Planescape: Torment chat. Held at chat.annex.com #interplay on April 7, 1999 at 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST. Editted log file prepared by Silverdawn of Baldur's Gate Chronicles (http://www.bgchronicles.com) In attendance were: Striding Dragon: Guido Henkel, Director Colirama or BISColin: Colin McComb, Designer. Pinchy: Dan "Pinchloaf" Spitzley, Lead Programmer Tim: Tim Donley, Lead Artist Jim: Jim Gardner, Programmer Clover: Krys Card, Public Relations Meghan: Meghan Jenks, Public Relations Welcome to the Planescape:Torment chat! If you have a question for the team, here's how to get on the list: If you are using an IRC client, type "/msg meghan addme" without quotes. If you are using your browser to chat, click on my name to highlight it, click on the Whisper button in the lower right of the chat window, and type "addme" without the quotes. Remember to click on the Talk button again after whispering! You MUST be in #interplay when your turn comes up or you will be skipped. If you're waiting in line to ask a question, now is a good time to type it into a text editor like Notepad, highlight the text, hit ctrl-c to copy it, and when your turn comes up, hit ctrl-v to paste it in. Remember to keep questions short and sweet :) Please do NOT ask when the release date is. The information is available elsewhere. Don't ask questions that are answered on the website! Also, please refrain from profanity or vulgarity out of respect for our younger attendees. This is a moderated chat. You won't be able to talk until it's your turn. Please DO NOT change your nick to make a comment or ask a question. Repeated nick changes will get you banned from the chat. * Meghan takes a deep breath. Hi everyone :) Meg, lets do intros Are you guys ready? yup Yes, Clover, I know :) ok, ok Uh huh Uh huh Uh huh * Meghan nudges Clover. Oh, me? Would you folks please introduce yourselves, and your roles in creating Torment? I'm Krys Card, the PR manager for Black Isle Studios Dan "Pinchloaf" Spitzley. Lead Programmer. Tim? Guido? Guido Henkel, director of Torment Director? Dang! Director! I'm Tim Donley. Lead Artist among the finest bunch of artists... ever! Director of Torment is interesting Tim's typing as fast as he can. Go tim go Clovis: Well, they changed my title some time ago... Great.. do you guys have any announcements? News? Comments? They can' They can I love our fans! They can't call him Sugar-Drawers anymore. We are the fans slaves Really? I didn't get the memo but Director of Torment is probably pretty accurate... ;) PLANESCAPE RULES!!! WOOHOO! Anything else? :P * Clover smacks Dan Ouch. Now now, kids. Calm down there, mister Play nice. This is work, remember? If you can call it that. So, what's first? Sssshhh.. at least let them *think* we're working. Ready for questions, then? Yup. This is Tim's party, though. Fire those questions at us I wasn't headlining. Okay :) I think we have 3 or 4 people in the queue :P ChaosMage, you're first. * Tim looks at Dan sideways. === Mode change "-v Meghan" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ChaosMage" by Meghan Go ahead, ChaosMage Can Nameless One dual-class into Cleric? If so, will he be (1) generic Cleric or (2) Priest of some particular Power? Guido? As we've mentioned before, the Nameless One has been 25th level in all classes. He will not have the option at the game's outset to be dual-classed, but he will gain the appropriate powers subsequently. I don't exactly remember if you can dual-class to Cleric.... Maybe someone could run into Chris' office real quick to ask. According to Chris Avellone there is not the standard Dual Classing in this game. Chris Avellone is the lead designer He's sort of a scabby Jack-of-All-Trades. and an all around swell guy... The Nameless One, not Chris Avellone. Yeesh. I know, I know (although Chris is kind of scabby...) In certain places. Eeewwww As to the second part he will not be a priest of any particular power Thank you! No problem. Chaos: Thank you! Give me a GA when it's time to move on please. :) GA === Mode change "-v ChaosMage" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Kyote" by Meghan Go ahead, Kyote The AI pathing in BG was terrible, as you all probably know. I'm just wondering what's been done to improve the AI pathfinding in Torment? If anything? This was addressed to a certain extent in the patch. The problem had to do with keeping the We will increase the number of nodes from the get-go... To a certain extent yes, but there was room for improvement. I'm wondering if that's been done. number of path nodes down to a managable Hey! It's Colin :) level on a low end system. Hey! It's Meghan! which will allow for a deeper search, but there are obviously always limitations to path search algorithms. We have increased the max for Torment. increased it? Oh, that /is/ good! Great. Cool. :) Hello, BIS Colin - please introduce yourself It will be user-changable in a similar fashion to BG. Okay, Clovis. :) thanks guys. Peace. ;) Colin McComb. Designer. If you have a high-end system it should be better. is a k6-2 300mhz high-end? :} Hello, BIS Colin - please introduce yourself What, again? That system should be quite sufficient. Can't stay for long - I have placement to finish up. :) Figured, the engine's not that changed from BG. Uhm. I'm spamming. i'll shut up now. Thanks! Hello? Thanks for talkin'. GA Hello, Clover. Thanks Kyote! === Mode change "-v Kyote" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop Are there any plans for BIS to do a D&D game based on the DragonLance universe? We do not have the rights to Dragonlance. Unfortunately we don't have that license. Bummer, any idea who does? I wish... I'd love to kill Raistlin... I don't expect it's something we can get very easily, either. I'm not sure who has it. SSI probably lost it some time ago. That's a pity, you've done so well with the others, thanks for answering, though. I'm back Any idea, Guido? You're welcome. GA I have no idea. I believe... === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Silverdawn" by Meghan Go ahead, Silverdawn Guido has stressed that he would like a shorter game so everyone can finish it without losing interest. How many possible paths are there to finishing Torment to provide replay value? How branched is the plot? SSI's license has expired. Maybe Activision has it. This is probably a