Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance Interview

Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance is a tale of intrigue and fierce
alliances that pits the player against myriad challenges, each one bringing the
player closer and closer to the revelation of truth and the bittersweet realization
of vengeance. Need we say it again? Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance looks like
it’s going to blow us away!

We had the oppurtunity to speak with Darren Monahan, the producer of
BGDA, and he has shared some pretty interesting information with us. We were excited
about this game back in June when we posted our preview, and as time has passed,
the in-game images and game information has only become more impressive! So let’s
get on to the interview . . .

XboxSolution – Thanks for taking the time to speak with us.
Could you please give us some background information on yourself and tell our
viewers what your role is in the making of Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance.

Darren – My name is Darren Monahan, I am the producer of
the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. I’ve been with Interplay Entertainment for
over 8 years now, having worked in Quality Assurance testing NES, Genesis
and PC games, as a programmer on a number of Interplay’s PC games, and co-produced
and produced the Icewind Dale PC RPG series for Black Isle.

XboxSolution – Our members and visitors are already hyped about the
game based on our previously posted preview, are there any details we missed
that make BGDA even more appealing? And, could you explain a bit more in depth
about the characters involved? Realizing that the three characters are customizable,
will we see a custom character creation mode?

Darren – There’s a whole bunch of other cool things that
I believe the game offers. First off, if you don’t know much about Dungeons
& Dragons, Forgotten Realms, or what Baldur’s Gate
is, never fear. BGDA is not a twin brother to the PC game with the
similar name. This is a game that anyone who enjoys playing games in a medieval
fantasy setting could enjoy without being swamped with rules, folklore or
other details that you’d need to have read all 20+ Forgotten Realms
novels to play. That’s not to say our seasoned D&D fans should
feel left out however, I think we offer just the right amount for both types
of players.

Some of the things I really like about the game are its graphic details –
Snowblind Studios, the developer of the game, was able to make some
fantastically vibrant areas. This isn’t your average dull, gray dungeon adventure
– there are many unique environments to play in in BGDA. From dirty
sewers, crypts full of zombies, murky swampland, scaling the side of a mountain,
to caves chisled from ice. The water and spell effects are really cool, and
I think between Jeremy Soule’s musical scores and Snowblind’s
graphical attention to detail was really able to bring the whole game together
to draw players in.

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Regarding character creation, it’s very simple. When you start a new game,
you’re able to choose between one of the three character combinations:

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- Vahn, the Human Archer: His primary combat abilities are
with a bow and arrow. The feats (special abilities characters get to choose
as they level up) focus mostly on improving his archery, from firing flaming
arrows, to bursts of multiple arrows in several directions.

- Kromlech, the Dwarven Fighter: He is the master of the
sword and axe. His feats focus on hand-to-hand combat. One of the coolest
feats he gets is called Bull Rush, which allows him to run at an enemy at
3x+ the rate, smashing into him like a WWE wrestler.

- Adrianna, the Elven Sorceress: She is the master of sorcery.
Her feats focus on spellcasting. One of my favorite spells, Meteor Swarm,
rattles the whole area (and your controller) as meteors fall from the sky
onto her enemies.

There is also a secret character that you’ll be able to play once you
beat the game.

As a player progresses through the game, they gain experience points from
killing monsters and finishing quests. When they get enough experience points,
they can “level up” and are able to choose new feats throughout
the game. Many feats can be upgraded as well making them incredibly powerful.
Every four levels, you also get to put a point into one of your character’s
attributes – if you play with Kromlech for example, you can put another point
into Strength, increasing his damage output.

XboxSolution – Our female gamers will be happy to know that there is
a female character, any details on her?

Darren – Absolutely You’ll be able to play as Adrianna,
the elven sorceress. When she gets to high levels, she can be absolutely devistating,
particularly with Ball Lightning, a spell that emits a large ball of lightning
that electricutes anything in its path.

XboxSolution – Many gamers are extremely excited about the 3rd Edition
Dungeons and Dragons rule set that will be utilized in the game. For
those that are unfamiliar with this, could you tell us what advances this will
bring to the game?

