Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor Martyr Interview

Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor Martyr Interview

Gaming Instincts had the chance to sit down with Lead Writer and Narrative Designer Viktor Juhasz from Neocore Games at E3 2016 to talk about their next Action RPG title – Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor Martyr. We discuss gameplay, mechanics, mission structure and more.

Leonid Melikhov

Hello, my name is Leonid Melikhov I am the Co-founder of Gaming Instincts and I am speaking today with.

Victor Juhasz

Hi, my name is Victor Juhasz. I am the Lead Writer and Narrative Designer at Neocore Games.

Leonid Melikhov

For what game?

Victor Juhasz

Warhammer: 40,000 Inquisitor Martyr.

Leonid Melikhov

Ok. So, what is Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor Martyr? It’s an Action RPG in a Warhammer universe correct?

Victor Juhasz

Yes. Or to be more precise, it’s an open-world sandbox Action RPG in the 40K universe.

Leonid Melikhov

Ok. Can you talk a little bit more about the sandbox? Exactly, how is it designed in terms of sandbox compared to other games maybe like..uh.. Diablo 3 or previous Action RPG games?

Viktor Juhasz

What we have here is our very own sector set in the 40K universe. It’s our own sandbox. And in this open world sandbox you are going to have a star map and on this star map you are going to be able to roam around as an Inquisitor of the imperial and you will be able to embark on missions. And then you click on a mission, you are going to enter an Action RPG map, a very traditional Action RPG map but with lots and lots of improvements.

Leonid Melikhov

I see. Are the maps randomly generated?

Viktor Juhasz

We are using pre-fabricated, pre-generated pieces like big puzzle pieces and we are going to assemble them randomly. So you won’t see the same map twice. You will see similar maps because  there will be similar environment settings like spaceship interiors, cities, planetary surfaces, but you won’t see the same map twice.

Leonid Melikhov

Right. Is it only indoor environments or will there ever be outdoor environments?

Viktor Juhasz

There are outdoors environments as well. We are using planet surfaces as well as moons. Whatever you have in a 40K world, or in a 40k novel, or a game you are going have it here as well. We are going to include everything that makes the 40K world as it is,

Leonid Melikhov

Right. Now, can you talk a little bit about the loot system because you don’t wanna have a bunch of Orks dropping same thing.

Viktor Juhasz

Well…there is no Action RPG without a loot system, but, it’s a 40K game so we had to make sure that our loot system fits the 40K universe. So…it’s a bit early to talk about the details. All I can tell now is that yes we have a loot system. It’s going to be an Action RPG loot system and it’s going to be tailored to fit the needs of the 40K lore.

Leonid Melikhov

I see. How many classes are there in the game that you could play as?

Viktor Juhasz

There will be three classes. We just unveiled the new one. We just unveiled the Assassin class. We already introduced the Crusader class in Inquisitor last year. They all require different gameplay styles and there will be a third which we are going to unveil later.

Leonid Melikhov

I see. Is there a multiplayer in the game, can you play with your friends?

Viktor Juhasz

You can play almost each map in cooperative mode up-to 4 players apart from the single player campaign because the single player campaign which is also part of the ongoing story of the sector.which is our open world.

You are going to go on a very very special mission which for various reasons that we’re going to explain in the story is your very own investigation. So, it’s going to be like a proper Action RPG single player campaign. It has a beginning, an end, I can promise plot twists as well, cut-scenes and non-player characters. That’s a single player only experience and apart from that you have all the various missions and the grand investigations which are basically chains of missions which all tell short stories.

Leonid Melikhov

I see. Quick question, in Diablo 3 you can do dungeons with your friends, go on bounties and things like that. Are you guys developing any kind of separate thing to not just do co-op missions with your friend but actually go to a dungeon and maybe you just wanna kill, kill and kill. What kind of variety of ways can people play in the game and be rewarded in some sort of loot. I know we’re not talking about loot.

Viktor Juhasz

Ya, ya. ( laughs )

Leonid Melikhov

But I mean in terms of like rewards in the end with experience and how many levels are…like maximum level?

