[Xfire] matteox: Hello! We are very pleased to welcome everyone to the Avencast/ClockStone Live Chat! Please welcome our special guests, who will now introduce themselves and start taking your questions!

gileoo: Hi everybody. I'm Marcel from ClockStone ltd and my main work on the game was 3d graphics, level editing/design textures and scripting.

SirSushi|ClockStone: Hi, I'm Tri Do Dinh, Game Designer, Animator and AI Designer.

M-ilk|ClockStone: Hi everybody. My name is Matthias and I'm the project manager of the Avencast project. Cool to have you here tonight (tonight in Austria...)!

h3lld|ClockStone: Heya! I am Helmut and I primarily worked on balancing monster attributes and monster/player spells.

[Xfire] matteox: The Guests are frantically typing to answer your questions! =oD

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: Shakal: Matteox Do You Know By Chance when Avencast shall be released?

Answer: Shipping starts on October 30, worldwide.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Sorry guys, we are starting slowly but with dedication... ;)

 

gileoo: Question: RaD: My Q is where did you guys get your inspiration and ideas to make this game ?

Answer: Hte whole process of the development did grow from a small demo we did in our free time. We then decided to go for a real title with a team of 7 people in the beginning. So all the experiences of those guys and their favousite games had a great influence. So for the kind of game we were inspired by old gaming tiltles, like diablo, baldurs gate, myst also beat em up games like street fighter or tekken. Thats something I see Avencast it has elements of an RPG, Action beat em up (meening spellcasting here) and advanture elements.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: ={AMW}= WeﻉмaN aka C RaD: My Q is where did you guys get your inspiration and ideas to make this game ?

Answer: Massive sessions of brainstorming :) Ideas where coming from pretty much all over the place, since all the people in our team have different interests. For example, some of us play RPGs, some of us play a lot of Beat 'em Ups, so that led into the creation of Avencast's combat system, stuff like that.

People tend to make a connection to Harry Potter in terms of story but funnily enough that wasn't an influence on the game at all.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: gileoo totally stole my question

gileoo: sry for that :)

M-ilk|ClockStone: don't fight or I'll have to get the broom stick!

M-ilk|ClockStone: the magic one!

SirSushi|ClockStone: no, not the broomstick! :)

M-ilk|ClockStone: you guys should have seen Tri practicing magical fighing with a broom stick! I wish I had a camera back then... LOL

SirSushi|ClockStone: yeah, if you can't afford motion capture... :)

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: To h3lld|ClockStone: what does it take to balance everything in the game, and what’s stopping you from making one extremely powerful spell/ creature

Answer: It takes a lot of time and effort to try and get it right. We've got a lot of feedback from beta testers that helped us make it fun. The thing with extremely powerful spells or creatures is that they are only fun for a short amount of time. Or godlike monsters are only fun for guys like me who do the balancing but most often not for those who play the game :-D. So you can add those spells and monsters here and there but not everywhere as that will ruin the overall experience.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: What are some of the challenges and/or advantages you face as a small developer in an industry that is dominated by larger corporations

Answer: challenges: plenty. it's really hard to get into the industry as a rookie, both in terms of getting noticed as well as in terms of actually developing a complete game. it's pretty crazy to look back and see how we started and where we ended up after 4 years. we paid dearly for our mistakes in the beginning.

 

advantages: i guess it's easier to develop a game if you have a small group of people you know. it's a pretty flat hierarchy, so if there's some problem you can just get up from your desk, walk into the other room and discuss matters. it makes you flexible.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: Where do you see your company in several years, or where would you like to see it?

Answer: With your eager participation in the last part of the game development (buying ;) )I hope we can keep on rocking and make kick-a** games... :D (yeah, you are right, I think AVencast is one already...) .no, seriously: it is a lot of fun making a game butalso a hell lot of work. it is a beautiful and creative process and I'd love to repeat it. However, many companies are out there trying to do the same and it might not be easy for a small to middle-sized team like ours. If people enjoy Avencast it will certainly not be the last thing we did...!

 

gileoo: Question: revolink24: What are some of the challenges and/or advantages you face as a small developer in an industry that is dominated by larger corporations

Answer: First as a small team we really had to think carfully about how to realise things, that could be done with our potential manpower. We started the project on our own, without support in the beginning and were most of the time really independend. Then as we saw that things it took us about half a year to find go the guys from lighthouse. From then on we had the possiblilty the increase our time, what was really neccessary to get everything done. We of course thought about titles of larger coorparation and how we can compete. We always tried to make our game unique, not making a copy of a copy.

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Ĵęщβąĝęļ: Will Avencast follow in the footsteps of WoW and incorporate an integrated VOIP system?