question for Colin since he's the only designer on right now. I think it's really impossible to count... We have a number of sub-quests that you can undertake in any number of ways. There are several possible endings as well. There are so many branches in the tree that build the story that it's really impossible to tell. We take into account your actions throughout the game for our endings. It's practically personalized. I'm done. Is there a linear main path or not really to tie it all together/ There is a main plot path, but it's resolution is again based on your behavior throughout the game. Colin? There are choke points where you have to complete certain quests before you can move on, but within the areas between choke points, you are free as a bird. Sorry, that should be "its". Mind you.... How would you distinguish it from BG on that score (besides length)? the basic idea is a very story driven and singular plot one... I think of it as being linerly unlinear... I think one of the biggest differences will be in the way dialog progresses. (By the way.. if you've asked a question and have another one, you can get back in the queue) Because it's so slow you mean? You will notice considerable differences in dialog choices depending on how you are playing the game. (Meghan addme :) Hehehe Add yourself :P Guido is right, actually. We have so many triggers to parse that we need to modify the dialog system so it handles it more quickly. Rest assured this will be done. GA Yaddayaddayadda.... thanks Sorry to get boring, Guido. :-))) :) :) === Mode change "-v Silverdawn" by Meghan === Mode change "+v MarLo" by Meghan Go ahead, MarLo I know laws of Physics can be broken in PS. Will that be implement in the game, can you give us an idea how they will change (just an idea....) and how hard was that to put in? Don't apologize, Dan! Run over and smack him! Wow. Tough question. * Clover smacks whomever needs to be smacked (that's my job) The time is now 6:30pm Pacific Physics changes will be presented as the plot necessitates. It's a little hard to do that with the engine we've got. Gravity may be different for some spell effects if they are designed as such. There is a bit of reality warping (at least visually) We do some really cool stuff with art. No duh, Colin. You've seen the screen shots, haven't you. === Gavlin is now known as Gavlin-Strife Sorry, Tim. Was that giving anything away? Screen shots? We have screen shots? not at all. hahah GA thx === Mode change "-v MarLo" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Star-Fyre" by Meghan Go ahead, Star-Fyre Hello all :) *1) in the movie file located on the BG cd's (with the D3 movie file) , are all those shots cinematics from Torment, or were they made just for BG's Torment advertisement? *2) it was mentioned that bringing up menus and such will be less intrusive..does that mean it will be like Descent : Freespace where all menu's were bright colours with transparent background window so that u could always c the main game screen behind it? *3) are any expansions being considered? *4) how many monsters/spells will be in the game (approx of course :)? and since most spells will be new unique funky stuff..does that mean we won't see any of the regular spells in the game (ie. magic missile, meteor swarm, cure light wounds?) thanks... Yipe 1) Some were made exclusively for that movie 1. They were not final movies in the game. Some could be included, I guess. * Star-Fyre terrifies clover with all the long words :) 3. Not at the moment. We have to see how the game does. 2: There are some transparencies in the menus 2. The new popup menu WILL be translucent. You can see through it, but there is a colored webbing in between. 4. We'll see some ordinary spells, but most of them are brand-new and cool. 3. No expansions are currently planned, but time will tell. (sorry, Tim... I hate to keep giving your art away) 2: The menu system has been drastically redesigned from BG (Thanks to a little help from MC Guido H) 4. Lots o' critters. lots... uhmm..good detail :) hehe Tim: You hated me for the changes back then... :-) 4. There will be regular spells in the game as well. 4. Lots and lots of monsters. I know but you were right. HAHAHAHAH Guido: Past tense? ;) okay..thanks :) * Tim laughs out loud at the whole irony! Colin: Well... You can't impress people with big spells unless you have small ones to give them scale. GA Colin: I didn't know the situation has become that serious.... === Mode change "-v Star-Fyre" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan -Meghan- You're next! Please have your question ready. Go ahead, ALee-Oop Are there going to be any points with "infinite monster respawning" like there was in BG? Guido: Smell the wood burning? Those are torches. There will be a few... Because that started slowing down my machine, big time. It's an integral design element that has to be in the game somehow somewhere... however, it is not taken to extremes and used very sparsely, I'd think. That depends on the designers. There are several places that could have infinite respawning. ALO: Until certain places have been *cleared*, they'll respawn. However, combat is not really the basis of the game, so it will probably be kept to a minimum. Cool, cool. Thanks. Dan: Really? oops. I mean, "right!" Hey, Colin. I said it's up to you guys. GA === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Silverdawn" by Meghan Go ahead, Silverdawn What is the state of the game engine that will be displayed at E3? We don't know yet... === Join: talandor is from Canada E3 is not here yet. :-) Guido, what exactly are we showing there? Seriously, we're trying to show the state of the game then and it's hard to tell what exaclty that will be like. Well how many abilities are not yet implimented Of course we're trying to get it as "final" as possible, but who knows... eg dialog, art, plot, etc. Things happen. Dialog will be there. Art will be there Plot will be there Art will be there. The art is almost totally finished. Almost totally? I know BG spent a lot of time doing data entry just before Q&A :) The version shown at E3 will be as complete a version as we can make it Hey, I'm just a dumb programmer. Same here 2) Calling Guide Director seems to be be another indication of Interplay getting closer to the movie business. Why was it changed from Producer? Guido.. :) Because