bit-tech News: Drakensang Interview: From Fable to Fallout

[news 28]

Hi all,

 

We have just published an interview with Boris Arendt of Radon Labs and

Class Wolter from DTP to discuss the upcoming European release of

Drakensang, a fantasy RPG. If you could post a link on your site that

would be very much appreciated.

 

*Link:*

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/10/19/drakensang-interivew-from-fable-to-fallout/1

 

 

*Picture:*

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/10/drakensang-interivew-from-fable-to-fallout/fp_img.jpg

 

 

*Quote:

*/*bt:* //You don’t tend to see so many fantasy RPGs any more. BioWare

for example did Baldur’s Gate but since then it has done Mass Effect and

KOTOR and gone very sci-fi. Do you think the RPG market is moving on and

leaving fantasy behind?

 

*CW:* No, no. For us, we think it’s an opportunity as there’s still a

big demand for classic fantasy games. Gamers have been in love with

these types of games for a long time and they are still in love with

them. BioWare has moved elsewhere, but there’s still a demand for

fantasy RPGs and we see that in the sales figures and comments.

 

*BA:* There’s a demand for linear, story-led RPGs too. The problem with

the open-world RPG approach that BioWare has been toying with is that

you can’t really tell as dense or as good a story as you have to spread

the content very thinly if you have a large world.

 

Most of the time you have this feeling, or at least I do when I play

these games, that there’s not enough diversity in the environments. We

can use our game to explore all manner of different areas, cultures,

quests, side-stories and that’s something you can’t do as well if you

have just one big, giant sandbox because the game starts to look like a

patchwork or have huge areas of emptiness. I had this with //Fallout 3,

for example. I liked it and I was very excited about it but I was

sometimes wandering around going ‘Hello? Is anyone there?’ and the next

quest-giver was miles and miles away. It was a lot of grind and

meaningless combat to get over to there a lot of the time.

 

I think the open, sandbox RPG style will work someday when the budget is

big enough and you can properly fill the space you have. Right now that

isn’t going to happen with this financial situation though. So, I think

sticking to this linear and story-led concept is a better path for us

and something that gamers can appreciate./

*

 

*Cheers guys!

 

Tim Smalley

www.bit-tech.net