Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Community Q&A #12

Another community Q&A for 38 Studios’ open-world action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning gets released on a Wednesday as customary, the subjects this time being the way daggers are implemented, the most tested skill trees, the ways the team breathed life in the game’s creatures, the blocking mechanics and more. Here’s a generous sampling:

Q: I was wondering how much work would be involved to program creatures to have herding patterns in the game? Basically, I wonder if it was possible to make creatures wander the region a little bit more than just being in a pocket conveniently around a corner, versus maybe you encounter a pack of wolves who are hunting along an open field chasing chickens or something along those lines? It’s a bit of a letdown as you travel about and creatures are just waiting to die. If that would be too much work, maybe your team could brainstorm on ways to keep the enemy’s engaged in some activity as you come upon them, unless they’re sleeping or ambushing you. Also, it would be great if your artists could create some bed rolls or camp fires for the enemies in their little posts. By Falkon

A: It’s astounding when I think about how much work it took to get creatures to be fun to fight, and it can be even more work to breathe that life into them, and give them personalities and that sense of being real. Our combat team has spent many months brainstorming and creating all sorts of behaviors for each character in the game. And then our level and world designers put a lot of thought and creativity into how these are used.

Every creature, enemy, and ally has special activities that they do when they are living their lives in the world. Sometimes it’s as simple as a sleeping Barghest, or a bear rolling in the grass, or a wolf eating a corpse of some dead animal. Other characters can take on complicated actions like bartending, patrolling, farming, cooking, and the list goes on (including camp fires, bed rolls, and many, many others).

Some of the most fun I’ve had working on Reckoning was just running through the game with the environment designers and brainstorming ways to get the creatures and enemies to feel more alive and interesting. Naturally, everyone brings their own ideas to the table, and we end up with a rich world full of life, surprises, and story.

One idea that had me in laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe was when I discovered that Jess Hara Campbell (Principal World Designer) gave a bandit a burning desire to relieve himself on a Lorestone. This particular Lorestone overlooks a beautiful vista, and is an excellent spot for a stealth kill if you happen to come across the dirty vandal. By Joe “JoeQ” Quadara, Lead Combat Designer

Q: Block almost seems non-directional. I am sure it is possible Joe is just that good, but watching the Brigand’s Hall demo, there was clearly a second where he was blocking, facing one Niskaru, and the other came in 180 degrees behind him, but it still blocked. Was he just that quick or do you block and or parry no matter if you are facing the enemy or not as long as you have the button held down or you time it right (for parry)? By Darksend

A: You are correct. Blocking and parrying do not require any directional input. As long as you hold the button down you will continue to block. But don’t think that it’s too easy! The difficulty with blocking and parrying really comes from whether you’re committed to a strong attack or not.

Your basic weapon attacks can be canceled immediately into a block or parry, but they aren’t very damaging. Your most damaging attacks are your weapon combo finishers, unlocked weapon special attacks, and magic abilities. Once you begin one of these larger attacks, you are giving up the luxury of being able to block instantly, thus making yourself vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Blocking isn’t perfect defense, either! Shields can only block a flat amount of damage, so you can’t go up against, say, a high-level Rock Troll and expect to block every attack without taking any damage. On top of that, some of the larger enemy attacks will force your shield out to the side, and open you up to a follow-up attack for a brief moment. We call these attacks “block breaking” and the only way to get out of harm’s way after being pushed back with one of these is to dodge or teleport out of the way. By Joe “JoeQ” Quadara, Lead Combat Designer