Warhorse Studios Weekly Torch

[DrFusselpulli]

Here are Joukes answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Haha, I would like to see Jouke´s face if there is such winter like it used to be 10-15 years ago ever again…

A very good winter, meaning very cold and a lot of snow, is pretty rare for me. From time to time I can ice-skate on canals and rivers in Leeuwarden and the most snow I remember was 60 cm for only a day or so. So the winter you are subscribing would be like the apocalypse to me

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Do you like Jan Žižka? Or what historic person is you think is best?

I only know the statue of him in Zizkov where I used to live. I don’t have enough info on him to judge if I like him. A recent historic figure that I really enjoy listening to is Christopher Hitchens. The elegance and grace he uses in his debates and speeches are beyond comprehension sometimes.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Since you are making LoDs now, I was wondering what is your opinion about pop-in in games and LoDs in general. Is this something that could be eliminated in the future ?

My opinion is that they can be annoying but knowing the reason why the lod technique exist makes it all worth the while to implement it. I do not see this technique go away anytime soon actually not at all.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is the foliage and grass pop-in going to be well handled in final version of KCD, to have it non-distracting?

We have been and are doing a good job on the lods, we are doing the best we can

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Of all assets you created or you know that are created and were usable in the real world, how many are usable in the game?

Well quite a lot. Of course the weapons, food and other pickable items. You will find out the whole invertory once you’re playing the game

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are there any swords stands, where character can put their swords with scabbards into

I created a swords rack for the weapon shops. We have a “shop system” that places the swords there.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Please name the conflicts you had with your historian (if there were some) Because as an artist, somehow artistic tendency tends to overrule the reality in the arts

I actually didn’t have any issues with that. We are aiming for a historically accurate game so if the historian says it is not historically correct then I’ll change it

[DrFusselpulli]

Jaroslav “Jantoš” Antoš is the big brother of Martin “Athert” Antoš and one of our testers here at Warhorse Studios. He was born in Ústí nad Labem, in northern Bohemia. He joined Warhorse around half a year after his brother in the end of 2014 to become a tester.
Do you have any questions to Jaroslav “Jantoš” Antoš? Just ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse?
I first heard about Warhorse in 2014 from my brother Martin, during the Kickstarter campaign. He decided that he wanted to work for the company at any price. I told him that I have also tried to become a Warhorsian. After a few emails and a job interview, I got the job.

2) You are the brother of Martin Antoš, how is it to work with your brother at the same company?
As I answered above, my brother got into the company around half a year earlier than me.
I´m in the position of a tester while he is a scripter. So if he implements something into the game, I am allowed to check and criticize his work, knowing that I have nothing to fear because he acts professionally and he appreciates criticism. After all, we all want the game to be as perfect as possible so that players will like it in the end.
Even though we are quite different in behavior, our years of cohabitation have taught us to communicate with each other so that there are no major conflicts. However, that does not mean that there can´t be smaller disputes about minor topics (nothing serious though).
It is great to have him here nevertheless.

3) Describe your position. What is it about being a Quality Assurance?
I didn´t know exactly what a tester had to do until I had the job interview. I would like to thank Martin Klíma, our big mentor, for preparing me mentally for this position as a tester. I didn´t think it would be a cakewalk for sure, but in the end it was very different than what I expected.
I knew very little about Kingdom Come in the beginning. Most of the time I had the debugging tool open in one monitor while the game was running with some debug listings (in the editor) on the other monitor. In the first year, there was only one village with almost no content!
What really surprised me was that the position of a tester is mainly about communication and figuring out how the stuff works, especially how it should function (in theory).
Game development is not like opening a cooking book and follow the recipe, it is more like you have an idea and then you have to find out how to get to this goal and figure out how it really works. And if it doesn´t work as it should or if you don´t like it, you have to remake it again. Making changes to one little spot can change the entire game on another spot, along with all the other systems. It is not easy to maintain an overview.
What works on one day can be totally different on another day. Then you have to stand up and talk to the developer who changed something and ask him if this behavior is expected or not. At this time, you can express your own opinion about it.
This is particularly important in quests, because you (as a tester) are the only person who plays the game thoroughly. If there is something wrong or if something is not explained well enough or if it doesn’t make sense, it is very important to forward this information to try and get the problem solved.
This is actually the nicest part of the work as a tester, as you have the opportunity to influence a lot of the resulting quality and entertaining part of the game.

4) Did you ever worked on Videogames before?
Yes! And because of that experience, I knew that I wanted to work in the gaming industry.
By the end of 2012, my friends and I decided that we would like to develop a game for mobile phones. At the time there was a big boom of games and many small projects were able to succeed, so we tried it with three friends and we wanted to make the graphics later on. But as it is so often, the ambitions were immense and we were just amateurs.
We worked intensely on the game for a year-and-a-half and in the end, we managed to get it on Google Play. It was called OVOpet Village Life. It is a basically a reproduction of Tamagotchi with more options. You have to take care of your creatures and visit different locations where you have a garden, tasks, and minigames.
Unfortunately, this game was really too big for us and we did not had sufficient gaming quality. On top of that, we made it too complicated, so we didn´t have any success.
It was a great experience nevertheless and I would evaluate it as a positive in the end.

5) Please describe Warhorse Studios:
I would like to sum up the studio with one word: Incredible! You meet people every day who’ve influenced your gaming childhood.
Whether it´s Draci Doupe (The Czech version of Dungeons & Dragons, done by Martin Klíma) or Mafia - The City of Lost Heaven by Daniel Vávra, we have really great people on our team. Not only because they are often the leader in their fields, but also because they are all very friendly. We often meet after work as well.
For example, every week we go to play football, or we go to play Laser tag, or we play games and of course, we also like to meet in pubs.
And then there is this annual weekend were we meet each other in a castle near the river Sázava, close to the area where Kingdom Come: Deliverance takes place.

6) Describe your usual day at the studio?
Normally, my working day starts with me coming into the office and pissing off colleagues by turning on the lights; they are like nocturnal animals. I start with the download of the latest data and then I jump into the kitchen to eat some breakfast. It´s difficult to be popular in other departments when you’re a tester, especially when you are sending them information about what they are doing wrong. And because I turn on the lights, I am not even poplular in my own department.
Then the daily routine begins. I check what has been corrected from the previous day and I test it out to see if it’s been resloved. Then I check into the quests that I have just assigned. If the features works as they should, eventually someone comes to me and says that they have a new feature that needs to be tested.
If any bug accurs, we try to reproduce it and at best create a small level at which the error is isolated so that people from other departments will have it more easy to evoke and repair it. Reproducing a bug is a beautiful thing, especially when the the game bahaves very strangely for hours. Once we reproduce it, we can call the right person who will say very quickly, „Oh I just forgot about this crazy stuff,“ and five minutes later, it 's fixed.

7) What are you currently working on?
Currently, I am mostly concerned about quests because they are a top priority; they must be playable and fun. While they are tested, we also test the game mechanics because the quests contains nearly everything about the game.
Daily cycles for NPC, RPG system, crime system, combat, GUI, animations, graphics… everything.
However, sometimes you need to take one feature of the game and test it more by itself.
We will pay more attention to it and we will try to break it in every way, like the crime system, which is very complex and there are still improvements to be made.
But I like all the possibilities, of course, more as player and less as a tester.
Many states influence how an NPC sees you or not. You can dress as a Cuman or an NPC soldier and you can stay undetected, or you could try to use shadows to stay hidden. You can rob people by pickpocketing them or you can beat them up and steal their things.
It just depends if there was an NPC which saw and reported you after the crime, or they will come for you. You are able to steal from a NPC’s house. The more value it has, the higher the chance that the NPC will notice it (something more important than an apple, for example). There are also several crime levels and the NPCs react to them differently.
All these things have to work together and if that is the case, then the player can come up with his own solutions to solve quests.

8) The quests in Kingdom Come Deliverance are very complex, testing them is not an easy task. What is the biggest challenge about it?
Testing open world quests is one of the worst things to do! Not only can the players come-and-go on most quests, they can also do it in any way they’d like. This means that it is difficult to predict what the player will do to perform tasks and also how the NPCs will react to him with different clothes, equipment, and more. You will need to know these things and try them all out, depending on the complexity of the quest. It´s nice when you have a task in the game that can solve be solved in several ways. Somewhere you can persuade or help someone and he will help you in return too. Sometimes, you can even help someone to die.
There are really a lot of possibilities and now imagine that you are testing a quest in which there is a problem and you have to fix it.
The problem influences five different solutions where each dialog option leads you to another outcome. So then you have to play the quest and choose a dialogue, and then you come back and try another option. Your decisions will open up other possibilities when other quests present itself.
With each new option, you must try all the previous ones because you never know which way the player will choose and therefore, we need to be prepared for every outcome because every outcome needs to work. Unfortunately, with the way the game is constantly in development and everything changes quite often, all these options must pass through at regular intervals. It’s like hell!

9) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
It´s a cliché, but I prefer games games with our mother nature. Once I started working here, I remember that I had a half working day where I traversed the woods and meadows in Kingdom Come Deliverance. I was very impressed at how realistic the nature in the game was. And you can compare it, because the river Sazava was a place I traveled to when I was a child. It was beautiful to be able to return to this moment.

10) How, when and with what games did you first get acquainted with videogames?
It was the old i386, which we had at our summer cottage. I spent my childhood playing with it. I’d spend the long rainy days by playing classics like prehistoric, the cycles, wacky wheels, prince of persia and my favourite Dyna blaster.

11) What was your most touching video game moment?
I got very emotional over Mafia. We played on our grand dad’s computer, as we did not have a powerful machine at home. We had some up and down emotions with Mafia.
I would like to highlight these two moments:
1) The Happiest – after many hours of battling (without cheating) that famous race, I was able to finish it after so many tries when I crashed on the last banked turn.
2) The Saddest – “Mr. Salieri sends his regards”

12) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
I don’t like magic - its conjuring, it costs mana, and I don’t like thinking of what type of spell is good against what type of enemy. I just like walking around and solving problems by brute force. So… Dungeons and no dragons AND no mana!!! Weeeeey!

13) Are there any videogames you repeat playing over and over again?
Definitely Mafia. I also like the Gothic series and the first game I played several times again and again is the Polish adventure, Agent Mlíčnak (Teenagent). I loved that game, but after all, it’s just an adventure and it doesn’t have much replay value. Although, I was quite young at that time and I really enjoyed it.
And so I’m thinking, ‘It’s’ been few year since I played it last… maybe it’s time to revisit this gem?’

14) What would a perfect game according to your wishes look like?
Frankly? It would be the same game we were just working on!

15) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
I like almost any sport. After work I like to play football (soccer). During the summer, I like to play Frisbee at a park. I like golf and I play amateur league in floorball. Often after work I play online games like Dota 2, CS:GO and even Rocket League, which we play with a colleague and we exchange many curses and laughs over Skype. Or, I go grab a bite at some Asian restaurant with a glass of wine.

16) Your favorite music playlist?
Chinaski! I love pop music like U2 and R.E.M. and I am also crazy for piano music. I’ll have to learn how to play it sometime.

17) Your favorite movie or book?
My most favorite book is The Martian from Andy Weir. Currently, I am finishing Silo from Hugh Howey (Wool), which I really like. The Martian was already made into a movie and it was not so bad, but the book was much better. Silo is being filmed right now.
From movies I like classics: Forest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption

18) Your travel tip?
If you like nature and cheap beer, definitely go down the river Sazava! It’s beautiful but sometimes there is not enough water in there… but there is always enough beer.

19) What was your greatest mistake?
For this I would turn to my brother. He spent an awful lot of time sitting in front of the computer and did nothing else than “script” his own servers for GTA and World of Warcraft. And I always chided him for not doing something else. I told him that doing this won’t be good for anything. But that was where I was wrong, because that is the reason he got a job at Warhorse as a scripter, where he is (by his own word) happy.
And even though he is my younger brother I feel he overgrown me in many ways and for that I am really proud of him!

