Written by: Kuiriel
Since TeamBG.org was started up with a major intent being getting us (the fans) to the MODs, we’re planning on releasing a few tidbits of information on these MODs, how promising they look and whether we think they’re any good. Of minor note are the interviews we conduct.
;]~
Many a DSotSC & BG enthusiast has heard of the rumors of a MOD in development known as MageDuel. So I went and got some information on it. Simple really. I asked Ajoc, one of the brains behind the brawn of MageDuel to tell us a little about his project, what to expect from it and when it’s due. A major extract of our conversation follows.
Kuiriel: The obvious question. What is MageDuel?
Ajoc: Well, MageDuel is going to be a small multiplayer based MOD, in which you play as a pre-made mage, who has the special ability to summon an army of his race. The level 1 spell summons 10 simple creatures (skulls, zombies, elven scouts etc), while the level 9 spells summons one amazing creature (like a lich or an Avatar etc). With your creatures summoned, you do battle with another mages army, the aim being to kill the other mage before his minions get you. There will be six starter mages: Skeletal, Cadaverous, Daemonic, Elven, Holy and Beast, each with [their own] pros and cons.
MageDuel is basically aiming to be a fun new way to play Multiplayer, a fair way for guilds to settle disputes, and available to anyone who has an internet connection.
Kuiriel: So you're saying that you think this could become as popular as Counter-Strike - especially considering the guild-wars..
Ajoc: Well, I never actually said that, people said it to me, but if we iron out every problem, make the whole thing balanced and people take to it, it *could* be as popular as Counter-Strike, I suppose. But I'd be happy if there were just a small group of 50 people who used it, [it] doesn't have to be every person who plays multiplayer.
I do understand too, [however, that] this will not be everyone’s cup of fish; some people have slagged me off for ruining a "role-playing" game, but to me the engine is very well suited to such combat based mini games...
Kuiriel: How would players progress in power? How would you make sure that PKs didn’t dominate the scene?
Ajoc: Well, PKs won't pose too much of a threat, as if it's a MageDuel room then people will only allow MageDuel characters. Of course, that’s not going to stop someone from editing an "official" MageDuel character into an evil mutant mage, but if that’s what they want to do, there is nothing I can do to stop them.
As for player progression, there won't be any, unless people choose to play single player with a mage. It would ruin the specially organized spell-book the mages have been given if they level up, as the number of spells per level goes all wrong:
3 level 1
3 level 2
3 level 3
2 level 4
2 level 5
2 level 6
1 level 7
1 level 8
1 level 9
As soon as a player levels their mage up, the whole thing would get screwed. For that reason, none of the creatures in MageDuel will give XP.
Kuiriel: How many kits and races would the player be able to choose from?
Ajoc: Kits and Races?
I don't believe personally that kits are such a good idea in a MOD, as they clash with any other MOD very badly. If they were less trouble causing, I would have looked into making a "Skeletal Mage" kit and so on. As for races, the 6 pre-made Mages will be available, plus others that [will be] made after the MageDuel release, as Add-On[s].
Kuiriel: So, what's going to keep people coming back for more? Where will the variation be? Will the player progress then to get more powerful spells and the like?
Ajoc: Well, as I said earlier, there will be no leveling up, as it would screw things up. We do plan, however, if MageDuel catches on, to release Arenas, new Mages, new ways to play (Capture the Skull/Flag/Sctoll [sec] anyone?) and patches, to keep it interesting.
I do understand that it could all become pretty dull if it was just the same 6 Mages.
Kuiriel: Would you have different spells in order? Would you be creating new animations?
Ajoc: New animations, I am sorry to say is no [sec]. I would have liked to, but I don't think anyone [at the moment] has the resources and skills to do something like that.
There will be I guess around 50-70 spells, all the summoning spells, the creature Mage spells (creatures you summon who can cast magic) and other spells. All the creatures summoned are new, even if they have the same name and avatar as one in the game; they are completely new and edited to fit into MageDuel.
Kuiriel: Ah. What are the special abilities of the various mages - and tell us a little about the spell casting abilities of the summoned.
Ajoc:
Skeletal Mage: Summons skeletons, ranging from skulls, to bone golems, to liches.
Beast Mage: Summons all your typical monsters, wolves, ogres and the like. They are low in HP, but summon more to overrun your opponents.
Zombie Mage: Average race, vampires included.
Holy Mage: Not many creatures, but casts spells to support his creatures.
Daemonic Mage: Slow to summon, very powerful.
Elven Mage: Fast, archer type creatures.
Each Mage has a couple of creatures that can cast spells. The Beast Mage for example has a Shaman, who will cast various hostile spells.
