Vampire Intervista inglese

Nextgame.it: Could you name three games that impressed you and explain why?

John Heinecke: Planescape: Torment, Diablo and Everquest are three great RPG's. I like Planescape: Torment because of the depth of the story and the rich setting. Diablo was a great game because the gameplay was easy to learn and a lot of fun. Everquest managed to capture the online crowd with a fun community experience.

Nextgame.it: In the hystory of CRPG, which games have had more importance? Which titles influenced more your work?

John Heinecke: In addition to the titles listed above, I would add the Final Fantasy series of games. Even though they were designed as console games, they were very successful at weaving a strong storyline into an RPG style of gameplay.

Nextgame.it: Of course, you are more confident with games that feature a Story Teller, like your game, Vampire and Bioware's Neverwinter Nights, rather than with games that feature online persistent worlds like Ultima. However, could you explain what are, in your opinion, the aspects that make your approach superior to the online world idea?

John Heinecke: The massive multiplayer worlds are very open-ended. This is both a positive and a negative for the player. The positive experience is that the player is free to do as he wishes. He can visit any part of the land that he wants, join different guilds of adventurers and customize his experience as he wishes. The negative side-effect of this game design is that this freedom can make the gameplay boring or dangerous. With generic quests, players find themselves camping at respawn points to kill monsters. Other players turn to player-killing, which penalizes new players and peaceful players. The great thing about the Storyteller game design is that players can form play-groups and have a Storyteller design an adventure that is tailored to the type of game that everyone wants. If the players want a hack-and-slash action style in their game, the Storyteller can build chronicles full of enemies. If the players want to role-play an intrigue at the prince's ball among their friends, the Storyteller can make it so.

Nextgame.it: Do you think that there will be still space for 2D RPG, or 3D will become king in this genre too? What other technologies are you looking forward for this genre of games?

John Heinecke: New technologies will help to convey the setting, but the primary importance in an RPG is the story. Since story is not reliant on the game architecture, there will always be room for many types of RPG's: whether 2D or 3D, first person or third person, single-player or multi-player.

Nextgame.it: Which is, in your opinion, the most important feature of a CRPG and why? What aspects make the difference between a good game and and a best seller RPG?

John Heinecke: There are many important features to a successful RPG. As I mentioned above, the story is vital. Other important features include a recognizable setting, a simple interface, and strong character advancement.

Nextgame.it: Don't you think that it's absurd that a character increases its skills so much during the adventure? Wouldn't it be better to balance the game so that the player isn't forced to make experience only to continue in the adventure?

John Heinecke: Traditional RPG's have always focused on skill building. Some games rely upon stat and skill building as their whole gameplay thrust, and have been very successful and popular, despite having dated graphics and technology. Is stat building realistic? Maybe not, but there is a large portion of the RPG audience that thinks that it is fun.

Nextgame.it: Aren't the sub-quests becoming too many? Aren't the games becoming too long? The quests are often introduced only to allow the characters to become stronger: if the "growing skills" of the character would be removed, unuseful quests could also be removed and the game could be focused around its main plot. So they would be shorter and less dispersive. They could also cost less, if they would be shorter...

John Heinecke: The answer to this question relies on the RPG players, not the designers. With the advent of multiplayer RPG's, RPG players can now have a longer play session than they can in single player games. If an RPG player spends $50 on a single player game, he wants to feel that he is getting the same amount of gameplay value that he would for a $50 multiplayer game. This means that single player games need strong puzzles and plots, and that the player should be able to go off the story line at some points to build his character as he wishes.

Nextgame.it: What do you think about time limit for quests solving?

John Heinecke: It depends on the game.

Nextgame.it: We've seen that CRPGs from FallOut started to look like adventures, losing some components like puzzles based on combinations of buttons or enormous dungeons. What do you think about this? Do you think that this direction will continue to be followed in the future?

John Heinecke: There are many game developers who are working on RPG's. Each RPG that is produced will have different qualities- some will be based on puzzle solving, some will be based on action, others will be based on multiplayer gameplay. There is no right or wrong way to approach an RPG design, although the advent of 3D technology has allowed designers to use new tools, such as lighting or environmental audio, to make new types of RPG settings.

Nextgame.it: What does still lack in today online persistent worlds? Why Ultima Online, Everquest, Asheron's Call are not perfect?

John Heinecke: Online persistent worlds lack the ability to be tuned to an individual player's character- they must be generic enough so that all characters can interact without giving a single character type an advantage or disadvantage.

Nextgame.it: Could you briefly describe the Vampire's project and the ideas behind it?

John Heinecke: Vampire: The Masquerade is a setting which is built around the concept that creatures of the night exist and control the world. Vampires hide behind the scenes, influencing mortal society to further there own ends. They maintain an elaborate Masquerade in order to remain undetected by the mortals because they fear that mortals would rise up against them if they found out the true nature of the world.

Redemption is the first game based on the Vampire license. It details the fall of a medieval crusader, Christof Romuald, and his subsequent attempt to control his bestial urges and maintain the last shreds of his humanity.

Nextgame.it: How did you acquire the Vampire's world license from White Wolf?

John Heinecke: Activision licensed the three Vampire settings: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, and Kindred of the East, from White Wolf. When Nihilistic was forming up, Activision proposed the license to them as a setting for an RPG. Nihilistic had been planning on an RPG setting for their first game, and they accepted the publishing deal.

Nextgame.it: How did you develop the Nod engine? Did you started to program it before or after acquiring the license?