20) Do you have a Bucket List?
I have. I need to travel so that I can check off going to Alaska. I can check that I have my own vacuum cleaner.

21) Is it possible to buy you with candy?
I suppose that I could define myself as a bitch for sweets. In my last job where I had a position as IT support, whenever my female colleagues wanted something they “paid” me with a cake or with a candy, which they had a full drawer of. Our boss at Warhorse is constantly motivating us to work overtime by bringing us some sweet or salty delicacies.
It’s really a nice gesture but I also gained some weight over the last half of this year.

22) How do you like living in the Czech Republic?
I wouldn’t change where I live! For example, I help my friend with a web page for his project to help the slow lorises in Indonesia (www.kukang.org). Whenever he comes here and we have pint of beer, he talks about what it’s like to live there. Thanks to that, I know that we are living more than well in Czech. Moreover, the nature here is beautiful and so are the girls, so why should I go somewhere else?

23) Imagine you are a cake, what kind of cake are you?
I would be a jelly cake with fruits!

24) You have to fight in medieval times… who are you, which weapon do you choose and why?
I am Henry and I will kill you with my bare hands! Why? Because hand-to-hand combat deals more damage than a sword. (Oh yes, one of the many bugs I have witnessed)

25) Knights or Samurai?
Knights!

26) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
Look forward to our game, it´s going to be a hit! And cross your fingers for us before the release, so we will catch all the bugs in there. They really are some sneaky bastards!

Do you have any questions to Jaroslav “Jantoš” Antoš? Just ask here.

[DrFusselpulli]

Now you can read Jaroslavs answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

I’m very interested to know what hardware configuration you use to test the game?

My computer specifications are as follows: Intel i7-2600 3.4GHz processor, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 graphics card, I believe this is a pretty good combination for any gaming computer.
Unfortunately, at the same time as running the game, we are simultaneously running analysis and debugging tools which are very demanding on computer memory. However the latest improvements in optimisation software are really helping us to run the game more smoothly.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Please describe the bad side of the job

The most irritating problem in the job of every tester is when you come across a bug that is not easily reproduced again. When this happens you have no choice but to play the same segment of the game over and again until you are eventually able to locate the bug . This is no fun at all and eats heavily into the time of every tester.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Who decides in the end,… this is a balance problem, this is a feature, this is a bug or we can´t fix this problem?

We record each and every bug into our tracking system, with a detailed description. The eventual decision is left up to management based on our feedback in collaboration with leaders of the relevant departments.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is it possible to make an open world game without bugs?

YES! At least we in Q.A. believe in that…
However, being honest it´s too complicated to try to recreate every possible option that could occur in the game. Playing the game every day means you become oblivious to things you should notice immediately. We are trying to prevent these situations by allocating the same work task to a variety of testers.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

After release will you play the game? Do you enjoy watching people play the game?

I love watching people playing our game. To see how they approach quests or test the game mechanics from a different angle, is very helpful for me in writing reports and providing feedback.
Very often I watch someone else playing the game and I make a note of his/her way of solving a task. I realise just how important it is to see the game from a different point of view, in order to notice bugs I would not otherwise have found playing it by myself. Mainly you discover how some players are clever and resourceful, for example how they were able to cross the Beta barrier.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will you make a video channel, with tips and tricks for playing KCD?

I’m not thinking about that really. I’m more than happy to share my knowledge through the forum or via chat, so best I leave this to more skilled players or YouTubers.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Do you provoke ununsual situations just to see if realistic or if not then at least believeable behavior of NPCs is seen on screen? For example standing a whole at a spot just to see whether torches or fires are being lit/extinguished by NPCs?

Prompting unusual situations is our daily bread. The majority of the time our game is well configured for normal situations and normal interaction with a player. And yes, a part of our job in Q.A. is also observing the game environment while it’s free from a player´s interference. Today for example I´m testing the animation and alignment of the daily home routine of an NPC.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How do you react when you see clipping errors?

Well, I really don´t like them. Most of the time it’s just about moving an object or another minor interaction. I tend to focus on crucial tasks, but those minor issues shouldn’t be overlooked and still need to be reported.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

In percentage, how many bugs do you have discovered and how many of your discoveries have been fixed?

Good question! Recently I made a small recheck of my work and found that 99% of all reported bugs has already been fixed or is currently in the process of being fixed.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are the reportings from the Beta still valid or are the reported bugs not in the dev version anymore?

It´s amazing that players are still reporting bugs in Beta to us. But we check reports on daily basis to see if any new bugs have shown up. For some time now we have been getting duplicate feedback on already fixed bugs – nevertheless we want people to go for it, just in case we find that one bug that everyone had missed.

[DrFusselpulli]

Joanna “Asia” Nowak does have a very unique and very special job here at Warhorse Studios, as she is our Historical Consultant. She was born in Bydgoszcz, in Poland and joined Warhorse shortly after our Kickstarter campaign in the beginning of 2014.
Do you have any questions to Joanna “Asia” Nowak? Just ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) Where can we usually find you lurking in the holy halls of Warhorse?
Most of the time I am in our Dark Cave, full of artists, but I often fly to other departments to check out some information and spy on some news.

2) How did you hear about Warhorse?
Kuba Holik had already presented you my story here in the Weekly Torch, so I can only add a few details.
Before I started working at Warhorse, I had a good, well-paid job at a big international company, but I needed something different. I was looking for something more aligned with my education and my personal interests, giving me more satisfaction and visible influence on the “final” product. Suddenly, Kuba and I were talking about where I could try to use my knowledge and skills and he said that Warhorse actually wants to extend their team; to get new concept artists and a researcher/historical consultant who would be able to advise, explain, and prepare a database of references for creating a realistic game. I was skeptical about the whole thing because I was afraid they would misjudge me due to my relationship with Kuba and I thought that they would not find me Czech-enough to do the job.
Luckily, until my interview day, Kuba did not tell anyone that we were actually acquainted.
Dan and Štepán Janik (former Concept Art Lead) greeted me with many interesting questions and I talked about my strengths - language skills, experience and knowledge in the field of history, art, conservatory works, and software, which is essential for game development.
I had an interview in August 2013 and started working officially (helped a little in between) in March next year (2014). They must have appreciated my patience, because I risked everything and I quit the job before the kickstarter, so when the first backers showed their support I was totally drunk from happiness and excitement. It was at this moment that I knew I was ready to do something great.

3) Describe your position. What is it about being a Historical Consultant?
I am a universal soldier but mostly I’m responsible for historical consultations, gathering text, and visual information that can (BUT DOES NOT HAVE TO) be an inspiration for our game. I work every day with many people from other departments like environment, script, characters, language, music, art, etc.
Moreover, I manage localization for some languages and I give technical and content-related support. In the past, I was also regularly destroying the old diet habits of my workmates by bringing them cakes and cookies… vegan cakes and cookies. They have never complained…

4) Have you ever work on Videogames before?
This is my first job in the videogame world. Previously, I worked in field of preservation and conservation of the heritage (mainly architecture), software management, organization of events, and in some jobs I was mainly using my language and software skills.

5) What is your favorite team activity?
My favorite team activity is hanging out with Warhorsians in the summer for a beer. In the winter we are stuck in pubs and they are not big enough for us, especially after midnight. Some of us also like to take a leap in the river during our meetings and it’s pretty hard to do that in the tavern. I also dislike the smell of food in Czech’s restaurants and I don’t like coming back home when it is below 0°C. So winter drinking is not my thing.

6) What is your favourite historical piece of clothing in Kingdom Come Deliverance?
Oh, this is so obvious. There are few brigandines that look so dramatic that I cannot help myself from giving them a big like. I bet all of you love it.

7) Who would be your favourite King: Wenceslaus IV. or Sigismund and why?
Interesting question. Thank you that I do not have to choose between the poor horse or the ducks. Regarding the crazy brothers, it is pointless to make a choice. Dr. Vlček did a pretty detailed analysis of the bones of the Luxembourg family some decades ago and it still scares me how similar the truly were. They were both addicted to wine and they both had bad teeth, ulcers, bones problems and more. Moreover, according to the chronicles they both spent too much money and they both had a bad temper. Not really attractive to me….
Considering their date of birth (Wenceslaus IV - 26.02, Sigismund - 14/15.02) they both had low self-esteem, manic depression, felt unloved and were lonely, all while having their dark days. On the other hand, they both did know how to enjoy down-to-earth privileges like good food, night parties, baths and they had tons of lovers. Wenceslas had good taste in fashion and he admired artwork. Sigismund was fond of music, dramas, and long discussions.
Although some claim that Wenseclas was a passive ruler and a weak leader, I am pretty sure he clearly was not interested with his responsibilites. He proved that when he truly wanted something, he got it, just like his stubborn brother - Sigismund. This is why it is difficult for me to choose either one.

8) What is the most difficult part of your position?
The most difficult part is to sense when my colleagues (designers, artists, scripters) really want my advice or not. Sometimes they dig into details and wish to have things very historically accurate (which of course is still a statement that no researcher or academic worker would take for granted) or they just wish I could confirm (or Dan’s fav method – NOT deny) something they have made (or made up). I am lucky to have an artistic and humanistic educational background so I can convince myself to create some ideas and visual concepts, even if the rational me disagrees with it.
So please, get rid of this image of a historical consultant who just puts it all on a plate while the rest of the team listens to him and then copies the designs from some books. It does not work this way. Each on of us interprets. Even I, when I write or paint or sing, it is MY interpretation of something. This is the main difference between us and early medieval artists - there is never one truth, one reality.
We had an ambition to investigate every detail and to be stricter about that, but we are limited by time, money, and the amount of people engaged in the project. Imagine how many archaeologists and specialists in a particular field (ceramic, medieval paintings, iconology, heating systems) anthropologists, geologists, sociologists etc. would have to work for Warhorse. I know personally how strenuous and time consuming it is to do proper research, analysis, and provide it to others, not-to-metion all the questions and doubts that it causes instead of giving just the answers.

9) How does the community influence your work?
Community makes me jump from happiness and feeds my ulcers to grow in my stomach. It inspires and motivates me to extend my knowledge.

10) Describe your usual day at the studio?
Usually after 4 hours of sleep, good training, travel with metro, and more than 100 steps up to the 5th floor of Forum Karlín, (where Warhorse is located), I enter the office around 7am. As a nocturnal animal, I avoid turning on any lights and I vanish into the darkness of the Art department. Paja is usually already there (our graphic artist), Marty and Matěj and Petr and Radek also arrive early (AI guys and programmers). While I switch on my computer, comb my hair, and get all my stuff from my backpack, I check our current level of happiness, discuss the sorrows (and more) with the early birds. Afterwards, we all go for the first morning coffee/tea/water tank or we get a bowl of cereal or apples.
There are some Warhorsians that are already in the kitchen munching on breakfast, prepared by wonder woman - Mrs Hanka or Lucka, wife of Václav, our video editor.
Then I dive into answering the questions from different departments, translations and I check or read the changes in script, give consultations, while randomly stuffing guys (and buying them) with the cakes I bring. Here and there I fight with my eyelids terribly, wanting to cover my eyes, but thanks to my jolly colleagues jumping, whistling, shouting, sending some messages on skype, asking strange questions, singing and ringing our doorbell, I continue to work until the sun goes down until I feel I can no longer see anything clear or I start speaking Polish.

11) What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on translating a variety of languages, proofreading the scripts, and polishing codex.

