Drakan from a "Dragon's Eye View" - GZ Interviews the Lead Designer of Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
by The Badger

It may have seemed like a bit of an uncertain and indefinite wait, but after two years and a platform change, the perseverance has paid off. Drakan: The Ancients' Gates has been released for the PS2 entertainment system, returning fans, both old and new, to the ravaged land of Drakan and the adventures of the warrior, Rynn, and her magnificent bonded, Arokh the dragon. Picking up where Order of the Flame left off, Rynn and Arokh must go on a journey to unlock the four Dragon Gateways and convince the great Dragon Mother to awaken the rest of the "Elder Breed," powerful dragons who chose to remove themselves from a civilization that had lost sight of honor and noble purpose. 

Featuring a unique blend of on foot and aerial (dragon mounted) combat, The Ancients' Gates brings a whole new fact to the realm of action-adventure. Featuring 15 huge levels, and a dabbling in RPG, Drakan: The Ancients' Gates breathes life (or dragon-fire, if you will) into the world of console fantasy. Not only did I get the immense pleasure of reviewing the title, but I was also excited to get the opportunity to conduct an interview with one of the founding members of Surreal Software, the game's developer.

Join me as I get in a little Q&A session with the lead designer of Drakan: The Ancients' Gates and Drakan: Order of the Flame!

1. Drakan: The Ancients' Gates allow the player to participate as a warrior, archer or mage. Does this decision need to take place at the outset of the title, like a class system, or will this remain an open choice as you proceed?

The player gains skill points by gaining experience from killing creatures. These points can then be allocated to Rynn's three different skills: melee, archery or magic.  So, the player can choose to master a given skill by assigning all their points to a given discipline or choose to balance the points across multiple skills.  Since this happens throughout the game, the player is able to first concentrate on a given skill, say melee, and then later switch to archery or magic if they so chose.  So it's a very dynamic system, with players able to continually make interesting decisions about how to build their character.

2. Will  Drakan: The Ancients' Gates have difficulty levels available for various experience levels? Will controls be configurable?

There are no difficulty levels in Drakan.  However, the player is able to choose from three different control settings which should offer enough variety for different playing styles.

3. An economic system is included in Drakan: The Ancients' Gates. Will buying and selling be restricted to armor and armaments? Will enemies also drop different items that may or may not be available in shops?

The economy is based around all the different types of items in the game including armor, weapons, spells, potions, shields, and even some other knick knacks.  Pretty much anything you can pick up you can sell, including such novelties as Blackwing dragon eggs.  There are lots of powerful and unique weapons and power-ups that are not available in stores that you can only find by exploring, killing creatures, or completing quests.  But the stores have a pretty good selection, so it really is a balance between found and purchased items.

4. What kinds of visual changes have been made to Rynn, Arokh, and their world in Drakan: The Ancients' Gates? What kinds of things have you done with the PS2 have been the most fun, or the most challenging?

The most noticeable change is the polygon count for the characters and environments.  In Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, Rynn's polygon count alone is close to an entire scene in the original Drakan.  The fog distance has been increased dramatically - it is now used for atmospheric effect rather than to keep the frame-rate fast.  Our art director has always wanted to build the dungeon areas of Drakan using actual bricks to increase the games visual depth, and the PS2's ability to push a ton of small polygons allowed us to accomplish this.  If you look at a dungeon wall each and every brick is modeled out.  The game is easily an order of magnitude more detailed than the original Drakan.

5. Drakan: The Ancients' Gates has been in the works for a couple years, and the first Drakan developed a sizeable following. Did you take any fan input into consideration when creating Drakan: The Ancients' Gates? What other feedback came into play in establishing the Drakan sequel?

We definitely listened to fan feedback, and the Drakan community has been very supportive and helpful.  The economy, Rynn's skill system, and the inclusion of a plethora side quests were a direct result of what players told us they wanted.  As a result, Drakan is a much deeper gameplay experience, but also one that's easier for new players to jump right into.

6. How did the decision come about to move it from PC to a console platform? What have been you biggest challenges in taking the game from one platform to  the other?

Psygnosis was the original publisher of Drakan, and was purchased by Sony. Around the time Drakan: The Ancients' Gates started developmen, Sony absorbed Psygnosis' operations.  Furthermore, the PS2 was on the horizon and we saw this as a great opportunity to switch platforms.  Drakan was more of a "console-style" game to begin with, so the transition was very natural for us.

7. What's the toughest thing about creating a sequel? How do gauge the balance between a game that will retain all the things fans of the first game loved and still adding plenty of new facets to make it an all new experience?

