by Fabio Rodighiero, Onrpg Channel Manager
Onrpg: When you started thinking about Freaky Creatures and designing it, which were the main ideas you wanted to develop, the main features you were looking for?
When we first thought about Freaky Creatures we wanted to let people create and customize their own creatures and we wanted enough combinations that people would end up with unique looking creatures.
We also wanted to create an experience that people could get into easily and explore it in their own way. If you just want to build weird creatures you can do that and create a lair for them. If battle is your thing you can jump right into combat.
It was also important that the various parts of the game were easy to understand.
Onrpg: Is there a storyline behind the game and can you give us some hints about it?
There is a storyline and a full universe behind Freaky Creatures. In the far reaches of space humanity has progressed and is no longer run by a government. Instead the Corporium, an assembly of the all the corporations in human space rules. War between humans has been outlawed, all conflicts are resolved by battling creatures for everything from credits to entire planets. Creature trainers are the most valuable commodity and having good ones can make or break a companys success.
Along with the humans there are a wide variety of alien races, some hostile, some friendly others indifferent to humanity. Its a rich universe with interesting characters at every turn.
The main storyline follows Alexx Stargazer his best friend, Miri Soria and the Kurrath, Rarth. Alexxs father mysteriously disappeared and in their search they uncover more than they planned on.
The initial place youll be seeing the story is in the comics available on the Freaky Creatures Community. However, I wouldnt be surprised to see some of the characters make their way into the game eventually.
Onrpg: Considering that a user can create his own creature, character creation seem to be a core feature for the game. How many choices are there?
Creature creation is a big part of the game. There are 3.2 billion possible visual combinations and rising. We have 11 types of base creatures and over 100 parts to customize them with. You can also choose things like theme music so even your creatures audio can be personalized.
After launch well be adding more parts and powers to configure your creature with.
Onrpg: Is there a leveling system for the creatures? How does it work? Will leveling up unlock new features such as new abilities, items etc.?
You can level up your creatures and it does unlock new abilities, items and gameplay features. You can also spend points you get every other level to customize your creature more.
Onrpg: How does the combat system work? What’s the core ideas you wanted to develop?
The combat system is turn based. It was important to have something that was quick and easy to get into yet had a lot of depth for the more experienced player. We took a lot of inspiration from trading card games which have a wealth of strategy and arent depending on ping rate. One of the things we were looking to achieve was to let the player discover many different ways to build and play. There are a lot of different strategies you can use to win a match.
Onrpg: Will the game be just PvP or will there be also some PvE content?
Currently, the game features two major components, battling and the lair. Battling is PVP and Lair is PVE. In the future well be looking to develop out both aspects of the game and add additional PVE and PVP content post launch.
Onrpg: What about the community? Will there be community oriented features (guilds etc.)? Or some social network kind of things maybe?
The Community is an important aspect of Freaky Creatures. We definitely want to encourage people to interact both inside and outside the game. One of the major elements of Freaky Creatures is the community site. Every player has a personal page which they can customize which shows off their trainer, their creatures and their collections of creatures, parts and powers. You can also view pages for each creature a player has which show detailed information on each creature.
The website also allows you to form a Team of up to 5 players. Your team gets its own mini-site, management tools. You can design a logo for your team, pick themes and choose other customization options.
The Lair is a great way to interact with friends too. You can create a custom lair and then open it up so other creatures can visit. Each creature can have a lair.
Onrpg: In the trailer one could see the creatures busy with various occupations. In what ways can they express themselves?
Creatures have dances and a number of emote animations that allow them to express themselves directly. The lair is also a place where a creature can express itself. How you choose to build your lair and what you put in it can reflect how you imagine your creatures personality.
Onrpg: Are you planning to release expansions in the future?
Absolutely. In fact, we already have something very exciting in the works. I cant talk about it just yet but itll be taking the Freaky Creatures universe in an unexpected direction.
Onrpg: What kind of awesome must-have goodies are available for Freaky Creature Players?
I think the most obvious awesome goody is if you buy all the creature figures youll get an 11th digital only creature to use. The only way to get that creature is to complete your set.
Another cool element is pets. Pets act as a companion for your creature. Each pet has a mean and a nice form and they accompany your creatures everywhere.
Youll also be able to buy many objects for your lair from the Creature Club Store with credits you gain from battling and playing mini games. Some of the objects will be rare, expensive and not always available.