John Heinecke: The engine was developed by Nihilistic programmers, and was started after Nihilistic signed their publishing deal with Activision.

Nextgame.it: Which are the the features that make the Nod Engine unique? Which are its most interesting technical aspects?

John Heinecke: The Nod Engine is a state-of-the-art 3D engine. Unlike the 3D engines built for first-person shooters, Nod supports the role-playing elements required by Vampire, including scripting, statistical management, inventory systems, and dialogue. It also supports the latest graphical enhancements. It is also very open-ended and user-friendly, which will allow Vampire players to create and exchange their own Vampire modifications.

Nextgame.it: How does the character develop in Single Player Mode?

John Heinecke: Christof begins the game as a human. After being wounded in battle, he recovers in a convent in medieval Prague, where he meets a beautiful young nun named Anezka. To proved his valor to her, Christof accepts a quest to clear the local silver mines of a horde of evil creatures. On his first quest, Christof meets and slays a vampire. This act draws the attention of other vampires in the city. Some want to destroy him, but others feel that he would be a good ally to their cause. The Brujah clan of vampires, a clan of noble warriors, embrace Christof and turn him into a vampire. Christof must overcome his personal horror of being converted into a creature that he once hunted. He is partnered with another vampire, and is sent on various quests in Prague and Vienna for his new Vampire elders. As he progresses, he learns new vampiric skills and learns more about the World of Darkness around him. New vampires enter the tale and join his party for specific quests. At a certain point in the game, Christof faces off against a powerful vampire lord and is almost destroyed. Instead, he enters a deep slumber, and re-awakens in the modern world. Christof must now re-learn the world around him- there are new countries, people, weapons, and of course enemies that he must master.

Nextgame.it: How does the gameplay develop? Which is the balance between pure action scenes and dialogues/puzzles scenes?

John Heinecke: The gamplay is a fairly even mix of action, dialogue and puzzles. Some quests will require brute force, while others will require the player to solve riddles and puzzles. Along the way, cut scenes are used to advance the story and provide clues to the player.

Nextgame.it: How much are the NPCs characterized? Does they have their own "real life"? Has a Full NPC scheduling been implemented?

John Heinecke: There are two types of NPC- those who can join Christof on his travels and those who cannot. Joinable NPC's can be invited to join the main character at specific locations. Non-joinable NPC's do not have full scheduling. They use scripted triggers to activate action, dialogue or combat sequences.

Nextgame.it: Who is your favourite NPC? Could you briefly tell us something about him?

John Heinecke: I really like Pink, who is the first Vampire that Christof meets when he re-awakens in the modern nights. Pink is also a Brujah clan member, but he is a striking contrast to Christof. While Christof slept, his clan changed from the noble warriors they were to anarchy-loving rabble-rousers. Pink embodies this change. He is also very witty and sarcastic, so he serves as a comic relief to Christof's seriousness.

Nextgame.it: Which are the main features of the Story Teller mode?

John Heinecke: The Storyteller mode allows players to create and host their own adventures online. Much of the Storyteller's job happens before anyone plays his adventure- he must design his chronicle and then use the Storyteller tools to program it. If his design is strong, the Storyteller can sit back in the background and watch players advance in his adventure, jumping in at various points to help push the story along. As the game unfolds, Storytellers have a large set of tools available to them- they can add or delete non-player characters and enemies, they can possess characters and non-player characters, they can type in dialogue for any non-player character. They can also advance scenes, load new levels, and give out experience points. Finally, for the more advanced Storyteller players, we will be providing the level editor and scripting tools, which will allow players to build their own areas, and to write more complicated scripts for the non-player characters.

Nextgame.it: Do you think that this approach will be the future of CRPGs, or there will be still space for other approaches?

John Heinecke: There will always be space for other approaches. Massive Multiplayer RPG's are going to continue to be successful, because they foster larger communities. Cooperative multiplayer RPG's (like Baldur's Gate and Diablo II) will also be popular because players can jump into the games quickly.

Nextgame.it: Why did you acquire the QeRadiant editor from ID Software? What will it permit to do to the players?

John Heinecke: Nihilistic obtained the license for the QERadiant editor because the level designers were all familiar with it and they felt that it was the most powerful level editor available to them. Players will be able to do everything with the editor that the Nihilistic level editors can do.

Nextgame.it: The Interface is often one of the most criticized aspects in CRPGs. So, how should look like the perfect interface? Which is the right balance between friendliness and abundance of options? What could you tell us about Vampire's interface?

John Heinecke: Since Vampire uses a real-time combat system, it is important that the interface is easy to use and everything is readily accessible. Vampire's interface uses many of the successful elements of Diablo and Baldur's Gate: Diablo's inventory system and speed keys are used, and some of the party control elements of Baldur's Gate are also used.

Nextgame.it: What are the minimum requirements to play with Vampire? How much is the game's engine scalable?

John Heinecke: We are currently anticipating that Vampire will require a P-266 with 32MB of RAM. A 3D accelerator is required. The engine is scalable.

Nextgame.it: Which are, in you opinions, the features that will make Vampire a success in the single player mode? And in multiplayer?

John Heinecke: Vampire's single player story will offer a deep story in a new dark setting. The characters are both complex and lifelike. The graphics engine supported by the Nod engine will make Vampire one of the most beautiful games ever created. The multiplayer Storyteller feature is a revolutionary design that will allow players to role-play online in a setting of their choice.

Nextgame.it: Finally, is there anything you want to say to all the players out there that are eagerly awaiting Vampire?

John Heinecke: Not much longer until you see it!