More On: Dungeons and Dragons: Tactics

There really aren’t a lot of good role playing games out for the PSP right now. Sure there are a few but the market will change dramatically next year when Atari releases Dungeons and Dragons Tactics. I had a chance to see the game at the Atari Spolight event earlier this year and the game is really pushing the envelope of what the PSP can handle. Needless to say when we got a shot an interview we took it.

My name is Eric Grossman, I am the Atari producer on Dungeons & Dragons Tactics. I have been in the gaming industry for over eight years, working on titles in a variety of genres and platforms.

 

Eric Grossman: D&D is a very special IP indeed. It has a rich heritage and deserves tremendous respect. My initial reaction was excitement. Not to sound too hokey, but it really is an honor to get the opportunity to make a Dungeons & Dragons game. With that excitement also came an intense desire to definitely not mess this game up. I tend to feel that with all the games I work on, but with D&D Tactics, it was kicked up a notch. I know how beloved D&D is by its fans and I wasn’t going to let them down.

 

Eric Grossman: The game is most definitely using the 3.5 rule set. It was a thrill to see the first gameplay log (which we get from our debug builds) showing all the various rolls and checks. The player will ultimately only see the key items like “Critical,” or the number of points of damage or experience points received, but all of those D&D rule actions are happening behind the scenes. For example:

 

Goblin attempts to make a Hide check at the current location

Hide check failed due to location not being concealed or in cover from enemies

 

Or

 Key ability modifier of 1 applied. Revised Skill check = 8

Total miscellaneous modifiers of 0 applied. Revised Skill check = 8

Skill check 8 fails against DC 10

Hide check failed

 

For the most part, the rules are in unchanged, however, there were some items we had to either drop or alter such as “grapple” and “disarm.”  It just did not make sense to have enemies laying on the ground or unarmed. Probably, the hardest thing to implement was the Clerical Domain spells. Take the “Shatter” spell. We just couldn’t make it useful in the game, so with the consultation and blessing of Wizards of the Coast, we replaced it with “Confusion.”

 

Eric Grossman: At first, there was a lot of discussion about which realm to set the game. We talked about Forgotten Realms, Eberron and some other settings. Ultimately, we decided to make it just straight up D&D. This allowed for a lot of freedom and Kuju set about to come up with an original story in an agnostic D&D setting. WoTC again consulted and helped us shape the story to make sure that it was true to the license. I don’t want to give too much away, but the player’s party find themselves embroiled in a conflict between two very powerful parties. Depending on their final alignment, the player characters will decide who wins this contest. The story takes you to a variety of locales, from Elven forests to a ruined temple laden with vampires to the Astral Plane. 

Eric Grossman: D&D’s rule set is complex but it is also wonderfully refined.   As I mentioned above, we did have to drop some things and alter others. We could not fit or use all of the spells in the game, but we still have over 220 of them. The main challenge was the interface. Creating a D&D game of this depth for the PSP required a different approach to the interface. Radial menus, icons work just fine on a large PC monitor, but as slick as the PSP’s screen is, it’s still not that big. Kuju came up with a spinner interface that uses words instead of icons. This makes the game far more accessible. The player doesn’t have to memorize all sorts of icons and our tool-tip at the bottom shows the action in more detail. We also included a lot of in-game information, so let’s say if you’re brand new to D&D and do not know what a Magic Missile is, you can press a button and get a description in-game. If you’re hardcore and have all the books, you can use those too!

 

Eric Grossman: Character creation in D&D Tactics adheres to the rule set is rather robust, particularly for a handheld game. You get to pick your gender, race, class, and then allocate your ability points (for strength, dexterity, etc.). You’ll also get to select your alignment, deity and then allocate points to your skills and feats. We have a variety of portraits that represent your character but you also choose from an assortment of various heads and clothes to give them a unique look in-game. We have options for automatically selecting the skill points, so if you don’t know much about D&D, you’ll still be able to create an effective character. Finally, if you don’t like creating characters, you can use the pre-generated ones.

 

 

Eric Grossman: The game has 41 missions. Some are optional, but you’ll most likely want to explore them to get more loot and experience points to help you out in later core quests. I can see this game taking at least forty hours for an average gamer, maybe a lot more, especially when you add in multiplayer. I wouldn’t be surprised if gamers spend 80-100 hours on this title.

 

Eric Grossman: Each mode supports six players. First there is the coop mode, where up to six players can play through the campaign together. There is also a Dungeon Bash mode, where players play cooperatively in a random dungeon. In addition, we have deathmatch multiplayer, with a variety of modes. Last Man Standing is a deathmatch where the last one left is the victor. Treasure Hunt mode is all about collecting the most loot, but to win, you’ll most likely need to take out the other players. Dragon Kill is a game where the point it to take out a dragon and be the last man standing. Last but not least, we have a gladiator mode for one on one combat.

 

Eric Grossman: The PSP is a great machine, but like every platform, there are limitations. Kuju is pushing the PSP to the max with dynamic lighting in the dungeons for torch-lit adventures and expansive, atmospheric outdoor levels. The particle effects for the spells look great. But implementing these bells and whistles is no easy feat. Perhaps the biggest challenge is fitting all of these items and the many animations we have into the PSP’s memory footprint.

 

Eric Grossman: For me, it is the faithful reproduction of the 3.5 rule set. This game was fun to play even as a prototype. The multiplayer is going to be great and having the atmosphere helps a great deal for immersion but for me, gameplay always comes first and D&D Tactics has that and then some. If we had more time, I would have wanted to include Prestige Classes. We made a choice to have psionic classes instead because they rarely get their due in D&D interactive games, but yeah, Prestige Classes would have been great. We just didn’t have enough time.

 

 

Eric Grossman: Just that this game truly is a labor of love for everyone working on it. We hope that tactics and D&D fans will enjoy this game for many, many hours, playing on their own and with friends and saying to each other, “now this is D&D!”

We'd like to thank Eric for taking the time to answer our questions as well as Laura and Emily for hooking us up with the opportunity.