Chat Log - 06/01/2001

Legend:
Red - Calis. Handler of Question Queue and Asker of Questions
Blue - Members of the Troika dev. team who diligently respond to queries
Orange - Chat moderators who blurt random idiocies every now and then
Gray - Emotes, from most everybody

Who's who at Troika:

[Calis] Let me copy-paste my welcome message 'n all that =)
[Calis] !topic DEVELOPER CHAT - Send questions to Calis by /msg
[Sawtooth] don't flood yourself off Calis ;)
[Calis] Hello everybody, and welcome to this Arcanum developer chat! This is a moderated chat, meaning that questions will need to be asked through me. To ask a question, type "/msg Calis your question"
[leon[Troika]] SHELLMAN!
[Calis] where you replace "your question" with the question you'd like to ask, obviously :-)
[Calis] For non-moderated chat, you can use #arcanuminn. Pretty much every IRC client allows you to be in two channels at once, so you won't have to miss any of the questions if you decide to go to #arcanuminn!
[Calis] Questions about the release date will NOT be answered. The current release expectation for Arcanum is late spring 2001 (that's northern hemisphere spring, Q2 2001). The demo will be released a bit before the release of the game.
[Calis] Now before we get started, I suggest the almighty Troikalites introduce themselves =)
[shellman] yay!
[shellman] I can talk!!!
[cmoore] hi!
[shellman] Hi everyone. :o)
[Ilraven] Howdy all!
[TimCain] Hello!
[leon[Troika]] hi diddly ho, neighbors
[cmoore] I a writer and a artist!
[leon[Troika]] ha!
[TimCain] I code and eat candy
[shellman] anderson's here!
[Ilraven] I am a programmer...I make bugs and then fix them ;)
[Steve[Troika]] I too code, and I try not to eat as much candy as Tim.
* Ilraven gets no candy.
[shellman] I am uh... someone that does a lot of different stuff.
[Calis] Oh and one more thing before we start...
[Calis] [harrigon] for the 1000th time congrats shellman on the spokesperson thingy
[shellman] :) Thanks!
[cmoore] we lover her so...
[leon[Troika]] I like to paint pretty pictures, but mostly I gotta write stuff
[JDA] stop her head might explode
[monkeypunch] an other wb TRoika. :)
[shellman] shut up!
[cmoore] I mean...love her so...:)
[leon[Troika]] I'm being oppressed by the man!
[shellman] (that was to JDA)
[cmoore] yo monkey!
[leon[Troika]] where's the questions?
[Calis] Well... now that we've got the obligatory intro's out of the way... here comes......... the first question!
[cmoore] monkeypunch always has the best pictures on the Arcanum Main Site Boards...
[Calis] [magao] Is there any chance that a character with high charisma could affect how followers spend their character points?
[leon[Troika]] nope
[cmoore] no
[leon[Troika]] yes...I mean no
[Calis] One more thing... I suggest you guys say "ga" or something when you're done with a Q =)
[monkeypunch] indeed :)
[leon[Troika]] ga
[cmoore] wait..mebbe I was wrong...your personality...so powerful...
[Calis] [Snark_Hunter_5000] [Do you think having followers help with X-tech Schematics will be too unbalancing?]
[leon[Troika]] cmoore? JDA?
[cmoore] I will answer this...
[cmoore] Followers will NOT be able to create the higher level technological schematics...
[shellman] friggin' slow typer...
[cmoore] Things like bullets, charges, yes...
[cmoore] The coolest guns?
[cmoore] Nope...
[cmoore] clear?
[leon[Troika]] remember to say when you be done with questions
[cmoore] dpome
[cmoore] done
[shellman] :)
[Calis] [stravaig] now that you've more time, are some of the cut areas like leahbo going to make it back in?
[leon[Troika]] Leahbo? What's that?
[shellman] sort of ;)
[cmoore] where?
[Calis] The halfling village I think
[Calis] =)
[cmoore] what halfling village?
[leon[Troika]] I was being silly Calis :)
[leon[Troika]] I'll take this
[cmoore] we never cut anything...
[Ilraven] =)
[leon[Troika]] We didn't put Leahbo back in because it had never been fleshed out in the first place,
[cmoore] I'm aging...
[cmoore] a lot...
[shellman] it's called "re-design"
[leon[Troika]] it was one of the things that kind of got left to the end..
[cmoore] It's called "leon learn to type..."
[leon[Troika]] we really didn't cut alot else
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Cruxington] I trust you´ve read the recent discussion on humans in Arcanum. What are your opinions on this? Should humans get any special "powers"?
[cmoore] tim?
[TimCain] OK I have an answer for this..
[cmoore] yay!
[cmoore] go tim go!
[leon[Troika]] I'm aging
[TimCain] I read the discussions, but I like having humans be the baseline. It's not like they "get the shaft", they really are good at doing a variety of things
[TimCain] It's not like you start the game and say "I must be Master of Force College", I usually make someone with some good spells but who is willing to use cool items that he finds along the way
[TimCain] Humans are GREAT at that kind of flexibility
[leon[Troika]] we wanted all the races to have a different feel, and you need at least one race to be able to straddle tech and magick
[TimCain] ga
[Calis] [BrotherNikko] Question concerning the licensing of the world editor to Wizards of the Coast: Will Troika have any input into its further development? If so, who's on point for the project?
