At first glance, Game of Thrones seems to be the best seating-based fit for gaming since musical chairs. It's got swords, sorcery, dragons, and Sean Bean. Also, the word "game" is sort of in its title. And yet, Cyanide's previous attempt to bring A Song of Ice and Fire into our hobby's humble realm left many players very, very cold. Myself included. So, how willCyanide avoid taking a similarly ugly tumble when making the leap from RTS to RPG? I spoke with Lead Game Designer Sylvain Sechi and Project Manager Thomas Veauclin to find out.
GameSpy: How closely have you worked with George R. R. Martin on your game's original plot and characters?
We were afraid of going too far, but it made him laugh as he told us that he went much further in future novels.
Sylvain Sechi: We started with a pitch that was a couple of pages long that GRRM validated, and then worked intensely on the different characters and detail script. At this point I went back to see him in Santa Fe and we spent two full days working on the story to review every aspect of it and making sure it respects not only the existing parts of his books, but also the books that have yet to appear so that the game would have full consistency with the saga. He and Ty (his assistant) also specifically reviewed the lines where characters from the books are speaking.Thomas Veauclin: When I first met George, I presented him with some sketches and we identified all the main storylines that we wanted to do. This allowed him to explain what we could play with and what we absolutely had to "respect". Which we have done, of course. Then Syl went to meet him with the script in order to confirm the story and to see if he had some requests on the scenario. We were afraid of going too far, but it made him laugh as he told us that he went much further in future novels.
GameSpy: How are you avoiding side-story syndrome -- that is, where your characters basically end up playing second fiddle to the "real" main characters for the whole story, ala many of the Lord of the Rings games?
SS: Excellent question. We asked ourselves a lot while writing and rewriting the scenario in the early stages. Basically, we decided to create an original epic story with a full arc. We're not playing in the shadows of the characters of the books. Our narrative has its own unique twists, revelations and endings. The story is focused on characters we created to ensure we can go as far as we wanted and avoid this side-story syndrome.
TV: It was absolutely impossible to change the main characters of the novels so we needed some new characters to play with. We definitely did not want to make the game of the novel. We sought to offer a new experience to the player, both in terms of fans and the general public that does not know the license.
GameSpy: How open is the game? Is it more of a straightforward to-do like, say, Dragon Age II, or does it open itself up more along the lines of Skyrim?
SS: Since story is a very strong point of the game, we choose to focus on a more linear storyline, even though we have secondary quests you may choose to complete or not which may have an impact on the main story. Therefore, it's more like the Dragon Age series in that sense.
GameSpy: Speaking of, what's it like launching shortly after Skyrim -- another RPG about a wintry fantasy world and dragons -- basically had gamers frothing at the mouth? Do you think Skyrim benefited from Game of Thrones' popularity on HBO? Do you think you stand to -- in turn -- benefit from Skyrim's massive success in the gaming world?
In their own way, both HBO with the TV Show and Skyrim with its massive success helped make the medieval-fantasy genre more popular.
SS: In their own way, both HBO with the TV Show and Skyrim with its massive success helped make the medieval-fantasy genre more popular. This is something we, with Game of Thrones, will definitely benefit from. It's always a challenge to be released after a critically acclaimed game in the same genre, and that's great, because it gave everybody in the dev team more motivation to bring an even better game. It's good; it forces everybody to push the limits and bring better games.But we often compare the "Bethesda style" (huge sand box, action combat and light main story) to the "BioWare style" (linear story, strategy combat and strong main story). I love it, because it proves we can find very different games within the same RPG genre. I personally love both, but Game of Thrones is definitely more in the BioWare vein, so it's very different from Skyrim.
GameSpy: What sort of combat system are you working with? Is it turn-based? Real-time? Are battles frequently large-scale, or are they generally more intimate affairs?
SS: It's real time, but with a turn-based feeling. Let me explain: you can issue up to three orders to characters you control (up to two at the same time). Orders are abilities you unlock by gaining levels through experience. Each order will be done after the other. You can cancel orders to issue new ones and switch from a character to the other at any time. While selecting abilities, the game goes in slow motion. It helps taking the time to make the necessary strategic choices, but keeps the need of making a "fast" decision. I've seen it compared to Witcher 2, but it's actually closer to the KOTOR style regarding combat system.
GameSpy: Game of Thrones: Genesis definitely had its fair share of issues. What went wrong there? And how do you plan to avoid those mistakes in translating Game of Thrones into an RPG?
SS: On Genesis, we tried to make something very different by using the spirit of the saga: politics, diplomacy, treachery and betrayal. Open wars are very rare in Game of Thrones. Players that were expecting a real-time strategy game like StarCraft were actually disappointed. In Genesis, you can win a game without creating any military units! On the other hand, players awaiting a very strategic and innovative war game really enjoyed Genesis.
