A Return to the Classic
Dungeon Crawl
A Developer Diary focusing
on the Dungeons in Guild Wars: Eye of the North
By Ben Miller, Game
Designer, and Bobby Stein, Writer
Editor’s
Note: To preview their first
“true” expansion to Guild Wars,
style="font-style: italic;">ArenaNet and their
marketing team sent a developer diary to the Ten Ton Hammer team
showcasing the
expansion’s underground network of life-rich dungeons. The
expansion, Guild Wars: Eye of the North,
style="font-style: italic;">will herald the return of the
classic RPG style dungeon crawl to the game, and the article focuses on
the
permanency of events in the dungeons, the monsters you’ll
encounter, and much, much more! You can also view the entire collection
of art and images by clicking
here.
It’s been two short years since our first game,
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars Prophecies,
launched. In that time we’ve released two standalone
campaigns that have expanded lore, increased the number of playable
professions, widened skill sets, and have given players more control
over their party members. Our current project,
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars: Eye of the North,
is our first true expansion, and one that we truly feel is a fitting
coda that will guide players through the end of one epic story into the
next evolution of the series, Guild
Wars 2. We want Guild
Wars to go out with a bang and leave a lasting impression
on players, so we’ve decided to delve deep into RPG history
in an attempt to recreate the thrill of the classic dungeon crawl.
alt="Ancient Pyramids" title="Ancient Pyramids"
name="photo_j" border="0" height="113" width="150">
Dungeons are the staple of the roleplaying games and
are an integral part of GW:EN.
Dungeons are a staple of the RPG genre. Ask any longtime
roleplayer and he’ll get misty-eyed and recall tense
adventures in underground civilizations, navigating shadowy passageways
and unearthing untold fortune. We knew it was the next logical
addition, but we had to be sure it was implemented in such a way that
was new and relevant to Guild
Wars fans. So, what makes a GW: EN dungeon more exciting
than your average hole in the ground? Lots of things, actually.
The labyrinthine underground known as the Depths is comprised
of a vast network of passageways that touch continents near and far.
GW: EN dungeons are not your typical dingy caves, mind you. They are
rich with plant life, decorated with ornate carvings and majestic
statues, and home to fantastic creatures. One of the biggest challenges
our art department faced was to make each dungeon feel unique, while at
the same time capturing the sense of an enclosed, sometimes
claustrophobic, environment. Unlike the wide-open plains of Elona,
groups will have less room to maneuver around obstacles. Enemies travel
in high concentrations, so there will be little time to think or relax
while pressing onward to the next objective. That stated, some dungeons
are simply huge. Your party might trek through twisting pathways one
moment, only to be spilled out into a huge open cavern the next.
The very concept of dungeons carries a lot of baggage. We had
to distill all the things that make dungeons cool while removing the
parts that wouldn’t work for our purposes. New design, art,
and programming challenges love to rear their hideous, hydra-like heads
every step of the way in game development, and dungeons have been no
exception. We got our bearings and started everything in parallel,
quickly prototyping and implementing dungeon mechanics such as traps,
while level designers roughed out the general layouts for the rooms
that would be pieced together to form the unique layouts. Designers
wrote up quests and stories to ground these places in the world with
their own characters and worked hand-in-hand with the writers to polish
the dialogue and make the NPCs live and breathe. The entire process was
started simultaneously. The result was a sharing of ideas between
different areas of development that will hopefully make this feature
greater than the sum of its parts.
alt="That tunnel can't lead anywhere good."
title="That tunnel can't lead anywhere good." name="photo_j"
border="0" height="113" width="150">
These dungeons consist of multiple levels and various
designs.
Each dungeon instance is connected by ancient magical
technology called an Asura gate. These portals were developed by a race
new to the Guild Wars
universe—the Asura. Since players will have to the
opportunity to adventure as Asura in
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2, we
had to think ahead about their design. How large would they be? As
subterranean creatures, what should they look like? How do they talk?
What societal rules should they follow? What gameplay experiences will
they offer that people will want to play as them? After months of
discussion, planning, sketching, and writing, the Asura slowly
materialized into the stout, intelligent, cocky little buggers you see
today. Some might come off as self-important—condescending,
even—but as a race the Asura can back it up. They are crafty,
resourceful, and adept at magic. And they are an integral component of
Eye of the North.
