Rise of Kunark Creature Feature, Part One of Two

MMORPG.com:

Let’s start this off with a bang. Can you tell us a little something about what needs to be considered when bringing a new creature into an MMORPG?

Scott Hartsman:

There are a lot of questions that get asked. The story and environments tend to be the big driving factors – Who lives in these new places? What’s their history? Is this their natural environment, or are they displaced? And so on.

That’s an exercise that goes on for all of the new areas that we make, and it tends to drive a list that’s far larger than what’s practical.

Once those elements are worked out, we then need to apply reality. How much time do we actually have to get new creatures developed? How many new creatures can we feasibly develop? How much emphasis can (or should!) we put on bosses while still making sure there are enough new creatures for everyone to see?

Eventually, the wish list meets reality, and we end up with the populace for the new areas.

MMORPG.com:

In this small series, we’re looking at five of the monsters that were created for Rise of Kunark. Are these all of the new monsters that we should expect to see, or are there more?

Scott Hartsman:

You should definitely expect to see quite a few more. This is a small fraction of the new creatures available in Kunark.

MMORPG.com:

How long does it take between when someone comes up with an idea for a monster and the time that we all see it in-game?

Scott Hartsman:

Assuming that we’re talking about a fully brand-new creature from start to finish, it depends on a few things. The range can take anywhere between a few weeks to a few months of multiple people’s time, starting with that background info I mentioned a minute ago, and then heading into the 2d concept phase. From there, it goes into the 3d, fx, and audio phases.

For us, the easiest thing to make is an animal creature that doesn’t have an extensive set of animations.

For creatures that can wield weapons and need a full range of combat animations that work correctly while fighting with different weapon styles, that adds some time. For bosses that have their own custom-made entry/death/fight animations and sometimes even their own voice to be scripted and recorded, that can add another few weeks to a month to the process.

After that, they need to be hooked up into the world, either as standard population or as part of events need to be written, and those frequently need their own spells, which also adds fx/visual/audio time.

MMORPG.com:

How much does real-world mythology come into play when designing monsters for MMORPGs?

Scott Hartsman:

With many creative endeavors, people do have a tendency to draw upon the things they’re familiar with. Norrath seldom intentionally borrows from the real world, but there are definitely places where an observer can take a look at something and spot influences.

MMORPG.com:

Scott Hartsman:

It’s quite a bit easier to balance monsters than it is player classes. What we usually try to do is ensure that racial abilities are interesting enough to be unique, but not so interesting that a given creature is far harder than it’s supposed to be. That’s a minor trick, but nothing compared to player class balance.

That, and, monsters don’t get to post on the forums. :)