The following is a log of the 3rd Developer's chat on Feburary 12th, 2002, at 5:00PM, PST. All in all, 35 questions regarding Game Systems were answered.
Q3PO said: Hello everyone, sorry about that restart, didn't expect so many people tonight. Things should be stable now. Let me go over how the Dev Chat works.
Q3PO said: We've closed off the chat room, so that only the speakers will be able to post. Private message your questions to Q-3PO.
Q3PO said: We will read through the questions and send the most appropriate ones to Raph and Anthony. We won't be able to answer every question but we will try to get through as many as we can.
Q3PO said: Tonight's topic is on Game Systems with Creative Director Raph "Holocron" Koster and Lead Systems Designer Anthony "SunSword" Castoro. We'll answer questions on various SWG systems such as combat, crafting, economy, skils and professions.
Q3PO said: We are not going to answer questions on Jedi, the Space Expansion or Beta. We'll go a full hour.
Holocron said: And we'll run over time to make up for the delay in starting...!
Holocron said: OK, introductions... I'm the creative director for the project, I work over at Sony Only Entertainment, Austin office. Basically, I am in charge of the design for the game.
Holocron said: And I know many of you know that since I see a lot of familiar faces from the boards. :)
SunSword said: Hey everyone, I'm the Lead Systems Designer at Sony Online Entertainment. I work in the same office with Holocron. My resoponsibility is to make sure the game systems support the visiion that Holocron sets for the game.
SunSword said: I'm in charge of things like Skill System, combat, etc...
Jayces asked: Can you tell us a bit more about how resources work?
Holocron said: Basically, resources falls into broad categories. We generate specific types of resources in those categories. Those specific resources have characteristics that they share in common with the other resources of that general type (for example, all metals have roughly similar characterisitcs) Every resource has it's own distribution patter, so you have to find good mining spots for extraction. Resources can also be mined out, and when something is mined out from the entire galaxy, it goes away, like away away, for real. Then we generate a new resource from the same category. It may have similar characteristics or may not. We do this so that a) miners are always exploring b) items have turnover because you can't repair old materials anymore c) it gives a nicer market fluctuation to goods.
Blade asked: Will XP be visible to the player?
SunSword said: Yes, but only as a graphical bar, XP is meant to give you a rough idea of your progress towards your skill goals.
LilWookie asked: How will you be supporting solo gamers, especially crafters?
Holocron said: We've seen lots of debate on this on the boards. Basically, the answer is that we are trying to make sure that you are part of a society online. So there IS interdependance required. But you can play without ever actually player WITH other people. We have a lot of things in the game to allow you to trade and engage in buisness without needing to actually talk to those people. You can set up missions to have people deliver goods to your factory, for example, you can sell thing without being online, etc.
Darth_Felix asked: Since there will be no one shot kills, will sniping still be a viable profession or will it just die out?
SunSword said: Well, the answer in general yes. There are definite long-ranged targetting skills in the combat skill system. So if you describe sniper as the action of sitting back, taking careful aim, and placing shots in specific locations, then yes, sniping will be an extremely viable activity in combat. (sorry for the slow answers, I'm rusty)
WarJade asked: Can we build houses in the water and in the underground?
Holocron said: Not currently planned, no. It starts getting very complicated, when you consider that we do things like deform the terrain under houses, and that sort of thing. So right now, we're not letting you build too close to water, for example, to avoid graphical glitches caused by deforming the terrain around the water. Now, we may still have underwater structures in the game... but not player houses. :D
Warndenman asked: How complex will player houses be, ie, number of rooms/floors. Also, will add-ons be limited to interior things like in UO, or can you add on a whole wing?
SunSword said: We're still in the process of prototyping player housing, so I cannot tell you for sure, however I will give you an idea of what we are trying... We are currently attempting to do multi-floor player houses, and as part of our attempt to prevent "urban blight" we'd rather go semi-verticle with construction rather then horizontal. I've communicated a few design philosophies having to do with houses, and they include things like "everyone house should have at least one public area and one private area." As for external add-ons, I don't expect we'll have that kind of feature when we launch the game, you'll have to be satisifed for now with choosing a house style you like, and decorating it inside.
