Funcom’s Gaute Godager gives a look inside Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
By Michael Lafferty

“We would do a disservice to the wonderful Hyborian universe had we not tried to immerse the players in it from day one.”

The Hyborian Age was a time of swords and sorcery, but it was more than merely the fanciful creation of Robert E. Howard – it was a world of legend.

Of course, none stood stronger or prouder than Conan, the barbarian who rose from the ranks of slavery and forced combat to a position of might and power. Fearless, some would say, reckless even, but Conan persevered because he took on myths and legends and conquered them all.  

How would this world translate to the realm of massively multiplayer gaming? We will all find out soon enough. The Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is the creation of Funcom and will plant players into a wondrously detailed world, with what promises to be a new combat system for online MMOs.

But don’t just take our word for it. Gaute Godager, the game’s director, took time to chat with GameZone about this new title and new MMO world.  

Question: The game is going to have an innovative combat system, which when demonstrated at E3, showed that players will be able to control swing angles on blades. How will all of this be controlled?  Will players have similar control over other combat disciplines (if they are allowed to use ranged and magic, that is)? Will there be a system in place for characters to block or dodge attacks? How much of a factor will terrain or weather play in the combat elements?

Gaute: “In the Online Action RPG, Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures, the player can control the game either via the keyboard, the mouse or with a Joypad. Let me first explain that there are six basic angles of control in Conan. They are Up-Left, Up, Up-Right, Down-right, thrust and down-left. Now let me explain how this will be controlled with the keyboard, mouse and Joypad: Let us see the differences: Keyboard: Here the default mapping of the combat system will be on the numeric keyboard. 7=Up-left, 8=up, 9=up-right, 4=down-left, 5=thrust and 6=down-right. In addition 1 and 3 will be mapped to roll left and right. Naturally, these mappings can be changed by the user.

“On the Joypad (like any Logitech Joypad for instance), the D-Pad will define the directions, and the directions correspond directly to the attack. Using the mouse you can hit glowing triangles corresponding to the directions around the target (sort of floating in the Graphical User Interface).”

Q: Will the game have PvP? How will NPC units configure into a player's entourage and how did you configure the AI to create units that fight with a single-minded purpose?

Gaute: “The game will have PvP. There are three basic forms of PvP in Conan. First off there is something we call ‘massive battle.’ This features Guilds protecting the structures, walls, towers etc, they have built in certain PvP areas. Here the different player sides (at least the defenders) will be able to employ guards to help with the fight. How exactly they are to be controlled, is left to be seen.

“Secondly there are group-focused mini-games. They use a match-making system to pitch groups of fighters against each other.

“Finally we have a very special, Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures exclusive--: Drunken Brawling. This is a fun, free-for-all system (specifically only found in bars) where players do not fight with their normal level, but rather with a system where how drunk you are defines how hard you hit, and to which degree you hit. We hope this will lure even the most avid PvP opponent into some stool smashing and table bashing in the essence of Conan.”

Q: What classes will be available to players and how will they be able to define them and make their avatars unique? What are the class milestones and what is the level cap currently for the game?

Gaute: “There are four base classes in the game, the normal Thief, Fighter, Priest and Mage. Which base classes are available to you depend on what race you choose. There are three races featured in the game at launch: Stygian, Cimmerian and Aquilonian. Only Stygians are able to become the dreaded Conan Mages, for instance. The arch-type classes are selected at level 5. Then you select your base class at level 20. Here each arch-type branch into 2-3 choices and then these base classes branch again at level 60. This leaves the player with more than 40 class branch choices through the game, towards the current level cap at level 80.

“In addition to this, we have the so-called prestige or social classes picked at level 40. This is a set of four different classes focusing on social activities, and can freely be picked by any class. They generally allow the player to build villages, do crafting or other things.”

Q: At the E3 demonstration, it was stated that players would be playing the first 20 levels in almost a single-player format? First, why did you decide on this and is it an elongated tutorial? Second, what will players have to accomplish in these first 20 levels before moving into the MMO element of the game? Will the MMO element be close to what MMO gamers currently know (as in an open world with quests and goals)?

Gaute: “What was stated at E3 is still true, of course. You play the first 20 levels almost completely alone (you might bump into 3-4 others in the inns and public places after level 5, hopefully). We did this because the current MMO model leaves something to be desired. That is the focus on a strong, clear and immersive storyline found in other RPG games like KOTOR or similar titles. We would do a disservices to the wonderful Hyborian universe had we not tried to immerse the players in it from day one.  

“In addition many new (or old) players find it a daunting task to be thrust into a full multiplayer world, with many ‘secret handshakes’ and cultural codes to understand. (“Lvl 29 War LFG”) With our single-player focus players will have a clear sense of ‘self’ and ‘worth’ when they enter the full multiplayer environment. This is no glorified tutorial, nor is it a single-player game, in the truest sense of the word. You always play online towards our servers, and it up to the need of the story and gameplay to what degree you play alone.

