Hellgate: London Unofficial FAQ v.5

The Game
I- General Hellgate Information
II- Setting
III- Gameplay
IV- Character Customization


I - General Hellgate Information


Q: What is Hellgate London?

A: Hellgate: London is a highly randomized action RPG played primarily from the first-person perspective. Set in the near future, London is caught in the aftermath of a demonic invasion. Mankind has been driven into the sanctuary of the Underground in order to survive, desperately hoping to one day regain a foothold in the rapidly decaying world above.
www.flagshipstudios.com

Interpreting this, action rpg does not mean first person shooter. The game will not be about pinpoint mouse skill but rather an action rpg in that view. Much like morrowind I would imagine but with actual action combat. For instance if you see a bolt coming your way you might be able to dodge it, or strafe around an enemy launching rockets at it. It allows a lot more movement and flying creatures. Also there will be a third person view so you can see your character.



Q: Will there be guild support?

A: Yes you will be able to form a guild ingame. This is a huge help to anyone building a small tight knit group and will help immensely with the social reward from playing online games.



Q: What is being planned for rushers and explorers respectively?

A: There will always be rushers that want to just level. Hellgate: London will potentially satisfy both groups by rewarding exploration by adding a "rarity element" where something rare may be randomly added to a map and the explorers out there can find it and be rewarded. Such as links to another area or even small gameplay elements.



Q: PVP, I can't stand not killing other people, whats Hellgate: London's take on it?

A: PVP is a very popular theme, but it will not be the driving force behind Hellgate: London. Also expect some competitive co-op gameplay. Another idea for competitive co-op is a game where two teams fight off hordes of demons and the more demons a team kills, the more monsters spawn on the other side until only one team is left.



Q: Will Hellgate: London handle dupes and cheaters?

A: Yes, security is obviously a big concern for the developers and they are implementing secure server side drop tables and will use a client/server design to stop cheating.



Q: What merchandise can I buy for Hellgate: London?

A: They are currently gauging interest in merchandise and nothing is available yet.



Q: Release Date?

A: When it is ready, My personal guess is end of 2006. But in all seriousness it might be a while knowing they will release nothing less then the best.



Q: What will Hellgate London Cost?

A: Hellgate London will be a normally priced game. It is not an mmorpg and like every other game besides mmorpgs will require no monthly fees to play.



II - Setting


Q: What is the setting for the game?

A: “The game is set in 2032, five years after the opening of the titular portal that let millions of demons and other assorted nasties loose on the streets of the city. Slaughter and destruction on an unprecedented scale was the predictable result, with the military finding their weapons to be useless against this paranormal foe. Anyone lucky enough to survive the onslaught quickly made their way underground, out of harm's way.”



Q: How will towns work?

A: speculative: The plan for towns is a lot like Guildwars, it seems like they will use it as a basis. "Towns" will be Underground stations which are safe zones for social and economic activity. A little commentary about towns in Guild Wars, they act as a selling and buying place but are heavily moderated by an ingame anti spam code. For instance one message every 20 seconds or so is allowed, which really stops all normal chat besides trade. It is interested to see how they will create their Underground Stations, to be moderated like that or be open for chat with potential spamming.



Q: I heard NPCs have needs in this game, can you explain?

A: The idea is "Content over Time" for instance NPCs may arrive in different underground stations or require different things each day. So the content will change based on time, you won't have to go find a new NPC in a different area, the NPC might come to you, are some possible examples.



Q: Can I view any movies of the game or trailers?

A:There is a gameplay movie and trailer for the game that was shown at E3. The trailer is 5 minutes long and available for download in 3 sizes.

Here is a link to the 203mb high quality one (be patient if on 56k, it's worth the wait)

http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=18821 (click Local US Mirror for fast download)


III - Gameplay


Q: How Will Aiming Work?

A: Described as “soft aiming” which means it will not be a game of pinpoint mouse coordination but more like an RPG with a first person view. It seems like they spend a lot of time on the environment and mood in all the movies and screenshots so a first person view actually seems like a cool way to experience the world

The physical combat with weapons like swords will take place in Third Person View, this is ideal for close range combat which gets clunky in first person view. It helps gauge the range to your target and also in viewing surrouding creatures.



Q: What are the controls?

A: The controls are simple, WASD controls movement forward/back and side to side, spacebar is jump, and mouse looks around. This configuration is common in first person shoots. Next each mouse click will do a different thing based on what you set it for, much like Diablo. TAB will open your PDA/minimap, showing that this is a "true Blizzard" game ALT is show loot, I for inventory, and K for skill map. Finally there is F1-F12 which controls your action bar which is assignable actions.



Q: PDA? This thing will be my minimap and more?

A: Yes it seems there will be a PDA, currently it is rudimentary but with a lot of plans, it already has a minimap. The more part is pure speculation but if pipboy from fallout is any example, it will be pretty cool.



Q: What's this I hear about shields, and not the kind you hold?

A: Hellgate: London will feature shields on at least the templar, these will be like shields on the Protoss. You will have a small ammount of it, and it will act as a buffer between you and the enemy, it will regen at a fast rate allowing your character to last longer in combat and be ready for more faster.



Q: How will quests work?

