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Sacred - Exclusive Q&A Feature
Chris Leyton
10/11/2003
We chat to the guys behind this exciting RPG heading to the PC...
SACRED from Koch Publishing, developed by ASCARON ENTERTAINMENT, introduces players to a brand new blend of classic Role Play Gaming that offers a vast array of features, including never seen before player characters, over three hundred active non player characters, combat whilst riding a horse and the ability to combine several combat moves into a devastating single one-click action. All of these features and many more are enveloped within a richly detailed world, full of danger and adventure. Derek dela Fuente, eager to get fuller insight, managed to speak with Alan Wild, International Product Manager, who, with the assistance of Hans-Arno Wegner, Producer and Creative Director, explained in great detail what exciting elements gamers could expect!
TVG: Ascaron has been around a good number of years. Firstly, what is the expertise of the development team and what have you previously released?
Alan Wild: This is the first time we have all worked together in this particular team in a single project, although between us we have been playing, developing and releasing titles for many years. From our collective âpot of experienceâ there are quite a few titles, predominantly German ones, but also more well-known games such as the F1 Manager series, The Patrician series, Pizza Syndicate (Fast Food Tycoon) / Pizza Connection 2, PinballWizard2000, Port Royale, and moreâ¦on top of this we have various experiences in role playing games, from the likes of D&D and AD&D to MERP (Middle Earth) to some perhaps more obscure games and experiences, including LRP (Live Role Playing)!
We have a vastly talented team, and it would be impossible to name every member and achievement to date, so weâll just meet a few... Hans-Arno first, who can then introduce some of the teamâ¦
Hans-Arno Wegner is the Producer and Creative Director, with an expansive history in the games industry. Over the last 8 years Hans-Arno has been instrumental in various releases across PC, PlayStation and GBC platforms. Undertaking roles including management, design, creative and development direction, Hans-Arno has worked on around 30 individual titles in genres including economy, sports simulation, strategy, puzzle, actionâ¦
Hans-Arno: Lead Programmer and Project Manager for Sacred is Franz Stradal. Franz has had pivotal roles in several earlier games releases across the simulation and RPG genres.
Michael Bhatty, one of Sacredâs two Lead Game Designers, earned a Dr. phil. (equal to Ph.D.) for his research and achievements on the history and mechanics of interactive story telling. His dissertation (in German) was published in 1999: Bhatty, Michael, âInteraktives Story Tellingâ, Shaker 1999.
In an equal capacity is our second Lead Game Designer, Aarne Jungerberg. Aarne is in charge of the game mechanics and also the game interface, which is of immense importance to any game!
Peter Luber is our mastermind in the analysis department. With a highly focused and extremely creative gaming mind, Peter offers that vital testing and stability element to Sacred.
Then we also have Celal Kandemiroglu. Celal is an incredibly experienced and supremely talented artist, having drawn literally hundreds of covers for books, videos, magazines, comics⦠he is a true graphical marvel!
We are a really motivated team, and work together very effectively. One of the greatest things about the Sacred team is the wealth of ideas from everyone, and the way that these ideas are meshed together and given a life within Sacred.
TVG: Can you briefly explain the world the player will be entering?
Alan Wild: Sacred welcomes you into the Kingdom of Ancaria. It is a world which feels alive, and carries an air of reality and believability (albeit in the fantasy sense). This is important as it creates a rich and exciting environment where the player can truly immerse themselves. There will be numerous named NPC characters (around 300) and each has their own agenda and story.
TVG: What is the story to the game and what is the prime objectives/tasks on offer?
Alan Wild: The story is set initially through the intro movie which sees a sorcerer summon a Sakkra Demon. However the summoning goes awry and the demon is heard to be roaming freely in the lands of Ancaria, reviving armies of the undead to overwhelm the world. The first effect is that the fleeing orcs assault the human territories.
Hans-Arno: The adventure begins in earnest right from the outset, with each character having their own starting point and starting quest. Tasks throughout Sacred involve helping villagers in various ways, assisting garrisons, the local guard and other factions, rescuing named NPCs, locating items, delivering messages, disposing of raiders and marauding creatures and so onâ¦
Alan Wild: Sacredâs prime objective? Well, the demon would seem like a good place to startâ¦
TVG: There are six cast members the player can select from, so firstly how diverse are their attributes and how different will the game experience be for each of them?
