Borderzone Interview
Sia' Garrett' Manzari, 2003-11-04

What awaits mankind in 9,000 AD? Has the earth and its inhabitants flourished and evolved or regressed into despair? You'll find the answers to humanity's fate in the thrilling new role-playing game, Borderzone, which has been revealed this summer. To learn more about the game, we have conducted this interview with Sergey Gerasev.

RPGDot: Hello! Please introduce yourself.

Sergey Gerasev: Sergey Gerasev, BorderZone producer, 1C Company.

RPGDot: Also please introduce Borderzone to us in a few words.

Sergey Gerasev: BorderZone it's an action RPG based on an epic story.
The game takes place in a small mountainous country called Kamirr which is located at the intersection of several big countries of that world.
The story begins rather ordinary. The main character, a resident of the northern fort of Kamirr finds out that a courier which was sent earlier to the capitol city with an urgent report has disappeared. This occurrence didn't seem very suspicious because of the tense situation in the country. However this was the first link in a long chain of events which draw the player into a confrontation with the Gods of that world.
There are more than 350 locations in BorderZone. Players will see it all with their own eyes - beginning from big outdoor locations to a tiny store-room in a village house somewhere in the mountains.

RPGDot: The website says Action-RPG, the trailer epic RPG. Which course will the game take, more on action or more on story?

Sergey Gerasev: The game will be focused both on action and plot. There will be plenty of story line based and additional quests. And of course we haven't forgotten about the role system. Players can choose a class of their character (there will be three of those in the game) and distribute experience points among dozens of different characteristics. Roughly speaking if you can imagine some Diablo oriented gameplay mixed with a world similar to the one in Baldur's Gate this will be BorderZone.

RPGDot: The setting is described to take place 9000 A.D., but all screenshots so far look and feel like a classical fantasy RPG. Are there sci-fi levels also or more common, what different areas are there?

Sergey Gerasev: The game takes place in 9,000 AD and it really looks like some fantasy world. But actually it is the future of Earth or Terra, how the natives call their planet.
On the planet Terra the past and the future have blurred. The tales of the great catastrophe, the Collapse, have been passed down for generations, although the details have faded. Most of the elders speak of a time, six or seven thousand years ago, when people possessed unprecedented power over Nature with an ancient, now forgotten, witchcraft known as "Science." They tell tales of when men could fly in the air, swim under water and even traveled to Selena, feats only the most rare magicians on Terra can still perform. The gods of ancient times grew angry and could no longer stand man's arrogance. So came the Collapse - mankind's "Science" was turned against them and as a result billions of people died.
The game begins in Taria, the northern province of Kammir, where the local system of chronology records the year as 3285.
However as soon as BorderZone is a mixture of a fantasy and sci-fi RPG there will be a scenario twist in the game. What you see on the screenshots is only a part of the game. There will be also some hi-tech locations, ultramodern weapons and even a bio-robot manufacturing facility.

RPGDot: For how long have you been working on Borderzone already?

Sergey Gerasev: BorderZone has been in development since 2001. At present the game is in the stage of beta-testing. We expect it to appear in stores at the end of this year or early in 2004.

RPGDot: As for gameplay and interface: Is there an automap, a journal and a quest book? Are there multiple choice dialogues?

Sergey Gerasev: There will be a map which allows players to move quickly from one visited location to another and a journal that records all the vents as well. As an addition there will also be a book that contains all information about current quests. Players will be able to chat with all characters in the game and will have a chance to choose dialogues. Frequently the right choice in a dialogue has an influence on the success of a quest.

RPGDot: Can you describe typical situations regarding combat and magic? Can you solve a situation like a puzzle or a confrontation in different ways?

Sergey Gerasev: Besides so called "quest" encounters when a player receives a task, for example, to calm down some local robbers there will be permanent fights with some living creatures or monsters which populate the world of BorderZone.
As for the battle itself - it's quite simple. Seek, destroy, move further. : If a player wasn't successful and didn't manage to annihilate an enemy it is possible to solve the problem amicably and vice versa.

