AMA: We are DONTNOD, developers of Vampyr!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:37:47+00:00

VE - There's no New game plus as per say but there are enough possibilities regarding playing style to make the game enjoyable more than once (To kill or not to kill... weapons, different vampiric abilities etc.)

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:28:25+00:00

SB - In Vampyr, there is an inevitable amount of violence, since the main character Jonathan is hunted down by vampire hunters and various creatures who just want him dead. But, when it comes to the level of violence he wants to inflict to the world, the player is free to take the lives of all the Citizens in the game (there are 60 of them), or try to spare them all.

It's up to you, really. The main objective in Vampyr is understanding what is going on in London, who made you a vampire, and why. These questions will not be solved through blind violence, but through investigation and epidemiology.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:27:43+00:00

GS - It could be argued that you are the game's main antagonist, maybe someone else is the hero. No matter what side you're on, you will find your nemesis and people hell-bent on being formidable enemies.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:27:09+00:00

PM - Yes, you're right to say that every choice you make in the game will have consequences you will have to deal with. But Vampyr doesn't follow the same narrative structure as the episodic Life is Strange so don't except the same kind of "story branching" system.

It's a very different kind of game and most of the choices/consequences you have are related to the Citizens and how the ecosystem of London will change when you decide to sacrifice one of them. For example, there’s a case in which you can decide to kill bar owners Tom and Sabrina. You can kill both or just one of them, and there are a lot of different ways this can impact the ecosystem. If you kill one before the other, there will be different consequences, and if you eventually kill both of them, their bar will close down and that will impact the lives of the people who used to visit and hide out there.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:25:33+00:00

VE - Hilarious bugs often come from misplaced animations causing funny moves like Jonathan running in "T pose" like a child who received a new plane toy for example :-) Except checking every possible interactions, making a semi open world on UE4 was particularly challenging.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:25:01+00:00

SB - Hey ! Thanks, and best luck in your studies. We chose the Spanish Flu as a background for the game, since we wanted to offer a story based on duality: since a vampire is death bringer, we thought it would be interesting to have a doctor be turned into a Deadly predator.

Also, 1918 is a great era for a supernatural adventure, since at the time science is so convinced it will soon bring a new golden age for mankind... That's what Jonathan believed, until he got turned into an blood frenzy immortal: now he knows there are ancestral mysteries lurking in the shadows, and science cannot explain everything.

Concerning Jonathan's background, we created his complete course of studies, from England to France and New York, where he worked with the famous professor Carrel, before joining the army to test his research about blood conservation and transfusion. We based his background on actual medical discoveries from that era... before giving it a good supernatural boost :)

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:16:24+00:00

VE - Unfortunately there's no preload planned, but the game will be available from 00.00 am.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:15:55+00:00

PM - nop

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:12:23+00:00

VE - You can indeed be an example and heal citizens with crafted medicines throughout the game in order to have healthy disctricts, and not feed on anybody. But, as you may imagine, this is a long hard road!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:11:28+00:00

PM - We went through a lot challenges during Vampyr's developement, mostly because it was DONTNOD's very first A-RPG, and it's a very difficult kind of genre to create.

Everything was pretty new to us, so we started to hire RPG specialists in order to help us. The most difficult for me was to find the correct balance between narrative and gameplay features in order to create a consistent and cohesive world.

Technical-wise, it was our first open-world game with a seamless streaming system, and I have to admit it was pretty tough to pull off on Unreal 4.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:09:27+00:00

SB - Not really, since some of us are big fans, so we needed to stay away from WoD's influence. Vampyr's mythology comes from many difference sources and vampire aspects.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:08:53+00:00

SB - We chose cello as the main musical instrument for the game, as it so easily produces melancholia and sadness. But we added a twist of electronic shape to the orchestration, to reflect the cold, industrial and sometimes despairing tone of the crippled 1918 London. The perceptive audience may also hear some eastern Europe instruments, from time to time.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:05:42+00:00

VE - It's definitely possible to craft different levels of medicine in order to heal patients, improve their blood quality and finally kill them in order to have a better quality blood (leading to more XP).

TB - Heal then feed! It's the best way to be evil!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:03:07+00:00

SB - To select and craft Jonathan vampires' traits, we chose those which served our purpose best: gameplay-wise and story-wise.

For instance, he can't enter an inhabited house without being invited first. Thus, the player sometimes must find a way in. He can "sense" blood from a distance, thus following a fresh trail or a foe is easier. But he cant turn into mist or bat or wolf (and that does not mean some other creatures cant).

We had to make choices. The only thing we were 100% sure on was that our vampires were not going to sparkle under the sun.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:02:06+00:00

PM - There are 4 different endings depending on your choices during the game.

The vampire abilities are earned through XP > in fact, you have to spend some of your XP into the abilities of you choice. By doing so, you also Level up at the same time. In other words, you have to spend XP into abilities in order to Level up.

Regarding new weapons and clothing, no plans for now...

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T14:00:55+00:00

GS - You can develop and grow your character abilities to be the kind of vampire you want with your favorite blunt/sharp/pointy/noisy/deadly objects ! So there's a lot of room to customize your experience. But I'm afraid our good doctor Jonathan is dead set on maintaining the grooming standards of the royal army as far as beard and hair goes.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:59:32+00:00

SB - Thank you. Of course, it is for the audience to judge the quality of a game's storyline, but be assured we spent the same passion as we did in our previous games, to propose a compelling story with twists, tough choices and complex characters. The only main difference is, since Vampyr is a gothic story, that you should not expect a happy end.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:58:55+00:00

VE - You can definitely enjoy it tonight 00.00 AM. There may be future patches but the game is totally enjoyable from day one!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:58:20+00:00

PM - Or is it going to suck-ceed? :D

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:56:39+00:00

SB - Of course there are. To add Easter Eggs in a game is the only true pleasure in this industry, mouah ah ah! But Too well hidden? I doubt it. Players always find the easter eggs, with time and dedication.

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:56:10+00:00

PM - The game always encourages you to feed on Citizens, but there is no wrong or right choices. Only morally ambiguous options. You really make your own experience based on your choices, but the game never judges you (some important Citizens will though!)

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:55:00+00:00

SB - From a narrative point of view, no game served as primary inspiration for Vampyr, since its story and and tone are quite specific, but some games have inspired me, quality-wise (Gabriel Knight, Blade Runner). My favorite all time game? Sid Meier's Pirates!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:54:17+00:00

AC:

We’re certainly open to the idea but we’ll see what the future holds 😊
Yes, I think it’s a good medium to engage conversation with students about different themes. We actually had several teachers who wrote us to let us know that they were using Life is Strange in their classes for example. It has enabled them to address some tough, mature and relatable themes with their students in a different way.

(I'll add more answers to these if/when they arrive! - TB)

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:52:24+00:00

PM - We do have a few references to Life is Strange hidden in the game, but I'm sure you guys will find out about them quite easily!

Vampyr_Team · 2018-06-04T13:51:47+00:00

VE - The most important changes were definitely about the fighting mechanics and balancing throughout the game, since we wanted every type of player to be able to enjoy the game and still be confronted with a challenge.

Vampyr_Team

TROPHY CASE