General:Morrowind Team IRC Interview/November 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

Ken_at_Bethsoft - Ken Rolston, Lead Designer

WormGod_at_BS - Gary Noonan, Lead Level Designer

Maverique - Christiane Meister, Lead Character Animator

Matt_Bethsoft - Matthew Carofano, Environmental Artist

Royal - Royal Connell - Design and QA

noah[bethesda] - Noah Berry, Environmental Artist

Chris[bethesda] - Chris Innanen, Programmer

Tedders - Ted Peterson, Lead Designer on Daggerfall, Writer


Session Start: Thr Nov 30 18:46:29 2000


  ok everyone

  welcome to the second Morrowind chat

  Thanks to the Bethsoft team and RPGVault for hosting

  thanks Chuck, its great to be back

  Howdy.

  hello

  Hello all

  howdy

  Hello Todd

  Hi Bethsoft guys :)

  For those who don't know me, I'm kathode, webmaster of Destination Morrowind, and I'll be moderating tonight.

  Como estas?

  Who?

  que pasa?


  A few introductions for us....

  so first thing to do I guess is to have everyone from bethsoft introduce themselves and justify your existence :)

  go in whatever order you please

  oh, and let me also say that TruthSword is here from RPGVault helping out, and KC_2 is my backup moderator

  Ken here: Lead Design and Curmudgeon, Internationally Celebrated Game Designer

  Gary Noonan, Level Designer Extraordinaire, 27/m/single ;P

  I'm t. When I look at Ken, there is no justification.

  Matt Carofano, Environment Artist

  I'm the character animator and make Mr. Biped dance :)

  Mrs Biped is cute

  Royal Connell - I am fairly new at Bethsoft. I will be assisting Todd and Ken with Design work and will be in charge of all testing when that time comes

  Noah Berry, environment artist

  thanks, guys, for your hosting.

  Royal is someone you'll all get to know since he eventually be handling external QA stuff. No, you can't bother him yet...

  Yes that is me

  I used to work for Absolute Quality, a game testing company



    Two questions relating to future increases of computer power. Will we be able to up detail/viewing distance with increasing computer power (I remember hacking Daggerfall to increase viewing distance beyond intended values)? Second: will it be feasible for editors to use the Construction set to put the interiors of buildings actually in the buildings? In other words, will we be able to make Morrowind seemless when comp. power permits it? Thanks!

  oh, and dev team: type ga when you're done!

  The clip distance is settable in the game (like Daggerfall)...

  he's the techwiz.

  I'm not sure about hacking it, the default distance is pretty far..MUCH farther than Daggerfall...

  Reg the seamless interiors...

  I suppose you could do it, but you probably won't want to. it's much cleaner keeping them separate and you have control over ambient light, sound and other good stuff that the weather handles outside. GA




    will duel wield be a feature now that they have announced in Joystick that players will have control of both hands?

  You don't control both hands. The second hand (shield) controls itself, it blocks on its own if it can. GA



    Will there be an in-game map that reveals the terrain (ala: Might and Magic style), and if so, will I be able to write notes or set markers on it?

  Map, yes. All the features of it are unknown, we have ideas though...

  ;P

  such as...? :)

  every box will ship with a GPS satelite system to find your way

  You'll be able to scale it like the other windows. Scaling adds some writing on the map problems...

  The trick with the map is the ConSet and plugins. They MUST be dynamic and muchly much better than Daggerfalls. GA




'''    "what can bethesda tell us about vampirism at this stage in morrowind's development cycle?"

  Working on that even as we speak. We have several clans defined...

  ... and the clans all have charming gameplay and story hook features.

  The vampires are NOT on the main story line...

  but they are right enough to provide a lot of freedorm gameplay for the vampire lover.