Viktor Juhasz

Well..I can’t talk about that yet because there are certain things that we’re still balancing out. So, back to the previous question because it sort of ties together everything in 1. The thing is that we have the live events which are basically special missions, special Action RPG maps which have special importance in the story of the sector. Which means this gives you a very special opportunity to team-up with your friends for example or go on your own and influence the outcome of these events. So, basically you could be the one who decided what happens in the sector.

A lot of events are basically are a set of problems and an event usually includes various factions or races. And during these events you have to decide and take sides. It means that based on your decision and based the outcome of the missions you accomplish, the sector will be changing a bit. So, if you decide to deal with 1 particular threat but you leave another threat in the same star system for example, then that other threat is going to be much stronger next time. So, most probably you and you’re friends are going to face a similar but much more challenging foe in the next event.

Leonid Melikhov

I see…

Viktor Juhasz

So yeah… I hope it answered a question, because we have a very different system to Diablo for example. And we wanted to have a very different sandbox environment than other games.

Leonid Melikhov

The only reason why I was bringing up that game is cause its the only modern Action RPG that are playing right now and it was kind of bare-bones when it started, but they have a lot of new things now.

Viktor Juhasz 

Ya..

Leonid Melikhov

So, I am wondering if the development of that game influenced you in any way and I am sure it probably did in some shape or form. I am sure you were obviously were influenced by some previous Action RPGs and things like that.

Vitkor Juhasz

( laughs )

Leonid Melikhov

Can you talk about the combat system?

Viktor Juhasz

The combat is very very important in Inquisitor Martyr. First of all we have improved plenty of things. We have experience with Action RPGs such as the Adventures of Van Helsing trilogy. So, we thought that it might be a good idea to give new improved features in a 40K game and we have the cover system which is brand new. It means that we can use certain parts of the map. Basically, get behind elements on the maps and these elements can be destroyed as well, because we have a fully destructible environment. So, it’s a 40K game so we wanted to give players a chance to go around and trash the whole place.

Leonid Melikhov

Can you use the environment to kill the enemies?

Viktor Juhasz

Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely! You can destroy huge pillars for example and when they come toppling down they can crash the enemies. You can blow up for example containers filled with gas and when you do, these containers will take out entire squadrons. This is a brand new element and we are very very proud of it.

Leonid Melikhov

Nice, awesome. How long has the game been in development for?

Viktor Juhasz

Well…we started working on this game years ago, but we only introduced it last year and we started to focus on this game heavily after we finished the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing part 3. So….basically there were years of preparation. We been working on the story, we been working on the concepts, we been working on the new mechanics for years now.

Leonid Melikhov

 4 Years now?

Viktor Juhasz

Ehh….I would say 3 or 4..I don’t know exactly..

Leonid Melikhov

And how many people are on the team for this particular project you would say around?

Viktor Juhasz

Ah…Neocore Games has about 60 people around right now..and this is our main project.

Leonid Melikhov

So..what made you guys with the Warhammer? Because no one has done a Warhammer Action RPG right?

Viktor Juhasz

Yes! And this is exactly the reason why we wanted to create a game for the 40K universe. First of all we are fans..like we are fans of the 40K universe, we love it and we just noticed there are no Action RPGs set in this world. And we thought that..okay…we have experience with Action RPGs, why don’t we be the ones who give it a try? So..fortunately Games Workshop agreed with us so… ( laughs ) now we have chance to prove.

Leonid Melikhov

That’s awesome because I’ve played previous Warhammer games like Space Marine, and I am like okay…well…I have never seen an RPG game. I know there is an MMO game and I had no idea what this game was, because right there are lot of Warhammer games in development.

Viktor Juhasz

Yes.

Leonid Melikhov

Like Space Hulk which is a very hardcore co-operative FPS.

Viktor Juhasz

Yea! ( interrupts ) I am really looking forward to it.

Leonid Melikhov

Looks very nice ( interrupts )

Viktor Juhasz

Ya!

Leonid Melikhov

I can’t wait to play that ( interrupts )

Viktor Juhasz

Me neither!