12) What are some of your notable accomplishments?
Not killing myself and not killing Dan… or a few others… Colleagues…
Becoming resistible to jokes about vegans, women, Poles.
Having a coat hanger in our artistic cave…
A few other things… like the reconstruction of an architecture in our medieval world, especially the Sazava monastery, the preparation of huge pictures and the text database, making graphics to remove some crazy things. I am also very happy each time some of the concept artists (Simon, Tom, Miki, Milan, Arash and Pavel) use one of my suggestions and then we work on the suggestion together. They are super talented and creative, but also stubborn, so this is an accomplishment!

13) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
Being Dr Frankenstein and bringing back something to life… and fireflies!

14) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
I keep myself in motion – I run, I dance, I do HIIT trainings, I walk, I do something out of something old and useless, I play with my cats, sing, paint, read and learn new languages. Occasionally, I bake.

15) Your favourite music playlist?
I have synesthesia, which means when I see a word or hear it I combine it with certain colors, tastes, or sounds. The world around me is very intense. Like, you say “Tuesday” and I hear deep, lower sounds of a bass key and a violet color of letters. Therefore, I like many kinds of tunes just as much as color nuances, from classical music to stoner rock or progressive metal…

16) Your favorite book?
Patrick Süskind “Das Perfume”, Little Nicholas (Le petit Nicolas) series by René Goscinny and all books by Andrzej Sapkowski, Kurt Vonnegut or Filip Springer.

17) What species is your spirit animal?
Fire Tiger and Capricorn. And Panda.

18) How do you like living in the Czech Republic?
The more I travel, the more I appreciate Czech Republic.

19) Knights or Samurai?
Afro Samurai and Panda Samurai for sure.

20) If time-travel would be possible, to which era would you go?
To Ancient Greece - full of sun, art, music, God’s powers, and breakthrough discoveries.

21) What was your favourite subject and your most hated one at school?
I loved everything except for philosophy and have always aimed to be the best at everything. Maths, languages, art, chemistry, geography, music, sports, biology, literature and history, you name it. All top grades. I took part in many competitions, did some projects and just enjoyed learning new stuff. I still do. That is why I am so happy to do what I do.

22) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
As some of my colleagues already have said, a very big thanks to all of you. Backers, fans, co-workers, advisers… I am glad that not only will you judge the final result, but you will also judge our steps and efforts that we put into this project.

Do you have any questions to Joanna “Asia” Nowak? Just ask here.

[DrFusselpulli]

You had a lot of very interesting questions for our Historical Consultant Joanna “Asia” Nowak and she took her time to answer them all, take a look:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What way does Catholic Poland view Czech Reformation in general and Hussite wars in particular?

Hi Snejdarek, I wish I could answer your question, but I fear not many Poles are interested in this matter. So I cannot provide you a general view. But, of course academics are comparing some theories and discoveries between Poland and the Czech lands, especially during middle ages. So far, thanks to Andrzej Sapkowski and his Hussite’s trilogy there is paid more attention to this topic. I doubt however, that there is some deeper understanding in these events, just some curiosity.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What kind of understanding regarding today’s 90% atheism rate in the Czech Republic is there in Poland?

Czech Republic consisting of 90% (really? Percentage based on…?) atheists does not have an influence on everlasting love Poles declare towards Czechs.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Why didnt you like philosophy?

HI Sigmund, Because I had it as an obligatory, extra classes in my high school years and while having ca.40h a week of all, it was hard to make debate at 3 pm., after 7 hours of lessons… I have started learning this at wrong time

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How much time do you spend in archives?

Thanks to wonderful digitalization of many medieval source materials, I can read many of them, while staying in the office. Usually, the information, required from other departments, has to be delivered immediately, so I cannot do a typical, individual research with visit in some archives.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How hard was it for you to find documents and facts about everyday life in medieval Bohemia?

It is very easy. In Prague there are wonderful libraries, institutes and researchers willing to share these materials with me. Also, as I have mentioned above, many documents are already digitalized and access is for free.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Whats your favourite romanesque/gothical cathedral?

I like the cathedral in Aachen (Germany) and Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew in Frombork (Poland).

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Sorry if it sounds agressive, did you study history or history of art? Since you worked in some cool jobs like conservation ?

No problem, I even clearly want to underline it that I am not a historian. I studied preservation of old architecture, which included gaining knowledge in architecture, building engineering, historical studies, art history studies, technical and computer graphic, philosophy, elements of museology and many, many more. Additionally, I have mgr (M.A.) in Art History.
Of course studying history (esp. European) profoundly, is unavoidable for good understanding of art, especially the matters of preservation and conservation of architecture.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Who would be your favourite King: Wenceslaus IV. or Sigismund and why?
Do you have a advice for books or exhibitions about this two guys and why they where liked or disliked by some folks at their time, why these brothers acted as they did.

Hi Waldkauz, for me personally, neither Wenceslaus nor Sigismund is a favourite one.
Sigismund is claimed to be known as more successful one. In the matter of political achievements etc.
Last year, there were wonderful exhibitions and events connected with celebration of anniversary of Charles’s IV birthday and coronation. It happened to be an ignition for presenting some historical aspects of life at that time and Luxembourg family. I definitely recommend studying the catalogues and publications, which were published in relation to these projects. Anyway, many publications have appeared in recent years, but of course most of them are in Czech.
If you wish to have some tips, please send us an email and I will provide you some titles.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

I’m also curious about the intro discussion about the political situation in KCD at the tavern. Will it explaine why Wenceslaus was expected to go on to be crowned as emperor?And why his unwillingness to become emperor created anger?

Regarding introduction of the political matters in KCD…heh… It will be Dan Vavra’s point of view, based on historical facts, but with his own interpretations.
If some things stay unexplained, we will try to extend that in our Codex.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

So I know that the events, the location, the props, weapons and clothing have all been modelled close to the historical reality, likely thanks to your counsel. Now I am wondering, how much did you have your hands in creation of the NPCs?

Hi, I laughed a bit, when I read your questions, because, even if I wished it hard, allllllll NPC and main characters are designed by Designers, especially by Dan. I have tried to provide some details regarding historical figures, but I am not sure, if they have influenced Dan’s image, already painted in his head
However, I admit, that often we have discussed the script, the way somebody acts, how he looks. Just not always the historical accuracy was interesting and easy enough to be used in Kingdom Come Deliverance.
So, like with everything in our game, we made some compromises. Sometimes my advices were taken, sometimes not, other time they were modified… I think, in some cases it is great, that designers made things all up. I can even bet, that you will not be able to find out all their manipulations – they are so fancy.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What are your main sources of information on historical material, architecture, clothing, agriculture, weapons, armor, etc for the game?

Hi Scott2978, I usually start with checking our database, where we have millions of GB of books, researches, articles and visual materials. The latest ones do have a higher value, but I do not underestimate some remarks from older materials. I build an opinion and also go through online archives, libraries and portals like jstore or academia.edu, papers from Czech Universities or information from people I know, from years of experience, they are specialists in some fields of expertise. If I still have a doubt, I write directly to someone, compare, compare and compare. Then I have to make a decision.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Do you often search for answers from multiple sources to compare the opinions? What source is your favorite and why?

I love old German encylopedias and literature from the 19th century, especially regarding studying the medieval remains (not yet changed into neogothic legends etc.). They also include information, which might have been lost later during the first and and second worldwar. This is very helpful in finding some more details regarding some architecture, political relations and customs. And language!
I never believe one source, so there have to be at least few regarding one topic, even if some are taken from e.g. priest or some medievist-amateur.
Still I do not believe anyone, because as I have already written in my Weekly Torch interview – all is someone’s interpretation

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

During your work, did you have to browse into any historical fechtbuch? Books like Cod.HS.3227a (Hanko Dobringer) or Oettingen-Wallerstein Cod. I.6.4o.2 (so called Codex Wallerstein)? Will be possible to see one of these or similar books in game? We know there are books, we know that letters are most likely shuffled, because we must learn how to read first. But we don’t know what we can find (on the second thought, maybe i dont want to know, so I can be surprised )

Hi RailBalco, yes I had to browse a lot of medieval books, letters and documents. What exactly we will have in KCD to read – let it be a surprise for you!

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How about Codex Gigas? How about to make it kinda easter egg, hidden in Sázava monastery?

We are working on it

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Have you read “Husitská epopej” by Vlastimil Vondruška? If yes, what do you think about it? Very first chapters are taking place in very same era as KCD, maybe we will be able to see in Kingdom Come very same historical events from books, but described by someone else, from different angle?

I do respect Vlastimil Vondruska as an author of very successful books, but he is very well juggling with information, to make it more interesting for a reader. I think he knows much more that what he has to reveal or serve to the public

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Do you have your favorite place on in game map? Which one?

I like running through the forest. Here and there.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Have you found in during your studies for the game, graphical evidence, be it wood-engravings, illiustrations, tapestry, effigees (esp, donor figures) or textual information for a dedicated accoutrement for caring axes (no not the belt itself but a dedicated accoutrement, worn at the belt)? My earliest findings are from the 16th century, it was a wood engraving of either Dürer or Burkmaier but I don’t find the picture of it anymore.

Hi, I will have a look what we got. Send us your email, so I can share more details.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What kind of books did you used, of course the “Kroje, zbroj a zbraně doby předhusitské a husitské” from Eduard Wagner, Zoroslava Drobná, and Jan Durdík I presume but could you give a list of other books of this caliber, which you have used. Of course a list of codices would also be appreciated at some point of time?

Hi, well the list would be pretty long as I use Czech, English, French, German and Polish books mainly, so please send us your email and I will provide it to you in separate email.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Have you found something interesting, stumbling in your research?

Oh yes, a lot of things. I loved to read about dyeing and textile in general and find all the substances they used for getting a colours, they even could not named!
Moreover, the history of the camel in Plzen’s coat of arms was interesting to me, because it has got a Polish accent.
Then facts about the bodies of the Luxembourg family, of the life in a monastery (secret details from Sasau!), of customs and preys during the year, attitude towards animals… I also extended my knowledge regarding each craft – from the baker to a tanner, how the executioner’s job was different for what we believe in… Really, countless information. Especially when you, fans, are writing to us, that something was or was not, I always dig in the subject and mostly have some new arguments to the discussion etc.etc.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will you publish eventual results of your research, if you found enough to release a paper?

No, I will never agree to do so. I am searching information about everything for the game, commercial purpose. This means I cannot give one thing, aspect, subject a proper amount of time. I do my own researches and I know how many years of work it requires to establish enough material and arguments to proof or suggest some thesis. Repeating – true or speculation – from another is the worst what people can do in academic society. And I read many articles and documents, that literally copy someone’s else work. I despise this kind of action.
But if I am going to work on some specific subject for longer time and truly find something new or in contradiction to current state of research, I will think about a publication of an article.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will you publish the sources you have used at some point of time. I would be very interessted.

It is impossible to embrace all the sources and I guess pointless.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will you publish photos of effiges, tapesty or illustration (first hand sources) at some point in the future. I think scientifically interessted persons would love to see evtl. rare findings.

_No, we cannot hire a group of archaeologists and academics to organise and do years long research. _
This is a job for some professional institutions and universities.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What is the status of the scabbards and straps (for shields and quivers)? If they are not there in the game yet (presumably from the latest live stream) what is your opinion of this IMHO situation that there are no scabbards and straps in the game albeit small details like the correct color of carrots and chicken are considered?

There will be scabbards and straps, no worries
IMHO, of course I would make some other decisions regarding accuracy of few things, aspects in the game. But it this is a game made by more than 100 of people. A result of collective effort to bring something new to live. Those, who made their choices had enough struggles and there will always be someone, who will disagree with us. There are no fixed: equations or recipes or requirements to make one and only good decision. So please, be tolerant and understanding. It is very challenging to make each step in developing this game.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What can you tell me about bucklers in Kingdom Come Deliverance? Are they implemented? If they are, do we get the cool bucklers with spikes on them as well?

