General:Morrowind Team IRC Interview/July 2000

This interview was originally archived by the team at Morrowind Summit. 
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Development Team Participants:

todd[bethesda] - Todd Howard, Project Leader

KenRolston - Ken Rolston, Lead Designer

GT_WormGod - Gary Noonan, Lead Level Designer

Maverique - Lead Character Animator

Pete - Pete Hines, Director Marketing / PR



Session Start: Wed Jul 19 19:44:14 2000



'''(Chris) Umm, let's start with who are you and what do you do?'''

(KenRolston) Ken is Extra-Ultra-Super Lord High Design Weasel.

(GT_WormGod) I am GT Noonan and I am the Lead Level Designer on Morrowind

(todd[Bethesda]) I'm Todd and I get to be in charge (Project Leader). But our rule is you get to in charge on your bday

([VE]Eidolon) haha

(KenRolston) I type a lot. I am the master of high-end text graphics.

(Maverique) I'm Christiane, the (lead) character animator and stuff..

(KenRolston) I type and type and type and type and argue with GT and Todd.

(GT_WormGod) Ken is old

(KenRolston) So. Who has some deep probing questions to frighten us with?

(KenRolston) We have prepared for hours and hours, crafting exciting and subtly misleading responses.

(GT_WormGod) Ken doesnt have all night.... his Metamucil is wearing low

  Pete has joined #Morrowind

(todd[Bethesda]) PETE!

(Pete) Don't mind me.



(qK) (Mesmerist) Will armor/weapons be visible on the player model in realtime? Can you mention any other cool examples of the level of freedom/interaction available to the player in Morrowind?

(todd[Bethesda]) Armor/weapons. Yes. Very object oriented world. You can pick up most stuff and use it in some way.

(todd[Bethesda]) Example: you can even take fruit out of a tree...

(Maverique) you can? :)

(KenRolston) Or beer from trees. I may not have mentioned the magical brew tree.

(todd[Bethesda]) And it will grow back later...

(GT_WormGod) i like that tree....

(GT_WormGod) beeeerrrrr gooooood

(Maverique) water baaaad

(todd[Bethesda]) Roll dice to see if I'm drunk

(KenRolston) I think the primary source of freedom and interaction is the jillions of characters and quests to interact with.

(KenRolston) And all the factions and other advancement ladders to hunt down and scale.

(GT_WormGod) -1/2 a jillion Ken, get it right

(KenRolston) WE will not, alas, be using a funny arm to stack crates.




([VE]Eidolon) (AutoGhash-TESGurus) Will morrowind have cutscenes? If so, will they be prerendered, or done with scripts/demo files like in Deus X and Heretic 2?

(KenRolston) Todd will bluff on that one.

(GT_WormGod) its all being done in Mario Paint

(Maverique) look at the pretty monkey

(todd[Bethesda]) We have some plans, but they are not fully decided how they will be presented yet. Don't expect rendered scenes alla Diablo 2. We'll probably use in game stuff in some way (Deus X, Redguard)

(GT_WormGod) i still wanna pet the pretty pony




(qK) (Tupperware) Is there going to be a way you can import a character from Daggerfall?

(KenRolston) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  GT_WormGod ducks!

(KenRolston) The key word here is "import". No.

(KenRolston) But you can conceivably lovingly crafty your Daggerfall character in the editor -- he will just appear as an NPC in Morrowind.




([VE]Eidolon) (Marvel[Remedy]) Is it just me, but Morrowind seems technologically-wise much more advanced from the other Elder Scroll -serie games. What made you go for the push? (got enough feed-back about the gfx :)

(KenRolston) Todd is a graphics whore.

(Pete) Todd is a big graphics whore.

  GT_WormGod is neglected

(KenRolston) Todd inspires us all to make pretty pictures. Me, I'm from print media, and just want perfect, elegant design.

(KenRolston) Todd wants never to have to say he's sorry he's making a CRPG, because it has nasty art.

(GT_WormGod) Todd, you type slow

(todd[Bethesda]) I like pretty pictures. When someone pitches a game to me my first question is "Does it look awesome?". Anyway, since we were rewriting the whole thing from the ground up, we'd like to push the graphics as far as we can. And our art staff rules.

