The Devs Explain the State of TWR Development - The Wayward Realms

[@OnceLostGames]

Thank you so much for sitting down with our team, it was great time as always. Now who has a guess at which Therianthrope form you will be encountering in early access?

[@Cio_d-borba]

I'd guess (and hope) the Wereboar, as we got a quite detailed story of one such creature, if I remember correctly :)

[@tlaloqq]

Can't wait for this! :D

[@pcrizz]

Thanks for showing off some of the layout designs, seeing the scope and scale is pretty exciting.

[@lilprungus]

I've pretty much watched everything in relation to your game and how you are going about it. It's fascinating and very exciting. You know what, fuck it - I'm pledging to the Kickstarter. You guys deserve it.

[@OnceLostGames]

@pcrizz thanks for watching!

[@priestfan81]

Good on ya for keeping us up to date, Lorespire. You've done a great job documenting this project.

[@Lorespire]

Thanks! I feel I maybe could have done a little more towards the end of last year but I'm going to try to make up for that going forward this year

[@solid_snek]

Lore is the Vaatividya of WR.

[@carlinberg]

Also want to say thanks for showing the village and city layouts, that was really cool to see. Looking forward to seeing more of that work in the future 😊

[@OnceLostGames]

We'll try to show it in action sometime in the near future.

[@Lorespire]

absolutely! It was really cool just to see the scale... I mean I knew they were going to be large, but actually seeing it (even from a birds eye, gray box view) adds such interesting context

[@Lorespire]

Cant wait.... but we will

[@carlinberg]

@@Lorespire yeah and already with the placeholder houses it looks so much more real than Daggerfall's cities

[@bpgifford]

I am optimistic for this title, thank you all for the updates. I believe in your project! Ready to immerse myself in this world.

[@OnceLostGames]

Thank you!

[@Arcahnslight]

​@@OnceLostGames As a gamer starved of good RPGs...no, my good sirs and ladies. Thank YOU!

[@ncascini01]

Great interview, I learned so much! I love hearing about the vgm system especially!

[@Lorespire]

Thanks! Yeah, the VGM and LLM info was especially interesting imo

[@awakenthefuture]

This game sounds great. I donated to the kickstarter. I wish I had more time and I would volunteer haha.

[@OnceLostGames]

Thank you for the support!

[@Lorespire]

for sure!

[@ravenheartwraith]

i actually WANT huge cities like that, would be awesome to actually get lost in, and its more realistic to how it would be anyways. Small Skyrim Style cities are bla, even daggerfall big cities felt actually like big cities.

[@OnceLostGames]

We got ya covered!

[@MRDaved]

@@OnceLostGames Can you actually befriend NPCs or ask them to show you were stuff is? Or actually pathfind and lead you to some place? Or how do companions work? Will there be any?

[@OnceLostGames]

@MRDaved companions won't make it in to early access, so the system isn't finalized and is subject to change. The idea is that any NPC in the world will be capable of being your companion if they have a high enough regard for you. They likely won't lead you to places, but could mark areas of interest on your map and join you in exploring them.

[@MRDaved]

@@OnceLostGames Still pretty impressive if it can be done. I'm looking forward to early access!

[@Lorespire]

Agreed

[@IZhevranI]

Lorespire, you are the GOAT in pushing WR, thanks a lot!!!

[@Lorespire]

Thanks! WOuld that I could do more... I have a few video Ideas... Hopefully I can get those out over the next few weeks and I think we'll probably be getting more interviews over the coming year

[@danburke6568]

I have used Kickstarter before...the only game before this i backed was star citizen. Which failed. I believe this game can be modern daggerfall. Small teams have made fun combat games, great crafting systems, large open worlds. Look forward to seeing the beta later in the year x

[@Lorespire]

As we all are... TWR EA build is definitely the game I am most excited to play this year

[@VolgaGer]

So Wereboar for dinner...Great interview, keep it up with the good work!!

[@Lorespire]

Thanks!

