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| Dragonshard
Community Updates |
Beginning in April 2005 and lasting up to the release of the game, Shane DeFreest, the Atari Community Manager, started releasing weekly community updates with questions and answers about certain aspects of the game, as well as a few accompanying screenshots (these can now be seen in our Dragonshard screenshots gallery). All of these community updates can now be read here:
Dragonshard Community Update #21
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers,
Well, the date is almost here! Tomorrow, September 20th,
Dragonshard hits the shelves. So this will be our final pre-launch
Dragonshard update. I'd like to take this time to thank all of the
fans and site managers who have supported us over the duration of
this project. I'd also like to welcome our newest fansite Shardgamers
to the fold. Make sure to stop by and check out their site when
you have time. With that I'm going to send out our last set of screens
and our last Q&A with our friends at Liquid. Thanks again for
all your continued support and have a great time playing Dragonshard!
Enjoy!
DS Enclave: What effects the amount of gold you get from taxes?
We know the number of buildings you have determines the max, but
what reduces it? Captains? Henchmen?
Liquid: Taxes are entirely
determined by the current number of buildings that you have constructed.
The number of Captains and Soldiers that you have in the field do
not detract from this value in order to refrain from punishing players
for building up their forces. So don't hold back!
DS Enclave: Can Liquid confirm
that the number of captains you can have is capped at 20? This number
seems to have changed during the beta process. What is the final
number when the game releases?
Liquid: After much deliberation regarding effective management of
large armies, relative map space, and multiplayer performance, we
eventually settled on a Captain population cap of 20, which will
be the cap in the released version of the game.
Dragonshard Community Update #20
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
First off thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by
the Atari booth at Gen Con. The Dragonshard Demo station was always
busy and that's always a great sign for things to come. Another
thanks to our friends at Dragonshard.net
for hosting our last developer chat. I've attached a copy of the
transcript for those of you who didn't
get the chance to attend it live. We're getting very close to launch
but we still have some things planned. Be on the lookout for the
last few developer diaries in the near future and at least one more
chat prior to launch. Thanks again for your continued support and
we'll see you again next week.
Enjoy!
Dragonshard Community Update #19
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
As many of you know we reported that Dragonshard will be
previewed this week at the Gen
Con Game fair in Indianapolis. In keeping with this theme, this
week we had been fortunate enough to get some time with some time
with Eberron creator Keith
Baker. So instead of our traditional Q&A with Liquid theis
week, Keith tells us how he was involved in the Dragonshard project.
Hopefully we'll see many of you at Gen Con and please don't forget that our next developer chat that's being hosted by Dragonshard.Net in association with The Breland Ledger and The Eberron Journal will be next Wednesday, August 24th at 7pm PST (10pm EST).
Description: Psionics.net
Server: chat.psionics.net
Port: 6667 [default]
Join #eberron
And now on to our questions
with Keith...
Enjoy!
The DM: The Dragonshard fans know you worked with Liquid on some
early design concepts for the game. Can you tell us what your role
was conceptually and how much you contributed to project?
Liquid and Atari brought me in at the start of the process to help
develop the story and make sure that things had a solid connection
to Eberron. When I came on board, the general story was already
in place: it was a three-way conflict in Xen'drik between lizardfolk,
drow, and a force from Khorvaire. I brought my knowledge of Eberron
to things, and through brainstorming sessions we developed the story
as it stands: the history of the Umbragen and the Ring of Storms,
the lizardfolk society, and more about the alliance from Khorvaire.
I helped develop the heroes of each side, and the overall story
arc driving each side, working to tie these things into the history
of Eberron - the Silver Flame, the fall of the civilization of the
giants, and so on. I created the first story bible for the game,
outlining the mission arcs for the sides.
Of course, that was a year ago, and things change in development. So while I worked on the initial storyline, I don't know how closely the final product adheres to that first pass.
In addition to my work for Liquid, I also wrote two articles allowing DMs to bring the flavor of Dragonshard to the gaming table. Dragon # 330 includes "Shapers of Shadow: the Umbragen", and Dungeon #122 contains "The Ring of Storms".
