Q&A - Ask a question, Get an answer

[gragnak]

Ehi BW, perhaps you could answer us all posting a demo of the game.
We'd appreciate to test the difficulty and give our best impressions....

... and about balancing the difficulty level. I agree with all of you. Personally, I prefer a little bit harder game than a little bit easier one.

[Jimmious]

I think the best thing to do in order to achieve a good "balance" in difficulty is to make "critical" battles really hard. Thus the "good RPGer" will have a challenge when he reaches them and the novice will not be depressed during the whole game and he will gain "gaming experience" untill he reaches these battles.

Or maybe you don't need to make the critical battles hard, but create really hard "special" encounters. For example a dragon that you don't really need to kill but if you decide to, it's gonna be a nearly impossible battle. These kind of stuff keep hardcore RPGers at bay

[Dragonlady]

I was killing some time and looking at the screen shots and noticed something odd. I went back and checked the screen shots I'd downloaded and filed from last year. Screen shot #10 Used to have "Greek Fire" listed as the vial in a tiny screen, now it has Demon Oil. Did you change the name? I like the second version myself...because there (I assume) are no Greeks your world.

[Saxon1974]

I was killing some time and looking at the screen shots and noticed something odd. I went back and checked the screen shots I'd downloaded and filed from last year. Screen shot #10 Used to have "Greek Fire" listed as the vial in a tiny screen, now it has Demon Oil. Did you change the name? I like the second version myself...because there (I assume) are no Greeks your world.

I think I remember him saying it was his own version of "Greek fire", I like the name "Demon Oil" as well.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I went back and checked the screen shots I'd downloaded and filed from last year. Screen shot #10 Used to have "Greek Fire" listed as the vial in a tiny screen, now it has Demon Oil.

Conspiracy!

Yeah, no Greeks in this world so Greek Fire seemed silly.

[almondblight]

I think it's fine to keep "greek fire". If you're going to have vandals, thugs, assassins, china, etc., why not greek fire?

[Fleisch]

I kind of like "Greek fire" myself, but I guess I can live without it. Speaking of Greeks, did you know that the Spartans had no written records, history, literature, or laws, and that they were forbidden by (presumably oral) law. Probably a good way for politicians to rewrite history. . .

Actually, what I wanted to say, since Dragonlady is preserving the historical record here (and thanks to her very much for the FAQ), how about a new screenshot? Maybe one that shows a different, non-wooded environment (or maybe some fog or water, or more of a town,), or perhaps a screen with the TAB tactical display of enemies, or even potion making or a shot of the quest log, if they're not too spoilery. There is a quest log, right? Or do we take notes?

[BasiliskWrangler]

...how about a new screenshot?

We are working extremely hard to reach beta test stage right now and we probably won't release any more screenshots before the game is finished. We still have plans to make a trailer/video as part of our pre-release promotion, so we'll try to give you some glimpses of new areas there.

[Saxon1974]

I think it's fine to keep "greek fire". If you're going to have vandals, thugs, assassins, china, etc., why not greek fire?

It is a difficult thing to make every single word original in an RPG since all words have some root in the languages of the real world. That being said, I do find that certian ones tend to take you out of the fantasy world more than others. I think words that describe a particular people are some of the most obvious so I think taking them out is a good idea. I also think Demon Oil sounds cool so good job

[Dragonlady]

I've been playing Avernum to pass the time till Escalon comes out and thought of a question to ask...

Will magic items be known right when you get them or do we have to find someone to "Identify" them? Will there be a skill or profession for character that will enable him/her to do 'Identify" themselves?

(Okay, that's two questions but they are related.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Yes, items are classified in one of four rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare. To be able to use any given item, you must know what it is. Your ability to identify items is largely based on your Intelligence and Wisdom, plus your Lore skill if you have chosen to develop it.

All but the most dim-witted characters can identify Common items, and more learned characters such as Mages can identify Uncommon items on their own. Beyond that, characters will need to have elevated Intelligence and Wisdom attributes, and/or a developed Lore skill, to be able to identify rarer items. Items that can't be identified can be taken to a shop where the shop owner will do it for a fee, or you could cast a Lore spell on the item to learn of it.

Having said all that, I will admit that the "item rarity system" was largely dumbed-down for Book I to speed up development. For Book II, items will fall into one of ten rarity classifications, and the ability to identify items depends on the item's classification, not the individual item itself. This means Fighters will be inclined to having a better chance at IDing weapons than Mages would...and vice-versa for scrolls and rings.

[Dragonlady]

Kewl! Thanks.

[adamantyr]

I looked at the FAQ, and I didn't see mention of it in the earlier posts here, so I'll go ahead and ask...

Is this a solo-character CRPG, or can you gain a party? If so, are the party members NPC's you pick up in your journeys, or ones you create yourself?

For that matter, what kind of process is character creation? By your description of your starting character having amnesia, do you just start with a "blank slate" type character, similar to what Dungeon Siege did?

Adamantyr

[BasiliskWrangler]

Yes, Book I is solo. Book II/III is party-based. No, you don't gain a party during the game. It is total solo.

Yes, you start with a complete blank slate character and can develop him any way you want...but please refrain from comparing Eschalon to Dungeon Siege.

[Saxon1974]

Yes, items are classified in one of four rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare. To be able to use any given item, you must know what it is. Your ability to identify items is largely based on your Intelligence and Wisdom, plus your Lore skill if you have chosen to develop it.

All but the most dim-witted characters can identify Common items, and more learned characters such as Mages can identify Uncommon items on their own. Beyond that, characters will need to have elevated Intelligence and Wisdom attributes, and/or a developed Lore skill, to be able to identify rarer items. Items that can't be identified can be taken to a shop where the shop owner will do it for a fee, or you could cast a Lore spell on the item to learn of it.

Having said all that, I will admit that the "item rarity system" was largely dumbed-down for Book I to speed up development. For Book II, items will fall into one of ten rarity classifications, and the ability to identify items depends on the item's classification, not the individual item itself. This means Fighters will be inclined to having a better chance at IDing weapons than Mages would...and vice-versa for scrolls and rings.

This sounds very promising indeed, lots of detail....I can't think of another game that had this much detail put into ID'ing items. The most I remember are the better the item the harder it is to ID, but I have never seen anything like Warriors ID'ing weapons better than mages etc....I like it very much.

That being said, I do tend to find games annoying when it always hard to identify and you have to always go to a shop and pay to get things identified. Usually I dont like to spend alot of money on that skill when there are more needed skills to spend points on. Hopefully it is balanced well in this game.