[@shodan6401]

Have the Team Leads and other key members of the Dev Team taken a look at the new Kingdom Come Deliverance to get a sense of the dynamic systems that are making that game so immersive and successful? Particularly with regards to stepping off the Quest Line and generating unique experiences?

[@OnceLostGames]

Unfortunately not, though if Warhorse wants to send us an early copy, we would be glad to check it out!

[@priestfan81]

I really like the swordplay in KCD.

[@ThrobbGoblin]

I wish that they would clarify whether the quest-writing is running on a trained LLM, or if it's just procedurally generated- because from everything that they've been saying, it sounds a lot like Radiant Quests from Elder Scrolls. A random pool of locations, targets, and rewards, with a dice-roll that pieces them together to form a basic objective. There's a big difference between having a trained "AI Dungeon Master" and having randomized "X + Y = Z" proc-gen missions. Edit: The "Q1 Update Writing" section covers it a tiny bit, but it's more fleshed-out in the "Q1 Update Game Design" section. It sounds more like they're developing a version of Radiant Quests, using AI to pull information from the world, characters, objects, etc. and applying them to preset quest writing.

[@JChaosMaster]

This is the only game I'm looking forward to

[@Lorespire]

Its not the only game I am looking forward to but... I'm looking forward more the just the EA of TWR than pretty much any other game

[@JChaosMaster]

@Lorespire Me it's more this is one of the few games I have trust in so much I backed it. Replaying Neverwinter Nights and Dagger Fall unity I keep asking WTF happen to gaming.

[@Geraduss]

Think the words you were looking for that last question was, weather we'll have Gear equipment Loadout, that we can set up in between combat as in equipped weapons and spells, or weather we can change everything on the fly during paused menu screen like in Elder scrolls.

[@Geraduss]

Personally find the former far more immersive and makes you think before going in to combat and the later just feeling a bit lazy.

[@galisleo8737]

Thank you for the video! I am always eager to find news about the game. 🙂

[@Lorespire]

your welcome... I try to bring news as often as I can

[@desnake9709]

It almost sounds like it could replicate a version of the nemesis system. Or a quest/storyline is created when you loot a bandit camp, and a survivor will b a future bandit leader with a vandetta against u. Or u save someone and later in the game a questline will happen out of that.

[@shodan6401]

Because probably 95% of Players prefer to fight through confrontations, Stealth usually gets little, or no consideration, sometimes just as an afterthought. Is ANY work being done on some quality Stealth mechanics, or is this just too much to ask?

[@OnceLostGames]

There is a lot of work being done on stealth mechanics. It is definitely a supported playstyle with factions and quests that will be geared towards stealth mechanics.

[@shodan6401]

Thanks! That's really great news. We all are really excited for this game. Much love and respect for you both and the entire team.

[@wo3dy]

Hope there will be enough variations in housing, etc To repetitive blocks are hard to miss. And unsee 😂

[@OnceLostGames]

The system doesn't use modules like Daggerfall did, so it should have plenty of variety. Though do keep in mind, medieval houses were fairly similar in construction to one another. So there will be similarities.

[@wampatan9]

Great interview. Is drop-in/out co-op still on the table? Because much like a TTRPG, having a friend along for the adventure would honestly elevate the experience IMO.

[@getnamo]

Not for early access, but still planned for full release. We also want to bring a friend :)

[@ncascini01]

I vote yes for many sources for the invocations- the meditate sounds cool! Being able to learn it from breaking down a magic item seems too easy though. I really like the idea of having the invocations being an end goal to strive for or learning them from books in secret and random places and maybe learning them through powerful magic users as a reward somehow. I think that breaking down magic items would work well of there was a seperate system for learning enchanting and that there was some sort of science behind the mechanics of how enchanting works. Like, maybe you could learn how to make sub components that can augment how a magic item works or increase an effect or slowly gather magic from the surrounding environment. Maybe it could be related to a certain script of writing and you learn how to transcribe as a method of enchanting. Maybe the particular pattern that the writing forms on the surface of the magic item can alter effects.