“The players will, during the first 20 levels, accomplish quite a few things. First off, there are four story-lines braided together, in which each arch-type only play one quarter, but where the result of the other three are hinted at, or fully visible depending on the situation. The players will play out a story that involves many of the Conan characters as found in books and other pieces of lore, accomplishing deeds even reaching the ears of the King of Aquilonia (which at the time of the game, is Conan, of course).

“The Funcom instantiation technology allows us to integrate single-player experiences in the game even at a much later time in the life of the characters. The game will features all the known MMO elements, quests, monster hunting, and all the rest.”

Q: Will the game feature clans, guild houses or personal housing? What sort of mark will players be able to make on the world?

Gaute: “The game will feature clans / guilds and other social elements. The players can build houses, guild halls, PvP buildings. I am not sure exactly what type of buildings the players can construct, structures to raise or plants to sow making it into the final title. Rest assured though, the players can define their own world in a very detailed and personal way in Conan.”

Q: Does the game feature crafting? If so, will crafting offer better armor and weapons and such than players can find? Will players be able to take on the role of a crafter as opposed to an adventurer?

Gaute: “Yes, the game will feature crafting. It is not true to say that the items crafted will always be better than what the players can find through quests or from monsters. The items crafted will have a very special value, they are flexible. This special role is only held by crafted items. The player-made equipment (armor, jewelry or weapons) will have so called “gem-slots” where players can upgrade their equipment to suit any particular situation.”

“If a monster requires a special type of specialized gear, crafted gear is the way to go. This option, of flexibility and adaptability, leave the players with less irritation. The player made gear will not have to compete with equipment from other situations, but rather let the various methods fill different roles.

“In addition to normal gear, the players can make potions, siege weapons or even buildings. The raw-material for crafting will be found in the specialized ‘Resource and Building’ regions. These are larger, more dynamic areas focused around player interaction and building.

“It will not be possible for a player to only be a crafter. Though we do have an additional crafting leveling system (20 crafting levels) these are not available to the player until level 40 adventuring level, as you get access to your crafting abilities through your prestige / social class. Having said that, our level curve up to level 40 is very casual friendly, and even your mom will be able to get there.”

Q: Roughly how big is this world and is it seamless, or will players zone from one area to the next? Are there level restrictions on the zones? Does the game feature invisible walls, or will players be able to explore almost every inch of the world?

Gaute: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures feature three countries at launch, Cimmeria, Aquilonia and Stygia. Howard’s Hyborian World of 10,000 BC is a massive, massive universe. We could probably build a whole game with 10 expansion packs only from Aquilonia if we wanted to. We have tried to focus on the regions most meaningful to the Conan fans, typically those visited by Conan in the most famous stories (but not exclusively so).  

“The world is not seamless. To keep the game true to the lore, there is a small or big journey between the different regions by boat or horse, etc. This also works well with our technology that is not seamless. Naturally with the more than 100 books published in the more than 70 years since Howard wrote his first stories, it is impossible to let the players explore every inch of the world. This is though, without a doubt, the truest, deepest and most immersive representation of Hyboria done in any computer game ever.”

Q: What makes the questing element of this game unique?

Gaute: “1. The well known, deep and story driven universe they are placed within. 2. A focus on a life-spanning ‘destiny quest’ involving the main story and your characters. 3. More focus on diversity, story and quality than pumping out a massive quantity of similar (slay ‘N’ ‘monsters’). (But there will be monster kill quests, delivery quests as well, though!)”

Q: Are all elements in this game drawn exclusively from the works of Robert E. Howard, or where there other influences that lead to some of the environments and monsters players will face?

Gaute: “No, they are not exclusively from Robert E. Howard’s writing. What is important about the Hyborian universe is that it is a ‘pulp fantasy’ world. There are many different authors, even including famous fantasy authors like Robert Jordan, and there are ‘many Conans’ in this universe. Though we have tried to focus on the works by Howard, we have included well-written, strong lore from other sources as well.

Q: What, to you, are the elements that will make this MMO a truly unique and wondrous experience?

Gaute: “There are many different elements of Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures that stands out to me as truly unique. First of all, this is no MMO. It is an Online Action Role Playing Game. We do not say this to be coy, but to underline the difference in approach on combat (no static fighting with players sleeping on their keyboards or having coffee breaks during raids).  

“Secondly the game will feature real formation combat. Here players can team up in formations to fight in a tactically different way, featuring special attacks based around the formation (charge of the phalanx of horses, volley of arrows etc).  

“Thirdly, there will be real mounted combat where the speed of the horse, how well you ride and what opponent you meet will decide how well you fight. Horses aren’t only a ‘status symbol’ used for faster traveling, they are a necessity in battle.

“Finally, there are massive true siege battles either against ‘hiving’ monsters where they, in a RTS-like AI setting build villages spawning raids against your villages – or sieges against other players in a PvP setting.

“These types of hands-on, direct combat, tactical formation combat and strategic massive battles combined with a strong story-driven single-player experience will truly make this game stand out from the crowd.”

del.icio.us | Digg This | Glink It

---