Age of Wonders: Planetfall is about to take a danger. Abandoning the fantasy setting that constructed its fanbase, the long-running technique collection is reaching for the celebs in embracing science fiction.
Fortunately – as you’ll be able to learn in my hands-on preview – the underlying gameplay has had a extra cautious refinement. If it ain’t broke, and all that. Tactical battles embrace and evolve XCOM, whereas the strategic layer provides significant new decisions to the event of your empire. But what issues are these modifications searching for to resolve, not to mention the extra radical shift in setting? How did developer Triumph Studios strategy the problem of making a brand new fiction from scratch? And what about cyber dire penguins?
We spoke with designer Benny Arents, and senior designer and programmer Tom Bird, about all these subjects and extra. Read on for solutions.
PCGamesN: You talked about that Planetfall was partly a response to sure criticisms of Age of Wonders III. Which criticisms particularly?
Tom Bird: One was that the world map layer felt underdeveloped – particularly, its financial points. In Age of Wonders III, you plonk down a metropolis to seize nodes, these nodes offer you revenue, you employ that revenue to make extra cities, to seize extra nodes, and it’s a circle.
People wished extra; they wished extra selections, and extra selections that meant one thing, past merely ‘what do I grab next, and how do I grab it.’ So quite a lot of work has gone into making certain that the game affords these sorts of decisions; danger, reward, and alternate options, optimum paths right here but additionally a sub-optimal path that’s optimum in different methods.
The new exploitation system is an instance of this, proper?
Benny Arents: Yes. Different terrains and totally different biomes will all decide the potential of sectors that you just purchase. But you don’t have to make use of these sectors to their full potential for those who don’t need to – it is perhaps higher so that you can make a sub-optimal alternative now to extend the expansion of your colonies, after which perhaps change that over in a while. We even have landmark buildings that give robust bonuses in single sources. Players might be combating over territory to say these landmarks, which might actually increase their empire and get forward of others.
And curiously I’ve simply come throughout a fungal mountains sector, which doesn’t even have an optimum exploitation.
Bird: No, however you even have these specialisations, which have an effect on the entire colony. So you may find yourself saying, ‘I’m going to take analysis, not as a result of that is truly good for analysis, however as a result of the analysis specialisation provides all models constructed within the colony this enormous bonus’. And could also be extra necessary than a 3rd power sector – perhaps you don’t want extra power proper now. So these form of decisions, whereas sub-optimal in principle, are literally optimum in your state of affairs.
In Planetfall each single unit has a gimmick
Arents: And that is how one can actually specialise your colonies. For instance, for those who’re constructing a colony that’s centered on making models, positive, you’ll be able to construct quite a lot of manufacturing in that colony to hurry that up, however for those who select an power specialisation subsequent to that you may decrease the maintenance of those models. But then for those who select the analysis customisation together with manufacturing, you’ll get models that acquire expertise quicker and due to this fact will turn out to be stronger so long as you retain them alive on the planet map.
What’s the second criticism you’re trying to handle?
Bird: In Age of Wonders III, for those who take a look at the racial line-up, successfully it adopted a template. Every race had a swordsman, each race had an archer, each race had a help unit, each race had cavalry. There are clear variations between them, usually a dwarven boar rider is kind of a special unit to a goblin warg rider. But the templating meant that they really feel the identical in sure respects.
What we’ve tried to do in Planetfall is each single unit – with a few exceptions – has a gimmick, and the exceptions are so uncommon that not having a gimmick appears like gimmick. The Vanguard Trooper simply shoots a gun and throws a grenade, however he’s the one individual that does that. So we’ve actually tried to offer every unit its personal function and identification so that you just’re not like ‘elves feel just like dwarves.’
Arents: You’ll be very hard-pressed to place two models subsequent to one another in Planetfall and say they’re kind-of the identical. Each of them is exclusive, has totally different talents, and has an entire totally different backstory. There’s a really robust racial identification, as effectively.
And was enabling all this the primary motive for the transfer to sci-fi, or was there one thing else that appealed?
Arents: We have been at all times very fascinated with sci-fi. You have all these very robust house 4X games like Beyond Earth, Alpha Centauri, Sword of the Stars, Sins of a Solar Empire, and we thought the Age of Wonders system would work effectively in a sci-fi setting, in order that’s what we attempt to discover with Planetfall.