Hello Cr4aydave, no, unfortunately we could not include these in our game due to time limit and technical issues.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What would like to tell about Henry like a person. Do you like him or do you have some other favorite character(nemusíš psát jména je to tajemství)

Hi Vojtroslav, well Henry is not my favourite one. My favourite character is actually a historical figure, a very talented…. Engineer Hope you will like it too!

[DrFusselpulli]

Silvia Wipfler is responsible for the german translation of Kingdom Come Deliverance. She was born in Graz in Austria. As she works from her home, you will not find her in the Studio, although she is a Warhorse member.
Do you have any questions to Silvia Wipfler? Just ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse? How/When did you join?
I met Toby, the PR Manager, in Poland at the Poznan Game Arena. We had a chat and becasue I’ve localised two other games (both from Czech studios, by the way), he sent me a sample. Well, obviously Warhorse liked my translation and I’ve been on board ever since.

2) Describe your position. What is it about being a translator?
I’m responsible for the German localisation of the game. Apart from translating, editing, and proofreading, I look for story glitches, report issues, work on our glossary, and do research. I ensure that the characters have individual speech styles and that they are maintained throughout the game. The speech styles are as distinct as the characters; they range from peasants, merchants, artisans to noblemen and women. I’m always trying to keep up the medieval atmosphere and I’m also coordinating the German translation team being the creative lead, so-to-speak.

3) Did you ever worked on Videogames before?
Yes. I’ve translated other titles like the Cyberpunk RPG Dex by Dreadlocks Ltd. Before that, I worked as an editor for an Austrian game magazine.

4) Please describe one of your colleagues or your department:
I’m working together with so many talented people, so let me introduce the best translation team in the world: Maxi Lange, Philipp Kolleritsch und Bernhard Trecksel. They are skilled, reliable and it’s a pleasure to work with them! I also work closely with Joanna Nowak, our Historical Consultant and Localisation Manager. As you’ve probably read in last week’s Weekly Torch, she’s a linguistic genius and she always supports us with her vast and invaluable knowledge about the Middle Ages. Without her the localisation would never run so smoothly and we probably would have descended into chaos a long time ago.

5) What are you currently working on?
I’m working on some of the side quests, mainly as an editor. This means I read the German translation, compare it to the English version and I make sure that the style is appropriate. If a character appears in another quest and speaks a bit differently than usual, I correct these lines, trying to keep everything consistent.

6) What do you (really) like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
The rough language. I love putting in wonderful words like Hundsfott, Auswurf or Galsterweib. So be prepared, German speakers!

7) How, when and with what platform or game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
With my cousin’s NES. My first own gaming device was a GameBoy Color with Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. God, I’ve spent ages playing that game!

8) What was your most touching video game moment?
Shadow of the Colossus was the most touching game I’ve played so far. Every time I had to kill one of these wonderful beasts, it felt as if I was selling a part of my soul. Well, as it turned out, the main character’s fate wasn’t that different …

9) Which videogame character or figure is the best?
Geralt of Rivia. He’s such a hunky badass.

10) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
A female elven spellcaster, if possible.

11) Which videogame character are you?
Spyro the dragon (in the original PS1 games). He’s tiny, lively, always running around, and admittedly also a bit pesky. He’s eager, motivated, and probably as impatient as me. He’s basically me in the guise of a dragon! And purple. I love purple.

12) Are there any videogames you repeat playing over and over again?
Pokemon - I’m a first gen. fan so-to-speak. I simply love these creatures and being a Pokemon trainer in real life would be soooo epic. I also went back to World of Warcraft again, if that counts. How could I not? Illidan is finally back and practically got his own expansion!

13) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
Functional training or trail running. When I’ve got the time, I also go running with the dogs at the local animal shelter. I love being outside and I need a certain amount of physical activity to stay happy and healthy.

14) Your favorite movie or book?
That’s tough! I have to name a few books: Harry Potter, 1984, the Witcher Novels by Andrzej Sapkowsi, the WoW novels by Richard A. Knaak and The Walking Dead Comics.
Movies/TV-Series: Fight Club, The Dark Knight, Pitch Black, Game of Thrones, Nikita, Dark Angel

15) Your travel tip?
Prague! It’s a great city: beautiful buildings, castles, and lots of green areas. And it’s cheap!

16) What is your weakest trait?
My impatience. Seriously, I’d rather walk 15 minutes to the next bus station rather than waiting 1 minute for that bus to arrive.

17) What was your favorite subject and your most hated one at school?
My favorite subjects were Sports, Arts, and English. I really hated Italian, as I’ve never wanted to learn that language. However, I partly owe it to my good English skills, as I used to read English novels under the table. My grades in History? You wouldn’t want to know! I was too bored at school to care, so I had pretty bad grades.

18) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
Thanks for all the support! We’re so happy that so many people are joining us on this journey. And for our German speaking players: Ich hoffe, ihr werdet die deutsche Übersetzung mögen. Ich und mein Team geben unser Bestes, um euch gut geschriebene, vielseitige und vor allem derbe Dialoge zu liefern. Hoffentlich habt ihr beim Zocken genau so viel Spaß wie wir beim Übersetzen!

Do you have any questions to Silvia Wipfler?Just ask here.

[DrFusselpulli]

here are Silvias answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Czech beer, german beer or no beer?

I guess some of you might want to lynch me for that, but I’m not a beer drinker at all. I’m more into a good old whiskey and mead. In Austria apiculture is still relatively wide-spread and you can buy high quality mead, honey and other products from local producers.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Nice Galsterweib. I never heard this word and had to google the meaning.
I like that there will be individual speech styles. You mentioned peasants, merchants, artisans to noblemen and women. How about craftsman with some technical jargon or spouting priests?

I’m glad that you liked googling Galsterweib! And yes, I’m trying to include some old words, when I see fit.
There are several craftsmen in the game, but the technical jargon will be relatively limited. They will only give Henry detailed descriptions of their trade when it makes sense. But you will find some uncommon artisanry like “Striegler”.
Priests and monks were educated people, so they will use high register of course. Some words and prayers will even be in Latin.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How do you deal with lack of German as “other” language in the German version of the game?
How do you project the Czech-Geman tensions when Czechs are speaking German in your language version?

You’re right, there are Germans in the game and in Germany they are speaking German of course. But the tensions between them and the Czechs are still there and represented by the usage of eloquent and charming names like “Kackdeutscher”.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

OTOH, looking across the translation, there’s the bit of dialogue that is actually quite funny in the original:
“He was still sleeping when I went out”
“At this hour!? The blue-blooded idler”
“Well, it looks like he was out all evening drinking like a lord”
Unfortunately, the pun is lost completely in the translation.
Now I know, translating is never trivial, especially when it comes to playing with language as in the example above. So how do you go about it? Seeing how you’re basically working off an Excel document (that’ll be a sure way to stifle any creativity on the spot, in my book!), do you just translate line by line, or do you look at the bigger context, the flow of a dialogue and come up with something that retains the sense of the original, at the expense of the exact wording?

Yes, idioms are always a tricky thing because they are hardly ever the same in the target language. In this dialogue we are lucky that the pun is already foreshadowed with the word “blue-blooded”, so it didn’t get lost in translation. Generally it always depends on the situation. If an idiom conveys important information like in the snippet above and the German equivalent does not, I will translate the dialogue very freely and rewrite it, so that the meaning is kept.
I do work in Excel, but I’ve played the game and I know the plot and characters. Translating line by line without knowing the context is not uncommon, but for me it’s an absolute no-go! Keeping the meaning, flair and style can only be achieved if you’re translating creatively and freely and sometimes this means to rewrite certain lines and dialogues.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

You are only translating german-english. Have you experience with other languages?

I speak a little Russian and Japanese and the former has helped me once or twice, when certain character roles were in Czech for example or when I did some research on etymology. I found it very interesting that кикимора (Kikimora) is somehow related to the German Mahr or Alp.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Have you played the Beta to get a feeling for the game and the dialoges?Is KCD a kind of game you like to play? And if yes, will you play the game after release, or not, because you know every story twist?

Like I stated before, I did play the Beta and Kingdom Come: Deliverance is definitely a game I like. You are right though, I do know every story twist and dialogue, but I still want to see what it all looks like once the game is finished.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How many hours will you need to translate all the dialoges (approximately)?

I cannot say how many hours it takes to translate all the dialogues, because I joined the team relatively early (a few months before the Beta was released) and I’ve worked on the game since then. The texts have been iterated and changed a few times and so has the translation. Having sad that, I also do a lot of other things beside translating, like research, updating the glossary, checking the consistence, reporting errors and story glitches, bothering the designers with questions…
I used to work alone, but since my three colleagues have joined me, I’m hardly ever translating myself. I’m basically the person who keeps it all together and ensures that the speech styles are consistent throughout the whole game, that the names and terms are correct and so on.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will you voice act some parts? First translate the lines and then bring it to life…?

No, there are no plans that I will be voice acting. And to be honest, that’s better for the game, the players and humanity as a whole! My voice doesn’t sound so bad, but without training it would be pretty monotonous.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Do you know if there might be a middle high-german/czech localization?
Will there be a a mode with middle-high german subtitles?

A lot of people have asked me that and the answer is no. The game will be translated into standard, modern German and there is a good reason for it. Language evolves and changes over time and the German language is devided into three basic categories (I’m using German terms here):
- Althochdeutsch (~750-1050)
- Mittelhochdeutsch (~1050-1350)
- Neuhochdeutsch (~1350-now)
There are more categories of course, that further divide the language, like for example Frühneuhochdeutsch (~1350-1650), but you have to understand that these persiods are not set in stone and that there are regional differences. Some regions have adopted changes earlier, some later and you also have to keep in mind that there were severe differences between written and spoken language.
It would be an enormous if not impossible task to create a historically correct representation of the language that was spoken at that time. And even if we decided to use a written text like the Nibelungenlied as a template - which would not be a historically accurate representation of the language the people spoke - the players would have problems understanding the characters. Here’s a sample of the Nibelungenlied (Mittelhochdeutsch above, Neuhochdeutsch below):

Uns ist in alten mæren wunders vil geseit
von helden lobebæren, von grôʒer arebeit,
von fröuden, hôchgezîten, von weinen und von klagen,
von küener recken strîten muget ír nu wunder hœren sagen.

Eʒ wuohs in Burgonden ein vil edel magedîn,
daʒ in allen landen niht schœners mohte sîn,
Kriemhilt geheiʒen: si wart ein scœne wîp.
dar umbe muosen degene vil verliesen den lîp.

Uns wurde in alten Erzählungen viel Wundersames gesagt
von ruhmreichen Helden, von großem Leid,
von Freuden, Festen, von Weinen und von Klagen,
vom Kampf kühner Recken sollt ihr nun Wunder hören sagen.

Es wuchs in Burgund ein sehr feines Mädchen heran,
dass in allen Ländern kein schöneres sein konnte,
Kriemhild geheißen: Sie wurde eine schöne Frau.
Deswegen mussten viele Kämpfer ihr Leben verlieren. (Wikipedia)

As you can see, it’s pretty hard to understand the text and it would be impossible for us to translate the game into Mittelhochdeutsch. But if you want to read texts in Mittelhochdeutsch, there are plenty of books out there and if want to take a look at the handwritten original of the Nibelungenlied, please follow the link below, although you probably won’t be able to read it :
http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0003/bsb00035316/images/index.html?fip=193.174.98.30&seite=5&pdfseitex=

[DrFusselpulli]

Martin “Ziggi” Ziegler is one of our Technical Designers and he was already guest in our livestreams like the E3 Gameplay or the first quest. He was born in Prague in Czech Republic and joined Warhorse Studios shortly after the Kickstarter campaign in early 2014.
Do you have any additional questions to Martin “Ziggi” Ziegler? Just ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) Where can we usually find you lurking in the holy halls of Warhorse?
My desk is in the scripter’s department. However, since I need to be in touch with a lot of people all around the studio, I’m running around quite a lot, or I’m sitting in a meeting.

