Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor tackles fan questions relating to the studio's currently in-development Wildman RPG, offering an explanation as to why the studio didn't attempt to create a pure real-time strategy game to appeal to its fanbase who enjoyed the likes of Supreme Commander and Total Annihilation.
According to Taylor, it comes down to an issue of money. The cost of creating a legitimate and large-scale RTS is far higher than what is needed to fund the action RPG Wildman, while the crowdfunding model the team adopted fits the development of RPGs more comfortably, he says.
"Wildman is a different game in that we can actually start at one part of the game and start building it over time, and it just fits the development model of working with the community, crowdfunding, crowdsource model. Because I want to get people playing the game as early as possible."
Taylor says he is still interested in creating this pure RTS title, making an appeal to publishers to contact him if they are interested in the creation of a game in this vein. He adds that the studio will eventually develop the RTS title Kings and Castles, a game likened to Supreme Commander but in a Medieval setting, if Wildman is eventually funded.
"If we can do Wildman we can sort of bootstrap-up, if you will, and then make our way into bigger games," he explains.
Taylor also describes what users can expect from this RPG, stating that there are three outdoor terrain sets including a jungle, forest and desert. Also available are caves and dungeons for mid-to-late game, while players will have the opportunity to mod their own dungeon and cave sets. Players can also expect siege-weapons in-game, which will evolve from light and primitive weapons to more heavy-duty alternatives such a trebuchets. Monsters will drop gear that can be equipped by units, resulting in visual changes to their character models, and the studio is also contemplating how to allow for enemies to respawn.
In a new video, Taylor offers an additional overview of the adaptation of RTS design in the game, which can be viewed in the video below.
As of press time, Wildman received $398,500 of its $1,100,000 funding goal with 14 days to go.
