Sphere Interview

Logan, 2002-10-30

Sphere is an MMORPG in development by Russian developer Nikita and is being published by the also Russian publisher 1C. Our online expert Logan talked to the producer Stepan Zotov to find out the details.

What is your name and job title please?

Stepan Zotov, producer of Sphere

Is first person point of view fully supported?

Yes. It is supported.

How customizable is the GUI? Are all of the keys remappable or are there 'fixed keys' (ala AO)?

The keys will be remappable, though not all of them. Interface windows cannot be moved on the screen.

What things are being done to help the newbie? A tutorial like Everquest use to have, etc?

There will be a detailed tutorial, a website, a special zone, where the player will get to know the main processes he'll come across in the game (trade, magic, getting and fulfilling a mission, teleportation). Moderators, I hope, will help those players who find it really hard to play the game.

How many face models are there for each race (not counting the hair)?

Actually, there are no races as such in the game. All PCs resemble human beings. We plan to have 10 basic models of characters + a lot of combinations of clothes, hair, etc.

Are there NPCs to interact with? If so, how varied are they? How many character models will there be for release?

Of course, there will be NPCs in the game to interact with. Besides monsters there will also be totally opposite characters. These are traders - players will buy food and weapons from them; mages - to provide magical scrolls and potions; tavern-keepers to sell food and let rooms; recluses and many more.

What will be done to keep 'd00dz' from banding together into 'clans' of roaming PK'ers? What will be done for those who don't enjoy PvP (or being stuck in the cities if they don't want to get gacked)? What would you say to people to rid them of the fear that the game will not become a 'gank fest' that drove so many customers away from UO?

In the game karma changes in line with the player's actions : A player with negative karma will regenerate on a continent full of "bad guys", maybe worse than he is, so it will be difficult for the player to get out of there. But at the same time on this continent he can have real fun, as karma there is not considerably reduced for PK. One shouldn't forget about such players - as there are players for whom playing against real players is one of the most important aspects of MMORPG games. On one of the continents we plan to unite such people according to their interests .

Any sort of reputation system built into the game for NPC's? PC's? Is it possible for PC's to get bounties from a game mechanism to go hunt down other PC's who have been naughty?

The main thing is karma mechanism that I've described above. Bonus is all the goods left after the death of a "bad guy". The lower karma is, the more likely the player will loose all the staff collected.

Is the game a skill based game, and if so, is there a ceiling in place, so I cannot become the "best at everything" and have very real trade offs to choose?

From the very start all the characters are nearly the same. The player can develop inside one of the 2 schools of magic or raise his social status. Any kind of development affects some of the character's characteristics. As the character develops further, his potential increases. There are no limits on the development in all the three directions, but taking into account the constant influence of the environment this is not the best strategy.

Can you explain this? Are you implying you will have skill degradation?

No, of course not. There will be no skill degradation. It is just that the player will have to spend his time and efforts on development in three different directions simultaneously. Of course, this will take much more time than development in only one direction.

If the system is level based, what is being done to move us from the widely perceived 'leveling treadmill' that most games (AO, AC, EQ, DAOC) embrace?

We have moved away from the traditional scheme and have introduced our own system of characteristics. Once the player's level changes it affects several characteristics at a time and particular capabilities of the player usually depend on the combination of characteristics.

Is combat open ended, like I.C.E.'s system use to be? [I like a PvP system where the uber PK stumbles on someone obviously their inferior, and of course attacks. However due to extraordinary luck (on the order of 1 in 10000) the newbie pierces the PKs eye, killing the foul beast. THIS would make being a PK fun, since you NEVER know if you have a sure win.]

The combat is not open ended. In Sphere a weak player is weak, and a strong player is strong. Otherwise what's the reason for the player's development? Power leveling is a totally different thing, but this is also a totally different story.

Besides killing people/critters, what can I do? Is the tradeskill system window dressing or a money sink? I.E. is the game set up so ONLY someone seriously gimped for fighting can obtain enough skills to become a master crafter, and thus create (notice I said create) the uber swords (etc) of the game.

You can get a castle, for example…Though there will be definitely a lot of competitors so you won't do without killing monsters and people. Besides, you can look for alchemic elements as the game has a well-developed system of alchemy.

Will PC tradesmen be forced to compete with NPC merchants?