The Asura have connected many races and cultures regardless of
distance via the Asura gate system. Unlike a standard portal that links
contiguous land masses together, an Asura gate is used to travel great
distances not possible through conventional means or standard spell
casting. So while the entirety of the Depths is broken up into
segments, one can migrate from lands as far away as Cantha and Elona to
Ascalon and beyond, provided the system is running in tip-top shape.
Travel isn’t always easy, though, as recent events have
transformed the once placid corridors into a veritable minefield of
death.
Players stumble upon this mass transit system early in the
game, only to find its creators fleeing madly from a cadre of
Destroyers hell-bent on their demise. These horrific manifestations do
not reason. They are ugly, angular, fiery incarnations resistant to
heat and afraid of nothing. Their purpose is singular—to
purge the Depths of all living creatures in preparation of the arrival
of the Great Destroyer, a fearsome beast of Dwarven legend. Many
battles will be waged below the surface, some for personal gain and
others at the behest of new allies.
alt="Spikes, horns, and teeth galore!"
title="Spikes, horns, and teeth galore!" name="photo_j"
border="0" height="113" width="150">
Each of the 18 unique dungeons in GW:EN will have its
own monsters and hazards.
Where blood is shed, wealth is stolen. There are 18 unique
multilevel dungeons that make up the Depths, each populated with its
own monsters, environmental hazards and traps, and phat loot. Only the
brave dare to harvest riches from the darkest corners of these caverns,
and with good reason. End bosses are smarter, faster, tougher, and
possess new and unique skills and cunning A.I. developed specifically
for this expansion. For example, one chamber might be guarded by a
colossal spider. Before you can attack you must first lure it into
range. A quick scan of the area reveals several egg sacks of her young.
Using a magical flamethrower acquired from an Asura ally, you set fire
to her brood. Enraged, she drops from her perch with bloody vengeance
and launches an all-out assault on your party. Conventional attacks are
slow and cumbersome against the beast. Using a skill learned from a
wise Norn shaman, you call upon the bear spirit, who supercharges your
attacks and fortifies your Health reserves. This is just one
theoretical example of what is possible in GW: EN. You will encounter
many such situations while exploring the dungeon system. Since
you’ll be forming alliances with different groups and
characters, you’ll learn a plethora of PvE-only skills that,
when combined with your normal abilities, will give you the tools to
overcome the situation at hand. While you won’t always be
required to use these skills to defeat a tough boss, employing these
new tactics and harnessing elements of the environment will definitely
give you the upper hand.
alt="A lush dungeonscape" title="A lush dungeonscape"
name="photo_j" border="0" height="113" width="150">
These dungeons are far from lifeless, and events that
occur in the dungeons have a degree of permanency.
One criticism that often gets leveled at online RPGs is that
actions lack consequence. When a follower bites the dust they are just
brought back to life in the next zone. Not so in dungeons. Actions have
permanence, so if your guide gets crushed by a rock trap, eaten by a
monster, or immolated by lava, that’s it. You’re on
your own.
This isn’t to say that if you screw up
it’s time to shout, “Game over, man. Game
over!” in your best Private Hudson voice. You can still exit
a dungeon for another fresh attempt at victory or resurrect your own
party members—a useful feature for the more casual player who
might not get it right the first time. But while you are in the
subterranean confines of a particular dungeon, the rule of consequence
applies. In other words, dungeons are chained instances. Despite the
many hardships and pitfalls you will encounter, there will be other
opportunities for success. You might stumble across a secret prison
camp in your travels. Should you choose to free the captives, you will
earn new allies that will help you accomplish your goal.
It’ll always be possible to trudge ahead regardless of what
happens—you’ll just have to figure out the best way
forward.
This is just a sample of the exciting features included in
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars: Eye of the North.
We’ll share more as the game nears release this fall.
Ten Ton Hammer is your
unofficial source for Guild
Wars
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/47/all">news
and features!
Check out all the new
screenshots by clicking
here!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Guild Wars Game Page.