2) How did you hear about Warhorse?
I learned about KC:D when it launched on Kickstarter. That was only several months after I finished my university studies, just when I was looking for an exciting project to join. When I heard about Warhorse, it all came together. I spoke with Tomáš Plch, who had supervised my thesis, until Viktor Bocan replied to me asking whether I would like to mediate between his scripters’ department and Tom‘s AI team. When I came in to do a test, there was neither a computer or a desk for me to do the test on, so I was sat down with someone’s 12“ laptop under a coat rack by the entrance door, presumably to prepare me for how punk this entire development actually is. I came on board two months later.

3) Describe your position. What is it about being a technical designer?
We are where the creative design ambitions meet the more technical development aspects. In the end, we’re here to make the entire game work together as a whole. It requires quite a well-rounded skillset, which is what makes it so attractive to me.

4) Please describe Warhorse Studios:
A picture is worth a thousand words:

5) What is your favorite team activity?
Developing badass openworld RPGs.

6) Describe your usual day at the studio.
I usually come in somewhat later than the early birds and then start the day with a sitrep of what everyone is currently up to within my department. After that, I try to move on with any work that I have on my plate at the moment, which may mean working on the AI scripts, on some internal tools that make our lives easier, or recently also on voiceovers/localisation, and/or wherever else I can help the best at the moment.

7) What are you currently working on?
My most important responsibilities are the openworld systems and mechanics, so I am now reviewing them one by one as we approach our release date to make sure that they will be in a solid shape when we will ship KC:D to the public. For example this week in particular, I am working on how NPCs react to player’s crimes, such as assaulting NPCs, stealing, etc.

8) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
For me, it’s an excellent case of how a whole can be larger than the sum of its parts. It’s an openworld RPG, an epic story, a virtual time travel experience, a tactical combat game, a history lesson, and a beautiful digital landscape all in one.

9) What do you think is the most important part in the game?
I think that the realism aspect is what holds the game together. The main storyline is a real historical event and the side quests tackle the social issues that people had at the time. This all takes place in a place that’s reconstructed based on a satellite map. Even very small details in our visual assets are meticulously well-researched. The music is a modern take on a music that would be contemporary to the time. Our combat is based on choices similar to how people had to think about combat in that historic period. We’re very ambitious with the AI in how much we try to simulate. Whatever we put in, we try to think about how that element actually works in reality and start there; we obviously need to compromise a lot, but the ambition to be realistic is what underlies it all and ties it into a coherent whole.

10) How, when and with what platform or game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
I was so little that I have no idea what the console was, but the game was a mono-color, top-down arcade where you first had to drive a firetruck on a highway to a burning building and then navigate the fireman on foot between the flames in order to rescue the victims. I think that the faster you were with the truck in the first stage, the more time you had in the second stage. It’s pretty much the earliest memory that I have at all.

11) What was your most touching video game moment?
Spec Ops: The Line was overall quite intense and it made me think.

12) What video game are you playing right now?
Darkest Dungeon. I haven’t played such a well-designed game in a long time.

13) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
I almost exclusively prefer the longer-range classes, usually casters. I virtually never play melee-damage dealers; I just cannot ever get into their flow.

14) Are there any videogames you repeat playing over and over again?
I finished the original Deus Ex at least six times. I would like to say that it is because you can approach it in so many different ways, but I always end up playing it with pretty much the same build and I make pretty much the same story choices.

15) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
I develop my own small games in my spare time. That may seem like a bizarre way to relax after a day spent developing KC:D at the studio, but developing small, well-focused games actually really does help me to relieve the stress of working on the huge, 5-year, 100-man, wild beast that Kingdom Come: Deliverance is. Other than that, I work out and I love to travel and read.

16) Your favorite music?
Pixies.

17) Your favorite movie or book?
Fight Club and Lost in Translation.

18) Do you have a Bucket List?
I’d like to travel around the world at some point.

19) Is it possible to buy you with candy?
French pastries certainly do increase your chances.

20) Who is your favorite historic character?
Aristotle, Émile Zola, and David Bowie came to my mind as an answer most quickly.

21) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
Thank you; we really wouldn’t be able to work on KC:D without you.

Do you have any additional questions to Martin “Ziggi” Ziegler? Just ask here.

[DrFusselpulli]

Now Martin “Ziggi” Ziegler answered your community questions

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Can we get to play your small games somewhere?

The most recent ones are a board game and a card game, so unfortunately not really. I would like to upload more games over to itch.io when I have the time to polish them.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Seriously, I have to know. What is the Badassness check?

Badassness is a number that we use to express how brave, well-equipped and overall combat-ready each NPC is. We use it to drive many decisions, such as whether someone will run when they see you do a crime, or rather will engage you themselves.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What happens after the NPS have watched the crime. After some minutes, did they return to their work and and “forget” this incident? And everything is like before? Most games do it this way, but is quite unrealistic.

When the situation is resolved, they will return to their usual activities, which I don’t even think is that unrealistic. Your reputation with them will have been lowered, so their future reactions toward you may change.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

If you are bad at stealth (in a banditcamp), and the bandits raise an alarm, will they also wake up all the sleeping bandits, to search you?

Yes, NPCs within camps raise an alarm, which calls nearby NPCs to help them resolve the situation. This also wakes NPCs up, in case they’re asleep

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

If they don´t find you, will they stay alarmed “forever”?

They will cool down in a while, and return to their routines.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is the vision of the NPC limited by darkness or bushes? Can you hide in the dark? Is there an indication/indicator if you are visible, or not? If you are useing a torch, are you more visible?

Yes, everyone has worse vision during the night, which makes stealth easier. The luminosity of the particular position where you’re at also plays a role, but it is not explicitely indicated in the UI. The torch should work like you said, but I’ll have to check.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How does the minigame pickpocketing work?

We haven’t showcased the pickpocketing minigame yet, so I can’t say too much, but it’s a pretty solid minigame that mixes incomplete information, time-pressure, and luck.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

If you kill a bartender or a blacksmith, will another NPC respawn and do this job? If you kill everyone in a village, stays the village empty, or maybe,can bandits use this place as a hideout?

No, the NPCs do not respawn when they die.

[DrFusselpulli]

Luke Dale was born in Sheffield in England and came to Prague to work as an actor on Kingdom Come Deliverance in the role of Capon (or in Czech - Jan Ptáček), a young nobleman.
Do you have any questions regarding Luke Dale? Just ask here!
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse?
Well considering I am British and (unfortunately) haven’t played video games since being 16, I had never heard of Warhorse. But I was submitted for the role by my agent in London, and boom, the journey began.

2) Describe your usual day at the studio?
Each time I have been there it has been quite different, my favourite time visiting Warhorse was the week I spent filming the cut scenes. I had never before experienced motion capture so I was thrown in the deep end and I loved it. The scenes were fun to shoot and the team were great.

3) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
Every time I come I always feel totally welcome by the people that work there. I have always said it, the best part about the job has been working with everyone else.

4) Was this your first MoCap acting?
Yeaaaaah baby.

5) What is the main difference for an actor between acting for a video game compared to acting for TV or the theatre?
It’s a very, very odd mix of things with motion capture. There’s no audience, so you can’t feed off of anything. So in that way, it’s like TV. But then it completely doesn’t matter what I do with my face because no one will see that. So it’s odd. The best thing to do is to use your imagination as if it’s all happening for real and be as truthful as possible. (Although, miming water in the bath house proved to be tricky).

6) Can you describe your character a bit?
Oh Capon. He’s a teenager, so of course he’s still figuring out who he is and how he relates to the world around him. He’s testing things out, going too far. Which can make for hilarious situations. But as a member of the royal family it doesn’t earn him much respect. He’s moody, agitated, wants everything now and has a lot to learn about being a prince.

7) Playing some character from a foreign culture and time can be difficult, how did you get into your role?
I had help from the directors, but the main thing was to not worry too much and to approach the character as if it was me in those situations.

8) What was totally different than expected, when you worked on Kingdom Come Deliverance?
I didn’t expect the formality of T-Pose every time you start and stop the scenes. Let me tell you, after a few days of that, it gets a little old.

9) Do you remember any funny moments, being in your role?
There was a scene (which I’m told unfortunately hasn’t made it into the game). Where I recite Shakespeare to a girl in a tower, whom I supposedly “love”. And all the while Henry is looking out to make sure her father doesn’t catch us and kill us. That was pretty hilarious.

10) In a video game you are able to solve things in different ways. How does this combine with linear acting?
Well I do like the multi-option fate aspect of the game. It gives the player control over the world they’re in. This isn’t the case with any other form of entertainment really. It would be very satisfying for an actor to play out different endings to films, as much as it would be for the audience to choose the ending of a film or reaction of a character, who knows maybe that will happen?

11) What do you think about the late medieval period in Bohemia, now that you played a character from that time?
Whenever I think about any time prior to today, I do think how lucky I am to be alive now. We take for granted everything we have. Back then if you cut your finger and it got infected, you might die, and there was very little to be done. Other than chopping it off.
Also, the smells. Can you imagine how bad everyone smelled?

12) How, when and with what game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
I can’t remember what game I first played. Probably an ancient verison of Fifa 97 or something silly. But the games that stick out to me that I’ve played and loved are: Abe’s Odyssey, Runescape, Spider-man (a very early version) and Gears of War.

13) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
Watching a film or a documentary usually.

14) Your favorite music playlist?
Arctic Monkeys. We grew up in the same town and their music was the soundtrack to my youth.

15) Your favorite movie?
Best films ever are:
Nill By Mouth
Lord of the Rings (All)
Barney’s Version
Selfish Giant
Big Fish
Flashbacks of a Fool

16) Your travel tip?
Learn: Hello, Please & Thank you. AT LEAST.

17) What’s your guilty pleasure?
Surely I can’t tell the internet that!

18) Do you have a Bucket List?
I do, it’s very long. The biggest thing is to go to Norway. I don’t know why, I just like Norwegians.

19) What is your weakest trait?
I don’t always wake up early. And I should, it’s wasting time!

20) Knights or Samurai?
Knights

21) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
I really hope that you enjoy the game. I know how passionate and hard working the team are, so it would be a shame if you didn’t, but I’m pretty sure you guys are going to love it.

Do you have any additional questions to Luke Dale? Just ask here!

[DrFusselpulli]

Luke Dale is not available at the moment, but you will find his answers to your community questions here quite soon.

[DrFusselpulli]

Viktor Podhájecký is famous for his colorful beard styles. He was born in Prague in Czech Republic and Joined Warhorse Studios in 2015 to work as a member of the AI team on Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Do you have any questions regarding Viktor Podhájecký? Just ask here!
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse and how did you join?
My first time was during the Kickstarter campaign. I was impressed by the idea of an historically accurate RPG. It took some time to get the job. I graduated and started another school. I was a student of Faculty of Humanities at Charles University but games appealed to me more than the power of humanity studies. Therefore, I applied to Warhorse Studios as a junior programmer and I eventually got on board.

2) Describe your position. What is it about being a AI Programmer?
I’m a Junior AI programmer. I worked on several different tasks throughout my time here at Warhorse Studios. I started with testing because we needed to know if the AI system worked well. My kingdom consists of automated tests, automated performance profiling, some small game features, and I also contribute to some basic AI stuff e.g. system for spawning animals. Around Christmas time there was huge optimization work that was done on the AI system. I was happy that I could help with this and I tried to write some basic parts of our system.

3) Did you ever worked on Videogames before?
This is my first time working in the videogame industry. Before this, I had worked with my father on the development of measurement devices for electroanalytical chemistry. However, my most favorite job was stage hands in theatre

4) Please describe one of your colleagues or your department:
I knew him for quite a long time in college. When C# programmer was needed I wrote him and we met again here in the studio. Mr. Martin Šourek is a great guy with a big heart and he even wears borat pants!

