FREELANCER: Your tactical source

[Jeff] - Jeff Blattner (New World Computing/3DO)
[Yurg] - Yuri Bushin (Freelancer)

[Yurg] Well, let's continue our dialogue. Would you tell something about the Might and Magic IX developers' team? How many people does it consist of and did all of them participate in the developing of the previous parts of the game?

[Jeff] There are around 20 members currently on the MMIX team some of whom have been working on Might and Magic as far back as MMII. Except for our creator, Jon Van Caneghem, most have been working on Might and Magic products since Might and Magic VII.

[Yurg] Starting the work at every new project, every new part of MM, the team of developers, as far as I can imagine, certainly define some objectives to be achieved to make each part different from the previous ones and to adhere to the succession. What are those objectives for MMIX?

[Jeff] The most important goal we needed to achieve was to improve our looks and technology. MMVI-VIII were a little behind in that department, and we thought our fans deserved a game that looked and played great.

[Yurg] It would be interesting to find out whether the game will be based on two engines - one for surface and one for dungeons: or everything will be realized with the only one engine and without separate switches between dungeons and surface?

[Jeff] No. We no longer had any need for two engines. The Lithtech Development System handles indoor and outdoor levels equally well. The only concession is that you will still have level loads between levels.

[Yurg] Would you, please, describe in general outline the scene of action and the entanglement of the story?

[Jeff] It has been 500 years since the Great Cataclysm caused the collapse of the Ursanian Empire. Just as the region known as Chedian has finally began to step out of the struggle to survive, a new threat has appeared from the west. A large horde from the former Ursanian Province of Beldonia has begun to carve out a new empire. While shipwrecked on the Isle of Ashes, the player discovers that it is their fate to unite the six clans of the Chedian, and stop the oncoming Beldonian Horde from conquering them. With Might and Magic IX we begin a new era in the Might and Magic storytelling. Since we have changed worlds, we seized the opportunity to create new characters, and new environments. Don't be surprised however if familiar faces appear from time to time.

[Yurg] Might and Magic is notable for its very peculiar system of classes and its gameplay in whole. Do you plan to add new classes? Are you going to change the system of character's development?

[Jeff] The new class system we have developed is what we have termed a "Growing Class System." As far as we can tell, it's unique to Might and Magic. Similar to real life, a Player Character (PC) starts out with fewer, broader choices in class. As the PCs gain levels, they will have the opportunity to be promoted to a different class. Once they make this change, however, they will be unable to go back. It's a variation on the "class promotion" system of previous Might and Magic games. Here is an example: Throck is a level 1 character. He chooses to follow the Might path, and becomes a Fighter. When he faces his first promotion, he will have a choice between Mercenary and Crusader. Once he makes a choice between those two, he will not be able to change to the other.

[Yurg] Please, tell something about monsters of MM9. Traditionally, the bestiary of monsters of MM6-8 coincided with the bestiary of other games of the MM - Heroes of Might and Magic world. Will this tradition be continued and what new monsters will be available for hunting?

[Jeff] We've kept a few of our favorite monsters from the traditional fantasy bestiary, and added some new creations of our own. You can expect plenty of familiar creatures, some with new interpretations we've added to fit within the story context.

[Yurg] Do you plan to complicate somehow or change the system of combats? Are you going to struggle with such tactics of combat as 'to-approach-running-up-to-the-opponent, to-hit-from-the-maximum-distance and to-run-away'?

[Jeff] There are several different factors that will affect the combat system. Most notably is the change to a completely 3D engine. The Lithtech Engine has primarily been used as a 3D shooter engine, and the mechanics of that obviously influence combat. The other main factor affecting combat is the new monster AI. You can expect to see fewer, smarter monsters instead of the mass of mindless hordes.

[Yurg] It would be interesting to touch upon the topic of maps. Will the new engine allow realizing maps of larger area, and will the changes of the seasons and weather conditions be realized in the game?

[Jeff] We've just recently added the weather systems, and they look great! The map sizes will be right around the same size most Might and Magic fans have known and come to expect. The fans can expect to spend a lot of time exploring the towns and outdoor regions.

[Yurg] Do you plan to change the system of equipment for characters, i.e. will it be possible to carry more different stuff?

[Jeff] We had played with the idea of a party based inventory, but we found the character based inventory easier to use, and easier to manage. So in that respect, the inventory system has changed very little.

[Yurg] In the previous parts of the game it was impossible to enter buildings, and all the characters appeared only in the form of icons. Do you plan any changes in this direction?

[Jeff] One of the things we wanted to do was to increase the immersion factor, and reduce the dependency on rendered cinematics. To this end, most of the cutscenes are rendered in-engine, and many shops and dwellings are now fully explorable as part of the 3D world. Also, all of the characters are full polygonal 3D characters and we have created a completely new conversation system.

[Yurg] Do you plan, finally, to score for sound dialogues with the characters?

[Jeff] It's not often we are able to surprise our sound director, but when we gave him the list of all the dialog we wanted to include in the game, he was surprised. There is a much greater amount of dialog in MM9 compared to previous Might and Magic games.

[Yurg] The engine will allow realizing a bunch of new special effects. Thus, from the standpoint of new abilities of the game, do you plan to redo noticeably the arsenal of spells?

[Jeff] The magic system has been extensively redesigned. We've switched it to skill based instead of school based. This time, instead of needing one school to cast a fireball spell, you may need skill in two magic skills, each of which has a different effect on the spell cast. For instance, with the fireball, your skill in Dark Magic may affect the spells damage, while your skill in Elemental Magic will affect the spell's range.

[Yurg] And the last question. Is it possible that MM IX will be released for DVD as it happened with the previous parts of the series?

[Jeff] We are currently planning to ship as 2 CDs, but a DVD version might be a good idea.

[Yurg] Many thanks for your answers! We wish you good luck and are looking forward to news concerning your project!

[Jeff] Thank you for your interest in our work!

The End