[leon[Troika]] we will not really be involved in it
[JDA] No, just if they need help with the tools
[TimCain] Actually, it was Fluid Entertainment who licensed WorldEd for a WotC product
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] Ok, next two questions are kinda related so I'll fire 'em both:
[JDA] don
[Calis] [Nobody] Here's my question: Have the voice actors been finalized?
[Calis] [Skorpios] cmoore - I really liked your piece on the voice-acting - were there any names we might recognise?
[Heroman] Thought since humans were neither plus or minus with anything but middle they already had an advantage myself?
[leon[Troika]] YES!!!
[Heroman] is that right tim?
[shellman] Voices are DONE! Yay! :)
[Calis] (i think Skorpios would like to hear a few names =) )
[leon[Troika]] We got alot of great voice actors, none that have really recognizable names, though
[cmoore] Leon will answer, Skorpios...hold on...
[cmoore] What about Dwight Schulz...Murdock from the A-TEAM!
[leon[Troika]] he was awesome...
[Ilraven] did the channel split?
[TimCain] Yes Heroman, I agree that that is the human's advantage...
[cmoore] All of the voices are PHENOMENAL! I was really stoked...
[Xerophyte] Don't use name changing chating. Really. Don't.
[leon[Troika]] I can't wait for you the voices to be in the game.. they are SO COOL
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [DSF|XZiBiT|Mapping] just a quick question, is it possible to add custom cinematics to your maps?
[leon[Troika]] yes
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Spoonman] will Arcanum be published in Russia?
[JDA] It is up sierra ..
[shellman] We don't know.
[JDA] I don't think there will be.
[JDA] done
[shellman] ga
[Calis] [Kozmo_Naut] can you reveal some of the cross tech stuff (Gunsmithy + Explosives)?
[leon[Troika]] ratster?!
[shellman] chad? JDA?
[cmoore] How about a tranquilizer gun...?
[cmoore] HA!
[TimCain] Kozmo_Naut really wants a rocket launcher...
[cmoore] Got it..
[leon[Troika]] yay ratster!
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [Cruxington] If I have a Half Orc with high Charisma and Beauty could he be mistaken as a 'human?
[leon[Troika]] mechanized gun, maybe?
[leon[Troika]] done
[leon[Troika]] no, people know what race you are, but they will treat you better
[leon[Troika]] if you are better looking or high charisma
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [CodeGuy] In mods, could a script cause a follower or other NPC to switch character templates?
[leon[Troika]] tim?
[JDA] no
[cmoore] not currently...
[TimCain] If you mean autolevel schemes, nope
[JDA] done
[Calis] [JO_Telchar] Here a question ! Will followers only join you when you get to their level ?
[cmoore] Its variable...
[cmoore] we can control it through AI packets...
[cmoore] done
[leon[Troika]] no, we have the ability (and so will you) of saying how large a level difference their will be
[Calis] [ender] How much humor will be in Arcanum in comparison to Fallout?
[cmoore] lots...:)
[TimCain] 130% more
[leon[Troika]] More, but different
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] I was thinking 123%
[Calis] [russianin] Will an age affects the character's stats in any way? Maybe the losing of strength or gaining the intelegence for an old man seem to be reasonable? Or even death in some time.
[TimCain] hmm
[leon[Troika]] no
[cmoore] nope
[TimCain] Age was added as a side stat, it doesn't effect anything
[shellman] Only if we set them that way in the first place.
[cmoore] good idea, though...Tim, get to work...
* TimCain adds to his growing todo list
[shellman] done
* cmoore plays a really small violin
[Calis] [Ono-Sendai] Is the story about personal discovery (Planscape: Torment) or is it about how your character changes the surrounding world (Fallout)? Or is it a gentle banalace of both?
[cmoore] There's never been a more perfect balance...:)
[cmoore] Hold on...
[Calis] ooooooh! Plugging! =)
[leon[Troika]] what moore said
* monkeypunch asks "whats going on?" (in a deep singin voice, with lots of soul in it)
[cmoore] I think what's really important in Arcanum is that you have the option of playing exactly the kind of game you want to play...
[Xerophyte] Moore: You shameless commercialist you :)
[cmoore] We have a little of all of those elements...
[cmoore] Not just for the player..
[cmoore] But for followers as well...
[leon[Troika]] there's alot of personal discovery for followers
[cmoore] I think you'll enjoy the way we've crafted the storyline, and the NPC interactions...:)
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [XP-Cerastus] Could you give an example of one of the special abilities a character recieves upon raising an attribute to 20?
[leon[Troika]] tim
[cmoore] crushing death...:)
[TimCain] If you get a 20 Constitution, you are immune to poison
[TimCain] GA
[Calis] [Spoonman] Have you drawn a hero sitting? Or will our heroes be doomed to just stand and lie?
