Each player in his life has come across many mods. Some of us will remember how they searched and installed graphic mods for s.T.A.L.TO.E.P. Amnesia fans will recall their favorite modifications, and Skyrim lovers no longer list all the mods that they installed.
Of course, fashion developers could not pass by such a well -known project as Dark Souls 3. Many of us are familiar with mods such as Cinders or The Convergence. But today a new, unique project called Dark Souls: Archthrones appears on the horizon.
And we got the opportunity to interview the developers of this mod.
Or rather with one of the main ones in the development of nobuddy. I propose to listen carefully to what he will tell us.
A: Thank you, I will answer based on what I know
And: What led you to create the concept of fashion, and what sources of inspiration affected your work?
A: Archthrones began as a small solo GOMP project, which planned to rewrite Dark Souls III in the Demon’s Souls universe. With the advent of Big Boss, which controls our pages on social networks, the Archthrones team has gradually expanded and acquired a more unique identity.
And: Have you changed the ENT or just expanded?
A: As a devoted fan, I showed a high commitment to compliance and respect the Lor of the entire series, while developing it in its own way.
And: if they changed it, and if you expanded then in which directions. How much the role was expanded in Laura of the Kingdoms, such as Astora, and Karim?
A: Most of the Laura Archthrones is built around the prerequisite of the meeting with the gods, whom we had never talked before. The presence of these characters from the depths of Laura Dark Souls is explained through our history, since some of them usually do not appear in those places where they appear in Archthrones. We only mention Karim, but at the moment Astora is just as destroyed as in the original games. In Archthrones, characters from these places may appear.
And: When rethinking Laura, you relied on your own interpretation or used the interpretations of other people, for example, video bloggers on YouTube?
A: Archthrones in no way is completely my own interpretation of Laura Souls. There are some theories that I believe, but I do not necessarily adhere to the for the subject of the theme of the fashion and the proposals of our team. As an example, in Dark Souls II we tell us that no one remembers whether Hade is the name of the land in which the kingdom was built, or the name of the kingdom itself. In Archthrones, we present two potential answers to the question of where the Hide name comes from, and allow you to decide which one is the answer for you. I am a participant in a small, but fanatical community of lovers of Fromsoftware games and their Laura. My interpretation of Laura is based on the discussions that are held in this community. I also believe that YouTuber, Kltorskh, make videos dedicated to the Laura of Games, have a great influence on the community and its perception of the Laura of Games. However, our rethinking interpretation of Laura in Archthrones is more inclined to fan fiction, which is the usual fan of Laura. When it comes to writing projects like Archthrones, it is necessary to compromise so that certain elements and features make sense in history.
And: Will the storyline of the Fashion will include old gods, such as the All -Council Lloyd?
A: Yes, and many others. We have already revealed that old man McAf, the god of medicine and drinks will appear in Archthrones.
And: What changes were made to the gameplay compared to the original game?
A: In Archthrones, the game process will be mostly similar to vanilla DS3. Certain types of enemies that can repel attacks will be added, and the player will have the opportunity to do the same.
And: how much content have you borrowed from each part of the "Soulsborne" series?
A: The amount of content borrowed from each game can probably be calculated, but, it seems to me, we do not need to measure this parameter. We take what is best suited for the content created by us.
And: how many remote content was restored for fashion?
A: Archthrones not about carved content. If there is a cut content that we consider suitable for our needs, for example, as an unused type of enemy, we will use it.
And: how much the financially costly creation of the project and how much support from fans through the Patreon and Ko-Fi platform helps to cover these expenses?
A: Archthrones is created by volunteers as Casino Purple a project in which they invest all their passion. We all have the main works or we learn. Archthrones is created in our free time! Patreon and Ko-Fi are mainly designed to support team members who are difficult to cope, but they do not bring enough money to help everyone. Money is mainly used to order from members of the modding community who are friends with our team, creating modding tools that we need to complete the project. Sometimes we use them to order work from artists.
And: how many people in the team working on modification, and how this team was formed? Tell us about the formation of the project.
A: The Archthrones development team has about 90 participants who are part. Most of us were scored by Big Boss, our social media manager.
And: did you have thoughts about developing from a mod for Dark Souls 3 into a separate project and create your own game?
A: The demo version of Archthrones will be released this year, but to complete the entire fashion will require at least one or two years. Of course, some members of our team have dreams of creating their own game, including me. There is no doubt that the members of our team will gather again somewhere in the future or even begin their own third-party projects that are different from Archthrones during development.
And: besides the main questions, we would also like to get answers to some questions from the team members. We ask you to share your thoughts and experience on the following issues:
A: Most of our teams are experienced modders who have been modifying games for a long time.
And: What experience do the developers have in your team? Does any of them have experience working on large projects in the gaming industry?
