Krater - Q&A

Dhruin

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Fatshark sent out a canned producer Q&A on their post-apoc RPG, Krater. It's a bit long for this format but here we go:

Q&A with KRATER Producer Robert Bäckström

What is Krater?
Krater is a top-down roleplaying game in a colourful post-apocalyptic setting from Swedish developer Fatshark set to be released Q2 2012. It combines the combat mechanics of action-rpgs with the top-down tactics of the classic old-school RTS such as Syndicate. The rich world opens up for the players via exploration of the immense world map.

It is based on a new IP - Krater takes place in a gigantic impact crater, where a city has been built on the aftermath of a bomb. Teams of adventurers, called free-diggers, compete with each other to excavate valuable pre-armageddon technology from an endless system of tunnels, caves and bunkers.

Krater is set in the oddly unique world of lush post-apocalyptic Sweden, where genre-typical deserts are replaced by Nordic pine forests and red wooden cottages.

Could you tell us a little about the release schedule of the game? You mentioned that the main story comes is released as a trilogy?
Krater is a title that we plan to keep alive for a long time. All tools, the game world and its content is designed with this in mind. The paid content of the first year of the game is divided into three major campaigns (the main release and two DLC´s) along with a number of smaller content packs with characters and items.

In addition of the paid content the game will see a number of updates to extend multiplayer (coop and PvP) support as well a updates and additions to all ingame content. We will not force people to pay for the extra content in order to play - it should be an option if you like the main story and want to experience more of that or if you like to be the one with the coolest looking gear in multiplayer.

Where did you get the idea having three characters simultaneously and a big roster to choose from? And is it fun to allow the player characters to die?
We have several inspirational sources for this. We initially wanted the players to design their team in the same way as you try to find the best and most optimized combinations of forces when you setup your army in table top games such as Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

We also wanted the characters to evolve in all directions (not only upwards in the skill trees) and come to life through the course of the game.

One thing led to another - if you have consequences such as death you will need to adapt the game mechanics for this. Loosing it all without tools to cope with the loss is not good game design while no risk at all removes the meaning of rewards in a sense.

To lessen the impact of injuries or death of individual characters we want the player to focus on their team. We think that a typical team will consist of 10-20 characters - enough to lessen the impact of losses but not too many to loose personality of the individual characters. The characters itself will act as a log of the team - where injuries and battle scars play an equally important role as awards and achievements.

How will character progression work?
All characters and abilities range from common to, in the initial release, rare which decides how many slots they have available for upgrades and abilities.

Upgrades increase you stats which affect your ability usage, hit points and damage output. Abilities are special skills that you perform with you character in addition to your normal attacks.

New characters are found in the world, received as rewards from quests or purchased as DLC´s.

How does the fact that Krater takes place in a dark future in Sweden affect the art direction and feel of the game?
We initially talked about putting the story somewhere in Europe and never really considered Sweden as a setting. But somewhere early in our design process we got to hear, through the musician Christian Gabel, about a Swedish post-apocalyptic movie set in the small town of Karlstad. He had come across a number of concepts and a manuscript for the film from the early 80’s which was canned before any filming had been done.

One of the concepts depicted a gigantic crater big enough for a society to be built inside it - an iconic setting that immediately got our attention. Shortly thereafter it was decided that we should put the story in Sweden and build the myth about Krater city.

The colorful setting of the world steams from two things. On thing is that vibrant colors in post-apo settings felt like a somewhat different take on the genre art style, which normally settle for a desert with lots of subtle earth colors.. The other thing is the fact that Sweden or at least...More information.
 
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Anyone have an idea of what to compare this game to ??? I say it looks like Darkspore but much deeper. Is this a Diablo clone so to say ?
 
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I'll buy this just because of: "Krater is set in the oddly unique world of lush post-apocalyptic Sweden, where genre-typical deserts are replaced by Nordic pine forests and red wooden cottages." The rest sounds good too.
 
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