Derek5 asked: Can armor be worn under a cloak or baggy clothing?
Holocron said: You can wear some kinds of armor under some kinds of clothing, yes. It really does depend on the armor and the clothing. Basically, it boils down to what it would in real life--does it fit? If you have hugely spiky armor, then likely nothing will fit on top of it, But if it's slim, then stuff might fit on top of it. We do have a hard limit of no more then three layers deep, though. We're trying to keep the graphical bar high, and we don't want to be clothing polygons interpenetrating other clothing polygons. Or body parts ;)
Megaduce asked: How will the Bounty Hunting Profession be handled?
SunSword said: Good question! Guess what? I'm goint to answer it!
SunSword said: Bounty Hunting hasn't been implemented yet, but here's the current design philosohpy: We want to avoid abuse of the bounty system. We want the bounty hunting system to feel like star wars. There are really two kinda of bounty hunting, and in this answer, I'm going to talk about player bounty hunting. To become a bount hunter, the player must first meet some prerequisities in the combat system to demonstrate that they are a skilled warrior. They must also obtain some low level investigation skills so that they will have some mechanism for finding the hunted. Having met this prerequisitites, they can move up in the bounty hunter ranks, starting out by taking NPC bounties. After they have advanced they can take Player Bounties. Player bounties are normally generated when someone has violated or failed a player mission.
SunSword said: So how does someone earn a bounty? First, a player (the mission giver) posts a mission, and one of the requirements is a "BOND." The bond is the credit amount that they require the mission taker to put in escrow for the duration of the mission. If the mission taker fails the mission, the mission giver can choose to place a bounty on the mission taker's head. Part of the money from the bond goes to the bounty. The rest is LOST and cannot be recovered.
Thunderwulf asked: Thanks for the chat guys. What I'm wondering is, Will a character who choses a crafting profession be able to advance in his craft without having to rely on the kill/loot methos that's common with most MMORPGs?
Holocron said: The answer is most definitely that a crafter does not need to fire a shot at all to get better at being a crafter. However, merely crafting lots of stuff is not enough either. That's because we do not want people to just make stuff that nobody wants in order to earn meaningless XP and get on a macroing levelling treadmill. The rap against that is that it does mean that crafters are dependant on others for their advancement. Then again, that's true in some ways of practivally everything. Adventurers depend on people giving missions, to an extent. Anyone in the economic system at all depends on other people in one way or another. We see this advancement mechanic as being on that helps support the economy rather than destroy is, and one that is conductive to a good level of interdependance at the community level...
CaptainPage asked: Explain to us more about item decay and how to maintain items (what exactly is to be done)
SunSword said: Okay, crafted items decay through use and damage. Right now, we don't have a general "over time decay" planned because we have finite storage. Items are composed of two categories of things: Resources and Components. Components are other crafted items. Someone with repair skill can repair an items essentially by replacing it's components. However, they cannot repair the "base item resources" so over time, all items will need to be replaced it they are used.
Leprechaune asked: Will all the planets be equally endowed with reources?
Holocron said: In a general sense, yes, they are equally seeded with resources and large. But keep in mind there's a lot of variable to worry about. Some resources might be extraordinarily scarce and hard to find. So they might be absent on a given planets. Some planets might never get some kinds of resources (water on Tatooine is a good example of a rare resource/planet combo.) Also, resources get used up and new ones generated, and the distribution pattern changed each new resource, of course, so over time, some planets might be in a "dry spell"
Darth_Felix asked: Will there be a limit of the # of NPC guards, Pets, Vehicles, or houses that you can own?