Read extra: Scan our first Age of Wonders: Planetfall impressions
Bird: We’ve made quite a lot of fantasy games. There have been, I imagine, 4 Age of Wonders games counting Age of Wonders II: Shadow Magic, and the Overlord games have been additionally fantasy. So fantasy, though fascinating, after some time, , we’re listening to individuals go ‘we want something different, something new’ and all of us like science fiction like Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune, and it’s cool to attempt to take these concepts and put them into the game. It can be very laborious to have cyber zombies in a fantasy game!
You’re primarily arising with a brand new sci-fi canon from scratch. Was that daunting?
Arents: At the beginning it was slightly bit laborious, till we got here up with the Star Union. The Star Union mainly tied all the pieces collectively, and made all the pieces make sense in a method. Before, we have been like: ‘What if we have, like, zombie cyborgs in space? What if you do this or do that…’ however as quickly as we had the Star Union, all the pieces had a shared origin. Suddenly we had this actually robust narrative that we may construct on, and it’s like: ‘Okay, now it’s all coming collectively. Now we’re constructing this world, this IP primarily based on Age of Wonders, however making its personal factor.’
Bird: It additionally makes the world much more fascinating. Personally – this is perhaps controversial factor to say – however I personally loved Beyond Earth greater than Civilization V, as a result of I favored the sci-fi setting. I like making laser weapons, I get bored creating guys with spears. But Beyond Earth was saying ‘this is an alien world’, and also you land there and it’s like ‘Well, what have we got? Oh, this is purple!’ You know, it’s speculated to be a mysterious alien world, and it’s, however the draw back to that’s it’s very laborious for the participant to narrate to what they see. But by placing in a human empire, the participant can go ‘Oh, this is a power plant. I know what a power plant is. These are roads, I know what roads are’. There’s a relatable motive for that to be there, which makes it extra human.
What would you examine Planetfall’s lore to, simply to offer newcomers a way of it?
Bird: Star Wars. Star Wars is the most important sci-fi fantasy factor there. As far as I’m conscious – I’m not an professional right here – sci-fi is roughly cut up into two camps: laborious sci-fi, which is the place you attempt to be lifelike, like Iain M. Banks, speaking about applied sciences that might actually exist. Then there’s science fantasy, which is sooner or later, however in lots of respects all the pieces is magic.
Arents: We’re house opera, combined with sci-fi fantasy. Star Wars was an enormous affect in fact, however we additionally checked out numerous books. Hyperion by Dan Simmons, as an illustration, was a really robust affect in creating the narrative.
Bird: Another method that it form of resonates with Star Wars, which fully contradicts what I truly simply stated, is that tough sci-fi tends to be in regards to the science fiction itself, and the financial and governmental implications. Whereas science fantasy is extra about individuals, the characters, the tales. So by going for that route, the characters are rather more entrance and centre.
I get bored creating guys with spears
We’ve seen a principal character, Jack Gelder of the Vanguard. What are you able to inform us in regards to the story and his function in it?
Arents: Jack was far-off from dwelling when the cataclysm occurred. The tutorial [which ends with Jack returning to the Star Union via a centuries-long cryosleep] is a prequel to the primary story. He’s on his method again dwelling not realizing what he’ll discover, and when he arrives, all the pieces is in ruins. The Union now not exists.
There are survivors – there are the playable factions but additionally the NPC factions all scattered throughout all of those planets, and through the marketing campaign Jack is attempting to piece collectively what truly occurred, who survived, and the way can we transfer ahead. Every state of affairs is you attempting to determine your empire on the ashes of the Star Union.
Bird: In a method, Jack represents the participant. He is available in and is like ‘What is going on?’ The different races know who they’re, just like the Amazons and the Assembly, have a path, and a mission. The Vanguard, nevertheless – their very identification is gone. The entire level of the Vanguard is to protect the Star Union, and the Star Union is gone. Where did it go? As the Vanguard, that’s your job to seek out out.
Arents: Every race has their very own marketing campaign, consisting of two missions. Then there’s a last mission the place you’ll be able to select which of those factions that you just performed, in all these different campaigns, that you just need to signify. That’s then the conclusion of this entire story arc. So you get to discover every faction individually, and their their very own inner conflicts and struggles.
