The Guild 2 Interview

Gothic 3 wasn’t the only game to be showcased at Loaded Inc’s recent visit to Vienna. 4head Studios also revealed their latest title in development, The Guild 2. For those of you unfamiliar with the original The Guild title (believe me that is probably the majority of readers), think of it as a medieval version of The Sims complete with stealing, violence, adultery and other such debauchery. Don’t let me spoil the fun for you though, lead developers Ralf C. Adam and Tobias Severin (also the CEO!) were on hand to answer some of the burning questions Loaded Inc had after the presentation.wasn’t the only game to be showcased at Loaded Inc’s recent visit to Vienna. 4head Studios also revealed their latest title in development, . For those of you unfamiliar with the original title (believe me that is probably the majority of readers), think of it as a medieval version of complete with stealing, violence, adultery and other such debauchery. Don’t let me spoil the fun for you though, lead developers Ralf C. Adam and Tobias Severin (also the CEO!) were on hand to answer some of the burning questions Loaded Inc had after the presentation.Loaded Inc: Hi guys, just for the benefit of our visitors who have no clue what The Guild series is about can you give us a brief overview?Developers: In this case it may be better to give you the game’s official blurb as it can probably explain things better than we can! *ahem* “Be a merchant, be an inn-keeper, craft important goods or control the resources market: It’s your choice how to build up wealth and power in ‘The Guild 2’. Master business as well as intrigues and politics, blackmail judges and bribe the council to become a major or even more. If you do well, even heads decorated by crowns will turn towards you when passing by”.Loaded Inc: All sounds very intriguing. What about your own feelings on the type of game The Guild 2 is going to be?Developers: A good analogy would be that The Guild 2 is very much like a Medieval Sims game where the player has complete control over a dynasty’s path and how their family tree will progress. Plus there’s all the really cool stealing, murdering and bribing aspects of the game that you won’t find in The Sims.Loaded Inc: Erm, ‘dynasty’? What’s that?Developers: Dynasty is simply the collective name we have given to members of your family. In The Guild 2 you can have as many family members as you wish through several means, but you are only able to have three controllable at any one time. These will always be the three most senior members of your dynasty and can only change when one dies and their children take their place.Loaded Inc: Wow, that means the possibility of very complicated family trees and even the very dodgy notion of inbreeding. I mean it is a small town&h**ip;Developers: What do you think went on in Medieval Nottinghamshire?Loaded Inc: Nottinghamshire? Robin Hood country? So is there any chance of cameos from the band of merry men?Developers: Unfortunately not. We feel that the game should focus more on the core elements and players shouldn’t be distracted with such novelties. That’s not to say that there will not be side quests of sorts for players to undertake if they so wish.Loaded Inc: So anyway, what type of character can players start off with?Developers: There are four main professions that a player can choose from at this point including a scholar, a patron, a craftsman or a warrior. These are only provisional classes and can change upon final release. Each of these professions have their own sub-classes to create even more combinations of characters and these include blacksmiths, inn-keepers and market sellers for patrons and guards and a*assins for the warrior professions.Loaded Inc: Will there be multiple modes of play and if so what will they be?Developers: The main part of the game will be the single-player dynasty mode where you have to build up a reputation from scratch and form one of the most powerful and influential families in the land by any means necessary. As well as this The Guild 2 will offer a sandbox mode of sorts where players can leisurely create their ideal family structures without the constraints that the single-player mode introduces and also a multi-player mode where players can face off against one another to see who really the better family really is.Loaded Inc: Cool! Capulets and Montagues aplenty there! So how exactly will the multi-player aspect of the game work?Developer: We are not entirely sure at this time, but it would be safe to a*ume that it will follow the same principles of your standard RTS title, but with it’s own blend of The Guild 2 gameplay mixed in.Loaded Inc: It may be a tad premature to ask this as the game isn’t even out yet, but is there any talk of expansion packs in the future?Developers: As you say we haven’t even finished the game proper yet! We have had no time to think over such matters as yet as we have been extremely busy working on the game’s original content. Who knows though, the opportunity certainly is there.Loaded Inc: Finally, sell your prospective audience your game. Why should we go out and buy your title instead of the latest installment of say the FIFA franchise?Developers: Well for a start EA doesn’t need the money as much as we do! In all seriousness though, we believe that The Guild 2 will offer players a more in-depth and fulfilling gaming experience than most of the generic sport titles – or any other genre of title for that matter – on offer.