SunSword said: Yes there will be limits on all those things. Unfortionatly, we have to restrict the number of things players can have in general. For things like pets, you will only be able to control so many at a time, and you will only be able to store so many at a time. For houses, we have a "lot-based" system. Each player will be given a finite number of lots which they can use for building. Once those lots are consumed, a player cannot place more structures, until they make room by removing another one.
Enix asked: What sort of things are the Developers putting in the game to promote roleplayer, even amongst players who might not otherwise do it?
Holocron said: Well, as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him roleplay... Among the things that I consider as conductive to encouraging roleplay:
Holocron said: Moods (where you can say something angrily)
Holocron said: Say alternates (where you mutter or grumble or sigh something rater then "say")
Holocron said: Prose chat mode (where you can get the full effect of those things)
Holocron said: Lots and lots of animated motion captured emotes
Holocron said: Freeform emote (like /me in IRC or pose.emote in muds/moos)
Holocron said: Game systems that encourage you to actually live the role you are pursuising as a profession (for example, crafters having to actually have a market)
Holocron said: Player languages (and NPC ones) so you can learn languages, might need translators or protocol droids, etc
Holocron said: Diverse array of character customization, clothing, and lots of flexibility...
Holocron said: A tough name filter
Holocron said: You get the idea. Now, none of those things in themselves will make someone roleplayer who doesn't want to. We can't force someone to be a good roleplayer. All we can do is offer as many tools as we can. There's more then those in there (and the game systems on in particular covers a LOT of ground) but this is a long enough answer already. :)
LilWookie asked: Is it possible that you will have multiple BH per target?
SunSword said: Interesting question. This is up for debate at the moment. I've seen it discussed on the forums, and it is an interesting idea. It does raise some problems though, First it increses the possibility that a bounty hunter/bountied player can game the systems because bounty hunters will see more missions. It also raises some other questions such as, "Are two bounty hunters on the same mission automatically enemies of one another?" I'd like to see more discussion on the boards about this, as it is not officially part of the design at the moment.
Moggerog asked: Do you guys have a working contract system yet? How flexible/complicated can dealing be using the system and what sort of player actions/activies can the system keep track of?
Holocron said: We don't consider it a contract syste, we call it the mission system. It's not all up and running yet, only some of it. It touches a lot of other systems (in particular, the big other thing it touches is the need to be able to manipulate "object tokens" which are referents to objects that you keep in your datapad) We're starting small will missions because it's a complex system. There will few a few types of transactions it recognizes at first. I imagine that many of the more complex things you guys want to do will not be supported. This small for now: deliveries, exterminiations, acting as guides, locating specific items, etc. For now, the missions are one-leg only. However, the system keeps track of all sorts of things for you. You can set time limits, filters, post the missions publicly or give them privately to someone.. We hope that if the mission stuff pans out, it would become one of the prime areas for future expansion.
SWGuy asked: Will Brawling be in the game?
SunSword said: Well, if by "brawling" you mean melee combat, the answer is yes. However, you should remember that it's a bad idea to bring your barefists to a blaster fight (unless you're Vader). There are skill tress and professions related to melee combat, both armed and unarmed, and they center around three types: Power, Speed, and Technique. As a matter of fact, one of the tentative profession titles is "Brawler," referring to someone with lots of unarmed power skills.
GrAsShOpPa asked: Will there be Uber items in SWG?
Holocron said: Not in the EQ sense. You don't camp some megamob to get an uber item that only it drops, every fourteen and a half days. The coolest items are hopefully going to be made by players. There WILL be cool things that you can only get from mobs. But many of those things will be components, not finised uber goods.
LordIblis asked: Will the Hutt-faction have a disadvantage regarding the other factions because of military issues?
SunSword said: Well yes. And no.
SunSword said: You could argue that the rebels are also at a significant disadvantage to the Empire, being much smaller both in military size and pure numbers. The strength of the Hutt faction is that they tend to operate on backwater areas. And because they are a criminal faction, get access to things they shouldn't. If the question is intended to mean, "Will Empire players kill Hutt player's butts with AT-ATs?" the answer is, that depends on how resourceful the Hutt faction is at gaining access to Imperial hardware.
