BU Interviews: Secret Level
Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds
Developer: Secret Level
Publisher: Atari BU: How does designing MTG:BG battle arenas differ from, say, designing UT 2003 levels?SL (Josh): Well, we ripped out the visibility system that Unreal uses. We have no zones or any real BSPs. It makes some things easier; the artists just have to worry about the floors, the decorations, and environmental particles. However, what sounds simple can get very complex when they try to light things. Since the polygon density is much higher then you’d normally have, there is a lot of tweaking.BU: How has Wizards of the Coast, the developers of the MTG card game, been involved in the development of MTG:BG?SL (Leif): WotC definitely had input in this project as they are very protective of their IP. Everything we did had to go through them. They really wanted us to use popular spells that Magic players would recognize.BU: In the card game, there are literally hundreds of cards to choose from. How did you decide what spells would eventually make it into the computer game, and how did you approach keeping gameplay balanced?SL (Leif): When choosing spells for Battlegrounds, we’d basically look for spells that had a fun game mechanic and they had to look amazing. WotC would either approve it, or throw it out, depending on if they thought Magic players would take to it or not.Of course, WotC has a lot of experience with testing spells, so they gave us some tips of what to look out for. We put together a testing department and made sure everything was close to balanced before we started creating the art assets. Only a few times did we have to throw out a spell that got fully created.BU: MTG:BG, while based on the card game, is fundamentally different in many ways. How early on did you decide on the things you did not want to put in to MTG:BG, as well as add capabilities (like shields, blocking creatures, etc.) that are not in the card game?SL (Leif): When we first started prototyping the game, we nearly tried to use all the rules and gameplay mechanisms the card game consisted of. After numerous attempts to simplify the game with HUD designs, we realized that incorporating everything from the card game didn’t always translate over successfully. I think the first thing we took out was playing “Land.” Instead, we changed that feature to running around the arena and picking up mana balls which spawned from the arena. When we took out creature targeting, that is when the game really took off.BU: What dictated your decisions on these items?SL (Leif): Our earlier versions that included creature targeting, graveyards, and playing “Land” cards kept the players eyes focused on the HUD too much and not on the action. We had to simplify the mechanics from the turn-based card game to make it a fast paced, on your toes, down to the wire, action fighting game. Playing in real-time and a 3D environment enabled us to introduce new game mechanics and strategies that were not capable in the card game.BU: Did you seek out the opinions of the vast MTG card game community during the development process?SL (Leif): Absolutely. We definitely wanted to go after the Magic card player, as well as introduce new video game players to the game. We set up user feedback forums with hardcore Magic players and just regular video gamers. Those sessions gave us a lot of useful feedback and a feeling that we were on the right track early on in production.