What you should know about The Chronicles of Myrtana?
Welcome to The Chronicles of Myrtana!
At the beginning we would like to warmly thank you for your interest in our project
and for a huge amount of questions we receive from you.
In today's video we will answer to your most frequently asked questions.
We realise that for some of you certain aspects may not be clear.
Today we will tell you not only about the key premises of the modification,
but also about its storyline, the actual status of the work, and our team.
So, let us begin!
What are The Chronicles of Myrtana?
It is a modification to the iconic game Gothic,
made by the SoulFire team, whose action is set in the period before the creation of the Magic Barrier.
Our goal is to make a new and completely original world,
based on non-linear plots and multidimensional characters.
We also wish to improve these elements which characterised the first two Gothic games,
for instance a living world in which every character has a certain role to play.
However, we decided to depart from the theme of the all-powerful hero,
whose destiny was to vanquish entire hordes of enemies
on his path to save humanity.
In The Chronicles of Myrtana we focus on presenting the story from the perspective of an ordinary, regular citizen
who is merely a single cog in a huge machine of the complex and abundant world.
At this point, we remind everyone, who would like to join us in this amazing journey,
that the modification will be free to download.
Why did you change the name?
As you probably know, our team had been previously working on the project named "The History of Khorinis".
However, due to a disagreement, our former project leader
decided to create a mod in accordance with his own vision and with a new team, while keeping the original name of the project.
In order not to mislead our fans, we decided to change the name of the project and its key premises,
while continuing the work on what we have managed to create up to this moment.
More information about The History of Khorinis project you can find on their website.
By choosing a new name, we wanted to make it reflect better the actual essence of the plot of the modification.
The new name is to fully convey the specific character of the project, which will unfold before the players the story of The Kingdom of Myrtana that has not been yet told,
new land and heroes.
Currently we are working on the island of Archolos.
Many of you may wonder why we decided to choose this particular place for the setting our mod.
It is a place which was merely mentioned in a single book in the first Gothic game.
This short description is more than enough to trigger the imagination
and unfold t a landscape bathed in the sunlight with majestic hills and charming vineyards.
However, we were not the only ones who found the island of Archolos interesting. Doktor Borginson, a Polish YouTuber famous for his movies devoted to trivias in Gothic, put Archolos on the second place in his video: "10 places in GOTHIC we will NOT visit…"
Thanks to our modification not only Doktor Borginson, but also the rest of the fans will be able to set their feet on Archolos.
A minimal description of this place in Gothic works in our favour, since we are able to create it practically from the scratch.
Where and when the plot of The Chronicles of Myrtana is set?
The story of The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos begins a little more than 10 years before the plot of the first Gothic game.
The Second War with Orcs continues, and after the disastrous Battle for the Eastern Archipelago, the royal fleet was turned into drifting, burning wrecks.
It is the time when the Kingdom of Myrtana struggles with many external and internal problems.
In spite of Lord Dominique's recent conquest of the Southern Isles,
the morale of the people of Myrtana is melting in the face of danger no one was prepared for.
The mod will take us on one of the islands of the aforementioned Eastern Archipelago - Archolos,
which is known for its finest wine in the whole Myrtana.
It is also an economic and cultural capital of the entire region.
Archolos is one of the last bulwarks against the enemy,
where the royal power seems to control the situation, despite growing social and political problems.
In The Chronicles you will play as a completely new character named Marvin,
who is drawn into the web of intrigues and political schemes.
Every decision we will take in the game will have a clear impact on the characters we meet on our path and perhaps even on the fate of the entire island.
How is the history of The Chronicles connected with the events of the Gothic games?
By providing you a brand new story we wish to remain as close as possible
to the lore of the first two Gothic games.
Before we decide to introduce any changes to the plot, we make sure
that they stay true to the canon created by Piranha Bytes.
Our knowledge of the world of Gothic is based mainly on scripts from the game.
Each team member has an access to all dialogues featured in the first two Gothic games.
We also rely on descriptions from game manuals, information from the comic book "Gothic: Der Comic" and interviews with developers.
Should we introduce new plots or characters, we take great care possible
that they reflect the aesthetics of the world of Gothic.
As we already mentioned, the information about the island of Archolos features in one of the books in the first Gothic game
and the nostalgic tale of the fall of the royal fleet was told by the former sailor - Mario, in Gothic 2.
We decided to distance ourselves completely from the events described in Gothic 3.
The main reason for that decision are discrepancies of the plot of Gothic 3 with previous Gothic games
which, otherwise, would complicate determining the facts and the backstory of the mod.
What is more, we also agreed that the manner in which the Kingdom of Myrtana was presented in the third game of the saga
does not recall the splendour of the most powerful and most developed kingdom in the world of Gothic.
The example here is the kingdom's capital - Vengard,
which in Gothic 3 did not evoke in any way the power and majesty of the kingdom described in the earlier games of the saga.
Which guilds will we be able to join?
On the current stage of the modification the player will be able to join one of the two main guilds -
the City Guard or, mentioned in Gothic 2, Merchant's Guild "Araxos".
