Quakor's Q&A with Relic answers

[Ruined]

Here are the answers to your Q&A. Please feel free to move them / reformat etc as required

Jonny Ebbert, Lead Designer at Relic sat down and answered these.

Sorry we missed a few, some were too technical to give accurate answers to while on a show floor.


Q. Will the Imperial Guard make an appearance like in DoW 1?
A. There’s always that chance :D


Q. Are there any defense-based missions where you are holed up in a settlement and have to fend off waves of Orks or 'Nids?
A. Yes there most definitely are missions where you have to defend an area against waves of attackers. We have assassinate / search & destroy and defend missions so there will be a wide variety of things for players to do.


Q. Are there multiple endings or do all roads lead to Rome? (that is, even though you're free to go in any order you like, all the missions eventually end up in the same place)
A. There are two possible outcomes you either save the sector or you don’t, but the campaign was built from the ground up to have replay value.

There are many degrees of success in the campaign and you most likely won’t be able to complete all the story arcs in a single play through.

On top of this there will be multiple roads not traveled in a single play through so we think players will find that each play through is a new and unique experience.


Q. Will the single-player campaign will be resolving the war in the Octavius Sector and having implications for the wargame's wider lore
A. We are definitely tying in elements of the Dawn of War and Dark Crusade storylines to the Dawn of War II story line and each Blood Ravens campaign is always adding to the wider lore. Who knows, maybe some popular characters from the previous campaigns could make an appearance :nyah:


Q. What is the average polycount on a sm tactical marine model?
A. I actually don’t know that off the top of my head so I’d have to ask Roland for the exact number when I get back from Leipzig.


Q. Will Tyranids actively take over multiple planets (presumably Eldar/Orks would do the same) if the player deliberately left them alone?
A. Yes they will. The Tyranids will aggressively try to consume planets and if you neglect them too long they will totally gain control of them.


Q. Will Tyranids receive wargear-like mutations in similar numbers as the Space Marines, or is the "hundreds of wargear options" thing largely relegated to the Marines in their campaign? If so, is Relic having trouble translating some of the arbitrary stat-improvement mutations such as Adrenal Glands or Ripper Symbiotes?
A. We are going to have to wait until multiplayer is revealed to answer that question ;)


Q. Are Spore Mines destroyable by normal fire? If so, what threat are they to marines who aren't under constant attack? Do they track enemy units or float randomly?
A. Yes they can be destroyed using normal weapons. They do track enemies and you just might find that they pose a threat to Space Marines once you experience them in the game :D


Q. How many planets are in the campaign? Around how many territories/missions in total (please note that I understand we won't be able to hit all of them in a single run through) are currently estimated for said campaign?
A. I’d love to answer that, but there are some things I would prefer you guys discovered for yourselves in game. More fun that way!


Q. Are the nids as tough as they looked in the trailer?-
A. Tougher! :P


Q. Was the "frost" and "fire" weaponry replaced by something a little more canonical following the initial outcry at how weird/unfluffy they sounded?
A. The frost and fire weapons were just place holder names because at that point we hadn’t had time to build all of our hand crafted items. We have now made a final list which has been approved by Games Workshop so you will find them much more canonical.


Q. Will the buildings in the campaign scenario depicted be in multiplayer for the Tyranid faction, implying that they can actually teraform every map they play on to some extent to make it creepy and excessively awesome
A. We will be telling you all about that when we roll out multiplayer later in the year!

[Surrealitycheck]

Nice! I like that you guys are engaging community guys. With the guys!? you know guy?




o.O

[Mad Onion]

What a nice gesture! I couldn't make it to LGC, though.

[scoiatollo]

Wohooo =)

Let's just hope that Quakor hadn't already left. Btw nice to see more of THQ and Relic folks around lately.

[Hirmetrium]

Big up to Ruined! somebody PM Quak0r to make sure he gets this! (I'll do it!)

[Imperial Dane]

I fear it may already be too late as it was a one time chance for him yesterday.

[Ruined]

let me know if there is anyone else about. Otherwise i will get Relic to answer the questions on Quakor's thread and post them up

[Imperial Dane]

Okay, i'll give a shout out over at the DoW 2 forums. Perhaps someone there might be able to assist.