A: They are not quests in the normal sense but a new take, there are smaller “events” and quick missions along with the main quests that really advance the storyline.



Q: What will the online gameplay be like?

A: The game will feature instancing, which is a buzzword used by Arena.net and other companies to describe a normal multiplayer level where the number of players is limited. There is planning for towns that will be graphical and allow trading and general chat.



Q: What types of damage will there be?

A: There will be physical. Fire, Electrical, Spectral, and Toxic damage. Fire will ignite you on fire for Damage over time, Electrical will stun, Physical can knock down enemies, Spectral will fade out armor, and Toxic damage can poison enemies.


IV - Character Customization


Q: What makes my character unique?

A: There will be numerous ways to adjust your characters starting looks, for instance eye color, hair color, face shape, and facial hair (most of this is still in development).

Also a big part to a custom character is their items and how they fine tune them using “mod slots” to become zombie killing machines. Along with slightly randomized availability of skills your character will be very unique.



Q: How is the weapon and item system designed?

A: It will have over 100 base weapons.

Basically there will be a lot of items, and lots of random stats for these items like Diablo, along with “Mod slots” which allow customization of items to the player’s liking.

“a seemingly endless stream of upgrades and updates to weapons I’d found appeared as I wiped out my enemies. A new helmet here, an acid-upgrade for a bolt-firing weapon there.” Quote from E3 demo.



Q: Will I be able to choose the gender of my character, in other words will I be stuck playing a female if I want to be a certain class?

A: No, they are doing both genders for every class. This means you will not be running around with a gender you don't want to play.



Q: What attributes will there be?

A: For the Templar at least Concentration, Accuracy, Stamina, and Willpower. Accuracy probably increases your chance to hit and critical, stamina is most likely health, and Willpower is probably related to vengeance acquisition. You can take any guess for concentration.



Q: What Classes will I be able to play?

A: Templar – Not much is known except they look pretty cool and can do some monster killing as seen in the E3 trailer. First class to be seen or heard of.



Q: Will I be able to use both hands for different purposes and configurations?

A: Yes, there is a large assortment of weapon combinations, left hand sword with right hand gun, vice vera, one two handed sword, two one handed swords, small glowing jewels, and more! The animators are going to be working overtime on all this stuff.



Q: How will the inventory system work?

A: Currently Each weapon will have certain special effects like Splash Damage, or normal damage. There will be a rank associated with each item that has an uknown effect and meaning at this time. You will have Health and a Regen Rate. Weapons and items will be divided between Large and Small items each taking up the respective space. It seems you will have a set ammount of room for each type, so for instance you can have 13 large items and 35 small items on you along with the items on your character.



Q: What is equipping cost?

A: Equip cost is the cost in attributes to equip an item. For instance a Dense Fuel, ammunition mod, will take 1 willpower to equip. If your character had 3 willpower, it would be able to equip 3 items with 1 willpower requirement at any time. This reminds me a lot of Diablo 2/1's attribute requirement but with a little cool twist. Basically it makes you think strategically it seems on what to bring. This is still developing though and pretty unknown.



Q: Will there be a Ragdoll interface like Diablo 2?

A: Yes there Is a ragdoll item interface, you will select to equip certain items and it will visually show how it looks on your character, and also be around the same area as it is on the character.



Q: How will skills work?

A: Skills will be taught by trainers in city, also there is random skill nodes you can find to personalize your character even more. It will be very interesting to see how they randomize skills and design this aspect of the game. Also the skill system is a little early to say how it will be in retail but there are lots of hints at a "Skill Map".



Q: Any educated guess on upcoming classes?

A: From what they have said, it will be a character that you can easily become attached to and understand. For instance from mythology or history such as a Templar. Expect them to be based on Secret Societies like the Illuminati. Also expect a magical and even a stealth class.


Flagship Studios
Q: "What is Flagship studios?"

A: “Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focus on ease of play, replayablility and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. With members that are renowned within the gaming industry, Flagship Studios embodies a team that has worked together for over a decade and have numerous #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards to their credit.”
www.flagshipstudios.com



Q: 'Who's on the Flagship Studios Team?"

A: Here they are.

David Brevik – Lead everything, programming design, and project lead for the Diablo Series.

Bill Roper –“I am Bill Roper. My official title is CEO, but I am most honored to be a member of the Hellgate: London development team. Since E3, I've been working (game wise) primarily on story and tossing in ideas, as we all do.” From community IRC chat

Erich Scheafer – 13 year veteran and co founder of Condor Inc later renamed Blizzard North.

Max scheafer – Project, Design, and environment art.

Keneth Williams – Business man and game launcher.

Tricia Gray – PR so you will probably see a lot of her writings etc.

Dave Glenn
Peter Hu
Phil Shenk
Tyler Thompson
Erik Koehlert
Dave Steinwedel
Tracey Moyer
Marc Tattersall
Matt Householder
Chris Lambert
Jason Felix
Lee Dotson
Guy Somberg
Christian "Skullder" Arretche
Brennan Plunkett
Charlie Lapp
John Kubasco
Bob Moseley



Q: Who is in partnership with Flagship studios?

A: Namco and Hanbit Soft are the current partners of Flagship Studios. Hanbit Soft will be covering Korea and the asian market.


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