[TimCain] They crouch too
[cmoore] heros never sit, don't you know that?
[shellman] The citizens of arcanum seem to have spinal malformations....
[leon[Troika]] the science of sitting has not been discovered in the Arcanum universe
[cmoore] uh, sorry...heroes...:)
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [ArthurDent] Could you please clarify the differences between spending a CP on a skill vs. getting training?
[leon[Troika]] tim
[TimCain] OK...
[TimCain] You spend CP's to raise the rank of a skill, from 0 up to 20. Rank determines chance of success
[TimCain] You get training in a skill from Untrained up to Master. These training levels extend the usefulness of a skill
* shellman waves at Wartoy
[TimCain] For example...
[TimCain] One of the Bow training levels lets you shoot two arrows at once. You still shoot at your old rank level, but you shoot two instead of one, potentially doubling your damage output
[TimCain] So think rank=success, training=usefulness
[TimCain] GA
[Calis] My turn for a shameless plug: http://www.terra-arcanum.com/library/character.php for a list of training bonuses in the beta! =)
[Calis] [magao] Leon mentioned earlier that Sharon's sister put together a multiplayer map with the World Editor in a couple of hours shortly after first using the tool. How complex a map was she capable of doing in this time?
[leon[Troika]] that was tim that mentioned that
[TimCain] I said that , actually, And it was good looking too!
[leon[Troika]] how complex was it?
[shellman] He he, it looked gorgeous!
[shellman] She didn't really have scripts or dialogs
[JDA] there were no scripts in it.
[shellman] just creatures running around
[TimCain] She made a grotto surrounded by a forest. She had wisps floating around, with a momma bear followed by baby bears
[shellman] and little bunnies hopping about...
[Ilraven] =)
[cmoore] I didn't condone it...
[shellman] beautiful blue lights came on at night and the lake got lit up
[leon[Troika]] it was a love nest
[TimCain] She had lights and a swimming area and everything
[Calis] groovy :)
[cmoore] I'm naseous...
[TimCain] GA
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Xerophyte] Can you script a follower to scavange parts for technological items and automatically create them when he has the required components?
[cmoore] sorry...nauseous...:)
[cmoore] can't type, today...
[cmoore] I'll take this...
* TimCain eats more candy and listens
* shellman Stop eating all the chocolate Tim!
[cmoore] No...but followers do "scavenge"...we just added that...and you will be able to "ask" them to create objects for you...
[cmoore] doe
[cmoore] done
* Ilraven Watches cooter watching Tim eat candy.
[Calis] [enclave_trooper] About the cinematics, are there going to be any voice acting in the movies or will they just have music. Also will we see important npcs rendered in the movies?
[Calis] and
[Calis] [Plastic_Couch] Since I love cut-scenes, will there be plenty in Arcanum? And how many end-game cut-scenes will be there?
* TimCain is eating Japanese sugar drops, thank you very much
[Calis] since they're kinda related =)
[cmoore] JDA?
[leon[Troika]] he's thinking
* cmoore cleans his blunderbuss...
* TimCain eats more sugar candy
[leon[Troika]] don't forget the end slides
[JDA] there be a few cut scenes
* cmoore loads his blunderbuss...
[JDA] don
[shellman] and lots of end slides
[JDA] ]done
[shellman] music?
[leon[Troika]] there will be some voice over, and some important NPCs in at least one of them
[leon[Troika]] done
* Ilraven Doesn't tell cmoore that he loaded it with candy.
[Calis] [Sawtooth] Are all the tombstones finished yet?
* cmoore levels his blunderbuss at the unsuspecting ilraven...
[leon[Troika]] shellman?
[shellman] no... feel free to email me your epitaph. :o)
* TimCain prepares to eat the ricochets
[shellman] uh... done
* Ilraven Knows that the sugar alone will destroy him.
[Calis] [jvogel] please dsecribe the opposition A.I agaisntyou. Bald g2 was critized for some of its ai,mainly ouver using charm,instant kill, and confuse against you. ga
[Calis] Answer that if you can decipher ;)
[leon[Troika]] timmy?
[TimCain] The AI mainly goes for damage and debuff spells. We specifically do not allow mind control and charm to be thrown on the player
[leon[Troika]] while tim types, I'll say that we've been putting the fan fiction into the game
[shellman] Great fan fiction!
[TimCain] We have been improving AI too, so NPC's do not cast themselves into unconsciousness
[TimCain] GA
[leon[Troika]] that's right. I've been working hard on improving the AI
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Excalibur] Will having a tech npc in your party effect your Mage or vice versa, Or will you effect the npc at all too?
[leon[Troika]] the effect is on things you target, so if you target them with a spell
[TimCain] Unless you target someone with your magic or tech, it will not affect you
[TimCain] Doh! Sorry Leon
[leon[Troika]] there tech level would effect it
[leon[Troika]] okay
[leon[Troika]] just being near something or someone doesn't effect them
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Eiloch] What advice can you give to the would-be mod maker on creating a good, playable, involving story and Arcanum game?
