Gameplay

1. Is it a RTS game, or RPG or dungeon cralwer , shooter ?
   In its heart it is a dungeon crawler in 3d, a rogue-like, with RPG elements. But there are some tweaks. The most important one is, that you are not alone. You can build up a small community of gnoblins, which introduces elements of a RTS game. And no, it is not a shooter.
2. So, you are running around with an army of gnoblins ?
   No, the gnoblins live in your home dungeon. They work for you, but the want payment and they demand some level of comfort. The comfort level is represented by the reputation of your dungeon.
3. So, no gnoblins will follow you, you are running around in the dungeons alone ?
   You can take a single gnoblin with you as companion.
4. Do you only play in a single dungeon ? How is the game structured ?
   You play only in dungeons, but there are several of them. Each dungeon consists of several levels and a certain setting.
5. Why do I need this gnoblins ?
   There’s no town, there are no merchants. The gnoblins are the only one who are willing to help you.
   The most important aspect is the crafting. You find equipment, but with the help of the gnoblins you will be able to craft better equipment, potions etc.
6. Can I only build caves in my home dungeon ?
   No, later in the game you will have the option to change the appearance of your dungeon, e.g. in a more castle like setting.
7. Are gnoblin just an other word for goblin ?
   No, gnoblin describes a fantasy race of its own. There are goblins in the game too.
8. Well, what are gnoblins then ?
   Gnoblins are a mix between gnomes and goblins. They are not as aggressive and dumb as goblins, nor are the as skilled and intelligent as gnomes.
9. What is procedural generated content ?
   
   Procedural content generation (PCG) is the programmatic generation of game content using a random or pseudo-random process that results in an unpredictable range of possible game play spaces.[Quote from pcg.wikidot.com]
10. How is PCG integrated in  Gnoblins ?
    In Gnoblins, besides the standard random loot from creatures and chests,  parts of the level will change when you start a new game.  I started with a complete, maze like generation of the dungeons, but due to running around in a 3d world and not being able to oversee the map like a more traditional rogue-like game, many testers got lost and reported of a too generic feeling of the world. Therefor I changed the generation approach to be rooted in designed content and randomize it.
11. Will the PCG approach of Gnoblins be changed ?
    Based on the current generation approach I will try to expand it in the future. I can’t say to which extend yet.

Permadeath

1. What is perma-death ?
   Perma-death is a game feature, that when your character dies, you will no longer be able to continue playing this character.This is tightly coupled with the save game. The game automatically saves the game state, but you don’t have the option to save/load mulitple states of the game.
2. So, one unlucky hit by a monster and it is game over ?
   Not at once. The game features several difficulty levels. In most modes you will have several lives. If you die, you will respawn until you run out of lives. In easy mode your lives will be reseted at certain stages of the game, in hard mode you will have a set number of lifes for the complete game and in rogue-like mode you will have only a single life.
3. Do you really have perma-death in, and that in the year 2013, why ?
   Yes, once your character finally dies, it is game over. The reason is quite simple, you design and play a game with perma-death in a really different way as a game without this feature.

Art

1. Is this placeholder art ?
   Emm… no, sorry. The quality of the art might improve over time, but expect that the art style will not change dramatically.
2. So, what art style is it ?
   It is a NPR style. NPR stands for non-photorealistic rendering. It contains elements of a cel-shader, utilizes outlines and handpainted textures. The detail level of textures, characters, and environment is low to support this style.
3. The art style is ok, but the outlines give it such a toon look, can you please remove them ?
   You can choose yourself how much stylization you can bear, just go into the options menu an play around with the stylization settings. This way you can turn on/off the cel-shader look and outlines.

Misc

1. What are the system requirements ?
   System requirements are not fully known yet, but Gnoblins should run on the following PC
   • OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
   • Memory: 1GB or more
   • CPU: 2 GHz or more
   • Video: ATI 3xxx or Nvidia 7xxx or Intel HD 4000
2. What is the current state of the game ?
   The game is in the alpha stage. An demo of the game will be/is released in February 2013.
3. What is the difference between alpha and beta stage ?
   A game in alpha stage is not feature complete, content is missing, have more bugs, the art is not as polished as it should be etc.
   A game in beta stage should be feature complete, but you still need to test and tweak the content and game-play.
4. What is your target price tag ?
   In is not decided at the moment, but I think that the final game will most likely settles down in the teens.
5. What about early access ?
   We evaluate the possibility to release it as alpha funding download on desura. You can then get the game and ongoing updates for a lower price tag.
6. Will there be a kickstarter campaign ?
   Kickstarter is currently not planned.
7. You seems to be not a native English speaker, right ?
   Yes, I’m not a native English speaker, but the in-game texts are revised by a native English speaker .

Final thought

1. Are these really frequently asked questions or have you invented them all yourself?
   Not all, but most