I hated the title Just for fun on the movie poster. He changed it himself. I didn't know it had. I still consider him just plain old Guido. Plus, he has one of those folding chairs with his name on the back. And a megaphone. He wears a beret, too. No, seriously while we're on it.... But Colin has the beret cough and shouts 'CUT!' occasionally. I think Producer has a very bad connotation and I didn't want to live with it any longer. I can't wait for Colin's nude scene. So now I am a "Project Director" PinchY: ????? Sounds like you are building a road ;) Nude scene? That wasn't in my contract! Well, since we were talkin' movies..... * Tim wonders what dan is talking about. === Join: Laresek is from Canada Casting couch anyone? Well, your contract's changed!!! * Clover wonders why a she hasn't written a press release about the nude scene... Get my agent on the phone! Okay! Yeah, Clovis, get on it! === Mode change "-v Silverdawn" by Meghan === Mode change "+v MarLo" by Meghan Go ahead, MarLo Is the spell system like BG (I mean, resting 8 hrs without interuption to learn them)? Or since they are really wacky, will they have a different learning mechanism? And how do we get them in the first place? Can we buy them or will they all have to be remembered? (dude, you are so fired) Colin? Hoo boy. Folks I have to take a call here real quick... excuse me, plz. I'l hollar when I'm back. I know many spells come from remembering things from your past. There are multiple ways for spells to work out. Some of them are from the resting thing. Some are memories. Some are scrolls. Some are gifts. Some can be bought or bartered. In other words, we don't know. ;) Just kidding. No, we do know. There are just so many ways we can do it, though... Does that answer your question, vaguely? Yup. How many spell is there then? 20? It's certainly very different from traditional D&D spell learning. If there is so many ways..... Ha. Nice try. ;) hehe.... The number of spells is up in the air a bit. I think we have over 80 spells in paper, but it's just a matter of how many we can finish by the time the game ships. Ouch! A lot of art.... Quite a bit You'd be surprised how fast Eric Campanella can race through it, though. But doable. * Clover senses Tim is overworked GA === Mode change "-v MarLo" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Kyote" by Meghan Go ahead, Kyote * Tim looks at his stack of paper * BISColin smells sulfur. Dan, get those matches away from Tim. I found the voice acting in Baldur's Gate was pretty darn good, all in all. Any of the voice actors from BG making an appearance in Torment? * Clover applauds Tim on his new use of the /me option Not sure yet. not a particularily important question, but one I am curious about. How much of the voice acting has been recorded so far, anyway? We plan VO, but it hasn't been cast yet. We haven't really decided yet. That's a Guido question. * Tim bows graciously. ahh, voice recording hasn't even begun yet? I'm a bit early then :) Is Guido still on the horn? Probably. The voice acting will come nearer the end of the project. Guido is away for a sec but I believe we are looking into the exact talents now Kyote - I think those things go in fairly late in production, yes, guys? ... when we don't have time to change it... Generally. right I'm back... whazzzup Clover. Yes * Kyote offers Easter candy to the Interplay and Black Isle doods. sorry about this. DUDE, YOU MISSED IT GUIDO!!!! IT WAS SO RAD!!!! What???? * Tim eats it up. Hmmhhh... * Striding_Dragon wonders Shhhh! Shhhh. He's falling for it. (so does Guido, apparently) * Tim smiles happily at Kyote. GA It wasn't THAT good a question Pinchy, goodness.... === Mode change "-v Kyote" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop Maggie... Clovies... please explain How will multiplayer dialogue be handled? Will it be the same as it was in BG? When I started a MP game, that other players complained that they had to stop doing something if I (the leader) talked to anyone. * Meghan is on the phone. That's not really an issue here... There is no multi-player in the game, so we don't really have that problem. Thats simple. No Multiplayer. Dan? Your turn. Doh. my bad. :) * Pinchy looks innocent. * Striding_Dragon is hungry! Entropy has left Interplay? Wow, no more missed deadlines! HA HA HA... sorry. Am I the GA guy? GA i think we're ready for another ga === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Nickelle" by Meghan Go ahead, Nickelle With the revival of the CRPG genre and the huge success of BG have the expectations for Planescape been altered? In the wake of more and more CRPG Titles what plans from marketing to fire up the masses to get into Torment? Yes, Dan, you're GA. Hey, Clovis, that's all you./ Fan dancing! Actually, we are probably allowed to do more of the game we want. Now that BG is such a success. Krys? For the question... Hello? helloooooooooooooooo To a degree, yes, the perception has changed... and everyone now thinks every RPG has to be the next Baldur's Gate or even better... We now have to wear chain mail to work. It's a bit of a problem here, bringing some people back for a reality check... and our expectations have always been pretty high. but I am hopeful we can handle it. Yes What Colirama? I am not talking about the team here! We always knew what we're doing and to what degree this game. Read the question, Krys! can or can not be a major success. GA === Mode change "-v Nickelle" by Meghan === Mode change "+v me" by Meghan Go ahead, me (I was checking email) GA, I say! I know that the nameless one is immortal, but is there anything that CAN kill you (Gods or the like) or otherwise have a permanent effect on you or your enviornment, like curses put on you, someone chopping you into pieces and scattering them all over the multiverse, etc? Also how can he be every class, due to alignment conflictions- such as paladins must always be lawful good and bards must always be partially neutral, thieves can be any alignment exce anything by getting knocked into that coma? I'm done Wow. Things CAN kill you. They just have to violate your body so much that you can't return. I mean, even if you're immortal, total destruction... of your body will bring an end to your existence. As for the races, we don't deal with paladins or bards in Planescape. Being dragged throug hthe planes of Earth eternally