RPGDot: What different spells are there? How does the spell system work? Based on reagents, only mana or totally different?

Sergey Gerasev: There will be attacking, regenerative, controlling, protective and monster creating spells. Players will also have a possibility to strengthen allies or weaken enemies.
The spell system is based on mana. There are several magic schools a player can choose. They specialize in fire, water, earth, air, psi-school and the school of equilibrium. During the game players will obtain spell books. Until a character has the book with him he can use spells. The success in this case depends on the specialization of the character.

RPGDot: And how does combat take place? What weapons are there and will you also offer ranged combat?

Sergey Gerasev: All combats will be in the good old Point & Click mode. There will be dozens of different weapon types - from cold steel (swords, axes, spears) to fire-arms and even something more modern. And of course don't forget about magic. A player can easily hit an armed skeleton hiding behind the back of his fellow with a lightning.

RPGDot: What races and classes are there in Borderzone? The classic humans, goblins, orcs etc or others as well? Which classes and races can you play actually?

Sergey Gerasev: There are three classes in the game - warrior, magician and rouge. It's a bit more complicated with races. Forget about classic fantasy races. The world of BorderZone is inhabited by Kozorgs, Siuns, Velds and humans of course. They all appeared after the Collapse - a huge disaster that killed 5 billion people and totally changed Terra.
Players start the game as a character with a predefined look and name but can distribute the points between different characteristics at their discretion.

RPGDot: Is there a character creation process? Can you describe the RPG system also? What skills and stats are there?

Sergey Gerasev: Just as I mentioned above it won't be possible to choose the appearance and the name of the character. At the beginning player must choose the class of the character and distribute skill points among available parameters. Depending on what path player has chosen the character can be a tough guy with no brains or a cunning rouge which can solve problems not by means of power but by using his head and skills instead. There are several tens of different skills and characteristics. This allows players to create a unique hero the way they want to see him. However for those who don't want to spend their time and want to move straight to the game we have a built-in random character generation system.

RPGDot: Can we travel with a party or recruit NPCs?

Sergey Gerasev: Players not only have a chance to do this, it's better to say they'd rather do this. There could be up to four characters in a party. It is possible to find companions as you move on through the game. Some NPCs players can recruit, some will join by themselves. That depends on the NPC.

RPGDot: Speaking of NPCs, do they act according to your actions or how you talk to them, like allying with your enemies or helping you against others?

Sergey Gerasev: NPCs in the game are rather self-dependent. This means that players won't be able to issue an order to attack, for example, a specific rat out of the whole pack. However the game gives you an opportunity to develop skills of your companions, distribute skill points they have earned and provide clothes for them.
It is possible to talk to companions anytime. Moreover this is a very good way to get some useful information about the situation in the world of BorderZone.

RPGDot: How does level up work? Do you get XPs for killing monsters and/or solving riddles, quests? And if so, how can you use the XPs?

Sergey Gerasev: By fulfilling quests and destroying monsters player gains experience points. When the amount of points is enough for a level-up player gets skill points which can distributed among different characteristics depending on what direction the character is going to develop.

RPGDot: Will there be Multiplayer support and if so, what does it look like (different modes)?

Sergey Gerasev: At present we don't have any plans to include multiplayer mode in the game. We want to concentrate more on the plot. BorderZone is going to be a strongly subject oriented game. It is possible that a multiplayer patch will be released but this hasn't been decided yet.

RPGDot: Will the game be released outside Russia, especially Western Europe, Uk, US, Australia?

Sergey Gerasev: Now we're properly speaking in the state of negotiations with several publishers. We hope that BorderZone will appear in stores worldwide.

RPGDot: Will there be a demo?

Sergey Gerasev: The idea of the game is to move around a huge world absolutely free, without any restrictions or borders. I think that by issuing a demo version which will contain only a small confined piece of the game world will give players an incorrect impression of the game.

RPGDot: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Sergey Gerasev: We hope that BorderZone will be to your liking and you'll find something new and exciting in this game.

RPGDot: Thank you for your time and answers.

Sergey Gerasev: Good-bye and thanks a lot for the interest in our game!