FAQ Game Play
From Newerth: Savage Wiki
[edit] Will Savage 2 have a single player campaign?
There will be an in depth single player tutorial but no story telling single player. There will also be a Practice Mode which will allow players to practice each units play versus AI controlled opponents.
[edit] What similarities will it share with the original?
The core gameplay concepts will be very similar to Savage 1
- Better Graphics
- Better Maps
- More Units (class based)
- Spell casting / special abilities
- New Race introduction / players
- Less Commander Centric (players can build buildings)
- No Peons
- More Battle Strategic & more battle planning with better grouping and more emphasis on officers
- More polish and fit and finish to the entire game and most importantly INTERFACE!
- Melee system will not necessarily be more complex but more fluid with the ability to combo
[edit] How will experience work in S2?
Each player and each team as a whole gains experience and levels. Experience is gained from defending structures and siege, killing NPCs and enemies, building and repairing structures, healing and resurrecting fallen breatheren. Both teams and players have a level 10 max. As levels are gained a player has the ability to add 3 percentage points to their characters attributes: health, regeneration, mana, damage, and armor. The team commander also has the ability to add attribute bonuses which affect each player on the team. There is a cap of 20% bonus for any given category and a maximum of 30 percentage points total. This means that it is a nice advantage but that skill is still the most important aspect of winning a skirmish.
[edit] How will long stalemates be avoided?
Stalemates will be handled by a feature called "upkeep". Upkeep is the required gold expenditure every 15 seconds to maintain the buildings and technologies you've researched. If you can not maintain that bank, you're structures will begin to slowly decay and technologies will be lost. If you begin to maintain your upkeep again, your technologies will resume and you can repair your buildings.
[edit] What will the races/sides/factions be?
There are 2 starting races, Legion of Man (human) v. Beast Horde (beasts) with the introduction of another 'race' known as the Hellbourne. While they are not a starting race, the Hellbourne units are playable by both races.
[edit] Will we be able to create scripts?
There will be no custom scripting allowed for Savage 2. There will also be no minor modifications to the game. There will only be pure servers allowed and pure servers will verify game files to avoid cheating and scripting.
[edit] Will you use Punkbuster to counter cheaters?
We'll use software similar to Punkbuster to deter and detect cheating. However, all this software will be programmed in house and will be an integrated part of the K2 Engine.
[edit] Any plans to have a clan or individual league/ladder?
We'll be setting up an incredibly detailed stat tracking system both for players and clans. With tons of ways of displaying the stats. The clan site will have a large array of tools to organize and communicate with the clan. We'll have a robust tourney / ladder system which will be as fully automated as possible with the game. The idea is to track and play games without manually reporting results etc.
[edit] Is there going to be clan support?
We're going to have an improved and expanded version of what we had for Savage 1, with stat tracking and rankings and all that good stuff. Plus, we're planning on expanding the in-game clan recognition a bit, things like having your clans banner flying on your base or on your armor.
[edit] Will there be RPG elements then?
Savage ALWAYS has had RPG elements and Savage 2 will continue with those elements. MMORPG has absolutely nothing to do with Savage or Savage 2.
[edit] Is Savage 2 a complicated game? Will I be able to pick it up easily?
Its a very VALID and GOOD concern to have. In my opinion, one of the concerns of Savage 1 was it was too difficult to play and understand. This is high on our list when we designed the gameplay of Savage 2. Imagine this, Savage 1 with better graphics, MUCH better interface which allows for easier understanding of the game, better communication and organization, and a strategy / resource system that will not allow the commander to ruin the entire teams ability to win. All in all Savage 2 will fill all the gaps that Savage 1 left and do the things Savage 1 did well even better! Also with ability to go through a guided tutorial and the Practice Mode, players will have a quick and simple solution to learn more about Savage 2's game mechanics and strategies.
[edit] How large will the maps be compared to the maps in Savage 1?
Probably about the same range of sizes. It was actually possible to make much larger maps than were ever used in Savage, but we found that running around lost and not seeing any other players was not much fun. More importantly in Savage 2 than other FPS maps, strategy of layout is so important. Because of this, we will have very few maps with much more thought and better layouts. We will also allow the server list to be filtered to not show servers that are playing unofficial maps.
[edit] Will there be alternate game modes?
