Bill Roper on the Hellgate

eToyChest has an interview up with Bill Roper, formerly of Blizzard Entertainment, discussing progress on the action-RPG Hellgate: London. From the article: "Hellgate: London is playable as a stand-alone single-player game, but it's the multiplayer components that we believe will really make it shine. We're building our own online destination for the game that is comparable in features to any MMORPG. This means a client/server structure to provide safe and secure gaming, character databases, customer service, guild support and so on. We want to provide ongoing content for the game long after it has shipped, and we're building both the game and our infrastructure to lay the ground work for doing just this."

Sounds good, but...

[Orange Goblin]

I'm wondering if the random 3D maps are actually going to work - the last game I can remember to try it was Soldier of Forture 2, and that just gave you 2 or 3 maps with small variations.

Re:Sounds good, but...

[Prophet of Nixon]

Did you ever try typing really wild seeds into it? It rocked with a bit of experimentation, and was one of the reasons that game kept me hooked, and no game since has touched it.

Randomized maps and items

[GoNINzo]

One thing TFA mentions that the paragraph above points out is the randomization. This feature is long overdue in many different game types. Diablo was a great example of how to do the random levels correctly. And Diablo II had the customization of weapons through gems and such. It seems that this game is taking heavy pointers from this. I think it's great. `8r) Imagine how much better certain blizzard games would be with some randomization. 'Onyxia has a Archon guardian this time, RUUUNN!'

However, the nebulous release date of '2006' seems to be far off for me. Also, he mentioned that single player and multiplayer are two different tracks. I hope they adopt the idea of the Diablo open and secure characters, allowing us to copy over single player characters for 'open' games just between friends. But he seems to imply coop, though in a game such as this, I wonder what happens to the story.

The game itself seems to be pulling from a couple different areas though. There are a couple others that tried this and failed. (*cough*diakatana) And of course, some that succeeded, like System Shock. Going to be interesting to see what they can do with it.

Randomization == Satan

[LittleBigLui]

[Randomization] is long overdue in many different game types.

Randomization, when well done, increases replay value. This makes game producers go bankrupt, and game players become desperate [slashdot.org].

Not in an MMO

[VGPowerlord]

Randomization, when well done, increases replay value. This makes game producers go bankrupt, and game players become desperate.

Not in an MMO. Remember, one of the goals of an MMO is to keep people coming back, so they pay monthly fees and buy the expansions, which generate more money...

I'm not impressed yet.

[MaWeiTao]

Not to be a troll, but for now it looks to me like a Doom/Unreal hybrid with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure. How many more games like this are we going to see? I wish there was a bit more creativity out there.

Re:I'm not impressed yet.

[Nasarius]

It actually sounds more like KOTOR:

When players miss their target, it is because of stat-based calculations and not because they didn't aim right. You know when you've targeted a demon, and once that has occurred, it is all down to RPG mechanics.

He also mentions that there's unlimited ammunition. The interview is surprisingly light on details about what gameplay will actually involve, besides running around killing demons.

Hellmouth: Sunnydale

[VGPowerlord]

So, will we ever see a Hellgate/Hellmouth: Sunnydale? :D

Re:Hellmouth: Sunnydale

[Knara]

Silly fanperson.

The Hellmouth in Sunnydale is closed.

there's one in Cleveland, though...

Re:Hellmouth: Sunnydale

[lowmagnet]

Naah, that's just the Cuyahoga.

"Playable"?

[Kirsha]

So, single player is merely playable? That doesnt give me a good feeling...

Re:"Playable"?

[Tanamo]

Hey, it's better than being "unplayable"...