Answer: If/when Avencast is extended to multiplayer we will definitely consider implementing a VOIP system as this leads to a much better gaming experience. And for some players it might just be too tedious to tackle with 3rd party VOIP systems. So it definitely is an option.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: ={AMW}= WeﻉмaN aka C RaD: how long have you guys been working on this game?

Answer: it's been something around 4 years now. it's hard to track the beginning because in the first year we've been only working on Avencast in our free time. it totally started as a hobby project

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: acredzwei: What is the reason, why avencast have such stunning effects? Is this one of the USPs of the game? THX

Answer: Once we had decided on focussing on the mage as our hero character, it was clear that we now could feast on visual FX. I mean, from the first moment, it was clear that we would be heading for some powerful ninja style martial arts mage, not the bearded one trying some esoterical laying on of hands. Laying on of hands might feel good but does not look good ^^. Swift motions and mighty spells with stunning effects sounded very delicious to us and we surely wanted our mages to be this way!

 

gileoo: Question: Parsia: What is your idea about today's Games? (No game in particular ofcourse) Games Full of Bugs and then bombarded with patches? why do you think this has happened ? Financial Problems? Complexity of Games?

Answer: Some years ago I also could not understand this trend releasing a game. Now after your own development (and we developed also our engine on our onw) I have to say that I can understand it, because things get very complex und sometimes time running out. You never can be completely sure to have found all bugs. Things have to be tested very often. Also the very heterogene PC platform is a minus here because there are so many hardware configurations out there....

We once had a problem with a driver of a realtek sound chip., that caused a crash. It realy took time to found that out.

So yes I think this are the main reasons, complexity, time (which is very correlated to fincancal is)

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Tosh ┌╤╦─ - - - -: As a small develping company, How do you feel to being bought out. If Activision likes the game you have and wants the rights to it and offer lets say 150million to buyout your company, Whould you take the over or start a bidding war or jsut flat out say "F*CK OFF"

Answer: man 150 million is plenty of cash, i'm in :) On a serious note, getting enough money to run a company on your own isn't easy, so an offer like that would certainly be tempting. it depends on the circumstances i guess.

 

gileoo: Question: Parsia: What is your idea about today's Games? (No game in particular ofcourse) Games Full of Bugs and then bombarded with patches? why do you think this has happened ? Financial Problems? Complexity of Games?

Answer: I really have to say i dislike it, but for some problems it is the only way to correct things. We of course tried our best on Avencast.

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: How are you trying to distance yourself from other mainstream dungeon crawl rpg’s

Answer: In my opinion Avencast feels totally different, it just feels better. I am not familiar with all those games out there but in Avencast you can really control the character and make a difference. It's not just the skills on the character sheet but also yours, the players, skills that enables you to take those hurdles and make it through the adventure.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: How are you trying to distance yourself from other mainstream dungeon crawl rpg’s

Answer: mainly with the combat system. most other dungeon crawl rpg's are of the point and click hack and slay variety, so we thought it would be fun to mix it up a bit with a different combat system that really puts you right into the action and keeps you on your toes. this is where the aforementioned influence from all sorts of action games comes in.

 

gileoo: Question: Fallen Angel: To all: Why can you only be a mage? Or is it possible to be other classes?

Answer: We first wanted several classes and races. Bu tin the middle of our prcess we had to cut things down to handle all the work. That was the time when many concept were changed, for example we decided that the whole story will by situated near about the academy of Avencast. So it was a natural choice to take the mage. Also the story could be developed better having one main charakter. As he is shown in the Sequences. The player can advance the hero in difenrent directions in the game., so we decided to go with one charakter.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: To all: Why can you only be a mage? Or is it possible to be other classes?

Answer: All we are saying... is give mage a chance!... (sing with us!) haha, well. mages rock in our game. you can go for the blood magic type who thrusts himself into melee combat, or go for soul magic and control everything with powerful shots, rolling thunder waves and stuff like that. Or make a mixture and spice everything up with summons for tactical moves. In the development, there was the point, where we had to nail it down on one character class. We chose the mage because he can do fun stuff with supernatural powers. However, I think we made this character class ich enough so that you won't miss other classes...

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Parsia: What is your idea about today's Games? (No game in particular ofcourse) Games Full of Bugs and then bombarded with patches? why do you think this has happened ? Financial Problems? Complexity of Games?

Answer: as gileoo said, the problem becomes more understandable once you've made your own game. it's mindboggling how complex game development can be, especially when you're facing financial limits (which is always the case). so it's understandable that mistakes and stuff like that can slip through the cracks, certainly not desireable but understandable.

