The fine folks over at MMROPG have a wonderful interview up with Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for Dungeons & Dragons & Wizards of the Coast and Dan Tudge, President of n-Space. We learned quite of a bit new information out of it as well.
The first questions was one that I am sure alot of you had thought of, when the game was announced.
MMORPG.com: How does Sword Coast Legends compare to Neverwinter Nights, as many will likely draw comparisons?
Tudge: Right now a lot of people are talking about how Sword Coast Legends feels reminiscent of Neverwinter Nights (NWN); it’s a comparison that is definitely warranted. SCL is a classic Forgotten Realms adventure on the Sword Coast. It features tactical pause and play combat with an isometric camera in real-time 3D environments (vs. pre-rendered backgrounds). However, it’s the inclusion of DM mode where comparisons to NWN are probably the strongest. Despite both having DM capability, players will find the DM experience in SCL quite different from NWN, finding instead a system that enables DMs to quickly jump in and immediately start playing in real-time. All told, our inspiration has come from many sources, from a lifetime of playing D&D on the tabletop and to the legacy of so many great RPGs such as Dragon Age: Origins and the Baldur’s Gate series – inspiration that will enviably invoke comparisons the more of SCL we show to the world.
It’s funny as I said to my friend when this first broke “This sounds and look like an updated NWN.”
Of course, they had to ask about the DM feature.
MMORPG.com: How much control over how the adventures play out does the DM have?
Tudge: The DM is fully capable of customizing experiences and significantly altering a player’s adventure by changing encounters, placing traps, spawning monsters, creating quest NPCs, generating secret areas, locking doors — all in real-time. We also have deep campaign tools that enable DMs to build near limitless campaigns for their players (more on that later!).
And some information on using the 5th edition rules in a video game.
Stewart: As Wizards of the Coast was developing the latest edition we very specifically wanted to take emphasis off the rules and focus on the feel of the game. As part of the playtest and creation of the new edition we looked back at all previous editions and made sure we had clear ideas and descriptions for the most important elements. An example is magic, more specifically let’s focus on the fireball spell. It isn’t important that the Fireball spell does 8d6 damage or has 150 range in all our games, but is instead important that in each instance it is a mid-level spell that explodes and causes a wider range of damage. In other words, for our partners it’s critical they capture the feel of the latest edition of rules, but not necessarily the specific mechanics.
Tudge: In SCL we have adapted the fifth edition tabletop ruleset to better work in a videogame; however, n-Space and Wizards of the Coast have worked very closely to ensure we deliver an experience that feels “true to D&D.”
There is more to be found in the Interview, so be sure to head on over to MMORPG to read the full interview.
How long will it be until we can have a really good game that every single person will get hooked
on?