| Speciale Bethesda Softworks Report | |
|---|---|
| (link) | |
| Medium/Format | Print Interview |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Interviewee(s) | Julian Lefay |
| Hosted By | The Games Machine |
[UESP Editor's Note: This a machine translation of the original magazine interview, which was in Italian. All rights to the content belongs to The Games Machine.]
The second title from Bethesda is the official sequel to perhaps the most appreciated and famous product of their entire production: Elder Scrolls - Arena.
We have spoken at length about this Daggerfall, coming out next spring, with Julian Lefay, its eclectic Danish programmer. I bring you back to that not so lucky Legends of Valour, and then re-proposed in a much more convincing way by Arena. The basic problem in the complex balance of a game structure of this type is always the same: how to reconcile such an extreme freedom of maneuver with the environmental dispersiveness that inevitably derives from it? The solution, in fact, is not one of the easiest. Let's say then that in Daggerfall the size of the map has maintained dispersiveness that, if you look closely, was a bit of a limit of Arena, in this second chapter they tried to keep the management freedom of their player unchanged, but at the same time to present him with a whole series of more or less diversified challenges that can engage and involve him to the full. To see how and whether or not this goal will be achieved, we will of course have to wait for a more complete version of the game, but the premises, for now, can only be good. For the rest, Julian himself underlines, "everything that was in Arena, and I am referring to the excellent management of spells, the faithful reproduction of the hours of the day (from dawn to dusk), the generation of characters and management of their attributes, will also be present in Daggerfall. With the only difference that each aspect will be reviewed and corrected based on those corrections that we and our buyers have been able to find". I can therefore tell you how the interaction with the many thousands of characters with whom you can talk will follow a subtle psychological aspect that will be mind-boggling in proportion, even though it will be less extensive than Arena at least apparently. This is because, unlike the first episode, the entire geographical surface will be entirely reproduced, and not just some pre-established areas. However, it will be enough to take a look at the map of the starting district, to be struck by a legitimate sense of bewilderment: Daggerfall is undoubtedly the largest RPG that has ever been conceived and created.
However, returning to the subject of the subject, an excerpt of speech from which the entire philosophy of the game shines through: "in Daggerfall you will not have any particular constraints, you will have an entire and immense region to explore, and you will be able to conduct your adventure as you see fit. You can wander through the forests, find an abandoned castle and establish your home there; or take a hotel room in one of the countless inns in the nearest village, leave your luggage and then dedicate yourself to conversation with the local population. All this by accepting, from time to time, the tasks or missions that may be proposed to you...” This is, in some ways, a path attempted for the first time by the will change during the adventure, depending on your attitude towards your interlocutor or his people, and how the graphic wonders allowed by the Xn-Engine give the title in question a leading position in today's RPG panorama.
You can't wait to try it out for yourself... For the most impatient, a demo version is already available, but it is far from doing justice to all the incredible potential that will soon be POSED by this DAGGERFALL...