Alan Wild: The six characters are highly diverse. Each character has their own collection of skills and, more importantly, their own skill base with which to select new skills as you gain in experience. As a result, there can be a number of instances of the same character, yet each one different in their actual skills and overall abilities. This is imperative for multiplayer, where the diversity and individuality allows players to really identify with their own character, and as a result take even more satisfaction from their adventures through Ancaria.
Good, well thought out character design is a hugely important element that makes a great RPG really stand out, and furthermore gives the players a real feeling of involvement.
Some other major differences between the characters include:
-Each characterâs inventory screen is different. For example, the Gladiator has more armour slots than the Battle Mage, but can wear less rings and amulets
-Each character begins the game at an different starting point
-Each character has access to a set of skills, some of which can be accessed by all characters
-There are âCombat Artsâ sets specific to each character
-Each character has specific stats that define underlying strengths and weaknesses and strengths of each type.
TVG: Who will you be fighting and confronting? Can you highlight two of the most interesting and diverse to your own attributes and skills?
Hans-Arno: We have a lot of different enemies, to name just two:
-Skeletons which can rise up again and fight on, after losing parts
-The large Dragon you could get to fight. The Dragon strikes with special fire and melee attacksâ¦
-and, and, andâ¦
TVG: How does combat work and what kind of moves and weapons are on offer and is there any kind of progression to the weapons you can use?
Alan Wild: Sacred has 4 different (but equally balanced) damage-systems (physical, fire, magic, poison) instead of only physical like âanotherâ RPG title (in that title the others are just damage modifiers). We work with the attack-type and all the available parameters like attack-skills, defense-skills, agility, attack-speeds, etc.
In Sacred we use poison for example to slow down. Intoxication is therefore an additional tactical issue during a fight because besides reducing life points it affects the ability to react.
Fire adds physical damage as well as burning over time and enhances its damage depending on the armour you are wearing (e.g. full plate receives more fire damage due to overheated metal).
Magical damage depends on the spell effects and can have effects on different parameters like visibility, health, regeneration, speedâ¦
Through this design we have connected the kind of damage to the type of armour (and to the type of weapon), which produces the damage.
Weapons and armour can be upgraded by rings, amulets (standard so far), skills (this is new, like sharpening, etc.) and runes of magic power.
In terms of weapons and armour we have over 100+ âmodelsâ. When we say âmodelsâ we mean like dagger, staff, halberd, axe, battle axe, sword, short sword, long sword, greaves, shieldtype1, shieldtype2, shieldtype3⦠and so on. From these we easily have around 2500+ weapons and armour, including the rare and unique items. Sacred also has items that are specific to each character and offer various bonuses.
On top of this we also have magic and Combat Arts and riding and fighting from horseback, all of which add to the tactical element of Sacred, whilst retaining the RPG playability factor that we all know and love!
Sacred has a truly exciting and completely new addition to the RPG genre in how we allow players to combine up to 4 of their Combat Arts into a lethal single-click Combo. Combos can be placed in the Combat Art âquick slotâ positions just like any other Combat Art. Players can have up to 4 Combos (comprised of Combat Arts already acquired), which can be learned from a Skill Master. For example, the Seraphim could have a Combo which sees her leap into the middle of a group of enemies, unleash a devastating attack on her initial target, then flow into a whirling hit motion damaging those enemies grouped around her, before hurling her weapon in an arc, dealing more damage to those still standing.
Once learned, a Combo can later be changed with Combat Arts added or removed. The limits and possibilities for stunning attacks are simply down to the player, their style of play and the Combat Arts theyâve learned!
TVG: The big question - how does the character development system work and are there any special features you are proud of?
Alan Wild: Weâre actually proud of the way the whole character development system works. In this we decided to return to some of the traditional sense of RPG character development. Once the player has selected their character they can enter the kingdom of Ancaria and begin their adventure, earning experience as they go. Upon gaining enough experience players will gain levels and skill points. These skill points can then be assigned to increase the skills they have. However, skill points can also be hoarded, and this is what some players may wish to do, as when characters reach certain levels they will be able to select new skills from their characterâs path. Some skills will be specific to the character; others will be general and available for all character types to learn at some point.
With this character development system it is easy, for example, to have 2 of the same types of characters, but completely different skills, Combat Arts and proficiencies.