 

gileoo: Question: [SOS] sjk: What were your full-time jobs when Avencast started as your hobby project (like you mentioned)?

Answer: I was "full time" student of civil engeneeing and computer science. And did a lot of graphics in my free time. (Also before Avencast)

SirSushi|ClockStone: i was full time student as well. boy did that change once we got serious with Avencast... :)

h3lld|ClockStone: I also studied and keep studying computer sciences.

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: what is your favorite creature?

Answer: My personal favorite is that guy who walks around the player then knocks on his shield with his sword like - "Bring it on!"

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Hey, Helli, the creature you call a guy is a Dark Leader, a higher rank soldier in the unholy army of Morgath. ^^ This guy balanced them and doesn't know their names. He's so rude... ^^

h3lld|ClockStone: I didn't want to give everything away.

h3lld|ClockStone: :-D

M-ilk|ClockStone: Sorry, I just wanted to prevent our audience from thinking we might have orcs in the game...

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: To all: Why can you only be a mage? Or is it possible to be other classes?

Answer: as m-ilk said it, we had to cut things down. it's really funny, because in our original design we went completely crazy with ideas and stuff, thinking that it can't be all that much work. we were oh so wrong.

 

gileoo: Question: Soda: How many hours approximately will it take to finish the game if the player stays to the main quests?

Answer: I would say 25. I think our hard core tester here did it in 20, but was pale like a corpse afterwards :))

 

gileoo: Question: revolink24: Do you focus mostly on techincal elements such as graphical effects and music or gameplay elements such as level design and controls when developing Avencast

Answer: The thechnical things had to be done to get everything to work. For the graphics we tried to find a way to get a nice result and nice designs with our small team. We spend a lot on the gameplay and control issue, because this is a point were we wanted to by unique, and try out something new., as i think.

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: Do you focus mostly on techincal elements such as graphical effects and music or gameplay elements such as level design and controls when developing Avencast

Answer: You have to get a good ingredients of everything to make it fun. All of those points you mentioned play an important role in a game. It's just like that weakest link metaphor. Also the storyline plays an important role. You don't start with the techniques and add the content around or vice versa. It is more like an evolutionary process. If you need this you add it, or if you have this available then you can add more content there, and so on.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: Who came up with the name Avencast?

Answer: i think it was our programmer Michael who dropped the name in one of our early brainstorming sessions.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: to all: What would entice someone to buy this over say dungeon siege?

Answer: It is certainly the way you fight, of course only if you like the way it is in Avencast. Most people need some time to get into the way the controls are handled in our game. Some of them cursed them at the beginning but nearly all of them didn't regret giving it the try. Once you become sort of virtuous with the controls in Avencast (and I mean Expert Mode), you'll love the way you can smack around monsters, dance around them before placing a well-positioned devastating smash attack or freeze them, kick them around, burn them or whatever you would like to do with them!

 

gileoo: Question: Player: To Gileoo, what were some of the more interesting parts of level design? Is there a particular level, object, or creature that you made that sticks out to you as having been fun or interesting?

Answer: Oh, yeah of course there were really funny things. I really like the outer ring level. It was really nice to get from the design sketches to the final resuolt. All in all I have to say that we underestamated the time doing level editing in the beginning tremendously.

My craziest create is rather old and is a something like a hammer with 2 legs. But it was a bit too crazy and caused some technical problems... so it only is in an smaller and "disarmed" way in the game now.

 

gileoo: Question: gileoo: Player: To Gileoo, what were some of the more interesting parts of level design? Is there a particular level, object, or creature that you made that sticks out to you as having been fun or interesting?

Answer: But Raga (the monster) is still very cool. :)

 

gileoo: Question: [SOS] HeatDrive: What development stage is the game currently in? (Alpha, Beta, or Gold)?

Answer: We are in Gold stage ;)

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: hey gileoo, I still like the 2-legged hammer. it's one of the "original" monsters in the game! also the one from the same family, the flying eye with the deadly shot! Guys, these are guardian creatures of the academy and they have turned wild, so watch out when you meet them (ouch, my head....ouch, I'm dead...)

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: [SOS] HeatDrive: In your opinion, is Avencast "grind-tastic" or did you try to reduce grinding as much as possible?

Answer: Actually one of the effects artists, Mike, experimented with what I just love to call Bloody-Mike's-Bloody-Blood-Patch but unfortunately for the grind-loving community it did not make it into the final game.

 

gileoo: Question: revolink24: Did you intentionally make your game different from others out there, or did it just end up that way?

Answer: This was something we really tried to do and it was a main motivation for the project itself. I hope you'll like our concept.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: Did you intentionally make your game different from others out there, or did it just end up that way?

