Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

The following is the transcript from the Q&A portion of the Loading... Live Episode 6 vooncast featuring a dev chat with Champions Online Executive Producer Bill Roper and Victoria Voss from Cryptic Studios. Episode 6 was recorded on February 29th, 2009.

Jeff Woleslagle, Ten Ton Hammer: When we think Champions Online, we obviously think customization - not only of characters (which is obvious given its pedigree with City of Heroes - but also with emination points, setting lazer beams to come out of your eyes and things like that. Can you tell us a little bit about how that level of customization leads to a unique experience, not just a unique appearance, in-game?

Bill Roper, Executive Producer of Champions Online: We are really working on having ways where when you’re doing customization it does have different levels of effect. Really, so much of what you do is presentation. I think that is a big deal - if you think about most MMOs, a sword swing is a sword swing is a sword swing. If you’re using whirlwind, it’s going to be the same for everyone. Here, at least, if you’re using a similar power, it has a unique look - you can shift the color, you can shift where it comes out of your character, so it fits the design of your hero.

In any ways that you can alter those powers to be more specific to your character really falls into advancements and augmentations for those powers. So as you’re leveling up and gaining experience and gaining powers, what you can start doing is really tuning and tweaking those powers to make them more unique past the look settings. So there are layers of customization that go beyond and kind of make your power set (even if its based off the same thing) not only look different but play a little differently than other people.

Jeff Woleslagle: So it’s really about how your character develops and two characters with the same template at the start might develop in entirely different ways?

Bill Roper: Yea, there’s definitely levels of ways where they’re going to be different, you’re going to see those differences happen as you go through even though you’ve started with the exact same template.

Jeff Woleslagle: Another way in which Champions Online stands apart is the Nemesis system, how you have this archvillain character that you create and who’s there to haunt you throughout your playing career. How personal will that nemesis be? Will you be able to tell when he’s coming? Will other players help you - accidently or not-so-accidently - help you defeat them? If you could kind of go through how that works...

Bill Roper: Sure, there’s actually this month coming a big in-depth article in Massive on the nemesis system. In broad strokes, you create this nemesis - you give him not just his look, but his minions, his power sets, his motivations. To a degree, those are both as public and personal as you want them to be, to a degree. For example, there are things that happen in the world with your nemesis, so other players can see that happening and come help you out if they want. There’s also areas that are more instanced based where you’re able to go in by yourself, or if you want to show off your nemesis, you can bring your friends along and team up against him.

Jeff Woleslagle: To me, even more exciting than the idea of customization in Champions Online is what I think you called the “four-color appeal” of the game at New York Comic-Con 2009. How you’re not just trying to bring the comic appearance but also the comic book feel to the game. From art direction to animation to story, can you talk just a little bit about your favorite comic book elements of the game, stuff that really hasn’t been done before in an MMO?

Bill Roper: The visuals - the graphics - I think is the first big step. You’re seeing the fact that it’s designed very much to look like a graphic novel or four color comic come to life. For example, right now we’re doing an animation pass on attack powers to really make sure there’s a real big feeling of it being over the top at times. One of our designers, Brian Gilmore, who is huge into the IP of the Champions world is going through and layering all of these storyline missions you can go through and you can pick up information on all these different elements of the world and gain perks which let you buy gear and different things like that. So not only are learning story, but there’s a gameplay element for going through the storyline stuff.