[Quak0r]

I was only able to go yesterday and my driver wanted to leave in the evening.

I will now proceed to go cry :(

[scoiatollo]

Dont be sad quak0r, you still have your :cube:

[Imperial Dane]

Now look what you did ! You made poor Quak0r cry ! Heartless beasts !

[Noble]

Ruined you are too awesome. I don't suppose there is any way we could coordinate that interview with Quak0r on IRC or the forums here?

[Quak0r]

Well my thread is still there with all the questions.

[Imperial Dane]

So unless someone appears, it will be them.. Question is if the thread should be reopened then ? or should it just be the questions already posed ?

[scoiatollo]

You could at least send him a T-shirt for crushing his dreams talking to his childhood heroes (quick quak0r, change your age before he realise the scam attempt^^)

[Noble]

It would probably be easiest on IRC since then it would be in real time.

We shouldn't be too presumptive though. I'm sure they are busy people and may not have time to sit down and give an extra interview.

[p0seidon]

Tbh, I think a live interview on irc or teamspeak would be great, I mean, it wouldn't be exactly fair if someone else stole Quakor's thunder now :/.

[Ruined]

Noble i can grab JD or Jonny and sit down with them to go through the questions no problem but i dont really have access to much except MSN. mobile and a rather slow net connection.

[Imperial Dane]

Well i think that using quakor's questions would be the best unless ye fancy an interview over MSN.. which i coincidentally happen to have :P

[Noble]

Cool, well since this is your ballgame Quak0r, do you want to collect all the questions you've gathered in the other thread (and any other ones you planned on asking) and post them here? Then Ruined can do his thing.

Again Ruined, this is awesome. Well above and beyond the call of duty. :hug:

[Quak0r]

Will there be a cameo appearance of a non playeble race like the Imperial Guard in DoW 1 ?


Are there multiple endings to the campaign or do all roads lead to Rome?


Is an effort being made to ensure that the large modding community from Dawn of War will be able to make similar mods for Dawn of War 2, up to and includingthe moddability of the campaign? Or will it be more closed off like Company of Heroes (or the Scaleform G-FX restricted campaigns of DC and SS)?

Will we see specific doctrines/chapters in DOW2?

My question: Can you please mane the location and time when you are going to start talking about the multiplayer?

Cheers

Now i have to get back to work or my boss kills me.

PS: the multiplayer questions are not included because Nessy already told me that MP will be talked at another occasion.

[under_score]

Poor Quakor! Good though to see that at least some elements of Relic/THQ still liase with this forum after Buggo left. Thanks Ruined.
Will look forward to seeing the Q & A.
Also try to include that all important polycount question if possible :)

[Imperial Dane]

Aye, shall be interesting to see what they answer..

So ruined, when can we expect those answers ? :)

[Robert Frazer]

To bring up something that I hoped could be answered on the last thread, for the fluffists interested in the game:

-Is the campaign's background scenario established as a continuation to the events of the Octavius War of Hive Fleet Leviathan? Will Dawn of War 2 be more actively referencing and influencing developments in the wargame's wider lore?

[Croaxleigh]

That's very cool of you, Ruined... and a nice selection of questions you chose, Quak0r!

[TheLoneKnight]

I wouldn't mind having my ridiculous number of queries from the previous thread (http://forums.relicnews.com/showpost.php?p=3153313&postcount=27) addressed; at least the ones intended to be answerable. After all, it's better to learn less important things now than continue pestering Jonny and the others for major news they're not ready to talk about yet. At least, that was what I had in mind.

In addition to those, this is the only other question I've got (that might be answerable, at least): Since all factions are likely to have context-sensitive responses ("I spotted the enemey!" etc.) and Tyranids do not speak, will Tyranid players get some kind of unique notification in these instances? That is, will their context-sensitive responses be the player hearing the muffled responses of their opponents (as heard through their units, solidifying the theme that the Tyranid swarm is a single organism) or will it just be a unique kind of screech, or will they have nothing? Can you guys even answer that, at this point?

Obviously they may not have time to answer everything but I've got lots of questions and whatever they might be inclined to respond to is appreciated. :)

[K-Pooh]

@Quak0r: I really like how you've included questions that pertain specifically to the community (i.e. questions on modding) cause they probably wont come up in any any other mainstream interviews.