The DM: Eberron, the setting
you created that Dragonshard is set in recently won the prestigious
Origins Award. What was it like winning the award and how does it
feel to know thousands of people across the world are playing in
something you created?
It's an amazing feeling. I've received questions from people in
Sweden, Russia, and Poland, and I have a copy of the Eberron Campaign
Setting in German. I always wanted to work in the RPG industry,
but I never imagined that I'd be part of something as big as this.
I just hope that people continue to enjoy the world and what we
do with it in the future - both with the pen-and-paper games, and
projects like Dragonshard and D&D Online.
Thanks for your time!
Keith Baker
Dragonshard Community Update #18
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
As many of you know the clock is ticking towards the Dragonshard
launch. With little more than a moth left before the game hits the
shelves we're going to try and get as much information out to you
as possible. For those of you who have not had a chance to play
the single player demo you can get it here
or our friends at Worth
Playing have mirrored it on their site.
In other news Dragonshard will be shown at this years Gen Con Indy. So make sure to stop by the Atari booth and check it out. Lastly, don't forget that Dragonshard.Net in association with The Breland Ledger and Eberron Journal will be hosting a developer chat with our friends at Liquid Entertainment Wednesday, August 24th at 7pm PST (10pm EST).
Description: Psionics.net
Server: chat.psionics.net
Port: 6667 [default]
Join #eberron
This will be one of the last Chats priot to launch so make sure
to check it out.
Dragonshard Community Update #17
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
We apologise for getting this update out to you a bit late
this week. As many of you know there have been concerns about the
availability of the fileplanet demo. We want to make it clear that
we're listeing to your concerns and hope to have the issue resolved
shortly. In other news our friends at Dragonshard.net
have a lot going on this month that you're going to want to check
out. Their logo contest is still going on and they will be hosting
one of the last chats with Liquid prior to the launch of Dragonshard.
Information on the chat is as follows:
Description: Psionics.net
Server: chat.psionics.net
Port: 6667 [default]
Join #eberron
Enjoy!
DS Enclave: Is the experience monsters give you fixed?
Liquid: Fixed as in the
same amount of experience per monster? Yes.
DS Enclave: Is it dependable
on the number of monsters? i.e. 1 golem gives you 200, 2 golems
give you 500 because it's a harder encounter.
Liquid: No, our experience reward system does not reflect D&D
Encounter Level dynamics due to complexity of implementation and
potential confusion regarding communicating said differences.
Dragonshard Community Update #16
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
In an effort to keep the information new and fresh this
week's update will be a bit different. As many of you have been
playing the demo we've decided to let the different site managers
toss some questions at Liquid now that they have had a chance to
get their hands on the game. So this weeks Q&A comes from our
friends at Dragonshard
Enclave. As always if you have questions or comments keep them
coming in and we'll make sure to feature them in an upcoming update.
In other additional news
our friends at Dragonshard.net
are hosting a logo design contest that will be judged by members
of the Dragonshard team and Eberron creator Keith
Baker. So make sure you check out their site to get all the
juicy details (including prizes). As a point of reference if you
or your site wants to do a Dragonshard related contest, promotion
or event make sure to let us know and we'll do what we can to support
it. Now onto the the Q&A...
Roll for Initiative!
-The DM
DS Enclave: Is the experience monsters give you fixed?
Liquid: Fixed as in the
same amount of experience per monster? Yes.
DS Enclave: Is it dependable
on the number of monsters? i.e. 1 golem gives you 200, 2 golems
give you 500 because it's a harder encounter.
Liquid: No, our experience reward system does not reflect D&D
Encounter Level dynamics due to complexity of implementation and
potential confusion regarding communicating said differences.
Dragonshard Community Update #15
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
In response to many of your questions regarding the multi-player
demo we have arranged for it to be fully open and accessible for
anyone to download for free at Fileplanet.