will bring an end to you.... there are ways... especially in Planescape. :-) As for the classes, he wakes up with different alignments. :) Sorry, classes. He chooses his life course each time he dies and awakens... a tabula rasa, if you will. The alignment thing reflects multiple lifetimes. Tabula rasa? Didn't I eat that for breakfast yesterday? No, I believe that was your body being violated. Woo! Oh my. * Colirama pauses for imagery Good enough answer? Enough, enough, my brain hurts! * Pinchy imagines Colin pouring him a bowl of cereal... Ahhh..... Ew. GA === Mode change "-v me" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Flabbyjack" by Meghan Go ahead, Flabbyjack Who are you, and what are you doing here? *I have a complaint* People think that when I tell them about the Interplay site, that its a porn site, please change the name to Flabbyjack Incorporated. I don't like being squelched, I want the respet I deserve... oh, nevermind. Here comes the question, "ANY chance of a public editor? Its tough to do, but really enhances the game in all". Please elaborate beyond the normal yes, no, or lea Hahahahaaa! Yes, quite amusing. hehe Tough question. I was laughing about the pronsite part.... It's so true :) We couldn't even access our own site because of the Firewall... :-) Hehe An editor is a sticky issue. We can't even access some of the sites we advertise on because of the firewall :P A pronsite? Is that some sort of German tool? ;) The main problem, as I stated in an earlier chat is the mass of tools that are needed just to run the editors themselves. I did not know that! Well, it adds A LOT to the game. What adds a lot to the game. Porn? lol! We use Borland database utilities that the public would need to have access to. Basically, is an editor out of the question? (not this question) Oh come on! How am I supposed to edit this out of the log and still have it all make sense?! :) We don't have the ability to redistribute them, so I'm not sure how it would work unless we rewrote the entire database system. Can it at least have porn? I think Dan is hinting that a public editor takes a lot more work than just issuing out the ones we use. :-) haha We can issue an editor actually.... Okay okay this is a G RATED CHANNEL :) but people will have to buy Borland's Delphi package for a couple of hundred bucks to run it Or, with an editor, I could import my OWN porn! (No, not porn of myself) * Meghan hides the fact she's snickering. In my opinion, an editor would be possible, but it would require a constant source of support which just doesn't exist right now. Meghan: Snickering? Hey, if anyone "G" is on this channel, they don't know what porn is, right? We have you! Flabby: Which is good... Oh my :) GA I can just imagine what Flabbyjack's org^H^H^party will look like. === Mode change "-v Flabbyjack" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Entropy" by Meghan Go ahead, Entropy Uhm yeah. How will memory be handled in torment?.. when a character loses memory or an old memory emerges (brining spell or skill, perhaps?) ... Obviously we can't make the player forget... Colin? which poses a problem all by itself... so we decided that the player character does not lose memory any more as soon as we enter Torment... In character/ Out of character knowlage syndrome. The memories will come back in almost a flashback fashion... we have not decided how or whether we will display that graphically. Kind of like the dreams in BG? He recoveries memories through dialogues and journal entries and performing actions that ring true to his old self. Oh Hmm.. Murder.. yum Murder? Yes cold-blooded mass Possibly. :) murder Yes, murder is one of them. Pinchy!!! You did it again! :-))) Simply put, annihilate half sigil if not all of it. BAD DAN! BAD DAN! Kill Raistlin! dead bodies everywhere What did I do????? Well, before you do that, Entropy, you have to cope with some very irked people. GA, already! === Mode change "-v Entropy" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Star-Fyre" by Meghan Go ahead, Star-Fyre The time is now 7:00pm Pacific Especially AFTER you do that. :-) *1) How big is the game map in comparison to BG (referring to overland maps, town/cities and dungeons (or equivalents)? (approx. of course) *2) also...just to clear up..theoretically, the main guy is not immortal.. he is close..but not really..since as long as he can die (in any manner) he is no longer immortal (by definition)..YES, i know..i am being picky :) * Star-Fyre steals some of the candy Kyote gave Interplay before :) 2) Yes, you are beingpicky. It's all relative. :-) :) Anyway... the game is about half the size of BG 1. Hard to say. 1/2 maybe. You have to remember, though that we don't have nearly as many open field screens as BG did. in terms of map size and area to cover. 2) more immortal than most people. :) Most of our areas are pretty heavily populated. Well, size-wise our maps probably add up to half and then some But oh my goodness the people you will see in them hehe * Tim grabs a little bit of candy from Star-Frye Give that back Tim! GA === Mode change "-v Star-Fyre" by Meghan === Mode change "+v MarLo" by Meghan Go ahead, MarLo I know Greg isn't here, but here's a marketing Q: How will you sell PS:T? It's a lot harder to understand than BG and a little more mature. Do you have any tips you can give me (I work at a computer/game shop and I have a hell of a time convincing people. They usually like the "arm for a weapon" idea ;-) Clovis, I just got your mail. Did you laugh? Figured it was up your alley... Good question. Oh yes, I did. "up my alley," so to speak. It's not easy... This is an answer for Ms. Card, I think. Personally I would point out that it has great RPG gameplay, but a setting that is new and different. Even here within Interplay we had a hard time... The weirdness you mention seems to help sell it. explaining to people what we're doing and why we're doing it.... Yikes, that's a hard one Questions like is it 3D, does it support Voodoo... all the kind of crap you don't want to hear came up... We're (I'm) trying by contacting the press and doing it through them numerous times. Anyway... We are trying to seel people on the exotic world. Do you read CGW? The fact that the ga,e break with some of he traditions found in other games... Having... There's a great preview Johnny Wilson wrote in the April