Last year, the domestic studio Ino-Co, Given us once “Code of War” And Majesty 2, managed to revive the plowed genre of global strategies about magicians. Game Warlock: Master of the Arcane incorporated many ideas from Master of Magic, Age of Wonders And Elemental: War of Magic, but she went to this with her own flavor and interesting finds. Great magicians fought each other here, conquered cities and gathered armies in a unique world Majesty (that is, in Ardania), and the player offered three really different races, many ways to victory and the opportunity to travel and fight in parallel dimensions. However, there were their problems and flaws here.
The developers decided to fix them in the sequel, Warlock 2: The Exiled, All the details about which Stopgame.RU told the leader Ino-Co Plus Alexey Kozyrev.
Experience, son of difficult mistakes
Interestingly, no one planned to make a full -fledged second part. “This decision was made a few months after the release of the original, when we were still engaged in additions to it. There were many ideas, their implementation did not fit into the framework of the concept of developing additions. At the same time, both we and the publishers felt that there were still resources for expanding the game and its audience, ”Alexey explains.
In addition, the authors were not quite satisfied with the results of their work. As our interlocutor admits, the first part at the time of the publication was damp, a lack of content was felt, there was no multiplayer, and several errors in the AI algorithms made it difficult to perceive computer opponents as dangerous opponents. The multiplayer was added later and for free, but the sediment, as they say, remained. “With the second part, we more carefully approach the release and try not to advance on the same rake. There are now twice as much content, we worked thoroughly on the multiplayer, and other things made both at the request of the players, and without them, stored a lot, ”promises Alexey Kozyrev.
Satisfy and rule!
In general, c Warlock 2 Everything is still: on the global map, the heroes-magicians study and use spells, capture and rebuild cities, collect and develop armies, and battles are held directly on crossed areas. However, new rules and nuances were added to all this. So, now the population in cities can be something displeased, and when discontent in the empire reaches a critical level, some dirt. “And if at the beginning of the game this is not so critical, then in a big country the moods of subjects will have to be monitored very carefully and try to keep the situation under control. This goal is specialized trade, military or temple cities, in which no one complains about anything. If you wish, turn any settlement into a specialized one, ”the leader explains Ino-Co Plus.
On the global map with the help of new spells, they will allow mana to turn into gold, terraform the landscape and increase the increase in the experience of your detachments.
From other innovations in the strategic part, we note the ability to build sanctuaries to some God-this allows us to interact quite early and consciously with the Almighty and receive different bonuses from them.
And in tactical battles, rivers now play a special role playing the role of natural defensive lines. In addition, many support troops will now cover the allies in battle. Finally, a group of interesting tactical spells appeared, giving, for example, a temporary ability to levite.
Strange wanderers
IN Warlock 2: The Exiled We will not see three, but six races: these are people, monsters, undead, elves, wanderers and welds. The last two races are completely new. Wanderers, who are descendants of the lost united army of the great king Ardania, are an alliance of people, monsters and undead, who learned to live together and use the strengths of each other. Swerts skillfully combine magic and mechanics, which allows them to create a special weapon, combat vehicles and the strongest armor.
Accordingly, new, extremely interesting “units” appeared. So, the wanderers have minotaurs-eleas-such a dummy orderlies and surgeons, descendants of the Shaman Minotaurs. And on the side of the welds, the flamethrower fights in a flying stupa. Here you immediately remember about the branded Humor of Ardania: by making, probably, the most serious strategy in this setting, the authors are forced to recoup on the appearance of the “units” and their descriptions.
The number of heroes-magicians. We will meet several new Lords, including one brilliant sorceress, the true heiress of his great and famous parents, a certain unique and talented half -breed, as well as a former great magician who decided to look for another fate for himself.
Bestiary also has grown significantly. The authors wanted every small world met by the player to be unique in climate, landscape, and in their inhabitants. In the desert worlds, you will meet huge scarax beetles and sandy golems, and in tropical-clouds of midges, fire-breathing turtles of various ages and other animals.
I’ll be back
However, the main achievement of the sequel will be the new Exile mode, where there is a full -fledged plot – after all, it was many who did not have enough in Warlock: Master of the Arcane. Here your great magician begins the game in a separate world far from Ardania and tries to find the way home, simultaneously building his empire in the territories he seized by him. Fulfilling instructions, he will open portals to neighboring lands until he reaches the “mirror” world of the Ainadr, from where it will be able to triumphantly (or not very) return to Ardania.
“The gameplay in this new mode will change enough. He now more resembles the passage of the plot campaign – as the player moves to the final, he is now entertained by plot events and quests. At the same time, all worlds, like the structure of the connections between them, are generated at the start and each time they turn out to be different. Thanks to this, such a regime will be very interesting for both single and joint, in the alliance, passing. However, the old regime has not gone anywhere, and it will also be possible to play with all the innovations – both alone, and in a cooperative or against other players, ”the leader says Ino-Co Plus.
With the help of the spell, it will be possible to catch a flying enemy into a magic network to fight him already on the ground.
Work on Warlock 2 began more than a year ago, and the release is scheduled for the near spring. Now the authors are polished the appearance and gameplay, they are going to attract players in testing. “We have a little time left, but while it is, we strive to make a maximum from the planned one,” Alexey promises. And it seems that this time everything will turn out without any reservations: the long -awaited plot appeared in the sequel, the number of races and heroes increased, and depths were added in the gameplay.