5) What are you currently working on?
Automated profiling. We automatically run the game and measure how many FPS we can get and we also see what we should improve upon. Our department is also working on the console ports right now.

6) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
My most favorite part is the combat system. I believe it is great design and it could be a real challenge to get into and it can also be rewarding to discover how it all really works. It also looks really cool.

7) How, when and with what game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
It was Prince of Persia. We had a PC at home for as long as I can remember.

8) Which videogame character or figure is the best?
James Gastovski from Operation Flashpoint. Why? Because he is damn good!

9) Which videogame character are you?
Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Yep, Assassin Creed is my guilty pleasure. The atmosphere is awesome and the mystery behind the assassin is catchy.

10) What would a perfect game according to your wishes look like?
It could be a proper WW1 shooter. I’m really disappointed about the game design of current WW1 FPS. I would like to play a proper one with game mechanics based on reality, not just the same skin of mediocre games.

11) What game have you been really looking forward to but turned out to be a total disappointment?
Space Engineers. They earned a lot of money and it put them into another project instead of putting more time into the development of the game. They collected a lot of cash but they didn’t bother to deliver the game the way it was intended to.

12) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
Yoga, coffee or a concert. It is the best way to deal with energy deficiency.

13) Your favorite music?
I’m open minded about music. So folk, rock for chill-out. Concerts match well with stonerock. Parties deserve psytrance or techno.

14) Your favorite movie or book?
I always mention the triad. Master and Margaret Sinuhe the Egyptian Roadside picnic

15) What is your kryptonite?
Craft beer.

16) Who is your favorite historical character?
Jan Eskymo Welzl if just 10% of his story is true than he was the biggest adventurer.

17) Which is your favorite historic event?
Project Apollo. It was an insane amount of work. It takes more than 1,400 man-years of software engineering.

18) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
Keep calm and wait for the game!

Do you have any additional questions to Viktor Podhájecký? Just ask here!

[DrFusselpulli]

And now we have the answers of Viktor Podhájecký for your community questions

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

What are the main influence factors of fps drop you have discovered so far?

We discovered performance issue with improperly set weather.
There was up to 100 000 particles and FPS went to 10.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is there any AI behaviour between NPCs?

Yes NPCs do have interactions.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How many variation exists between NPC behaviours?

Many

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How are you modeling the AI-Behavoir exactly? A complex technical explanation is preferred

We use our behavior trees.
Detailed explanation preferred? Ok then take a look at this papers here, here and here.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are every NPC traverses the its complete AI-model or are there any mechanisms, which shortents the traversion process e.g. heurisics.

In usual behavior tree you should travers whole tree before you can perform desirable actions.
We came up with queue based machine for tree execution to be able execute deep trees in short time.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Will the NPCs made also “BAD”-descisons, which will put it into a disandvantage in the first place but can be conveyed to the player. Are there any programmatical bonds between NPCs, which might explain BAD-Decisions.

Decisions of an NPC is driven by behavior. Behavior trees has an ability to model various things.
So it is up to scripters to use them in that manner. It is rather design question than scripting language.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are the AI routines written in such a way that they are compatible with improved timescaling (I prefer timeflow close to real time, and this is especially true when the landscape scales are 1:1)?

AI routines fit into actual timescale. Their change is driven by daycycle planner.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

A setting or mod that I would look to use very near to the release would be a time flow one to set to 1:1 (normal map scaling) or 2:1 (at most (based on scaling from Rataje to Silver Skaltiz)), rather than the faster flows of the existing Beta (15:1), but if the AI behaviour is tied to scaling improperly then this becomes more difficult.

There would be a problem if we increase timescale to the point where some rutines doesn’t have enough time to be executed.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Some of this may already be changed, with the new time of day/skybox changes, but we have no details on that other than the real ‘Spring 1403’ sky configuration and an appropriate day/night split.

Set a time scale of 1:1 should not be a problem from the AI point of view. I’m not sure if it would be fun to play.

[DrFusselpulli]

Jan “Smejki” Smejkal was born in Prague, in Czech Republic. He had close contact to Daniel Vávra from the beginning at Warhorse Studios and joined the team as a Designer very early. Before the launch of the Kickstarter campaign.
Do you have any additional questions regarding him and/or his work? Just ask here!
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse and how did you join?
tl;dr – If you hire me, you’ll end up on Kickstarter
That’s a rather unusual story.
Being a gaming enthusiast, I obviously knew about Warhorse since their very first announcement of, “Hey y’all, we exist! And we’re cooking something…” That was about 2 years before the KCD Kickstarter. When Wasteland 2 succeeded on Kickstarter way back when, I asked Dan on Twitter if he would ever consider launching a Kickstarter and he replied, “Nah, we got the money that we need now.” That of course happened before KCD eventually got rejected by all publishers due to their, “All is mobile now! Nobody’s gonna buy the next gen consoles” craziness. Let’s fast forward a year when Warhorse was seeking some designer talent (while still pitching Kingdom Come to publishers). I was a contributor for the same gaming site Dan Vávra used to write for during his post-Mafia2/pre-Warhorse intermezzo, so we kinda knew each other. Dan asked me if by some chance I wished to give the design test a try. I said to myself, “Yeah, why not. Let’s try the test just for fun.” As it turned out, I was among 6 lucky chosen ones to design the whole thing. Going from a programmer to a rookie designer wasn’t ideal but it was also tempting, so I didn’t reject the offer. A few weeks later I visited Warhorse to sort everything out and they said, “Could you wait a bit? We’re in trouble and we’re launching a Kickstarter shortly. Don’t tell anyone.” Damn was I hit with a massive flashback with that Kickstarter thing. From time-to-time I kinda feel responsible for it.
Well, long story short we eventually agreed that I would join the team by January and help them with the February campaign.

2) Describe your position. What is it about being a Designer or Scripter?
I spent 2 years in the design team writing quests and generally just doing design work.

I have worked as a scripter for over a year now, which is a bit closer to my technical heart. On one hand, I finally get to bitch about my former design colleagues as I turned into someone who has to implement all the unmakeable crazy shit they’d come up with. On the other hand, I no longer own the quests I wrote which I pity a bit. Some underwent major changes by the hands of former colleagues as the design developed further and some, as usual, ended up being canceled for the time being. So that’s it. Designers write and design stuff while the scripters implement it. I’ve lived both of these lives.

3) Did you ever work on Videogames before?
tl;dr - Praise old Fallouts and you’ll be fine
Before Warhorse, I used to work as an operator system programmer for a certain Swiss producer for some special machines. In the meantime, I was a part of the English-to-Czech official translation team for Fallout New Vegas and later I lead translations for the DLCs. And as I’ve said before, I used to be a contributor for one of the largest Czech gaming sites where I mainly reviewed games. I am also a Fallout universe addict so for about 4 years I co-lead the largest Czecho-Slovak Fallout fansite (people from there ‘recently’ released a Fallout 1.5 Resurrection mod. Try it). I should also add that Fallout 3 and 4 are shit not for me. As I’m writing this I’ve realized that this seems to be a good enough background for becoming a designer since Jan “Bodkin” Němec (who also works for Warhorse as a designer) was also working on the translations, and also used to be a programmer and was also a prominent member of the Fallout fandom. We knew each other for years before Warhorse but believe it or not, we arrived at Warhorse completely independent of one another, just running into each other one day saying, “How the hell did you get in here?”.

4) Which job would you not want to do?
I would never want to script any of my larger quests. They were… complex. I would have a hard time trying to resist the urge to kill the author. Some might end up in our future works so I might eventually get killed by my present colleagues who will be assigned to script them. Wish me luck!

5) What is your favorite team activity?
Hermetically seal myself from others using headphones and just write the hell out of the code. Also our occasional LAN parties.

6) What are you currently working on?
I’ve recently finished implementing the very last quest in the game. I can’t wait for the players to get this far and see it in all its glory along with credits and of course followed by pressing “Start New Game” again.
Now I’m working on another main quest by Jan “Bodkin” Němec. Script-wise, it’s one of the largest in the game.

7) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
I am convinced the combination of the theme, genre, and production quality have enormous potential. It would be a shame if somebody used that to create some mediocre boilerplate bullshit.

8) How, when and with what platform or game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
PC. Start to finish. My first games were Warcraft, Sim City, Wolfenstein, Doom, Lemmings, and plenty of others for that era. At the age of 12, my gaming life completely changed when I got my hands on Fallout 2 . This was where I realized that games could be something more than just goals and scores and levels and boss fights and challenges and whatnot. I also realized how pointless the age restriction systems are. Fallout was 18+ and I even played the American version where you could kill kids. IMHO a deep thought-provoking but violent game is more enriching to a child’s mind than some forgettable non-controversial action-y movie tie-in. But I digress. To complete the circle, I finished the new DOOM a few days back. I enjoyed the HELL out of it. I mean it was HELLuva good.

9) What was your most touching video game moment?
I was completely blown away by Spec Ops: The Line but not by what is usually part of the discourse. I have never ever grown to despise a protagonist so much. And that was actually the designers’ goal. Total sync. I enjoyed my hatred. Bigly…

10) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
When a certain group of people finally make the gamedev companies offer a playable old black-maori confined-to-wheelchair, left-eye-missing gender fluid omnisexual, I’m definitely picking that one… as a warrior, of course. Until then I will continue trying to mimic myself and play as a mage if need be.

11) What would a perfect game according to your wishes look like?
The version of Kingdom Come I’m imagining in my head of course. There are still no dragons or magic, but there is a nuclear wasteland.

12) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
That’s an oxymoron! When the day is really hard I catapult myself head first into bed. On a normal day I run about 10km, watch a show/movie, play a game (Witcher 3 currently, Torment is next), play with my dog Ralph or just simply spend some nice time with my wonderful wife.

13) Your favorite movie or book?
Books:
- Robert Merle – Malevil
- Stanisław Lem – Solaris
Movies:
- Children of Men
- 12 Monkeys

14) Your travel tip?
Granada and Ronda, Spain. I’m totally blown away by these places.
Cordóba on the other hand? The former grand mosque was beautiful but the rest of the city was a major letdown.

15) Sport is…
Yes. I totally agree.

16) What’s your guilty pleasure?
Bizzare and facepalm inducing jokes.

17) What was your greatest mistake?
Whatever it was it has been outweighed by what came instead.

18) Do you have a Bucket List?
I guess making a bucket list should be on my bucket list. But I suppose life instead of mere survival is a good thing to have there.

19) What will be your famous last words?
Wait, they’ll be famous?

20) Is it possible to buy you with candy?
Uhm… that’s a strategy I’m using on others! From time-to-time my wife bakes some deliciousness for our department.

21) Who is your favorite historic character?
Can’t decide between Isaac Newton, Leonhard Euler and that no-name guy who introduced Albert Einstein’s parents to each other.

22) Which is your favorite historic event?
a) The destruction of pre-Colombian civilizations by the Spanish. We can only imagine all the things that were lost irretrievably.
b) Doing the same as Kingdom of Bohemia in Europa Universalis.

23) You have to fight in medieval times… who are you? Which weapon do you choose?
I’m using my legs to get the hell outta there.

24) Knights or Samurai?
Maxim gun

25) Where are you born?
I was born in Prague and I spent a third of my life near the place where the next part of KCD is to be situated. I can’t wait to see it come to life in a game like ours! It’s truly a place like no other.

26) What was your favorite subject and your most hated one at school?
Despite being a trouble maker I was always a good student. Ironically I’ve always had an A in chemistry despite me hating it. I find it easy but dull and uninspiring. To surprise absolutely nobody… physics, electronics, automation, math, history, and language were my jam.

27) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
For now you are mainly fanning an idea, partially made up by your own minds. When the final product hits the shelves be fair but definitely judge us. Judge us hard. For that is the only way that we will get better.