The initial launch of Savage 2 will feature the Conquer game type. This game is won by destroying the enemy's command center. However, we expect to add 3 additional game types down the road. Those game types are as follows:
- Siege (defend a fort, besiege the fort)
- Domination (control all fort locations)
- Melee Arena (a tournament based event in a colosseum)
[edit] Will Savage 2's gameplay be similar to Savage 1's?
Its a sequel so it will have some similarities. Mainly the general concepts and world that made Savage 1 great will exist but with a ton of new innovative ideas and the polish to really bring it together. The gameplay is unit based with 18 unique characters in total, all with very unique abilities. Units will NOT simply be larger versions of themselves as they were in Savage 1. There will be a great deal more RPG elements this time as well, like: drops, buffs, debuffs, and player progression from leveling. Don't fret though, Savage 2 will ALWAYS place player skill as the most important aspect of the game with that will come some very unique gameplay.
[edit] Can you give us more info on the resource system?
There will be no commander controlled AI workers. For example mining will be done by taking control and building a collector on the mine itself so no senseless clicking away for hours on a mine. Instead you work as a team to claim and hold / defend mines which automatically supply your team with gold at a set rate. Destroy the enemy mines to choke their income and hamper their ability to attack and defend.
[edit] Are you going to have sci-fi weapons like in Savage 1?
We'll still have tech weapons for the humans but they'll be designed much better. They'll still offer the same kind of action but they'll just have a much more cohesive design and fit better. Ie steam powered rather than lasers.
[edit] Is the combat system real-time? Is melee combat performed in the first-person as well?
Combat is all real time and action based, however there is also the twist that units will have spells and abilities that function more like what you'd see in an MMORPG. Some classes will focus more on combat, while other will focus more on providing a support role and using the RPGish abilities, so you can choose whatever fits your playing style.
[edit] Will there be manable defenses?
There will be manable base defenses
[edit] How much thought and planning in the design process was devoted to competitive play?
Savage 2 exists only for competitive play. The entire game concept revolves around the "sport" of online and LAN gaming.
[edit] How is hit detection accomplished in Savage 2?
Bones are animated on the server rather than a bounding box. This allows for extremely accurate hit detection for both ranged weaponry and melee.
[edit] How do players get access to the Hellbourne units?
Once the Hell Lieutenant and his minions that protect "Scars" on the map are destroyed a Sacrifical Shrine must be constructed. Once this is achieved, players can use them to "purchase" Hellbourne units by using Souls.
[edit] How does a player get souls?
Souls are collected from killing higher level NPCs and more often from killing enemy players.
[edit] How is the melee system in the new game?
The melee system will be similar and different I know that is very ambiguous but I can't say much right now. It will be simple, fluid, and easier to master than the current Savage combat system.
[edit] How will new players compete against veteran players?
Servers will have a specified experience range. Savage 2 uses a persistent account experience and level to determine entry to various servers. In example, there will be servers with level ranges of 0-10, 11-25, 26-40, 41-50. It will make people just starting to play the game much happier to play with people of their skill level and make matches much more competitve. Higher level players will have the option to enter lower level servers with a handicap applied to them.
[edit] Will there be a demo?
The game files are absolutely free to download and install on any computer. This will allow people to use LAN Mode (non-commercial), Practice Mode, and Tutorial absolutely free of charge. You can sign up for a free demo account to play online. This will give the full version of the game for 7 days with nagware to entice people to activate their account by purchasing directly in game. By purchasing the account they will lose the nagware, longer spawn times, and timed trial account.
[edit] Can you give us information about the commander's role?
The commander is going to have all of the same jobs as in Savage, namely building/researching, giving orders, giving buffs, managing resources (much like most RTS games on the market). The main difference in Savage 2 is that the commander won't be able to soley progress their team through building / technology. Of course the commander has the biggest influence on these aspects of the game, but even in the nightmare scenario of a commander who just sits there and does nothing, the rest of the players on the team can pool resources to build and research. The next important thing that we're doing with the commander is moving the role's focus to tactical strategy. This time around the commander will want to be watching the battles rather than hanging around the base waiting for buildings or research to complete. Base building and research will be streamlined so that the commander can spend most of the time with the troops, making use of new abilities (in addition to team buffs, there will be debuffs and other sort of "god powers" you see in RTS games). We're adding a lot of cool interface elements so that the commander will be able to plan really cool strategies and effectively communicate them to the team. ive us information about the commander's role?=====
