Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Q&A

We recently talked to Cinemaware's Morgan Gray, the lead designer of the upcoming game Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown. The game is based on the original Defender of the Crown, which was released in 1986. The new game features the same combination of action, strategy, and adventure as the original game. You assume the role of Robin Hood, and you must save England from the tyranny of the cruel Prince John. We talked with Gray about the game's history, its unique combination of elements, and what kind of new features it will include.

GameSpot: First, how did Cinemaware come to begin development on a new Defender of the Crown game?

Morgan Gray: Defender of the Crown was Cinemaware's premiere title; it was not only the first title the company released in 1986, but it was also the best selling (at over 1,000,000 copies over several formats) and also the most graphically advanced game for a number of years. Defender of the Crown is considered a true gaming classic, so it was a natural decision for us to restart Cinemaware by bringing the game back in a new iteration featuring everyone's favorite hero, Robin Hood. Robin is known by virtually everyone in the world; his virtues and abilities make for a very compelling hero, and since he had a minor role in the original game, we thought it was an excellent opportunity to make him the lead in this new version.

GS: How closely will the new game follow the original Defender of the Crown?

MG: The basic structure of Defender of the Crown served as the foundation for Robin Hood. The recipe remains the same: Take one part conquest, one part action minigames, and one part cinematic presentation, mix well, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, let cool and serve. Robin Hood: DOTC matches the core structure of the original game. The player, as Robin Hood, must bring peace to England by waging and joining a civil war between rival lords. Throughout the game, the player will be placed in the heat of the action in various minigames that allow the player to perform a number of different objectives. The catapult, joust, and sword-fighting minigames all make their return, albeit in a much updated fashion. Combat between armies still takes place, and the player must risk life and limb to rescue fair maidens. We have added a number of new minigames that capture the feel of the period and the character of Robin Hood. The map has been made larger and is now presented in 3D.

GS: What kind of new features will the game include?

MG: We have added a number of new minigames such as mounted archery, where Robin Hood is on horseback chasing down caravans and other riders. The player has to use his bow to shoot the caravan guards off the horses and the caravan drivers. There is siege defense where the player defends his castle against enemy catapults and enemy troops scaling his walls. Mace combat has been added to jousting, so players can challenge (or be challenged [by]) their opponents to duel with maces and flails. The interface has been designed to contain more RPG elements where Robin works with various characters, each with unique game properties. We have expanded the strategic elements, making the map larger and more detailed. Special events now occur, [which] prompt the player for action. The game now features a number of goals, with the player receiving a unique ending based on the number of goals he has achieved. That's a short list of some of the new additions.

GS: The original game was a blend of strategy, action, and adventure. What genre will the new game most resemble?

MG: Interesting question. The game contains all three of those elements in near equal proportion. At the office we feel that the game doesn't fit inside a particular genre. The previous Cinemaware games were the same way, what genre did they fit into? At the time of their release, genre classification wasn't that important in games. I'd say Robin Hood fits into the Cinemaware genre. We also focus a lot of attention on the story, drama, and romance, because these provide the motivation for players to spend time with our game as opposed to other games. Players that like a healthy mixture of gameplay types or get bored by repetitive games of a single type will really enjoy what we are putting together.

GS: Will the graphics of the game relate at all to the original?

MG: Thematically yes. The hardware we have at our disposal today is light-years ahead of what was around when the original title was released. We are doing more visually and cinematically than what was done in the original. Some of the same shots and angles will be replicated using our existing graphics. There might even be a falling star or two in the night skies. I think the relation comes from more of a top-level perspective. At the time the original Defender of the Crown was considered a hallmark in game graphics, we intend to continue that legacy today. We are also paying a lot of attention to art direction, and building a game that reflects a distinct art style and strays away from the typical video game look and feel.

GS: Will the game appeal to people who never played the original Defender of the Crown, and if so, how?

MG: Our design goal from the start was to reach both original fans and players who have never heard of the original game or Cinemaware itself. For us to be successful as a business, we must reach a newer, wider audience, while still staying true to our original supporters. At first blush this may seem like a difficult feat to pull off, but we see it as a very feasible challenge. First, the game has been designed to be extremely intuitive, from the main interface to the control schemes used in the minigames; everything the player must do just makes sense. Also, the game is graphically rich and features a compelling storyline that will help players get into the gameworld. The character of Robin Hood is known throughout the world, when a person sees a game with that name on the box, they already perceive [that] the game contains Robin's character traits like action, high adventure, romance, and theft...I mean...um...charity. Most of all the game is fun. I think anyone who plays the game is going to have a blast, independent of age or gender.

GS: Can you tell us more about the different characters that will be featured in the game?

MG: During the course of the game, the player will be introduced to a whole host of characters. Some characters, like Little John, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Will Scarlet allow the player to perform a number of game activities. They become a part of the main interface, allowing the player to access them. The player will square off against a number of less-than-savory types like Sir Guy of Gisbourne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and, of course, Prince John. There are a great many more characters that the player will interact with, and not every character will be a part of a given game (some are generated randomly at the start of the game).

GS: What kind of environments will the game include?

MG: The game will feature a ton of environments for each minigame. In the catapult minigame, for example, the player could be attacking a castle located near a waterfall or a castle built in the middle of a lake. The sword-fighting minigame has the player fighting through dungeons, hallways, throne rooms, and the top of castle battlements. The player will conduct raids in Sherwood Forest and attend tournaments being hosted at grand fairgrounds. One of our goals is to constantly provide interesting new locations for the player to visit. Our environments change to reflect seasonal change or weather and, of course, time of day. In the end I think this will help convey the epic feel of the game and keep players interested in seeing more.

GS: How far along is the game, and when can we expect to see it released? Will Cinemaware be the publisher?

MG: We just finished an interactive prototype that shows how the map, catapult, and joust gameplay work. Even though the prototype is meant to be a basic sketch of the full game, it is already fun to play. We're all pretty happy with how it turned out. The only problem with it is I'm still not as good as the other guys at joust. We are currently coming to the end of our preproduction phase. In the next few weeks, we are going to start bringing the game to life. We are currently shooting for the second half of 2002. We are currently in negotiations and hope that we can announce a publishing partner very soon.

GS: What parts of the game is the team currently working on?

MG: We just finished the initial design of the game. Our programmers are working hard on our graphics engine and code foundation. Our artists are working on character design, model sheets, and color codes for the game. Basically we are laying a strong foundation so we can get to the task of making a great game, and we will be hiring additional team members over the next several months.

GS: Thanks, Morgan.