issue that covers a lot of what the game is about said that however, you need to be careful not to alienate people on the other hand because... Clover: Yup, when I have time they migh tbe afraid, the game is soooo different that hey don't like it anymore. It's walking a thin line. I see that! Clovis: Actually.... Johnny pretty much blew that one. I try to emphasize the art, and what different cool things they've done with the engine 'Dem pitchers is purdy! Relating it to BG and then backing up from there is a good way to go Also checking out the web site is a good thing too Comparing Elves with Bauriers is not It really gives people a sense of the mood and setting created by the kick ass art team * MarLo hopes Tim sees the compliment! I think marketing is really pushing online audience to get them into it * Clover does too Yes, Clovis does too. i do Tim sees all. all the stufff is due to the whole team Ok, I see. Compare to Bg + nice art. Thanks! We had a huge online following with BG, and we're trying to replicate that Ugh. Shouldn't have had that quesadilla. * Clover thanks Dan for sharing The problem is that BG was in the Forgotten Realsm, which everyon knows... now Dan should be GA now. * Pinchy gives Clover a whiff. GA GA GA * Clover passes out Torment is in Planescape which not so many people know about and it is just hard to duplicate the... === Mode change "-v MarLo" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Trumpace" by Meghan Go ahead, Trumpace Many of the mystic creatures (no matter whether they are good or bad) in AD&D have an ingenious intelligence. But in BG many of the creatures were limited only to fight, this does not fullfil their alleged intelligence by any means (imho). Now to my question: Is there a larger action and interaction clearance for the creatures in this regard in PS:T? Will the monsters act " more intelligently "? or will the monsters fall again into fight without fascination people had with the prospect of finally... getting a reall cool Forgotten Realms game. * Meghan smacks Pinchy. * Pinchy considers himself officially smacked. If our scripters and programmers have their way the creatures will be a far bit better. The monsters will act more intelligently. Many of them will force the player into dialogue or to make choices. :o)) They aren't just killing machines. ok, thx GA === Mode change "-v Trumpace" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop Are you guys going to do a promotion like they did with FO2 and name an NPC after a fan? Cuz, if you do, I think there are a lot of good NPC names in this room right now...(hint hint.) And porn (or pron) adds a lot to the game, IMHO. :) * ALee-Oop sells soda to wash down the easter candy. Interesting idea. We are indeed thinking down those lines, yes I'll put your name in one of the game code's comments. I think Guido has about a million ideas for that he can't talk about right now. "Aye, I'm Flabbyjack, head factor of the Dustmen." Too big a secret Tim: :-)) Of the promotion and not the porn, I assume... Porn is easy. Comedy is hard. * ALee-Oop is King of the code comments! * Meghan withholds comment. Isn't that the other way around? Thank you, Colin :) No Going boldly where Meghan fears to tread... Thank you Colin for the Obvious Joke of the Day *grin* GA Thank you, folks, I'll be here all week. Thanks. :) Hehehe Don't forget to tip your waitress. === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v me" by Meghan Go ahead, me groan. The skunk, or your dog? The dog :) Me? Me? Are you going to be visiting any other planes in Torment, you don't have to say which ones, just if you will be visiting tons, some, a few, just staying in Sigil, etc. I can't wait to go on a scenic tour of the abyss! A few. You'll be visiting a number of them. :) Some. Maybe if I'm lucky I can buy a retirement place down there :) Colin, Guido? I don't want to give anything else away. Especially that Bruce Willis cameo. ;) Yes, the Bruce Willis cameo... I thought it was Leonardo DiCaprio (hence Guido's "King of the World" complex) I can't give any more detail than "some" because Guido's right down the hall... * Striding_Dragon kicks Clovis! With a very large club. * Tim snnickers. GA === Mode change "-v me" by Meghan * Colirama avoids making the obvious joke === Mode change "+v Kyote" by Meghan * Clover watches as Guido breaks into the pose and yells "I'm the King of the World" at the top of his lungs Thanks, Colin. Go for it, Kyote. Good question. Let me answer it. * Tim waits with baited breathe. I think the answer is NO. Resoundingly. * Colirama waits with bait on his breath. I feel a GA comin' on. He's there, honest... * Meghan nudges Kyote. Uuuuhhhhhh....Uhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! GA!!!!! * Striding_Dragon laughs really hard shaking his scales * Tim nudges Kyote. That last question, ahem, makes me think of something...What's the maturity rating on this game? I realize from what I've read on the site that it's a fairly complex and strange game, and the Planescape setting seems a bit stark and deep, so I was wondering if you guys would rate this M, by the ESRB...and do you think that's the rating it should have? SORRY! :) Woohoo! WOOHOO! * Colirama nudges kyote :) jinx Very Immature! My father had a VCR Programing Emergency last time,a nd this time, my dog wanted in. Busy household :P What the... HEY! Hehe I would expect an 'M'. We've had to tone some of it down. But we'll still probably pull in the M. Mature subject-matter , certainly. Especially that school bus part. Guido wanted to cut down on the gore, yes, Mr. Director? Yeah, I expected an M. What I really meant was that I was hoping no one has made you remove content to get a T rating when your vision dictates an M... Yes, I wanted, but they just keep doing it... I'll have to take out my red pencil some time and just go through all this excessiveness. Bye Flabbyjack! * Clover thinks Pinchy is too late * Pinchy frowns. * Clover consoles Pinchy * Pinchy slides over on the couch. Good answer guys, thanx ;) (dang) GA Oh boy. Go ahead, Silverdawn === Mode change "-v Kyote" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Silverdawn" by Meghan whoa... I think I see some pron coming... How restricted have the Designers felt by TSR's Code of Content? How much has Wizards of the Coast relaxed those rules? * Meghan grins at Colin. Not too