Yet the story, both in how it unfolds and more importantly how it can conclude (based on player choices), is something no one will see coming.
Genesis (as its name says) happens before the events of the Saga, and therefore appealed more to a hardcore audience of Game of Thrones fans. For the GoT RPG, we're right in the events of the first book, and players will meet characters from the books and the TV Show. Likenesses of the actors and iconic HBO stuff (like the music and the throne) also help for a wider audience.TV: Clearly on GoT, we were very careful of the style of the game. We did not try to reinvent the genre just for the sake of being different, but we made a game that will surprise the player as they embark on an epic adventure into the heart of a known universe. We had many challenges to keep the style of the game consistent all the way through production. Yet the story, both in how it unfolds and more importantly how it can conclude (based on player choices), is something no one will see coming. We take things places that players won't expect us to go, but they are going to love it, we hope.
Another important point to consider is the size of the two projects. Two separate studios within Cyanide handled the two games, and GoT production has been going on for much longer. Honestly, Cyanide Montreal (developer of Genesis) did a good job with the constraints they had. While Genesis is a "niche" game, GoT is much more accessible.
GameSpy: Genesis did, however, do some very interesting things with political maneuvering, which -- far more so than combat -- is the backbone of A Song of Ice and Fire. How will the Game of Thrones RPG represent that focus on subterfuge and backstabbing? Will it be mainly through conversation trees and things of the like?
SS: Through conversation, yes definitely, but not only conversation. First things first, dialogues are a very important part of the game. Lots of the story and character background is presented through dialogues, and lots of choices are also offered to the player. Choices that might seem without consequences may turn out to be quite significant in later chapters. "Consequences for your actions" was the motto for the quest designer and the writing team.
We really went all the way with that line of thinking: some choices you make in dialogues can actually ultimately lead to your death (being executed, tortured to death, etc). Hey, like Cersei Lannister says: "When you play game of thrones, you win or you die." So yes, conversation and politics are important in the RPG, but sometimes those choices will be made during gameplay. Lots of objectives can be achieved in many ways. Some will be obvious, some you'll have to explore and be smart to discover yourself, and these can have big consequences.
GameSpy: How exactly does character progression work? You've hinted that Mors and Alester can branch in some highly varied directions with combat and skills. But how so? Are we working with standard RPG talent trees? Does leveling use a standard experience pool, or is it more based on how players use individual skills and abilities?
Consequences for your actions' was the motto for the quest designer and the writing team.
SS: Experience is obtained by completing quest objectives, combat, and dialogues. Each time you gain a level (up to level 15), you earn points that you can spend to unlock stance abilities and hero abilities and upgrade your characteristic and skills. At level 7, you can choose if you want to dual class by selecting a new combat stance that will unlock a new skill, or specialize in your class stance which will unlock a specialty tree. You can select unique traits -- positive and negative -- that you must balance. It was really important for us to give lots of options for character creation and stat/skill customization. That's a very key part of what makes an RPG in our minds.GameSpy: Your game's look reminds me of The Witcher 2 in some places. Have you taken much inspiration from that (absolutely fantastic) game? It's another grim and gritty fantasy world, so it seems like an excellent act to follow.
SS: Actually not so much since we were already far in development when Witcher 2 was released, but yes the dark-mature-grim-medieval feel is quite close.
TV: The Witcher 2 is a really exciting RPG but no, we did not use this game as a model. Both games may share a similar mature feeling, but we had a clear vision of where we wanted to go with Game of Thrones.
GameSpy: How long has the Game of Thrones RPG been in development? Why did you wait to announce it until its release was right around the corner?
As we are an independent developer, we self-funded this project and we were actually focusing all our efforts on making the game rather than doing marketing or communication.
SS: Tom and I started working on the game concept and story roughly two and a half years ago. The team slowly grew up and we really started production in June 2010. As we are an independent developer, we self-funded this project and we were actually focusing all our efforts on making the game rather than doing marketing or communication. This is something we wished to leave to our publisher since it requires lots of time and skills.TV: Almost three years of hard work. We are really excited to see how players will love GoT.
GameSpy: Speaking of release, have you narrowed down a specific date? Or is it still "early 2012" right now?
SS: We are working with ATLUS and Focus Home Interactive to release in May. The current North American release date is scheduled for May 15.
TV: We are currently polishing the game, level balance, stability, etc. So we will release soon but first we must make sure the game is ready. Be patient, winter is coming, and it will be very cold!
GameSpy: Do we get to punch, slap, or otherwise harm Joffrey in any way, shape, or form? Please?
SS: Why would anyone want to harm such an innocent, polite and patient child?
TV: *SLAP! SLAP!!*
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