(KenRolston) I LIKED Might and Magic, grafix challenged though it was.




(Chris) GT_WormGod: Did the recent Infogrames purchase of GT Interactive affect anything on your end for Morrowind?

(GT_WormGod) wrong GT.... I cant be bought out!!

(Maverique) riiiight

(KenRolston) Don't let GT type any more.

(GT_WormGod) SHOW ME DA MONEY!




(qK) (Mesmerist) Will there be multiplayer in Morrowind?

(qK) AND in relation

(qK) (S_A_M[Gamekapocs]) How can we play over the net? Through an existing system (bnet, zone, ..), your own servers, (qK) or only TCP/IP? Or anyone can install a program to his server, like quake or UT?

(KenRolston) Nope.

(todd[Bethesda]) Sure.

(todd[Bethesda]) Oops. I mean no.

(KenRolston) You LIAR!

  GT_WormGod snickers

(Pete) No. Not on release, not three months after, no no no




(Chris) Any plans for multiplayer as an add-on? :)

(todd[Bethesda]) Sure.

(todd[Bethesda]) Oops I mean no.

(GT_WormGod) only in a rerun

(KenRolston) Oh, what a liar he is.

(Maverique) he smiles so innocently tho

(todd[Bethesda]) Already done. it's a secret. We have hotseat play. One person moves, while the other turns...all on the same computer!

(KenRolston) We ARE doing a MMORPG. We just are eliminating all the tiresome other players.

(KenRolston) We don't want to play with Nude4Satan.

(GT_WormGod) um, thanks Ken

(todd[Bethesda]) OK. There is NOOOOOOOO Multiplayer. No kidding here. We're concentrating on single-player. There are better games out there for multi-play. Better to have one great game, than 2 average ones.

(KenRolston) Or, alternatively, we cna go into the editor, name all the NPCs "kid_nekkid," then go smack the living shit out of them.



([VE]Eidolon) (miaow) will the music be triggered by the maps or by events ala script..?

  GT_WormGod knows aboutthe music and is VERY pleased!

(todd[Bethesda]) Music can be scripted in the Construction Set. We use MP3s. So you can do what you want. There is music playing all the time, but you can override it with your own events. One of the screen shots out shows a script I wrote that plays Conan music

(Maverique) youre such atease;)

(KenRolston) "I have a secret, and I won't tell."




(qK) (AutoGhash-TESGurus) How much of a "system" will the magic system be? For example, will it be a bunch of predefined effects like in Daggerfall, or will you have more power?

(todd[Bethesda]) Umm...it's similar but waayyy better. More on that later.

(GT_WormGod) .... I want to cast MAGIC MISSILE.....

(todd[Bethesda]) What are you casting it at?

(Maverique) am I getting drunk?

(GT_WormGod) at that bad burger I just ate

(Maverique) burger gooood

(todd[Bethesda]) Ok. Everyone needs to watch SummonerGeeks or you won't find that stuff funny.




([VE]Eidolon) (kathode-DestinationMW) Are you planning to do a tutorial section at the beginning of the game, as in Daggerfall, which slowly introduces the player to the game mechanics?

(KenRolston) This is Todd's baby

(KenRolston) Todd has a secret master plan.

(GT_WormGod) he does?

(GT_WormGod) ;P

(todd[Bethesda]) Yes. It's, ummm...how do I say, ..uhhh..pretty cool. Have to dodge that one right now. It's a big thing.

(GT_WormGod) roger dodger




(qK) (Mesmerist) Any idea as to the minimum system requirements yet?

(todd[Bethesda]) yes

(todd[Bethesda]) next question

(GT_WormGod) ouch!

(GT_WormGod) i will hit Todd for everyone

(KenRolston) Who wants to kill Todd? Hands up?

  [VE]Eidolon raises hand

  GT_WormGod raises both hands

(todd[Bethesda]) Coleco Adam with extra 128k and a floppy




([VE]Eidolon) (Sim-GameSurge) Will NPCs have a 24hr. schedule or will they just dissapear at night?