much. Really? Colin? *eyebrow* * Pinchy thanks Clover. * Clover says Pinchy is welcome And to defend BG, I think it is safe to say that the pathfinding and monster AI will be much improved in Tales of the Sword Coast and especially BG2 :). WotC is a lot looser about these things, and as far as I can tell, we have much more freedom than we would have had under the rule of the Dragon. We seems to be able to do preety much what we set out for. Thanks, Silverdawn Yeah, the buyout to Wizards helped a lot. Obviously, we don't have things that would get us banned in other countries.... Any swearing, drunkeness, etc.? ... but we get a little more freedom than we did at TSR. Or accepted, depending on the country. You should know, Colin... No swearing - though 'pike it' and 'berk' both are pretty nasty when you think about them. (even Spiderman?) The Snuff and Sodomy Club was never actually published, Clovis. * Pinchy wonders how Spiderman fits into the equation. bummer * Tim perks up at the mention of Spiderman. Though we did work in some references. :) * Pinchy sings Kajagoogoo songs to himself. * Clover knows how Spiderman takes it, right Colin? GA? OH my. Yes. * Colirama takes the 5th. === Mode change "-v Silverdawn" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Nickelle" by Meghan Go ahead, Nickelle I think part of the huge success that BG had was the excellent fan sites, like BGChronicles, that helped hype the game early and consistantly. Is the lack of Planescape fan sites to this point a concern at all? I absolutely agree. We would sure like to see more I blame PR. It is a concern indeed, and we are trying to better ourselves... to get more material into the fans' hands so that they can get more excited about the game I just think the public hasn't been provided with enough pictures of me to spark their interest. * Clover congratulates Silverdawn We will hyave regular updates on the website almost every DAY for the next months! Get this! Thanks, Colin And... Sure, Krys. :) Or photos of Guido, for that matter We will have new materials posted on the site as well in a much more regular fashion../ Excellent You have probably noticed the MP3s,m the new wallpaper, etc. It's all just the beginning, but we are taking "UPDATE! Colin and Chris spent the day laughing and throwing spitballs at each other!" this thing very seriously and want to make sure that we give enough material and information out to get people really excited about he game. After all.. we've spend over two years of our miserable lives, creating it... I will be sending an update for Guido to post tomorrow. We're sort of alternating days. "UPDATE! Colin and Chris spent the day laughing and throwing spitballs at each other!" - does this surprise anyone? It surprises me that I wasn't invited. me neither, Dan You heard the laughter. Invites are implied. GA Your attendance in the chat...is very appreciated! === Mode change "-v Nickelle" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop This question is for Tim, "The Art Guy". What programs do you use for you artwork? What do you recommend an asprining computer game artist go about practicing with? Lightwave It's the All Night GA Dance Party! Thanks Nickelle!! er "aspiring" not whatever the hell I wrote... Well, you want to know Photoshop and the like TILEPICS is a must. But most of all you want to pick subject subject matter that interests you at least at first. That will get you through a lot of frustration Thanks for the tip! :) Frustration is never a good thing. :) Lightwave. Max, Photoshop.. all those will help of course Does that help you out? Sure does...now all I have to do is find a way to afford those... :) HAHAH get a sketchbook and draw with your pencil for now Hehe...the next best thing, eh? And then extrude the image into a 3D model with your hands. exactly Thanks, Dan, what a mentor That's how Tim started. Hey, I'm on the case. Hmm...you'll have to demonstrate that one... GA === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Kyote" by Meghan Go ahead, Kyote I think it helps that Tim is the son of god. (don't encourage him) Think of anything, Kyote? Thanks God? I thought it was... oh. Nevermind. * Tim looks angelic. I think his Dad lost the remote. Okay. === Mode change "-v Kyote" by Meghan === Mode change "+v TruthSword" by Meghan Go ahead, TruthSword rofl * Colirama laughs and laughs NPC interaction in Fallout was very deep and in BG not-so-deep. Since story is a major element to the game, could give some descriptions on the conversation system and depth of NPCs? * Clover thinks it's the hair cut The dog reprogrammed the VCR. (Tim's not hers) Our dialogs are much closer to Fallout than Baldur's Gate. The conversation system is still the basic tree structure. ie, their statement, your list of responses, their reaction. Yes, they are very rich, very dep and VERY long... actually I have decided that we need someone... In fact, most of our designers came from working on Fallout 2, so they had certain expectations about how dialog would be handled. to go over them alltogether to tighten them up, that's how long they have gotten. However, most of our dialogues have a minimum of 20 nodes, and most have a lot more. They're very deep. The time is now 7:30pm Pacific Guido is worried about localization. :) cool. thanks GA Not only localization... I think * Colirama slaps Pinchy around a bit with a large trout Go ahead, Silverdawn === Mode change "-v TruthSword" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Silverdawn" by Meghan What is the status of the secret project? It's been over a month since the last chat... * Tim slaps Colirama around a bit with a large trout it is becoming a matter of fun and gameplay. The secret project? Guido? Oh, THAT. Oh boy... * Pinchy does something indescribable to Colin with the father of that large trout. Are you sure you want to ask this question? No, he's not * Meghan help AARGH! AAA ::choke:: er.. sorry It ties into your increasing fan interest :) or is that material being released differently now ;) Silver: I'm afraid. As much as I'd love to talk to you and everyone else about this... yes, the material is being released differently I can't. Maybe Big Tuna can help some time when he's online again. It's probably better something done with Greg offline :) Maybe post the question on the messsage board. It is really his resort! ie. same