Entretien avec les développeurs d'Auto Assault
Auto Assault Rush Hour Session #1
NC Soft invited JeuxOnLine, Juega En Red, Clockerz and Krawall, to a series of exclusive online dev-chats called the "Rush Hours".
Scott Brown, president of NetDevil, Steve Snow, Auto Assault producer, Todd Keister, Auto Assault assistant-producer, and three european community coordinators (Torque, AutobahnParker et Aergirson) were there to answer our questions.
Will there be a quest system? Will it involve making party with other players?
Steve Snow : Yes, but we call it the mission system. It.s quite detailed in terms of what we can offer players for a real gameplay experience. Everything from just driving and blowing stuff up to setting off massive Ion Strikes on enemy bases.
Plus we have a fantastic waypoint system that never leaves you in a situation where you are not sure where to go. Ultimately Auto Assault is an action MMO so there are missions that might recommend you convoy with other players.
How many character classes are there in AA? how much do they differ from one another? and how can they work together in a convoy?
Scott Brown : There are 4 different classes in Auto Assault. The classes in Auto assault all have supporting abilities and are all also capable of surviving the wasteland on their own as well. Each race has a commando class, the heavy hitters, driving the military vehicles like HUM-Vs and tanks. There is also a ranger class, these guys have stealth abilities and typically drive the light vehicles like buggies and motorcycles.
Additionally there is the officer class, these guys do the group buffs and summons, they all drive faster sport car type vehicles. Finally there is the Engineer class, these guys can field scavenge, drop turrets and traps, and tend to drive the bigger trucks and semis in the game. While the 4 classes are similar across the 3 races, how they use their skills is quite different.
What will Auto Assault offer to the players who don't like PvP?
Scott Brown : Quite a lot actually!! The majority of the early to mid level game world is PvE only. All the missions are hand crafted to reveal the deep history of the world. Also, since Auto Assault is an RPG the game is all about loot statistics and we have TONS of loot. Not only that but the statistics of the loot is dynamic so that each piece of loot is unique statistically. This also makes the crafting system unique.
Are the missions instanced?
Steve Snow : Some missions are instanced, such as the larger story advancing missions send you into an instance. You can do these by yourself or with friends but either way once you.ve accomplished a goal in that instance the change remains that way for your character.
So if you destroy artillery guns then when you go back to that map the guns remain destroyed.
What happens if i team up with someone who hasn't destroyed those guns yet, but i have?
Steve Snow : The layer for the instance is defined by the convoy and whomever enters the instance first. So if you entered first the guns would be destroyed, if he entered first they would be there. But if a player has already completed the mission they can not do it again.
With instances we always take the least common denominator, in essence you can always go back and replay a mission with someone who has not played it before, but they can not skip ahead to your version. We wanted this system to let friends always be able to play together. Since character classes also support each other, even though you can play solo, it is helpful to go in as a group.
After you created your character, how will players gain money in the game?
Scott Brown : You can money through missions, destroying AI enemies, selling loot to stores and through trading with other players. Money in the world of Auto Assault is broken into four types. First is clink, basically any old world coin of any amount. Second is Script, these are all world bills. Third is bars, these are gold bars found from old bank vaults. And finally there are globes, strange alien balls of an unknown nature.
How will be the character and vehicle customization? Will be as extensive as City of Heroes for example where each player had it's unique and different avatar?
Scott Brown : Tricks are objects you attach to the vehicle like pipes, carbon fiber, bones, armor plates, etc. Trims are different styles of paint jobs. You also find paint cans in the world that you can use to change your primary or secondary colors in the body shops in towns. Also, the guns, wheels, hood ornaments, and melee kits (spikes for example) will all make the vehicle look very different than other players.
How will the level up system works? How deeply will we be able to customize our character through level up?
Steve Snow : You level up by gaining experience through killing enemies or completing missions. It.s important to note that missions in Auto Assault give the bulk of exp, so you.ll want to keep working on any uncompleted missions. Creating a character unique to the world of Auto Assault is done through the skills and stats.
There are two basic types of skills, faction which everyone in your race can train and class, which only your character class gets access to. Given the sheer amount of skills it will be impossible for a player to master all of them.
There are four statistics and you will gain points for each level that you will get to spend on these stats. We will go into more detail about skills and stats in another Rush Hour.
Will it be possible for guilds to make alliances?
Steve Snow : Not at launch. Auto Assault has a strong focus on Arena combat and even though clans might be of the same faction they will still compete in the Arena, so alliances don.t make as much sense in Auto Assault.
What kind of points of view will be available for the players? Will there be a cockpit view?
Todd Keistert : In Auto Assault, the camera can be switched to varried positions around the player to provide for different perspective views. For rapid combat and quick action, the camera can be zoomed out and panned in any direction to allow for area view, and in towns, the camera could be zoomed close for detailed observation and interface.
can you give an example of how two classes might work together?
Scott Brown : Sure, one example would be having an engineer nearby to an officer. The officer could provide all kinds of attribute buffs while the engineer could keep everyone fully repaired and in the fight. Officers tend to have lower hit points as they lean on their reinforcements that they have summoned to the fight to help them. With an engineer nearby the officer becomes decidedly more powerful as they can stay right in the heat of battle.
when the player dies what kind of penalization will they suffer?
Steve Snow : None. First, you never die in Auto Assault, your vehicle is rendered non-functional and we give you a ride back to the repair station.
Second, Auto Assault is built around getting players into action gameplay. So when you make a mistake and your car is incapacitated you are simply relocated to a repair station where you can fix up and then head back out.
Will there be a limit to the number of persons allowed in a guild?
Scott Brown : As of now there is no limit to the number of players in a guild, as we continue the Beta if there becomes a technical reason to have a limit we may impose one.
It is possible for the player to move freely without their vehicle? IF so, what kind of things will be able to do?
Steve Snow : Yes, in town you can.t drive your car. You have to leave it at the entrance and head in on foot. So almost all of your NPC interactions are done in town as well as a lot of your merchant interaction.
Is it possible for a team member to repair, or "heal" others in the midst of battle?
Scott Brown : Yes, while Auto Assault is very fast paced a well timed heal/repair, especially in Arena combat, can make all the difference between winning and losing.
The best class for repair is the Engineer but you can also get area of effect repair kits that can fire, but these are not that common and slightly expensive.
Thanks to NCSoft for this Auto Assault Rush Hour session!