Archive:Reddit AMA

This content has been altered to display in a QA format.

''' What have you guys had the most fun with when working on a survival-RTS? ''' [Joe] Taking the concept of survival RTS and melding it with the Conan universe. Conan is not really the first thing you think of when considering that type of game. [Pat] I'm mostly a systems designer, so for me it was great fun coming up with the complex systems that go into this kind of game. It's WAY more complicated than any of the 8-bit games or even Forged Battalions with respect to economy, game flow and the role of the random map generators.

''' What was especially enjoyable or interesting about developing this game that isn't based in a sci-fi universe? ''' The only fantasy game that we've worked on in RTS is 8-bit Hordes (I guess Mytheon sort of fits but not quite) so it was nice to get a change of pace, at least for me. Fantasy is my favorite genre and I grew up reading authors like Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

''' How did you guys like working on the Conan franchise? ''' Working with Conan and Funcom has been awesome.

''' Was there a lot of material to work with to give you focus, or were you granted a relatively large amount of creative freedom? ''' Creative freedom wasn't really an issue since we have a lot background material and we can extrapolate from there. We also had Funcom's previous games as reference such as Age of Conan and Conan Exiles to pull ideas from. Funcom was very open - as long as it was fun and made sense, it wasn't an issue.

''' Will there be rotating buildings? ''' No rotating buildings, sorry. You can rotate units though!

''' Will there be a romance option? ''' I guess that depends on your definition of romance? I suppose with good RP skills you could fake it. Nothing in the actual game supporting it however.

''' It's my understanding that this game will be similar to a 'they are billions' with heroes and AoE like resource management, is that a gross misunderstanding? ''' That is roughly accurate.

''' Is there going to be story driven single player campagin, and if yes... ''' See answer above. There is no traditional RTS-style campaign.

''' ...is Joseph David Kucan going to be involved in this in any way? ''' No. I haven't actually seen Joe in a long while. If he's reading this, hi!

''' What is best in life? ''' To smite your enemies, see them driven before you, and heaing the lamentations of their women. I think I got that right :)

''' Will there be any pvp at all? ''' There is no PVP in the current game. It's more of a score-based competition. To that end, you can play a match and create a Challenge Link. You can then send this link to a friend or post it on your stream and challenge players to beat your score using your exact custom settings and map. Each Challenge Link creates a leaderboard to show how people do.

''' Does Mike have any new Hawaiian shirts to show everyone in a new video? ''' Always.

''' Have you managed to persuade Arnie to do the voice for Conan yet?! ''' I'm pretty sure Arnie is outside our budget :)

''' Will you be able to nerf recon? ''' I don't think that's possible. He's just that good.

''' Any info on the new Dune games? :) ''' There's nothing we can really say about this at this time. Funcom will announce anything they come up with.

''' Does this game have a single-player campaign with several missions and a story ? ''' We do not have a campaign in the traditional sense of the word. We have a five scenario set which is meant more to teach you the different mechanics of the game in ascending difficulty. Once you finish those, the majority of play will be using the custom match system for solo or coop play.

''' Will there be some sort of progression outside the matches? ''' Our feat system is linked to Steam achievements. Whenever you unlock a feat, it adds a bonus or other element to the game to help you progress. If you were having difficulty completing a match, unlocking feats will help you progress. Feats also unlock new modes such as Crom Mode (pause is locked out), Greater Artifacts, Elite Creeps, etc.

''' How will you ensure replayability to keep players coming back to play more matches? ''' The feat unlock system helps here as well. The custom match system has multiple sliders and toggled elements to help you change up the gameplay.

''' How deep a role will lore play in the game? Will it be reasonably accessible to people unfamiliar with the Conan franchise? ''' No knowledge of Conan lore is needed to enjoy the game. If you are familiar with RTS or tower-defense games, you should be fine. For those interested, a comic-book version of the Black Colossus story will be available to unlock in the game which will give you the story on which the game is based.

''' Will there be multiple factions available to play besides Aquilonia(Conan)? ''' Since the game is based on the Black Colossus story, there are no Aquilonian troops. The game uses mostly Khoraja, Shem, Stygian and other southern Hyboria units along with some non-human enemies.

