RPG Aspects, Balance

FS: Can you explain the RPG aspects? How will experience, levels and items work? Do you take all your units from battle to battle?

Kim: Each chapter has RPG missions and the player can bring items, levels, sub heroes from mission to mission even from RTS to RPG. It's important to know the story to use advanced items or magic spells; there are over 60 different magic spells. It's a new way to mix RTS and RPGs.

FS: Heroes were extremely powerful when we played in the beta, much more so than their SC or WC2 counterparts - how do you plan on balancing them out?

Kim: There was no balance for beta version, in final version we will make some balance in the aspect of function.

Not every function for heroes has been implemented yet. We will give much attention to make good balance. Hero characters will be more attractive in RPG mode, I think.

I like purrty buildings

Economy rules in RTS

FS: Is there any special focus in development on single- or multiplayer balance? Kim: Yes. In multiplayer mode we have focused on a high 'turn-down' chance, I'm not sure how I can express it in English. What I want to explain is that it's very difficult to expect who will win because the position can be changed.

In single player mode, we have focused more on RPG mode. In RPG it's more focused on abilities. So to win the game, player should be accustomed to play.

FS: By turn-down chance you mean that victory is never guaranteed? A player has a good chance of making a comeback if he's good enough?

Kim: Yes, there's more chance to make a comeback when the player knows more strategies.

You can almost see the pointy ears

An elf on a mission

FS: Are there any special benefit or hindrances to working in Korea, with the huge StarCraft community there?

Kim: There are special benefits, because many StarCraft guilds and fans encourage Phantagram to develop a better RTS. Sometimes they have better balance ideas than Phantagram people. And our people can feel more satisfaction although developing is hard because many people are interested in KUF especially in Korea.

FS: More and more RTS titles are being done in 3D - what prompted the decision to stick with 2D?

Kim: We started to design KUF in late '97. At that time, our developers did not expect that computers could handle a 3D RTS. Our concern about 3D RTS is that it won't be interesting at all as a RTS when the unit numbers are few, compared to a 2D RTS. There are many merits when developers can develop 3D RTS. But we think that hardware should cover just many units as in a 2D RTS in order to be interesting. Maybe X-box can handle it. Maybe not.

It's a Power game now - too late for rushing

Roast pheas... err.. peasant!