An interview with Arkane Studios about Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
Sia 'Garrett' Manzari, 2006-03-02

RPGDot: How is the work on Dark Messiah (DM) proceeding? Are you doing well? Are you still on schedule?

Raphael: Julien, since you're the producer, do you want to go first?

Julien: We just delivered our Alpha build to Ubisoft, meaning we got most of the features in the game right now. The next months are going to be dedicated to tune & tweak all the game features. I would say we're on schedule :)

RPGDot: That sounds great - so the game is likely to ship this summer?

Raphael: I'll do this one, it's easy: Yes

RPGDot: For how long have you been working on DM now? I know you worked on Arx 2 for a time...how much of the work from Arx 2 could you use for DM or did you have to start from scratch because you used the Source engine?

Raphael: These are very different games, a while back, we were shopping our Arx2 demos around for publishers, UBI really liked what they saw (We made the demo with the source engine), and they offered us to take on the challenge of doing a new Might and Magic game. We thought the opportunity of working with a big publisher on a historical franchise was kind of seducing, so we accepted to be part of that adventure. Most of all, UBI showed a lot of open mindness in regards to how we wanted to do that game.

[brand new screenshot #1]

RPGDot: I see - so DM is not Arx 2 in disguise?

Julien: Nope it isn't.

Raphael: Not at all, in fact if there was an Arx 2 one day, it would be treated differently.

Julien: The gameplay in DM is more focused on action than RPG as in Arx.

Raphael: Agreed. It's an Action RPG, Arx was an RPG action.

RPGDot: Ok, that answers my next question already...

Raphael: But hey, we're RPG fans, so you'll find some common ground there ;)

[brand new screenshot #2]

RPGDot: So it is a new kind of Might & Magic as well - or can it be compared to the infamous Crusaders of M&M in regards to gameplay?

Raphael: It can't be compared to any MM game to date.

RPGDot: What rpg elements are left in DM?

Raphael: It's really our interpretation of an immersive Action RPG. It's all about providing a player driven experience. We give a lot of freedom on how you want to solve challenges and how your character will evolve; in other words, how you as a player want to express yourself and identify with your character in terms of what are his strengths.

RPGDot: Can you give an example, maybe explain, how a typical RPG situation from Arx would look like in DM, if that's possible?

Raphael: So there are skills, and spells that you choose as you play in order to shape up your hero.

RPGDot: Skills & spells sound good :-)

Raphael: Basically, we really provide the player with a set of tools that he can use to win the challenges his own way.

[brand new screenshot #3]

Julien: For example the main difference to a RPG a la Arx would be that these tools are not statistics driven but their use will depend on the player's real time action.

RPGDot: I see.

Julien: For instance if you got a combat skill it will give you a new move that you can perform, but it wont give you a +3% in short sword skill. We wanted a skill to be immediatly rewarding once you've earned it; not just a little percentage but something that will make you feel a great warrior.

Raphael: Let's say there are 3 monsters wandering around in a room and you need to get on the other side of the room as part of your objective. You can either jump in and attack in melee combat, but you can also try to sneak in their back and backstab them, or you can try to throw objects at them, or you can grab a barrel, and use it as a shield so that you can avoid their arrows, then throw the barrel at one of them, or you can even totally avoid the fight by climbing over a bridge above your head thanks to your rope arrows and hope they won't find you...

RPGDot: Then I assume there is no manual character development by distributing skill points?

Raphael: Yes we have skill points. SP are given on objectives, not on kills. This is the basics of a game that allows freedom.

Raphael: In other words, we don't care how you managed to get behind that door, as long as you did, you get the XP

Julien: We have a set of skills that will allow you to perform special actions: backstab, sneak in shadow, spells, special combat moves, lockpick...

RPGDot: All of that sounds like a game that a/ gives you great freedom , b/ great rewards and c/ a game I can hardly wait for :-). And you get the same amount of XPs no matter how you did it?

Julien: Absolutely we dont want the player to feel like he's getting less XP because he did it the way he likes not the way we like

RPGDot: Ok, that sounds reasonable.

Raphael: So the game is linear in its mission structure, but open ended in your playstyle.

RPGDot: Is there a kind of specialization then like you create/pick a thief in the beginning or become a thief by your playstyle?

Julien: You start as a "basic" character and you can pickup skills as you wish. To build a specialized character or multi class you can be anything you'd like too, though there is a skill tree so at some point you'll have to make choices :)

RPGDot: So your character can be everything at a time, e.g. a mage-thief wielding a battle axe?

Raphael: Sure he can, but you won't max out everywhere. You'd end up with an average character in all disciplines.

RPGDot: What else is there in DM? First question: can you briefly describe the story, is it based on other M&M games?

Raphael: In Dark Messiah, you are Sareth, apprentice to a powerful wizard. He has raised you for a single purpose, training you in the arts of magic and war. At the beginning of the game you are given an ancient artifact and ordered to carry it to a friend of your master. It seems like a simple task … But of course, yours will be a sinuous journey, filled with unexpected encounters and revelations, and upon your quest, looms the shadow of the Dark Messiah...

RPGDot: And the story takes place in a classical fantasy world or will there be other elements like for example the Sci-Fi elements in earlier M&M games?

Julien: The Sci-Fi elements have been removed from the M&M universe background for now.

RPGDot: That's good actually...i always found them a little strange ;-)

Raphael: Us too.

RPGDot: *g*

Julien: Didn't help to make the world consistent.