The Skeletal Mage summons a Skeleton Mage with a few spells, and a powerful Lich at level 9, who will have spells that unsummon enemy creatures. These extra spell casters will mean that you don't have to risk putting your main mage into direct danger to non-summoning spells.
Kuiriel: Just how big would this end up being, size-wise?
Ajoc: In size, MageDuel will be very small. After all, it's only spells, creatures, a few items and scripts.
I do intend to keep it this way, so [that] the add-ons like Areas and Sounds will be separate downloads, just to make MageDuel accessible to everyone. I do however recommend downloading every Add-On, as otherwise you will encounter problems if people don't have every file the other person has.
Kuiriel: You've stated that you believe it will be growing over time. How do you plan on addressing releasing it as it grows?
Ajoc: Well, MageDuel will hopefully grow as more is added to it. What would be cool [would be] a Druid and Cleric patch, or an Elemental Mage. Or a Shadow Mage, Drow Mage, Forest Mage, Death Mage… …there are a lot of ideas flying around, however, many of them are too similar to existing ideas.
As for areas, I wasn't planning on putting any MageDuel Arena type areas in until ICM appeared. If ICM is suitable, I will certainly look into it, but at the moment areas are above my ability.
Kuiriel: Onto the darker side. How are you planning on dealing with obvious problems such as slowdown when a horde of summoned ogres does the death dance to our favorite cloud kill spell?
Ajoc: Err, only a handful of spells from BG2 will be used, as you are playing against another player which screws up all the targeting. Spells like Haste and Slow will be a possibility, and many of the non-summoning spells included will be a slight variation on a BG2 spell to make it work better in the MageDuel MOD.
Yes, slowdown is an issue. I have numerous ideas:
Limit the number of summoning spells cast per minute.
Give creatures a timer, so they vanish after a while. The more powerful the creature, the longer it stays.
Put a summoning limit of about 15-20 per player.
And also, make sure users use it sensibly. Just cos they have characters with a lot of summoning power doesn't mean [that] they have to stretch their game to the limit...
Kuiriel: How will you get the monsters to be hostile to one character and its' summoned creatures, and not the summoner and their creatures?
Ajoc: As for the hostile thing, Potencius is working on scripts that mean player ones creatures will attack player 2,3,4,5 and 6's upon site etc. Potencius also plans to include hotkeys in his scripts, to tell all creatures to attack a certain player, or all creatures to defend you, which will be cool.
Kuiriel: Ah. Well, what about the famous hit and run tactic? Will monsters actively roam around looking for their prey or be fully controllable by their summoner?
Ajoc: Yes monsters will be fully controllable. You will have to follow them about, as you can't share their sight, so no sending monsters off. Although you could [try] using hotkeys.
There are two ideas on how to play, [there is] no idea which is best:
Close quarters, small arena quick fight, all happens in a short space of time, spells flying everywhere.
Open, like in a large part of a city or forest, where you have to search out your enemy and ambush them.
Another idea I have had is for "Wild" characters. These could be mages, but all they do is interfere, by summoning some hostile creatures, or hacking up your prize Lich. :P
Kuiriel: That sounds like a gnomishly wonderful idea. Now, the question we're all itching to ask. Are you planning on letting the public beta-test it? How long until we see this out?
Ajoc: The public will do all the testing really, as there is no way we can test out every situation. We will get them to join a mailing list before they download, and they will report to a special board to post unbalanced spells and creatures, and bugs. We decided this was best a while back, cos really MageDuel can never be totally balanced.
Ajoc: Any more questions?
Kuiriel: Oi. You missed the biggie. When do you think it'll be out to the public for beta testing?
Ajoc: I think that you can expect it out for public beta test in about 4 - 6 weeks, not sure. All the members of the team are at different levels of completion on their Mages, and Potencius will need sometime at the end to wrap this up in scripts.
Kuiriel: Thanks for your time. Anything you'd like to add to say to the future MageDuel enthusiast?
Ajoc: I have thought about new in-game music as a separate idea, as some very active music would certainly bring the fights more alive, but this is certainly not a priority.
As always, I'd like to thank TeamBG, for providing tools, Ken (for his inspiration on the Sword Coast Death-match), all those who intend to host MageDuel, Kuiriel for the interview, my Team, and everyone out there that is looking forward to MageDuels’ release!
I look forward to the gnomish lich most of all, since as it doesn’t seem like there is any security really planned on preventing the hacking of character types to change a peace-loving Daemonic Mage to something horrifying like the afore mentioned, it’ll be fun doing. Slow-down may be an issue, but it is unlikely from what I’ve heard of pre-alpha stage tests. Ping is always a factor of sorts. Aside from that or should the problems be resolved, it’ll be great fun and games until the gnome pokes out someone’s eye.
Kuiriel