[leon[Troika]] lots of coffee
[shellman] Read the manual I am writing very thoroughly. :)
* TimCain is out of candy!
[leon[Troika]] don't make it too big, right Moore?
[Ilraven] Be creative: there is a lot of flexibility via the dialogs and scripts...
[cmoore] I hear you...
* Steve[Troika] points out the cookies in the kitchen.
* TimCain is gone...
* shellman runs for the cookies
[JDA] dont have more than one quest going on with a NPC at once
* shellman and Tim fight it out in the kitchen
* Steve[Troika] stays away from the chocolate covered coffee beans, and Jesse's rum balls.
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Thenomain] What are the plans for updating the Arcanum editor once the game ie released?
[JDA] you can do it, but it can get fairly complex
[cmoore] Advice? Never ask yourself..."what if he talked to the OTHER guy, first...?"
* Ilraven thinks the cookies were evil.
[leon[Troika]] or what if he killed the other guy and then ressurected him?
[leon[Troika]] done
[shellman] We don't know at this time... it will depend upon Sierra.
[cmoore] Or...what if he was a DWARF...?
[shellman] done
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [Excalibur] Can you own a house or stonghold to store stuff and do other things?
[cmoore] Only if you kill its current inhabitants...:)
[shellman] Can't really "own" a house
[cmoore] Not that we condone such behavior...:)
[leon[Troika]] hmmm...maybe you can :)
[shellman] But you can store your stuff in any empty chests or other containers
[Wartoy] hehe
[shellman] no one will take it, right wartoy?
[cmoore] Leon...put it on your list...:)
[shellman] done
[Wartoy] if im not there
[Calis] [enclave_trooper] How much do followers level up even when they are not in your party?
[shellman] zilch, nada, zip, none
[shellman] when they're not in your party
[TimCain] a follower not in the party is not a follower. Confusion, crying...
[shellman] Otherwise, they level when you level when they're in your party.
[Ilraven] mass histeria
[shellman] that make sense?
[shellman] done
[Calis] [ratster] Will you be able to go above the 20 stat limit?
[Calis] [Skorpios] Can you clarify the stat maximums for various races?
[TimCain] OK...
[TimCain] I allow the 20 limit to be broken by certain races...
[TimCain] If your races gets a bonus, then he can exceed 20 by the amount of the bonus
* cmoore pulls a tesla rod from his pack...
[TimCain] I made a half-orc with a 24 strength. He was a killing MACHINE
[TimCain] GA
[shellman] He meant half-ogre
[Calis] [BrotherNikko] Question to the Gentle CMoore (and others of the writing staff): Getting away from all the talk of game mechanics, could you talk a bit about your writing influences. Any favorites? Classics? Contemporaries?
[TimCain] Oops, yes halg-ogre!
[cmoore] Don't get me started!
* TimCain means HALF OGRE
[cmoore] No...hold on...
* Ilraven treads carefully around the halg-ogres...
[Steve[Troika]] Less chocolate on fingers == better typing.
* wartoy thinks tim needs more candy
[leon[Troika]] Vonnegut, Orson Scott Card
[leon[Troika]] Heinlein
[cmoore] I have a lot of influences...some of my favorite fantasy writers...Tolkien, Jordan, Brooks..
[cmoore] Sci-fi...Gibson, Stephenson...
[leon[Troika]] Dr. Seuss
[shellman] mary poppins...
[leon[Troika]] Gibson sucks, Moore
[TimCain] Zelazny...say it...Zelazny
[cmoore] I'm a HUGE Don DeLillo fan...
[leon[Troika]] Zelazny
[Ilraven] Zelazny
[cmoore] Lots of others as well...
* TimCain is happy
[shellman] Zelazny!
[cmoore] Zelazny rules...
[Calis] so I've heard =)
[shellman] done?
[cmoore] Leon has no literary soul...
[leon[Troika]] Neil Stephenson
* TimCain goes GA
[Calis] [Excalibur] Can You swim in arcanum?
[shellman] Wade...
[leon[Troika]] Yeah, but I no the difference between your and you're, Moore
[Calis] and by "You", he means us =)
[cmoore] no, but you sure can wade well!
[Steve[Troika]] You swim about as much as you sit I think.
[shellman] but apparently not Know and No
* Ilraven dies laughing.
[leon[Troika]] you were going to be able to swim, until we actaully started making the game
* TimCain eats more candy and laughs and laughs
[Wartoy] hehe
[leon[Troika]] that's right
[leon[Troika]] I no nuthin
[shellman] done
[leon[Troika]] dun
[Calis] [harrigon] or maybe I should rephrase that to how often will randoms occur?
[TimCain] We had sharks in the design doc
[cmoore] you can swim to the island where the halfling females are...
[Wartoy] it depends on your location on the world map
[shellman] tim? Random encounters?
[Calis] yes, random encounters...
[TimCain] Hmm, I think you have one every few nights, but it is random. You can have 3 in one day
[shellman] there's a table...
