Morrowind: Tribunal Interview

Rendelius, 2002-10-23

It was an open secret since summer that Bethesda was working on an expansion for their highly successful RPG Morrowind. Morrowind: Tribunal will add app. 40 hours of gameplay to Morrowind, and some new creatures and features as well as new locations. Recently, we had the opportunity to ask Todd Howard, Executive Producer at Bethesda Softworks, some questions about Morrowind and Morrowind: Tribunal.

RPGDot: First, let us start with some questions regarding Morrowind. In an interview published shortly after the release of Morrowind, it was stated that Morrowind itself contains some features not activated with the release because of hardware restrictions. No specifics were given then. Can you shed some light on this issue? Is it graphical effects, gameplay features or what? And will we see some of these additional features activated by the expansion?

Todd Howard: Not really, no, the hardware's not ready for it yet.

RPGDot: I noticed some changes in the code between the preview version and the retail version. For example, when you entered under a roof outside, it stopped raining completely. In the retail version it rains through the roof. In my opinion, the beta was more realistic. Why did that change?

Todd Howard: That was a performance issue. Something that ate up CPU cycles and very few people notice the effect. But you noticed, so maybe we should have left it in.

RPGDot: Tell me a feature that didn't make it into the game although you thought it was cool.

Todd Howard: Rain stopping under roofs. Just kidding. Ummm, we had this cool shadow thing going that was way too slow. Some other graphics things that were too slow, some really crazy water stuff too.

RPGDot: Do you plan to release another patch before the expansion or will the expansion also patch the main program?

Todd Howard: The expansion brings you up to patch 1.2. I don't think we'll have another patch before then.

RPGDot: Now to Morrowind: Tribunal. Are there plans to add new high level creatures to the main island with the patch? And if so, will they be placed or appear through the Ninja Monkeys?

Todd Howard: We are adding some of them to the "ninja monkey" leveled lists. But we need to test to see if that plays our or not. I can't guarantee it will be there.

RPGDot: Will there be changes to the existing content (like changes to NPC behavior, trees that move, new weather effects and things like that?

Todd Howard: No, we wanted to keep the existing world intact pretty much.

RPGDot: Can we expect to see new birthsigns and classes?

Todd Howard: No again. I expect most people will play with an existing character. Plus I think the class and birthsign balance we have is very good. I wouldn't want to add any.

RPGDot: What about the background music in Tribunal? Will we hear new music or will it just reuse the existing one?

Todd Howard: It reuses the same music, which I think is awesome.

RPGDot: With the latest official plugin you introduced mobs into the gameplay - hordes of skeletons and rats that attack all together. Will we see more mobs in the expansion?

Todd Howard: A few places. Not as much as in "Siege at Firemoth". I love that plugin, it's my favorite. The room with all the diseased rats in the pitch-black. Scary.

RPGDot: Will there be overall tweaks to the AI of the game? Do you plan to make some foes smarter then they were?

Todd Howard: They do some things better, we're also better at making spaces that they can use better, so it's a little of both.

RPGDot: Will the faction recognition be improved? That means, will NPCs react to you differently when you are the head of a guild now?

Todd Howard: The Morrowind factions are the same.

RPGDot: What would be the minimum, maximum and ideal level to start the quests from the expansion? Will it still be a challenge for those who defeated the main game, and how long would it take for a newly made character to be able to embark on this new journey?

Todd Howard: Good question. I think you need to be about level 40 to finish Tribunal. So we do cater towards the high levels. But so much of your power is determined by the items you have, that it gets hard to say. It's definitely a challenge if you defeated Morrowind, which is our goal.

RPGDot: Will the economy system be rebalanced or will it be left alone as it is? Can we expect to see more cash on vendors?

Todd Howard: Some of the vendors in Mournhold have more gold, but the lack of gold on vendors is done intentionally to keep the economy from spinning out of control. The interface makes it easier to sell expensive items now, but the gold remains the same.


RPGDot: What about multiple mark/recall points - maybe based on the level of your skill?

Todd Howard: Not in this one, no.

RPGDot: How big is the team currently working on Tribunal?

Todd Howard: We have about 15 people working on it. Mostly art and design staff.

RPGDot: Will tribunal be localized again? And if so: will localized versions be published considerably later than the US version?

Todd Howard: Yes it is scheduled to be localized. Ubisoft is our partner in Europe, and I think they're trying to release it shortly after the US version.

RPGDot: Let's try to take a peek into the future: given the great success of Morrowind, it would be silly to NOT assume that we can expect a TES 4 in the future. Has this already been discussed at Bethesda and if so, what's the general approach to a TES 4?

Todd Howard: I agree. But that's a long way off. You know us!

RPGDot: Thanks for your time, Todd.