Laidlaw: Talking to our Art Director, Dean Andersen, he noted the following: “We looked at hundreds of dragons represented in popular fiction and art. Where did the look of your dragons come from? From fantasy book covers or paintings, to Phil Tippet’s serpentine Dragon Slayer.
Vitka: There are obviously a lot of dragons and other mythical creatures in the game, but there are also a wide variety of dragons in the lore. A big part of that, of course, is asking ourselves “what would this have been like if there had been magic?” The end result is almost always interesting.
The key, of course, is to run those historical fueds, wars, and dynasties through a filter and make them fit together in new and interesting ways. Laidlaw: Historical! History offers so many rich political and military scenarios, so many cultures that we can see both rise and fall, and so many “moments” that are truly epic, it would be a shame to try and create something out of whole cloth. What kind of research went into creating the Dragon Age universe? The universes are expansive, deep and seem to have a life of their own – even the most minor non-playable character suits a purpose and is the result of intensive research. Vitka: BioWare could easily be considered royalty when it comes to RPGs.
In the end, I think Dragon Age: Origins hits those notes, but does so with a slick new interface that new players will find intuitive, whether on PC or a console. That sense that you’re on an epic quest, surrounded by characters that feel fully realized and embroiled in tough but rewarding fights that make you think about your tactics. Our goal was to create the same feel as the Baldur’s Gate games. Laidlaw: It’s larger than just the combat. Vitka: What precisely do you mean by ‘spiritual successor’? Is it with regards to the tried and true combat system? A setting like that makes the adventure our main character, the Grey Warden, experiences that much more compelling, because he or she is dealing with the fantastic in a more mundane world. The team was also keen to work in a style we think of as “dark fantasy,” and develop a setting where magic is less common, the day to day is more gritty, and the world feels more grounded. Laidlaw: While we loved working in the Forgotten Realms, Bioware felt it was time to develop our own world. What prompted the decision to stray from the D&D universe? Ray Muzyka has described Dragon Age as the spiritual successor to the Dungeons & Dragons-based ‘Baldur’. Vitka: The Baldur’s Gate series – aside from being wildly popular – set a new standard for Role Playing Games.
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