''' Will Co-op Multiplayer have ranking system? ''' Not currently no.

''' Do you have plan to release demo or early access prior to the launch? ''' Not sure on this one. No one has mentioned a demo to me. That's likely a FunCom decision.

 Will the game support Steam Workshop?(Custom Scenario and etc.)  Not at launch. The random map generator caused some pretty massive changes to our map editor as well as a whole host of new requirements for a map to even function. It would take us a while to get an editor ready for public consumption, and there's just not enough manpower or time to get something out for launch. It doesn't mean we can't do something post-launch if there's demand.

''' Is the game full 3D? Will it be able to rotate the map 360º? ''' No map rotation in the game currently. It is full 3D, but allowing rotation has ramifications in art and other areas that add time to a project.

''' In the developer video, I remember mentioning 'Environmental effect such as disease, sandstorm is also a challenge'. How will it work? Will it be like specific enemy's skill? or map-wide effect? ''' Disease is caused by the pile-up of corpses as well as certain units that can cause it. It's contagious and must be actively cured to be removed. Fire will spread and gain strength if not put out. Sandstorms are mostly visual, but will affect sight range and can unearth buried treasure.

''' Was the name intentionally thought to sound like 'Command & Conquer' when read fast? ''' As far as I am aware, this was pure (but happy) coincidence.

''' How large will battles potentially be in terms of unit numbers? ''' Most players from playtesting tend to field around 40-50 units, not counting static defenses. Enemy units can be in the 100s.

''' Will AI be able to prioritize targets that they are good against when sent into battle or do you need to micromanage everything? ''' There is lite target priority picking, but player control is always the better option.

''' Will ranged damage "stick" and always hit, or will it be calculated and potentially miss here and there? ''' There is no concept of missing in the combat system except for position targeted weapons (such as catapults) which can be dodged.

''' How does it feel to be making games in a now niche genre and where do you see RTS games in the next 2-5 years? ''' To kind of roll with the previous answer, I think niche games have done very well for themselves. It allows you to stick to a specific goal and polish it. It's hard to say where RTS will go in the future, but I think the genre will need to evolve and come up with new mechanics and styles to gain more popularity than it already has.

''' From your prospective of working with big name RTS games why do you personally think they have lost popularity? Do you think there will ever be AAA studio RTS games again? (Obvious exception with Starcraft) ''' I'm not sure that the popularity drop is necessarily due to the genre of RTS, instead it could be that the RTS games being delivered in the last decade didn't evolve to fit the changing tastes of the audience. Many niche RTS games that cater to specific playstyles are doing well.

<!--==Original== PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

That looks to be all of the questions, so we're going to wrap this up. Thank you for coming to talk to us! We hope you enjoy Conan Unconquered when it releases later this year!

ChingShih

Thanks for your time! Looking forward to seeing more from Petroglyph in the future!

ChingShih

Both of you come from different parts of the studio, so I expect the answer to this will vary from your perspectives: what have you guys had the most fun with when working on a survival-RTS?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

[Joe] Taking the concept of survival RTS and melding it with the Conan universe. Conan is not really the first thing you think of when considering that type of game.

[Pat] I'm mostly a systems designer, so for me it was great fun coming up with the complex systems that go into this kind of game. It's WAY more complicated than any of the 8-bit games or even Forged Battalions with respect to economy, game flow and the role of the random map generators.

ChingShih

A lot of RTS games tend to be in a sci-fi universe and the past couple of games that Petroglyph has developed have been sci-fi. Conan Unconquered has a much different time period and different resources to manage. What was especially enjoyable or interesting about developing this game that isn't based in a sci-fi universe?

How did you guys like working on the Conan franchise? Was there a lot of material to work with to give you focus, or were you granted a relatively large amount of creative freedom?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

The only fantasy game that we've worked on in RTS is 8-bit Hordes (I guess Mytheon sort of fits but not quite) so it was nice to get a change of pace, at least for me. Fantasy is my favorite genre and I grew up reading authors like Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Working with Conan and Funcom has been awesome. Creative freedom wasn't really an issue since we have a lot background material and we can extrapolate from there. We also had Funcom's previous games as reference such as Age of Conan and Conan Exiles to pull ideas from. Funcom was very open - as long as it was fun and made sense, it wasn't an issue.

nobbynobbs1983

Been asked to ask by some chaps you might know from your other games...