Hans-Arno: Yes, it is also important to say that there is no skill-tree, so that no âwrong skillingâ is possible. In some games you have to start all over again if you use the wrong combination of skills. In Sacred you choose freely, so you decide if you are more likely to want to cast a spell more weakly but quickly or more powerfully but very slowly.
TVG: I am informed this game is more than RPG so how important are the action elements and exploring in the game, as well as magic?
Alan Wild: The action is one of the focal points of Sacred. Instead of the usual hack and slash environments that we see in many RPGs, Sacred has a brand new combat system that requires players to think and fight differently against the numerous enemies and within the different situations. The AI obviously plays a part here, and with the variety of creatures wandering through Sacred each can and will act in their own manner, dependent upon their own (AI) âassessmentâ of the combat situation. Enemies can also be disarmed during combat (a skill that player characters can learn and develop to a higher proficiency through gaining levels and skill enhancements). In all manner of Sacred action, enemies can react in different ways. Some may flee; some may regroup; some may attack in packs; some may retrieve their lost weapon or shield when disarmed; others may simply continue fighting without their lost armament.
An example of a combat event with a particular enemy would be that of a skeleton encounter. Imagine hitting a skeleton so hard that his skull is âremovedâ⦠yes, it is possible. And yes, that skull is collectable. And yes, weâre proud of it.
TVG: Another two pronged questions. You are trying to create a new blend of RPG but donât you worry that this may alienate the serious gamers and secondly, in the past German developed games sometimes tended to be overly serious and too complex for gamers in other parts of the world?
Alan Wild: Weâre not concerned at all. In fact, as weâre all avid gamers and between us have played just about every other RPG around we know what was missing and what can be improved from our experiences. My personal gaming experience dates back to the days of the BBC and Dragon machines, then through Spectrum and Amiga ownership, before finally buying a PC for the sole purpose of getting my hands on (and completing) the ground-breaking original Ultima Underworld title. RPG needs some sense of the traditional, but the actual fantasy RPG experience is about exploring new and fantastic ideas, areas, magic, creatures, items, skills, features and so on. Even just counting the new characters, Combat Arts, Combo creation, Smithing system, and horse-riding, Sacred has this in droves!
In terms of complexity, Sacred is quite simple to play. It uses familiar click-to-move and click-to-pickup and click-to-attack commands. Thereâs also the familiar inventory area and character-slots screen (albeit altered for each character to enhance the individuality of the different characters). Weâve added âquick slotsâ (up to 5 for weapons/shields and another 5 for Combat Arts and Combos) to make tactical gameplay and item selection much more accessible.
Sacred does not take itself too seriously, there are definitely items and areas where gamers will say âHave you seen this?!â and âHey, that looks likeâ¦â and âHehe, thatâs clever!â and âWow⦠this is cool!â and âWHERE ON EARTH DID YOU FIND THAT WEAPON?!?â
Itâs a huge game with a great many places to explore, has a really captivating story, and with the incredible âaddictionâ factor Sacred is one of those games that is destined to keep gamers up until the early hours. Everyone who has seen Sacred has loved it! Sacred is sure to be enjoyed by anyone who has an interest in fantasy RPGs!
TVG: Explain how the 30 missions and 200 sub quests have been constructed?
Hans-Arno: We began with the main story separated into the 30 mission steps. Then we created sub quests out of the several main mission situations. After this we have created additional quests that are inspired by the quests so far, the characters and the regions.
TVG: How technology focused is the team and are there any nice features to look out for?
Hans-Arno: Our effects programmer Steve Manekeller has a degree in physics and is a god in designing extraordinary effects like, for example, very spectacular particle or texture effects.
The animations â“ motion captured and key framed â“ are extremely good. A lot of graphic artists worked on this, ensuring authentic movement and a real feeling of life in all of the characters in Sacred.
All houses, trees, etc. are painted by artists, with much care and attention to details and atmosphere.
TVG: Sum up the experience in a sentence.
Alan Wild: Sacred picks up where other fantasy games have left off, breaking away from some of the traditions of RPG gaming, whilst giving the hardcore gamers their much needed fix of new fantasy role-play gaming!
Hans-Arno: If you like beautiful landscapes, breathtaking effects, cool characters, perfect animations, good story and action you will love Sacred!
