The Nonlinear RPG Experience

Ladies and Gentlemen, for our <i>third</i> installment of Troika news today (be sure to check out the prior two news posts), Gamespot have for you: <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vtmb/preview_6091931.html">Bloodlines Designer Diary #5</a> with Leonard Boyarsky - Joint CEO, <a href="http://www.troikagames.com">Troika Games</a>/Producer.
<blockquote>Of course, nonlinearity has a lot to do with how we design our levels. We like our levels to have several ways through them rather than simply being presented in a linear fashion like you'd find in most first-person shooter games. As with our dialogue writing, we start with a list of things that need to be accounted for, such as stealth, disciplines, feats, and so on. For instance, we need to make each level viable for characters that rely heavily on their vampiric powers (Are there enough characters, as well as combatants, to feed on?) or those who rely on firearms (Are there enough places to get ammo in this level? Will players have enough firepower to accomplish this level?) or those who rely on melee weapons (Will there be adequate weaponry? Will it be possible to close in on an opponent without being massacred?) or those who rely on stealth or any combination of any of the above.

Obviously, not all levels can take into account all the factors associated with each character. For instance, a crypt probably won't include computer hacking, but we try to have a good spread for each level. The core design of any given level starts with the stealth path, and then more direct paths are added, depending on the level of difficulty and where in the game it occurs. The stealth route takes into account patrolling guards, what level of stealth or obfuscation players are likely to have, and what other disciplines players may have to help them out. The more-direct routes obviously have a larger concentration of combatants. And, of course (where applicable), we include talking paths through some of our levels as well.</blockquote>
The games focus is a bit on FPS, so I nabbed a comment on level design. Be sure to read the whole thing for talk on motivations and consequences. I have to say Bloodlines does sound like it's shaping up to be something decent.

Now if only they'd do something about that heavy <a href="http://www.vampirebloodlines.com">website</a>...