Will there be rotating buildings?

Will there be a romance option (wtf retri?!)

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

No rotating buildings, sorry. You can rotate units though!

I guess that depends on your definition of romance? I suppose with good RP skills you could fake it. Nothing in the actual game supporting it however.

Yorikor

Hallo devs!

1.) It's my understanding that this game will be similar to a 'they are billions' with heroes and AoE like resource management, is that a gross misunderstanding? 2.) Is there going to be story driven single player campagin, and if yes... 3.) ...is Joseph David Kucan going to be involved in this in any way? 4.) What is best in life?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

That is roughly accurate.

2. See answer above. There is no traditional RTS-style campaign. 3. No. I haven't actually seen Joe in a long while. If he's reading this, hi! 4. To smite your enemies, see them driven before you, and heaing the lamentations of their women. I think I got that right :)

-ShibbySaiyan-

Hey devs! Will there be any pvp at all?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

There is no PVP in the current game. It's more of a score-based competition. To that end, you can play a match and create a Challenge Link. You can then send this link to a friend or post it on your stream and challenge players to beat your score using your exact custom settings and map. Each Challenge Link creates a leaderboard to show how people do.

lemmings121

Interesting idea, i liked that.

blendedmix

I think they see the success of They Are Billions, which is scored-based and supposed to get co-op at some point. It doesn't have PvP.

I'm not sure how well that's going to work out for Conan Unconquered. It's great they're trying something different, but I think They Are Billions popularity is due to the post-apocalyptic theme and tons of zombies on the screen.

Suds1979 7 days ago I've always thought that They Are Billions was popular because people have thirst for strategy games but a lot of people (I'm not one of them but still this is true) are simply afraid or have no interest online PvP. Call it ladder anxiety or whatever, most RTS players don't do it. They Are Billions took that equation out and it was wildly successful.

lemmings121

Idk, we will have to see if the gameplay on this one is good, in the end thats what really matter. If its good this highscore setting looks like a fun way of having a some competition in a single player game, but that alone is nothing...

-ShibbySaiyan-

Awesome, thanks for the reply! Looking forward to playing it

nobbynobbs1983

Does Mike have any new Hawaiian shirts to show everyone in a new video?

Have you managed to persuade Arnie to do the voice for Conan yet?!

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

Always.

I'm pretty sure Arnie is outside our budget :)

nobbynobbs1983

I don't know, he might do it for a mars bar now.

nobbynobbs1983

Will you be able to nerf recon?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

I don't think that's possible. He's just that good.

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

Hello everyone thanks for coming! We'll be getting to the questions in a second.

darthenron

Any info on the new Dune games? :)

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

There's nothing we can really say about this at this time. Funcom will announce anything they come up with.

darthenron

Okay :) (was worth a shot)

onivorousmeerkat

Does this game have a single-player campaign with several missions and a story ?

CakeDay--Bot 7 days ago Eyy, another year! It's your 2nd Cakeday onivorousmeerkat! hug

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

We do not have a campaign in the traditional sense of the word. We have a five scenario set which is meant more to teach you the different mechanics of the game in ascending difficulty. Once you finish those, the majority of play will be using the custom match system for solo or coop play.

motleygoldengod

edited

Hi there! I'll just add some questions to the ones I had on hold when I thought I might not make it here in time today.

Will there be mod-support for example through Steam Workshop?

Is there going to be a map-editor?

Any other sort of player created content?

Will there be some sort of progression outside the matches?

How will you ensure replayability to keep players coming back to play more matches?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

I think I already answered the first few. We don't have any launch plans for Workshop or player made content, but it could come later.