Answer: we didn't sit down and say "ok, we have to make it different.". it was more like "ok, what we have here is an Action RPG, what stuff would be cool to have?". so there wasn't a conscious decision to make it different.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: h3lld i think he was referring to grind as in levelling up your character. i'll chime in on that, gimme a second

h3lld|ClockStone: oh, sorry then I've got that one wrong.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: @Sushi: somehow it was! one of the first things we decided was: we want a game where the player is challenged in the way the controls work!

SirSushi|ClockStone: @m-ilk could be, it's been a long time :) what i wanted to say is that the design happened very organically instead of trying to force it into a certain direction.

 

[Xfire] matteox: Our Guests are Staying Just a little While longer, so keep those great questions coming. You all still have a chance to win the awesome prizes from Creative Labs!

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: [SOS] HeatDrive: In your opinion, is Avencast "grind-tastic" or did you try to reduce grinding as much as possible?

Answer: i'd like to think, that Avencast isn't as "grind-tastic" as a lot of other RPGs out there, both because the whole grinding process (killing monsters) is more dynamic and because it doesn't take you that long to reach higher levels and get to the sweet stuff.

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: There has been an awful lot of talk about Diablo 2 in both the questions and chatter? Is it safe to say that you have taken some inspiration from Blizzard entertainment?

Answer: Blizzard plays an important role in the gaming community. But as was mentioned before Avencast was not designed to be a copy of another title or implement successful concepts. Instead it evolved naturally from a hobby project. So it's various parts were added because they were fun to us.

gileoo: @hlld3: of cousre everybody here did play diablo, or even still does some time :) (gell tri?). So it had some influence

 

gileoo: Question: Bobby: to anyone: Im sure youve all played other video games. What system would you say is you favorate? or do you perfer computer games?

Answer: My favourite platforms are/were PC, (a lot of titles) megadrive/genesis(thunderforce4, streets of rage 2, ..), some arcade games(cadilllacs and dinosours, daytona, mortal combat) and playstation2 (collossus, tekken)

SirSushi|ClockStone: old school for the win

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: There has been an awful lot of talk about Diablo 2 in both the questions and chatter? Is it safe to say that you have taken some inspiration from Blizzard entertainment?

Answer: i'll answer that since i've played Diablo 2 to death and beyond :)

in a way we thought that it would be pointless to mess with this behemoth of an Action RPG that is Diablo 2, so this is one reason why Avencast turned out so different. we didn't want to repeat what Diablo 2 has already done so well

SirSushi|ClockStone: i mean influence from diablo to a certain extent is almost inevitable, but we didn't want to consciously follow its footsteps

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: In your opinion, is Avencast "grind-tastic" or did you try to reduce grinding as much as possible?

Answer: Avencast has got a straight storyline and is not that vast that people could go on endlessly smashing up opponents. (Although they might like to do it once mastering the controls ^^). Fighting is a big part, but we have a lot of original quests and riddles to keep the gameplay varied. And it's not only "go fetch this for person X-quests". When I play Avencast again and again, I rather think: "How could I kick monsters asses this time? I think I might try to only use horizontal strikes and enjoy how they get their slaps simultaneously..." instead of "Which little corner of the level haven'T I ransacekd yet for another click orgy-hope my hitpoints are higher than the monsters-fight"

SirSushi|ClockStone: yeah, the combat system plays a big part in keeping things interesting

 

gileoo: Question: Fallen Angel: I have a pretty low end computer, will I still be able to enjoy avencast?

Answer: I think you should have at least a 2GHz processor, 1024MB RAM and a graphics card at least for example ati 9800.

Below it will not be much fun. A good processor would make a greater enhance than a better graphics card, I think.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: {AFP}Nhb93: What was the best part of creating the game?

Answer: finishing it :)

gileoo: LOL, definitly thats right!

M-ilk|ClockStone: oh, is it finished??

M-ilk|ClockStone: LOL

SirSushi|ClockStone: dunno

h3lld|ClockStone: hahaha

M-ilk|ClockStone: take it away from me!!!

M-ilk|ClockStone: hahaha

SirSushi|ClockStone: i thought so :)

M-ilk|ClockStone: I want to be a normal person again! Please...!

SirSushi|ClockStone: for me personally, it's the constant learning experience that you have when you're making a game. i've learnt so much in these 4 years it's pretty unbelievable

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: revolink24: What do you think of the future of gaming in general? Do you believe that it is for better or worse?

Answer: Dreaming of new technologies and possibilities they bring, I am sure the future will be awesome!

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: how couIs clock stone at any point in the near future hiring? If so how would I get a job there?

