot of new things and also changed many elements to make the battles more fun. First of all, King Arthur II - The Role-Playing Wargame uses a brand-new engine developed in-house by our studio. It's called Coretech 2, and beside the fact that the game will have even more detailed and amazing graphics, it also makes it possible to fight really grand-scale battles with 3,000 to 4,000 men at the same time on the battlefield. The unit movement, the pathfinding, and the animation system have also been thoroughly upgraded.

One of the most spectacular novelties is that we'll have flying creatures this time. This means naturally that the battles have two levels: you can fight both on the ground and in the air. The flying units are very fast, and they can fly above obstacles, rivers, or buildings without any negative terrain modifiers, which gives players new tactical possibilities. In King Arthur II we introduce more diverse fantasy creatures, as we can fight against the Fomorians or huge dragons, while you can also recruit a wide range of fantastic creatures to your side. You can lead shape-shifters, gargoyles, or dragons, just to mention a few.

The battle maps have important locations that you can occupy to gain powerful spells or various other bonuses that can be used anywhere on the battle map. Players are not bound to certain locations anymore, so they can concentrate more on the tactical warfare.

Magic still plays an important part in this fantasy game. We have improved the system of magic resistance and spellcasting, so you will be able to take some precautions and defend yourself against powerful magic. Every army starts the battle with a global magic resistance, depending on the magic resistance skills of your leading heroes. Special artifacts or unique unit skills still boost your global resistance. The most powerful spells will require some time to execute--that's the casting time. You always get proper notification when enemy heroes begin to cast a powerful spell, and it's highly advised to do something against it to avoid harsh damages. Gather your army or your fastest units and kill the hero before he finishes the spell; attack him with some spells; or increase your magical defences--you decide.