I wonder if there's anything else here we could have them address that speaks specifically to the community. Something more about how Soulstorm players getting access to DOW2's public beta perhaps...I know it's far off and no one wants to talk about it yet but i can hope cant I?

And yes, thank you Ruined. It looks really good on THQ to come here and post

[Ruined]

answers added

[under_score]

Thank you so much Ruined, you win an internet, add it to your existing one to make it faster!
EDIT: Yay! The possibility of having the polycount question answered.

[Imperial Dane]

Jolly good show Ruined !

I especially like this


Q. Will the Imperial Guard make an appearance like in DoW 1?
A. There’s always that chance :D

But a good Q&A.. and it wouldn't go amiss if more sessions like this were to appear, i recall a whole bunch of questions being posted after the failure of the gamespot interview..

[Meatkin]

Q. Will the Imperial Guard make an appearance like in DoW 1?
A. There’s always that chance :D

I actually just blew my load upon reading this.

Some awesomely tasty snippets of information here, thanks to Quak0r and Ruined and anyone else involved, its much appreciated. :)

[TheLoneKnight]

Q. Was the "frost" and "fire" weaponry replaced by something a little more canonical following the initial outcry at how weird/unfluffy they sounded?
A. The frost and fire weapons were just place holder names because at that point we hadn’t had time to build all of our hand crafted items. We have now made a final list which has been approved by Games Workshop so you will find them much more canonical.Aw yeah! Thank you so much for responding to a couple of mine; this one in particular has been bugging the heck out of me. Gratuitous :<3:

Will they consider answering other questions as they arise (although presumably at later dates when they're not so busy) or is this more of a one-time thing?

Edit: Either way, the folks over at Relic should consider doing periodic Q&As with the community like this in the future. Even if they're only allowed to discuss minor things like functions of mechanics or names/unit sizes/etc, this is the sort of thing that communities want to know more about. Since the professional interviewers cover the major stuff it is nice, occasionally, to have those niggling little issues that pop up amongst the fans being addressed.

[p0seidon]

Great answers, but nothing on the modding subjects ^^,
All this interaction by THQ makes me think off those good old days where Tranj used to torture us with his posts :).

[Quak0r]

Thanks a lot Ruined and Jonny for the Q&A session.

[Akranadas]

TALDEER YAY!!! (I'm dreaming big, but hey; It could happen)

[NoneSuch]

Q. Will Tyranids actively take over multiple planets (presumably Eldar/Orks would do the same) if the player deliberately left them alone?
A. Yes they will. The Tyranids will aggressively try to consume planets and if you neglect them too long they will totally gain control of them.

I really like that, I wasn't much of a fan of how the original dawn of war expansions did that - With enemys repeatedly attacking the same area forcing you to play defense missions on the same map a hundred times but It's a really nice idea if improved upon.

[p0seidon]

TALDEER YAY!!! (I'm dreaming big, but hey; It could happen)

Taldeer died, and you know it! :D
Infact, they should keep it out of the game just to torture you ^^.

But, would be fun seeing all those old characters back (Except Taldeer, of course.)

[Imperial Dane]

She is no more, crushed on the threads of a leman russ !

Also hope Ruined doesn't mind that i copied the Q&A over to the DoW 2 forums.

[Demonhorde]

Good questions asked, much better then some "proffesionals"

[Supernaut]

Taldeer survives in the novelisations :)

But nice questions and answer hurray :D

[TheLoneKnight]

At any rate, if this opportunity pops up again I wouldn't mind volunteering to help in some way. If nothing else, I'm going to barrage all of them with as many viable questions as I can come up wih. :D

[FooF]

Fantastic!

Much appreciation to the THQ/Relic staff for getting this done, along with Quak0r for the noble attempt.

Having the IG in the SP (even if it is only a cameo/NPC race) will really help with immersion. I would love to see my Marines fight alongside them as they hold back the 'Nids. Plus, it only makes sense that the IG would be involved if 'Nids or Orks are threatening to wipe out an entire planet's population.

More Community Q&A would be awesome but I'll just be happy with what we got.

