Darkfall: Travels on Agon Q&A

Myrd [SUN]

Q: In the first travels, we could click pictures to enlarge them and see better details. Why are those discontinued in the last travels?

A: The Travels on Agon screenshots are taken using a stripped down version of the Darkfall engine, which lacks several graphical features, such as shadows and various types of eye candy. As a result, the Travels on Agon screenshots fall some way short of showing what the finished game will look like. The reason we're doing it this way is to have a certain degree of control of the content.

When we started Travels of Agon, we decided to include large, clickable screenshots anyway, mostly because we thought readers would appreciate a closer look at what the game world looks like right now, as a work in progress. As it turned out, however, the unfinished state of the graphics generated large amounts of confusion and dissatisfaction on the boards, and we realized that we were causing more grief than joy by posting large shots.

Enlargability may return in the near future, as it becomes feasible for us to take screenshots that reflect the true quality of Darkfall's graphics.

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G. Struepp:

Q: Was the story based on lore the player will experience it ingame one day, and if - will the player be able to follow the traces of Torgrim Eiriksson, maybe even bound to a quest?

A: As for the first part of the question: yes, definitely. The basic idea behind Travels of Agon is to preview places you can visit and things you can do in Darkfall. While there may be small changes (for balancing reasons, for instance), the great majority of what you read about - places, monsters, skills, items, dungeons, spells - are in Darkfall.

A series of (possibly interconnected) quests based on Travels on Agon is a very good idea. While we cannot promise anything, your idea certainly has a lot of potential.

Q: There is a picture with crafting tools - will these tools be used in crafting, or more common, will there be tools needed for crafting?

A: Yes, you will need to carry the correct tool if you wish put your crafting skills into practice. Additionally, you'll need raw material and a suitable place in which to work. Let's say, for instance, that you want to use your Weaponsmithing skill to create a conventional, non-magical sword. You'll need 1) iron ingots (raw material), 2) a hammer (tool), and 3) an anvil (workstation) on which to perform your work.

The crafting tools shown in episode 5 , however, are an assortment of props found in the workshops of Agon's (primarily gnomish) gemcutters. You don't need all those things just to use your Gemcutting skill.

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Fenril:

Q: Could you confirm if the melee combat descriptions, meaning the lines about circling the oponent, balance, and special moves are taken from existing or planned combat mechanics and designs?

A: All the special moves (called Weapon Skills in our system) described in the text are in the game, at the moment of writing this. There is a lot of balancing and adjustment to be done before the game is released, however, and we cannot guarantee that all the moves will work exactly as they are described, or even that all of them will make it into the finished game. Darkfall is work in progress, after all.

That said, the combat descriptions also contain a fair bit of artistic license. In-game battles against tough opponents, for instance, will be much longer than described, and there will be rather less crippling of limbs and falling to the ground. A long fight against a dangerous monster (such as a Minotaur) will be very exciting in-game, but reading a complete, blow-by-blow account of it would be rather boring.

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Niadr Numviatmahr:

Q: If we knew for certain that the descriptions and actions in ToA were reflections of actual gameplay, that would of course have been great. Giving us facts and a good read all at once.

A: I don't know about any good reads, but all the descriptions in Travels are of places, monsters and NPCs that are in the game world. While writing, I always keep the relevant areas active in our worldbuilder, making sure that the descriptions match the realities of the game world. I'm not just making this stuff up; I'm describing places as they will be experienced by Darkfall's players.

All the things that happen in the stories could happen to you in-game as well (with at least 90% certainty, as gameplay aspects will be fine-tuned and perhaps even removed as we balance and play-test). Using the previous episode as an example, you will be able to, for instance 1) Locate distant dungeons in library books, then copy the directions and descriptions into your journal, for later perusal. 2) Get lost in heavy fog. 3) Eat and sleep in a cozy gnomish inn. 4) Cut gems you've found or bought, thereby readying them for use as magic enhancers in wizard's staffs. 5) Travel to obscure and/or distant locations using magical portals.
6) Buy weapons or armor from the evil and greedy but highly competent Svartdvergir.

Q: The streets of cities and towns/settlements are quite empty, is this on purpose to give us a better look at a general layout - or is it because you haven`t created the actual npc population as of yet?

A: It's because most NPC's haven't been placed in the game world yet. The Kasdim docks, for instance, will be teeming with life.

Q: Can these locations visited be experienced in your current internal beta build of the game, or are these smaller playfields made for ToA only to describe the different races we could encounter?

A: We don't make anything especially for ToA, but place the episodes in areas that are at least 90% finished to begin with.

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Rina:

Q : Will these places and creatures have an alliance point system? for instance if lizardmen hate the minotaures and you kill loads of minotaures , will you be able to get in the lizardmen territory easier without getting agrood ? smth along the lines SWG had ?

A: No, there won't be a faction system in Darkfall. In general, monsters will react to you based on your alignment. The Sadayel (semi-civilized lizardmen) in the first episode, for instance, will attack evil-aligned characters (such as most orks) on sight, but reacted well to Torgrim because he has a neutral alignment. They would probably have preferred him to be good, which matches their own alignment, but beggars can't be choosers in the evil-infested swamps of Morak. If Torgrim had returned to the Sadayel later as an evil character (after killing lots of good creatures, for instance) the lizards would have attacked him on sight.

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Carnevil:

Q: where did he [Torgrim Eiriksson] get the k3wl ingots from?

A: Knowing Torgrim, he probably cheated disgracefully when he won them in a game of cards.

In general, however, magical metals, such as raudstaal, are extracted from the same mines that produce iron, but in much smaller quantities. One way of getting hold of raudstaal, therefore, would be to belong to or trade with a clan that controls an iron mine.

