The B&W2 Chat Questions and Answers! Introductions: [LH]Kelly: Hi I'm Kelly, I'm one of the animators on B&W 2 [LH]Fek: My name is Francesco and I work on BW2 as 3d programmer [LH]Jonty: I'm Jonty Barnes - Head Of Studio. [LH]Sam|WORK: my name is Sam, Community Pet Lionhead Studios. I love to receive free beer and bananas! [LH]JohnMF: John McLean-Foreman: Fiction writer (cutscenes, Dialogue, story...) [LH]MarkP: Hello everybody. I'm Mark Pitcher, Head of Art. [LH]merf: im one of the 'neils' of bw studios - I work on creature and army AI [LH]Dan: I'm Daniel Deptford, I'm the lead Game Programmer on Black and White 2 :) [LH]JBury: I'm Jamie Bury - Lead Gameplay & Test on BW2 [LH]JohnVDB: i'm john van der burg and work on the terrain engine and sky system [LH]AlexE: Hello, My name is alex and I was one half of the 3d programming team on BW1. I do R&D now [LH]seb: Hullo my names seb , im doing the creature modelling/textureing/rigging - kelly and friends do the rest [LH]ChrisB: Hi All! This is Chris Blackbourn, I'm putting bugs into the physics system, and I don't like Origami. (Hi Mom!) [LH]NeilOfDoom: I'm Neil Wakefield and I'm a gamecode programmer [LH]PeterDoug: Hello everyone my name Is peter molyneux and I am doing/helping with the design, and not doing the programming much to everyones relef [LH]AdamC: I'm Adam Clixby, 3D/Game/anything programmer [LH]Georg: I'm Georg Backer - working at Lionhead Studios. Used to do Multiplayer and Internet stuff on B&W. And some scripting. And so on. [LH]Ollie: Hello, i'm Ollie Purkiss and i did game code on BW1, now i'm working on Dimitri [LH]AdamL: Hello all. I'm Adam, i'm a game and visuals programmer on B&W2, this game, i will be mostly working on spells. [LH]Sabre: Hi everyone, my name is Phil Robinson and I'm a scripter on B&W2 [LH]Joe: Joe Borthwick - associate producer [LH]DSanchez: hello I'm one of the artis of Bw2, can I answer any question? [LH]Gordillo: Hi guys any question about concept art?? :) Q= Question A= Answer I= Information I: [LH]Jonty: Blimey, that's a lot of questions. Let's start with some toilet humour. I'll answer the poo question! There is still poo in the game. However, it's more advanced! There are two types - healthy and unhealthy. One sinks, one floats, all can be messed around with, and only one is useful on fields. Creature diet is of course important. Q: Robin|Away: Where do I send bananas to for Sam? A: [LH]Sam|WORK: I'd love to receive them at samvantilburgh@lionhead.com Q: Joulu|Oddball^^: Are u making B&W 3? A: [LH]Sam|WORK: We are considering B&W3. Q: Squash: What's B&W2's biggest feature? A: [LH]PeterDoug: Well just about everything in B&W 2 is new. because the main consept is "Are you the god of War or the God of peace" then we have spent a massive amout of time with armys (destruction, death and carnage) and a massive amount of time on city building I: [LH]Jonty: There are currently around forty people working on B&W2 full time, with more support from LH. Q: DyNam1c: What do you use for 3D modelling and animation A: [LH]AdamC: DyNam1c: We use Discreet's 3D Studio MAX Q: Unknown: Hi there im an animator, and im worndering how the rigs are working on the chars in BW2, are hey fully bone based or using some vertex stuff? Also: are u using blendshapes for ur facial animations, or bones there as well??? A: [LH]seb: All characters use boneanimation (including facial animation) , the creatures are of course special since they have to morph. This is done with vertexanimation. I: [LH]Kelly: We are using Character Studio for animation Q: Reite: what 3d moddeling program is being used? A: [LH]seb: 3dsmax5 *Some sort of Netsplit happened at this time and all nearly all Lionhead people were kicked for a while. They all came back soon* Q: Samurai-Sej: what programs did you use to make B&W2 A: [LH]NeilOfDoom> Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Adobe Photoshop, 3D Studio Max mainly and a hell of a lot of in-house tools Q: megat: Now, those of you who've managed to find your way to the other side of the netsplit, tell me this: can we expect any multiplayer from b&w2? A: [LH]AdamC: Multiplay is a very big thing... We are taking multiplayer far more seriously than we have taken it before. A: [LH]Dan: We are working on multiplayer code at the moment, we're playing it in the office and it's quite fun. We're going to invest a lot of time into creating a multiplayer-specific version of b&w2, which will come after the main game has been released. Q: Robert-A: Will there be a demo? A: [LH]AdamC: We would rather put our efforts into making the game as good as we possibly can. Although it would be possible for us to release a demo, a demo would not properly show the scope of the creature. As the creature is one of the most important aspects of the game, it is unlikely we will release a demo. Q: Sltrd|poNNy: Where are Lionhead studios located ? I guess England or America , but which of them? and correct me if im wrong at that point to ^^ A: [LH]Dan: We are located in Surrey, UK Q: ]n0k1a[: Why should I buy BW2?? A: [LH]Kelly: It will be the best God game ever created, if you don't buy it you will miss out on an amazing game I: [LH]Jonty: We do use our own script languages and development tools as well as MSDev. We are starting the DEVNET this week, where we will be releasing tools for BW1 so you can create your own scripts and audio for the game. We also intend to release the landscape, visual effects editor and script language from BW2 before release so people can make some islands and effects themselves - and maybe content for the final game. Q: Unknown: Which DirectX will Black & White 2 use? I assume 9.x but any confirmation on this? A: [LH]Dan: I can confirm that we are using DirectX9 I: [LH]AlexE: the advisors were based on one of the artists girlfriend. or at least