Restricted Area interview
Gorath, 2004-09-28

As a follow up to our Restricted Area preview yesterday we had a little chat with Master Creating´s Jan Beuck.

RPGDot: Jan, please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about Master Creating.

Jan Beuck: Hi, my name is Jan Beuck, I´m the Creative Director here at Master Creating. Master Creating is an independent game development studio founded 1999 and located in the center of Hamburg, Germany. For more information on Master Creating, check out our homepage: www.master-creating.com

RPGDot: Our readers know some basic info about Restricted Area from the preview yesterday. Let´s talk about a few things not covered in it. Action RPGs are typically shallow when it comes to RPG elements. How much RPG is RA, what makes it sexy for a hardcore RPGer?

Jan Beuck: Restricted Area is an action RPG with an accent on both, action and RPG. On one hand, we want to bring you more action -- not just watch your character -- be it!

But on the other hand - and we are really serious about this - we wanted Restricted Area to be much more like a traditional RPG than any existing action-RPG. There´s really no reason why story complexity, character interaction or the roleplaying system itself shouldn´t be as detailed and depth in an action-RPG as in a traditional RPG.

On the other hand a lot of traditional RPGs made things really hard for the player without big use. I don´t think it´s useful if you can kill a key person that is required to win the game or that you can cut off a finger of your choice from any dead monster, which is of no use -- well, that´s just my opinion. I can see some of you shouting: "Great, I want to cut off fingers!" - this is not possible in Restricted Area (nor any other game I know).

It wasn´t our goal. But it was our goal to create an interactive world, with all actions possible that make sense, relationships to all NPCs and so on.

I´ve played most CRPGs, a lot of pen-and-paper RPGs (for example Rolemaster, MERS, Vampire, Cyberpunk and - of course - Shadowrun) and even organised LARPs [Live-Action RPGs; Ed.] for years.

You choose the one you want to play as, and this choice determines the point of view you experience the story from. As the game's story develops, your character will be able to team up with a variety of other characters and fight against the Oxygenetic company.

Let's take a simple example: One of the characters is caught while trying to steal something. If you play as this character, you will sit in a cell for a while until one of the other characters rescues you. Then you two will have to fight your way out, side by side. If you are the character who rescues the character who was caught, you have to go in and find him first. You will also have to make sure he doesn't die during the escape. If you are neither of these two characters, you will do something totally different at this moment. Also, it's logical that a cyberspace mission can only be solved by Jessica, the computer expert, while a mission that requires brute force is predestined for fighters like Johnson or Kenji. So if you want to see everything, it'll be worth playing as each character.

RPGDot: What´s the difference between RA and all the other vanilla action RPGs out there? Or is it just another Diablo clone?

Jan Beuck: Is there a good Diablo clone? Isn´t Diablo still the best of it´s kind, totally out of reach for all that followed it yet?
And isn´t this what makes people worried, that the game could be simply bad, not that it could be like Diablo 2? ;-)

But that´s a question, not an answer. Restricted Area´s action parts play a lot like Diablo 2, but much faster. However, the role-playing part is much more complex compared to all other Action-RPGs (multiple choice dialogs that change story and relationship to NPCs, multiple endings, real characters instead of classes and so on).

Also the story is diffent depending on the character you choose. And - although some of you may say that´s not important - we spent a lot of time into the presentation of the game and the story - each important point is told by high quality rendered cutscenes, the soundtrack has been done by three different parties - each time from scratch - until it fit our expections and the graphics are very atmospheric, highly detailed and supported by dynamic lights and shadows.

RPGDot: Can the player save everywhere? Will there be penalties for saving?

Jan Beuck: Yes, he can save everywhere. Due to the feedback from the beta testers we added a quicksave button.

RPGDot: How different are the storylines for the 4 characters? I heard they´re interwoven?

Jan Beuck: They are partly different and yes, they are interwoven. It´s not like in other games were you choose the one you want to play and the others don´t exisit. They are there, follow their paths - and you follow yours and can meet them. For example, with Jessica you can get caught and rescued, with the others you can get the mission to rescue someone you don´t know at that point of the game: Jessica. I guess about 1/3 of the missions are different.