[@Lorespire]

Yeah, the meditation sounds like the coolest way of learning an invocation, but I do think having a wide variety of ways to learn invocations is optimal. I say add as many as you can that make sense... don't add any that you are doing just for the sake of variety, but if it makes sense within the context of the game world and lore for something to provide an invocation then... do it! Simply breaking a magic item does sound a bit, meh.. but maybe you could study it and eventually learn to absorb the magic from it. Then instead of the item breaking it would simply become inert. You could then use it or sell it or maybe set it up in your home as a decoration... Something along those lines sounds pretty great to me Your idea of using various magic scripts for enchanting sounds like it could be an interesting one

[@josephbolton5893]

@@Lorespire maybe magic items are also quite rare? so sacrificing a magic item to learn an invocation is something you might not want to actually do.

[@prometheus9096]

@@josephbolton5893 Yeah they already said magic isn't common in the world, so i guess magic item would be quiet rare too.

[@LuckyGamerPL]

Wonderfull. In Poland the game is not very recognizable. But I try, even with my small number of subscribers provide information about the game. I cant wait for EA!

[@gauravkhulbee]

So hyped for this game i hope it will live up to the expectations

[@Lorespire]

So far I'd say there is plenty of good reason to be hopeful.

[@lougaboux]

Good too see Lorespire !!! Good interview 👍

[@Lorespire]

Thanks for that. Good to see you as well my friend

[@shodan6401]

In Morrowind, I think it's the Court Mage Tariel who falls from the sky with a Spell gone awry. I watched someone in game hit Tariel with a Slow Fall Spell, causing him to land safely on the ground. Then, when the Player visited that Guild, Tariel, who is supposed to be dead, is there in his position as Head Mage of the Guild. Will Wayward Realms allow for such a granular level of dynamic response to the Player's actions, and adapt accordingly?

[@OnceLostGames]

That granular would probably be relegated to quests or handcrafted content and not the normal dynamic system, but maybe. We still have to test the limits of the system.

[@shodan6401]

That makes perfect sense. Much of the interactivity is sure to be systems dependent. Thanks.

[@yollarbenibekler]

Is there any news about the conjure chair spell?

[@josephbolton5893]

Maybe we need to combine a conjure invocation with an object invocation and use metamagic to set the type of common object?

[@prismaticbeetle3194]

this game will be a surprise hit when it releases just like BG3

[@OnceLostGames]

Hope so!

[@Lorespire]

Yeah, Its gonna be GRAND!

[@christopherclanton5961]

Fantastic interview thanks

[@Lorespire]

Your Welcome. I found it quite interesting and it seems most of y'all did too which is absolutely awesome

[@shodan6401]

Before I forget, is Once Lost looking at providing Mod Support at some point down the road? Not sure if Unreal 5 has a built-in Mod Utility on its own, and if it does, will it integrate with the game?

[@OnceLostGames]

We plan on providing mod tools, but not until after the full release.

[@shodan6401]

Thank you. That is pretty much exactly what I assumed. But you know what people say about those who assume...

[@getnamo]

We will probably have both traditional mod tools and something a bit more immediate. The javascript layer is runtime reloadable, even in a game build.

[@prometheus9096]

@@getnamo wait you telling me I could open the console mid game, write a little javascript in the middel of the game and execute it? Oh boy... that sounds too much fun 😆

[@getnamo]

@@prometheus9096 The ux would likely be cleaner like using your text editor of choice (e.g. vscode, or we might even embed one) and when you hit save it would hotreload your changes. You can see this at 39:54 and 40:45 in the interview. Console debugging or live changes could be possible too if you just want to change a specific variable. We would need to lock down some good extension API though before we'd expose this to players wanting to tinker. Tooling quality is very important for enabling creativity and providing ease of use.

[@joyfuldice]

Good to see more Wayward Realms from Lorespire!