  Oh. And we reveal the secret origin story of vamprires... ga




   How will physics in the game be handled? In an arcadey fashion, or something perhaps more true to life? I mean, no need to go so far as, say, Trespasser attempted to, but it would be nice to see some realistic stuff (ie: no 3-mile jumps, a la Daggerfall)..

  Real physics. No. Fantasy physics, yes. If you have a high acrobatics skill you can jump super humanly far. GA



    How is climbing implemented? Is it any different than Daggerfall? Are there tools to help climbing, such as rope?

  Climbing is getting refined into other skills. No ropes though. Leaning toward magic for that kind of stuff (levitation, flying), cool stuff. GA



    I still wanna know how much mp3 control we have with the editor... as in suddenly playing sections of music for moods (ie fighting, exploring, resting)

  Game handles the mood music. There are 2 modes...

  exploring and battle music...

  If you want something else (I enter temple and get X mp3) you script it. GA

  "I" will be composing ALL the music on my speak and spell

  ET phone home

  Morrowind will have electronic keyboard preset beats.

  You know, reggea, salsa, foxtrot...



    Will guards (and other NPCs) have to actually see and/or hear the player in order to know that they are doing something illegal (unlike Daggerfall)?

  Someone has to tell a guard that something illegal is going on.

  If no one observes the crime, there is no crime. ga



    Okay, how will we pick a target (eg head) in combat? Will it just be point and shoot?'''

  uhhh...

  Currenly picks the center of the screen with a little randomness...

  So if the left arm is facing you, you'll hit it...

  we've added some up/down randomness to keep you from hitting people in the head so easily. When do you want the new info? GA



    What kinds of neato new theivery features can we all look forward to? Hiding in shadows? Increased emphasis on sound perhaps?

  Well, we got traps and locked doors, unlike Daggerfall.

  The main feature for stealth-based gameplay is fatigue and encumbrance.

  Guys will want to travel light to be hot thieves. And they'll make heavily armored louts very sad.

  um, he meant Ultima, ya, thats it

  Sound is not a gameplay feature... but stealth and sneaking is a more important aspect of gameplay...

  than in Daggerfall or Arena. GA



    Will there be things in the wilderness worth exploring for (ie. quests, artifacts) not prompted by a quest?

  oh god yes.

  YES!!!!

  YES

  Exploration rocks.

  rocks

  We are spending lots and lots of resources and time on making freefrom gameplay rock...

  The entire world is unique and worth exploring

  and exploration, anbd wothwhile payoffs, are fundamental to freefrom excellence.

  GA



  New info....

  oh you want to do that now?

  Yes

  ok, it's your show :)

  Good discussion topic as to why and how we made it..

  WormGod_at_BS draws back the iron curtain........

  We've been trying to work out how everyone could play beast races (khajiits and argonians)....

  and Gary is retarded.

  and deformed

  Oh wait. sorry. You CAN choose to play a khajiit and argonian and they KICK ASS...

  and Todd rides the short bus

  really? so in the single player game, straight out of the box, we'll be able to play as the beast races?

  We have updated the anim system (which was huge) to handle double jointed legs and tails. This is not trivial...

  Yes, single player. You can play them (wait till you see the screen shots)...

  haha, tease :) when?

  The main issue previously is the npc/clothing system. So we've redone some stuff purley based on fan reaction to wanting to play them...

  so yes we read the forums and you all have made a difference...

  gee, thanks Todd *sigh*

  but if you ask me for Multiplayer again I will kill Matt (random choice..sorry Matt). I'll let Mav talk abou the animation and look of them...

  please don't ask again

  two main things we'll talk about here...animating and the whole story stuff...

  hi all.... well the cats and lizard people will be cool....

  Now we have a complete animation system for the beast races and a different one for the "normal" people...

  They will be able to run faster jump higher and be very beast- like... which I think will add a lot to the immersion

  ga

  Adding Khajiit and Argonian PCs is a big deal. Adds a lot of new quests and gameplay opportunities.

