Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Interview

Following our first peek at Ascaron's upcoming action RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, we speak with Creative Director Hans-Arno Wenger, who gave us the lowdown on some of the game's features. The developers divulged more info on the game's engine, NPCs, character alignment and more.

Poke my eye out why don't you!

Steady my lovely steed. We must strike a pose for this snapshot.

Up to now, Ascaron was reluctant to display any other character class apart from the Seraphim. Luckily, we were able to convince them to send along a few exclusive screenshots, showing off a new character class - i.e. the Shadow Warrior.

ActionTrip: When did the idea to create a sequel to Sacred initially come into view for you guys?

Hans-Arno Wegner: We all loved working on Sacred and thoroughly enjoyed playing it ourselves. Of course, a lot of new ideas came out of the development, and we knew there were many which we wanted to realize in the sequel. One of these was to build an even more beautiful world and to do so really meant the step up to full 3D. So, Sacred 2 went through concept stages before we began work on the Sacred Underworld expansion.

ActionTrip: The original Sacred allowed gamers to move freely about the surrounding areas. Are you planning to include this feature in Sacred 2?

Hans-Arno Wegner: Of course. The huge, seamless and freely explorable world was one of the key features in the original Sacred and our fans loved it. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will also offer a massive game world, where you can spend hours exploring it, appreciating the details and getting immersed in the atmosphere.

The huge seamless world in Sacred 2 was one of the main reasons why we wrote our own engine.

ActionTrip: Can you offer us an example of how players will be able to determine a preferable alignment for the character (good or bad)?

Hans-Arno Wegner: Sacred 2 offers two different campaigns, namely "Light" and "Shadow." Players choose their destiny at the beginning of the game -whether to bring peace and order back to Ancaria, or follow the more sinister path and strive for ultimate power. This choice is an important decision for the player and completely changes how events throughout the world evolve. The chosen path becomes part of the personality of the character and influences the choice of deities, the quests, and even the behavior of NPCs.

ActionTrip: How important are NPCs? Can we expect some of them to accompany the main character?

Hans-Arno Wegner: We wanted to create a living world. While the player freely explores the seamless world, we want the NPCs to be a part of that world, in which they lead their own lives. To this end, we decided to give our NPCs a complete day and night cycle. The citizens will go to bed at night and get up in the morning to work in the fields. There are dogs running around and cows are standing in the fields. At night, candles will illuminate the areas around the houses. There will be NPCs that can accompany the hero due to certain quests or story related actions. But you will also get a chance to hire mercenaries, who will stay with you for as long as you pay them.

ActionTrip: Is there a chance you can reveal at least one other class besides the Seraphim?

Hans-Arno Wegner: Well, he's probably the best melee fighter of all available heroes. His name derives from his connection with the Netherworld. This unhallowed bond also bestows several special powers upon him. We will reveal more about this character and the others in the future.

ActionTrip: Regarding the plot, is it predetermined and linear, or can players look forward to various choices and alternate endings, depending on how they develop their character?

Hans-Arno Wegner: With the ability to freely explore the world it's the players decision whether to continue following the main quest line or not. The main story itself is linear, but varies strongly depending on the chosen campaign, "Light" or "Shadow." These campaigns have completely different endings, because the protagonist and the antagonist will be reversed in both stories. Furthermore, Sacred 2 provides a lot of side quests and "mini-stories" during the journey through Ancaria. These quests also fit the background of the chosen campaign, the character or the chosen deity.

ActionTrip: What sort of surroundings will players be venturing in?

Hans-Arno Wegner: Sacred 2 places the player in a world full off beautiful locations. We will have about 10 different regions, each with its own unique look, sound and style. The player will see grassland, a desert, a jungle, and more.

Back off, oh yee of little faith!

How do I reason with you guys?

ActionTrip: By the time Sacred 2 comes out, DX10 and Vista will dominate the market. Have you been working on any DX10 features yet? How is the game shaping up visually?

Hans-Arno Wegner: At the moment the game is based on DX9, but full DX10 support is also being implemented. The Sacred 2 Engine will provide absolutely state of the art graphics.

ActionTrip: Give us more info on the engine you're using for this game.

Hans-Arno Wegner: We decided to develop our own engine for Sacred 2, especially because of our concerns about the streaming. None of the top 3D engines proved suitable for ensuring the free roaming gameplay in a huge world without any load times. Naturally, our engine supports all state of the art features like vertex shader 3.0. Features like physics or AI are based on middleware products. We also keep in mind that not all our gamers will have the latest computer hardware. To accommodate this we've also optimized the engine for low-end systems.