Hunted: The Demon's Forge Interview
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PCG: You mentioned Multi User Dungeons - are you deliberately tying the game back to the early days of computer games?Thanks, RPGCodex.
BF: For sure. I don't want it to feel too linear, because it's the exploration that makes it fun. The way tech works these days, the idea of backtracking to the very beginning of a level from the end: that causes some problems - you give up some graphical fidelity. Limitations on how far you can cross travel back. But beyond that - sky is the limit. Open up the area and you can do what you want.
But that's exactly what we want, to bring that experience back. When I used to sit there with Wizardry, going through the corridors and I think from a pacing perspective, it's different. With a traditional action game - and this is more action than RPG - you're running, running, running, if you stop, you're dead. We don't want that.
There are those moments, but there are others where you're exploring quietly, looking for a secret door, trying to find a secret passage, doing some puzzle where you're scratching your head for half an hour. We want those moments; for me, with Wizardry, Bard's Tale and all that, those were the great moments.
It's just the metaphor for combat and interaction is different now than it was back then. So the fact that it's more action-oriented is a recognition of the times, and where they're at. At least this category would've become action-oriented - Hexen, Heretic, Ulitima Underworld - that's what they all would've become.