Questions to Developers

[dskod1]

Okay. Post your Questions and the devlopers will get back to you as soon as possible. I will try and keep all the questions and answers in this first post. Please make sure you check this post before asking more questions

UPDATED ON 12TH of June 2012 Australia EST

CLICK "SHOW SPOILER" TO SEE FAQ

Spoiler

Q:

Will there be multiple speeds of play that you can switch between? If not – please add this to the wish list / idea for the game.
In other words – will there be different game speeds of pause, 1/2, normal, 2x speeds, etc?

A:

Yeah, the speed up functions are already in the game. A x0.5 setting is something we've not thought about before, I'll look into adding this ^^

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Q:

Traps?

A:

Indeed the traps are crafted by the Dwarves. Although that is not the case for every object in the game, we use something we call "grow" on certain objects that don't need a craft dwarf to be functional. One example of this are the ladders, it was frustrating to have your diggers stuck in holes when they where far away on exploration missions so we decided that some objects where to be placed directly into the game world by the player. We've later added stuff like floors and wallpapers to that same list.

//Thorwaldsson

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Q:

do the Dwarves actually have to take the time to go to the beds to sleep in them for a certain amount of time and go to the tables to eat food (assuming you have food for them)Or is all of this just for looks?

A:

the Dwarves loose energy at a set rate while being awake, and at faster rate when the are tasked with hard work.

When they get tired enough, the'll head over to an empty bed and sleep.

//Thorwaldsson

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Q:

What if you have no beds?

What if your all your fighter Dwarves are tired and heading for the beds but you are attacked?

your fighters are all in the beds asleep and you are attacked – but they aren’t fully rested. Will they get up right away?

A:

If you don't have any beds the dwarves will eventually collapse on the floor, this will decrease the happiness of your dwarves, witch could have devastating consequences, if it goes on to long.

Your dwarves won't head off to sleep the second they get sleepy, so if they are preoccupied with more pressing things, such as a hostile attack they'll hold searching for a bed until there is time.

Non combat dwarves will eventually stop following your orders and head for a bed, while military dwarves will fight until they pass out from sleep deprivation.

If you don't have any beds the dwarves will eventually pass out on the floor, however the rest gained from sleeping on the cave floor is bad and the dwarf will become grumpy.

// Thorwaldsson

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Q:

food and eating?

Where is the food coming from? Was that what was growing in that one room in the Twitch demo? There was trees (I assume for wood) but something else. Looked like bushes.

A:

Yeah, the player build magic (not that they'd admit it) stones that allows for underground plantations. The crops you saw in the demo are placeholders but you're still correct that the pines are for wood.

At this time there is only a general food resource but all kinds of plants have different "planting" properties. But that system is going under reconstruction this weekend, so I can't say how it will look come Monday.

//Thorwaldsson

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Q:

I heard that there is a Scholar Class Dwarf that helps to advance technologies in your realm.

But I didn’t catch if there is a tech tree that is player determined. In other words, can the player pick which types of technologies they wish to advance over others?
And say if you have 3 Scholars – can 2 focus on one advancement while 1 works on another?

A:

That is correct, Scholars and Researchers will do the researching in your settlement. They will gather "research points" which you can then invest into techs in your tech-tree.

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Q:

Did I see that a Dwarf can change his class in to another class?
When you change classes is it at some sort of a penalty or can only do so many in so much time?
When you change classes do you start over with your experience?
How many different classes are there and what are they?

A:

As of now the dwarves associated with military can specialize into new types of military dwarves.
Starting out as a level 1 military dwarf, reaching the demanded requirements you can if you like to, specialize it into a new type of dwarf.
Following a specialisation-tree you can specialize your military into either melee or ranged, high-dps, high-hp(tanks?) or a balanced combination.

The penality is that the progress of the dwarf will be reset. It will start over again at level 1, meaning that the dwarf probably will be less beneficial in battle
then the previous speciliation, but once an equivalent level is reached the new spec is better then the previous.

