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Wizardry 8 - Q&A Feature
Derek Dela Fuente
00/12/0000
Derek dela Fuente recently had the chance to grill Sirtech about the upcoming eighth title in the Wizardry series.
Wizardry 8 is an epic fantasy RPG that picks up where Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant left off.
Coming from Canadian publisher and developer Sir Tech, Wizardry has grown into an RPG with a massive user base and as the team continues to push the boundaries of the RPG genre we got Derek dela Fuente to speak with them to find out more about this title.
8 is not too late.
The team answered a question put, which will dispel any worries about not being able to get straight into Wizardry 8. âIf you simply compare the number '8' to a more elaborate title, we are sure it may sound dull. However, most people will understand the product is a long running franchise by this numerical reference. The original Wizardry, when it came out in 1981, introduced role-playing to computers and is known as the 'granddaddy' of CRPGs. With every sequel, it has raised the bar in terms of storyline and depth. This latest product continues that tradition much more so and nothing drives that point home more than making the '8' as salient as it is.â
Like most other game series, Sir Tech doesnât assume players have had experience with prior versions. They have built this game for every fan of role-playing games that enjoys a good combination of character progression, combat, NPC interaction, puzzles, adventure and story. They have gone to great lengths also to have three different beginnings to the game, addressing story continuity from the previous Wizardry episode (for those who import a saved game). It is expected that most players starting this game will do so with a fresh slate and there is a separate beginning for these first time players.
Stat attack
Avid RPG fans are stats focused and Wizardry offers more than most but one puts the questions, can screens of info be simplified? âStats are very important, as is strategy, during combat. The whole foundation of role-playing games is based on stat improvements. Some companies have tried to make the stats as transparent to the player as possible, and while there certainly are areas of complexity that could be transparent to the player, we don't feel this approach is appropriate for statistics. Hiding the statistics would virtually remove the heart of the product - the tangible growth of the player's characters. Reducing the number of statistics is OK for a light role-playing game, but again, since this is the heart and soul of this game, it certainly wouldn't improve the game. However, there is such a thing as too many statistics. Some game developers have increased the number of statistics to an overwhelming degree, seemingly simply for boisterous reasons, when the inclusion of all these statistics does not bring anything to the game other than confusion and headache. Wizardry 8 has just the right number of statistics, so that the player is really not overwhelmed, but has a great deal of control over character growth and has interesting decisions to make. An analogy that comes to mind is comparing the game of Chess to Checkers. Checkers is much more simple, but not as interesting as Chess. And Chess really isn't that complicated to learn or play - every piece has its own rules that govern its movement and strengths, but all in all, it's a very manageable set of rules
with a grand payoff in terms of playability.
New ideas
With the game now on its eighth offering it could be that ideas are running low and with games like Tomb Raider selling less with each new version is this not a worry!? âCertainly not! To us, that's like saying âhow long until the movie industry is out of ideas?â In our opinion, there is really no other game genre that is as satisfying as an RPG. RPGs truly allow the player to get involved in a story, and they can freely choose how they want to progress in the game. They get to see tangible results - better equipment, characters that grow, etc. On top of this, RPGs include challenging combat and puzzles, and intriguing worlds to explore.
âThe Wizardry series has always excelled at storytelling in a seamless, interactive way. And the art of storytelling, when combined with unique, creative, and interesting angles shall never die or be exhausted. Everyone enjoys a good story, and everyone likes to be the hero, so we think RPGs will be around for quite some time.â
âWith the exception of add-ons, we have found that each scenario out-sells the predecessor. My guess is that the Tomb Raider series is an exception simply because the products were released in quick succession
without taking the time to polish each subsequent version. Take Diablo 2, for example, while the first product was a smash hit, the second was even more successful.â
The team eagerly spoke about the RPG scene and itâs growing audience. âJust as there are new (and more) gamers every year, there are new role-players all the time too. The past few years have seen a major
resurgence of the RPG. Some of the most recent successful titles are role-playing games. Some are âlightâ, some are extremely complex; some are on-line versions with players from all around the world participating. I think the âlightâ games have helped to attract even more gamers to RPGs, and many of them have discovered a love for the genre and quickly become hungry for more depth. Once you discover role-playing games, you realise they are a mix of more elements than other games, and it's hard to be satisfied with the single-dimensionalism of other genres. We have no trouble finding new faces.â
With RPG games now becoming broader and adventure games becoming more stat based it is hard to define an RPG but Sir Tech put their own definition. âA Role Playing Game can be defined as an experience where the player assumes the role of one or more characters whose dynamics are clearly represented to the player and where the player can make intelligent decisions, utilising the various strengths of the characters to his advantage. As the game progresses, these abilities grow in a manner that the player has some control over. Much of the growth is acquired through combat, but not all. The player is usually required to undertake various quests or participate in events that pertain to the story and character growth can occur as a result of that as well. Items and equipment are also very important. Being able to improve your equipment so that it is commensurate with your character growth is essential. The combination of all these factors is extremely rewarding as players can see their results and attain greater accomplishments with every step. The genre usually allows for the player to enjoy a lot of freedom and decision making as they follow a non-linear path throughout the game and cause the story to unfold. What we try to bring into the equation is a strong representation of 'character' and personality.
A new game
Back to Wizardry I was informed as to where the game stands in conjunction with the previous titles and it appears that Wizardry 8 is a continuation from 7 but also a new stand-alone game. There are multiple story components so that the previous Wizardry storyline can be resolved in Wizardry 8, and so that newcomers to the series will not be confused. The storyline continues in the blend of fantasy and science fiction that became prevalent in the latter Wizardry episodes. The game play has a lot of resemblance to previous
Wizardry games but also has evolved so much that it is also very different. Sir Tech has endeavoured to retain the feel and flavour of Wizardry while evolving many aspects of the game to not only meet general expectations of gamers today, but make it a much better game than it ever was before.