For instance the Kir’ko are combating: ‘Okay, now that faster than light travel has been re-established and we’re moving into contact with all these remaining elements of the Star Union once more, how will we deal with them? They used to enslave us, however we broke free, so do we wish vengeance? Do we wish reconciliation?’ How do you need to strategy the reunion with these individuals? You get to decide on, within the campaigns.
Bird: One factor that’s essential to know in regards to the marketing campaign is you can also make your individual character. The race and the key tech are each set, I imagine…?
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Arents: The secret tech is ready within the first marketing campaign mission, however throughout that mission, you’ll be able to unlock a second secret tech, after which you’ll be able to change in order for you. The decisions that you just make in all these marketing campaign missions are saved, so within the last mission, the implications of all of your decisions, in all these six different campaigns, might be represented.
And as Tom stated, you’ll be able to customise your chief fully. So if you wish to make Jackie Geller, the feminine Jack Geller, you are able to do that. If you need her to be bald and have an eyepatch and a shawl, you are able to do that, and that may carry over by means of all these marketing campaign missions and the ultimate mission as effectively. So for those who create bizarre customs for each marketing campaign, then within the final mission you’ll have all these bizarre individuals.
What are among the coolest models we’ll get to play with?
Arents: I really like ‘Barry’, the Barrager. He’s Kir’ko.
Bird: The Barrager! So, there’s a diploma of templating in that each race has an artillery unit, and the Kir’ko in some way ended up with two artillery – a psionic artillery referred to as the Tormented, and the Barrager – aka ‘Barry’ – who’s your organic artillery. He’s scatter artillery, isn’t he?
Arents: Yeah, he shoots very inaccurate projectiles with an enormous radius. So you level him at an space that usually incorporates hostiles, and he simply begins lobbing biochemical bombs that destroy all the pieces of their path. And the Tyrannodons in fact, a fan favorite – a large T-Rex-like monster with laser beams on its head. Can’t go flawed.
Bird: Oh! And the fucking Echo Walker. The Echo Walker is definitely my favorite unit, by far. It’s impressed by Schrodinger’s Cat, and the speculation that you may exist in two locations without delay till the waveform collapses and now there’s solely considered one of you. The Echo Walker can create a clone of himself – similar buffs, similar debuffs, similar mods, all the pieces – however in one other place. When he does that he nonetheless has one motion level left, so he can nonetheless do one thing, and the clone additionally has an motion level.
So what this implies is you’ll be able to run as much as somebody, create a clone behind them, and the clone punches them behind the top. When they flip round to see what simply occurred, the unique punches them once more behind the top.
It’s finest if we do not talk about cyber dire penguins
There’s additionally a Voidtech mod that provides them grenades, so somebody simply found that what now you can do is run forwards, create a clone, after which simply chuck two grenades on the goal and completely obliterate them. Might have to nerf that in some way.
No likelihood of cyber dire penguins?
Bird: We’re not allowed to speak about that. It’s finest if we don’t talk about cyber dire penguins. Penguins exist within the game. They have appeared in a video, I imagine, a trailer. So we are able to affirm the existence of penguins, however as to the existence of evil pan-dimensional cyber penguins, we are able to neither affirm nor deny their presence or future presence.
Arents: Unfortunately.
Can you speak about naval warfare in any respect?
Bird: Yeah. Once you do a bit of analysis, you’ll be able to transfer models onto the water they usually routinely embark on transports. It’s similar to Age of Wonders III – embarked models endure a variety of penalties to make them much less efficient. Each race has their very own distinctive battleships – most races have two aside from one race that has one as a result of they’ve so many floating models they don’t want it. Aircraft and floating models will not be affected by this penalty, so some races are naturally higher at water fight as a result of they’ve higher planes or as a result of they’ve hovertanks.
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Arents: And then we have now distinctive NPC dwellings or NPC factions whose bases solely seem on the water. We have landmarks on the water, we have now varied hazards and sources that you will discover on the water. So we tried to make the water a useful a part of the world so that you can exploit and discover.
And in fact, the Amazons have sharks with lasers on their heads.
Arents: Of course! No.
They don’t?
Arents: They don’t.
Bird: They have a floating octopus-tank?
Arents: There’s an octowhale in there, so it’s half whale, half octopus.
Bird: [proudly] That was me! I got here up with that phrase. The octowhale.
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