Of course, as we go through the game, we will be able to advance in the structures of the chosen organisation
and get access to new quests and equipment.
Moreover, choosing a particular guild will unlock a possibility of taking one of two innovative paths of advancement -
The Path of the Warrior and the Path of the Marksman, and this, of course, will also create other far-reaching consequences.
To appreciate players who prefer ranged weapons, we are preparing for them a number of specific quests, items and armours.
Are you planning any changes in the game's mechanics?
Our main goal is to create a mod based mostly on the mechanics known from the "classic" Gothic.
We believe that adding novelties such as bars measuring endurance, fatigue or hunger
will ruin the atmosphere in the game and spoil the impression of the good, old Gothic.
It does not mean, however, that in The Chronicles of Myrtana there will be no improvements at all.
One of the key innovations which we are consequently introducing
is the non-linearity of quests and far-reaching consequences of our in-game choices.
Both first and the second Gothic were becoming linear from a certain stage of the game.
The Quests in each guild were different,
however, they were created in a schematic way and even later in the game we could feel in them a certain repeatability.
In The Chronicles of Myrtana we aim to make the world change before our very eyes
and differ depending on the path we take.
We will be able to finish almost every single quest in at least two ways,
and the characters will change their attitude towards us according to our decisions.
For example, when we decide to begin a fight in a tavern, we will only temporarily solve a problem with disruptive guests.
What is more, from now on, the owner of the place will consider us as troublemakers.
In such a way, we will be unable to receive other quests, which we could have been given from him if we had chosen another solution.
To learn more about this particular aspect of The Chronicles of Myrtana, follow us in our next videos!
When it comes to the combat mechanics, changes will concern the balance of the game.
It is no exaggeration to say that both Gothic 1 and Gothic 2
favored players who prefered close combat.
In The Chronicles of Myrtana we want to provide you a certain freedom of playing the game on your own terms.
Moreover, we are introducing changes to the statistics converter,
as well as we are offering different paths of advancement inside the chosen guild.
Another innovation on our side is the improvement of the NPC daily routine system.
Our aim is to create a world living on its own, which could exist even without the presence of the main character.
The behaviour of the independent characters will be much more developed
and the characters themselves will be given at least a dozen of completely new animations.
Another important change is the total rebalance of the game's economy.
As you may remember from the Gothic series, the gold collected at the certain stage of the game proved to be completely valueless.
We, however, want to make the player feel the burden of choices of how he spends his coins so he can learn how to manage them reasonably.
If you want to learn more about this aspect of the mod, we will explain it profoundly in the another video.
The situation is similar when it comes to the creation of items.
We are planning a complete overhaul of the crafting system
and adding new activities such as cooking and alchemy.
In our opinion, collecting food and herbs should have an impact on the gameplay.
Lugging around 70 pieces of raw meat or 120 bundles of healing herbs will finally make sense!
Another new features worth mentioning are the introduction of the Universal Shield Combat System
created by the member of our team - Gother - and polearms wielded by the NPCs.
Remember that every new element of the game we implement is thoroughly designed and tested
in order to provide you, the players, with the best possible gameplay experience.
Will there be a difficulty slider available in the mod?
One of the design goals that the first two Gothic games have polished to perfection was splitting the world into zones -
the areas in which the player would have no trouble surviving had he reached a high enough level
and those in which he would meet an almost certain death if he was not experienced enough.
As the game progressed, the player felt a steady increase in his skill and power
so eventually he could take on those enemies which previously killed him in just one single blow.
We came to the conclusion that introducing a difficulty slider and artificially raising your opponents' statistics do not fit the design principles of Gothic.
The same applies to the so-called "level scaling".
If our character can handle a lurker, why should all the lurkers in other areas of the world suddenly appear stronger?
The majority of the team believes that such an approach would only ruin the player's sense of immersion in the game's world.
We want to make the process of exploration of the island of Archolos to be just as challenging as playing vanilla Gothic 2 with the Night of the Raven expansion pack.
Will the Chronicles of Myrtana feature a full, professional voice acting?
Yes.
The modification will be fully dubbed by the professional theatrical and film actors.
We would like to point out, however, that at the current stage of the production we do not busy ourselves with the process of dubbing just yet.
It is because the plot and in-game dialogues still undergo constant changes.
Therefore, there is simply no reason for taking care of this aspect of the modification until the work on the plot is finished.
Moreover, recording dialogue lines at this moment of the production would create unnecessary expenses
and simply waste our and voice actors' precious time.
The part of the team responsible for the voice acting is currently busy with making contacts with actors and gaining permissions for the future recording sessions.
For this purpose we also have a guaranteed free access to the recording studios in various cities in Poland, including Warsaw, Wroc³aw and Cracow.
Will we meet any recurring characters from the original series?
We are planning to make a few familiar faces reappear in our modification.
However, the introduction of any characters we had a chance to meet during our original adventures on Khorinis,
requires a credible explanation in terms of their background and the need to bring back their original actors for the role.
Also, as you can imagine, one should hardly count on a lucky coincidence
where, completely by accident, twenty or so recurring characters appear as cameos in the exact same place and time.