(KenRolston) They will not disappear at all. Neither will they have a 24-hour schedule, unless we decide to skip the gameplay parts of Morrowind.

  GT_WormGod wonders where this is going.

(KenRolston) They will have behavior, when they need to have behavior. They will not move around like in the Sims.

(KenRolston) We are focusing on gameplay-significant behavior first -- which turns out to be OCEANS and OCEANS of work.

(KenRolston) We can do anything in the editor. It just takes time and design.



(qK) (Tupperware) Are you going to be able to tweek out your characters face other than choosing from a list?

(Maverique) ;)

(todd[Bethesda]) Kinda sorta. I don't want to go into the specifics yet. Many choices.

(GT_WormGod) as we fight over what to say and what not to say....




'''([VE]Eidolon) (Marvel[Remedy]) Being a level designer and a texture artist, I'm naturally interested in the texture resolutions and usage in Morrowind. Seems like you're useing somewhat hi-res textures in the characters and in the objects. What kind of sizes and total amount limits do you have currently per level? And what kind of texturing do you use with the ground - three passes (Main texture, detail texture and lightmap)?

(GT_WormGod) well, i cant talk about actual sizes, but they are pretty big and with the use of vertex painting, things look even more incredible!

(Maverique) big ass textures! 256x256 mostly....

([VE]Eidolon) is big-ass the technical term?

(Maverique) yup!

(GT_WormGod) yes



(qK) (SkeletonM-TESGurus) will it be possible to attack all NPCs? what would happen if i were to kill one that is vital to the story?

(KenRolston) Yes. You can kill everyone.

(KenRolston) You will get feedback when you have killed someone central to the main quest sequence, so you can reload.

(KenRolston) BUT... in theory, you will be able to complete the main quest even if you butcher EVERYONE.

(KenRolston) This is a high aspiration, and a lot of work, but we are gonna do it.

(GT_WormGod) no, KEN is gonna do it

([VE]Eidolon) How much harder will it be?

(KenRolston) It will be way harder.

(Pete) Disconnect the phone, quit your job harder.

(KenRolston) A lot harder. By a factor of 10. But still, easier than finishing Daggerfall, I bet.



([VE]Eidolon) (AutoGhash-TESGurus) Editability. I want it, and I hear you get lots of it with the editor. What CAN'T you change in morrowind?

(GT_WormGod) your social security number

(GT_WormGod) i have little to offer cause Todd keeps stealing the questions, lol

(GT_WormGod) i hate that guy :)

(todd[Bethesda]) Umm. About the only thing you cannot change is that use of attributes and skills (as in jumping uses the athletics skill). That stuff is hard coded for many reasons. That would be the only big thing though. Everything else is up for grabs.

(todd[Bethesda]) You CAN change how much jumping effects the increase in athletics skill, but you cannot un-marry the two.

(todd[Bethesda]) You can mess with the internal formulas, but not the basic RPG system (skills raise levels which raise attributes)



(qK) (Freelance) Have you put any consideration into "Real Death", or the option of limiting save-games? Such as when you die in the game, your save game is erased?'''

(KenRolston) I think that's not a particularly critical feature. I celebrate self-discipline in a real gamer.

(Pete) Actual Death, now there's a feature.

(GT_WormGod) eeewwww, as the knife shoots out of your cdrom

(KenRolston) I like putting pressure on the gamer in some contexts, but not in an RPG, where the player identifies so closely with his character. And his stuff.



'''([VE]Eidolon) (Pete) I would like for you to tell me something about Morrowind that hasn't been talked about yet.'''

([VE]Eidolon) Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE

(Pete) danke

(GT_WormGod) Pete must die

(Maverique) hey whose side are you on????

(Pete) I'm putting Todd through his paces.

(Chris) Yeah, what was that new thing that you wanted to reveal?

(GT_WormGod) thanks Pete.... now we are all staring at each other here

(todd[Bethesda]) Thanks, DAD.

(KenRolston) Well, nobody has revealed the Magical Beer Tree until tonight?

