Yesterday we had posted up for all you MMO fans an interview for IGG’s Angels Online. Today, we bring you an interview with IGG’s Dion Roh, the Main Designer for GodsWar Online, and Sakura Yu, the Product Manager for GodsWar Online.
The game itself is hailed as IGG’s first, fully interactive 3D MMORPG. It features a unique setting among the Greek lore of old, a story penned around legendary gods such as Hades and Athena, as well as player-versus-player combat and plenty of quests and events for players to partake in. You can check out the full interview below.
Blend Games: Developing an MMO based on Greek mythology seems like it would be a lot of fun. How did the team decide which gods would be in the game and how they would play a part of the quests and player interaction?
IGG: “ As we all know there are so many Gods involved in Greek mythology that it was very difficult to decide which gods should play a role in the game, even though we all have our own personal preferences.
In GodsWar Online, we selected Athena as the chief of Athens and Ares as the chief of Sparta. We’ve also attached great importance to the other significant gods and we are constantly developing the contents related to gods so that more and more Greek gods will join the game as soon as possible.
In the game, players can interact with many gods. For example, players can offer sacrifices to Apollo, Demeter, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hades, Dionysus and so on. Players can also build God Altars in their guild and offer sacrifices to them to get beneficial effects.
Blend Games: Considering that this is the first fully 3D designed and produced IGG MMO, what were some of the challenges the development team faced in going from 2D to 3D?
IGG: Well, the biggest difficulty is we have to upgrade our computers again and again since we are always striving to make better and better graphics which requires far more efficient and powerful hardware such as CPU, graphics card and memory.
And then, we must consider how it would attach more importance to Graphics or game play. Many 3D games base too much importance on their graphics to the detriment of game play finally causing the games to become boring. We have also long considered what kind of visual angle we should take in the game. Finally, we decided to use a fixed visual angle for easier control.
Blend Games: Following up on the last question, what are some of the advantages or disadvantages of having an MMO in 3D? Does it offer more interactivity or simply better visuals?
IGG: Generally speaking, whether we want to develop a 2D game or 3D game determines what kind of graphics we design. 3D scenes look more splendid and provide more information, while 2D graphics look more delicate.
In addition, 3D graphics often offer more interactivity and better visuals. 3D graphics are able to vividly simulate many stunning visual effects. 3D objects allow dynamic effects. In the game, players can watch the flickering shadows of trees, rustling grasses and many other captivating sights. Also, the 3D particle engine is able to simulate vivid dynamic light and shadow effects.
Fortunately, we believe that we have used all of the advantages of 3D graphics and avoided all of the disadvantages.
Blend Games: Regarding the interactive world of Godswar Online…there are lots of locations to visit. While it looks like it would be enough to satisfy even the most adventure hungry gamer, are there any plans to further expand on the world map or is the team finished with the game’s locations?
IGG: We are very pleased that the players like our game scenes even though we’ve not yet fully completed them. We’ve also been designing many more zones. Among them, there are zones especially designed for player versus player competitions. There are also zones that gradually become more dangerous as the players explore deeper. But, the quests related to those zones are still in development. We are designing a brand-new type of quest. I believe the zones will be soon opened to players.
Blend Games: Scrolling through the weapons list, we noticed that there appeared to be no bows as selectable weapons. Is it possible that they might be added later, or will the game feature weapons that focus more on melee combat?
IGG: For now we are concentrating on developing the other contents such as pets and instanced zones. But bows and the other ranged weapons may be added later. As for the weapons, we have not yet considered whether or not to focus more on melee weapons.
Blend Games: When it comes to user requests and support, IGG seems to really respond quickly when adapting the game to the players’ needs. Some forum members were asking about inter-faction PvP (in addition to the standard PvP). Is this a possibility sometime down the road for Godswar Online?
IGG: In GodsWar Online, players can only join in inter-faction PvP competitions. Players can try to capture cities, polis and to recapture towns that have been taken over by a hostile faction and get benefits after occupying them. We will also add some quests that can only be completed by joining in the PvP fights.
We will consider whether or not to release PvP fights between players of the same faction at a later date. But this function must come with some limitations.
Blend Games: Is it possible to talk about some of the upcoming events being planned for Godswar, or are they going to be a surprise?
IGG: Sure. We will soon be releasing some regular events for players to gain benefits on a regular basis, such as “The Spies Invaded”, “Crazy 6+1” and “Sicilian”. In addition to that, we will add some new instanced zones to the game during April. I firmly believe the new contents will give our players some really great things to look forwards to!
The Spies Invaded: A large number of spies, spy captains and spy masters will appear in both main cities and will drop various EXP Stones and Talent Stones if they are killed.
Crazy 6+1: From Monday to Saturday, level 20+ players are qualified to Nameplate 1 to Nameplate 6 from a relevant NPC. Players can exchange one Nameplate or many Nameplates together for Exp and Talent Points.
Sicilian: In this area, there are numerous Level 1 monsters which have the ability to re-spawn very fast after being slain. Players can kill them very easy. But grouping is recommended to slay them efficiently. Player can also receive daily quests in this area to get skill points after completing them. The quest can be completed 5 times per day.
Our thanks to GodsWar’s Dion Roh and Sakura Yu for answering our questions. If you haven’t clicked on any of the hyperlinks for the game throughout the interview, you can learn more about the game by visiting the Official GodsWar Online Website. We also have some new screenshots of the game below.
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