Q&A with representatives from Ubisoft and Limbic on Celestial Heavens:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=838Rough translation:
Kalah: Many fans of the Might and Magic series have passionately wished to see John Van Caneghem return to game creation. Is Ubisoft considering a conversation with him about future collaboration?Gary Pawlini: Indeed, we met John Van Caneghem at GamesCom last year while presenting Might & Magic X – Legacy. It was truly a wonderful meeting (and a great moment for Julien, as he is a devoted fan). At that time, he was working on Command & Conquer for EA. We haven't had the opportunity to contact him since MMXL's release. We believe he is currently working on new projects and sincerely wish him all the best in the future. We are sure that whatever he creates next will be amazing!
Kalah: A question specifically for Limbic. You started by taking over the development of Heroes VI, then independently developed MMX, and now you've been tasked with developing Heroes VII. Would you say this is your biggest task so far? What have you learned over the last couple of years working on other games in the MM franchise?Stefan Winter: First and foremost, Heroes VII is certainly the largest project in our collaboration with Ubi. For us, it's great to be on board from the very beginning of development all this time. And on Ubi's side, we have many familiar faces working with us once again - which is great!
From a development standpoint, from Heroes VI and its adventure packs, we learned to be smarter about how we create content. On one hand, creating content is always a labor-intensive process, but on the other hand, I am sure we made several good decisions regarding the engine, editor tools, and especially the connection between those writing the story and our level designers. As far as I can tell right now, it seems to be working quite well. At the moment, we are not concerned about the number of maps we are releasing. We are still looking for a way to add one or two new people to the level design team, but overall the entire team has done an amazing job ensuring that we can build maps and campaigns for Heroes VII. In general, we (hopefully) learned how not to fall into the content trap!
Even if Legacy was a different team in terms of company and scope, we are drawing benefits from it for Heroes VII. Legacy gave us the opportunity to complete one production cycle with Ubi - including all necessary processes from translation, quality assurance, marketing, community work, etc. We had a very productive post-mortem analysis with the Ubi team about what went right and wrong, and I am sure we will benefit from this. For example, the idea of allowing fans to vote for two of the Heroes factions, plus the Shadow Council approach, is based on our first experience with what we did on a smaller scale with Legacy during Open Dev.
Kalah: What can you tell us about skills and the magic system?Gary Pawlini: Too early to say! Some things are still being discussed at an internal level, and it would be a shame to announce things that won't be in the final game.
Xavier Penin: The biggest piece of information is that spells are once again outside the skill system and must be learned in town guilds, buildings on the adventure map, or from other heroes. Players can complete their hero's spell collection by exploring the map or completing a campaign. Heroes have classes (like Paladin) and this determines their skills. They also have a faction skill.
Skills have a global effect and offer access to abilities that have a more specialized effect. Upon leveling up, a player can spend a point to upgrade a skill or buy an ability. You cannot have everything, so you must make choices: you can specialize or try to be balanced.
Also, skills are divided into Might, Magic, and neutral categories and align with the Hero's class.
Kalah: Tell us about the editors; - Will a map editor be released along with the game?
Gary Pawlini: Yes, the map editor will be released with the game! In fact, the map editor should be viewed as a core feature of the main game, and we are putting in a lot of effort and love to make it as accessible as possible for players. We will give you more detailed information very soon.
- Fans were disappointed with the H6 editor and hardly any maps were made for the game; will the editor be better this time?
Gary Pawlini: Well... The simplest answer is: YES, plain and simple. As I said, we are putting a lot of effort into designing and developing the map editor. Additionally, we are currently engaging experienced map makers to help us improve the user experience (including UI) and test the map editor.
But keep in mind that it's always easier said than done. So, instead of boasting and trying to overpromise, I would simply say this: you can be the judge when the game comes out!
- What about a random map generator?
Gary Pawlini: As I mentioned, we are really working hard on the map editor! We will provide you with more detailed information as soon as we can.
- Can the editor be used to make a campaign with transferred heroes?
Gary Pawlini: We would certainly like for a campaign editor to be there from the start, and that is something we are considering. However, I don't want to say or promise anything since we are still very far from release.
Xavier Penin: In fact, a campaign editor is planned, and it would allow transferring heroes, as well as artifacts and other data used for storytelling.
Kalah: Is there an online system? What about DRM?Gary Pawlini: I think the question is more - will the game use Uplay? Am I wrong? But seriously, Uplay is part of Ubisoft's corporate strategy, so it will be part of Heroes VII.