the good one. [LH]seb has redesigned them for an even cooler look for bw2! Q: [DWC]-WebHawk: What platforms will it be on? A: [LH]AdamC: At the moment, we are only planning for a PC release. Q: KIA: is the game engine based on the B&W 1 or is it built from scratch? Is the spell system still the same? A: [LH]Fek: The 3d engine has been rewritten and it's supporting DX9 cards as well A: [LH]Dan: Everything has been rewritten using the original as a testbed, so we can develop more at once without having to wait for other things in the pipeline Q: Marsu^: Does Lion still know how to breakdance? A: [LH]Kelly: The Lion doesn't breakdance but the other creatures have some amazing dance moves :) A: [LH]NeilOfDoom: The lion has some new moves but we can't really say what yet :) Q: DenisF: Any OpenGL support? A: [LH]AdamC: No, sorry. Q: SpYd3r`: Is B&W2 an extention or a whole new version. A: [LH]PeterDoug: It is defitly a whole new version, every feature has been revised, we really talked to the community; and listered so the feature set is going to be amazing, I know words are cheap but I stand by the fact that B&W2 will be really amazing I: [LH]Jonty: Peter - BW2 is already really amazing... Q: [DWC]-WebHawk: Can i still punch and slap my creature? A: [LH]Sam: yes A: [LH]AdamC: Yes. Because people liked this so much, we've added support for weapons and toys when punishing and rewarding your creature Q: r4y`8]: Which weapons are being used to beat your creature? A: [LH]Dan: We have a range of weapons, and the player will be able to add their own :). Including implements for pleasing your creature (oo-err!) Q: NormalOne: What will be optimal SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS? A: [LH]Fek: We are targeting DX8 class hardware like GF4/Radeon8500. The game will look like the screenshots on those cards, but if you have a DX9 graphics card, the game will just look better Q: megat: How will the game look better if you have a DX9 card, Fek? A: [LH]Fek: We are using DX9 specific features to make the game look even better on DX9 cards Q: NG|xiteZ: have long took it to render the longest animation in the game? A: [LH]Kelly: I suppose you mean how long is the longest animation - well there are some very detailed animations for the creatures, they have unique characteristics that you will see, and they will be very entertaining. The longest I've worked on is probably about 6 seconds Q: CCB|DoMi: came on, some easter eggs like that and we are happy ;) A: [LH]AdamC: In the words of PeterM - "There are more easter eggs in BW2 than there are bunnies in Britain" Q: megat: erm, Adam.... are there lots of bunnies in england?! A: [LH]AdamC: Yes. Absolutely loads :) Q: veritas--: For how long have you been developing B&W2? A: [LH]AdamC: A small team started work on BW2 whilst Creature Isle was still in development, and the rest of the team joined them once Creature Isle went gold. I: [LH]Jonty: The Sailors in BW2 will return - they run a shop, and they have an even more irritating song. However, you can pay to get them to shut up.... Q: Telkman: There were a lot of annoying bugs in B&W1. How can we be sure this wont be the case in B&W2? A: [LH]PeterDoug: Firstly we have spent a lot of time up grading out tools to avoid bugs, secondly we are playing the game every day and thridly this game will NOT be released untill it has zero serious bug. We are all so sorry that B&W went out with so many bugs Q: BruYne|HaLo: Will there be a dutch version of B&W2? The dutch voices for B&W1 sucked:(. A: [LH]Sam|WORK: Yes, there will be a Dutch version and I will personally make sure the voice acting is done properly ;) I: [LH]JohnVDB: i agree, the dutch voiceovers really sucked in bw1 :)) Q: [steve]: Will the Dutch version have belgium voices again? that sucked so hard (ask anybody, they'd agree -_- ) A: [LH]Sam|WORK: The problem is EA has to pick these voice actors, and you can only have Belgian or Dutch ones, not both at the same time for the same people ingame. We do hope to get proper voice actors now, as this was a big issue i reckon in the Benelux with BW1 Q: TnS|Radb0d|ET: will b&w2 be translated in Italian? A: [LH]Sam|WORK: Yes A: [LH]Dan> And into over 15 languages A: [LH]NeilOfDoom: including Klingon A: [LH]NeilOfDoom: maybe not I: [LH]MarkP: There are 4 'player' creatures in B&W2. Lion, Cow, Wolf and Ape. Q: Sissygirl: B&W1 was new and really cool because it was a totally new genre. What will make B&W2 more amazing than the first one? And why did you choose only to have 4 creatures to choose from now? As far as i remember there were quite alot more in B&W1 A: [LH]Kelly: There is soooooo much more to B&W2 compared to the first game and having 4 creatures means we can make them far more interesting and engaging to play with Q: Derobrash> you mean 5 right? :) Q: neg0t: Is there much more micro managment than in BW1? A: [LH]Dan: The villagers are much more self-sufficient, and dont' demand as much as your town. There is a lot more work on the town simulation also, and things like the placement of building in certain styles in your town can have an adverse effect on how happy your people are. A: [LH]JBury: The villagers are a lot more intelligent now, so if they are hungry they will feed themselves, if they are running low on wood to build homes they will cut down tree's, players can still manage these things if they wish but they can leave them to their villagers (within reason) and concentrate on other things For the rest of the article go to page 2 -----------------EOF--------------------- This summary of the B&W2 chat on Quakenet at channel #bwgame was made by BattleF08. It may be freely distributed, edited, and hosted by everyone. Though some credit would always be appreciated:D. Questions/Comments/Death threats? Contact: battle_fortress@hotmail.com