(Maverique) beeer

(GT_WormGod) ..... I wanna cast ...... MAGIC MISSILE.....

(KenRolston) We have an important new rule. If we laugh, it comes out of the design.




'''(qK) (kathode-DestinationMW) We've heard that there won't be a formal party system in Morrowind, but we've also heard that NPC's may join you temporarily. Can you elaborate on this?

(KenRolston) We will have NPCs following, and NPCs escorting. They can be implemented in quests in many different ways.

(KenRolston) Once we have that basic functionality, it will be tempting to expand how the player can use it.

(todd[Bethesda]) We have plans for escorting and following AI systems. we have to implement this on a large scale before we can really say how many NPCs can come with you and how much you can influence them. we do plan on having escort quests so you can resuce people and they will follow you to a safe location.

  martiank9 has joined #morrowind

(KenRolston) martiank9 is Eric, our programming weasel.

(Maverique) scrotum dynamics expert:)




([VE]Eidolon) (Kether-TESGurus) Will there be any dragons in Morrowind? When Daggerfall was released, people were dissapointed with the lack of any real dragons. Are you going to make good this time? :P'''

(martiank9) Hi all

(todd[Bethesda]) Dragons. Morrowind (in Tamriel) is not known for dragons, so there aren't any in the design. But who knows. Not right now.



(Chris) Will there be any nudity in Morrowind? :)

(GT_WormGod) oh man!

(KenRolston) All the trees in Morrowind will be nude.

(Maverique)  yawn....

(KenRolston) So will some of the poorer rocks.

(Pete) there will be lots of nudity once the gamers get their hands on the editor, but none before then.

(KenRolston) We will have all-text, all ASCII nudity in Morrowind.

(martiank9) I'm currently working on implementing the text mode. Nudity is a high priority there.

(GT_WormGod) nudity is not a good word here anymore... they even made me start wearing clothes to work

(Maverique) thank God

(KenRolston) It's "clothing optional day," GT.

(GT_WormGod) "isnt that cute"

(Maverique) ;)




([VE]Eidolon) (Qwerty) Q: Will horses/carts be an option, like in DF?

(GT_WormGod) no comment

(GT_WormGod) wait, we're fighting

(GT_WormGod) considering Dark Elves eat horses.....

(todd[Bethesda]) Kind-of. But different than DF. You can put your stuff into them (like a pack animal or such).

(Maverique) no horse eating allowed

(KenRolston) We WILL have a magical horse meat tree, right Maverick?

(Maverique) NO!

(KenRolston) Todd, can we talk about the babyskin caps?




(qK) (Nova_Z) Is morrowind going to have the different attitudes you can choose during conversation like the others did?

(KenRolston) We have dialog strategies you can select when trying to persuade.

(KenRolston) You can taunt guys into attacking you, or intimidate them [make them PRETEND to like you. And lots of other stuff.




'''([VE]Eidolon) (NetLord) Q: what's up with bizarro-todd?'''

([VE]Eidolon) that's a good question...

(KenRolston) That's "The FAlse Todd."

(Maverique) wrong!

(KenRolston) Oh. I lied. Or was lied to.

(todd[Bethesda]) He is my arch enemy. Read his profile. He is not "False-Todd", that is Todd Vaughn.

(Maverique) he's your BROTHER NOOOO! that's impossible!!!




'''([VE]Eidolon)(Marvel[Remedy]) How far would you say you are technology-wise. Do you think you've gotten past the worst part already or are you still long way to go? Can you give any examples what big things you still have to implement?

(martiank9) Scrotum dynamics. Still go lots to do on that.

(GT_WormGod) watch em wiggle.... see em jiggle.....

(Maverique) AHAHAHAHAHAH

(KenRolston) Dialog. We have fine system, but we still have to take it lOOOOng way before we are sure it can do what we want it to do.

(todd[Bethesda]) Tech-wise, very close to all done. Some stuff to do animation wise yet to be perfect. Lots and lots of AI to do.




(qK) (miaow) are there plans to release a playable demo before the game comes out?

GT_WormGod looks over Todds shoulder

(todd[Bethesda]) Not sure yet. We may. Long way off.



