Dying Light 2 Interview
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Techland's upcoming open world zombie-survival game Dying Light 2 will feature plenty of opportunities for the player to make impactful decisions and choices. These choices, and their inevitable consequences, are the major focus of this GamesIndustry.biz interview with Techland's chief creative officer Adrian Ciszewski that frames Dying LIght 2 as “the ultimate vision for the open world.” An excerpt:
There's even a new engine under the hood, created from scratch to simulate the central city and power the 'choices and consequences' concept that will go hand-in-hand with any conversation about Dying Light 2. Behind the scenes is a "huge matrix" for the game world and all its related systems, from the factions to the zombies and even resources like clean water. While Avellone promised "hundreds of choices", our conversation with Techland chief creative officer Adrian Ciszewski suggests this might be a marketing hook simplifying the game's overarching concept.
"We didn't count the number of choices we can do, because it's really systemic," he tells GamesIndustry.biz. "For example, the Peacekeepers faction - they're clearing the streets of baddies, but they're also clearing the dark zones and the streets from infected. That's a system.
"If you tell the Peacekeepers about a building [full of zombies], the zombies will move from that location into another one, but that will create other problems because there will be more zombies in that other part of the city. If the Peacekeepers clear part of the dark zone, it will push the zombies to find another place to hide. It's much more like a gameplay systemic thing."
Another example Ciszewski offers is the Scavengers faction, which sets about restoring and repairing buildings. Influence events to make them move closer to the bridge, and this too will be repaired, opening up other parts of the city for the various factions. Every group has its own goals, enemies and motivations, their own problems that can be sold, their own triggers that can be used to encourage action or relocation.
In this way, it's player-driven choices that shape the world, not set moments laid out by Techland-developed quests, with Ciszewski adding: "Every time, every NPC will have a different impact and a different rule."