Do you have any additional questions regarding Jan “Smejki” Smejkal? Just ask here!

[DrFusselpulli]

Here are Jan “Smejki” Smejkals answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Going from a programmer to a rookie designer wasn’t ideal but it was also tempting, so I didn’t reject the offer.
You have work 2 years as a desinger and 1 year as a scripter at Warhorse, and worked before as a programmer. Is work as a programmer the next step at WH?
Or are you happy to script all the crazy stuff?

I would compare my previous programming job to guys who create tools for us. As you might guess they don’t actually work on the game itself. And when it comes to game development I much more enjoy being closer to the content.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Which games are played at the Warhorse Studios LAN partys?

Games you can learn in matter of minutes fare best. So Rocket League, CS:GO, Team Fortress 2, Trackmania are among the most popular. MOBAs, strategies (AoE2, Starrcraft2), game which don’t allow private matches, games with limited team sizes, and games where loosers have to wait for long time, no matter how much some of us would like to play them, suffer inevitably. We also tried GRID, Battlefield, Overwatch or Unreal Tournament 2004.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is it the quest “neuhof_colliers”? How long will it take to finish your current quest?

https://forum.kingdomcomerpg.com/uploads/default/original/3X/5/7/570fd0835a7c6512ade159ee990c4d40ba7b9d35.PNG

Yup, that’s it. There are many idependently moving parts affecting each other. That’s why it’s so big. It’s a quest where your goal is to find a guy and if you find him right away then about 80% of the script turns out to be pointless.
I took me about 3 weeks to script it.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Can we expect a mod “bohemia wasteland” from you, after the release of the KCD? With zombies/ghouls? Or is WH working on something like that (DLC maybe)? Something like “Undead Nightmare” in RDR…

You‘ve just described DayZ. Literally. It also uses a part of the real Bohemian landscape. This part, to be specific. They just replaced the areas south and east of the river with sea.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

After the last main quest, is the game finished or can we play onwards and discover the world, make sidequests?I think most of the players don´t want a hard ending in a open world game (like in Fallout3)…

The game ends with a cutscene and up until then you can do whatever you want. So it is similar in the sense that the game ends. However in cases like Fallout 3, New Vegas and many others you play the last mission for tens of minutes and are then forced a hard ending upon you. And that’s where we are different – you can do whatever you want until the last minute, not until the start of the last long mission. Also the very-last-autosave-before-ending will be created. You can just reload it and once again be about a minute far from the ending.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

In which part of Prague are you born, and spent a third of your life, exactly?

I was born in this spooky house.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

do you talk about KCD2???

That tease of mine was intentional of course! You don’t want me to spoil it, do you? If you do then I must disappoint you. I’m of course talking about the thing we reffered to as Act2 during our Kickstarter campaign but I don’t know which form the next part of KCD would take, and even if I did I’m not allowed to tell. Simply put the next time you see a new map in some next KCD project and deem the location’s central feature unusual then it’s the place I was talking about.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

In the Beta I can set the t_scale to 0.07, which approximates real time flow, but everything in the engine also slows to this lower rate.

What I want specifically is a 24 hour day, running in approximately real time, with normal flow of time for player and AI entities, but with longer periods of ‘repeats’ of behaviours (where appropriate), such as chopping logs, working in the fields, eating etc, not merely s t r e t c h i n g out the current day cycle over a longer period of slower activity for player and AI.

These are just different variables with confused and confusing names. One (called time scale) sets the speed of game(program) time. If you set it below 1, everything, including animations will be slower. If you set it above 1 everything gets faster. The other variable (called time speed) sets the ratio of game-world-time to real-world-time. If you set it to 15 (which is what we have now) then 1 real-world hour spent in the game will result in simulation of 15 hours of the in-game daycycle. If you set it to 1, the game day simulation would match real world timeflow. If you set it to 0.5 the game day will take 48 real world hour to complete. As it was stated our simulation is really ready for nearly any time speed.

Fun fact: We implemented proper simulation of sun traversal across the sky based on date and geographical position. So, if you set the time speed to 1, move to central Europe, and start playing at the exact time the in-game clock match yours, then movement of the in-game sun across the game-sky should be in total sync with movement of the real sun.

[DrFusselpulli]

Jakub Rous was born in Stod in Czech Republic and he is one of the newer members of Warhorse Studios. He joined quite recently in November 2016 and his main job as an Environment Artist at this stage of the development is optimization and bug fixing in the World of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Do you have any questions to Jakub Rous? Don´t hasitate and ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse?
I first heard about Warhorse sometime before the Kickstarter campaign. I was still in university at the time and although I did do 3D modeling back then, I wasn’t really seriously planning a career in the game industry just yet. It all changed during my 2016 year-long stay in Australia. There I enrolled in an intensive course about game asset creation with industry veteran Brett Briley. That really helped me to embrace all the different workflows and I learned a ton of new things. When I got back to Czech Republic, I tried to get a job at Warhorse Studios and joined the team in November 2016.

2) Did you ever work on Videogames before?
Not professionally. I did some “projects” in Unreal Engine, but those were basically game ‘doodles’. I was always interested in the technology to make interactive stories, so I experimented with it. That’s also why I got into 3D modeling some 10+ years ago, that way I didn’t have to only use models included within the engine for my experimentation.

3) Describe your usual day at the studio?
Usually I arrive at 8am, turn on the PC, start to sync and update processes and then enjoy our excellent (and free!) breakfast. After that I work on bugs and other tasks for another 9-10 hours. We are now heavily focused on optimizing the game as much as possible, so the majority of the work is about tweaking stuff which was already created. It’s not as exciting as creating something new, but the result are worth it.

4) What are you currently working on?
Right now as the rest of the 3D graphics team, I’m working on optimizations. We want you to have the best experience possible not only on PC, but also on consoles. So we are working really hard so the results play as smoothly as possible.
There are also some places that still need a bit of work graphics-wise, so everything will look better than life (of course).

5) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
The fact that you’re not an all-powerful hero that can one-hit most of the enemies. In other RPGs you also start weak, but the sense of real danger usually diminishes over time as you become more powerful. KCD delivers you the feeling of being more powerful than you are too, but you are still in danger of being (very rapidly) dead if you act too hot-headed. You still need to use tactics and be aware of your surroundings even if you have “the best" weapon and armor in game.

6) How, when and with what platform or game did you first get acquainted with videogames?
I first began gaming on Commodore 64, thanks to my older brother who introduced me into it. However, my memories from that time are very fuzzy since I was like 5 years old. My first strong gaming memory is from Wolfenstein 3D and Mortal Kombat (yeah, I played it when I was about 7, loved the fatalities, and didn’t grow up to be psychopath. Lucky me!).

7) What was your most touching video game moment?
The saddest was probably the scene that plays after the death of certain someone in Metal Gear Solid 2 (not gonna be spoiley, players of MGS2 will know which scene it is).
Unfortunately, I cannot pick the best scene, there are so many competing for that title. One of the most memorable scenes for me is also in Metal Gear Solid, specifically the boss battle with Psycho Mantis where you had to switch controllers to beat him. It was the first time that I experienced a game breaking the fourth wall. Psycho Mantis reading my memory card, that scene really imprinted into my mind.

Also, I must at least mention Undertale since it’s my favorite game of 2016. One scene especially caught me off guard. It’s during the genocide route. I didn’t really have the skill (and heart) to clear the game this particular way but couldn’t resist to at least look up some let’s plays. Near the end of the game, our fellow yellow antagonist will comment not only on the character we are playing as BUT also its player (breaking the 4th wall again) as well as people who rather watch it on YouTube than to have the guts to play the genocide route themselves. I guess that counts as breaking the… 5th wall? Mindblown.

8) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
Stealth ranged type. Also, if I have that option, I play with female character rather than male.

9) Are there any videogames you repeat playing over and over again?
Skyrim, Unreal Tournament, Zelda series, Anno 2070. Skyrim mainly because of the extreme number of mods that really prolonged the game life into infinity. The community around that game is absolutely awesome and I love it to death.

10) What game have you been really looking forward to but turned out to be a total disappointment?
Crysis 2. It just wasn’t memorable experience for me at all.

11) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
I usually relax by playing my favorite games or watching silly animal videos on YouTube.

12) Your favorite music playlist
These days my favorite music is soundtrack from the new DOOM. I listened to it at least 50 times now and it still doesn’t bore me. Other times, it heavily depends on mood. I can listen probably to anything except for hip-hop and country.
Some of my other favorites are soundtracks to Legend of Zelda, Age of Wonders, Unreal Tournament, Starcraft (first one only), Silent Hill (Akira Yamaoka is freakin’ genius!)

13) Your favorite movie or book?
One of my favorite movies of all time is definitely Noriko’s Dinner Table from the director Sion Sono. Although it may be a bit unusual, it has a special place in my heart.
As far as books, that would be Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

14) Your travel tip?
Scotland. Especially north east part. But if you’re not fond of chilly weather, then I would recommend Cairns. It’s a beautiful small city on the eastern cost of Australia. Warm sea, tropical islands, coral reefs, yummy seafood. What else do you want?

15) What’s your guilty pleasure?
Topokki or sometimes ‘Tteok-bokki’. It’s a Korean spicy dish that became my most favorite food beat only by sushi. It’s basically fast-food, nothing you would put a ‘quality’ sticker on. But I just love it. I always annoy my girlfriend when I ask her day after day “Can we have topokki for dinner?”

16) What was your greatest mistake?
I had an opportunity to take a big step towards my dream at young age and I didn’t go for it.
And also that I didn’t shave for the photo in this interview.

17) What will be your famous last words?
“The experiment was a major success!”

18) Is it possible to buy you with candy?
With this, absolutely:

19) What is your kryptonite?
Onion. And that’s a bit unfortunate since many Czech foods have onions in them.

20) You have to fight in medieval times… who are you? Which weapon do you choose?
That depends on what kind of fight it would be. I’m usually fond of ranged weapons such as bows, but if that would not be an option, then a spear probably since it can still be considered as ‘kinda’ ranged.

21) Knights or Samurai?
Samurai all the way!

22) What was your favorite subject and your most hated one at school?
My favorite subjects were IT and English. The most hated was physics, which is a bit strange considering that it is my favorite subject to self-study now. I guess priorities do change over time.
My grades in history were just good enough to not fail.

23) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
Let the hype continue, the result will be worth it!

Do you have any questions to Jakub Rous about him or his work? Don´t hasitate and ask here.

[DrFusselpulli]

And here are Jakubs answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

How can you prefer Tteok-bokki over dolsot bibimbap? That borders on heresy …

I actually love bibimbap, never had a dolsot one though. However when I have to choose between that and tteok-bokki, I always choose tteok-bokki! It’s just sooo good I prefer it over everything else

How “interactive” can the environment be? Does the grass move as you move across it? Does the wind blow in different directions? Will there be, let’s say, Rain and storms and such? If I strike a tree will it leave a mark?

Basically everything you said will be in the game and more.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

optimizations:Is this correct?To get more frames, the only way is to lower something. To lower the details, the number of objects, or the textures.Can you describe exactly how do you optimize the grafic?

You are correct that optimizations do lower something down, however it’s not always something that a player can see. For example, one of the things we worked few weeks ago was the creation of an “occlusion proxy”. That is basically an invisible sheet of geometry inside the walls of houses. This sheet’s purpose is that anything that is located on the other side (relative to the player’s location) will not be rendered at all. You will not find out that majority of the world is not rendered when you’re inside the house. But your graphic card and CPU will know, that’s for sure

Another non-destructible way of optimizing is to “merge” things. For example, we are using lots and lots of vegetation. Normally that would heavily affect performance, but we are merging the grass into small groups that are basically seen by graphics card as single objects instead of seeing every individual strand of grass as a single object. It’s a bit more technical, but in the end it saves a lot of resources and you will not be able to tell the difference gameplay-wise.

