Editor-in-Chief Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff sat down
with Darkspore Executive Producer Mike Perry to find out how Spore's
Creature Creator inspired Maxis to bring a new level of detail to an
action game.




What do you get when you combine Diablo
and Spore? You get Darkspore, the upcoming action RPG from Maxis and
Electronic Arts. If you've ever played Maxis' Spore, then you understand
the allure of using the game's Creature Creator to bring your designs
to life. The development team was inspired to bring a similar level of
customization to the action RPG genre, which led to the creation of
Darkspore's Hero Editor.



I recently had the opportunity to
participate in a roundtable interview with Executive Producer Mike
Perry to learn more about the customization options players will have
at their disposal in Darkspore. Keep reading after the jump for all the
details, and check back with ZAM next week for more in-depth Darkspore
coverage!


To
start things off, I recommend you watch the Hero Editor developer's
diary video that Maxis recently released. It provides a good look at the
customization options that players have at their disposal in Darkspore.




As you can see from the video, there's
quite a bit of variety in the game. In Darkspore, players can collect 25
core heroes, and each one has three different variants. The abilities
and appearance of these heroes are based around five different genesis
types: Bio, Plasma, Necro, Cyber and Quantum. If you fight an NPC of the
same type, they'll do twice the amount of damage. “You're encouraged to
switch between characters and have multiple squads,” Perry said.



According to Perry, players will have
hundreds of thousands of dynamically generated loot items to collect,
which can be used to customize the appearance, stats and abilities of
their characters. These items will be earned through two methods:
regular loot drops and Darkspore's unique chain game mechanic. Here's
how Perry explains the chain system:

"After you defeat the boss, you're given a
choice: keep the loot awarded at the end of the level or forfeit it and
go to another level. The next level in the chain is going to be harder
than the one before it. The more chains you compete, the better loot
you're going to get. There's a risk vs. reward."

Just to be clear, you'll always keep the
regular loot drops you obtain through the campaign. However, you run the
risk of losing all of your “end of level rewards” if you keep pushing
through the chain of levels and are ultimately defeated.



This risk vs. reward in Darkspore is all
about earning epic items to upgrade your heroes. In addition to placing
parts in specific character slots, such as the hands and feet, players
can strip parts of their stats and turn them into customizable detail
items. "It's completely free-form where you want to place them,” Perry
said, noting that you can have up to six different types of detail items
on each hero. He also emphasized that you can change the colors of the
skin coat and pattern coat for each character.