Following a bit of a developer blog hiatus, Shiro Games brings us a fairly extensive community Q&A for their upcoming mercenary RPG Wartales. If you’d like to know more about the game’s approach to firearms, magic, procedural generation, and more, you should check it out.
Attention Mercenaries!
Welcome to a very special Q&A with the wartales devs, where we tackle the questions that you guys want answered!
This week, we’re addressing all of the questions you guys have all been leaving us since the announcement of a Wartales AMA last week, covering topics such as co-op, the size of the world, helmets, loot, Early Access and betas…
Read on to find out more!
How many professions will there be?
We can’t give a definitive answer for the final release, but at the moment we have 9 professions and the plan is to add more.
Will there be some kind of battle limit like in the demo?
Once the game releases into Early Access, there will be absolutely no limits on how long you can play the game or explore the world for. The 7 battle limitiation was strictly for the demo.
Will Medieval Firearms such as Handgonnes or Arquebuses be implemented into the game? Thank your for the opportunity to ask the question, can’t wait for the Beta release!
For now, we don’t have medieval firearms in the game but we have powder that can be used to craft some primary explosives. It is a possibility.
Will there be some form of procedural generation like in BB?
The game is designed to make the designed content (narrative, ruins, arenas, …) interact with a whole host of systemic content (bounty hunts, rat invasions, hideouts, …). Almost all of the combat maps are procedurally generated.
Hello, will there be Russian?
Да.
Will you be able to use magic in combat?
In the world of Wartales, you won’t find magic, strictly speaking. Nobody is able to cast fireballs or teleport. Nevertheless, you will find fantastical elements, events or enemies, such as the ghost pack, the ruin crawlers and way more to discover. Maybe they are not that fantastical when you know the truth… A crude science based on newly discovered explosive powder and pestiferous alchemical reagents will allow you to achieve certain things in the future. Magic, no. Fantasy, yes.
Are there any plans for post launch DLC?
Right now, we are focused on the core game and creating as enjoyable and rich an experience as possible for the Early Access release and ultimately the full release next year. If, there is still demand for more wartales and we can find some compelling content to develop or a good reason for DLC, it may be something we explore, but it’s too early to think about anything like that just yet.
Will battles play on a visible (hex) grid, if not, why have you decided against it?
We wanted the player to feel free in their movements, without looking for pixel perfect movement which is often tedious. We believe that by adding a flexible grid, we give the player the opportunity to express themselves while maintaining control.
How much does the price of goods fluctuate between towns and difficulty levels? Does killing merchants influence these prices (reduced supply)?
Each town has its own production of trade goods and therefore, their own needs. Basically, a trade good that you bought somewhere can cost way more in a region where this trade good is rare. You will need to draw your own resource map to know what road is worth it.
Can all parties access the black market (referenced in previous Q&A) or only unlawful parties?
You will have to commit some petty theft in order to be contacted by a black market representative who will open his doors to you. But no worries, you won’t have to be a king of crime. But being a king of crime can open you other doors…
How big is the world of wartales going to get?
Pretty big. At least ten times what you experienced during the demo.
When’s the full release
Early Access release will be before the end of the year, full release will likely be late 2022
Does the world have a religion, or perhaps multiple religions with multiple branching sects?
A single religion dominates the world of Wartales, but some cultures have unique practices and fanatics. There are whispers that some cultists are meeting somewhere.
Will there be any helmets for your characters in the game ?
🙂
Will co op be coming to Wartales at some point in the future?
This is something we have seen a number of requests for since the announcement of the game, and we’d love to look into this down the line, so while we’re certainly not ruling anything out yet, don’t get your hopes up on seeing anything like this too soon…
Will wartales be available for macbook with m1 chip?
The game will initially only release on Windows as part of the Early Access, we might add OSX support on final release, but it will not be M1 native (x86_64 emulation layer)
Is there going to be a Hardcore Mode?
Of course. We also love dying.
Is there going to be more interaction between the inhabitans of the world? Are bandits for example also going to attack traiders or are guards going to help you if you are being attacked?
Yes. You will see that what roams the world is capable of many things.
Will it be possible to “elect” a leader for the company (and at the same time will this character gain a trait for being the leader?)
Btw: Please keep your good work up! I´m really looking forward to play Wartales as soon as Early Access starts!
Yes, you will be able to elect a captain among your companions and to choose some lieutenants too. These ranks provide unique skills and bonuses.
Are there going to be achievements?
There will be no Steam Achievements in the alpha, but they are planned for Early Access alongside having gameplay related achievements in the game.
e.g: kill 8 wolves in one fight => awards “Wolfkiller”, give attribute point for example
or “negotiations done : 100” => awards +10% chance on negotiation
Have you drawn on any real life cultures/societies? If so what effect have they had on art direction and world building?
As said in the previous Q&A the environments of Wartales are very strongly inspired by Scotland and the north of England.
To be more specific this is the inspiration for the core of the world story, the Edoran empire. Edoran is inspired by the Roman/Celtic culture, and Wales is the real life location where this civilization existed. But Wartales is not a medieval documentary so we have mixed this core inspiration with a lot of other European cultures and different eras. The world of Wartales will be composed of many specific biomes that will reflect on the various local cultures. For example The empire of Edoran is based on Wales but Harag kingdom is more based on the Scottish highland and Belerion on Iceland.
So as you travel you will see some changes in the landscape.
Will there be kingdom management?
We wanted to change the register from some of the games in the genre. We opted for the route of the mercenary band that travels the world, sets up camp in the forest and goes on an adventure. You will get a lot of camp equipment and can set up your camp as you wish. You can brew your own beer, dry your own meat or collect honey in your beehive. Think long-term for your camp. The camp is your kingdom. Small, but cosy.
Will there be “legendary” types of weapons and gear the players can get from enemies/crafting?
Yes, you will find legendary items in multiple ways.
Will there be a system of boats, navigation or something like that?
This is definitively something we have in mind…
Are there any future plans to support consoles as well?
That’s definitely something we’re thinking about should ther ebe enough demand, but we’re focusing solely on the PC version for now.
Are there going to be unique companions?
Yes,you will find unique companions with unique skills. But be careful with them. If they die, you won’t be able to find another companion like this.
Will there be different starting locations or will it always start in the same spot?
We want you to be able to choose your starting region after the first time you played. You’ll also unlock new customisation choices for your party at the start of the game, including the choice of starting classes and other initial perks. It is doable because a huge part of our content scales on your party’s level and power. Some content remains designed and you’ll need to be strong enough to take it down.
I love the style of your games and your team is doing great work! Will you have modding capability to the game?
This is something we did with Northgard after some time, so maybe we will have it for Wartales as well in a few years, but our current focus is to be able to provide all players with the best game and we have a lot of ideas of new content that could not be acheived through moddding alone.
Are you planing any backgrounds that alter gameplay ? Like cultists or one-man-army?
Definitely something we’re looking into…
Will resources respawn or will there be camps to capture to produce more?
Resources will slowly respawn but it is better for you to change region.
