SE: Are there any plans for a "massively multi-player" Vampire game?

Ray Gresko: It would be interesting, although it would have an entirely different focus from Redemption. The multiplayer mode in Vampire is on the opposite side of the spectrum from a massively multi-player game. We are targeting a rich multi-player experience with focused and dynamic role-playing that is catered to the players and their actions. A large massively multi-player world is cool, but impossible to have react to specific player actions in a way that makes them feel part of the 'big picture.' With the 'online tabletop,' players can still feel part of a larger world by having each group role-play specific events or locations within a larger narrative. This is similar to the way the live action role-playing Vampire groups organize their worldwide 'venues,' with the troupes in each city role-playing their events, and contributing the results back. It's like a huge piece of cooperative interactive fiction, and seems to capture the best of both worlds at this point.

SE: Will there be a statistic or skill based system for your characters?

Ray Gresko: The game uses a statistically based role-playing game system pulled straight from the paper game. You have nine main attributes, broken into physical, mental and social groups. In addition, the RPG engine tracks items that are uniquely vampiric, such as your blood level, indicating how much blood you have in your system to utilize to heal yourself or to cast Disciplines. We also track your 'frenzy' level, indicating how out of control the vampiric 'beast' is becoming within you, sort of a 'berserk' that can occur when low on blood or in high stress situations. The other important stat is your humanity, which indicates how well you're holding onto the remaining strands of your humanity. This stat changes based on decisions made during conversation, game play or puzzle solving, and determines the ultimate outcome of the story. Losing all of your humanity ends the game, as you become nothing more than a bloodthirsty, slavering beast.

SE: What sets your 3D engine apart from the rest?

Ray Gresko: If you're asking about graphics specifically, the Nod engine has the capability of displaying very rich and detailed environments, with dramatic lighting and shadows. The world renderer also supports a decal system for applying dirt, cracks or blood spatters to the surfaces. The outdoor environments utilize a fully 3D sky system that supports multiple parallaxing objects (such as clouds/stars), including special effects for sunrises and ghostly moonshine.

Our focus on characters was to raise the bar in terms of realism and polygon count, and the renderer supports smooth-skinned models with mesh deformation at the joints, so we can do proper muscle bulges and fabric stretching (e.g. for dresses, capes, etc) with no visible seams. Since most of our characters check in at around 2k polygons, we utilize a dynamic level-of-detail system that automatically reduces model detail when distant from the viewer. The faces of the models are articulated, with full mouth/fang interiors, and we're working on some advanced lip-syncing technology for use in our in-game cut scenes. Characters also display the currently held weapon/armor/clothing that the user has placed on them.

Lighting-wise, the engine supports perfect shadows that stretch and crawl up all surfaces. We can have characters cast multiple shadows based upon nearby lightsources, this is a detail setting in the game. Lightsources dynamically illuminate surfaces and can flicker or pulse realistically. Specular lighting is supported for the especially shiny surfaces.

For the many special effects in the game, we utilize various particle and trail systems. These are used for fire, water, blood, lightning, muzzle-flashes, and the visual representation of the many Vampiric 'Disciplines' (spell-like abilities the Kindred possess). We also are working on additional weather effects such as rain, fog, snow, etc.

Lots of other visual elements are on the todo list, including reflective surfaces, bump mapping, volumetric fog, etc. After we get more of the internal RPG engine work completed we'll be spending some more time on the graphics in the game.