[Steve[Troika]] So basically its pretty random.
[cmoore] Its a pretty table, too...
[Wartoy] certain areas are more likely to have random encounters than others
[JDA] there are diffrent kinds of enounters for night and day and region
[shellman] mahagony
[cmoore] oak
[JDA] done
[cmoore] cherry
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [Wojit] How easy would it be for a really dumb person with no experience, and not very willing to learn anything, to make a mod?
[leon[Troika]] Cmoore does it all the time
[JDA] dungeon crawl
[Wartoy] lol
* TimCain sighs at his empty candy box.
* shellman rolls on the floor laughing
[TimCain] LOL leon!
[leon[Troika]] done
[Ilraven] The nice thing is, you can create different types of mods...from simple dungeon-crawls to complex dialog-driven stories
[Ilraven] done
[Calis] [beaumont] In Fallout, most of the quests had a peaceful solution to them (as opposed to Fallout2). What about Arcanum? Will it be possible to solve quests without using violence?
[cmoore] Wow...funny leon! Now put some of that in your dry dialogues!
[leon[Troika]] oooooo
* wartoy knows tim still has dog biscuits
[cmoore] yes!
[leon[Troika]] Yes! We have a great master quest for the persuasion master
[TimCain] Yes, especially since in Arcanum you can knock people out and NOT kill them
* shellman thinks chad is forgetting about a certain BMC
[Ilraven] There are multiple solutions to many of the quests...
[leon[Troika]] hahahahaha
[Wartoy] W C?
[leon[Troika]] that's what followers are for, Shellman
* TimCain suggests using high Fatigue weapons
[leon[Troika]] cannon fodder
[cmoore] exactly...follower fodder...
[Wartoy] trap detectors
[cmoore] NO HINTS! NO HINTS!
[Wartoy] hehe
[leon[Troika]] wartoy plays all the time without killing anything, right?
[Wartoy] theft?
[leon[Troika]] done
* TimCain goes GA
[cmoore] Yeah...and he NEVER uses cheat codes either....
[Calis] [Cruxington] How do you guys get along with each other, day after day? Any corpses?
[shellman] (that was huge sarcasm from leon & chad folks)
[Wartoy] hehe
[cmoore] lots...
[Calis] (Thought that was appropriate with all the bad vibes in here ;) )
[Wartoy] c h e a t ?
[shellman] uh... no comment (don't tell them about the back room guys!)
[Ilraven] We have a dog that plays dead for most of the day...
[cmoore] As long as everyone agrees with me, there's no blood...
[leon[Troika]] we all get along pretty well, except our bosses are no fun
[shellman] yeah... they suck
[TimCain] Like I said, I just code and eat candy...
[cmoore] management sucks around here...
[Ilraven] ...and walk the dog
* TimCain wants some candy, dammit!
[leon[Troika]] As I said before, we're being oppressed by the man
* shellman tells Gwyn to go fire everyone again
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] Uh...you are the man, leon...
[cmoore] done
* wartoy says tim better stay out of my desk!!
* Steve[Troika] avoids the danger by showing up late every day.
[Calis] [Spoonman] What is Arcanum soundtrack like? Was it synthesised or recorded using live instruments?
[cmoore] live!
[shellman] JDA?
[TimCain] We used an undead quartet
[leon[Troika]] it's like, classical, man
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] haunting...like the sunset over the Tullan towers...
[Calis] [Skorpios] Are there any more gods to be added to the Arcanum pantheon?
[cmoore] sniff...
[cmoore] I'll take this...
[cmoore] Currently, you've seen all of the gods for Arcanum...
[cmoore] But who knows what the future may hold...?
[Wartoy] ...
* TimCain knows
[cmoore] For the old gods are powerful, and their ways are terrible, and ....blah, blah, blah..:)
* Ilraven knows that Tim's future involves chocolate.
[cmoore] Wait for Arcanum 2!
[Thenomain] Hercules! Er, sorry.
[TimCain] Arcanum 2: The Reckoning Wrath of Vengeance
[shellman] done
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [Plastic_Couch] will htere be food in Arcanum, and will it make a big difference? I found no use of food in Fallout....
[shellman] Alcohol sure makes a difference...
[cmoore] anyone? anyone?
[TimCain] There are some food quests, right?
[Steve[Troika]] I've found my character passed out on the stool of a bar from time to time.
[leon[Troika]] chocolate quests
[JDA] there is some food but it wont make little diffrence if any
[cmoore] We have sweetcakes...:)
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] on a side note... how long do you guys want to stay here? just so I know when to wrap this up...
[Steve[Troika]] But you don't get hungry or anything.
* TimCain must flee in 30 minutes
[leon[Troika]] 30 sounds good
[Calis] ok.
[Calis] [ArthurDent] If your current level of Charisma is too low, will a potential follower say "no, you have too many people in your group" ala Fallout?
[leon[Troika]] yes
[cmoore] what an idea! Implement!
[leon[Troika]] donw
[cmoore] done
[Calis] hehehe
[Calis] [Xerophyte] Will there be Fallout-styled easter egg encounters?
