Ultima X: Odyssey Combat Interview, Part 1

Feb 6, 2004

Among the elements that helped the Ultima series to attain its position of honor in the history of electronic gaming, the foremost may be its incorporation of a philosophy or system of ethics based on eight characteristics collectively known as the Virtues. These are derived from three principles. Truth is a quality that is inherent in all things, Love the kindness and beauty that lie within our hearts, and Courage the inner spirit and determination that drive us to act for the greater good. From Truth comes Honesty, Love leads to Compassion and Courage to Valor. Truth and Love combined create Justice, Love and Courage produce Sacrifice, and Truth and Love engender Justice. All three together result in Spirituality. Pride, which is caused by the absence of the principles, is not a virtue, but it's opposite is Humility, which is.

Officially announced in late August of last year, Origin's Ultima X: Odyssey holds the promise of a return to this core aspect of the hallowed single-player RPG series, but within a persistent state environment wherein gamers will have the chance to create their own epic legacies by embodying the Virtues and ascending to the status of Avatars. As for some other notable features, there will be six playable races ranging from Humans to Elves, Gargoyles, Orcs, Pixies and hamster-like Phoda. The game's adventure system will encompass both quests and missions, with some taking place inside private areas. Combat is reportedly fast-paced and strategic, with an intriguing twist being "intelligent" weapons that can level up and improve. Our mammoth four-part interview last year only whetted our appetite to know more, with this topic at the top of our list.

Jonric: What high-level goals did you set for yourselves with respect to the kind of combat system you wanted to implement in Ultima X: Odyssey, and also in terms of making this part of the game both important and distinctive?

Rick Hall: Trying to put it as succinctly as possible, the primary high-level goal for the Odyssey combat system was interactivity. We've noted before that we perceived a distinct lack of required player participation in existing massively multiplayer games. We began referring to this situation as "sandwich combat", and judging by the number of players and even developers who've picked up the term and started using it themselves, it seems that many agree with us.

Of course, part of the reason for a simplified combat system in first generation of titles was a result of the difficulties of latency. Typical combat designs in standalone games depended a lot on the player's reflexes and hand-eye coordination. But ping times on the Internet are notoriously unpredictable, so console game and standalone game thinking simply wasn't going to work, at least not in a massively multiplayer environment.

However, as developers have learned more about the medium they're working with, we're starting to learn how to deal with this kind of difficulty. With Ultima X: Odyssey, we very much wanted combat to be a central part of the game. The main reason for this is because it's an area where we felt we could make substantial improvements over the existing status quo. Our intent in this regard is to provide the next evolutionary step in online world combat and adventure.

Jonric: Still at the high concept and design level, how much emphasis will your game place on player vs. environment compared to player vs. player?

Rick Hall: Odyssey focuses more on PvE than PvP. When we set out to design the game, we felt that it was possible to actually achieve a single-player feel in a massively multiplayer environment, and the key to that was in developing a very comprehensive PvE experience. If you think about it, the notion of making a player feel "heroic" is more easily achieved in a solo game, where the player is, in a very real sense, the "center of the action and the universe." However, with that said, don't get the impression that PvP won't be supported, or that the game will not be massively multiplayer. It will include both of those elements. At its heart, it is definitely a massively multiplayer experience. We've simply tried to provide an environment where it "feels" as heroic as the experience you'd get in a solo-player game.

Jonric: What do you see as the main challenges that must be addressed in order for both forms of combat to work well within a single game?

Rick Hall: The main challenge in trying to make a game that supports both PvE and PvP is the fundamental difference in balance. With a PvE design, you have a lot more control over the both the power and skill of the opponents. For instance, a level 20 character is likely to target only those creatures near his own level, and once he gets used to the AI, the creatures become predictable enough for the player to develop tactics and strategies that "always" work. In order for PvE to be fun, it requires a level of consistency in both of these areas.

Conversely, PvP is on the other end of the spectrum. It's difficult to guarantee the power (i.e. level) of the opponent you're going to run into, and basically impossible to guarantee his level of skill. Every player you run into is going to have his own technique, his own level of aggressiveness, and his own tricks up his sleeve. PvP fights are often lopsided in that the numbers of opponents on opposing sides are often quite different. How often do you find your group of four friends facing eight, 10, 12 or more enemies? That's a very different scenario than you'll find in PvE.