Bald-Wookie asked: How will loot be handled for creatures, I know people don't want to open a Rancor and find credits on them.
Holocron said: There won't be magical credit pouches on rancors, no. :) If you shoot a rancor, it's going to be because you're a) working on getting better at shooting b) maybe have a market for rancor teeth c) are on a mission given you by the game or another player to take out a rancor lair. Basically, we want the act of attacking a rancor to be in context, if you know what I mean. You do it for a reason. (Mere survival is a valid reason of course. ;) )
GeminiJedi asked: How will you handle macroing leveling?
SunSword said: Well, our advancement system isn't usage based, so macroing in the traditional sense won't work. Frequenntly, to get to the next skill, you only have the use the related skill enough to demonstrate knowledge. Frequently, you'll have to complete a mission or do some other non-usage activity to qualify for the next skill. Our game isn't about getting the next skill, it's about using the skill to do something fun. With that in mind, we've tried to design a system that encourages actual game activites, not just mindless use of the skill.
KirKethlik asked: Will crafted items require other crafted items in order to craft the item?
Holocron said: Absolutely
SunSword said: Lots of them.
tifightbst asked: What can a mayor do beside forgive outcasts?
SunSword said: Wooo!
Holocron said: Don't give it all away, SunSword ;)
SunSword said: We're still working on the mayoral powers, but in general, the Mayor can set the tax levels (to pay maintentance fees on structures) place structures, and perhaps change some other rules for the city
Holocron gags SunSword and drags him behind the Dumpster...
SunSword must restrain...self......
SunSword said: ack. gah.
Masurao asked: If you don't own a store, how will we be able to set up shop to sell items?
Holocron said: There's two ways. One, you find someone who does own a store, and sell you items to them. In other words, you're a wholesaler, not a retailer. The second means is, you use the commodities market, and that's all I'll say about that feature. ;) Oh--I guess you could run a vendor in another player's shop too...
MikeTheNose asked: Does number of lots include how many you can put on one planet or the whole universe?
SunSword pokes Raph.
SunSword said: There are two limits. Each player has a limit for the total number of lots they can have in the whole galaxy. Each planet has a total number of lots that may be build upon as well. We've calculated this based on the number of players, number of lots, and surface areas. There should be plenty of room.
Mistfreshie asked: Will there be a system that allows me to rent stuff from other players?
Holocron said: Nothing like that currently planned, but I guess you could give something to someone, and then create a mission for that specific player at the same time that was for delivering that save item back by a certain date. Then if they don't give it back, you can send a bounty hunter after them. :)
Sasco asked: About the Bounty Hunter system: will the bounty know that a price has been put on his/her head?
SunSword nods.
SunSword said: Yes.
alzeya asked: Will the ability to disarm an opponent be an option as an alteranative to fighting?
SunSword said: We aren't done implementing the combat system yet, but a disarm skill is planned, althought it's really just an action you take in combat, it's not really an alternative to fighting. It's a tactic.
Bajeezus asked: will player governments be allowed to choose a type of government, republic, democracy, monarchy oligarchy, etc?
Holocron said: At launch, democracy only.
RedNbacca asked: Is the skill tree finished? When will we get to see it?
Holocron said: No, it's not finished
SunSword nods.
Holocron said: And you won't get to see it until the game is in your hands, most likely. Certainly not all of it.
SunSword nods some more.
BOXMAN asked: What types of regulations will there by to moderate what we manufacture?
SunSword said: Well this is an interesting question. There are two phases to crafting. The first phase is the "design phase." This is where most crafters will do their work. They will use a draft "schematic" that they key from the skill system to design a final item. The types of schematics you will have access to will be based on your current progression through the skill system. At low levels, crafters will be able to design components that will be used all the way up through the construction of complex items. As players move up, they lose the ability to crafter components and gain the ability to craft intermediate items, and so on. This is a very general answer and will ellicit a lot of discussion, I know. The second phase is manufacturing. Where players take the finished schematic and use it as a blueprint to make items using the appropriate ingrediants. At this point, there are no restrictions on manufacturing at this point in the process.