Sure. As NPC does not offer one and the same price for the goods to each player. Some PC traders will have an evident advantage - they may possess some rare goods, which NPC players will never have.

Player housing seems to fall into one of these categories - which most closely matches your games housing?
Preset and predetermined buildings, can't be owned.
Preset and predetermined buildings, can be bought or rented, already furnished.
Preset and predetermined buildings, can be bought or rented, can be furnished.
Predetermined structures can be built only on preselected sites.
Predetermined structures can be built anywhere.
Custom built structures can be built anywhere.

In the game we'll have some predetermined buildings that can be rented, already furnished. There will also be castles, which can be captured and protected from other players.

Assuming no mishaps with mobs or players, how long would it take me to circumnavigate the world (if go from end to end if the world is flat) ? Could I even do so? Might I need to build a city, then build a ship, then cross an ocean, etc...

There will be six continents in the game (2 upon release). To cross one continent it will take 40-50 minutes, though to tell the truth I've never tried to cross the whole of it at a time. But if any of the players manages to do this, we promise that he won't feel bored.

Many games have attempted to slow their rate of level advancement by introducing downtime. Players are very concerned about it. In EQ, downtime was severe - up to 20 minutes. In DAOC and AO, it is under 1 minute. I view this as an excellent trend. If I was the most powerful fighter possible in your game and wanted to rest after a nasty combat in which I was nearly killed, how long would it take me to get back my full hit points? Mana?

This depends on the player's parameters - I will be able to say exactly when the beta testing is over, so far the game is not yet fully balanced.

In AO, we were introduced to vehicles. These were not independent things that could be parked, stolen, sat upon, etc - they were very lame morphings of the character into the vehicle (ie man becomes car). In SOL (EQ) this will be repeated. In DAOC, their vehicles amount to buy ticket and sit on horse till it gets to the destination (whereupon it disappears) or jump off enroute. Will your game have vehicles?

There will be vehicles in the game. Upon release there will most likely be boats to cross water space. But it is too early to speak of other kinds of vehicles, as they will be in the add-ons. We've got a lot of ideas and not that much time, unfortunately.

Will characters be able (upon release) to make vehicles? Enchant items?

The characters will be able to enchant items - this is what the whole alchemy system in the game is based on. The player gets the ingredients and then makes a magic item. But the reaction may not always be successful, and the outcome can be unexpected.

Will you have item degradation?

Yes. Every object in the game has its own lifetime. The objects left on the landscape will disappear in a certain amount of time no matter how long their lifetime is.

Will you have areas in your world which are extraordinary? IE - Dreamscapes, floating castles, etc?

The whole game will be extraordinary. Just wait a bit and you'll see that with your own eyes :)

What are the death penalties? Will you lose experience? Skills? Items?

That depends on what you mean. If it is the penalty for a murder in a safe zone, it's the penalty of the Sphere's King - a spell with a magic effect that takes away the player's health. After that the player becomes an easy prey for other players.

Will there be static spawns? Static loot?

After death the player regenerates in the nearest portal, but his karma is taken into account. If the karma is bad, rebirth happens on the continent with satisfactory living conditions. Of course, there will be loot.

What features will be coded into the game to allow guilds to be more than just 'glorified chat channels'?

There are two systems in Sphere that can be described as guilds. The first is fulfilling missions in groups. The players make up a group to carry out a task and get bonuses. After that the group comes apart and may get together again to fulfill the next task. Of course, in such groups monsters are more powerful, but bonuses are also more solid that in one-person missions. The second system is clans that players can make up on a permanent basis. There is special hierarchy inside a clan. The player with a senior status can raise and lower the players' title, take them into the clan and expel. Players with a lower rang have fewer opportunities.
In the game there are features that can only be used by the players making up a clan.

How will long distance travel work?

There will be a system of magical teleports. To use it the player will have to get tokens for teleportation. Sometimes it will be very easy, sometimes not. And of course the system of teleports has a lot in store for the players.

One of the major problems customers face with all released games is that of content. 2001 has a bad year for releasing games with actual content (AO, WW2OL, DAOC) - what can you say to reassure the nervous masses?

We'll try to avoid that. Please wait a bit and you'll see it with your own eyes.

I am getting the impression that you are combining PVP and a level based game - is this correct?

Yes, this is right to some extent :)

A day in Sphere
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