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Q:

Ok so if this situation occurs: I (because I just don’t know what I’m doing) have way too many “Digger” type Dwarfs (sorry I don’t know the names of the classes yet) but not nearly enough “Military” type Dwarfs. I can’t change a Digger in to a Military Dwarf or the other way around?

So then, if you can’t change them in this case – this brings up another questions. . . . . . . Is there a settlement cap? In other words; only so many total Dwarves allowed that you can have at any one time?

A:

There is no way to switch core specialisations currently. The core specialisations are as follows:

* Digger
* Worker
* Crafter
* Researcher
* Military.

There is a settlement cap. It's about 40 dwarves currently. Might still change though.

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Q:

how do the dwarves reproduct?!

A:

Of course there are female dwarfs! It's just that they got beards too.
About the reproduction rituals, all i can say is that dwarves are pretty shy about their sexual habits, so we don't talk about that - yet. :ninja:

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Q:

Will there be like hunting and stuf?

A:

No, there will be no hunting. You probably like to raid some orcs for loots though!

Q:

The world :
- Size of the world (x,y,z) ?
- Random generator/map pre-created/Editor available ?
- The different stones/minerals

A:

The size of the world varies during the campaign and the player will be able to select the size in while playing custom games, we are currently looking into how large we can make them without making the game lag.
While playing custom games the player will have the option to make changes to the parameters of the world generation.

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Q:

Any plans for multiplayer?

Dwarf Princes facing off?
One player controlling all monsters?
Treasure hunt? (most gold on a set time/first to a certain limit)?
Coop?
Tower defence inspired gameplay (prevent monsters from reaching the throneroom)?

A:

Right now we feel like a multilayer aspect would fit the game poorly. The game is best played single player, should we have some stroke of genius and find an awesome game mode this might change post release.

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Q:

I'd like get a better grasp on the Dwarfs you command.

Will there be unique "Heroes" aside from the main character?
In what way will I be able to command the units?
Is there an experience system for the units?
I expect there to be successive stages once in a while, so I'm asking will I be able to take units to the next stage after finishing one?

A:

No, while we toyed with the idea of heroes we felt that the time spent on them where better spent on the Prince character, so we've made him even more hero-like than we first intended.
Your task is not to micromanage each individual unit, but to make sure that they are well trained and versatile enough to deal with any kind of trouble. That being said there are still ways for you to directly control your units in one way or another.
Yes, dwarves gain experience and levels while preforming tasks relevant to their class, so the digger gain xp from digging and the warriors from fighting, and so on.
Your Prince will travel with you to the next level and on some levels the status of your army will help decide what you start with on the next level.

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Q:

I'm pretty sure you guys are bringing this to PSN, which I'm stoked about*. Maybe you could do a topic about the challenges of developing for multiple platforms? Also interested in the things the good folk above have posted, so point listing them again. Good luck with developing the game, looking forward to playing it*.

A:

This will have to be an entire topic on its own, look forward to this when we start submitting release candidates to Sony ^^

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Q:

What strains are there on expanding your "dungeon" (or whatever its called), will there be things you can't dig through, that you have to dig around?
Are there factors that keep you from expanding too much?

Stuff like that.

A:

When you expand your settlement you will eventually start running into enemies, these enemies will get harder and harder as you progress. This will beckon a player to take things slow and build up his settlement before continuing. And yes there are also some sorts of stone that you can't dig through.

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Q:

How will you command your dwarves? For example will they go about doing all the things they need to do and you can generally summon them to areas and they attack enemies automaticall OR will it be more micro management and you select and click a job for each dwarf.

A:

We've worked tons with streamlining the micro management aspects of the game, since you control so many dwarves, individual control would be chaotic if not impossible. So most actions will be carried out by the dwarves themselves, such at eating and sleeping. While the player gives orders such as build that there or defend this area.

