>Gamespot/Gamepen
>
>Some Introductory Questions on the Exile Series:
>
>1. 	For the past couple of years, the Exile games have consistently
>been praised in the role-playing game newsgroup
>(comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg) as the best shareware RPGs available.
> Notwithstanding almost universal praise in the usenet for the Exile
>games, I'm sure a lot of RPG fans who aren't newsgroup groupies don't
>know much about the Exile series.
>
>Here's my capsule overview of the initial trilogy of Exile games: very
>traditional-style, party-based, third-person perspective, turn-based
>computer role-playing games, set in large fantasy gaming worlds, with
>gameplay and graphics similar to Ultimas 4-6 from Origin Systems, Inc.
> True or false?

Couldn't have put it any better myself. Basically, I try to write games
like we had 'em in the good old days, but to improve on them as best I can.
Games really advanced in the early years, in temrs of plot, scope of world,
ease of use, etc., but, at some point, the playability evolution ceased,
replaced instead by a focus on ever fancier graphics and sounds. This is
great for many people, but not all.

I don't have any problem with games with really fancy graphics. I often
play them myself. However, I also wish there were more games that put lots
and lots of energy in a detailed comprehensive story and in providing the
smoothest, simplest interface they can.

This is what I've been trying to do. I'll be the first to admit that I've
fallen short in many ways, but I'm working on it.

>2. 	What's your background in computer gaming?  How many other people
>work with you at Spiderweb Software, Inc.?

I've played computer games ever since the heady Eamon days of the Apple
II+. I was a computer game fanatic during my formative years. When I wasn't
playing and analyzing them, I was writing them.
As for Spiderweb Software, right now it's two full timers and an assortment
of freelance artists. We may get another full-timer early next year when
Nethergate comes out.

>3. 	Tell us a bit about the setting for the series, the subterranean
>"morlock-ian" world of Exile?

Well, basically, the surface is run by the Empire, this mammoth, benevolent
dictatorship. Everyone who doesn't fit in, the misfits, the petty
criminals, the malcontents, are thrown into this one-way teleporter in
Exile, this mammoth series of caverns far below the world's surface. There
they build their warrens, sturggle to survive, and then, eventually, rebel
and gain revenge and freedom.

Exile I-III has a pretty big, epic sort of storyline. I'm really proud of
it. Then Blades of Exile is three short stories set in the same world,
expanding on some themes and stories hinted at earlier.

>4. 	The first three Exile games, "Exile: Escape from the Pit", "Exile
>II: Crystal Souls" and "Exile III: Ruined World" successively
>developed both the Exile story line and the engine used by the series.
>  How did the series evolve over the course of the trilogy, both in
>terms of gameplay and technology?

Up and up. Prettier, smoother, and more detailed. Exile III is a very
elaborate game, especially when compared with Exile. Each game was built on
the foundation of the previous one, adding more and more neat things (such
as earning money by doing courier jobs, or being able to split characters
off from the party to do mini-quests).

>5. 	The latest game in the Exile series, Blades of Exile, is not an
>outright sequel to the Exile series, but is instead a fantasy
>role-playing "system", which allows gamers to construct their own
>adventures.  What made you decide to make a construction kit available
>instead of making another sequel?

It seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought it would be a fascinating
challenge and different enough from what I'd been doing before to be a good
break. Plus, people had been bugging me for it for YEARS.

>6. 	Since a portion of each of the Exile games has been released as
>shareware or as a demo, gamers always have an opportunity to try out
>each title prior to purchasing the full game.  How large are the
>shareware/demo versions of the Exile games?

Each is about a third of the full game. These are huge games, too, so it's
an awful lot of free stuff. And believe me, a lot of people play all of the
free parts of all of the games before they even send in a dime. Not that
there's anythign wrong with that, of course, but it is pretty funny.

>Questions about Blades of Exile:
>
>7. 	What improvements did you make to Blades of Exile over the initial
>Exile trilogy?

Well, to be honest, not too much beyond the character editor. People really
loved the Exile III engine, and I didn't want to muck with it too much. The
big change is the ability to run custom scenarios, which required a huge
amount of under the hood tinkering.

>8. 	Interestingly, although Blades of Exile certainly has enough
>gameplay depth to satisfy the most demanding of RPG grognards, there
>are only three different races to choose from when creating a
>character (uh, which is still two more choices than Might and Magic VI
>or recent Ultima games have offered). Why did you limit the available
>races to Human, Nephilim and Slithzerikai, and what are each race's
>relative strengths and weaknesses?

Because I didn't want to put a race into the game until I was ready to
fully flesh it out. The Nephilim, the sliths, the vahnatai, each of the
major races in Exile has a developed religion, customs, history, the whole
nine yards. I wanted to have a smaller number of races and have the player
really know who they're playing.