Not only have we migrated Wizardry into a 3D environment, but we have totally taken advantage of this change to enhance the playability of the game. Monsters roam around countrysides and there is true line-of-sight and hearing. Parties are capable of spotting monsters before they themselves are spotted and hide behind obstacles until the monsters pass by. Parties can also become surrounded, resulting in very interesting combat situations. 3D distance is taken into account for all spells and weapons, so the actual 3D environment becomes a huge factor in how combat plays out. Also, because the game is in a 3D environment, puzzles are now tied-in to the environment much better than ever before. Of course there are many more differences - these are just examples, but the main point is that these all contribute to make a much better game, but it's still Wizardry. Combat is still a huge part of game play and, like past Wizardry games, it's not just hack and slash, it requires good decision making.
Wizardry 8 is an epic fantasy RPG that picks up where Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant left off. Many may recall that all hell had broken loose at the end of Wizardry 7. The Dark Savant had taken flight with a device called the Astral Dominae, an incredibly powerful artefact containing the secret of life itself. Following him are two powerful races, the T'Rang and the Umpani, as well as your own brave party of adventurers. Everyone is headed to Dominus, a world on the cusp of the Cosmic Circle, birthplace of the Astral Dominae and home of the Cosmic Lords. Many paths will converge on Dominus, and many long-hidden secrets will be revealed.
You choose
The player gets to create a party of 6 characters at the beginning of the game. When creating these characters, the player gets to select a voice personality to match each character. There are also over 75
fully-scripted NPCs in the game, as well as numerous other generic NPCs. Each one has full speech. Some of these NPCs can also join your party â“ you can accommodate two of them at a time for a total party size of eight. Once in your party, you can control these characters as if they were your very own âcreatedâ characters, however, they sometimes have their own agendas and may refuse to do certain things.
Talking
Every facet within Wizardry 8 is impressive, non-more so than the speech. There is speech for every line of dialogue in the game - and there are many characters. There are over 36 different personalities that can be assigned to your own characters, each with over 100 lines of dialogue, and there are over 75 major NPCs in the game. . On top of this, there are many other minor NPCs (i.e. who don't have many lines of dialogue). Your own characters speak fairly frequently. The only time when you won't hear speech is when you read a book or a sign in the game. We're very proud of this.
There are over 100 magical spells in the game, along with many items that have magical abilities - obviously way too many to list here. The spells are very interesting, because the manner in which they are used differs. Some spells work on only a single target, some affect an area, some are directional - you cast them in a direction and they can affect multiple creatures in that one direction only. Some can affect an entire group of monsters regardless of their position. There are numerous weapons in the game as you might imagine. At last count, there were over 300 items in the game, and at least 175 of these are weapons. There is quite a variety, from your typical swords, axes, bows, etc, to unique gadgets that can be constructed during the game.
Not online!
Wizardry 8 is a single player game as was expanded on. â Sir Tech don't believe that every game needs to be multiplayer. In fact, when games are designed to be multiplayer, the single-player portion has to be designed in such a way to ensure that only one game is in development, not two. Because this attitude is necessary for practical business reasons, it limits what can be done for solo play. There is still a huge market out there whose priority is solo play. It's our goal to focus on telling a gripping story, and let the player control the pace of that story. We do intend to create a multiplayer product with the Wizardry franchise, but that product will concentrate more on gaming from a social perspective rather than a story-driven one.â
Load of game play.
Players can customise the game, controlling the speed of combat, monster movement, etc, not to mention difficulty. Also, because there are various optional side-quests that players can choose to participate in or
ignore, there will also be a great deal of variation. However, all in all, the game is not short. A ballpark figure for game play hours would a range anywhere between 80 and 130 hours.
Quizzed on the innovative ideas on offer the team was forthcoming including âa scoopâ in the fact they hope to place this on PS2. â Well, we've taken a game series that has been 100% 2D tile-based and brought it to a 3D environment. In past games, monsters always ambushed you, you never saw them coming, they just 'appeared'; now monsters go about their business in the world - you can sometimes spot them before they see you and avoid them if you wish. Monsters can surround you, nearby monsters can âhearâ the battle and take part. Friendly NPCs can also take part, helping you out. Your party now has a 'formation' whereby you can control which members are protected by the presence of others and which direction they face. Various character professions have been improved so that each profession is valuable - there were imbalances in previous Wizardry games. We also have a very unique NPC interface. You can click on any word spoken by an NPC to use as a topic of conversation with them. The list goes on, but we want to save some of the fun for the players to discover.â
âStretching technology?â Yes, to some degree. We were very ambitious in our desire to create a huge 3D world, full of monsters. Because Wizardry is known for fighting groups of monsters (as opposed to 1-3 like many other 3D games typically have), we had quite the challenge. Each monster appearing on screen adds overhead to the already complex world geometry, so it took quite some time to get all this working smoothly. Add to that true line of sight, accurate missile calculations, and complex Artificial Intelligence and you have one big hungry beast to tame. I'm happy to report that we're very happy with the results. We are now in our fourth beta version, and we've received nothing but glowing comments (you can read many of these on our website).
All the very best
Sir Tech completed the interview by summing up all that is best is this edition and the whole of the Wizardry series? âNever before has there been a Wizardry like this one. Never before has there been an RPG like this. It's big and beautiful, immediately absorbing, and quickly addicting. This is a world where your decisions are very important, battles are intense, friends and foes can change, and the storyline is extremely intriguing. You will experience a whole New World where you will meet many wonderful characters. A world that we think you will never want to leave...â
