Celtic Kings Q&A

Celtic Kings Interview Interviewed: Gabriel Dobrev Author: Turner 'Bulldog' Hopkinson Posted On: 06/27/02 @ 02:30:00AM Celtic Kings @ A Glance Genre: Strategy Developer: Haemimont Publisher: Strategy First Release Date: Quarter 3 2002 GamersClick: What is the background of the Haemimont Games developing Celtic Kings? Gaby: More than half of the team has worked on other games before. (For example on "Tzar: The Burden of the Crown") There are several people that are new to the filed and Celtic Kings was their first opportunity to work on a game. GamersClick: While the press release mentions that this is a historical title, Celtic Kings does take some liberties and introduces a bit of magic as well. Tell us more about the background premise and what inspired it. Gaby: It is very much inspired by history. It is however limited by it as well. Whenever we felt that a feature will contribute to the gameplay we included it without hesitation. Celtic Kings is true to the spirit of the period but not necessarily to the details. GamersClick: There seem to be essentially three modes of play in Celtic Kings - an adventure mode, a single player strategic mode, and multiplayer. Can you elaborate on the differences? Gaby: The strategic mode (both single player and multiplayer) is very similar to the typical RTS gameplay - you equip warriors and fight your enemies until one of the teams is victorious. The adventure mode however is more about making your party stronger and testing their abilities against different challenges. You develop your heroes far beyond what you can do in a typical strategic mode game. Your party becomes so strong that they can face a regular army alone. However there are cases when even with the help of hundreds of warriors the victory is not simple. GamersClick: In watching the promotional 'staged battle' video at the Strategy First site one can't help but be impressed with how believable the battle sequence and flow is. Does actual combat in the game allow for as much strategy and disciplined maneuver? How much do the remarkably large maps effect how a given battle plays out compared to a more conventional RTS? Gaby: It is easy to control say 200 units because they're attached to 4 heroes and it is these 4 heroes that you actually command. Once the battle starts you can order some of your armies to attack specific type of enemies that they're good against or that are causing you trouble. With 400 units in a battle there is no need to command a single unit unless it is a hero or a more powerful warrior like a Viking Lord. The large maps add a lot of strategic depth. Even if you have the strongest army if you don't fight the right battles you can easily loose the war. You have to be careful to put your army where it counts. GamersClick: Can you give us an idea of the sorts of commands available to be issued to units? I noticed one group being ordered to move quietly, for example, in the battle video. Gaby: You can pretty much give the orders that you expect in an RTS game. More advanced commands are attacking of type of units, ordering in different formation and stand ground (that preserves the chosen formation). You can queue multiple commands for better control. For example you can order every one of the three armies to capture sequentially 3-4 enemy objects. Your opponent will see a massive invasion from three directions that you have spent 10-20 seconds organizing. If he does not react quickly you will have 10 of his settlements in a few minutes. GamersClick: Some of us are cursed to be borderline grognards so let me ask you to explain what kinds of variables a commander might consider during the course of a battle - does terrain or weather play a role? What about morale and supply? Gaby: There are quite a few factors that can influence the outcome of the battle. First there is the experience of the units combined with the experience of the hero. Second, there are multiple items that you can use in a battle to better your chances. For example you can use the Finger of Death that instantly kills 3 enemy units (it can be used 6 times). Third, if your army is undersupplied it will be weaker than usual. Four, if you have better unit mix you can win against more expansive armies. Fifth, you can use your priest and druids to create powerful spells or let them heal your army. Sixth, you can outnumber your opponent by having a stronger economy. I don't want to continue because even the hardcore gamers will be scared. GamersClick: Leaders and heroes play an important part in Celtic Kings. What critical skills and abilities does a leader lend his troops? Can you give us an example? Gaby: The heroes increase the experience of the units they command. Also they can order them in different formations that provide them with various benefits - range, defense, attack, etc. Heroes make it very easy to control your armies - every hero can have up to 50 units attached to him. GamersClick: How many different kinds of units are there and do they gain experience, abilities or skills over time as leaders do? What is one of your favorite units? Gaby: The warriors also gain experience that reflects in how effective they are against not so experienced enemies. Most warriors have a special ability that underlines their purpose. For example, the Viking Lord is the strongest and most expensive unit. While fighting he heals with 50% of the damage he inflicts. If the enemy cannot damage him quickly enough, the Viking Lord survives the battle with full health. Another example is the Roman Liberati. These are strong fighters that hit back every unit that hits them. The more enemies surround a Liberatus the more damage he does (hitting all the enemies around him) GamersClick: Economics and infrastructure are downplayed to allow more focus on strategy and battle. What inspired this decision? Gaby: We think that making tens of farms and houses is not much fun and decided to go without it. On the other hand developing your economy is an important strategic factor and it is still present in Celtic Kings. The economic aspect is easier to manage especially if you do not plan to extensively develop in that area. GamersClick: In the adventure mode, how free is the player to decide how to expand and conduct diplomacy? Is diplomacy an important factor? Gaby: On many occasions you can enlist the support of neutral forces. Sometimes you'll have to provide these allies with resources, help them against their enemies or give them an artifact that they seek. The diplomacy however is not an always-present option. GamersClick: There seem to be many mini-adventures scripted into the adventure mode as well as the usual expand and exploit. What do these bring to the game? Can you describe one of your favorite examples? Gaby: Maybe the best example is the fight on the arena. You play against Caesar and you both have limited groups of different warriors. You both select a group of warriors and they fight until one of the group dies. One by one you put your warriors on the arena and whoever has the last man standing wins the game. To win you need a combination of luck and understanding of the unit balance in the game. GamersClick: One potentially exciting feature is the editor that allows not only scenarios but campaigns and scripted mini-adventures to be created by players. Can you flesh out what a player might be able to accomplish? Will more hardcore modders be able to dig a little deeper under the hood to customize files? Gaby: The editor is very powerful - we have not disabled any functionality and the players will have access to all the tools that we used to create the adventures included in Celtic Kings. For example, it is very easy to make a custom item behavior. Let's say an item that halves (when used) the health of all units in the sight of the bearer. GamersClick: Of course multiplayer is critical in the RTS genre. What does Celtic Kings bring to the table that the online player hasn't seen before? Gaby: We would like to give the players an environment to play out all these great battles that they are dreaming about. The scale of the battles is very important in this sense. We're aiming at more depth and strategic options without linking them to the click speed of the player. GamersClick: What was the most difficult challenge you faced in developing Celtic Kings? Gaby: Responding to interview questions! The greatest challenge was staying focused all these months on the vision for the game that was nowhere to be seen except in our own heads. In this same regard, game development is a very satisfying experience. GamersClick: Why the name change from Druid Kings? Gaby: "The Druid King" was only a working title and we knew from the very beginning that we were going to change it. Fortunately, we've found a very good name that everyone is happy with. I personally like "Celtic Kings" more. J GamersClick: When can we expect to see Celtic Kings released? Gaby: The release date for US is planned for August, then Europe will follow shortly after due to the need for various translations. source: shacknews.com & gamersclick.com