[@Lorespire]

Thanks, I'm going to try to get out some more TWR content over the coming weeks

[@B0neTV]

How is magic being handled in the game? Is it the stock hard coded spells only or is magic discovered by some form of experimentation and can you combine and create new spells by some type of procedural crafting where I can combine a levitation spell with a fire spell so I can levitate enemies and cook them at the same time?

[@B0neTV]

You sort of answered my question and I'm intrigued 🤔

[@OnceLostGames]

​@@B0neTVglad to hear.

[@Lorespire]

I would love more info on this too but they gave a pretty good explanation here I think and it seems we'll just have to wait to learn more. I love the approach they are taking to have to quest for magic and discover magic. Actually learning it and gaining it through accomplishments is so much more interesting than simply buying it.

[@B0neTV]

@@Lorespire I agree, magic should be something you have to really work for and discover through apprentiship and research, it should be a power vs sacrifice required to obtain it imo

[@Duranous.]

I get that Eyjar is the crowfunded island and they want to get more funding to finish but will that give Eyjar a second pass once they have more funding and presumably more advancement in tech, experience, and possibly staff? The way I understand it, things like systems can usually evolve easily as a project progress but for instance, I could see an expansion to the scope of the Library of Logos or maybe an advancement of settlement structure. I don't know if it's necessary but sometimes in projects the first part you make turns out to be the least refined at the end. Or maybe the seeding process makes that not a thing?

[@Lorespire]

I'm not sure how that would work. I feel like they will create the entire game map in the final final release and include Eyjar, so that it is recreated with the same level of polish as the rest of the game. Eyjar is only a tiny fraction of the Entire game world so that just makes sense to me but That's just a guess or assumption on my part. If we get a follow up interview I'll be sure to ask about this

[@Darnozz]

Hey great interview! I know they said on discord that they planned on having support for proton for the steam deck. Is that included for the early access?

[@getnamo]

Not likely for early access. We've tested an early build on proton and it ran decently, which means it's feasible to support it. It's a whole other task though to ensure our whole EA build runs well on the hardware so it's too early to commit to it at this time.

[@Darnozz]

@@getnamo Thx for the reply. I said for the steam deck but really I am running a full linux gaming machine with pretty beefy hardwares (rx 7900 xt) and I understand it's not your priority. In the worst case I'll just create a second boot with Windows on it at the beginning just to be able to play the early access.

[@getnamo]

@Darnozz if it runs on proton, it should run on Linux, so your use case is more likely to work without specific dev resources. Hasn't been properly tested, though, and YMMV until we get the spare dev time to do the tests.

[@Chandth]

I vote Boar! Great interview.

[@Lorespire]

Thanks!

[@danburke6568]

Wonder about levelling system. I like a teir system, so many ways to build etc but skyrim/es etc fails on higher levels.

[@Lorespire]

Check out this video- kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5a9fp2kjq9_jZo it was seven months ago so things could change but what is explained here is still more or less the plan as I understand it... IF we get a follow up interview I'll ask about this and if not then With the Q2 update I'll try to get more info on this from them in an interview, if I can

[@danburke6568]

A game with fun combat, lore, able to travel being a monster hunter or knight etc Please remember one thing! Loot!

[@Lorespire]

Can't forget that!

[@shodan6401]

Will the Procedural Gen. engine take advantage of multi-core CPUs? Or is all game generation and rendering relegated entirely to the GPU?

[@OnceLostGames]

The procedural generation is done on our side. Everyone gets the same world seed, though some things will change during each playthrough.

[@getnamo]

It will definitely run on background threads and mostly be CPU based.

[@Nastara]

@@OnceLostGamesWould someone be able to mod easily to change the seed and modify nothing else? Excuse my ignorance.

[@getnamo]

​@Nastara should be possible, though if that's done the handcrafted overrides might need to be turned off. Too early to tell the exact tooling we'll expose. There are multiple seeds at various levels of the procgen hierarchy that should be easily overridable in theory.

