Dark and Light Interview
Muun, 2005-11-14

Editor's Note: This article was removed for a period when it came to our attention the same interview had previously been posted at Stratics. While this interview was written by and for MMORPGDot, it appears representatives of the developer incorrectly sent the text to Stratics before sending it to us and they posted it in good faith, mistaking the origin. Stratics has agreed to credit MMORPGDot. We apologise if you have seen this interview before but having promoted an exclusive DnL interview, we decided to reinstate the article for those that haven't seen it.

Dark and Light is a fascinating project: from features like the 15,000 square miles of territory without zones or loading times to the impressive panoramic screenshots that show off the beautiful terrain and long horizons, its sure to grab attention.  As the game draws closer to release after an extended development, we talk to Lead Designer Stephane Quilichini to get an update on the game's features and find out where Dark and Light stands in a post-World of Warcraft world.

MMORPGDot: Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about the Dark and Light team.

Stephane Quilichini: My name is Stephane Quilichini, Lead Game Designer for Dark and Light. I'm 40 years old, and I can say I have been a hardcore pen & paper roleplayer before switching over to video games. I saw the first personal computers when I was 15 years old, the first games with 16 kb RAM and 1kb video memory (yes, kb, not mb!), and yet I played these games a lot. I'm one of the founders of the DnL project; the idea started almost 6 years ago.

The Dark and Light project started from passion and encounters, that made people decide to start this crazy project one day. 20 people have been working hard on development since four years now. Why on Reunion island? Because we all live there, and because we prefer asking people to join us than to leave for distant places. By the way, did you know that Ganareth is much bigger than Reunion Island? And if you look carefully, you will see that the island has left some traces in the world of Ganareth.

MMORPGDot: In its current stage of development what do you see as the main selling points for Dark and Light? What features are you hoping will attract new and existing MMORPGs players?

Stephane Quilichini: Freedom, a deep lore that gives large opportunities for game management and a dedicated team in 5 languages, territories conquest and fortresses attack, exploration that is key to enhancing the player skills.

MMORPGDot: In a number of interviews and on the Dark and Light site, you often describe the game as being more "immersive" than others on the market. What are the features that give Dark and Light this stronger sense of immersion?

Stephane Quilichini: First the unique world: you enter the game and never quit or download any zones to evolve in the world of Ganareth.

Environment graphics are for some that realistic…that look like a real sunset, a real storm, a real world.

The global and dynamic ecosystem: some monsters feed upon others, crop fields grow according to the seasons…

And many others: dynamic weather management, musics, lore…

MMORPGDot: The size of the world and its location on worldwide server has been often mentioned as one of the main attractions to Dark and Light. Where will the servers be located and how is Farlan planning to minimize on the latency resulting from people accessing DnL from geographically distant locations around the world?

Stephane Quilichini: Servers are based in Paris. Latency for the USA is from 100 to 150 ms, which is quite reasonable for a MMO. Anyway, combat calculations take into account this latency for all our servers so as to not disadvantage our farthest players.

MMORPGDot: Since it all happens on one server, how does Farlan plan to handle large gatherings of users in main areas like Al-Drifa? On the other hand, considering the size of the world and the fact that people from different time zones will be playing on the one server, should players expect exploration into lands far from the main centres to be a lonely affair?

Stephane Quilichini: Dynamic cells technology is used for our servers, allowing us to manage large gathering zones as well as small gathering zones. Across the whole world, our technology allocates the required machines to the players' density in real time.

Indeed, thanks to the huge size of the world, explorers will be able to discover or visit new areas, almost never seen or explored before by other players. They will be able to be alone over there for a very long time. So as to not to have an empty world, we allocate NPCs and monsters everywhere in the world.

However, numerous "Hot Spots" exist in the world of Ganareth, outside Al Drifa: a central village per barony and a dynamic system that allows any player who subscribes to be called for an attack or a defense as soon as the combat starts.

MMORPGDot: What, roughly, would you estimate the minimum worldwide user base need be in for the world to feel adequately populated?

Stephane Quilichini: Indeed, we have to reach a critical mass to give a density feeling in the world of Ganareth. Our servers are configured to welcome more than 100 000 players at the same time - 10 000 players is enough for a good population. We, of course, hope to gather more players.

As this objective is ambitious, we developed the "Hot Spot" strategy to prevent players roaming alone in the world - they can at anytime join a group.

MMORPGDot: Can you give our readers an overview of combat? Does the combat system have any features that can be considered unique from other MMORPGs?

Stephane Quilichini: We do believe that pet AI and mounts use is a part of combat that has been very rarely that developed in a MMO. A player will be able to manage up to 3 pets at the same time and dozen "summons". If you are a group at the same place, I guarantee that the screen gets full very quickly! Combat will be at the level of other MMOs on the market.

We chose to concentrate our innovative development to the MMO gameplay sometimes forgotten: economy and politics. As for the first politics action for instance, the opportunity to choose where to install a fortress and built it in real time.

MMORPGDot: Could you tell us more about the combo system mentioned in the FAQ? Will this be included in the release version of the game?

Stephane Quilichini: Unfortunately, the combo system won't be available for the first release. Let's talk about this later with the coming patches.

MMORPGDot: Do mobs and NPCs have varying AI levels? How are these reflected in the game?

Stephane Quilichini: Yes, they do have various AI levels, from the MOB who just doesn't pay attention to you to the one who attacks you all the time or those who manage your aggro according to your class, god allegiance and damage you do.

MMORPGDot: Can you give us a little detail on the questing system? Should users expect more interesting quests than the run-of-the-mill "kill 15 zergs", "deliver the zerg powder to Lord X" or "find x number of zergs and take them to Brunhilde"?

Stephane Quilichini: Of course, players will have access to easy " Fedex " like quests. But our system allows the management of quests by our partner, Alchemic Dream. They have created very innovative and RP quests for the player to become a real actor in Ganareth's life.

The best thing would be to talk directly about this with Alchemic Dream - they've been working for a long time now on quests creation.

MMORPGDot: A lot of emphasis has been made on the social experience points system being independent from the fighting experience points axis. What are the main sources of social experience points and will these be accumulated at similar rates (time wise) to fighting experience points?

Stephane Quilichini: Social experience is really an original part of the Dark and Light concept. All that refers to craft, economy and politics depends on social XP and not fighting XP. Exploration mixes both XP.

When the player chooses to spend time crafting, managing his fortress or its jurisdiction, developing its economic influence, the player wins social XP that allows him to level. For each level, he will receive skill points to develop new competencies beside combats'.

MMORPGDot: Has the success (or dominance) of World of Warcraft changed your view of the MMO market and how Dark and Light fits into that market? What sort of player will be attracted to Dark and Light?

Stephane Quilichini: The arrival of World of Warcraft did change the market configuration and expectations. Despite the hard competition due to a game such as WOW, this success enlarged the MMO playering community and brought new players to MMORPG games, which is good for the whole MMORPG market.

Dark and Light answers to the most faithful MMORPG gamers - those who are asking for an RPG, long game lifespan, a real game evolution. Dark and Light cannot be compared to WOW - we had to make choices, and we made those of real game interest and immersion to enhance the pleasure of playing and spending time in a MMORPG.

MMORPGDot: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?

Stephane Quilichini: Thanks again to giving us the opportunity to explain and support our project - it is now coming very soon.