Inven “Tree of Savior” Development Team Interview

Hello. We are "Tree of Savior" development team.

Our interview is on Game Webzine Inven (www.inten.co.kr).
Link : http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=109604

 

There is a saying that trends are keep revolving around and this does not only apply to the world of fashion.  Due to improvement in technologies, gamers can see the graphics in real time which were only available in CG videos before.  However, there are many people who miss the memories of 2D dot graphics in the past.  It may be due to the quality of the games that they had enjoyed in the past or it could be due to the recollections that are still in their minds from the communities in those game.  The one thing sure is that they are missing those memories.

Back in April 30th, when the information about the newest title from Hak Kyu Kim's imcGAMES  was released, lots of people have shown their interest in the game which may be due to the reasons that I stated above.  Due to the improvement in the game engines, the games that are being released these days are becoming more and more real, but the decision made by imcGAMES was somewhat different.  Back to the past, but not old fashioned, concentrating on the feelings of the classics were the main themes that imcGAMES have emphasized while developing the game.

To get the latest information about 'Tree of Savior", which features retro concept, we had an interview with the development team at imcGAMES.  Let's listen to what they tell us about the game. 5 months have passed after the first information about the game was released at G-Star, but it seems that the attentions on the game are getting bigger and bigger.

A1) We can't deny that we feel pressure on those attentions, but they also give us strength to work on.  We are trying our best to release the game as soon as possible.

 

Q2) I know that you had FGT for the first time back in February.  What kind of feedback did you receive from the people who had participated FGT?

A2) We received lots of feedback and advises on the matters such as balances between the classes, quest flows, difficulty level, controllability of a few classes, interfaces, and etc.  Most of them told us that the game is very fun and they enjoyed a lot.  They also told us that they will play the game again once the game starts it's service.  However, since we had only invited a small number of users to our studio, most of the feedback that we received were concentrated on the first impression of the game and the contents in the game.  Therefore, we haven't tested and verified the game's feasibility on the environment where lots of users are connected at the same time.  We plan to test this when we launch our CBT which is scheduled within this year's summer.

 

Q3) Are there any changes in the game after FGT?

A3) We have identified that the current control system, which may confuse some people who play the game for the first time, may need some adjustments.  Also we are adjusting difficulty level of the monsters and modifying some of the items in the game based on the feedback that we had received from FGT.

 

Q4) After seeing the graphics of 'Tree of Savior', lots of gamers are remembering Ragnarok or Arcturus.

A4) Our focus was to make the game which can give classical feelings, but not old fashioned, along with expressing the latest trends.  As a result, we relied on as many hand drawings as possible instead of using the technology from the graphics engine and we emphasized shapes on designs to have fairy tale impression in the game.

We are preparing to explain to all the fans about graphics concept soon at "Tree of Savior" Developers' blog so please wait for our explanation.  Ragnarok and Arcturus are not our games.  Therefore, those games do not have any relationships with our game.  The art director for "Tree of Savior" is Anh Jung Won who has been with us for "Granado Espada" for a long time.

 

[▲Graphics of Tree of Savior]

 

Q5) Did you develop your own engine?

A5) We are using the internally developed engine which has been in use and updated since the start of "Granado Espada".  This engine was customized to meet the needs to express the impressions of  2D characters, hand drawn art and etc.  Except for the graphics side of the engine, we are using the same engine which is being used to develop "Wolfknights", the other game that we are currently developing.

 

Q6) After watching the video which was released at G-Star last year, we thought the sounds in the game are very impressive.  We think that the sounds fit the game really well.  Who made the sounds for the game?

A6) Mr. Dong Il Kwak who was working in SoundTeMP team joined S.F.A team to participate "Granado Espada".  And he is now in charge of sound directing for "Tree of Savior".

Besides Mr. Kwak, many other artists including SoundTeMP team, Esti, Questrosound, Mr. Joon Sung Kim and the other artists are participating for this game.  Among them, there are also some artists from the other countries and the new artists as well.

As for "Granado Espada", sound concept was euro-trance genre and classics, and the predecessor's theme was electronic-pop genre.  However, this time we are focusing on classical crossover.  Please find more about it when we launch the game.

Mr. Kwak's interview can be found on the following link.    http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=49060

 

Q7) So you told me that you are planning 1st CBT this summer.  How far has the development completed in terms of percentage for CBT version of the game?

A7) We think that we are already ready to initiate CBT when we look at the sheer volume of contents inside the game, but we think there needs to be some adjustments on interfaces, game system, skills on each class and some other features in the game.  I think we are about 70% complete for CBT.