Our greatest challenge was developing a sequel for an entirely new platform.  Not only did we have to worry about appeasing our original fans, but we had the added challenge of transitioning the core mechanics of Drakan from PC to PS2.  We did this by staying true to Drakan's original design philosophies, listening to our fans' feedback and working with our producer who has a considerable amount of console experience.  We've made a game that we hope fans of the original will appreciate, while new players will have no problem whatsoever jumping right into the game-world.  There's nothing you won't understand if you didn't play the first game. 

8. What kind of modeling is used when creating mythical creatures like dragons or monsters? Is there a lot of live modeling involved with a game like this, or would you say that it requires less live modeling than other genres because of it's fantasy roots?

Every creature is created from the imagination of our artists.  Typically, we create a conceptual drawing of the creature on paper and then model it in 3D based on the concept.  There's a lot of back and forth, with people making suggestions on how it can be improved and people refining their work.  There were a few characters that were modeled out using traditional techniques, but this was only done after the concept sketch was agreed on by everyone on the team.  And this was done less as an aid but more because the artists felt like doing it in their spare time.  Not that they had that much spare time...

9. Will gamers encounter similar types of puzzles as were in the original Drakan? What kinds of things do you do to keep puzzle-solving experiences fresh and different for gamers?

We focus less on arbitrary puzzles in Drakan:  The Ancients' Gates and more on situational events, quests, and sub-quests.  An example of this is Snotmaw's lair at the end of Kragmor.  Rynn enters a gladiator pit surrounded by Wartoks.  As she enters, the doors slam shut and a massive creature known as a Primitive Giant attacks her.  All the while, the spectator Wartoks are chanting "kill her."  After killing the Primitive Giant, Snotmaw yells "Now you have to deal with me" and shakes his axe menacingly.  He then runs down to the gladiator pit and charges in.  Now all of his comrades begin chanting "Snotmaw.. Snotmaw."  After the player successfully dispatches him, all of the Wartoks swarm the gladiator pit for one massive battle.  These situational, action oriented events have the added benefit of integrating the narrative and gameplay providing a more engaging story and game experience.

10.If you had to pick one or two things that Drakan fans will notice are different about Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, what would they be? How about one or two things you feel sets the series apart from other fantasy action/adventure games?

Aerial combat on Arokh is much more engaging in Drakan:  The Ancients' Gates.  This has a lot to do with the controls on the PS2 and the fact that the fog is significantly further out which provides a greater sense of flight.  You really get a thrilling feeling flying through this massive environment and seeing so far.  Certainly, the biggest thing that sets Drakan apart is the dragon and the changing sense of scale mounting Arokh provides.  I can't think of any game that allows you to explore a detailed environment on foot and on dragon back.  It's pretty much two separate games, but we've woven them together to create a seamless and compelling experience.

11. Are we going to find out what happened to her brother, for heaven's sake!? Just kidding! In all seriousness, was very much of Drakan: The Ancients' Gates'plot established when the first Drakan was created, or did the storyline develop when work began on the sequel? 

You do find out what happens to her brother, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone.  The storyline evolved after the game entered full production, which was well after the original Drakan was completed.  We really focused on making the story compelling, the dialog interesting, and the ending satisfying, and the feedback we've gotten suggests that we succeeded.

12. How did you get involved with Drakan: The Ancients' Gates? Is there anything that has really set this experience apart from other projects you've worked on in the past?

I am a founder of Surreal and was the lead designer on the original Drakan and was lead designer on Drakan: The Ancients' Gates as well.  The thing that set this development experience apart from all my past projects was the PS2.  At first it was challenging to adjust our development methods to it, but after we got our feet wet, development became fun and exciting.  We kept on finding out ways to do cool stuff, stuff that simply wasn't possible the first time around.  Good sequels allow you to improve on and refine on the original game, and I think we've really gone even a step beyond that, making Drakan: The Ancients Gates head and shoulders above the original game.  The team here did an amazing job. 

13. Do you have anything else you'd like to share with Drakan fans (and Drakan fans to be) as they wait for the highly anticipated release? 

BUY DRAKAN!!!  All kidding aside, when playing Drakan, look for the non-obvious.  There are tons of secrets, hidden areas, sub-quests, weapons and areas to explore.  With the multiple disciplines and huge variety of swords, bows, and spells to choose from, the game has a tremendous amount of variety and no two players' experiences will ever be exactly the same. This variety gives the game so much replayability that I don't think any other PS2 title can compete. Above all, have fun playing the game!

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All graphics and art featured in this article (and more!) can be found as either screenshots or full-size desktop art on Surreal's official Drakan: The Ancients' Gates site at http://www.surreal.com/Drakan_PS2.htm. 

The Badger would like to thank the Surreal team for their time and generosity in answering our questions! Also, let me assure you, he wasn't kidding: You should buy this title and you will definitely have fun playing it!