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Greyhawk:
The Temple of Elemental Evil Interview, Part 2 (20/05/2003)
by Taluntain |
SP: Will mages who already have a certain spell scribed in their spellbook be able to see this in stores to prevent buying needless duplicates?
Tim Cain: Yes, you can buy spells you already know. Many people LIKE to do this, so they have scrolls to back up their memorized spells.
SP: How much inventory space will we have? Does money take any? Do items of the same type stack, and will there be any bags of holding, arrow/bolt quivers, potion bags, scroll cases etc. to give us more space?
Tim Cain: Inventory goes on a grid, like Arcanum, but every item is now just one size, although weights vary. You can buy bags to increase your inventory size (they become tabs on the side, so you switch quickly among bags). We do have bags of holding, but not specialty bags, like potion bags or scroll cases. Money is sizeless and weightless and stacks, and several other things stack too, like gems, arrows, bolts, etc.
SP: How are familiars and animal companions going to be handled? Will they have an actual use in the game or will they be more of a decoration?
Tim Cain: Animal companions are actual followers. They are animals that follow you around and help you fight. Familiars, on the other hand, are items that you carry, and they give you bonuses based on which familiar you have, e.g. the toad adds to your hit points. You don't use familiars to fight, nor would you want to, since if it dies, you lose xp and cannot get a new one for a year and a day.
SP: What is your estimated play time in hours if one was to do everything possible in the game?
Tim Cain: I don't know yet. No one has done everything possible yet, and I'm still adding some stuff.
SP: Will pickpocketing be implemented? If so, how will it work? Is there any actually useful stuff that could be stolen?
Tim Cain: Yes, pickpocketing is in. It lets you filch coins or small, unwielded items, like rings or gems. Pickpocketing can be useful to gain a little cash, of course, but it also lets you swipe useful things like keys. Can't pick a difficult lock on a chest or door? Find the owner and swipe his key!
SP: In ToEE, rogues will not be able to set traps or gain trap items from disabling traps. What is the reason behind this decision?
Tim Cain: It was partly the time required to add it (fairly high) and partly the usefulness of using traps against NPC's (fairly low). I'd like to add it to a later game.
SP: Will there be any way to ensure a safe rest in unsafe areas, for example via a Rope Trick spell?
Tim Cain: Yes, in fact our spell programmer wants to add that spell for just that reason. There are a few other ways too, but those are spoilers, and I'll leave that for the player to discover during play.
SP: Please describe one of your favourite items that can be acquired in ToEE.
Tim Cain: OK, my favorite item's description would be a HUGE spoiler, so I think my second favorite is a ring that extends a druid's Wild Shape ability to include Hill Giant. What a cool item for a little halfling to use!
SP: Considering Greyhawk will be a big unknown to the majority of gamers used only to the classic Forgotten Realms setting, is the ToEE manual going to have any information on Greyhawk's gods, history, geography, etc.?
Tim Cain: I am going to try to include an introduction to the world of Greyhawk in the manual. Space is limited when you consider all the spells, feats and skills I need to cover, but we are including that info in-game as well, so maybe I can find the space.
SP: Are there any plans for a collector's edition of the game? What would you want to stick inside the collector's edition box?
Tim Cain: There are no plans that I know of, but I'd like to make one with a miniature in it. Maybe of one of the bad guys, or perhaps one of several different player character archetypes.
SP: Can you say what the minimum and recommended specifications for playing ToEE will be?
Tim Cain: Min spec is a 700 Mhz CPU with 128 Meg of RAM and a 2nd generation 3D video card. And you'll need DirectX 8.1. We don't have a recommended spec yet, but to improve performance, you'll want a video card with a high fill rate and a CPU with a large on-chip cache.
SP: Finally, when can we expect Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil to be released?
Tim Cain: End of summer, probably.
Thanks for your time Tim, and good luck with your work!