[Weavern]

Ruined, I must say you rock! :D

Thanks for getting Quakor's questions answered! And your general attempt at getting the community some access :thumbsup:

[Sword_Monkey]

Yay Ruined! Nice of you to go to those lengths for us.

I would spite Ark with a dead Taldeer jab but others seem to have taken over from me now. :P

It's good to hear old characters may/will return, but I'm more interested in having the Blood Ravens developed as a lead character would be. They certainly seem to be taking the spotlight in DoW 2 as a hero figure. Certainly an odd way for an RTS to go, but nonetheless cool.

First answer is no doubt causing the most stir, if IG feature it'll path the way to an expansion, or make modding them in easier. I certainly can't see a Tyranid invasion of an entire sector getting away without fighting the Imperial Guard at some point. Though I'd really like it to be confirmed so I can go on and ask which regiments will feature. Tyranids Vs Catachan is a match made in heaven.

Sad to hear the multiplayer info date has moved from due to 'later in the year' though :(.


Q) Will Tyranids receive wargear-like mutations...
A) We are going to have to wait until multiplayer is revealed to answer that question
Sounds like MP has massive mutation options yay!


Q) Will the buildings in the campaign scenario depicted be in multiplayer for the Tyranid faction...
A) We will be telling you all about that when we roll out multiplayer later in the year!Is it me or does that imply buildings in MP?

...Yeah I'm really itching for MP info aren't I?...

[NoneSuch]

We're already pretty sure you build in MP, but we don't know to what extent.. I really can't wait xD

[WhiteKnight]

Where are the gameplay videos?.

[Carl]

Hey, heres siome morale support from me Arkandras. I too hope Taldeer survived and you'll be re-united with her in DoWII, I liked her, and nmot for the weirdly sexual reasons of everyone else:p. SHe was just the first farseer after Eldrad that really seemed deeply fleshed out to me, and one of the few female Farseers we've seen, EVER.

That said the dodging of the modding question IS annoying:(.

[Panama]

thanks for the Q&A Ruined, all we need to do now is wait for info on multiplayer then we can bombard him with 500 more questions :D

[Thuraash]

Q. Will Tyranids actively take over multiple planets (presumably Eldar/Orks would do the same) if the player deliberately left them alone?
A. Yes they will. The Tyranids will aggressively try to consume planets and if you neglect them too long they will totally gain control of them.

YES!!! Awesome! Also, thanks for clearing out the weapon names thing. The frost/fire RPG-esque naming speculation was getting annoying.

Thanks for the Q&A, Ruined! Much appreciated. I've definitely got some questions for you, if you're ever going to do this again. Might be a good idea to start a questions thread, just so everyone has a place to post inquiries so the devs may see them...

[Imperial Dane]

@Whiteknight: You can find the gameplay videos listed here:
http://community.dawnofwar2.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=765

or did you have some others in mind ?

[Unsung Duck]

Thanks Ruined! Woo, I like the sound of what you said about the Imperial Guard. Also liking the sound of past characters returning. Gabe and the Inquisiter guy (Toth?) anyone?

[Meatkin]

Toths going to need some bigger boots if hes going to crush all those bugs underneath them. (lolz dow1 joke)

[Imperial Dane]

Bah ! It is not the size of the boot that matters ! It's how you use them !

Now the question is, how fleshed out will the guard be in DoW 2, just guardsmen and tanks like in DOW 1 ? or something more ?

[Thuraash]

Hahaha, wow, Dane. You REALLY like those IGs, eh?

I'm more curious about just how dependent the 'Nids will be on synapse, and whether they will actually BEHAVE more tactically and intelligently, or if synapse is just a morale/stat boost.

[Imperial Dane]

.. i thought that was obvious by now ;)

Also synapse is needed to control the lesser forms, without it they'll just act completely erratic and not in any way under your control.

[Rednova88]

If I hear anymore awesomeness related to DoW2 I'm probably going to go insane.

Thanks for posting this, I was kind of skeptical of Tyranids at first, but this is really shaping up to be great.

[Meatkin]

Oh I'm hoping for entrenched squads, some ravaged heavy weapons teams and possibly some Lemans from the PDF trying to hold the line in the imperial cities. I can't imagine them being in the jungle taking the fight to the 'nids. Judging from the screenshots we've seen already I think we'll see a few pockets of troops fighting the Orks, and then possibly the nids later on in the game if they get too close to the cities.