You are no longer required to be a Fileplanet platinum member to
play the Dragonshard demo. Also we would like to thank Warcry for
hosting our July developer chat with Liquid. In place of the weekly
Q&A I have attached a transcript of the
chat for anyone who did not get to participate. In case you
missed this one, we will be announcing our next chat very soon.
So stay tuned for more info.
Enjoy!
Dragonshard Community Update #14
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
The Dragonshard Demo is coming soon! Many of you have been
asking for some time about the status of a Dragonshard demo and
we're excited to announce that a multi-player demo will be available
this week. I'll send out more details to the community very soon
regarding the specifics. So be ready, it's on the way! Also, I'd
like to remind everyone that our next chat with Liquid is just around
the corner. So don't forget to tune in this Friday as our friends
at Warcry host one of our last pre-launch developer chats.
Information on the chat
is as follows:
July 15, 2005 8:30 EST
irc.warcry.com::6667
#dragonshard
As for other community news, our friends at Dragonshard
Enclave have just relaunched their site and it looks fantastic.
Make sure you stop over there and check it out. We've had allot
of new interest in Dragonshard from the RTS community this week.
I'd like to take a minute to welcome gamereplays.org
to our online community. They are a fantastic site that really caters
to the RTS experience.
This week's going to be
a little different in that instead of me releasing a couple of new
Q&A and some screens I've compiled all of the previous updates
thus far into a FAQ for your convenience. (All listed on this page...
-Ed.) We'll return to new Q&A next week.
Enjoy!
Dragonshard Community Update #13
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
We've got lots of new news for you this week. As many of
you know we have recently clarified our position on our NDA policy
regarding the open beta test. But just to re-cap, only the testers
in the closed beta are subject tot the Atari NDA. So those of you
who have been playing in the open beta we'd love to hear your thoughts
and comments. In other news as a preview to their upcoming Dragonshard
chat on the 15th of July our friends over at DND Warcry just posted
an interview with Jasen Torres from Liquid Entertainment so make
sure you check that out http://dnd.warcry.com/scripts/news/view_news.phtml?site=37&id=46936.
Information on the chat
is as follows:
July 15, 2005 8:30pm EST
irc.warcry.com::6667
#dragonshard
Lastly, our friends at Wizards of the Coast will be providing us
a few copies of the upcoming Eberron Five
Nations Sourcebook (signed by Liquid and Eberon creator Keith
Baker) as prize support. We hope to see everyone there so mark your
calenders. And now Liquid answers your questions for the week.
Enjoy!
The DM: What RPG elements are included in Dragonshard?
Liquid: There are lots of RPG elements that would commonly be found
in D&D RPG style games - heavy storylines, tons of quests (including
branching quests), uncovering lore about the world, the ability
to choose what side of a faction you want to help or hurt, and leveling
up your units to make them better by earning experience.
The DM: Are Heroic characters
built in single player mode able to be brought into multiplayer?
Liquid: We are going to try. I can't say that we will, as it depends
on time and the multiplayer platform support, but I'd love to have
that.
Dragonshard Community Update #12
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
As promised this week we're releasing our next Dragonshard
wallpaper for your desktop viewing pleasure. In other news we know
there has been some confusion regarding the release date of the
game. To avoid further confusion, Dragonshard has been re-scheduled
for a September 2005 launch. In other news, make sure to mark July
15th on your calender. We have scheduled our next developer chat
with Liquid Entertainment on the Warcry Netwrok. We will have more
details on that in the very near future so stay tuned. Now on to
your questions...
Enjoy!
The DM: Are there many avid pen and paper D&D players at
Liquid Entertainment?
Liquid: Yes, there is at least one regular, ongoing D&D campaign
at Liquid almost all of the time. Several people have been playing
D&D here since the late 70's / early 80's, which should give
some good representation of the hardcore fans here.
The DM: How precise will
unit control be? (ie formations, stances, etc.)
Liquid: I assume you are just asking if we have formations and stances.
