Tales of Pirates: Designing the New Phyllis Crusader
Tales of Pirates has gone through four major upgrades: the Spring Town, Union Guild War, Paradise Found, and Frozen Relics. Within a few days of the release of the latest update, the developers received some suggestions and critiques from the media and players. After carefully considering the feedback, the ToP Team decided to make some modifications to the current version of the game. Developer Zorro spilled the following details about the newest addition to Tales of Pirates.
In Tales of Pirates we have four character types and six classes, but players cannot choose from every potential combination of character and class due to some restrictions. For example, a female Phyllis character is not allowed to learn the Crusader class due to gender limitations. As our player population has increased day after day, more and more Phyllis fans have voiced their desire to break the Crusader gender barrier. When we began to consider making classes available to all characters, naturally the Phyllis Crusader was the first on our list.
From redesigning character graphics and movements to opening up new abilities for the character type and all the testing each step required, here are some of the challenges we have worked to overcome in developing the Phyllis Crusader.
First we had to overhaul the Phyllis Crusader's body shape. Phyllis is a sweet female character, but the Crusader class requires a more elegant, confident and refreshing look, blending magnificence with tenderness.
The second step was modifying her action effects. Phyllis was originally designed to have only one weapon, but Crusaders can wield two swords. After adding Crusader weapons to Phyllis, we had to painstakingly test each motion, like running, launching attacks, casting spells, and much more. We had to make sure each movement looked good while maintaining the elegance of Phyllis rather than the bold movements of a Lance character. We even thought to create a brand new Crusader module, exclusive to Phyllis, which players may find more attractive. So far, all the action testing is done.
Next we moved to the issue of setting up the system to work with new character/class combinations. One problem was unlocking the equipment limitations for the characters. Though it may seem like a simple matter of flipping a switch, it was in fact a big and complicated project. In addition, we needed to change and reset all the data for Phyllis body-shaping and movements. Finally, we had to add Crusader quests to the Phyllis character, as well as the required skills.
This is by no means a detailed list of all the work that was done, but now the new Phyllis Crusader is almost finished. Even this success is just a small step for us on the way to opening up all classes to our characters, but we enjoy the work and look forward to giving our players more choices. The entire team deserves thanks for a job well done thus far, and even more important, our sincerest gratitude goes out to all our players for their continued support and feedback. Without you, all our efforts would be for nothing.