4. Our feat system is linked to Steam achievements. Whenever you unlock a feat, it adds a bonus or other element to the game to help you progress. If you were having difficulty completing a match, unlocking feats will help you progress. Feats also unlock new modes such as Crom Mode (pause is locked out), Greater Artifacts, Elite Creeps, etc. 5. The feat unlock system helps here as well. The custom match system has multiple sliders and toggled elements to help you change up the gameplay.

ChingShih

How deep a role will lore play in the game? Will it be reasonably accessible to people unfamiliar with the Conan franchise?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

No knowledge of Conan lore is needed to enjoy the game. If you are familiar with RTS or tower-defense games, you should be fine. For those interested, a comic-book version of the Black Colossus story will be available to unlock in the game which will give you the story on which the game is based.

ChingShih

Questions by /u/Maxlee84:

Hi devs! I've got a few questions for you;

Will there be multiple factions available to play besides Aquilonia(Conan)?

Will Co-op Multiplayer have ranking system?

Do you have plan to release demo or early access prior to the launch?

Will the game support Steam Workshop?(Custom Scenario and etc.)

Is the game full 3D? Will it be able to rotate the map 360º?

In the developer video, I remember mentioning 'Environmental effect such as disease, sandstorm is also a challenge'. How will it work? Will it be like specific enemy's skill? or map-wide effect?

Thanks!

ChingShih

/u/Maxlee84 your questions were answered here!

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

Since the game is based on the Black Colossus story, there are no Aquilonian troops. The game uses mostly Khoraja, Shem, Stygian and other southern Hyboria units along with some non-human enemies. 2. Not currently no. 3. Not sure on this one. No one has mentioned a demo to me. That's likely a FunCom decision. 4. Not at launch. The random map generator caused some pretty massive changes to our map editor as well as a whole host of new requirements for a map to even function. It would take us a while to get an editor ready for public consumption, and there's just not enough manpower or time to get something out for launch. It doesn't mean we can't do something post-launch if there's demand. 5. No map rotation in the game currently. It is full 3D, but allowing rotation has ramifications in art and other areas that add time to a project. 6. Disease is caused by the pile-up of corpses as well as certain units that can cause it. It's contagious and must be actively cured to be removed. Fire will spread and gain strength if not put out. Sandstorms are mostly visual, but will affect sight range and can unearth buried treasure.

ChingShih

Question by /u/Maziko66:

Was the name intentionally thought to sound like 'Command & Conquer' when read fast?

ChingShih

/u/Maziko66 your question was answered here!

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

As far as I am aware, this was pure (but happy) coincidence.

ChingShih

Questions by /u/motleygoldengod:

How large will battles potentially be in terms of unit numbers?

Will AI be able to prioritize targets that they are good against when sent into battle or do you need to micromanage everything?

Will ranged damage "stick" and always hit, or will it be calculated and potentially miss here and there?

I'm hoping for this to be a bit like Supreme Commander but in a fantasy setting and defending against waves and waves of units.

Thanks in advance!

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

Most players from playtesting tend to field around 40-50 units, not counting static defenses. Enemy units can be in the 100s. 2. There is lite target priority picking, but player control is always the better option. 3. There is no concept of missing in the combat system except for position targeted weapons (such as catapults) which can be dodged.

motleygoldengod

Thank you very much!

seed87

Hello! How does it feel to be making games in a now niche genre and where do you see RTS games in the next 2-5 years?

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

To kind of roll with the previous answer, I think niche games have done very well for themselves. It allows you to stick to a specific goal and polish it. It's hard to say where RTS will go in the future, but I think the genre will need to evolve and come up with new mechanics and styles to gain more popularity than it already has.

ChingShih

Questions by /u/Gerfervonbob:

From your prospective of working with big name RTS games why do you personally think they have lost popularity? Do you think there will ever be AAA studio RTS games again? (Obvious exception with Starcraft)

Thanks!

ChingShih

/u/Gerfervonbob your question was answered here!

PetroglyphLV Developer - Petroglyph

I'm not sure that the popularity drop is necessarily due to the genre of RTS, instead it could be that the RTS games being delivered in the last decade didn't evolve to fit the changing tastes of the audience. Many niche RTS games that cater to specific playstyles are doing well. -->