I imagine we'll see a similar set up to DoW1 to be honest. You got to take control of the squads on occasion, and sometimes they were uncontrollable, either way I can't fucking wait to see their terrified little faces.. awww!

[Dark Angel N00b]

Apparently synapse is going to work much like it does in the TT game. Without it, all the lesser creatures devolve back to animalistic stupidity and wont really react to say, a couple of grenades dropping in their midst.
But of course, you would have known that had you read one of the articles :P

Also, just to indulge some more baser urges. OMGWTFBBQICANTWAIT!

[Imperial Dane]

I could imagine them taking the fight to the jungle if their commanders felt it necessary, and at some point they would have to rout the tyranid invaders or face losing the entire planet.. So there could be scenarios in the jungle, some where you might aid an assault.. and then if you fail to do so, then you might have a mission where you have to aid the survivors afterwards the attack failed.. and so on. Plenty of options with the PDF forces.. hell some rewards could be forces being made available for you ;) .. although that might be too much to ask for.

[LoRd KoRn]

I would also like to have Toth back, I wouldn't mind if it just his boots, talking boots with that cool accent.

[FooF]

Considering that CoH has trenches, heavy weapons teams, hull-down tanks, sandbags, tank traps, and a host of other defensive structures and weapons, I believe the precedent has been set.

I remember hearing this the other day and I thought 'wow, so true!' It went something like, "Give the British faction lasguns and flak vests and there's your IG."

I don't know to what extent the IG will be implemented but if CoH is any indicator, they'll be able to hold the line (even against 'Nids!)

[Infidelicious]

Uh, except the CoH british have the most durable base infantry in the game... which is very much not Guardsmanish... :P

I can't imagine there will be no implementation of PDF forces, it just doesn't make much sense, especially on Hive worlds if IG is completely absent.

[meepnight]

I am actually really hoping for a command tree structure like in CoH, that brought the multiplayer battles to life in my opinion. Not to mention with the fluff behind all the armies it would be easy to make (in my non programming mind of course)

[Quak0r]

I'm going to go out on a limb here (one that is ultra thin and also on fire) and say lets slowly start gathering questions for Relic Q&A Part II. ( that of course only if Relic/THQ is willing to make another community Q&A session)

Now to make this as comfortable as possible for the one answesing the questions lets not make it into a questions spamm flood.
Therefore i strongly suggest (once again) to keep it to one question per user and also to inform yourself about what Relic is willing to talk about (eg: no multiplayer at this point) and what already was covered in the previews and the previous Q&A.

Cheers

[Nasarog]

Good thread. I love the interaction.


I am REALLY looking forward to DoW II.

[TheLoneKnight]

So why are we being arbitrarily limited to a single question, again?

I can understand spontaneously creating a thread for a Q&A session that might never occur, or might not pop up for several months, since some people can't simply be patient and wait for any official announcement. What I don't understand is why we should to limit each poster to a single question regardless of how many worthwhile/unsaid ones they might have.

[Arcinatus]

Q. Are there any defense-based missions where you are holed up in a settlement and have to fend off waves of Orks or 'Nids?
A. Yes there most definitely are missions where you have to defend an area against waves of attackers. We have assassinate / search & destroy and defend missions so there will be a wide variety of things for players to do.


YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!

i'm good to go, haha

[Imperial Dane]

@Theloneknight: I think it may have something to do with forcing people to actually think about their questions, plus avoiding a few singular persons just spamming it with inane questions.

[TheLoneKnight]

People in the Q&A thread are already asking alot of questions that Relic simply won't answer this soon. Stuff about multiplayer (which they're not talking about yet) and modding (which they're unlikely to discuss since it doesn't seem to be considered a major selling point) and late-campaign stuff they would rather you found out on your own. All of these things are unlikely to get any response beyond a vague hint and a "We can't talk about it yet, sorry."

We managed to get some good questions for this Q&A (many of which were from the same posters) without all this formality, so why include it for brain scheming for a session we don't even know will occur?

[Imperial Dane]

Dunno.. merely a thougt.. which the mods seem to hang on to.. Personally i wouldn't mind asking a few more questions as i came up with some better ones..