Captains can rally soldiers to themselves to form squads, and those
squads will move in formation. We don't have stances in Dragonshard-
it felt too complicated in a real-time environment.
Dragonshard Community Update #11
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
It's time for the next Dragonshard update. In addition to
our weekly Q&A with our friends at Liquid this week we we will
be focusing on two of the Monster types found in Dragonshard. The
first is the Iron Golum , and the the Dire Giant Cobra.. Also in
other news we know that there has been some confusion regarding
the Dragonshard Beta Test in the near future. We have new desktop
art coming this week so stay tuned for that, and lastly before we
get into this week's Q&A and monster info make sure to check
out the great new preview at Worth
Playing!
Enjoy!
The DM: What past experiences have Liquid brought into the development
of Dragonshard?
Liquid: Liquid has made Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring and Battle
Realms (as well as Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf). The people
here at Liquid, however, have helped develop all sorts of games,
From Command & Conquer, C&C Red Alert, the Might and Magic
and Heroes of Might and Magic series, The Hulk, the Madden series,
Shrek 2, and lots of others.
The DM: What kind of research
has gone into the planning and development of Dragonshard?
Liquid: Not too much, actually. We started out making a Dating Simulator.
I'm being silly, of course. Tons of research has gone into the planning
and development, from tech features like physics and normal mapping,
to all sorts of D&D books as reference material for art and
gameplay elements. On top of all of that we work with Wizards of
the Coast (the people who own and operate D&D) and draw from
their vast knowledge-base of all things Dungeon & Dragons.
Monster Profiles
Iron Golem: The Iron Golem has a humanoid body made from iron. It's features are much smoother than those of a stone golem. It moves with a ponderous but smooth gait. Each step causes the floor to tremble. Iron golems are mighty combatants and they strike with deadly accuracy and incredible force.
Dire Giant Cobra: Tainted by the abyssal influence of demons who stalk the forsaken depths of Xen'drik, these massive serpents silently stalk the ruins of Qalatesh searching for unwary adventurers upon which to prey. One must also be wary, as a writhing den of these deadly snakes often means that a cunning Medusa lurks nearby...
Dragonshard Community Update #10
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
It's time for another Dragonshard update and we decided
to ask our friends at Liquid some more strategic oriented questions
this week. In other news we'll have some new Dragonshard desktop
art coming soon and don't forget you can still get into the Beta
test. As always keep your questions coming in and we'll make sure
they get answered in a future update!
The DM: Does terrain play a part as a strategic element in battle?
Liquid: Naturally, as some terrain is impassable, and some elements
will block vision, and higher ground grants advantages. Also, the
underworld is a huge new type of terrain, with buildings and passages
that provide choke points and enable you to establish defensive
positions. Also, there are Places of Power on maps that you will
want to control, as they provide your army with benefits.
The DM: Will there be elements
of siege? (i.e. catapults, battering rams, etc.)
Liquid: To some degree, but it isn't a castle siege based game.
Dragonshard towns have strong walls and defensive towers that the
player must take out before they can destroy the buildings inside.
These walls can also be improved as the game progresses. Thus, to
conquer your enemy's town, you will need units that are strong against
walls and towers.
Dragonshard Community Update #9
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
It's Dragonshard Update time again, and this week it's going
to be a little different. In addition to our regular Q&A with
our friends at Liquid Entertainment and a new screen shot we're
going to be showing off one of the featured characters from the
game. This week's featured character is Darroc from the Lizardfolk
faction. In the coming weeks we will be spotlighting more characters
from all three playable races. Seeing that we're showing off one
of the heroes this week we decided to focus our questions on how
heroes in Dragonshard effect the game. As always, if you have a
question about Dragonshard that we have not yet answered please
free free to submit it and we'll feature it in an upcoming update!
Enjoy!
The DM: How customizable are characters in the game?
Liquid: They are customizable to about as far as a degree as we
felt we could take it and still be a balanced RTS game. The Champions
can earn new items and even a few new weapons that all add new abilities
or stats in the single player. These can have some pretty drastic
effects (such as a chance to freeze a unit in ice or even allowing
a super high health regeneration).