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Q:

Will dwarves be classed into specific roles and not be able to take care of other tasks (ex: a miner dwarf that will never be able to farm like a farmer dwarf)? Or will each dwarf have a set of skills that are developed by completing various tasks (à la Dwarf Fortress) and he will complete the tasks set out in priority of his most developed skills?

I guess what I'm getting at is each dwarf going to have its own story/set of skills and it'll be up to the player to decide what each dwarf should do (regardless of how the orders are given), or will the dwarves be nameless and only be identified by their specific and unique skill?

A:

A dwarf may only preform action that belong to its particular class. As earlier mentioned we've worked hard at streamlining the micromanagement aspect of the game, having to manage the individual skills of each dorf may be rewarding, but not in the way we are aiming for in this game.
Sorry guys but that is all for now, look for a part 2 or maybe I'll answer the rest in the Questions Thread, but that will have to wait a day or two.

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Q:

1)Will there be "champion diggers/crafters etc" in the game?
2)Will there also be underground bodies of water or possible lavaflows that need to be dealt with?
3) How large is the radius of the cultivation stone?

A:

1) The dwarves will level up, and become more proficient, though they will not earn titles for it. Not at the moment at least. Good idea though.
2) Nope. We experimented with water, but it did not really fit in to the game we want to make. It just took to much of the fun out of the game.
3) Ooh, I'm actually not sure but about 5-6 blocks.

 

[unmerged(323382)]

I love this initiative, I'll sticky this thread as well.

 

[unmerged(388645)]

I have question that sort of goes along with the first one:

Will dwarves be classed into specific roles and not be able to take care of other tasks (ex: a miner dwarf that will never be able to farm like a farmer dwarf)? Or will each dwarf have a set of skills that are developed by completing various tasks (à la Dwarf Fortress) and he will complete the tasks set out in priority of his most developed skills?

I guess what I'm getting at is each dwarf going to have its own story/set of skills and it'll be up to the player to decide what each dwarf should do (regardless of how the orders are given), or will the dwarves be nameless and only be identified by their specific and unique skill?

 

[dskod1]

How will you command your dwarves? For example will they go about doing all the things they need to do and you can generally summon them to areas and they attack enemies automaticall OR will it be more micro management and you select and click a job for each dwarf.

 

[vertinox]

Oh wow I have a load of questions:

Will there be intrinsic needs of dwarves like eating, sleeping, entertainment and individual goals?

Will brewing of dwarven ale be in?

And by that extension will dwarves need to drink as well as eat?

Will there be underground sources of water then? Such as aquifers?

Will item creation be automatic or will you have to individually create items? (I mean like do you have to create each piece of dwarven weapons and armor)

Will there be land surface invasions or is it primarily threats from creatures underground?

Will there be dwarven religion and by that extension dwarven graveyards and ghosts?

How many levels can you dig down?

Will there be pets like cats and dogs?

I'm sure I can find more questions soon

[edit]

Also important, how moddable will the game be? Will the building data and save games be in text files like other paradox games?

 

[Sifer2]

Kind of funny how its hard to think of a question when so little is known about it. I don't know where to start. But I think I have one:

How does the campaign play out? Is it single missions where you develop a dwarf home, and accomplish some objective. Or do you keep the same home throughout the campaign, and just dig deeper or something?

 

[Megusta]

Not really a question but a suggestion. Please add random events to game like random monster spawn once in a while or wither\flood or enemy party encounter. Pretty much like in a Dwarf Fortress. Not only static caves with monster+loot. That will add a great deal of replay-ability to the game.

 

[xGhost4000x]

Posting because of interest.

Need more info about this game.

 

[unmerged(448371)]

I'm a huge Evil Genius fan, and I dabbled in the incredibly user-unfriendly Dwarf Fortress. My question:

Are you going to be aiming for deep and complex gameplay, or "atmosphere" more with this game? By that I mean the sheer enjoyability of watching dwarves scurry around, performing duties with interesting animations and nice little atmospheric touches.