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Forgivance:

Q: Perhaps for story purpose, there was alot of text from NPC's, including food options, buying/selling, opting to be a merchant, etc. Was that for flavor or will NPC interaction be that in depth?

A: The NPC interaction in Travels on Agon is more in-depth than what will be possible in the game. I'm thinking about things like the conversation that Torgrim has with the Svartdvergir officer in episode 5, for example. In general, NPC interaction will be much simpler than that.

Q: I noticed no poll for a next story to come in 2 weeks. Do you feel that you all may be that close to open beta, or just holding back a moment, or just doing Q&A instead?

A: We are doing the Q&A while taking a small break :-)

Spawl:

Q: How much time goes into the development of the story?

A: Not as much time as we would like. Right now, world building is the focus for the Darkfall design team, and there is a limit to how much time we can spend doing non-essential things, like ToA. If it is to be done at all, it has to be done within a strictly limited time budget.

Q: How many different developers have input into the storyline and content of ToA?

A: It would be impossible to write these stories without extensive input from the other two guys on the design team, Claus Grøvdal and Trond Evanger. I constantly need Trond to explain the finer points of the spell and skill systems, while Claus is a walking (well, sitting) Darkfall encyclopedia, who knows every aspect of the game inside out.

Humongous:

Q: Will there be many npc villages throughtout the lands? Also, being a dynamic world, will these villages have life cycles? Some dying out, some getting bigger. What of the possibility of destruction by player clans ect...

A: Yes, there are quite a few NPC villages in the world. Many of the more intelligent NPC species live in complete villages with their own unique architecture and sets of items and props. While some of these species (such as Minotaurs, kobolds and hobgoblins) can be considered pure monsters, others are basically friendly (like the gnomes), while yet others are monsters to some, friends to others (like the svartdvergir and sadayel).

No, these villages won't evolve unless we make changes to them in an eventual post-release patch. While villages cannot be destroyed, a few of them are built around clanstones or bindstones, and can therefore be conquered by player clans.

Decius:

Q: Torgrim mentioned Gnome gemcrafters and their skill. Do Dwarves still lack the dex to try such a craft?

No, dwarves are fully capable of learning the Gemcutting skill, as are the members of all races. The gnomes are an NPC race with a special talent for gemcutting, and their quaint little workshops are found in large cities throughout Agon.

Q: According to Torgrim, "Raudstaal is a rare and valuable metal, which is found only in small quantities, and which (like all magical metals) can only be given shape by the most talented of master smiths". What is the difference between the work of a master smith and a Dwarven magesmith working with these magical metals?

A: Creating armor and weapons out of magical metals requires that you become proficient in advanced skills called Master Weaponsmithing and Master Armorsmithing. Predictably, characters need to have a very high skill score in the simpler smithing skills (Weaponsmithing and Armorsmithing) before they can begin to learn the corresponding advanced skills. To be called a dwarven magesmith, a player will be expected to have almost perfect scores in all four of the skills.

Luella Lokidottir

Q: Weather effects, and here fog was mentioned. Will fog actually limit vision, affecting ranged combat? Or perhaps enhancing stealth abilities (not just poorer normal vision, and probably infravision too, but muting sounds as well)?

A: Fog will be a very real factor (especially in swamps and highland areas) and function much as it does in the real world, severely limiting vision. It won't affect any skills directly, but sneaking up on someone will of course be easier if they can't see you due to the fog.

Q: Libraries, containing ancient maunscripts? Will there actually be libraries that act as quest generators? And other structures/NPC's, such as tavern innkeeps as rumourmongers, or performing holy deeds for religious institutions?

A: You will be able get quests from books that you read in the library.

In accordance with ancient fantasy game tradition, innkeepers will know about all the important quests that can be found in their area. In a way, innkeepers function as gathering points for quests, sparing you of the need to talk to everyone in the village, just in case someone has kobolds in the root cellar. Like modern day barkeepers (in movies, at least), Darkfall's innkeepers hear it all and know what's going on in the neighbourhood.

Q: A player journal that holds info on current quests, including maps?

A: Yes.

Blackwatch

Q: It says different material/plus the quality/skill of the crafter will alow several different Enchantments to be placed on/in a item. is this more of diferent strangths? or acutaly different mutiple inchantments(ie fire restance, or cold resistance or plus 5 sword) all diferent but at the same time...

A: You will be able to improvise with different multiple enchantments. There are some enchantments which don't combine, but as long as you have the required ingredients and enough free enchantment slots, you can create a very wide variety of magical hybrids.

Drax:
Q: Healing of damage taken in combat seems to only occure after the battle has been completed. Is this because damage is superior to healing. Or does healing play a role during combat of extending it.

A: Healing definitely plays a role in combat. It's quite coincidental that healing hasn't been used more during battle in the stories. Coincidence and the fact that it's difficult enough to keep the combat descriptions snappy without involving healing potions.

Taneos:
Q: In the previous Episode Torgrim travels to a "Bindstone" to then sell the information to someone. Does that mean a Bindstone might just stand somewhere in the wild, and that it can be claimed?

A: Yes, when Darkfall is released, all bindstones are unclaimed and waiting for player clans to seize control of them. Some of these bindstones are guarded by monsters (often entire monster communities) while others are very well hidden. Hopefully, people will still be discovering obscure bindstones several months into the game, giving them the temporary advantage of having a clan base which nobody else knows about.

Porthios
Q: Where exactly on the map is the svartdvergir settlement?

A: I'm only telling you this to spare you from having to read Claude Lepeletier's mind-numbingly boring book. The village lies in a region called Verthandir, which is close to the southwestern border of Dvergheim. After travelling to Verthandir (found on any half-decent map), you should travel inland and try to locate a large river called Draupnirya, which runs north-south through the mountainous heart of the region. The village lies along the western bank of this river, approximately halfway.