The DM: What happens if all
your hero-led parties get wiped out by a trap or monsters? Does
the game end?
Liquid: Yes, and a dragon flies on screen and laughs at you. I'm
joking, of course. It would be pretty difficult to have a whole
party wiped out by a trap (I've not seen it yet, and I've helped
make the game!). If you still have your town, you can build more
units and re-summon your Champion.
Hero Profile
Name:
Darroc
Race: Lizardfolk
Darroc represents one of the pinnacles of the Lizardfolk's rapid
evolution under the influence of the Heart of Siberys. Either through
sheer genetic chance or, as the Lizardfolk elders believe, via supernatural
or draconic influence, Darroc was hatched bearing the size and strength
of the dragons his people worshipped, while retaining the agility
necessary to maneuver rapidly through the jungles and swamps that
are his home. Even at a young age, Darroc was a leader among his
people, besting all other warriors who challenged him, defending
their lands against invading forces, and banding together otherwise
disparate tribes to form one collective Lizardfolk race.
However, he fell in battle after repelling the last assault of the Silver Flame on Xen'drik when they first sought to claim to Heart. His remains were recovered, and buried within a sacred tomb hidden away deep within the swamps. Bone is all that remains of his solid form, with flesh and sinew replaced by surging arcane energies. The form that Darroc now takes is that of a resurrected guardian. In his absence, his people have sought out and attempted to groom new heroes to take his place, one of which being the young and temperamental Redfang, who physically shares many of the qualities that made Darroc so fearsome. But now, Darroc has returned to guide his people to victory once again, and to teach the young ones who might follow in his legacy what it takes to truly be a leader of one's people.
Dragonshard Community Update #8
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
Now that the wild week that was E3 has once again come and
gone we're glad to get back to giving you as much Dragonshard info
as we can. Last week's update focued on the "D&D"
aspects of the game so this week we'll focus a bit on the more traditional
"RTS" elements of the game. Specifically, we asked our
frineds at Liquid about what we know many people want to get some
info on, multi-player!
Here is what they had to say...
The DM: What differences in multiplayer will there be from conventional
RTS games?
Liquid: There are lots of differences. Every unit can gather resources,
for example. Some of the resources are found mainly in the dungeon-
the underworld of the multiplayer map. The player has a town grid
that uses the nexus system to build buildings and train units, rather
than a normal system where buildings are put down anywhere.
I think one of the largest differences is that players have to fight over the resources, so the game encourages combat from the get-go. Also the complete lack of a tech tree- you can build any unit at any time. This helps ease up a lot of the decision making for the player- it isn't difficult to throw in a whole new mix of units on the battlefield.
The DM: Are there a variety
of victory conditions in single player and multiplayer?
Liquid: Each single player chapter is custom as far as its victory
conditions, so there is a large variety. Multiplayer has four different
victory conditions that can be individually turned on or off for
a multiplayer game.
Dragonshard Community Update #7
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
This week our two questions are focus on the more "D&D"
elements of Dragonshard. Many people have been asking for more input
into how an RTS can get that real "D&D feel" to it.
This week our friend's at Liquid shed some light on that very topic.
Also, make sure not to miss the second part of the indepth Liquid
interview at RPGvault that went live today.
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/613/613324p1.html
As always keep your questions, comments, or interview requests coming
in.
The DM: What are some of the more recognizable D&D units
in the game?
Liquid: Well, for the monsters there are mind flayers, driders,
beholders, umber hulks, minotaurs, bugbears, ettins, lizard folk,
dragons, hydras, gelatinous cubes, and more! If you include the
player units you add rangers, elemental drakes, sorcerers, clerics,
paladins, rogues, archons, fighters, and...that is all from the
top of my head...but I'm sure there are many more.
The DM: What D&D rule
set is Dragonshard based off of and why?