[Calis] you big meanies
[Calis] :p
[cmoore] all in good fun...:)
[leon[Troika]] Arcanum styled easter egg encounters
[Ilraven] =)
[shellman] someone! Put those on your list...
[leon[Troika]] no, not really
[cmoore] NO HINTS! NO HINTS!
[shellman] some
[cmoore] leon...add that to your list...:)
[leon[Troika]] ambiguous
[Steve[Troika]] All your base are belong to us!!!!
[Wartoy] hehe
* Ilraven ducks.
[leon[Troika]] yes! No! Maybe!
[cmoore] I work with strange folk...
[Wartoy] someone set up us the bomb?
[leon[Troika]] done!
[Ilraven] done?
[Calis] [Cruxington] Will there be references to some of the real people who lived in the Victorian Era?
[cmoore] done:
[leon[Troika]] hmmmmm perhaps
[cmoore] Not specifically...
[cmoore] But...
[leon[Troika]] hopefully nothing TOO obvious
[shellman] ooo oo more vague answers...
[cmoore] Well...
[cmoore] you shall see...
[cmoore] :)
[cmoore] Was that cryptic enough?
[leon[Troika]] we looked alot at the era to get ideas....:]
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] done;
[Calis] [XP-Cerastus] After completing the single-player game, will it be possible to continue on with the same character? If so, will there be noticeable differences in gameplay?
[cmoore] jda?
[JDA] nope, that is what the multiplayer is for
[JDA] done
[Calis] [Thenomain] Is there any desire for the Troika team (or individual members) to make a game based on Saturday Morning Cartoons?
[Calis] baaa, what a nasty question Theno...
[cmoore] which ones?
* TimCain likes the PowerPuff Girls!
[cmoore] I
[leon[Troika]] yes, especially Sea Lab 2020
[Thenomain] Muahaha. Any ones!
[cmoore] I'll bring back Thundarr the Barbarian!
[shellman] The sponge bob mod!
* Ilraven chuckles, remembering Thundarr...
[cmoore] Ookla the Mach!
[Wartoy] spoon!
[cmoore] Princess Ariel!
[leon[Troika]] Dragon Tales, the satanic rituals
[cmoore] His fabulous sun-Sword!
[Steve[Troika]] I had hoped we could do a Space Ghost: Coast to Coast action Talk Show type game... but it never got beyond paper.
[shellman] man... now you got us going...
* Ilraven oohs and aaahs.
[Wartoy] hehe
* TimCain is losing his sugar high...
[leon[Troika]] Dexter's lab!
[cmoore] what about Grape Ape?
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] Scooby!
* Ilraven suggests that Tim needs a Mocha Rum Ball.
[cmoore] dooo....ne.
[Calis] I'm taking that as a general "done" =)
[leon[Troika]] we're driving people away it seems
[Calis] [Olvan] How many cross-disciplinary tech schematics will there approximately be?
* wartoy likes concentrated evil... Gobmaster[modemcable065.198-200-24.que.mc.videotron.ca])
[cmoore] Currently, about 50
[cmoore] give or take...
[cmoore] lots of guns!
[Sawtooth] go techies! :)
[cmoore] tech rulz!
[cmoore] TecH RulZ!
* shellman knows chad is a closet mage.
* Ilraven shakes his head sagely at Chad.
[cmoore] Cast this, mage-boy!
[cmoore] dine
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [Excalibur] Can any of our actions during the game casue the game to be over, Say killing A plot character, or something other then dying.
[leon[Troika]] I prefer dine
* TimCain knows the mages never go "dine"
[leon[Troika]] Nope, not until the end
[Wartoy] heheeheh
[TimCain] We worked HARD to make it that way too
[leon[Troika]] our design is flawless! You shall bow down to it
[cmoore] yeah...we are fairly averse to linearity around here...
[leon[Troika]] dining
* wartoy kills everybody to make leon cry
[leon[Troika]] egads!
[shellman] I think they're done...
[Calis] [Sawtooth] Do the vertically challenged races have a hard time wading? Or is all the water you can wade in shallow enough for them?
[leon[Troika]] shellman?
[JDA] shallow enough for them
[shellman] yeah, what he said
[cmoore] Everyone can wade. Everyone is made equal in shallow waters...
[shellman] done
[cmoore] done
[Calis] [enclave_trooper] Can you give us a new estimate about total hours to finish the game?
[leon[Troika]] dine
[leon[Troika]] wartoy?
[cmoore] 120000020002000220
[Wartoy] ?
[TimCain] 5
[leon[Troika]] Pi
[Wartoy] 90?
[shellman] they haven't finished it yet and done all the side quests....
* TimCain thinks 90 sounds good
[leon[Troika]] done
[shellman] at least in 1 week
* wartoy knows where to go
[Calis] [XP-Cerastus] Are some of the hidden locations in the game accessible only by foregoing fast-travel and romping about the wilderness?
[TimCain] I played for a whole week and didn't finish
[leon[Troika]] Yes!
[cmoore] yes!