([VE]Eidolon) (Qwerty) Q: The weather: will it affect anything other than visibility range?'''

(Maverique) yes

(todd[Bethesda]) Ash-storms effect movement (and may hurt you, that part may not be fun though). We'll see. 



(qK) (Ulukai[gamekapocs]) how many different ends of the game is possible?

(todd[Bethesda]) It doesn't end.

(Maverique) there is no end

(todd[Bethesda]) Oh, wait there is one ending you'll see a lot. Bam. You're dead.




([VE]Eidolon) (Uileat) Will we still be able to melee by whipping the mouse madly back and forth across the desk? =)

(todd[Bethesda]) Yeh, but you'll be spinning around like a jerk.

(Maverique) bad mousey!!!

(GT_WormGod) thats not like spanking the mouse is it?




(qK) (Ulukai[gamekapocs]) the world, the characters, the enviroment reminds me on an older game: Outcast. Did that game inspirate you?

(KenRolston) Not even a little bit.

(GT_WormGod) i have never even played it

(Maverique) er?

(todd[Bethesda]) The voxels inspired me to ralph.

(GT_WormGod) voxels.... baaaaaad

(Maverique) beeer gooood

(martiank9) voxels bring pain

(todd[Bethesda]) Actually that was a good game. Very nice music.



([VE]Eidolon) (Uileat) How complex are character models in Morrowind? How many polygons per scene for some of the more complex areas?

(Maverique) top secret... very hush hush ;)

(Maverique) more than you can possibly imagine

(KenRolston) Look at the screen shots, and do the numbers.

(GT_WormGod) ya, the screenshots say it all

(todd[Bethesda]) Seriously. Depends on how much armor they have on. Can get very expensive. (WAAAYY more than 2000)



'''(qK) (Freelance) Can the MP3 music in the game get swapped out with the user's own MP3 songs of their choice?

(GT_WormGod) listen to Tool while you fight Daedra!!!

(todd[Bethesda]) MP3s. Yes. And you can add extras.



([VE]Eidolon) (NetLord) Q: Will generic NPCs (bartenders, shopkeepers, hookers) have a disposition rate too? Will I have to work on it before I get any service?

(KenRolston) Everyone will have a Disposition rating and there will be significant gameplay for it.



(qK) (ItBurn) Will we be able to shout insults at a npc until he attacks us?'''

(Maverique) yes

(KenRolston) In a manner of speaking yes. But if he is a tough fellah, he will just stare impassively at you.

(GT_WormGod) "Hey, your momma is a pig! Now fight me!"

(todd[Bethesda]) Actually, you have to be GOOD at it (skill role). He might just hate you if you are a bad insulter.

(KenRolston) He might hate you, and refuse to attack you -- and you want him dead, and don't want to murder him. Which is against the law.



([VE]Eidolon) (Marvel[Remedy]) What about your character animation system, are you implementing mo-cap, or doing it the old style, by watching video tapes and imitating from that? What about bone system and skinning, you use multilayer skins over normal bone structure?

(Maverique) yes

(Maverique) We are implementing a whole bunch of ways... cause some things are good in certain situations where others fail...

(GT_WormGod) mocap and classical animation are both gonna be used at this point if i am not mistaken

(martiank9) mo-capping a Guar is difficult

(todd[Bethesda]) Yes, Skeletal. Mocapping Guar has problems.



(qK) (ItBurn) Will we be able to dress men with women clothing :)

(Maverique) yes

(Maverique) if that's your taste...

(todd[Bethesda]) Kind of. But yes. Some of them will fit the man differently.



([VE]Eidolon) (Qwerty) How many cities (towns, villages) will MW have? Approximately.

(Maverique) Ken?

(todd[Bethesda]) More than enough.

(GT_WormGod) whew, i lost count after Memphis

(KenRolston) Everyone is SHOUTING here at me to mislead you. So. We forget.



'''(qK) (Omniscia) Okay, here's a question.. "If you can even divulge this, would you mind shedding some light on source/inspirational materials used in creating the "mood" for Morrowind?"'''