  And also gives us a chance to introduce more of the subtle backstories of the beast races...

  that we've been working on for years.

  GA



    Yay! So will there be any of the different types of khajiit, or just one variety?

  They have different heads and hairs... and tastes in moon sugar... just like everyone else.

  Ga

  Sorry I'm late. :}

  Chris introduce yourself...

  Hello, all... I'm Chris, one of the programmers for Morrowind. :)



    Can you explain the rational of having armour skills, how will these differ from the dodge skill?

  Its similar, but...

  it keeps people in character without the silly "mages can't use this"...

  if you don't have a Heavy Armor skill...

  you'll be worse off than if you didn't wear it at all...

  we're moving away from "you can't do this" to "you suck at this"....

  also helps us balance the thieves better. GA



'''  ok, just to clear something up since I'm getting a lot of questions: Beast races will be playable out of the box, right? So you can go home, put in the cd, and start out as a khajiit or argonian if you want?


  Yes.

  yes

  ok, thank you!



    Will the armor be more vaired, so to allow cultural, racial, material combonations? (ie Adimentium Elven Plate, etc)?

  yes

  Yes!!!! and Yes!!! they all look different not just the same ol thing with different colors slapped on them...

  Yes, armor styles -- and distinctive virtues of those armors-- are specific to different cultures.

  all armor will be painstakingly crafted to look individual and of course.... COOL!!!

  and might I add.... the armor looks GREAT!

  Good setting flavor, and good gameplay.

  GA

  It does! :)



    With so many different races, especially now with the Khajitt and Argonians, will the affects of Vampirism and Lycanthropy differ from race to race?

  No, vampirisim is a disease which affects all man-like and elf-like races alike. Of course, the different races look different.

  GA

  yo Ted!

  Ted Peterson. Lead Designer on Daggerfall...

  ted is one of us, in a special artistic guru way.

  ga



    How will the beast races start out, as a slave working your way up? Will they start the same as other races?

  No, all beast races are Imperial citizens, and no0t subject to slavery.

  Slavery is legal in Morrowind, but not in the rest of the Empire...

  The PC arrives as an outsider, new to Morrowind. GA



    I assume that there will be consequences to playing a slave race? Reputation, reactions, etc? Congrats on solving your inverse kinematics puzzle.

  Many NPCs will not look on beast races with favor or honor.

  But half the NPCS encountered in Morrowind are of Imperial extraction anyway, since...

  the area you play in has been extensively colonized by Imperials. GA



  So are you planning to implement distinct architectural styles, maybe even Khajiit and Argonian styles now that they are included? Will we see beast race settlements?

  Morrowind has no love for beast races remember.... so why would they want their architecture there> Geez no! GA



  Can you talk any more about the character creation process? I'm getting tons of questions about it

  For example, can we select body types, facial features, etc.?'''

  It's gonna be cool! ;)

  best revealed later (ummm......

  ok ok :)

  CGW is doing a big story (January issue?) a little of it in there. Jeff Green was just here...

  and I don;t want to screw him...you know what I mean. GA

  cool, ok ;)



  Has there been any further thought on the subject of a model importer/exporter?

  so people can create their own models and import them into the game?

  yes..Gary..

  Plenty of thought and planning, but still not too sure about how much we will implement for user support. More will come later on this. GA



'''    Will NPCs be able to teach us skills and spells? Will we be able to find long lost spells, not available at the mage's guild?

  Yes. 

  NPCS teach the skills they know best. And there will be some spells that are VERY hard to find...

  since they are only known to a few individuals. GA



    will bethesda soon release a music sample? :-)

  no. GA

  but you CAN milk animals

  willwebeabletomilkanimals is now known as WHOOHOO



    "will we be able to play as a lich,and will necromancy be in the game?"

  todd...

  Lich. No. Necromancy.....uhhhh...[silence]. GA



    what kind of spells are we gonna get? DF spells were quite limited, will there be summoning spells in MW?'''

  todd again...