Pear: As part of the FromSoftware modding community, I processed the Flver Editor program into a completely new tool that almost everyone is still using, including Archthrones and Convergence. I also created an automatic icon generator for creating a 2D graph for Dark Souls III and Elden Ring, which was also widely used. All these projects, of course, were quite complicated, as they demanded work with different people to collect and synthesize information in order to create useful tools.
And: What projects and sources of inspiration influenced the artists and inspired them to create original images within the framework of this modification?
FreemathieoRoy: Dark Souls itself serves as a source of influence, since we strive to supplement its special artistic style and atmosphere. We study the visual design of the Dark Souls series and its additions to ensure a seamless combination of our fashion with the existing game world. However, we also strive to introduce our own creative ideas and unique designs in the mod to provide players with fresh and fascinating impressions.
Siri Canis: Yes, I have the same story as Salva (FreemathieoRoy). I also wanted to study FromSoftware styles more, especially with the concept of phoenix. I really tried to adhere to Wyba 3 + 1, but in other moments I allowed my own style to manifest itself, and my affection for Final Fantasy definitely influenced some designs, oh, but it turned out not so badly
And: how difficult is the technical development of fashion for this game, for programmers?
A: Everyone unanimously agreed that the development of fashion is a big task, but not terrible. Our team mainly consists of experienced Dark Souls moders, such as Pear and Freemathieuroy.
MintedCopper: I believe that we are not doing something particularly complicated from a technical point of view. This is a huge amount of work, which has already been done at least as evidence of the concept, just on a huge scale.
And: What is it like to manage such a team and make decisions that determine the direction of the project?
A: Archthrones was founded by GOMP, and the team was formed by Big Boss. We can be considered the "leaders" of the project, and it was difficult for us to learn how to coordinate and manage the team. We are faced with difficulties at the beginning of work on coordination and management, but since then we have learned from mistakes. I feel quite competent for managing such a large project, since I am the head of the team of artists, the voicing team and the scriptwriter team. Big Boss currently organizes the main development teams, and GOMP spends most of the time creating tools for modding.
And: who is responsible for the creation and composition of the soundtracks in fashion? And what is it like to work on the soundtrack?
A: At the moment, Archthrones has received permission to use Alekh Roy albums "Darksign 1" and "Darksign 2". However, we also received musical contributions from participants with Nicks ZY and SOLASCOPOSER.
P.P. I will leave below the link to playlists:
And: Now let’s move on to more specific issues. I noticed that the idea of a flame god is outdated. However, I would like to know if the concept of this boss in the current version of the fashion is preserved?
A: Many bosses that we showed in very old videos before determined the clear direction of the fashion were processed and improved. The idea of the god of flame, flanna, still exists in the current version of Archthrones, but is not the main trick in history.
And: What is the matter with the preservation or change of all outdated materials in the current version of the project? Whether they were fully preserved or subjected to changes?
A: I will not speak specifically, but we have not removed a single battle with the bosses that have already been previously shown. We have only greatly changed them or plan to make changes to them.
And: how many new storylines and quests were added to the mod, and are there any plans for further expansion?
A: Archthrones tells an alternative story that is different from the original DS3 story, but with a similar prerequisite: the plot’s basis also lies in the fact that Prince Lotrick refused to burn fire.
And: How many new weapons and spells were added to modification, and are there any plans for further adding such content?
A: We cannot provide specific numbers, but the game will have a reasonable amount of content.
And: Are there any conceptually new samples of weapons and spells that allow players to discover new combat strategies against enemies?
A: You have to wait to see.
And: How did you solve the problem with almost unstable equipment in the game?
A: Our goal is not to change the main game process DS3 too much.
And: what role does the character of the cutter play in the project?
A: The character who uses the cutter as a sample is a merchant who replaces the maid at the temple. And he has his own storyline.
And: How does the rain mechanics work in the game? It changes dynamically during the game or limited by certain locations?
A: weather conditions are specially assigned for certain areas.
And: how well the locations from the second part of the game will be integrated into the plot of the modification?
A: Locations and assets from various games of the Souls series are placed on the map, and then complemented by other ARONTHEBARON Assets. I think he does an excellent job!
And: Is the possibility of customization of the game interface is provided in the mod?
A: Archthrones have a new user interface (UI), but this is an optional change.
And: Personally a question that is very exciting me, whether the cut quest with the knight of the ice was restored and included in the modification?
A: Unfortunately, at present we have no plans for the appearance of the silver knight of the ice.
And: Thank you for participating in our interview. We value your time and valuable information that you have given to us. We will be happy to learn about the further development of your project and hope for a successful result. Good luck to you and your team in all your creative undertakings!
As you may have noticed, he avoided a direct response, and this is due to his reluctance to reveal the details of the content of the mod in advance.
P.WITH. If you notice a mistake in the article, feel free to write, without an editor, I will fix it.
Bonelord, Shtein, Lebedev Mikhail, Evgeny Shlyapnik. Thanks for the help.