Jonric: Having recognized the differences you just discussed, what approach or mechanism did you arrive at in order to address them so they could co-exist within Odyssey in a complementary manner?

Rick Hall: Our mechanism for addressing these things is to try to push each system towards the other. With our PvE, we're putting a tremendous amount of effort into the AI. Monsters will adjust their numbers to the size of the party facing them, they'll act more like a group (assisting each other with buffs, healing, etc.), and choose their targets with a variety of criteria. While a given type of monster will generally behave similarly from one fight to the next, they are capable of surprising once in a while, much like a human opponent would. The predictability mentioned above is still there most of the time, but the occasional curveball gives it a similar kind of spice that you'd find in PvP.

As for PvP itself, we're building systems that require more balance of the numbers. In Ultima X: Odyssey, PvP will start off with relatively even numbers on both sides, and won't allow the appearance of "reinforcements" on one side or the other. Of course, that won't stop each side from distributing their forces in such a way that they can gain numerical advantages. If you break off a squad of four or five to explore the enemy situation, while leaving the remaining 10 or 12 to "hold the fort," the expeditionary force may well run into the whole enemy camp and get overwhelmed. But that's part of the fun and strategy.

Jonric: What were the main factors that led you to incorporate clan-based conflict? And how does it fit under the broader umbrella of PvP combat?

Rick Hall: Part of the allure for Internet-based games is the fact that you can encounter "human" opponents. Computer-controlled monsters have their own charm, but there are times when you really want to test your mettle against another player. So, it's important to provide for that possibility, and we haven't ignored it in the design of Odyssey.

"Clan-based" combat will be accomplished by our guild vs. guild PvP systems. At any time, a guild can challenge another guild to a fight in a private area. By controlling the challenge process and restricting access, we can ensure that the terms of the fight are fair, and that outside interference can't be used to alter this.

Jonric: What do you regard as the primary benefits from including such inter-guild battles in your design?

Rick Hall: Of course, the benefits for allowing large-scale PvP are obvious. Beyond simple dueling, large-scale conflicts allow players to explore different kinds of strategies, tactics and teamwork, as well as ensuring all of the inevitable surprises and tension one would expect when the opponents are human.

Especially if there is a wager associated with it, guild vs. guild combat will provide players with a very different alternative to PvE play styles. Guild vs. guild combat allows for a strong level of social interaction and cooperation, leveraging one of the strengths of the Internet itself. And since each guild can participate in a rating system, there will be the bragging rights and pride associate with their success as well.

Jonric: How does combat actually work? And will there be ways to ascertain or estimate the difficulty level of a potential opponent before deciding whether to attack it?

Rick Hall: Rather than attempt to improve upon an explanation that is on our website, I'll just provide a link to it right here.

To answer your other question, yes indeed there will be a way to tell the difficulty level of a potential opponent before you take it on. Actually, there seemed to be no reason why we wouldn't give that info to the player very specifically. Eventually, the levels and capabilities of all the creatures in the game will be ascertained, and those who want to do the research on the web will learn everything they want to know. So rather than force everybody to spend hours researching and documenting this, we're just providing it up front. When you target a monster in combat, its level will be right there in plain view next to his name. There will be no guessing or research required.

Jonric: After you've decided to attack, how much player activity is there during a fight - can or must you do things like swing your weapon, target a certain part of the opponent, or vary your aggressiveness?

Rick Hall: The actual fight itself will be a fast paced flurry of activity. By timing each swing of the sword, choosing strategic moments to enter active defense, adjusting to the changing tactics of the creatures, judiciously using special abilities, and maneuvering aggressively, players will have a good bit of flexibility in how they approach each and every fight.

We won't be quite so detailed as to allow players to select target body parts on the monsters, though. We actually considered something like that for a while, but decided it was simply too complicated for most players. There has to be a balance between the number of options a player is presented with and becoming so complicated that the system becomes cumbersome. At least within our Ultima X: Odyssey combat system, that level of detail quickly seemed to become overwhelming.

Something that has been overwhelming in a very positive way is the way various members of Origin's Ultima X: Odyssey development team have responded to our requests to learn about their intriguing project. With combat being a vital part, we thank Senior Producer Rick Hall for his substantial and instructive answers, However, we still have quite a number of other questions on the topic, so we look forward to returning with even more information in the not too distant future.