  Can't talk about the magic system much yet...

  as far as specific effects...

  You'll hear more on that later. Sorry for now. GA



    Will there be a dev guide for the construction set? How extensive will the help file or manual be?

  Yes, good help files come with it. GA

  I managed to jump right in to building areas after just reading through the help files for about half an hour



    Asking: How will the dungeon automap be handled? Similar to Daggerfall or easier to read?

  Closer to Battlespire's. But dynamic. Hasn't been implemented yet. GA



    How many of the monsters included in the game will have non-humanoid features such as multiple arms, legs etc..

  Todd says I can say "many." GA



    will bars and taverns be cool, with lots of iteraction and fun to be had?

  no. GA

  bars suck

  LOL

  i drink alone at home like a REAL man



    Question: will there be Fire Physics? Web Physics?

  There will be fantasy coputer role playing game fire physics. Einstein will be disappointed. GA



    will building ownership entail more than it did in Dagger(if its included)? Will we be able to tailor a building inside that our character has purchased?

  We expect people to carpet the floors in gold coins. GA

  Martha Stewart Sim

  You can drop your stuff...but you can't carry furniture, so not really. GA



'''    Going down the line of developers, what's the one feature you wish you could have had but can't because of time/tech issues

  installer....:)

  UNinstaller

  The guards yelling HALT! HALT!

  DEtailed modeling of moral and philosophical elements of human personality. GA



    When stuff is dropped, does it look like it should, or will we get a generic "treasure box" sprite, like in DF?

  Yes it does



    Will we have to go out an find the adventure? Or will there be random events in which adventure comes to us? For instance, can we sit in a tavern minding our own business and at some completely random time have a complete stranger walk up to us and ask us if we would like to join him on a quest or something?'''

  Strangers don't come up to you with quests....

    Why does everyone hate me?

  lol

  You are the agent and explorer. Having guys force quests on you is theatrical, but...

  not good gameplay.

  GA

  When was the last time someone came up to you at McDonalds and asked you to help them locate their lost treasure



    will the inventory system be limited purely buy weight, or will mass and volume come into play a well?

  In an abstract sense. Encumbrance reflects bulk as well as mass. GA

  (AFK) Away From Keyboard :)

  hurry! take his keyboard!

  Weight only. GA

  The ice cream maker timer went off... I have to add the peanutbutter...

  loser



    Will it be possible to create new playable races with the editor? For example could you take a skeleton model, give it some stats, and then play as it?

  Kind of...

  You can make your own races, but you'll need art define..so could make a skeleton race...

  out of art the game comes with...

  or make your own art...

  or say, make a race out of crates..

  GA

  we have no crates

  Sorry, Matt said crates are banned. Time for one more question...

  It's late in Rockville

  Todd is putting our shackels back on as we speak



'''    what kind of damage can PC's dole out to NPC's? Will it just be location based, or will it be more graphic, such as dismemberment? also, will npc's have pain animations (ie stab a guy in the leg, he begins to limp around)?'''

  The hit locations...

  animate, but there is no dismemberment...

  No limping either, but you can tell when you hit them in the legs (when you actually hit them). GA

  I have a question about that.. will it be bloody?

  Blood. yes. GA



  ok, thanks to everyone from Bethesda for joining us tonight, for longer than we had planned ;) And thanks to everyone who came and submitted questions!

  You are quite welcome

  :)

  Thanks so much guys! It's really appreciated

  I should have the log posted on my site (morrowind.telefragged.com) within an hour or so.

  must ...... go home..... and sleep now

  yes, thank you for your time

  Thanks everyone!!

  Farewell, folk. and thanks...

  go get some sleep gary

  :)

  thanks everyone!!

  we'll now be returning to unmoderated

  so everyone who didn't get a question asked can flame me :)

  Bye all!

  Good evening everybody!

  thanks, kathode!!

  thanks again