[TimCain] Um, yes!
[leon[Troika]] Yes! Yes!
[leon[Troika]] Yes
[Calis] so I take it that's a yes? =)
[leon[Troika]] dine
[Calis] [Cruxington] What kinds of updates are you planning on writing for the official site?
[cmoore] Go ye and travel the wastelands...
[cmoore] er..wilderness...
[leon[Troika]] moore?
[shellman] more monsters
[leon[Troika]] we (hopefully) have something really cool coming up soon
[cmoore] I will be writing another developer journal in a couple weeks..
[Wartoy] hehe
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Ono-Sendai] Is it possible to obtain currency by teaching skills your character has already aquired? (Gibson rules)
[cmoore] dine
[shellman] we are going to start giving little "tidbits" fromt he game
[cmoore] GIBSON! GIBSON!
[leon[Troika]] No, (an no)
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [BrotherNikko] Question to the WHOLE development group (even Leon!): Could you discuss the genesis of the game concept? Was "steampunk" the genre you were wanting to emulate, or was it something beyond "Jules Verne visits Elfland"? What sets Arcanum apart?
[cmoore] leon?
[leon[Troika]] I'm sulking in the corner
[leon[Troika]] Tim said he wanted to do fantasy, and I said "only if it takes place in the 1800s and we get guns"
[shellman] Fantasy with a twist
[leon[Troika]] and Jason saw that it was good
[cmoore] And I said...really BIG guns...
[leon[Troika]] and came up with the magick/tech antagonism
[leon[Troika]] I like the idea of treating a fantasy world as a real world where everyone has their own agendas
[leon[Troika]] and motivations
[leon[Troika]] dine
[Calis] [Wojit] If you start a fight, then flee, and come back in 150 days time, will the enemies still be waiting for you?
[leon[Troika]] tim?
[TimCain] They will return to the stand locations, and they will remember you...
[TimCain] In the case of guards, they go back to patrolling
[Wartoy] stupid guards
[shellman] But not in a random encounter... they will no longer be in the area.
[TimCain] But they remember...oh, they remember.
[Wartoy] ...wreck my fun
* TimCain goes GA
[Calis] [Excalibur] Is Troy going to put any small multiplayer mods other then the real game in for multiplayer like ctf or deathmatch with differnt rules...
[leon[Troika]] who is Troy?
[shellman] Troyka!
[shellman] duh
[Ilraven] Troika I presume?
[Ilraven] =)
[leon[Troika]] I knew that
[leon[Troika]] jda?
* TimCain raises an eyebrow at Leon
[shellman] we hope to
[shellman] ga
[Calis] [enclave_trooper] Is there a mayor of the city of tarant? City hall? How about a Gambling hall?
[leon[Troika]] there's an industrrial council, but only one of them can be found in the game
[leon[Troika]] whoops, I mean two
[leon[Troika]] there is a hall of records...
[leon[Troika]] done
* Sawtooth hands leon an abacus
[Calis] [russianin] Are there any special random encounters (not just a pack of monsters, but really unusual)?
[leon[Troika]] perhaps, perhaps bwahahahahahaha!
[shellman] he he yes.
[leon[Troika]] dine
[Calis] [Eiloch] Did you have to approach publishers for Arcanum, or did they come running to you to put Arcanum out?
[leon[Troika]] they ran by us
[shellman] oh sure they did...
[leon[Troika]] we had to chase them down
[JDA] we had to shop around
[TimCain] Sierra came to us, though
[cmoore] They chased me down, too...
[leon[Troika]] for five freakin months!
[shellman] held them down and beat them within an inch of their life...
[cmoore] These guys are brutal...
[shellman] PUBLISH OUR GAME!
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis][Xerophyte] Which part of Arcanum do you want to change the most but lack the time to actually change before release?
[cmoore] dine
[leon[Troika]] I want to cut Cmoore's salary
[cmoore] Either design, art, or programming...
[shellman] he he
[cmoore] Seriously...anyone?
[Xerophyte] Hey, no avoiding the question! :)
[TimCain] I am thinking...
[cmoore] me 2
[shellman] I can't think of anything..
[shellman] We're really happy with the game.
[Ilraven] I can't think of anything major...
[leon[Troika]] There are a few small things, as we got ALOT of great suggestions from the beta, but we'll just have to see what we have time for
[cmoore] I think I'd make the followers more complex...:)
[TimCain] Most of my changes are technical. I can think of several data structures I would want to change that would make the game run smoother and WorldEd be easier to use
[Sawtooth] in other words, they'll find something after they go gold
[leon[Troika]] done
[Calis] [Cruxington] Will there be lots of useless things lying around in Arcanum? Like in Fallout you could find all sorts of crazy and more often than not very twisted objects.
[cmoore] I'm pretty happy with what we've got...
[cmoore] dine
[cmoore] Most things have a purpose...
[Ilraven] Most things have a use...though not necessarily for your character...depending on how you develop your character, that is
[JDA] what about the wooden teeth cmoore
[cmoore] don't get me started...:)
[Calis] ok guys, the 30 minutes are up in 5 mins... how about 3 more questions?