Plus, I hate the whole Tolkien thing of the standard
human/elf/half-elf/dwarf/halfling/gnome/whatever thing, where there's all
these races and you don't know who any of them are.

This was the first thing I decided when writing Exile: NO ELVES.

As for what they're like, the nephilim are cat people, the sliths are
lizard people, and the vahnatai are just plain weird. And if you poke
around in their towns, you can find a remarkable amount of information
about what they're like. I'm also, for what it's worth, very fond of all of
them.

>9. 	The detailed character creation and development systems are a real
>strength of Blades of Exile, in my opinion.  Instead of a traditional
>system where players choose from a variety of pre-set character
>classes, Blades of Exile uses a "skill-based" system, which allows
>players to completely individualize their characters by choosing from
>numerous available skills.  Your characters may also have specific
>character traits, such as being ambidextrous or exceptionally strong.
> How many different skills and traits are there, and why did you opt
>for a skill-based system as opposed to a character class system?

About 25 skills and 15 traits. I just really liked the open-endedness of
it. I loved the ability to have a fighter with a touch of magery, or a
thief who's a mean assassin as well. Helps people make the sort of people
they really want to be playing.

>10. 	How does Blades of Exile handle conversations with non-player
>characters?

Standard early Ultima recipe. In Exile III, the character says something
and you click on the word to ask about it.

>11. 	How many monster types are there in Blades of Exile?

Ooh. About 200, with the ability to make many more (with custom graphics).
There's about 50 special abilities and piles of stats, so the potential for
different sorts of funky monsters has barely been scrathed.

>12. 	Blades of Exile features a wide variety of both "Mage" and
>"Priest" spells. Discuss the spell-casting system and some of the
>different spells that are available in the game.

There are 124 spells, half Mage and half Priest, split into seven levels.
They range from the standard "Blow crap up" to blessing and hasting (very
strong in Exile), to everyone's favorite: Capture Soul. Basically, you can
save an image of a monster you meet, and create copies of that monster
later on. People do the WILDEST stuff with this spell, saving copies of all
of the most powerful monsters and thrashing everyone with them. This spell
will SO be in Nethergate.

You can also make magical barriers, summon monsters to aid you, and make
more food. There's a LOT of spells, maybe like 60 more than there strictly
need to be.

>13. 	Are there any characters, monsters, locations or items that are
>derived from mythology, medieval folklore or traditional role-playing
>game sources?  Or are they largely original creations?

Largely original. As I said, NO ELVES. I really tried to go all out to make
the races fresh and interesting.

As for inspiration, nothing is better than the New York Times. Never found
a better source of ideas than that.

>14. 	Discuss the graphics engine used by Blades of Exile and how your
>party of characters can interact with the gaming world.

Icons. Mmmm. Icons, icons, and more icons. Top down view. And icons.

To be honest, it's nowhere near as interactive as, say, Ultima VII. The
bulk of my energy went into world design and writing dialogue and
descriptions. Exile III, for example, has almost 200000 words of text, or
enough to fill a pretty hefty novel. One thing about Exile ... it gives a
user a pretty good idea of what I, personally, like in a game. Not, of
course, that anyone should care. But people have seemed to like the Exile
games. :-)

>15. 	What kind of sound/music does the game feature?

Sound effects. No music. This is one of the times where I write the game
according to my personal preferences. I hate music in games. It always
drives me up the wall. I always shut off the music and play my own CDs. I
hate music in games. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

So I leave music out of my games. It's not rational. It's a personal thing.
Oh, plus when I did try to add it, the game became less stable. I'm not a
very good programmer.

>16. 	Have you considered adding an automatic note-taking or mapping
>features?

All of the games have a full automap and note-taking features. Nethergate
will have a much more sophisitcated mechanism for this.

>17. 	Blades of Exile comes with three complete scenarios and, of
>course, the scenario editor which allows gamers to create their own
>adventures.  How large are the three scenarios that come with the
>game?

All together, they're about 2/3 of the size of Exile III. Considering how
bloated Exile III was, this is probably a good thing.

>18. 	By using the scenario editor, gamers have been creating their own
>Blades of Exile adventures.  Already there are over a dozen new
>scenarios available on your website, including an additional one
>you've created.  Will you continue to post additional scenarios that
>gamers submit, and/or add your own scenarios?  Tell us a bit about the
>scenario creation contest you're running...

We're pretty busy on Nethergate and won't create any more Blades of Exile
scenarios in-house. However, we'll keep evaluating and posting people's
scenarios for as long as they come in. The scenario contest is pretty
straight-forward. It ends in November. At that point, the best scenario
nets its creator $500. Second place gets $300, third gets $200, and the
next few get products.

