Jehanne Rousseau delves into the RPG world of Silverfall
by Michael Lafferty

“We wanted to create a world that was a little different than what we find in the usual fantasy worlds”

Fantasy and technology collide in the world of Silverfall, an Atari title slated for release in March. The player is put right in the middle of the conflict between the two powers, and decisions made along the way will affect the world of Nelwe.

But not only will the players’ decisions affect the storyline, but the skill trees that are available.

According to the game’s press release: Silverfall offers a unique character building system of advancement and equipment that allows for complete freedom to customize characters. Gamers can develop unique characters such as scientist troll magicians, elemental elf warriors, or mercantile goblins. Fighting and magic are employed throughout the game, and vary from melee, ranged and technical to light, elemental and dark. Gamers will play throughout a 25-hour main quest, numerous side quests and two multiplayer modes, player-versus-player and co-operative. With four races to choose from, nine skill sets encompassing more than 130 individual skills, over 100 monsters, and advanced 3D graphics, Silverfall replenishes the RPG genre with a memorable hack-and-slash action adventure.

But as Jehanne Rousseau, the project manager, quickly pointed out during a chat with GameZone, Silverfall may be a hack ‘n slash PC game experience but there is so much more to this title that will likely set it apart.

Question:  What do you consider to be the prime ingredients of a good RPG and how does Silverfall fit those parameters?

Jehanne: Silverfall is above all a hack-and-slash game, which includes a heavy dose of action, a complex progression system, and as usual, numerous items to collect during the game. With these elements, we did all that we could to stick to the genre, while also going a little beyond the usual since we further developed a progression system which is based on skills and not classes. But with this balanced and fun combination, we also added elements from more story-driven RPGs, such as the companions, numerous side quests, and the choice between nature and technology, so that the universe would be the most coherent, the storyline as complex as possible, and the game experience the most immersive.

Q: The game seems to have both traditional fantasy hack 'n slash ingrained with some technology skews. How did you manage to incorporate the two to seamlessly fit into this world?

Jehanne: We wanted to create a world that was a little different than what we find in the usual fantasy worlds. For gameplay reasons, we thought that adding the element of technology and its complete opposite, nature, would be very interesting and would bring that little difference that we were looking for. So we developed a theme of technology that longed to remain ‘medieval’ in its look; accordingly, even in cities that are geared towards technology, the principle building materials are wood or copper, and visually are a little rickety-looking and antiquated. But what really made us happy was creating the machine-like creatures; these monsters were styled a little after ‘Frankenstein,’ ultimately bringing together references from steam punk while keeping the standard elements for regular fantasy games, such as elves, et cetera …

Q: What influenced the art design of the game? What were the sources of inspiration for the storyline?

Jehanne: The visual look of the game is somewhat similar to comic book style, with the black contouring around the characters and the very colorful scenery. So it was there, in comic books along with other things that we found our inspiration, along with certain animated films such as those of Miyazaki.

For the storyline and the universe, it was something different; those ideas came more from pen-and-paper games. For example, in the game Shadowrun, the universe was a source of inspiration regarding the clash between nature and technology, and the idea of having elves and other fantastical creatures in a world different than the one that we were normally used to. The bridge between these two games stops there, and it would be too hard for me to remember all the different influences that have impacted the creation of the world of Silverfall, but most certainly, the mixture of influences works well and is rather original. It allows us to not only create the main storyline, but also many other sorts of different stories such as those with companions or the ‘alignment’ quests.

Q: Is this game strictly single player or does it have multiplayer elements?

Jehanne: As with any good hack-and-slash experience, multiplayer is a very important part of Silverfall. We have two multiplayer modes that support up to eight players and should satisfy most tastes. The campaign mode allows players to work cooperatively through the official campaign and associated side quests. Characters used in this mode cannot be transferred to other game modes, as you’ll be completing the entire game with the same group of friends.

Free mode allows players to join the action with characters exported from single-player games or those created especially for multiplayer. While the main quest is not available here, this is a great way for players to satisfy their monster-thrashing desires, as they can freely hop into an in-progress game to terrorize the evil creatures threatening Nelwë and work through the game’s side quests.

Q: What are the playable races, and is there a selection of professions a player can aspire to?

Jehanne: There are four playable races in Silverfall: Humans, Elves, Trolls and Goblins. We’ve included a fair amount of customization at character creation, allowing players to choose their character’s sex, hair style and skin color. These choices will not place limits on the player’s experience in the game, but the sex will affect some plot elements and the ways NPCs react to the player.

As for professions, we’ve essentially left that decision entirely up to players; we have abandoned a traditional class system in favor of an open-ended skills system. When a character gains enough experience to level up, they receive four skill points and four attribute points to allot as he sees fit.

There are three skill trees available to players: one for combat, one for magic — both of which are available to all players — and a third, which contains skills specific to the nature or science paths or to specific races. The combat tree contains three branches: melee, long-range and technique; and the magic tree allows players to focus on light magic, black magic or element magic. In all, there are more than 130 skills that will allow players to truly develop a uniquely skilled character.

Q: What engine does the game use and what did it enable you to do to realize your vision for this game?

Jehanne: For the most part, we developed the engine in-house, as doing so allowed us to deliver the visual look and gameplay features we wanted for Silverfall. We’ve included some rather cool features that should help immerse players in the universe: spherical harmonics, for example, allow us to change the atmosphere of an area with dynamic lights to achieve realistic and moody lighting in interior and outdoor areas. Dynamic grass, reflective water and a realistic day-night cycle are also included to help immerse players in the unique universe we’ve created. In addition to the tools developed in-house, we’re using middleware like SpeedTree for foliage and AGEIA for physics.

Q: Is the game a very linear experience or will players have the freedom to move through the quest system in a creative fashion?

Jehanne: As mentioned earlier, we really wanted to appeal to fans of both hack-and-slash games and traditional, plot-driven RPGs. In any good story-driven RPG, players expect a wealth of side quests, and we’ve made sure that Silverfall features plenty of those. Many side quests will allow players to define their characters further, by leaning toward either the nature or science path, making the applicable skills available as they grow in experience. Further, many side quests are only available to players following one of those paths, so players would need to play the game again, in a different way, to see everything the world has to offer. The core game should take somewhere around 25 hours to complete, though the side quests — as well as the extensive item-collection system and freedom to roam the game world — will greatly extend the time it takes to complete the game.

Q: What elements do you think will set Silverfall apart from other RPGs?

Jehanne: The decision to go with the science vs. nature theme was not only made for aesthetic reasons, but also to present a unique gameplay mechanic. The player’s decisions and actions related to the nature vs. science conflict will not only shape the character as he progresses in levels and skills, but also the world itself. The city of Silverfall will shift to the player’s alignment, quests will become available to characters on a specific path, and companions will have their own dispositions to nature or science.

Overall, the freedom given to the player in the development of their character really sets the game apart from other RPGs. We haven’t confined players to set-in-stone classes; they’re free to develop the character they want to play.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of the game?

Jehanne: The notion of choice is something that I really enjoy, each response in the dialogue, the way in which the quests are completed will significantly change the skills of your character, such as the items that he can carry, the reactions of NPCs and companions, and as I said before, the environment itself. This piece was a real challenge.

The other piece that I really like is the companions. They are much more substantial than the normal mercenaries in hack-and-slash games, their reactions, their personalities and the stories that we weave around them are some of the pieces that I like very much.

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