Not that you can't have both, but I'm a real sucker for games that are beautiful and interesting to watch, especially if they have a unique style!

 

[Kalelovil]

How much control will the player have over the random map generation? Will we be able to select things like map size, climate, amount of trees, abundance of minerals, abundance of animals, frequency of enemy attacks, etc.

Will water play a significant part in the game? Will there be sources of surface water (I didn't see any in the trailer), or will constructing wells be the only method?
I understand one of the developers of Dwarfs!? is on your team, so I hope to see some thrilling underground flooding when I/my dwarves dig through the wrong area.

I assume there will be a number of traps that can be built to help against surface and underground adversaries?

Will there be a predefined end game and some sort of 'boss battle' when you dig down far enough?

 

[Kalelovil]

Will it be possible to have a cave in?
Are supporting columns a part of the game (they could be automatically placed depending on the size of the room if you want to reduce micromanagement)?

I notice the emphasis placed in the last Developer Diary on attacks by enemies encountered underground. Will there by sieges/attacks by enemies from the surface as well?
I also notice what looks like a Dwarven king or noble on a throne in that video. Will you lose the game if they die?

Will it be possible to take direct control over a dwarf? If so, will this be in third or first person?

 

[xGhost4000x]

Question to Devs....

Can you please answer our questions?

 

[unmerged(463581)]

When will the game be released?
Will there be a beta for interested players to join? Maybe via preorder?
Will the game be released on Steam?
How many units can you have at once?
Will the map have limits when it comes to digging space?

 

[Smauler]

Will the game hold on to what makes playing with dwarves great - losing?
Will the game make it easy to win?

 

[John Forseti]

Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?
Will we have rainbows, day after day?



Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Kalelovil]

Can wild animals be tamed?

Will there be above ground and/or underground rivers with flowing water?

How realistic will the water physics be?

 

[City Builder]

My question...

Will a developer be answering any of the questions here?

 

[unmerged(323382)]

My question...

Will a developer be answering any of the questions here?

My plan was to save all these question and stick them all into one of the dev blogs or maybe even a video of some sorts, but due to more pressing matters (the game) I've had a bit to much to do. I'll get to these questions in this weeks dev blog.

 

[Tiresais]

How are you securing long-term appeal? My sad experience of games in this genre is that they have very limited appeal beyond the campaign (e.g. Dungeon Keeper) as there's no feeling of progress or continuity in your world and thus little reason to continue (all progress is lost on the start of a new game).

Is there any persistent element in your endeavours that might keep us interested beyond the campaign?

Do Dwarves have any character or uniqueness separating them from other dwarves and thus making them worthy of our attention (e.g. personality, statistics, family, age)?

Do our enemies have any persistent qualities or are they a clone army each time we load up the game (i.e. any persistence in their abilities, character, personalities)?

Dwarf fortress has elements of this, but since you can only start a new settlement by effectively destroying your old one it's undermined somewhat, and the inaccessibility of the information pertaining to their uniqueness undermines its effects (i.e. if I wanted to find out the family connections in the game it'd be a massive chore, as would learning their personalities, and their physical representation is not reflected in the UI).

For example we have an interesting back story and world presented to us in one of the development diaries, but what is our scope to build our own influence on it? A linear campaign where we complete a succession of maps doesn't actually give us the ability to mould this world into something of our own creation - rather we are simply filling in the bits between major unchangeable plot points (a major contention of mine with the vast majority of games in the world).

 

[Polar Mongoose]

Do Dwarves have any character or uniqueness separating them from other dwarves and thus making them worthy of our attention (e.g. personality, statistics, family, age)?

I'm interested in this as well. We know dwarves will have a class and experience within that class, but will there be anything else to distinguish them, or is one miner much that same as another.