Path to Zenrai Interview

Part 1

Logan Horsford , 2002-08-21

RPGDot: What is your name and job title please?

Michael: My name is Michael McGehee and I am the lead designer and producer for Twisted Monkey Development.

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

Michael: Early in our design phase we promised ourselves we would make the GUI as customizable as possible, we feel every player has different needs and wants and everyone enjoys their own style. The windows in the interface can be minimized, resized, moved, and you can change their transparency. The hotkeys will also be very customizable via an in game control panel that will allow you to remap the keys to your desired locations.

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

Michael: Zenrai is a world of danger, but we don't plan on having every new player as open game for player killers. The game will feature a "newbie status" system that the player can choose to turn off, basically what the system does is when a player approaches certain area's it will set off a trigger that will launch an information popup giving them some information about certain skills and the like. As for protecting new players from player killing this newbie status system also will offer protection, but not invulnerability. Before a player attacks a newbie they are warned they are about to do so via in-game dialog, should they choose to anyway and kill the player a guardian we call "The Enforcer" will punish the offense with cutting your skills in half and locking them so they cannot raise. At that time the enforcer will then give you a very meaningless and trivial task to complete before your skills are returned to normal.

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

Michael: Yes there are very many NPC's to interact with and they can do everything from teaching you, selling, buying, and a wide variety of other task. Currently we have 500 NPC's designed individually for each of the eight races, each with their own unique name, background, and attitude. We are also working on a very dynamic AI system which will allow NPC's to live everyday lives, they will need to eat, sleep, drink, and if we can we hope to make them simulate memory. As for keeping playable characters dynamic we will be shipping the game with over 4000 unique model textures so that no two players are alike, it's our goal to make the game and characters as immersive as possible.

RPGDot: 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?

Michael: It seems that no matter what is done there will always be grief players, and while we don't have any plans that say a player can only attack another player under certain circumstances there are a few in-game systems that should help prevent rampid pk'ing out of a fear factor. In Zenrai there are over 1,000 skills that can be used in various ways, and only you know how good your skills are, so basically pk'ers can prey on the weaker players because really they can't be sure who actually is weaker. Just because you are a 6 ft. tall Hotaru and wearing great armor and wielding a giant axe doesn't mean you can win against the 3 foot tall Komakai with leather armor and his fist. We also will be offering two different types of servers, one for the d00ds and the other for roleplayers. The roleplaying server will be roleplay enforced and if your found by a GM to be excessive in lack of roleplaying your character will be transferred to a regular server.

RPGDot: 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?

Michael: Absolutely, we have an integrated "Karma" system that is effected by everything you do. Only NPC's can see your karma level (not even you can) and this will sway their attitude towards you. Now say a player comes along and kills an NPC and the NPC's son watches the event, that son NPC might very well spend his days training to come and hunt that player down and kill him. It's all part of our NPC "alive" system.

RPGDot: What elements are in place to stop me from buying 2 accounts, 1 Mr. Respectable, and 2 Mr. Reprehensible, and keep my "woods guy" out slaughtering everyone, and use my good guy to resupply?

Michael: While we don't have anything in place to prevent this over multiple accounts, there are systems in place so that you cannot do this sort of thing on 1 account. Of course on systems we haven't perfected yet we are always willing to take suggestions on our forums.

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

Michael: The game will have a skill cap but it will be so high you will have to literally play the game for years to achieve it. It's also possible to master all skills but thanks to our ying-yang system it's highly unlikely, basically the ying yang system says if you advance your self in one skill there will be another skill some where on the skill tree that will become harder to learn with each advance.

RPGDot: Is combat open ended, like I.C.E.'s system use to be? [That system was geared so that a newbie could kill a fully armored veteran with a single lucky shot..]

Michael: The combat system is very unique I should say*, *you will be able to set up 3 different move queue bars that your character will automatically perform while in combat You will be able to switch between queues, perform special moves, run, and pick a defensive or aggressive fighting style.

RPGDot: Besides killing people/critters, what can I do? Is the trade skill 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.

Michael: There are very many different trade skills with everything from blacksmithing, tailoring, and even jewelry making and absolutely none of them require you to kill for experience to press on in that skill. The in game economy will very much depend on these most valuable players and you can plan on seeing them opening up their own shops and forges.

RPGDot: Will PC tradesmen be forced to compete with NPC merchants?

Michael: Yes they will have to compete with NPC merchants if they are in the same area, however players will be able to establish towns and PC tradesmen will be free of NPC competition in those area's.

RPGDot: Which is better - monster dropped equipment or PC crafted equipment?

Michael: Well that all depends on the monster and the PC ;) Seriously though personally I would say on AVERAGE the PC crafted items are better die to their customizable nature.

RPGDot: World size: This was mentioned in your FAQ but that really didn't answer the question. Lets rephrase it thusly: Assuming no mishaps with monsters or terrain, how long would I sit at my computer pressing the 'move forward button' to cross the world in real time minutes/hours?

Michael: Well the in world game days last 8 real world hours a peice, so I would have to say about 72 real world hours.

RPGDot: What are the main influences in the creation and design of the game world?

Michael: To do something different and do it right. There are some many games out there right now that just follow the same pattern, I figure it's time for something new, creative, and beautiful.

RPGDot: How smart are the mobs [AKA Mobile Objects, AKA monsters/creatures]? I mean, if I keep showing up at their daycare center, luring single young monsters away to a nasty death, can I do this forever, or do they eventually take action? Is the mobs behavior static, or is there a pseudo random component? By this I mean, if I shoot a mob with an arrow, A) It always chases directly at me, back to the waiting hoards for slaughter, or B) 70% give chase, 20% attempt to use an evasive maneuver, and 10% run for help?

Michael: The MOBs will be very intelligent depending on their race, aka some are smarter than others. Some will devise strategy against you others will run for help and others will charge blindly at you. Don't expect to see players camping a spawn location either, because they are complete random within a given area.

RPGDot: 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?

Michael: Seeing as time passes much slower in Zenrai than the other worlds I would say about 25-30 minutes without the aid of materials. Keep in mind however there are plants and herbs all over Zenrai with healing properties so it's wise of an adventurer to learn some potion/herbal skills.

Next Page