[under_score]

@ TheLoneKnight
Perhaps Relic have more of a reason to discuss modding doW2 here, they don't need to give the information away in gamespot interviews /IGN/ w-e. but they can address the issue and tell those directly, those who it affects.

[Infidelicious]

Yeah, modding might not be a big seller to people who haven't played DoW 1, or don't have experience with relic. But saying it's not a big issue here is pretty asinine.

[TheLoneKnight]

I said it didn't seem that it was a major selling point to Relic. I never said it wasn't important.

That is to say; while Relic will doubtlessly include an editor of some sort I don't think they consider it as important/worthwhile to discuss in detail as the various factions, wargear, the campaign, etc. If it was, they prboably would have mentioned something about it to the community already.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

Q. Will Tyranids actively take over multiple planets (presumably Eldar/Orks would do the same) if the player deliberately left them alone?
A. Yes they will. The Tyranids will aggressively try to consume planets and if you neglect them too long they will totally gain control of them.

I was really hoping that's how it would work. Awesome. Presumably that relates to whether you see spore, hive towers or brood nests in SP.

[Quak0r]

@TheLoneKnight: It may be only me but i think answering questions that are not a major selling point and is not covered by any other interview is one of the most important thinks about the community Q&A. Thats what makes it the community Q&A. Also considering the "only one question" thing: it's just that i think it's more organized and that the less questions there are the more likely it is that Jonny or JD are going to do us the favour and answer them.

[Rischer]

Thanks for the answers, Ruined.

[sang]

The thing i want to know is. Can they give out some kind of date for the game release ?

[Supernaut]

Spring 2009 I believe was a date or at least span of months mentioned, I am at work however and can't find the source right now.

[TheLoneKnight]

I've got no problem with community Q&As, Quak0r. Never did. I merely questioned the timing, considering that this Q&A was largely spontaneous; it occurred because there happened to be a convention and Ruined was attending (and had access, I guess) to the Relic staff present.

Similarly, I was wondering about the one-question rule since any Q&As that would occur would, much like last time, presumably be pruned by Ruined or another representative so that only the ones they think will get answered are chosen. Presumably they would choose only a handful of questions in the first place, rather than asking Jonny or someone else to read through a several-page thread of questions. And, as I already mentioned, the previous Q&A seemed to work quite well even though many of the questions were from a single poster.

I'm just saying the rule might be unnecessary, that's all. :)


Also, Sang, I believe the release date is early 2009. They haven't given a more definitive date than that, but I'd wager a guess that it would be somewhere around February or March.

[Quak0r]

I've got no problem with community Q&As, Quak0r. Never did. I merely questioned the timing, considering that this Q&A was largely spontaneous; it occurred because there happened to be a convention and Ruined was attending (and had access, I guess) to the Relic staff present.

I see.... well i think this might be of interest for you:


This is of course quite possible and something we have always planned on. We'll organize this properly with our CM and get all your bits and goodies answered. Watch for a post/thread!

Thanks for the support!

PS: HUGE Kuddos to Imperial Dane for contacting Nessy

[sang]

I know its spring i wanted to know when in spring.

[TheLoneKnight]

Wouldn't that have been in the other forum, though?

Well, either way I'm stubbornly sticking by my multi-question position. I like follow-up questions too much to simply abandon them for so little reason. :p


Coincidentally, Dane wasn't the only one poking Relic types about the Q&A. He just happened to be the most successful. ;(

[Quak0r]

Wouldn't that have been in the other forum, though?
Indeed. But IIRC he linked to the Q&A part II thread at RN. So I hope the questions in question (zomg! brain fail expression :] ) are the ones you guys gathered here.

[TheLoneKnight]

So we'll need to stick to the arbitrary one-question limit just to get a chance at having it answered? :(

I hope this concept doesn't continue, should more Q&As follow.

[Imperial Dane]

I can't say much about it, who knows, they might go for the questions that was asked at the gamespot goof-up in the first place, otherwise if it is only over there, i am sure you, quakor or me could post any questions here over there as well ;)

[Croaxleigh]

Since this thread has basically become a discussion of the other thread and its format, we'll go ahead and close this one up.