 

Q8) How diversely can a character move in the game?  I know that there will be 8 directions and jump, but is it also possible to dash and run?

A8) When we had our prototype version, it was possible to run by pressing the cursor keys fast enough, but after some tests, we had concluded that it's aching to press the cursor keys repeatedly so we changed that the basic movement will be running (instead of walking), but when stamina gets fully depleted, character will start to walk.  Dash feature which enables players to avoid attacks instantaneously will be available on certain classes.

 

Q9) I saw a fireplace in a game screenshot.  What is it for?

A9) We have some features including "Rest Mode" in the game  in order to prepare for what players can do while they are not engaged in battles.  The details of these features will be updated in the future.

 

Q10) How does character customization work?

A10) Since there are some limits on the characters' style, it is hard to freely customize the characters.  You can choose class, gender and hair style.  We are thinking about changing eye colors of the characters possible.

 

Q11) I saw crafting system in the game from the video.  How does crafting work?

A11) All classes will be able to craft some items in the game.  However, in order to craft an item, you have to first acquire a manual to craft a particular item.  A manual will be automatically recorded on Adventure Journal once the manual gets used and after that the item can be crafted any time.  Certain manuals can be taught to the others.  When you collect all the ingredient items that are specified in a manual, you can craft the item.  Crafting is only possible during Rest Mode, and it could take a few seconds, a few minutes, and more than 10 minutes depending on what kind of items you are crafting.

 

Q12) How big is the world in "Tree of Savior"?

A12) Our plan is to have more than 200 territories in the game when we launch OBT.  It will include 3 major cities.

 

Q13) I know that there are hair/head accessories.  How many kinds of accessories do we have in the game?

A13) At the moment, we have about 50 costumes that are not relevant to characters' stats.  We will have more before we launch the game.

[▲Crowns, hair bands, rabbit ears and etc are already present in the game.]

 

Q14) When we look at the classes, there are clear distinctions between tanker, healer and dealer.  When players form parties, are these roles clearly specified within each party? Or even if we don't care about the combinations of the classes, is it possible to clear dungeons in the game?

A14) We are keep adjusting and modifying in terms of battle system.  We will tell you more about it after our CBT.

 

Q15) It was unique to see the texts that are being typed by the spectators during a tournament match are shown on the screen.  What was your purpose on showing those texts?

A15) Players who are waiting for the next matches, or the players who just want to watch the matches are all gathered around in the spectators' seats.  They can watch those matches from the point of view of the players who are actually engaged in the matches.  The  texts that are being typed by the people who are gathered around will be shown anonymously on the screen and we think it will be more enjoyable to watch those matches when there are diverse comments coming from many people.  A few people who are reading this may have already noticed.  We got an inspiration from the one of Japan's famous video sites.

 

Q16) When I look at Adventure Journal, there is something called Adventure Achievements.  What is the purpose and when we complete high level Achievements, what kind of benefits can we receive?

A16) There are some players who are mainly focused on leveling up their characters and complete only those quests that are mandatory and there are other players who want to enjoy all the hidden contents in the game.  Adventure Achievements are for the latter players, but the Achievements in the game can not be achieved simply by killing lots of monsters.

There are many Achievements such as collecting all the different kinds of items, searching and navigating all the maps, clearing all the quests including the hidden quests and many more.  Your Achievements will be compared to the other players' Achievements and we will show which players have achieved higher points by ranking those players.

Certain quests and certain upper level classes are only possible to do and aquire when your accumulated Achievement points are higher than certain level.

[▲The latest build screenshot which was first revealed from Inven ②]

 

Q17) We think community features and real life features (such as marriage, having a house and etc) would fit the game well.

A17) It is hard to predict how the community in the game will turn out in the future.  After collecting feedback from the testers from CBT and the tests after that, we will decide which system to add in the game.

 

Q18) You have recently opened Developers' Blog for "Tree of Savior" and shared with us some information.  When can we get the new information?

A18) We will collect all the questions from the Facebook and the Blog and answer them from time to time.  We will also update our development process.  However, our updates will be non-periodic for a while.

 

Q19) So finally, CBT which is scheduled within this summer, How much can we expect in the game in terms of the number of contents?

A19) The main purpose of CBT is to test the game when a large number of people connect at the same time.  Therefore, we will limit the number of contents that will be released at the CBT version of the game.  Still, we will have enough contents so that the testers can play the game for full two weeks.

 

We are collecting the questions that you have given us so far via Facebook and Developers' blog and we will soon answer your questions on Questions and Answers about TOS #2.  Thanks.