Disciples III Second Interview

Last year we conducted a nice interview with Akella at E3 that you can find in our E3 2006 section. This interview is a short update to last years interview.

Updated Disciples III Q&A from E3 2007

SC: How far along are you in development?
Right now, we have an almost content complete game. So we're building missions, scripting strategic maps, developing campaigns, testing multiplayer, and creating the editor. Akella is planning to complete this game around Q1 2008.

SC: At last year's E3 the announced release date was Q4 2006. What caused the delay?
It was decided to add a lot of visual content, the visual quality of the game, the art production and the models. Since every model in the game has like 20,000 polygons each, more than most fps games, there's a lot of work to be done, in terms of the lighting, shaders and effects. For now the game has been tuned for ATI cards, so we need to optimize it for NVidia cards as well. The game has also been further optimized for speed.

SC: Is beta testing in-house or open to the public?
Akella will have in-house beta testing. I'm not sure about the open beta, that's up to Strategy First and our European publisher.

SC: What are the minimum and recommended specs?
That's not yet determined, but Strategy First made it clear when we started development that they want it to run on as many machines as possible, so we have a very wide customer base. There are different options of turning the system requirements down.

SC: Are there the same races as in Disciples 2?
We right now have empire, elves and legions of the damned. There are all the same races in Disciples 3 as in Disciples 2, but not all of them will be playable from the start of the game. For example, in the first version of the game, you fight dwarfs, but they won't be a playable race. You can gather dwarf units on missions, but you can't play as the dwarf race.
*editor's note: Akella has confirmed in other interviews that these races will be playable in expansions*

SC: How will city sieges play out?
There is now a more dynamic battle system where units can actually move on the battle screen. There will be fortifications on the map and you will be able to block passages for your heavy troops. There will be certain objectives to be completed on those maps. It might also be several stages for a city siege, so you siege the city, break in and fight within the walls.

SC: How involved will your hero be in the combat? Can he be attacked?
Yes, it's the same as in the previous series, so your hero is one of your main units. You'll be upgrading him a lot as he levels. Actually, think of Disciples III more as a strategy RPG title, not just a strategy game. Every unit is unique, and it will be same for unit upgrades, from simple peasant to a squire to a knight or witch hunter for example. Same will go for your hero; there will be a screen to modify his weapons. So you can change everything and it will be displayed on the hero in 3D. You can change all the armor, weapons, even equipment like rings.

SC: Thank you for the update.