Interview With Eric DeMilt on Skyforge

Part 1

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It’s amazing to see the Obsidian Entertainment team working on a free-to-play sci-fi/fantasy MMO and the Allods Team picking up a new project. I’ve been hearing nothing but excitement from those following Skyforge, and I’m excited to delve further into this game, especially after being given the honor of participating in the technical beta weekend.

Interview with Eric DeMilt, Development Director at Obsidian Entertainment.

What exactly is Skyforge all about? Skyforge is a free-to-play AAA Sci-Fi Fantasy MMORPG, with a spectacular, highly-stylized, dynamic combat system, set in a world where fantasy meets Sci-Fi and ancient mysteries live side by side with cutting-edge technologies. In Skyforge players will be transported to a stunning universe where mortals and immortals fight for survival against invading gods and their armies. Does Skyforge aim to set itself apart from the traditional MMO we see popping up a lot lately? Particularly the free-to-play MMOs? Skyforge is unique in several key areas. First off, characters in Skyforge do not possess traditional “levels” used in other MMOs to dictate a character’s linear progression path. This is thanks to the game’s progression system and the Ascension Atlas, which allows players countless character development choices and paths; including the ability to unlock, play and develop multiple classes with just a single character. Second, is the spectacular dynamic combat system inspired by the best in console action games. Third is becoming a god and unlocking your God-Form. In Skyforge, you’re working your way up to becoming a “god”. Can you explain a little more about that system and what happens after a player has reached that point? As players progress in Skyforge; completing adventures, gaining prestige (a character’s measured power) and developing their followers they will eventually be able to unlock their God Form. This is a high-end unlock and will require a lot of work to achieve, but it is well worth the effort. Once unlocked, players will have the ability to use their God Form during gameplay. The God Form itself, is a unique physical appearance, in which your character is larger, exceedingly more powerful, and has much stronger resistances than when in normal form. Players using their God Form should look and be “over the top” powerful, wreaking havoc with their divine powers. In addition, unlocking your God Form unlocks an entirely new matrix of additional progression in the ascension atlas and confers additional benefits, like crafting unique items and objects by your followers, and the ability to heal & switch from class-to-class in-combat. How exactly does a player go about getting these “worshippers” in Skyforge? Is it possible to lose worshippers once you’ve gained them? If so, what sort of actions would a player have to take to lose them? Can players steal the worshippers of another player, or are they self-contained? Worshippers are referred to as “followers” in Skyforge and are earned by performing extraordinary deeds in-game. Using the Divine Observatory, a player can answer the cries for help from mortals found on the surface of Aelion. Successfully completing these adventures will leave a lasting impression on the local citizens, netting the player followers whose worship contributes towards the player’s total power. It is not currently possible to lose a worshiper once you’ve gained them, although you can convert special followers called “adepts” into missionaries. By doing so you’ll gain a boost to your overall follower count and receive special gifts, but you will lose that adept and subsequently lose the bonuses provided by them. How big is the world Skyforge resides in? Is it completely open-world or instance-based? Does the game level with the player, or are certain areas harder for a starting character than others? Skyforge takes place on a planet known as Aelion which is broken up into several distinct provinces. Within each of these provinces, a player will encounter areas that are both open world and instanced. We decided to break the world up like this for gameplay reasons, but we aren’t going to deny players a sense of traveling and exploring. Within the large open-world areas, players are allowed to freely roam around with others, all while completing quests in whichever order they prefer. Instances come in both solo and group varieties, with varying degrees of difficulty depending on your character’s current prestige level. As players progress and gain more prestige, they’ll unlock new more challenging areas to explore, while also being able to return to previous areas in order to complete them at higher difficulty levels. In doing so, players are given a mix of areas to tackle, allowing those with limited time to take on smaller adventures, while those with several hours to spend can choose to explore Skyforge’s more expansive regions. Players choose the content they want to play in the Divine Observatory. This device shows you all the content open to you at any given time including; persistent solo and group content suited to your prestige range, PvP content open to you, and dynamic content such as invasions and other events which arise from time-to-time. The Divine Observatory allows players to quickly find and move to the type of content and rewards they are looking for. As a player’s prestige grows, additional adventures will automatically become available; offering players a variety of new rewards upon completion. Building and crafting seems to be all the rage in games, especially in newer MMOs like Archeage. Does Skyforge feature a crafting or building system? Skyforge does indeed feature a crafting system, although as an immortal on your way to becoming a god, you will be utilizing your followers for the majority of your crafting needs. Afterall, a god does not need to directly concern themselves with such mortal tasks! Beyond that though, we aren’t quite ready to reveal any additional information and will talk more about our crafting system at a later date. What will combat be like in Skyforge? Will players be spamming their number pad or spam-clicking their mouse? Skyforge uses a highly-stylized, dynamic combat system, inspired by the top features found in some of the best action and fighting console games. Using mouse-look targeting and WASD movement, combat is active, fast paced, and intuitive. Classes have individual attacks bound to the left and right mouse buttons which can sometimes be chained together to perform combos, ensuring players will always have something engaging to do in combat depending on the situation at hand. Additional abilities are tied to the keyboard, allowing players to pull off some truly spectacular attacks using their larger than life powers. These abilities are often more situational than the abilities tied to your mouse, making it important for players to time their use based on what the current fight demands. Skyforge also features a unique class system, allowing players to unlock, develop, and play different classes at any time. Each class has its own distinctive play style, combo rotations, and strengths and weaknesses. The game will launch with 10+ classes, 3 of which will be unlocked and playable right from the start and more will be added.

Tomorrow we will be continueing our interview with Eric on Skyforge, for now we leave you with a Developer Diary all about the combat system in Skyforge.