Leonid Melikhov

Then I am like…what the hell is Martyr? I keep hearing about it

Viktor Juhasz

( laughs )

Leonid Melikhov

I get a random invitation from one of the PR people in my email. I am like….Warhammer Martyr? Am I confused? Cause I had no idea what it was.

Viktor Juhasz

I am so glad that you visited us!

Leonid Melikhov

( interrupts ) And I am like you know what… It says its Warhammer 40K and…let me take this opportunity to see what this game is all about.

Viktor Juhasz

( laughs )

Leonid Melikhov

And I am glad I did cause I am like…. Ohhh that’s what it is!

Viktor Juhasz

Me too, me too! Yes. We thought that there are so many Warhammer games out there and we love 40K games. This is the very first Action RPG and featuring Inquisitors, because Inquisitors are great protagonists for an Action RPG.

Leonid Melikhov

Right.

Viktor Juhasz

Because they’re very strict rules for almost everyone, but inquisitors are…they are special agents so sometimes they can really really bend the rules. They can come from various backgrounds so this is why we have a class system. We can different kinds of inquisitors, they can use different kinds of equipment, they have different tactics. So..with thought that Action RPGs and inquisitors are just a great match.

Leonid Melikhov

How many races are there in the universe? Are you putting in all the races, all the factions that people love and know?

Viktor Juhasz

Yeah…we are planning to do that, because we are going open up our sector sandbox gradually. It means that overtime we are going to include everything and every important faction that has a major role in the 40K world. So..yeah..you can expect to see basically all the races and all the very very typical 40K elements in the game.

Leonid Melikhov

How long are you guys are planning to support this game for? Cause this seems like a pretty ambitious game and it’s not the type of a game that you would just release and be done with it, cause you know you gotta keep it alive for years.

Viktor Juhasz

Yes ( laughs )

Leonid Melikhov

Are you feeling overwhelming or are you up for the challenge?

Viktor Jusahz

Um..this is a huge challenge.

Leonid Melikhov

It is..yeah.

Viktor Juhasz

We won’t deny it. But, we are thinking about supporting this game for a very very long time. We are going to keep this sector alive. There will be content patches, DLCs, new events, new story-lines.. Basically you can expect getting story chunks..larger or shorter stories overtime. So…we are going to focus on this sector for a very very long time.

Leonid Melikhov

Are you guys gonna be doing a beta or some sort kind of closed test for the public?

Viktor Juhasz

We are going to have Founder campaign.

Leonid Melikhov

Oh.. you are doing a Founders?

Viktor Juhasz

Yeah. Which means that it will be early access, but not in the sense that people usually the word. So, it won’t be a steam early access. That would be an opportunity to access the game earlier, but it’s a bit to early to talk about it. But, yeah there will definitely a preview. So..it will be a special thing, we are going to announce it when we are ready to announce it.

Leonid Melikhov

What engine are you guys using? Is it a custom engine?

Viktor Juhasz

This is our very own engine

Leonid Melikhov

Very own?

Viktor Juhasz

Ya..this is the Coretech engine, this is the 4th generation. For the Van Helsing games we used the 3rd generation.

Leonid Melikhov

I see..

Viktor Juhasz

So..this is our very own engine and we are improving it all the time.

Leonid Melikhov

Ok. And are you guys releasing this game at the same time on the PC and the consoles or not?

Viktor Juhasz

As far as I know it will be PC first and consoles a bit later, but they won’t be much difference.

Leonid Melikhov

Are they shooting down for 60 or 30 FPS and resolution on the consoles, do you know?

Viktor Juhasz

Ah… I really can’t comment on that yet.

Leonid Melikhov

Ok. That’s fine. And when is the game coming out?

Viktor Juhasz

Ehh…It’s coming out next year and when it’s ready.

Leonid Melikhov

So you don’t have any seasons, nothing just no dates yet?

Viktor Juhasz

Yea.

Leonid Melikhov

Thank you so much.

Viktor Juhasz

Thank you very much, thank you for the question, great questions!

Leonid Melikhov

That was awesome man.

Viktor Juhasz

Thank you.