Darren – Well, BGDA uses a subset of the 3rd Edition Dungeons
& Dragons rules. For those unfamiliar with D&D rules,
the D&D rule system defines how a character progresses in power
through his or her experiences, what makes character X different from character
Y and provides rules and a setting for a player to play in and everything
that comes with it – monsters to fight, deities to worship, etc. The rules
can be fairly complex as almost everything is taken into account in some way
or another. For example, how much you’re carrying affects how fast you can
move, or how skilled you are with a particular weapon influences your ability
to hit a monster with it.

The new 3E rules have been redesigned to really enhance character progression.
Something that’s new to 3E is what I mentioned above, which are feats. As
a character levels up, it makes sense that they would be able to hone specific
abilities from their experiences – this is one thing that feats provide to
characters.

Fortunately in BGDA we’ve hidden away a lot of the rules under the
hood, so you can focus on playing the game and choosing the paths you want
to take with your character. In our more traditional PC-based RPG’s, we implement
a lot more of the rules – it becomes more of a strategy game that way though,
as you have to plan out how you will cast your spells in a given day, etc.
With BGDA, the rules have been trimmed down somewhat to avoid unnecessarily
bogging down the gameplay – something necessary in a fast-paced, action RPG.

XboxSolution – There has been quite a bit of talk about how the controller
will be mapped, how will the character get around in the world, 3rd person aspect?
How will inventory be managed? Will players of the PC version find it easy to
adapt to the console version?

Darren – Fortunately the Xbox has just the right amount
of buttons to take care of everything for us. Plus you’ll be able to map any
of the button commands to the way that suits you. Examples of button commands:
Jump, Attack, Use Feat/Spell, Block, Toggle Automap, Drink Health Potion.
I think we’ve done a pretty good job of making the controls feel natural when
playing the game.

The game is indeed in 3rd person and you can rotate the camera as you see
fit on most levels by using the right joystick. Pushing it in resets the camera
to the “default” position.

Inventory is managed completely in a separate screen of it’s own. Here there
are a number of different tabs along the top that sort out equipment into
logical categories. The tabs in the game are: Weapons, Armor, Miscellanous
(potions, rings, etc.), Statistics, and Feats. The weapons section shows you
which weapon(s) is currently equipped, how much it weighs, it relative value
in gold, its damage output, etc. The Armor and Miscellaneous sections are
similar in functionality. The Statistics tab gives you information about your
character, his current scores in his attributes and other rules-type information
like your armor score or how much experience you still need to get to the
next level. The last tab, Feats, shows you all the feats you currently have,
and let’s you browse the list of available feats for that character to help
you plan out what to pick in the future or to just find out more information
about.

Players of the PC versions of the game will find BGDA to be a completely
new and different experience. BGDA focuses on one character as opposed
to a party of six, and there’s no way to “stop the clock” and issue
orders. It really is a completely different game – BGDA focuses very
heavily on action.

XboxSolution – Could you explain how you utilize the power of the Xbox
to bring a new level of gaming experience to the Baldurs Gate series?

Darren – The Xbox really has some fantastic hardware. The
harddrive is great to have, providing an large allotment of save slots, the
video hardware really makes the art look incredible without slowdown and the
audio hardware just sounds awesome on a big 5.1 setup.

XboxSolution – There will be a cooperative gameplay mode, will this
be a split-screen version?

Darren – Absolutely, however both players actually play
in the same screen. It may sound like it could get confusing or possibly irritating,
but I think it works out quite well.

XboxSolution – Are there any plans for an Online version of the game?

Darren -At the moment, no.

XboxSolution – Anything else you would like to add?

Darren – Shameless self-promotion is always great! I would
just like to mention that if anyone wants to get some information about the
game to come and check out our website and forums at bgdaxbox.blackisle.com.

XboxSolution – Thanks for your time, and your insight into
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance.

That’s it for the interview, but feel free to check out the following related
information for Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance! As always, you can post a comment
or talk it up in our Forums.
– Baldurs Gate: Dark
Alliance Preview
– Baldurs
Gate: Dark Alliance Screenshots
– Official Baldurs
Gate Dark Alliance Website
– Interplay
– Snowblinds Studios

Filed under: Interviews

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