Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Developer Interview

Posted Jun 16, 2006 at 2:36PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Titles, Interviews Tags: David Craddock, Hour of the Dragon, interviews, mmorpg rumors, NPC, pvp, Robert E. Howard

With a Conan movie in the works, Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures (AoC) is way up in the MMO buzz meter. David Craddock of Shacknews caught up with AoC Game Director Gaute Godager to learn more about Conan's latest adventure.

AoC is set in the time after the novel "Hour of the Dragon", and the story begins in a Stygian slave galley ship where you take on the role of a slave whose memory has been wiped and has an ugly mark on the chest bearing a cruelly burnt-in hand. As you progress through the game, you gradually remember who you were. You regain your skills and knowledge via solving quests and gaining levels. Those who are familiar with the novel, would know that Conan is the king of Aquillonia Â– the pinnacle of Hyborian civilization, and he is betrayed, and dethroned for some time by a conspiracy of enemies. In AoC, newlywed Conan is back on the throne but with unrest brewing in the land. Your fate is tied to that of the King. You find yourself interacting more with him in order to save his kingship, your life, and ultimately, the world.

It has been revealed that AoC is part single-player and part MMO game. The first 20 levels of the game are a single-player campaign and should take 10 to 15 hours to complete. Playing the MMO part requires a credit card to gain access to a full month of free play time. The MMO starts at level 21 where you can choose your specialized class. If you're the loner type, you can play the solo campaign as long as you want, and as many times, as long as you have a valid CD key and a credit card.

There are three playable races in the game: Aquilonian (Roman-like race), Cimmerian (Germanic, Celtic race Â– Conan's race) or Stygian (as I mentioned Â– Egyptian). There is a limit to the classes, so if you want to become a soldier, better not choose Stygians. Each race has different abilities based on amount of out-of-combat health, mana and stamina regain.

Adding more realism to the game, the need system is established in Conan AI, which is loosely based on American psychologist Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs. The NPC AI is categorized into several distinct categories Â– like the need to eat, sleep, survive, fulfill your dreams and so on. Each of the levels of the pyramid contains a steady grow in need, and will need to be fulfilled by the AI.

Godager revealed more info on combat AI, unique weapons, PvP and PvE. The full interview awaits after the jump.

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Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Developer Interview

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