[leon[Troika]] okay
[shellman] go for it
[Calis] I'll try to pick a few good ones =)
[cmoore] OK
[cmoore] KO
[Calis] [Eiloch] If you could could have poeple who play Arcanum walk away from the game after finishing it, thinking only one thing, what would that be? Is there one aspect of the game you'd especially like people to look at and say, "Wow! What a great idea!"?
[leon[Troika]] the reactiveness of the world
[cmoore] Story.
[shellman] That was the coolest game I've ever played..
[TimCain] That was fun!
[leon[Troika]] that it felt like your choices really affected the world
[shellman] Or.. I'm gonna play that again, but this time as a (insert different character here)
[leon[Troika]] story!
[Ilraven] yeah, and that it responded to your particular character & his/her choices...
[cmoore] "I think tech was the coolest thing..."
[Ilraven] heh
[shellman] Those master trainers were the best!
[Steve[Troika]] I'd like them to say, "Oh, and the animations never chugged one bit!"
[TimCain] "I want some candy now."
[Calis] well to reassure you, I thought a fair number of those after playing the press beta =)
[leon[Troika]] no, the portraits were
[cmoore] "I've never seen cooler followers..."
[shellman] woohoo!
[leon[Troika]] dine!!!
[cmoore] dine!!!
[Ilraven] =)
[Calis] [Skorpios] Are any of the NPCs based on Troika staff members?
[Calis] [-- suckup ;)
[cmoore] Yes...Sogg is Shellman...:)
* Ilraven raises an eyebrow at Calis. ;)
[Wartoy] lol!
[leon[Troika]] I think Moore wants to be...oops, almost let it slip
[Steve[Troika]] I always thought some of the people looked familiar...but I could never put a finger onit...
* shellman runs off to kick chad's a**
[cmoore] sorry, Shellman...:)
[Wartoy] run chad!!
* Ilraven listens to the screaming.
[cmoore] ahhh!!!!!
* cmoore dies horribly...
[Calis] ok I lied. I'm making it 2 more now =)
[leon[Troika]] the blood! I can't watch
* wartoy was glad not to be in theline of fire
* shellman returns to her desk. Now where were we...
[leon[Troika]] dining
[TimCain] Not MORE blood...
[Calis] [Excalibur] Can You tell Npcs where to meet you when u kick them out of the party?
[cmoore] I don't think there was anyone specific...
[Ilraven] Do you need more towels AGAIN shellman?
[leon[Troika]] nope
[cmoore] nope...
[TimCain] They will go home if you kick them out.
[leon[Troika]] they go back to where they started, eventually
[cmoore] yes
[leon[Troika]] done
[cmoore] basically...
[Calis] ok, *last question:*
[Calis] [enclave_trooper] what game has influenced you the most?
[Xerophyte] Xerophyte's note: Sogg Mead Mugg is a Half-Ogre. He smells and drinks copious amounts of alcohol.
[leon[Troika]] you can tell them to wait, instead of kicking them out
[shellman] thanks... we needed that Xero :p
[cmoore] Life...:)
[leon[Troika]] Fallout
[shellman] shameless plug by Leon...
[Ilraven] Heh
[leon[Troika]] hee hee
[cmoore] Monopoly.
[TimCain] AD&D of course
[cmoore] Operation.
[TimCain] and I mean version 1
[Ilraven] Uno...and AD&D/etc.
[JDA] truthfuly, D&D
[cmoore] Chutes and Ladders
[shellman] Telengard (that's where we got the idea for our graphics) :p
[leon[Troika]] Candyland
[Heroman] not candy land Tim?
[cmoore] Oh...and uh, D&D...
[TimCain] I ate that Heroman
[Ilraven] He did! We have pictures!
[leon[Troika]] Gurps!
[shellman] Tim's a dangerous guy to have around...
[Wartoy] earth dawn!
[JDA] I played more D&D than AD&D
[cmoore] Excuse you, leon...
[Ilraven] True, GURPS was big for me too...
[Heroman] So do I I like the AD&D answer myself. ;-)
[Calis] [harrigon] GURPS RULES!=)
[Calis] you can thank me later harri
[leon[Troika]] If it wasn't for Gurps, I wouldn't be working with Tim
[Wartoy] mmmmmm.....quake..
[cmoore] Those are the breaks, leon...
[leon[Troika]] Wait, does that mean I like Gurps or not....hmmmm
[Ilraven] If it wasn't for GURPS, I wouldn't have applied to Interplay way back when... :)
[Sawtooth] Should we open the flood gates before troika leaves so that everyone can thank them?
[Calis] Well, that pretty much wraps it up.. Thanks for your time guys, and if the final Arcanum disappoints me in any way, I will hunt you all down ;). I'd also like to thank Sawtooth for writing this nifty question queue script... copy-pasting all those questions would've been sheer hell :)
[Calis] yes, I'll do that now.
[cmoore] thanks all!!!!
* wartoy is invisible!!!
[Ilraven] Yes, thank you!