[@Nastara]

@@getnamo That sounds interesting. I looked it up on how people do it for Daggerfall if at all but my google fu was pretty week.

[@shodan6401]

Sh|t, is there a Potion Crafting mechanic in this game? I've missed this so much since Morrowind...

[@OnceLostGames]

Alchemy is planned, but it likely won't make it into Early Access.

[@shodan6401]

Also, are there specific Dev Forks incorporated to prevent the repetition often associated with, and the unfortunate, perhaps unavailable side-effect of Procedural Generation? I think that this is the communities' biggest apprehension of PG, as it so often leads to a game that feels like a game, and not a natural, dynamic and ever-changing world. Suspension of Disbelief is the goal...

[@shodan6401]

Well, it appears that you have addressed this question quite thoroughly - Thank you. If there is anything more to add or forgot to mention, please fire away. But it seems like you have a very dynamic system in place. Or should I say, several systems layered on top of each other, giving you more flexibility. Sounds extremely promising....

[@OnceLostGames]

@@shodan6401 yup, we know the disadvantages that people often associate with proc gen and really aim to negate it as much as possible while using the strengths of proc gen to make things more dynamic and interesting.

[@westywest4480]

Werelizard is somthing ive never seen.😊. Btw 2400 people for 140km doesnt sound like alot?

[@getnamo]

It's an island roughly 20x6 km; based on historical context, that would roughly be the population density expected. There are always possibilities for temporary population spikes though.

[@westywest4480]

@getnamo that makes sense, I guess. My town is 10 miles square, which is about 25km and my town has a population of 2700. But my town is considered small. I'm not complaining. Sorry if it seems that way. I'm just trying to figure it out lol.

[@getnamo]

@westywest4480 it's a fair question, and if it seems that density is too low in practice, we can crank that up a bit as the far field system can handle ~5-10k at a time visually. That said, an early estimate of the whole archipelago is about 1.5 million npcs, which is far more than you'd ever meet in a lifetime. It's just that what you'd think is a small town in the modern era would be considered quite populous in the ancient world.

[@keitho6974]

Can we be infected by the werebeast?

[@IZhevranI]

In EA no, later yes, all 3 types can spread their love ;)

[@Lorespire]

My understanding is not in Early Access but definitely in the Final Release

[@lougaboux]

Oh yeah of course , I'm voting WOLF, 4 da Therianthope.

[@OnceLostGames]

Always a solid choice.

[@Lorespire]

canceling out my vote for wererat i see...

[@shodan6401]

It's funny that you mentioned Morrowind, because of course my brain went there. Or a cross of Morrowind and Daggerfall. So, speaking of that, does WR have any imaginative Over-World environments as unique and alien as Morrowind, or does this stick to the traditional, predictable environs of Fantasy RPGs, more like, say, Skyrim?

[@OnceLostGames]

There are a few, though the majority is more standard European fantasy. The closest to Morrowind would be Merothwyr, an desert wasteland which was raised from the ocean floor. It is a harsh environment strewn with whale bones, giant fossilized shells, and dead coral reefs. Most people live along its coasts, but Goblins have been able to carve out a home for themselves deep in the wastes.

[@shodan6401]

Sounds absolutely fkg awesome. I'm sorry that I don't do more social media, but I'm spreading the word every chance I get.

[@Lorespire]

Thanks for that!

[@tokenoftimetokenoftime8154]

SWEET!!!!!!!!❤😊😊😊😊

[@Lorespire]

indeed

[@korvinkori_]

Топчик

[@petemisc4291]

What a waste of time, they have nothing to show, get back to work and come back when you have an alpha!

[@IZhevranI]

🐟

[@Lorespire]

They're working on it... It'll be great when we get to find out for ourselves later this year

[@OnceLostGames]

This simply wasn't a showcase. Nor is it claimed to be a showcase. Sorry if you thought otherwise. We'll be showcasing stuff later this year.