Reng_Kole asked: Is there a type of "offline" xp skill gain for every profession, (in in the example of a character eating a bakers pastries while he is offline)?
Holocron said: No, not every profession can gain wile offline. There's no way for someone who is a marksman to gain while ofline, for example. The XP earning for professions which rely on objects being used can be earned offline. That covers stuff like crafting, miniing, factories, sales, etc. But stuff that is more adventuring centeres, more based on people using something directly on someone, those call for you to be there actually using the blaster on a target.
Cpl_Steel asked: If two characters are fighting one another, and they have equal skills and equal equipment, what will deside the winner (please don't say luck)
SunSword said: The decisions they make. As we have outlined before, the combat system lets player place "actions" in a queue. The choice of actions will be the critical path for success on an even (or uneven) playing field.
Mabo asked: How is the GUI coming along?
Holocron said: Big topic! :) Well, we have a functional HUD including chat box, radar, toolbar, and some combat UI like you combat queue and targetsl we have a contextual reticle now, you can switch between moutlook and mouse mode, all windows moveable and resizable... We do NOT have final art on anything, which is why we haven't shown any UI in screenshots. We want to refine the UI and iterate it as much as possible, of course. Oh, we also have inventory screens, character creation, that sort of thing. Lately I've been revising the skills interface, and recently did the mission system inferfaces. Our poor UI programmer is quite overworked. ;)
Caella asked: Is 48 hours the length of all temp enemy flag still?
SunSword said: Yes, for the moment. Keep in mind that any number we throw out is usually a starting point, and will be tweaked as we examine the systems further, expecially in beta testing.
Killjou-X asked: Outcasts are needed for one of the primary political functions. How do you cut the balance between making Outcasting strong and not making so rare that players are terrifies of going down that road?
Holocron said: I wouldn't say they are *needed*. If there aren't any, it isn't like the government will collapse. :) I would be quite happy if it turned out that Outcasting was an effective deterrent to PKing, because it's a better foundation for us to explore more dynamic player governments and other such features then a pk switch is. If Outcasting worked well enough that we didn't need safe areas, that would be neat. :) But I'm not counting on it, we know that it's an experiment in many ways. The reason it is in the game is to try to empower players. We want to find ways to let players have their space which they can space, and control over the dgree of law (or lawlessness) is an important part of that. We can build many cool features on top of that someday. Not yet, I grat you, but somday. :)
Q3PO said: That was the last question. Anthony and Raph, so you have any last comments before we end the chat tonight?
Holocron said: I just want to say that I HAVE been reading the various crime threads, and we've been discussing them at the office. It's a thorny issue, thought, and I'll be candid and say that we do not have any easy answers for you tonight. But we're ging to continue looking at your concerns and we hope to be able to address it on the boards soon.
SunSword said: I'd just like to say that I'd be interested to see furhter discussion on all of these topics on the boards, expecially crafing and bounty hunting.
Holocron said: Oh, and sorry again about the rocky start to the chat :p
Q3PO said: Thanks for coming everyone! Sorry about the technical problems at the beginning, but we hope the extra time made up for it.
Q3PO said: We will post the transcript tomarrow and we'll send all the remaining questions to the developers to see if they want to answer them on the boards.
Q3PO said: Thanks Raph, Anthony, and Mark (our technical guru)!
Soloing can be fun, and is probably the best way to gain that Scout XP you need to become a Bounty Hunter. This guide should help you through the pitfalls, trials and tribulations that are soloing.
This guide serves to address these frequently asked questions on SWG crashes and performance. I am also confident that people who are having problems, if you follow this guide carefully you will make progress to getting it fixed, or at least having the situation better understood.