>Some Questions about Nethergate:
>
>19. 	Your next role-playing game project marks a departure from the
>Exile series, and will be set in our very own, lovable world, in 60
>A.D. Great Britain. But instead of a straight-forward historical game
>(such as that RPG cult-favorite, Darklands), you intend to still
>include fantasy and magical elements.  Can you give us a few more
>tidbits on the plot of Nethergate?

Well, faeries are real, but they aren't doing very well. As humans swarm
over the globe, the few survivors are trying to escape to other realms, and
a small Celt tribe is trying to help them. On the other side, a nearby
Roman fort has found out what's going on, and becomes involved. It's half
historical, half magical and twisted.

One interesting thing is that you can play a Roman or Celtic party, and the
adventure is entirely different depending on what you choose. You get to
see both sides of the same story.

>20. 	Quite uniquely, Nethergate will allow you to adventure with a
>group of Romans or a group of Celts, effectively playing either side
>in an ongoing conflict.  How will the game vary depending upon which
>side you choose to play?  Will all of the settings, encounters, etc.
>still be the same?

The settings will be the same, but how you interact with them will be
entirely different. The three crones, for example, will hire you and help
you if they're ROmans, and curse and interfere with you if you're Celts.
Also, your skills and abilities will be very different.

>21. 	What kind of creatures and monsters do you intend to feature in
>Nethergate?

Romans. Celts. Faeries. Wild animals. Giant, intelligent, friendly talking
spiders. Ogres and goblins. Other fantasy stuff, still in development.

>22. 	Will the character creation and development systems in Nethergate
>be similar to those you've used in the Exile series?

Very similar, but smoother and more advanced.

>23. 	Will the manner in which your characters interact with the gaming
>world and non-player characters be substantially similar to Exile's
>gameplay?  How many NPCs will be included in Nethergate?

The graphics will be much nicer and the view will be more 3d (sort of 45
degrees from above), but a lot of the system will be similar. There will be
less NPCs, but much more developed. Their reactions will change a lot more
depending on events.

>24. 	How will magical and fantasy elements and spells play a role in
>Nethergate?

The Celts have picked up a lot of magical tricks from the faeries. Romans,
on the other hand, will have to rely on their much more advanced weapons
and training. In the valley of Nethervale, magic is very present.

>25. 	Will the graphics in Nethergate be presented from top-down,
>third-person perspective? What sort of music/sound effects do you
>contemplate including with the game?

Yes, a really pretty 45 degree view. It's looking very nice. I'm also going
to try to get really nice sounds effects. As always, though, no music.

>26. 	 What sort of user interface will Nethergate include?   Will it
>be customizable?  Will it include any note-taking or mapping
>features?

An extremely smooth and elegant user interface, with advanced automap and
note taking capabilites. I'm trying to make the interface as tight, smooth,
and seamless as I can.

>27. 	Do you also intend to distribute a portion of Nethergate as
>shareware?

Definitely. First 1/4 - 1/3.

>28. 	What's your target release date for Nethergate?

Mac - January, 1999. Windows - April, 1999. In general, I've been extremely
good at hitting within a month of my release date. Nethergate, however, is
a much bigger job than usual, so we'll see.

>Finally...
>
>29. 	 What do you think about the latest trend in role-playing games
>(and games in general)  towards multiplayer and online games?

Oooh. There's going to be blood on the walls. Too much. Too many
competitors, for a service it's not yet determined that there'll be much
demand for.

The computer game industry is very fad driven. Right now, online and
multiplayer are the big things. Less competition for me. :-)

>30. 	What are two features (perhaps among many) which you believe set
>the Exile series (and Nethergate) apart from other role-playing games?

i. The intricate, detailed plot and writing.
ii. The classic computer rpg quality.

>32. 	Ever consider developing a game in a different genre, a non-RPG?

Many times. Just never gotten around to it yet. Someday.

>33. 	Have you made any decisions concerning your next project after
>Nethergate?  Is there another Exile game in Spiderweb's future?  If
>so, are you contemplating any significant departures from the current
> design of the series?

The Exile thing is done. I set out to tell one epic story, did it, and was
content with the results. I want to move on. It may not be the most
lucrative decision, but it's the only way I can see to avoid burnout.

As for after Nethergate, I'm thinking about maybe Nethergate II, or a
science fiction rpg. I have no idea which.

>34. 	Speaking of Spiderweb, what the heck's with that guy at
>Spiderweb.com, who's trying to auction off the domain name?  Have you
>had any dealings with him?

Ah, you mean mister "Please bid $50000 for this URL and basically useless
trademark!" Nope. No dealings at all. www.spidweb.com has been working just
fine for me, and I don't have that kind of money to throw around.

>Thanks again for taking the time to consider these questions.

No problem! I love talking about myself! :-)

- Jeff Vogel
Spiderweb Software, Inc.
http://www.spidweb.com