Void Arena - Interview @TechRaptor

[Silver]

The developers of adventure RPG Void Arena have been interviewed by TechRaptor.

High Level Studios Has Big Ambitions

Not too long ago, I happened upon Void Arena, an upcoming game that aims to eschew traditional RPG design by doing away with levels and skill points entirely. That certainly intrigued me and I dove into the design of an ambitious new venture.

I first discovered Void Arena via a submission to the /r/pcgaming subreddit. This linked to a blog post on the developer's website, outlining some of the basics of how an RPG with no levels and no skill points would work. Before we get into that, though, I'd ask that you take a look at one of its most recent gameplay videos to see the early alpha in motion!

[...]

"One of the core pillars of our game is 'unique progression experiences,'" explained Sad_Gandalf, the owner and operator of the game's developer High Level Studios. "Something that we are really after is making your decisions feel as if they are directly driving the growth of your character. With this said, we veered away from a path where your character's main form of progression was dictated by some arbitrary numbers in a spreadsheet. Instead, your character progresses mainly through exploring the world and learning new skills while also both finding powerful gear and the materials necessary to create it themselves."

Some RPGs treat player stats as a requirement for equipping awesome gear, but could a game work in this genre without player stats at all? Sad_Gandalf thinks it can, and the plan he's outlined for this in-development game certainly seems to back it up--at least in theory.

More information.

 

[xenocide]

said to myself "this can't just be 5 mins of spamming nothing but fireballs can it?!"

skip, skip, skip…

"Huh, it really is just 5 mins of spamming nothing but fireballs"

If that is the core game, hard pass from me. If it's not the core gameplay that is one terrible trailer.

 

[Ripper]

Yeah, with access to all the assets available these days, it's not that hard to make something that looks a bit like a game. But it's as hard as ever to actually make a good one. There's a flood of cheap mediocrity out there.

 

[forgottenlor]

If it eschews all stats should we call it an RPG at all? Isn't it more a fantasy action game like Hexen. Lichedom, or Enclave?

 

[Ripper]

I'd say it looks like even less than that. At least as far as that video goes, it's a flat, empty, and badly-lit plane, in which monsters keep spawning, and you shoot at them with fireballs.