status..thanks Yep, thanks for understanding ga Go ahead, me === Mode change "-v Silverdawn" by Meghan === Mode change "+v me" by Meghan Yo me! So, let me get this straight, you have lived many past lives, and from the time you first wake up at the beginning of the game to the numerous times you go into a coma and awaken, another different past life emerges that you live until you next "death?" And so do you start off with all of the benefits and power pertaining to that class, like hitpoints and weapon specialization for a fighter, proficiencies, spells (or spellbooks for spells that can be me uh oh... my computer is starting to bluescreen... I don't think Guido or I were prepared to answer that in a manner that would have pleased everyone :) Clover: Yes, I agree. Thanks. I think there is a misunderstanding. When you wake up, you are still the Nameless One. You have not been taken over by a past life. My understanding is that there will be some plot-related reason as to why your memory is not wiped when you die again in this game. Where is Big_Tuna anyway, Guido? Since Colin is rebooting, I can't really give a better answer. Sorry. * Tim looks around for the Tuna-man. ga? Clovis: I have no idea. GA, as long as ME is done. (back to Clovis, I see) You mean as long as you are done. I swear, the grammar in this place. All done, me? :) No, the question asker. Does he have a rebuttal? *** Disconnected from chat.annex.com for about 2 minutes I just tried it. "The server returned Extended Information". Whatever that means. any response to the animal magnetism thing? It means the server is full. What can I say. The chicks dig me. Okay, we need to take care fo that. I'll have to talk to Finite first hting tomorrow IE sends that error message back erroneously. Too many connections, in other words, a busy signal :) We're gettin' the hits, baby! GA Hehe Go ahead, Entropy No one is next. === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Entropy" by Meghan It's Miller time! uhm miller time? .. question is.. who is the lady of pain Ooooh whats her bust size She is everyone and noone. Mystery whats her pet dog's name? Like yours... She is life and death. Hm. I like her already. The Lady is cool... actually she's hot! She is male and female. But don't let that get out. Dragon: yeah. Spank spank spank 1: Lady has to keep her secrets. ROL And secrets she has... you're probably her son or her brother. oh well Better! you're her disfigured lover! Like why does she shave off her eyebrows and paint them back in? :-)) Disfigured? disfigured? .. dead! you mean like Colin? Anyone in the queue? dead lover. That sounds almost like the matrix Yes, like Colin Yup, 2 or 3 people. Anyway... necrophilia anyway Uhoh.. GA, then. -v me === Mode change "-v Entropy" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop Will there be any "public beta testing" for the game? It seems an increasingly popular thing to do, and probably efficient and affordable. Good Job, Jim Seems as though the queue is thinning out a bit.... That's up to Guido and management, I would assume. We haven't really decided upon that yet. Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on how comfortable we feel wit hthe game. Hey Jim! Heeelllooo Most of th etesting will definitely be done in-house, but... So it's in the think tank, right? It can create a lot of negative publicity if it's not handled correctly. there's a slight chance we will have separate people beta-test it. We're talking about it. It can also create a lot of good publicity... That is definitely ture. Especially if it is given to cool people...cough... hint. Aha! Ga === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Nickelle" by Meghan Go ahead, Nickelle This was alluded to earlier, but I think Striding_Dragon was unavoidably detained at the time. Curious about voice over work. Great Job in BG...using the same actors/or company for Torment? How much $$$, ballpark, is spent on Voice Over Talent? With BG, we did it with people who were in very close proximity to Iplay Okay, VO... Not sure on the budget. Probably confidential. We haven't decided yet exactly how much we will have acted and recorded... Guido will do most of the VO himself! we have looked into some talent to use for the recordings but sadly the first choices... fell through because of scheduling conflicts. Can you believe it, Chris Rock got an offer from Fox the very day... he wanted to make up his mind and say "Yes" to us. He would have been perfect for Morte! This Radio Vet is up for the gig...call me...LOL Clover: With my accent? We have other people in mind however and some really cool pepople at that. We'll see. Yeah, sure, why not - you know who you are! (and back to Clover, I notice...) As for the money, I'm afraid I am not at liberty to discuss that... Dsorry! no problem. *sniff* I did VO for the Infinite Worlds trailer and they didn't use it. My chance to be famous is gone! Meghan, hate to break it to you... * Clover bites her lip Be gentle.. * Meghan sniffles. ga? * Tim looks at Meghan sympathetically. GA GA === Mode change "-v Nickelle" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Gavlin-Strife" by Meghan Go ahead, Gavlin-Strife Are there any other CRPGs currently being thought up at BIS? * Clover decides against torturing Meghan's psyche Yup. Can't talk, though. Gavlin - yeah, lots of stuff is always in the works No information can be released? Not just a hint? but since we're a public company, everything has to come about "officially" by announcing it with a press release Not even I know about that... Dang. Can we say numbers.. One? Two? Two-hundred? haha We have two other in house projects and some out of house Oh man... 2 out of house, I think so 4 all together and counting? * Tim beams. I know, it sucks - we'd love to spill our guts, but we'd get in big trouble :( What about thay Little House on the Prairie RPG? That's cool. I guess we'll just wait around. too racy I don't know about that... Oh, yeah, forgot that Dan... I was hoping Ravenloft. No combat. We don't have that license, either. Gavlin - as soon as we're ready, we'll move on it! All right. Expect some HUGE announcements in the next few months One more question, if that's okay... We need a PEZ-RPG Ready. On your mark! Get Set! GA! * Jim smacks his lips Pez? Wow! I hate pez * Jim wants PEZ bleh === Mode change "-v Gavlin-Strife" by