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Legend of Alon D'Ar - A GZ Interview
by The Badger
Garrett Graham, producer, and Christy Marx, scriptwriter, took a few moments out of their busy schedules to give us an inside look at what looks to be a magnificent game.
The Legend of Alon D'Ar not only aims to appeal to the core/classic RPGer with its fast paced battle system and seamless gameplay, but also defies strict rule-making by allowing players complete freedom with character development. How would you describe the general audience you hope to appeal to: from first time RPGer to hard-core paper-and-pen veteran?
GARRETT: The battle system in The Alon D'ar is in real time. When combat begins you can act with any character. Every action your character takes has a recovery time and until your character recovers, he or she will be unable to act. Some actions, like stabbing with a dagger, recover almost instantly, while larger weapons, like double axes will take longer. Spell casting works the same way. It does end up looking similar to turn-based combat, though.
How will characters develop new abilities? Will they be built through item acquirement (new weapons, magical items), or through more “practice” (new abilities are achieved as skill points/levels are raised)?
GARRETT: Characters start with some skills and can pay to learn others. Whenever characters win a combat or complete a quest they gain proficiency points, which can be used to increase skills they have learned. Skills can only be learned at certain locations, but once learned, they can be increased at any time if the character has enough PP.
Ah, turn-based combat, the recently unsung and oft forgotten combat system, which has not only disappeared from the strategy genre, but also from the RPG genre. Why do you think companies have turned away from turn based when there is evidently such an unanswered need for this most “cerebral” form of battle?
GARRETT: I love turn-based combat. In fact, I’m currently playing through Final Fantasy Tactics. It’s hard to say why there aren’t as many good turn based games getting made any more. It could just be a simple matter of perception -- that turn based games are “slow”.
An outstanding feature of Alon D’Ar will be the complete freedom involved in character development. How hard would it be for a character to perhaps play a more physical combat character through a significant portion of the game, to perhaps have a sudden career change and reform their stats to perhaps a more defensive or magic based repertoire?
GARRETT: That wouldn’t be hard at all, as the system is completely open. The choices you make early on won’t hamper your character’s development later in the game.
When a person does decide to come into gameplay as a second player, will they have full control of that character’s ability-development as well as their actions? Will there be any limitations on a second player?
GARRETT: The second player will have full control over the actions and development of the characters(s) they are controlling. The only limitation is that you have to stay within a certain distance of the other player’s character(s).
How will the party system work in Alon D’Ar? How will allies be arranged, acquired, and chosen as gameplay progresses? Will each team member have his or her own items/armors and separate skill accumulations? Will you be able to control the skills developed by your allies or only for your hero?
GARRETT: As allies join your party, they become yours to control. You decide what items they use, what skills they learn and what actions they take throughout the game.
Scriptwriting and character development is probably more important in RPG games than any other gaming format. After all, a number of DM’s and gamers have gone on to write books – the most famous example probably being the Weis and Hickman duo for Dragonlance. What kinds of influences have you had as a scriptwriter and what kinds of experiences have you most enjoyed in the gaming world that have helped contribute to your formulation of the script of Alon D’Ar?
CHRISTY MARX: I come from a background of writing sci-fi and fantasy for a living for a good ten years, even before I got the chance to design and write games. My influences come from reading comics books, fantasy, sci-fi and mythology all my life. Some of the authors that had the strongest affect on me as a young reader were Mary Stewart, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock and a host of others.
My years of writing in Hollywood have taught me to be flexible under pressure, to write on deadline, to work collaboratively, and to be disciplined as a writer. Within the gaming world, I've tried to apply a lifetime's exposure to and love of these wonderful genres. I was unusually lucky in that my first experiences designing big fantasy adventure games were for Sierra On-Line where I had total control over my games from start to finish. It was a crash course that taught me so much about how to balance story and interactivity.
There’s seemingly always been a gap, akin to the difference between night and day, between console RPGs and PC RPG’s. Alon D’Ar seems to be closing the gap between these two very often-different RPG forms. Do you feel your bringing console RPG closer to PC RPG with Alon D’ar? In addition, is there anything in particular you’re doing to lure otherwise traditional PC RPGers?
GARRETT: I think Alon D’ar brings the rich story and deep characters from console RPG’s and mixes it with the wide open worlds and skill systems of PC RPG’s. We haven’t particularly targeted PC users – we feel that a strong RPG will attract people on its own merits.
The Stormfront Studios team has been at their craft for a long time in the world of interactive RPG games (I still recall the original Curse of the Azure Bonds box graced with Clyde Caldwell art). Is this their first venture into console RPGs, and have there been any challenges (or surprises) along the path from PC to console platform?
GARRETT: They’ve done a variety of PC RPG’s, but Alon D’ar is their first shot at making one for a console. However, they had a very clear idea of what they wanted the game to accomplish – great story and great characters combined with an easy to learn skill/combat system with lots of choices for the player.
Another prominent feature of Alon D’Ar will be the elimination of combat cut-scenes and loading times – which is undoubtedly a welcome change for many gamers. Do you feel there has been a general outcry/frustration in the RPG world from gamers who are tired of the superficial eye candy that perhaps tries to draw the gamers attention away from sub-par gameplay?
GARRETT: I don’t know that there’s been an outcry but Stormfront felt that the PS2 was a strong enough system that loading in separate cut-scenes and combat screens wouldn’t be necessary. They also felt that not getting constantly jarred out of the game by load screens would help the player stay immersed in the game.
Is there anything you’re doing with Alon D’Ar that you’ve always wanted to do or add to an RPG experience that you haven’t been able to do before? Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers as the release date approaches?
CHRISTY MARX: I will be especially interested in seeing how gamers react to this story and these characters. My personal take is that a deep story and attention to good characters is a vital element in the success of a game.
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The best news of all is - Alon D'Ar will be on the shelves very soon! A big thanks to Garrett and Christy for taking the time to share this information!
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