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Exclusive: Lords of Everquest Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
08/12/2003
We chat with the guys and ask why Everquest has changed from an MMORPG to an RTS...
Lords of EverQuest is the next-generation of Real-Time Strategy games. Inspired by the world of the online gaming phenomenon EverQuest, Lords of EverQuest features an enthralling storyline drawing gamers to the land of Tunaria as they control one of 15 Lords and manage massive armies in their quest for domination.
Featuring three different unique factions with which to do battle and a beautiful game world filled with breathtaking environments, Lords of EverQuest challenges players to command more than a hundred troops comprising Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Fiends and Dragons! Battle squadrons of hungry kobolds, companies of bloodthirsty undead zombies, and armies of evil creatures as you learn powerful magic that can be used to fight or heal while building skills for the ultimate challenge. After the story is over, the game has just begun as you take your game online and play via Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming matchmaking service with no subscription fee required.
With this exciting game due to be launched shortly we interviewed the Producer, James Parker, to find out all the exiting elements to this fab looking game.
TVG: What do you feel Lord of EverQuest presents as new to the RTS genre and would you see this as being aimed at the more serious of strategy gamers?
Weāre targeting both the serious RTS players, and the casual. Multiplayer has traditionally been the domain of the hardcore RTS gamer, in which the single player realm is where the majority of people spend their time. We think weāve done an excellent job to appeal to both groups with three deep, exciting campaigns, as well as free online multiplayer for up to 12 people per game.
As far as new features, we really feel weāve added some great ideas to the genre that will add another dimension to the strategy game including:
1-The ability for all units to level up - This is pretty huge since all units you create (other than pets) are able to become more powerful, gain special abilities, and eventually become elite troops.
2- Knighting - you have the ability to have two knights at any given time. These act like lieutenants and they receive a command aura, although not as powerful, like the Lord unit.
3-New unit level positively affected by Lord level - (New units are created at half the Lord's level, rounding up.) For instance, a level 3 lord creates level 2 units and a level 12 lord creates level 6 units. It comes together to create another dimension to the strategy. When do you create the units? Do you wait until you level up your lord, or do you build units and level them up from the start? Experience then becomes another resource to manage as you play the game.
4-Detachable mounts - We've played a lot of RTS games and wondered how killing a horse always resulted in the rider dying and vice versa. It's because other RTS games treat mounted units as a single unit. We treat them as two, adding a little more realism to the unit.
5-Random item drops by AI units in multiplayer - This is probably one of the biggest RPG elements of the game where you are actually rewarded with resources and items off of AI characters in the multiplayer games. Best of all, it is random and you never know what you're going to get.
6-A full 3D camera that can be rotated 360 degrees - Now you can rotate the camera, zoom in and out and utilize the camera as a tool for planning your strategy in battle.
7-The interface - We all know that in RTS games, screen real estate is at a premium. The more you can see, the better prepared you can be, and the greater the advantage over your opponents. We've added a feature where you can fade the interface, and you can also resize, move the interface anywhere, and quickly pop up the various windows. It is very slick.
TVG: Itās big shift from RPG to RTS and so are you aiming at a similar audience?
It is definitely a different kind of game, but again, we feel weāve done a good job of infusing some RPG elements into the RTS genre to add a new dimension to the strategy. We are targeting the RTS gamer first with a strong RTS game, and the fantasy gamer second with the lore, mythos, and setting in the EverQuest universe.
TVG: Will you try to make it easy for new and inexperienced RTS gamers?
Lords of EverQuest is very easy to get in. If youāve played other RTS games, many of the hotkeys, movement conventions, and basics; such as resource gathering, grouping, and path finding will be somewhat familiar. The new features are easy to pick up, such as developing your own strategy for levelling troops and defeating opponents. If youāre new to the genre, there is an excellent tutorial that teaches you how to play, and the game is revealed as you unlock more units and structures throughout the campaign. It is a nice easy learning curve.
TVG: Does EverQuest offer story-driven play and can you set the mood for the readers and give an overview to some of the tasks and objectives the player will undertake in single player mode?
As the Age of Blood draws to a close, it is a time of great upheaval.
In Neriak, the Teir'Dal plot to seize the glory that once belonged to Takish'Hiz. Forming a blood pact with a band of shipwrecked Iksar fleeing their Shissar slavers, the Dark Elves set out to find other disaffected warriors. Pooling the resources of a half-dozen monstrous nations, the Teir'Dal found a dark alliance--the Shadowrealm....
We have for a long time known the Ogres have not always been as they are. It is common knowledge that in the twilight years of the Elder Age they commanded tremendous sorcerous powers and held sway over much of the continent once called Tunaria. So great in power did the Ogres grow that eventually they were capable of invading even the Plane of Earth where they battled the elemental gods who therein dwelled. But great as their powers were, they were unequal to the task of slaying the Council of Rathe.