However, as we mentioned earlier, Uplay no longer means a permanent connection. Just like in Steam, you must connect once to activate your game, and then you can play offline as much as you want. This will be the case in Heroes VII.
Xavier Penin: The game will feature classic online modes and perhaps even more.
Kalah: Combat system and battlefield - what can you tell us about this?Gary Pawlini: There are really many things to say regarding those topics. I don't want to give too many details since we will reveal them anyway through the Shadow Council website. You should definitely keep a close eye on it to get as much information as possible. Instead, I'll just drop a few teasing words: different battle map layouts, obstacles, various victory conditions... and flanking strikes!
In principle, we aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but are using battles from previous Heroes titles as a foundation to build upon, hoping to bring some interesting changes to the battlefield.
Xavier Penin: The motto of the combat system in H7 is fewer abilities, more tactics. We want dynamic battles with movement, risk, and sacrifice. We want to encourage attacks and reward smart unit placement and use of space. Also, we want to strongly emphasize each faction's combat style through faction skills, as well as creature stats and abilities. Another big theme is the variety of battle maps and NPC formations. You will encounter unexpected terrain and enemy formations, diverse armies using special tactics.
Kalah: Lineup; - Which factions?
Gary Pawlini: If you've seen the trailer (and we certainly hope you have!), you already know that 6 factions are planned for Heroes VII. Four of them were chosen earlier due to production constraints: Haven (as usual, I'd say), Academy (finally making its big return!), Necropolis and Stronghold. At the same time, the remaining two factions are not carved in stone, and in fact, we chose to let fans decide what they want to see in the game. Right now, voting is taking place on the Shadow Council website, offering fans a choice between the Elven Union and Fortress, which will be followed by other votes (such as the second implementable one, which will affect the plot, environment, lineup, and abilities). Basically, we are letting fans be a huge part of the development process, allowing them to help make the part of Heroes they want. So don't miss this opportunity and please make sure you spread the word across various communities!
- Units?
Gary Pawlini: You should check out the Shadow Council website, as it already contains details about the announced creatures. Stay tuned as we reveal more details during development!
Xavier Penin: The biggest news is the return of war machines in a different form, but with a role similar to what they played in the old games. You will be surprised.
- Neutrals?
Gary Pawlini: Indeed, neutrals will be part of Heroes VII. I cannot give you more details at this time, but we will make sure to make them an important part of the game.
Xavier Penin : We know how important it is to have neutrals to ensure variety in random skirmishes, but we are also counting on a variety of armies, formations, and terrain to achieve this goal.
Kalah: Game economy: what resources? Are some resources tied to specific factions?Gary Pawlini: We've done our homework and heard your feedback. There will be 7 resources in Heroes VII and some of them will be tied to certain unit tiers. So, more than ever, control over resources will be the key to success.
Xavier Penin: Some factions will need certain resources more than others, but we don't want to create bottlenecks. These factions will have means to gather their preferred resources even in difficult situations through hero abilities and town buildings.
Kalah: What will the campaign be about? Where are we on the MM timeline?Gary Pawlini: The "framing" story of Might & Magic Heroes VII takes place in 853 YSD. This is ten years after the fourth Eclipse and the death of Empress Miev Falcon, leaving the throne empty and the Empire in turmoil. After countless battles, threats, betrayals, and alliances, two contenders remain to claim the crown: Ivan Griffin and Seamus Deer. Now, most of you know that in the end, Ivan wins the war and becomes Emperor. What you don't know is that it almost didn't happen.
We meet Ivan in a state of self-doubt: the war has had negative effects on both his body and mind. He has seen many horrors and destructions, and he likely committed several of them himself. Now he is tired of everything, wanting to give up, declare the independence of his duchy, and leave the Empire to Seamus. But just as he is about to make this fateful decision, his advisors (among them a few familiar faces) begin to tell him stories of heroes of the past who, like Ivan, faced impossible choices.
These stories are the six campaigns of Heroes VII, each focusing on a key moment in the history of one specific faction... And that is all we will say for now.
Kalah: Who is doing the music? Will the fans' favorite duo King/Romero return?Gary Pawlini: Heroes aren't Heroes without Rob and Paul. So they will certainly return... oh, sorry, I should have said they've already returned, as some of their new compositions could be heard during the demo version presented at GamesCom.
Rock Chen, a composer who worked on the Heroes VI adventure packs as well as MMX – Legacy, also contributed several songs to the game.
Kalah: System requirements?Gary Pawlini: Hard to say right now since the game is still in development, changes are being made, and features are being added. Nevertheless, we are focusing a lot on system requirements to ensure that the game can be run on various computers.
