Penny Arcade Game Dev Talks Episode Two 30
jayintune points out an interview with Joel DeYoung of HotHead Games, the studio that developed the Penny Arcade video game. He describes some of the new additions coming in the sequel, how old characters and zones will be handled, and plans for the game's release. Additional details are available from DeYoung's comments during PAX, and Joystiq has some screenshots.
"Maxing out your stats at the end of Episode One means that your party can be as high as Level 15 if you import your save game and character. Your character's look and all of your items are available to you as well, and if you want to improve upon your looks, you can always browse through the new customization options at the start of the game. About the only thing that won't carry forward is your weapons — we've automatically upgraded Tycho's tommy gun to a shotgun, Gabe's fists now have brass knuckles and your character has traded in your rake for a hoe. We're sticking with the garden tool theme!"
Re:Less poop, more substance (Score:4, Informative)
My beef with the game was the overt abundance of silly toilet humor. These guys are very smart, and very funny. They can do much better than that.
Dude, it's Penny Arcade. That is sort of what they do. Not all the time, but enough of the time that if you can't stand that sort of humor, you probably shouldn't be reading PA (or playing the game).
Re:Less poop, more substance (Score:3, Informative)
I've been reading PA since the late 90's. Toilet humor constituted about 50% of the game. It pops up rarely in the comic strips.
Re:The first PA game was actually pretty good (Score:4, Informative)
There was a method to block, you had to press Space (PC version, obviously) when the enemy's name blinked or something like that.
Even so, the level/difficulty curve was a bit, uh, off. I remember going to the carnival area and having my ass kicked by enemies capable of killing a character in a single hit. After gaining two levels, they suddenly were only capable of doing single-digit damage.
The combat system could use some work, and they really need to add some way to "grind" items and experience, because you're right: it's not that hard to get yourself into a hopeless situation where your only way out is basically shear luck or reloading/starting over.
In fact - I believe you lost an achievement - if playing on Xbox Arcade version - if you die at all.
You lost an achievement if any of the characters died, at all, even if you revive them. Assuming the Steam achievements match the Xbox achievements, of course.