Liquid: The direct answer is that it is based on D&D 3.5. However,
I want to point out that the game is an RTS with RPG elements, and
it uses D&D 3.5 as source material, rather than a rules base.
It isn't a turn based game with rounds or days to refresh spells
and abilities. We had to take concepts like that and apply them
to a Real-Time setting for Dragonshard, while still making it feel
like D&D.
Dragonshard Community Update #6
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
It's time for our weekly Dragonshard update. For those of
you who had not had a chance, there is still time to sign up for
the Beta Test. Check out dragonshard.com
for the details. We will have another in our series of wallpapers
out very soon. And as as always here is what our friends at Liquid
had to say in response to your questions this week:
The DM: How much involvement does the creator of Eberron, Keith
Baker have in the developement of Dragonshard?
Liquid: Keith Baker has provided us with our initial story line
and some main characters, as well as the world of Eberron as the
foundation for the world we move in. So captains like the Warforged
and Artificers are direct from his world of Eberron.
The DM: Are all the D&D
classes available in Dragonshard?
Liquid: Most of them are represented with captains and soldiers,
yes. I think the only one that didn't manage to get in as a player
character was the bard class. And that is mostly because a bard
is an "all-in-one" character in D&D that performs
all sorts of roles. In an RTS, where units need to have solid roles
and counters in order for combat outcomes to be clear, a unit that
is "jack-of-all-trades" doesn't really fit in. There are
NPC bards, however, so we still managed to get them in the game.
Dragonshard Community Update #5
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
Once again its time to bring you up to date on the wide
world of Dragonshard. We have a number of exciting things going
on that you should be keeping your eyes open for. We have the Beta
test going on as we speak and for those of you who have not been
participating in the Beta we will be releasing a single-player demo
in the very near future. In the news front IGN's RPG Vault just
posted a great new interview with Liquid at http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/608/608401p1.html
make sure to check that out!
As always we end this weeks update with Liquid answering a few of
your questions and some new screens.
The DM: What is the highest attainable level for heroic characters?
Liquid: Champions, the "heroic" characters, don't level.
It may sound odd to hear that, but if we were going to make them
level they would have to start off "weaker" and get "stronger"
otherwise there is no point to leveling, right? And we didn't want
to start them off weak at all...we wanted them to be bad asses that
help command the strategy of putting together your army. So from
the start (when you get them, not from the start of the game) they
are "level 20" and can do really powerful things.
However- captains (the normal units) do level and get all sorts of cool new spells and abilities (and those get better as they level, as well!). Right now the number is set to level 5, but that is subject to change to what feels best in multi-player. We don't want it to take too long for a player to feel their captains getting powerful (having to level 20 times would seem to do this), and we don't want it to be meaningless to level.
The DM: How many single player
campaigns/scenarios are there in the game?
Liquid: There are two campaigns with 7 chapters each...but let me
warn you- some of these things are so packed with quests that it
is taking me over two hours to beat all of one of them. And that
doesn't count the special rewards quests that you can go back and
replay for more rewards points to buy special items. There is a
lot of game there.
Dragonshard Community Update #4
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
This week we asked "JT" at Liquid to answer some of our inquiries
and here is what he had to say:
The DM: What one element sets this game apart from other RTS
titles?
Liquid: I would say the one defining element that sets the game
apart is the Dungeons. We have these wonderfully huge underworlds
full of gold, items, quests, traps, monsters, and Boss Monsters
that really helps solidify that D&D flavor and provide a really
fun place to gather two of the most important resources (gold and
experience). The dungeons are one of the things I'm most proud of
because I think they've turned out even better than anyone anticipated
through the hard work of the whole team.
The DM: Of all the RTS games that have been released on store
shelves, which game is Dragonshard most similar to and why?
Liquid: That is a difficult question to answer because we've tried
to make Dragonshard common in the places all successful RTS have
in common (interesting units, well balanced, lots of options for
strategy), but innovates in areas where we felt we could. Most great
RTS games have buildings, and so does Dragonshard, although we handled
it in a unique way with the building nexus- where you build on a
nexus grid and when you build it has a lot of importance on your
units. So it isn't all that similar to other RTS games with building,
but it isn't really all that different, either. Does that make sense?