We assure you that you will have a chance to meet some of them,
but more as minor, episodic characters, rather than key elements of the main storyline.
When it comes to their names, however,... let's keep that a secret for now, shall we?
Do you plan to include a new soundtrack in the mod?
In The Chronicles of Myrtana you'll hear both a brand new soundtrack, as well as "reprised" tracks from the original series.
The entirety of our OST with a live orchestra will be composed exclusively for the purpose of the modification.
The soundtrack is being handled by our composer - Kamil Jêdrzejewski,
who teased you with the music video named "Myrtana's Dawn" available on our YouTube channel,
and the main theme of our modification.
How many people are currently working on The Chronicles of Myrtana?
At the time of this video's publication, there are 32 members just in the development team itself.
Our crew consists of programmers, writers, world designers, 3D and 2D graphic designers, concept artists and animators.
There is also a large number of volunteers associated with SoulFire whose task is to translate the mod and its promotional materials into other languages,
the team responsible for the voice acting, and a team focused on producing videos which document our progress.
The mod's production is overseen by multiple project leads, who direct the creative process by distributing tasks to the other members of the team.
Even so, every member of the team is absolutely allowed and encouraged to voice their opinion in regards to any change made to the mod,
even if they are not particularly experienced in the branch it involves.
After all, the more brains in a brainstorm, the more potential for a great ideas to come up!
The volunteer crew working in SoulFire consists of people with experience in the game development industry or professional video editors, as well as passionate fans of the Gothic series.
We believe that a free exchange of ideas and honest criticism can only give us positive results in regards to the final product.
We are also in possession of various development tools created solely for the purpose of the mod, such as a testing system and a quick mod assembly tool,
which allows us to test any performed changes the moment after they are implemented in the game.
Another tool created specifically for the mod is an application allowing to create any NPC in regards to their appearance.
Thanks to it, our game writers can easily design their characters for any of their quests.
We would like to highlight here that everything you are going see in The Chronicles of Myrtana will be a 100% product of our teamwork,
including each visual object and building,
obviously, apart from what you have already seen in the original Piranha Bytes games.
Can we expect pre-rendered cutscenes?
Gothic is a game based on an old engine which certainly has its limits.
This is why if you expect our mod to provide you a fully cinematic experience, similar to the cutscenes from Witcher 3 or other Triple-A games, we might disappoint you in this matter.
The introduction of such features to Gothic would be an enormous programming challenge,not to mention the necessity of directing each of the scenes individually.
We are still searching, however, for the universal solution of this matter.
Most probably though we will rely on pre-rendered scenes created in a 3D graphics software, or machinimas made on the game's engine.
When will the open game tests begin?
Never.
We will not make public a half-finished product, full of bugs and glitches, before the mod is officially released.
Implemented assets are regularly tested right after appropriate game-controlling scripts are created.
For the purpose of game testing we use a special platform, to which each team member can log and check the current state of the game.
However, only members of the SoulFire team and our trusted contributors have the access to the platform.
In case of any oversights, after the release of the mod, we will regularly publish necessary patches.
What are the predicted system requirements?
In order to launch The Chronicles of Myrtana mod, you will need a "clean" copy of Gothic 2 along with the Night of the Raven expansion.
During the installation process we will be able to choose the version with the original graphics (DirectX 7),
as well as the remastered version, based on a modification which ensures full capabilities of DirectX 11.
In the first case, if the Night of the Raven is successfully launched on the computer, the mod will also launch without any problems.
On your screens you can see now the recommended requirements for both settings.
What is the release date?
This is the most common question that you ask and it is definitely the most difficult one to answer.
Due to the recent events, the progress of our work has been slightly delayed.
It was caused by changes that had to be made to the plot and structure of the world, but also by removing models that were not a 100% products of our graphic designers.
Secondly, working on "The Chronicles of Myrtana" is nothing more than our hobby.
The moment we are overwhelmed by our personal or professional issues, the process of development is put aside.
It is obvious that such random, unexpected situations can delay our work in time.
That is why there is no reason for determining any precise release date.
We do not want to make empty promises we would not be able to fulfill.
We have fixed deadlines within our team, regarding completing particular elements of the mod, and we are working hard to reach these thresholds on time.
The only thing that we can ensure you is the fact that the release date will be sooner than later.
How can I help develop the mod?
If you possess a particular set of skills, we highly encourage you to visit kronikimyrtany.pl/rekrutacja and tell us about them.
You will also find there detailed information on what skills we could use at the moment.
Remember, however, that it is a non-profit project and nobody from the team gets paid for their work.
If you decide to apply, you need to be aware that apart from having specific skills, we will require from you a certain dose of commitment to the project.
If you are certain of your decision, feel free to apply.
People responsible for the recruitment will surely contact you.
In other cases, simply keep track on our progress.
And that is all we have prepared for you today!
At this point, we would like to invite you to our new series of developer diaries,
in which we will tell you with details about each aspect of The Chronicles of Myrtana production.
As first, we will shed some light on the process of the scenario writing and the non-linearity of the quests.
The video material will be coming soon.
Stay tuned for more, and remember - all will be well.
Read by Krzysztof Skrzypek
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