Angered at the failures of his Ogre creations, the warlord god Rallos Zek led his own invasion of the Plane of Earth seeking to finish what his minions could not. Rallos too was turned aside by the greater gods and was banished back to the plane over which he ruled, barred forever from physical interaction with the other planes or the world of Norrath. To punish Rallos for his presumption and his children for their excesses, the Council of Rathe thus cursed the Ogres, Orcs and Giants, taking from them their exceptional gifts of intelligence and scattering them across all the world.
Here is where the orthodox history ends. For long period we have held these facts as the whole truth regarding the fall of the Ogres and the exile of Rallos Zek. But what has not been passed down to future generations and what has been expunged from the memories of all those who lived in the infamous Lost Age is that before fleeing the Plane of Earth the Ogres stole great secrets of power and brought them back to Norrath.
Though the Council of Rathe pursued the Ogres' lost prizes and sought to erase the forbidden knowledge the Ogres had obtained, much still evaded the Council's grasp. Artifacts, scrolls, and many other great treasures went down into the dark places of the earth, becoming old wives' tales, legends...myths. While the intellect of his children grew ever dimmer with each passing year, Rallos Zek extended his influence to see that their stolen secrets would be preserved. Someday an army worthy of his patronage would rediscover them. Someday he would have his revenge....
Non-EQ players will find the story to be filled with exciting plot twists, and action as the story brings them into a new fantasy universe and gives them the power to build the most powerful army around.
In the game, you will defend areas, create bases, build armies, seek and destroy enemies, and uncover the story as the missions progress.
TVG: What do you feel is most innovative or interesting element about the EverQuest universe and can you see the world growing and extending for future products?
We have many gods, an established history, and with EverQuest live, a whole living, breathing, evolving universe to draw from. We have the benefit of knowing how things will be in 10,000 years, so we have backstory for everything. For example, we know the Iksar (lizard men) in Lords of EverQuest were brought by slavers to Tunaria long before regular travel to the moon of Luclin was possible. We have the Mogri summoned to wreak havoc on the enemies of the Shadowrealm, and we have the Elddar Alliance, where the elves were all together once. The EverQuest universe provides us with just a huge depth and breadth of lore, mythos, story and legend to use, and there are many great stories that could be their own stand-alone games.
TVG: What kinds of character choices will we have and how detailed will the character creation be?
There are 15 different Lords to chose from, basically all races from current EverQuest:
Elddar Alliance: - High Elf, Half Elf, Halfling, Froglok; Wood, Elf
Dawn Brotherhood - Erudite, Human, Barbarian, Dwarf,Vah Shir
Shadowrealm:- Gnome,Dark Elf,Iksar,Ogre,Troll
Other than choosing your Lord from one of those races, you can rename your Lord to whatever you want. We have preset all of the bonuses, resistances and attributes for the characters.
TVG: Please tell the readers about some of the side quests on offer with maybe your favourite one?
There are a number of interesting side quests. My personal favourite has to do with a couple of groups of rival Gnolls. One group sends you on a quest to reclaim a scroll, and on your way to it, the other group send you to rescue their friend. Itās pretty cool. There are other quests, such as destroying a crypt to free the soul of a local girl, and ridding the map of certain creatures. The great thing is there is always a reward and some of the items you can get by completing the quests are very powerful.
TVG: How do you hope to hook players and have them coming back for more?
The single player campaigns are enthralling with a great storyline and some fun gameplay. The action is excellent when two armies get into it. There are also 15 different Lords to play and they all work differently. Each Lord also has different side quests attached, so if you play as Lady Kreya, itās different than with Lord Vekk.
Other than that, the multiplayer is awesome, most importantly FREE, and you can get up to 12 players at once on the same map. That should keep āem coming back.
TVG: Will you explain how the dynamic combat works and what spells are offered?
The combat system is point and click for melee and ranged attack ā“ you select the unit and right click. Spells/special abilities can be set to auto cast so as soon as you have enough manna/stamina to perform the move or spell, it happens. You can also micro-manage all of the special attacks and spells, choosing what you will use at a given time as long as you have the stamina or manna available.
There are more than 100 special abilities/spells in the game. Weāre not getting into the specifics yet as we want the players to find the spells and items on their own for now. We may have a list in January ;-)
TVG: How diverse in scenery changes is the world and how do you get around this world?
There are 4 basic tile sets for the world - blight (desert), lava, forest, and frost.
You travel around the world on foot, or by air. There arenāt any vehicles that carry other troops, other than in one or two of the Elddar Alliance missions, but for those, youāll have to see for yourself.