I hope so, haha.
Dragonshard Community Update #3
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
It's time for your weekly dose of Dragonshard. As promised we've
added some new screens and addition to our weekly Q&A from the
production team here at Atari & Liquid. Be on the lookout for
new desktop art in the coming week, and as always we'd love to hear
your questions and or comments about Dragonshard. So without further
delay here is this week's Q&A:
The DM: How customizable are characters in the game?
Liquid: They are customizable to about as far as a degree as we
felt we could take it and still be a balanced RTS game. The Champions
can earn new items and even a few new weapons that all add new abilities
or stats in the single player. These can have some pretty drastic
effects (such as a chance to freeze a unit in ice or even allowing
a super high health regeneration). Units can be customized through
upgrades and BattleGear. Upgrades are improvements stats - things
such as attack damage, spell energy, or health. BattleGear is usually
earned by doing something special. Experience can be used to purchase
upgrades and abilities for units and leaders.
The DM: What RPG elements are included in Dragonshard?
Liquid: There are lots of RPG elements that would commonly be found
in D&D RPG style games - heavy storylines, tons of quests (including
branching quests), uncovering lore about the world, the ability
to choose what side of a faction you want to help or hurt. Units
will be able to increase their level by upgrading the buildings
they are produced from. Increased levels will grant unit's stat
bonuses (such as hit points, armor class, damage, energy) as well
as access to new abilities. Much as in the D&D PnP game, certain
levels may be required before a unit has access to certain abilities.
Experience is pooled and may be used by the player to advance levels
and unit abilities.
Dragonshard Community Update #2
Greetings Dungeoncrawlers!
As promised, its Dragonshard Friday and time for our weekly Community
Update. This week we've spoken to Dragonshard Produer John Hight
to try and get the goods on Dragonshard. In addition to our new
screens and Q&A we'd like to remind you about our chat going
on this Thursday at Dragonshard.net and our presell Beta Test that
you can get into by stopping by EB or Gamestop and preordering the
game. So without further delay here is this weeks Q&A:
The DM: Do the avatars/characters in each layer interact with
each other in anyway? For example, is lower level strictly for resources
gathering while all the fighting goes on in the top layer?
John: The units you train from your town's buildings are those that
you enter and explore the underworld with. They are also those that
can rally soldiers to form squads above ground, which are the basis
for your army. Thus, you'll be moving troops between the levels.
The DM: In your opinion do you think Dragonshard is more of an
offensive or defensive game?
John: I think we have a reasonable balance. Town structures, and
the walls that surround them, are designed to prevent an early rush
attack. However, powerful units possess the ability to take down
these walls, so when you assemble the right offense, and punch through
your opponent's army, you'll achieve victory.
Dragonshard Community Update #1
Welcome to the first Dragonshard
Community Update that we'll be bringing you every Friday until the
game ships in June. We'll be providing brief Q&A from members
of the team and new screens every week. In addition if you're interested
in participating in our Dragonshard Beta test stop by your local
EB or Gamestop and pre-order it and then start playing April 8th.
The DM: How are resources attained in Dragonshard?
Liquid: There are really three resources, dragonshards, gold, and
experience points. Dragonshards fall to the surface of the world,
and can be harvested by any unit as they are encountered. Gold trickles
in as a tax on your towns operations, and can be found as treasure
by killing monsters, but is really found in the underworld. Some
gold containing chests will require a rogue to pick their locks.
Experience points are gained by killing monsters and enemy units,
and as the result of successfully completing quests.
The DM: What are the minimum system requirments that you are
aiming for in regards to Dragonshard?
Liquid: We are aiming for a minimum system roughly equivalent to
a Pentium III 1.13GHz, 512MB RAM, a 64MB DirectX 9.0c compatible
video card, a DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, and appropriate
Hard Drive space, CD-Rom drive, etc.