RPGDot: Ok. And as compared to Arx there is an upper world now? Are there real cities you can visit and if so, how many cities? Can you walk into every house then (if you can open the door)? How large is the gaming world? And how many dungeons are there?

Raphael: As you know us from Arx, we craft our games very much. So, we don't base so much the locations in terms of 'how many', but more on 'how detailed' are these environments, and varied. There are a total of 30 maps, Julien, am I right? Could be a little more

Julien: Yes around 30.

RPGDot: Maps means cities/dungeons/buildings?

Raphael: Yes

Julien: Yes the game is mission based.

RPGDot: Oh...so there is no persistent world where you can walk anywhere anytime?

Raphael: No, there isn't. There are places that you come back and revisit in different contexts, but the highlevel experience is tied into a well crafted story, this is why we made the choice of going mission based for the structure (like some other cool games I won't mention ;)

RPGDot: Like Thief? Anyway some hardcore RPG fans will not like that, but then again, dm is no hardcore RPG after all.

Raphael: Yes we really tried something different here.

RPGDot: Other aspects that contributed to the great atmosphere of Arx was the immersive world: Are the following features also available in DM: enchantments/alchemy/the need to eat/automap/journal/multiple choice dialogues?

Raphael: There is some occasional object crafting, but it appears mostly as a cool 'secret' layer that we give for the ones who will find it. You can eat, there are quite a fair amount of items to eat actually (I guess it's a french game, eheheh)

RPGDot: (cliche) Eat cheese and drink red wine all the time? ;-)

Raphael: Hehe, right. Eating is actually a way to restore your health also.

Julien: Or eat garlic - I would say the immersion is still one of the strong elements of the game!

RPGDot: Oh yes, and the women will run away from us again...no, i will not do that again in any of your games *g*

RPGDot: How about automap, journal & dialogues?

Julien: No automap. We got something like an objective screens for your current objectives & secondary objectives.

RPGDot: Similar to Thief?

Raphael: Ooops, you said it!

Julien: There are no multiplie-choices dialogues. Nevertheless the story will have different branching at some points depending on your choices & actions. This game is really all about the player actions :)

RPGDot: I see. I need to get used to that first :-) Ok...we're almost done: final question: Who is doing the music or are there only ambient sounds as in Arx?

Julien: Mostly ambient sounds except for some key scenes, the ambient cues are done by Kemal Amarasingham, who did the Thief and also the Arx ones.

RPGDot: Anything else you would like to add?

Raphael: Many things :)

Julien: The combat?

Raphael: First person

RPGDot: I know...I have enough questions for another hour as well ;-) but I don't want to keep you too long...but as you name it: Tell me about combat & the first person perspective :-)

Julien: The First person combat in DM is something we're very proud of!

Raphael: One of the unique things about our combat system is that it is first person. So, what appeared initially to be a real challenge, became also a good thing because it allowed us to rethink the way fighting usually works in games, and most of all, we could take advantage of the 1st person view, instead of taking it as a constraint. So for example, aiming at different parts of the body came up as a very intuitive mechanics that you can only do in 1st person.

Julien: You got a lot of different moves which are various tools to defeat your opponents, that you can trigger very easily: chained & fast slashes to keep them away, big slashes to go through their parry or damage their shields, rush attack to stun them, then kick to knock them down and a last strike to impale them...

Raphael: We spent many months playing around with ideas until it felt right.

Julien: PLUS we're making extensive use of the physics as a gameplay element in the combat.

RPGDot: So how is the 'damage system'? Can you cut off a leg for example and how would that affect the opponents (fall over/ jump away...)?

Raphael: Right, so these are combos you can do after a while when you're really feeling confident with the system and how to manage your enemy's state.

Raphael: We put the cutting feature at the bottom of the game design mecanics chain, because we've always been worried that they could be removed for rating reasons. So, we couldn't support them as part of the gameplay, but instead we kept them as a 'finish off' effect whenever you do a critical hit for example. You know, for parental lock for example.

Julien: You can put your opponent in various states depending on your actions: you can stun him, disarm him, knock him down, make him slide on a frozen ground?

Raphael: Also, using the environment is a very important part of the fighting gameplay.

Julien: Yep, basically you can grab a barrel and break it on your opponent's head, or make a platform to collapse on him...but the NPC can also use these tricks!

Raphael: Using hazards, terrain, but also physical objects that happen to be here. You can actually trigger some really cool chain reactions.

Julien: The Cyclop will grab barrels and even other NPCs and will throw them at you. The goblins will try to use traps if you happen to be at the right place at the wrong time.

RPGDot: Sounds impressive!

Julien: The combat is really based on how you and the NPCs will use the things around you/them to fight. so you'll use different moves/actions depending on the NPCs you're fightning...and depending on where you're fightning. Fighting near a cliff? Use your kick to push the enemy and make it fall. Fightning near oil jars? Use fireballs to ignite the jar or even better: throw the oil jars at the enemy and then set him on fire.

Julien: The idea is: if the player thinks he can do it, he should be able to - that's how the game world becomes immersive. It's like a big sandbox, we give you tools and you decide how to use them.

RPGDot: Cool! How effective is ranged combat? Can a single arrow shot be lethal? Maybe even based on where it hits the opponent?

Julien: If you aim at the head and if the enemy is totally unalerted, your shot will be really lethal - but if it has a helmet, you'll have to get rid of this one first.

RPGDot: Great - I have to re-think my expectations...I was expecting more of an Arx type game, but all of this sounds VERY interesting actually!