RPGDot: You´ve changed the music more than once. What can our readers expect from the sound track(s)?

Jan Beuck: Yes, the first soundtrack was composed by two freelancers and we liked it, but it seemed to sound too old-school for a modern game. So we switched to a popular goa act, S.U.N. Project. Their music was cool as well, a mixture of Heavy Metal and Trance sounds, but it didn´t work out for the game in the end. So we finally chose Dynamedion, a company that made the soundtracks for some of the most successful German games, most recently the critically-acclaimed 'Spellforce' (which got 90%+ ratings for its music in several magazines).

RPGDot: Please tell us something about MP. Which modes will RA have?

Jan Beuck: For a game like Restricted Area, only cooperative mode makes sense. But we wanted it to be really cooperative - we focus on a gameplay, were the players really work hand in hand and don´t have to worry about "kill stealing" or "looting". It plays more like a team shooter (in a positive way) and so it´s really a new experience in this genre.

RPGDot: Do you use different difficulty levels or auto-adjustment? Please elaborate.

Jan Beuck: We use difficulty settings. The auto-adjustment worked well, but we kicked it as the beta testers preferred difficulty settings like in Diablo.

RPGDot: What about replayability?

Jan Beuck: Replayability was one of our highest goals. First off, playing the game with each character is very different in terms of gameplay AND storyline. Secondly most areas are computer-generated (so that they look always different) and you can accept an unlimited number of also computer-generated subquests, so the game basically never ends. And third, each character can be developed in very different ways: Play a "shotgun sorceress" or one focused on a special spell like telekinse, play Kenji as swordsman or concentrate on his unique "2-pistol" skill - the possibilities are endless.

RPGDot: Please tell us a few things about the technical side. Can we expect high frame rates despite features like an advanced physics system and the new lighting system?

Jan Beuck: The new light system doesn´t use a "light circle" or something like that but real illumination that´s best comparable to Doom 3. If you are in total darkness, you can barely see your shape but if you or your enemies move through the (colourful) light, they are enlighted and cast dynamic shadows. Muzzleflash, plasmashots and Vicky´s PSI Spells light up the darkness, some lights are flickering... well, you´d better see it for yourself.

And yes, all at a very high framerate. The game runs at higher than 100 frames per second, even on moderate systems and with all graphical details like dynamic lights and shadows turned on!
The physics are also unique for this kind of game: You can move all the objects (if you are strong enough), with the speed depending on their weight etc. If you blow up something, it physically and correctly pushes back the "stuff" (including enemies or yourself) around it. Things like boxes can be destroyed - and are even destroyed by enemies, if they are in their way!

RPGDot: Let´s talk about combat. Most action RPGs have simple and addictive combat. Is this also the path you´ve chosen or is there a bit more behind it?

Jan Beuck: Both. Of course, simple and addictive combat is adorable - but the complex skill system allows a lot of different tactics and changes which are - as you called it: "behind it". There are factors like the range or light situation that effect combat and you can use them for your advantage but you don´t need to care about it as it´s not as important as your character´s skills or his equipment.

RPGDot: Could you explain how Cyberware, Bioware and skill software work?

Jan Beuck: Cyberware and Bioware simply replace the external equipment. Want to run faster? Don´t buy new boots, buy a new leg. You are stupid? Don´t try to wear a ring - it won´t help much. Buy yourself a better brain! I guess you got the idea... ;)

Softskills are a bit more complicated to explain: If you have a cyberbrain with a dataport, you can put skillchips into it. This softskills override your real skills, so if you have a pistol skill of 3 and put a pistol softskill of 5 into your brain, you have it on 5 until you remove the chip or exchange it by a different one. Good Cyberbrains have up to 4 slots.

RPGDot: Is RA modable? Will you release modding tools, and if so when?

Jan Beuck: Yes, we´ll release a bunch of tools to modify the game, including - but not limited to - our level editor.

RPGDot: What´s the status of the international release? Can we expect to see RA in North Amerca or Europe in the near future?

Jan Beuck: As soon as the game is gone gold, we´ll look for international partners in all territories and I´m sure it won´t take long until it hits the shelves then. :)