Answer: We have some smaller projects going in the near future. Depending on whether a big one is coming in (like the Avencast add-on or a sequel),we might hire additional stuff. Whoever is interested in a job, might contact us at info@clocstone.com and we will take their profile into our Human Resources file. Of course it is often very helpful if people live in the same town (which means coming to Innsbruck and enjoy snowboarding in winter and mountainbiking in summer) but that depends on the job of course...

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: Can we expect more chatting goodness from clockstone in the future?

Answer: Depends on whether the boss lets us out of the basement again. Argh sunlight!

M-ilk|ClockStone: LOL

M-ilk|ClockStone: where did I leave the broom stick...

SirSushi|ClockStone: yeah, i wouldn't mind some chatting goodness

M-ilk|ClockStone: talking about chatting: until we have set up the forum on the Avencast site, you guys out there (everywhere) can contact us via info@clockstone. or visit the forum at Lighthouse Interacitve http://www.lighthouse-interactive.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=15

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: I have a pretty low end computer, will I still be able to enjoy avencast?

Answer: depends on how low end your computer actually is. Avencast is no Crysis, I can tell you that much.

 

gileoo: Question: revolink24: What do you think of the future of gaming in general? Do you believe that it is for better or worse?

Answer: I think that there will come great things in future. The business is still a growing business right now. And newest developments showed that there is still room for new things (like Wii). I mean not just faster, more details, etc.

This is perhaps also a bad thing. You can technically do so great looking things now, but you might need as many people as for a big movie production ...

SirSushi|ClockStone: i think there'll be room for both small indie stuff and big blockbustery productions, so i'm not worried about the future of gaming.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: Fallen Angel: how couIs clock stone at any point in the near future hiring? If so how would I get a job there?

Answer: thats' a tough one. i don't think we are hiring right now, and i don't know about future plans of doing so. but we'll have to wait and see.

 

gileoo: yes i am a playng of pen&paper RPG and RPG on computer

 

[Xfire] matteox: Ok, that concludes the chat with ClockStone, the Creators of Avencast! Thank You Very Much to our special guests and thanks everyone for participiating! There will be a couple more questions and answers forthcoming!

 

But Now onto the prizes: If you are one of the winners PM me for instructions on how to claim your prize!

[Xfire] matteox: 1. Soundblaster X-Fi Xtremegamer SoundCard - Revolink24

2. Zen Stone 1GB Mp3 Players -

Fallen Angel,

_XTC”Grisu

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: kvn1: Why did you chose to make an RPG game insted of an MMORPG game ?

Answer: making a mmorpg would have been an absolutely unhealthy amount of work, so that wasn't even an option, like ever. especially if you don't know if it's going to be a success.

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: Thank you to all of you out there for your interest (even if it was for the prizes...;) ). I hope you had at least some illuminating moments with us. Cheers and buy, buy!

M-ilk|ClockStone: sorry, I meant. bye, bye!

gileoo: thanks for ypur questions, hope you enjoy'll avencast and have a nice life ... *grin*

h3lld|ClockStone: yes thanks people, and take care!

M-ilk|ClockStone: and don't sit in front of the computer all the time. go out into the fields, running and playing...

SirSushi|ClockStone: thanks too. it's been a pleasure

SirSushi|ClockStone: only after you have finished avencast of course :p

M-ilk|ClockStone: once again: if there are still questions: info@clockstone.com until we have the forum online!

 

h3lld|ClockStone: Question: Lord Traith: DO you have a mailing list we can sign up for to keep informed of the game?

Answer: Unfortunately we have no mailing list. Keep checking the website at www.avencast.com and the forum links provided above.

M-ilk|ClockStone: sorry everyone, we are tired. It's 1:35 AM here and there is anther Avencast trailer waiting to be finished. so we have to get up early...

M-ilk|ClockStone: (wavin good bye, with a tear drop in this buttonhole...)

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: Question: hypeserver: Anyone: Will user statistics be conducted after the full release so users can run Avencast better on their computers?

Answer: there you go. there's nothing planned yet, but Avencast running better on people's computers is certainly in our interest. if there's a problem you might wanna try and send a mail to us.

 

SirSushi|ClockStone: hypeserver: THANK YOU!

 

no problem, have a good night

 

M-ilk|ClockStone: SirSushi: are you silly? I'll forward all of them to your account... haha

M-ilk|ClockStone: ah ok , you said "try" ^^

gileoo: gn8 everybody

SirSushi|ClockStone: yeah, i suppose we have to set up a forum of some sorts for troubleshooting

M-ilk|ClockStone: pfiat di, everyone!