Meghan === Mode change "+v MarLo" by Meghan Go ahead, MarLo Well you don't have to play the game then, do you? Guido: What's this thing about a record in the message board? And your old nick was Guy? Where does that come from? [We really need good questions, please people! ;-] PEZ is coll.... hey, you won't believe this... what a waste Today I went To Taco Bell - with Big Tuna - and I saw they have the Chihuahua PEZ dispenser now! Is that cool, or what? * Tim looks stunned. You and Tuna went to TACO BELL??? MY God! You Quiero Sugary Snacks! * Clover feels woozy Put your head between your legs, Clover! That's "yo quiero" Dan Guido has a record and his Nickname is Guy Dang, Dan Tim: Did you have to tell???? Uh, I can tell everyone's getting tired :) I want details! (I can hear you guys giggling down here) My nicknameWAS Guy.... no more And do you have any cool things plan to put on the IP auction for PS? Maybe a pre-release version (would really sell! ;-) You know all of this gets logged and posted on websites, right? ;) Guy Smiley, no? Yeah, like BGC, Silverdawn says :) Complete and unedited ;) A pre-release version? Yikes. GA? I like the sudden silence! rofl I'm sure it would sell higher than 300$! === Mode change "-v MarLo" by Meghan === Mode change "+v k" by Meghan Go ahead, k Yes, GA Our fingers are palseyed. Ummmm.... Anyone for Duran Duran? Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand..... Turn it up - I can't hear it down here Sing it, Dan The Reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark..... Hey Jim.. by the way, could you tell everyone what you do on the Torment team? k? Are you there? He's under the desk. Wait a minute. here sorry I am one of the programmers Oh my word. Get him outta there! Thanks Jim :) I also like to solder stuff 2 part question MMmmmmm..... Wires....... OK. all the planars/cutters know that we will have special freinds\bodyparts who will help us in play, and I think help determine the success\outcome of the game, ie. role-playing. Yeah, you should see his officemate's mouth! Will there be magical devices (not aretifacts) in the game that also alter the ultinmate fate of our hero? And will there be different outcomes to TORMENT based on the class of THE character? :) This is getting too close to the game's resolution..... I'm afraid :-) :( That's really a Colin/Chris question. I think the behavior of the main character is important to the outcome, but not the class itself. I could be wrong. hmm :) There is some 'yes' to the question about the artifacts/items. will there be magical weapons, staves. wands that are only useable by specific class? Girls on Film, Girls on Film...... GA? There are items usable by only specific people. Sing it ga? === Mode change "-v k" by Meghan === Mode change "+v ALee-Oop" by Meghan Go ahead, ALee-Oop Personal question. Your proudest moment in gaming, either a game, or a facet of the game that you guys have done that you're that most proud of. 2) You guys had a lot of cool giveaways for FO2, any plans for a public-release party on this one? And so we dance into the fire. That fatal kiss is all we need...... I got 2 Not at this time - we're still working it out. We'll know more when we get closer to release. We had talked about doing something cool jointly with WotC Proudest? Hmmm. I can't really say for Planescape, but I was pretty happy with the scripting work I did in Fallout 2. Proudest moment: When the first "Realms Of Arkania" shipped and people were literally running down my door to buy the international rights! Sounds corny but just making this game is pretty fun. In that sense I am pretty proud of what we are doing here, now. Hahaha. Tim is the man of hype, eh? Setting up some of the silly stuff in Broken Hills was a blast. hype... naw... truth hahahahah As for the give-away. We're constantly cracking our minds over that still. We have some really cool ideas, but Clovis actually ran into some problems with that.... Oh yes, I remember that stuff...the arm-wrestling... * Tim give ALee-Oop a hug. Yeah, there just aren't enough arms and legs to mail around. * ALee-Oop smells chocolate all over TIm's breath. HAHAHAHA! * Tim pops some gum in his mouth. GA Okay, last question, and then we're done :) === Mode change "-v ALee-Oop" by Meghan === Mode change "+v Gavlin-Strife" by Meghan Do you guys have chocolate? * Pinchy wonders why Tim laughs whenever /me types 'GA' Do any or all of you play AD&D? Any campaign setting in particular? Favorites, etc? Damn! the second ME didn' t work! Only once a year or so when I can get enough people together :) Ravenloft.... non-AD&D Shadowrun! I really don't have much experience with pen and paper. I'm more of a CRPG man, myself. AD&D from way back Cool. I've palyed AD&D a bit Greyhawk, FRealms, Spell Jammer, Darksun Do you try to enable certain attributes from AD&D table-top into your CRPGs? Settings.. well mostly the custom stuff was a blast. I did play some Paranoia years ago, but nobody around here seems to. I guess it's a pretty tough game to GM. Th fun. The fun of role-playing. We want it. You get it! I think we try to put the sense of freedom of exploration into the games we do. Looks like were wrappin' up - it's nearly 8pm my friends Are there any plans for a complete multi-player CRPG? Ususally we're pretty successful. not any we can talk about yet Yeah, it's time to go home :) Dang. Aww Well, thanks. My muffins! * Jim saddles up and rides off * Tim waves at Gavlin Who was the masked programmer? === Mode change "-v Gavlin-Strife" by Meghan Thanks guys... I reallly need to eat... I am starving... Clovis didn't get pizza this time.... Thanks everybody! Thank you all very much for coming - keep an eye on the web site for the latest information and to find out when the next chat is :) Thanks everyone for coming.. :) Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! * Pinchy gives everyone a big high five! See you next time * Tim jumps up and down * Pinchy punches Tim in the gut. * Clover didn't get pizza because Guido keeps calling her Clovis * Tim grimaces. * Jim laughs (so there) thanks * Meghan waves goodnight. ...dan * Pinchy follows up with a knee to the groin. * Jim hands Tim a band-aid * Tim runs around in circles. * Jim explodes Thanks and Goodbye Turn to www.planescape-torment.com for the latest Torment information and updates (I sound like MSNBC or something)