(qK) I'm not so sure I wanna know what "materials" they used to create a "mood".. 

(Maverique) GLADIATOR!!!

(GT_WormGod) think of Mad Max

(todd[Bethesda]) High Fantasy with eastern influences, Dark Crystal, Conan, some Japanese stuff.

(KenRolston) Apart from the origian lElder SCrolls material, I would say that Michael Kirkbride's pen-and-inks are the strongest influences on mood in Morrowind.

(GT_WormGod) Dark Crystal... great comparison!



([VE]Eidolon)(Omniscia) Q: Will you spend more time bug-squashing before release, or just ship a can of Raid with every copy of the game?

(GT_WormGod) we signed Black Flag on to help us out

(todd[Bethesda]) We've already started the patch. (joke)

(KenRolston) We are proud of our record with Redguard [no patches], and plan to improve on that performacne with Morrwind.

([VE]Eidolon) I think people still have a bitter taste in their mouths from Daggarfall

(todd[Bethesda]) Seriously. Our #1 priority. No Bugs. F-em. We're sick of that rep. We'll do everything we can.

(martiank9) Bug-squashing is a very high priority

(KenRolston) We think all the bugs in Daggerfall were funny, in a tragic way, and we don't want to ever be funny like that again.

(todd[Bethesda]) It pains us to work on a game for years and have it be buggy. Never again.



'''(qK) (Freelance) Can NPC's get emotionally attached to your character? Will they have emotions (i.e. love, hate)?'''

(KenRolston) We have a romance system that we haven't we haven't told Todd about.

(GT_WormGod) what about lust?!

(KenRolston) It is really cool.

(Maverique) isn't that cute?



'''([VE]Eidolon) (AutoGhash) Can we be stealthy? In Daggerfall, the monsters were just sprites that faced a certain direction, if you got in front of them or made too much noise and they attacked. I'm not expecting Thief's level of realism here, but can we avoid combat in that sense?

(todd[Bethesda]) Stealth gameplay has been expanded greatly. They sucked in DF. We were very inspired by Thief.



(qK)(SkeletonM-TESGurus)When creating objects with the editor, will they be in a format thats compatible with other major software? I.E. if i were to make a building or monster design in 3d studio could i plug it into Morrowind?

GT_WormGod ducks the question

(KenRolston) Sorry, guys. Gotta go home and report to the wife.

(KenRolston) nite - nite.

([VE]Eidolon) cya Ken

([VE]Eidolon) thanks for answering questions

(todd[Bethesda]) A few more...

(KenRolston) thanks for coming and frightening us.

  KenRolston has left #morrowind



([VE]Eidolon) (Marvel[Remedy]) What size is your art team? Since judging from the screenshots (atleast the majority that are taken from a single level) it looks like they require a _lot_ of work with that amount of detail, i.e. the current look makes me think you must have a large team in order to ever get the game done (and have it larger than Daggerfall). Have you already made up that 5-year schedule? :D'''

(todd[Bethesda]) Currently we have 6 artists. We'll be adding more later when we start building the whole world.

(GT_WormGod) a small, yes massively skilled team of pros!

(GT_WormGod) did i mention that we rock?

(todd[Bethesda]) Yes, they rock.

(todd[Bethesda]) Todd likes pretty pictures.

(GT_WormGod) we dont drive Ferraris, but we still rock!



'''(qK) (Oddjob) Will a third person view option be implimented? It'd be nice to check my character's trousers for stains after a scare.'''

([VE]Eidolon) what type of stains?

(todd[Bethesda]) Maybe. We're concentrating on 1st person, but yes, we like it for the same reason.

(Maverique) scratch and sniff option...



([VE]Eidolon) Ok last question, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

(todd[Bethesda]) 7

(martiank9) 42

(Maverique) lots

(GT_WormGod) heh heh heh heh.... he said wood.....

(GT_WormGod) pappa likes!

(Maverique) hey!

(todd[Bethesda]) Trick question

(Chris) I'd like to thank everyone for coming, especially the Bethesda guys!

(todd[Bethesda]) Let's do it again soon.


Session Close: Wed Jul 19 21:34:41 2000