There are many more ways to optimize the game. Do not be afraid though. We are not really downgrading the graphics. In majority of cases we are just trying to make it so that it uses resources more efficiently

[DrFusselpulli]

Prokop Jirsa is one of the Warhorse Studios designers since the beginning of 2014, before the start of the Kickstarter Campaign. He was Born in the city of the famous beer, Pilsen, in the Czech republic and today he will use his writing skills to answer the call of the Weekly Torch.
Do you have any questions to Prokop Jirsa? Please ask here!
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you join Warhorse?
I joined Warhorse on January 2014. And to this day it baffles me how weird it was.
I was finishing my masters in economics and was preparing for serious job hunting. But as a gamer I was obviously reading all the Czech gaming sites and one article caught my eye. It was about one small Czech gaming company with big dreams. And they were hiring!
Unfortunately, I found out that gaming startups aren’t really looking for people that can valuate derivatives. Weird, isn’t it? Nevertheless, I would blame myself till the end of days if I didn’t at least try to apply, so I chose the one profession that nobody really knows how to do anyway – designer. And here I am

2) Describe your position. What is it about being a Designer?
You are either writing some crazy stuff or dealing with some crazy people. Like all people in Warhorse studios!
The thing about designers in Warhorse is, that you actually do many different things during the development. Designing features, events and quests. Writing dialogues, codex entries and tutorials. Constant playtesting and helping with production. And in the end even directing the voice overs.

3) Did you ever worked on Videogames before?
Not professionally. I joined Warhorse right from the University so I only had part time jobs outside the industry up until then. Quality management implementation for example.
But I did some modding and my ultra short Shadowrun Returns campaign must have been at least promising. They hired me after all.

4) Which job would you not want to do?
You know the guy that has to stand in our hallway for hours in full plate armor every day? Man that would suck. Although I tried talking to him once and he completely ignored me. What a dick…

5) What are you currently working on?
We finally finished most of the voice recordings so I am mostly playtesting and polishing the quests and various features of our game.
This week was kinda like this:
- Two 4 hour sessions of voice actors directing.
- Weekly torch writing
- New dialogues for events.
- Quest objectives, map markers and logs readjustment and polishing.
- Two new tutorials in both the short and long version.
- Overall experience gain design polishing.
- Skillchecks adjustments and testing.
- Alchemy and potions UI design polishing.
- Skillchecks visualization UI design polishing.
- Subtitles lenght adjustments.
- New design and NPC routes for one stealth mission.
- And many other smaller things…

6) What are some of your notable accomplishments?
My quests obviously! Hopefully you will enjoy my weird characters and many possible solutions. Recently I also heard some dialogues I directed with the actors and some of those are really good!

7) What do you like the most about Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
Chicken killing. Really, try that!

8) What is the most difficulty when creating a quest?
To balance what is possible with what is cool. And knowing what will look good after years of production.
The fact that we are (as designers) at the beginning of the whole game production and that our bad decisions could potentially waste huge amounts of company resources can be quite intimidating…

9) Can you tell us about one of your quests without spoiling too much?
Not really… Although I am quite fond of the way you can fail some of my quests and the story still continues. Try enlisting for example and just leave your commander. That was one of the loudest shoutings we ever had in the voice recording studio
Nobody treats you like a hero in our game…

10) What was your most touching video game moment?
The “secret” ending from 2008 Prince of Persia. My god that was beautiful and smart.
Or the revelation of the link between the two protagonists in Game of Thrones RPG.
Interestingly I don’t consider either of those games especially good…

11) Which videogame character or figure is the best?
Kreia from KotoR really managed to question the jedi morality much better than any movies ever did.
And Morte from Planescape. I really loved that lying little bastard!

12) What would a perfect game according to your wishes look like?
Basically Bloodlines 2. Preferably without gamebreaking bugs on release
That game had everything I love about RPGs: Intriguing story with mature lore, excellent and memorable characters, multiple solutions for every quest, with rewards only for completion (so you are not forced to “farm” exp anywhere) and an interesting RPG system and combat.

13) How do you relax after a hard day at work?

14) Your favorite music playlist:
It changes a lot. Currently I am listening to Oxygène from Jean-Michel Jarre.

15) Your favorite movie or book?
Hard to say. But Foundation from Asimov probably influenced me a lot in my formative years.

16) Is it possible to buy you with candy?
Nope, try Argentinian medium rare tenderloin steak.

17) How do you like living in the Czech Republic?
Quite a lot. It is said that living abroad makes you appreciate different cultures and point of views. That is definitely true, but for me it also made me appreciate our culture. The things that I took for granted.

18) You have to fight in medieval times… who are you? Which weapon do would you choose?
I am just an ordinary guy in A-10 Thunderbolt mowing anybody that opposes me with 3,900 armor piercing incendiary shells per minute!
You thought I’d choose a medieval weapon, didn’t you? Heh, I don’t like dying…

19) Knights or Samurai?
Seriously? That would be a blood bath. Medieval knight is an outcome of centuries long arms race in Europe. Samurai were poorly armored, with swords made from very bad iron. Any stronger contact of the swords would result in the katana shattering.
I would even bet on unarmed knight against samurai as he would be near invincible in his armor against samurai sword designed to cut flesh…

20) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
We are really trying hard to bring you something different and original. Hopefully you will love playing the game as much as we love building it

Do you have any questions to Prokop Jirsa? Just ask here!

[DrFusselpulli]

here are Prokop Jirsa´s answers to your community questions:

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Regarding the quests, it’s always nice if there are multiple solutions, so good to hear that. How do they affect the outcome, though? Will there be different rewards, or even some things that carry over into other quests or areas of the game, depending on the chosen solution?

If the outcome of the quest is a historical event it changes only the path to that. If you are smart, it can be easier, or you can get additional rewards for example. In non historical quests we have more freedom, so the whole outcome can change heavily based on your decisions.

Regarding the interconnectivity of the quests – some quests are like that, meaning that some paths in one quests, can close a different quest or even provide a solution for quest not yet started.

But every quest in our game influences the whole reputation system. If you make someone happy his personal reputation influences the local reputation and that influences the whole faction reputation. So if in one quest you make many people happy, skill checks in another quests will be easier. If you are forced to steal some things in one quests, local awareness will rise, more guards will show up and the stealth part in another quest will be harder.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Also, are the different solutions geared towards the different types of character we can play (warrior, rogue, bard - or whatever those “classes” turned into by now), or are they more organic and independent of play-style?

Both. We are trying to offer paths for different playstyles, but those are usually just “paths” to the end. But if there are decisions in the quests they are usually play style indifferent.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

“Chicken killing. Really, try that!”
Has something changed since the Alpha? Exploding chicken? Is killing chicks a crime?

Yep it changes, it’s even funnier now We now have a crime for killing farm animals as well, but i am not sure if chicken counts.

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Is the only way to start a quest by talking dialogue? Or are other mechanism implemented?

Usually you speak to someone, or one quest starts another. But some quests are started in a more original way

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Did we get the same exp. Points for different solutions or if we fail a quest?

You get different rewards for different solution. Also, try refusing the material reward some time, you might get surprised

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are all main quests bound together (linear) or are there also different paths? Is the progress of the story always the same? Multiple solutions of the story, not “only” of the quests?

I won’t spoil this one for you

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Which part of the daily work is the most funny?

Anything that has strong visible outcome in the game fast. I like results

Weekly Torch - the barrel of questions

Are there quests in the game you don’t like, but are implemented for story reasons?

Sure. And not only for story reason. Given the time i would polish for all eternity

[DrFusselpulli]

Tomáš “Bary” Barák, born in Znojmo in the Czech Republic, is one of the programmers for Kingdom Come Deliverance. He juggles the CryEngine code to bring Kingdom Come Delivernace to life and create the base on which the game is built. He joined Warhorse Studios in November 2013, only a few months before the start of our Kickstarter campaign.
Do you have any additional questions to Tomáš “Bary” Barák? Just ask here.
You can find a Spanish translation of this interview here.

1) How did you hear about Warhorse? How did you join?
My colleague from the university told me about the studio. He joined the studio in 2012 I think, and he was really excited about his job. I was really unhappy with my job at that time, so I decided to quit and started working for Warhorse.

2) Which job would you not want to do?
I have done some webs before and I dont want to by a web developer in any form for any company anymore. That was my most boring programming experience ever!

3) Please describe Warhorse Studios:
A bunch of young, talented people, full of passion. My co-workers are, in the end, the thing I like the most about Warhorse!

4) Describe your usual day at the studio?
It depends on the stage of the project. In the beginning we were implementing a lot of new features every day. These days, we focus more on bugs and optimizations, but typically I sit at my desk and work with Visual Studio (which I personally hate). Fortunately there are not many meetings happening anymore.

5) What are you currently working on?
Mostly optimzations of the code. With todays hardware, it’s really important for the game to utilize all resources for most of the time. For example, if you have an 8-core CPU but your code can utilize just one, your game will run 8-times slower than it should run. That’s like 4 FPS instead of 32, whichis a lot! We have achieved most of our FPS by executing pieces of code concurently instead of serially.

6) What are some of your notable accomplishments?
Feature-wise I am responsible for the RPG module of our game. We now have a pretty complex rpg system with cca 500 buffs and perks. We have managed to implement that with a relatively clean code and the system is mostly data-driven – that means easier modding.

7) What was your most touching video game moment?
I remember many touching moments in Warcraft 3 (+ FT), like Arthas killing his dwarf friend. Also, the Diablo series has pretty impressive moments (mostly in cutscenes). My favourite one is with Mephisto (after you kill him) and the gate to hell.

8) Which videogame character or figure is the best?
Gordon Freeman – he never speaks and almosts never shows himself in the game.

9) Which class, gender, or type do you usually pick?
Magic-based characters like sorcerres, wizzadrs, druids and even necromants are my favourite. I usually don’t play paladins and warriors – they are boring.

10) Are there any videogames you repeat playing over and over again?
I have played the old Fallout series (1+2) many times along with Diablo 2 and AoE 2. My favourite multiplayer games are: Starcraft BW, 2 and Unreal Tournament (the first one).

11) Most hilarious bug you have ever encountered or worst video game experience?
The moment when I have learned to make more save files? I was playing Fallout 1 and the game crashed during the save. Unfortunatelly, it damaged the save file which was the only one I had. So, I had to start over…

12) How do you relax after a hard day at work?
Sometimes I play the guitar. I have finished the amazing Lego Bucket Wheel Excavator during this weekend! I rarely watch TV or read books.

13) Your favorite music playlist?
I am a cross-genre kind of a listener. I will list some of my favourite artists here (from all genres I currently enjoy, most important first): Technimatic, Pink Floyd, Underworld, Steve Vai, Dub FX, Kiasmos, Kraftwerk, Iron Maiden, Totalni Nasazeni, Michal Pavlicek (Prazsky Vyber, Stromboli), High Contrast, Above and Beyond, The Cinematic Orchestra, Monkey Business, Dubioza Kolektiv, …

14) Your favorite movie or book?
As I said before, I dont read much nor watch TV/movies, but I have loved the StarWars serises since I was a kid! I have played a lot of StarWars games too!

15) What species is your spirit animal?
This is a strange question. Nobody asked me this before. The first animal that comes to mind is a whale.

16) Do you have a Bucket List?
No, but I have many dreams I wonder why there is no question regarding dreams here? I always wanted to be a scientist working in a secret underground lab, or be a good (not necessary famous) musician.

17) If you could say something to the fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, what would it be?
If you have ever wanted to be a game developer, go now and start working in the nearest gaming company. It is now much easier to join the industry than you might think.

Do you have any additional questions to Tomáš “Bary” Barák? Just ask here.