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 Warhammer: Mark of Chaos
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Chris Wren explains the Chaos that will comeAre there any other kinds of fortifications that you can build? Chris: Building is not really part of the gameplan, you may capture many kinds of buildings out there, and likewise you can destroy many types of building out there, but putting down your battleaxe to become a carpenter or mason is not really in the cards. Some structures can be garrisoned with troops, towers are good example of this. When a tower is captured, it will take on certain features that mark it as your tower, your troops inside will be able to extend your viewable distance quite a bit, and if they are ranged units, they can shoot much farther and will take much less damage from standard munitions when in a tower. Beware though, enemy cannons can make short work of a tower, garrisoned or not, and the troops inside usually make good padding for the falling rocks. Some capturable building will provide resources towards your war effort. First-aid stations for example are where you will send your troops to replenish themselves after a brutal battle. Reinforcement camps will provide access to calling in troops from off of the battlefield to join your fight. Aside from these, there are many other buildings which will provide loot such as gold, magic items, armor and weaponry for your champions. Sometimes these are gained by capturing buildings, other time you need to blow them up to find the stash. There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding how new armies are gained. Do you build them or recruit them and what sort of 'currency' is needed to acquire them? (resources, gold, points?) Chris: In single player, you will begin with a very small force (in the case of Chaos, with a sole Champion). Your early missions in the campaign will involve you recruiting new troops by joining them on the battlefield and proving your worth. Resources will be gained while battling, from fallen enemies to captured buildings, and these resources are what you will use to replenish your army and to expand it with new additions. Between battles you will have access to villages which are prime recruiting spots and also allow you the option to upgrade some troops and purchase spells, items and blessings. Some new troops will come on the campaign trail, on the tactical map you may come across a new type of unit which can be added to your army once you encounter them. Over the course of the campaign you will be managing multiple armies and depending on where they are at on the tactical map, they will have access to any village nearby. We've seen some screenshots that had ships in them. Does the game feature sea battles or are they just for show or a prop to help further the storyline? Chris: Part of the campaign story involves elven ships arriving on the northern coast. There are several missions on both sides to help deliver these elves safely or to blow them from the water. There is no specific naval battling, i.e. you will never be at the helm of one of these boats, driving it around, but the boats are absolutely targets of opportunity if you happen to be within striking distance. The amount of units on the battlefield is simply staggering but this also makes them hard to keep an eye on and control. What sort of mechanisms are being built in to help the player feel like he's actually still in control? Chris: We've got the standard minimap showing all visible friendly and enemy units, it will let you know where conflicts are arising with pulses on the minimap, you can navigate the battlefield by clicking anywhere on the minimap, and you can even give orders to units on the minimap. While you can zoom right up to the noses of your troops in this game, we've also put in a satellite camera mode which allows you to pull way out and see the entire battlefield. While your units are but mere specs of dust, you'll be amazed that you can still select them and give orders and formations just as if you were up close. Some of the battles get quite big, many thousands of units all going at it, our UI manages to give you quite a bit of feedback about what’s going on even when the camera isn't trained on a specific event. Our unit cards in the UI will tell you the strength and morale of any unit, and they also tell you the stamina and the current action of any unit on the field, whether the are attacking, being attacked or moving. Having only the battle to focus on is a big part of granting the level of control necessary, we learned early on that you cannot play mayor and general at the same time and do a good job at both, so this was largely what led to our decision to make the battle the focus and to make base building and management as minimal as possible.    |
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