The Fall: Last Days of Gaia Interview
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GB: Will you be using voice actors for any of the dialogue in the game? If so, what percentage of the dialogue will be voice compared to text? Carsten: Yes, we're going to use voice actors. As for the percentage: 100%! That's really vital to maintain a certain level of immersion and credibility. I think having only parts of the dialogue voiced really would hurt the atmosphere and the feel of the game.
GB: Tell us about some of the environments players will travel through during The Fall. Any favorite areas or cities you'd like to elaborate on?
Carsten: The Fall takes place in the future Southwest of the USA. More specifically, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. The landscape is being dominated by deserts and wastelands. All bigger cities were levelled completely by natural disasters. So, people live in small villages or towns. The look and feel of these locations and the buildings as well as some of the names are based on towns you can find in that region.
GB: We've read there will be vehicles available in the game, but will players be able to drive/fly/use them on a real-time basis? Or will a player simply jump inside a vehicle and be instantly transported to another location? Will NPCs join the protagonist inside such vehicles?
Carsten: Yes, there are vehicles in the game and the line-up even includes a tank. You'll control them directly and it works and feels like a driving sim. We implemented some very nifty vehicle physics in our engine and a car will respond the way you'd expect it to do so. Suspension and other aspects are being simulated accurately. So, NPCs can join the player inside the vehicles.
GB: From what we've read, you're planning on adding a cooperative multiplayer mode to the game. Will such multiplayer be available only to those who purchase a future expansion, or is there a possibility that multiplayer will be available at the game's launch?
Carsten: It definitely will be part of the add-on. Fully focussing the development resources on making The Fall a very enjoyable singleplayer experience and then producing a multiplayer component afterwards has always been our plan ever since we started working on the game.
GB: Since you already mention a possible expansion on your website, can you tell us what content you'd like to add to The Fall in the future? Although it's a bit early, have you considered developing a sequel to The Fall, or would you prefer to work on an all new game instead?
Carsten: Well, the cooperative multiplayer mode is a substantial part of the expansion. It will also include mod tools for the community, e.g. a map editor. As for the content, it's a bit too early to talk about it yet. ;)
GB: Other than the setting, what do you feel will set The Fall apart from other RPGs available to gamers?
Carsten: Well, on the technical side of things there surely are a few ideas and techniques that are rather uncommon for RPGs. I already mentioned the vehicle physics, but there's also the character motion/animation which is realized through so called Inverse Kinematics. Ensuring that the limbs are positioned correctly, characters can turn there head into a specific direction and that they're aiming their weapons precisely at their targets instead of having premade but limited poses.
Our approach for scripting and NPC simulation, called Living World Architecture (LWA), also goes beyond what current genre representatives feature. Every single NPC has different activities he can and will follow depending on the circumstances. We're also trying to make sure that what is supposed to be a community will also look and feel like a community to the player.
You'll also face some large scale battles that might take place on the whole map. Combat isn't limited to a range of let's say 40 yards. Don't get me wrong though, it's still an RPG and you won't spend most of the time on the battlefield. And, of course, often enough there's an option to avoid battles by being diplomatic or sneaking your way around the enemies.
Other than that there also are the Survival, Driving and Speech skills. And we're trying there's content for players that beat the main story line. You'll run across some new characters, quests and other 'nuggets' afterwards.
All in all we're going to give the players a bunch of quite unique RPG experiences and I'm sure they'll really appreciate them.
Thanks Carsten!
