Morrowind FAQ version 1.5 - part 6
   by Gavin "kathode" Carter (kathode@themasquerade.org)
          submitted with permission by Dave Booth.

Concluded from last issue

Section 17: The Interface

     17.1 Will Morrowind's interface be similar to Daggerfall's?
Probably not similar other than the similarities inherent in the
control of a first person game. Todd Howard has stated that the
interface should generally feel familiar to anyone who has played
a first person shooter.
(Reference: http://www.ga-rpg.com/article.cfm?id=4294 - GA- RPG
Article)

     17.2 Will the look/position of the interface be customizable?
Yes, the interface will be completely customizeable.  Windows can
be resized, moved, turned off, or made semitransparent according
to your preference. At no point in the game is it necessary to
leave the game screen, as you can access inventory, view character
statistics, and manage spells through the onscreen windows.
(Reference:
http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2622 653-
2,00.html - Gamespot Feature)

     17.3 Will the the interface be "layered" or multi-windowed?
Yes, the information will be layered.
(Reference: http://www.ga-rpg.com/article.cfm?id=4294 - GA-
RPG Article)

     17.4 Will time stop while I'm looking at my inventory or
     stats?
Game time will stop when you are reading dialog, making inventory
changes, or viewing your character's statistics.
(Reference:
http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2622 653-
2,00.html - Gamespot Feature)



     17.5 Will there be an in-game map showing the terrain?
Yes, although exactly how it will work is unknown at this time.
(Reference:
http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2622
653-2,00.html - Gamespot Feature)

Section 18: Music

     18.1 Will game music be dynamic, changing depending on the
     situation?
Yes.
(Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi -
Official Forums)

     18.2 What format will the game music be in?
The game music is in mp3 format.
(Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi -
Official Forums)

(Reference:
http://www.gamespy.com/interviews/morrowind_a.shtm -
Gamespy Interview)

     18.3 Who is composing the music for Morrowind?
It hasn't been announced, although team members hint that it is
someone recognizeable. Todd Howard stated "People are usually
surprised when I tell them who's working on the music."  Todd also
stated that music will probably be in the style of 'Gladiator' or
'Conan the Barbarian'.
(Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi -
Official Forums)

     18.4 Will there be separate, "mood" music depending on the
     actions taking place?
There will be two basic music "moods": one for exploring, and one
for battles.  The savvy user can script other music changes with
the editor.
(Reference: ../features/editedlog.shtml - Developer Chat 2)

Section 19: Dialog

     19.1 Can you explain a bit on how in-game dialog will
     function?
The interface is shown well in :
http://morrowind.telefragged.com/screenshots/screen4.shtml#s hot.
The top bar will feature the NPC's name, and the color of the bar
will cycle between red and green representing the NPC's
disposition toward you. A person will speak to you, and the text
of what they say will appear in a box below the disposition bar.
Only the words of the NPC you are conversing with will appear, as
Todd Howard says he thinks it's more realistic if you can imagine
what you are saying rather than be told. The text of the
conversation will be hyperlinked. For example, if someone says, "I
have information on the Grand Council," the words "Grand Council"
will appear in red, and to inquire further about the topic, all
you have to do is click on the word. If you want to ask about
something that isn't actually volunteered by the NPC, there is a
handy button saying "Information" that you can click on to display
a list of available topics.
(Reference:
http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to
Bethesda)

     19.2 With all the possible conversation topics, won't the
     topic list get really long?  How is the team handling this
     problem?
Basically, only the topics that both you AND the NPC know about
will appear in the topic list. You will never get a response that
says, "I don't know anything about that." The worst response you
will get is "I don't want to tell you about that," which happens
if you fail a disposition check. So, for example, let's say you're
talking about the Grand Council. You've previously learned about
the existence of the Grand Council from another NPC, so that
keyword is in your list. When you start talking to another NPC,
your key word list is cross checked with the NPC's list, and only
the topics that match up are displayed in your list. So you ask
him about the Grand Council, and he says, "I don't want to talk
about it". You didn't get any information out of him, but because
the topic was there, you know that he knows something about it.
Maybe you can do a quest for him or join his faction and he will
tell you about it.
(Reference:
http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to
Bethesda)

     19.3 Will there be other options available to me during
     dialog?
The other two buttons available to you in dialog mode are
"Services" and "Persuasion." Services I assumed to be the standard
buy/sell fare. Pressing persuasion drops down a menu with the
options Compliment, Intimidate, and Taunt. Each of these uses
different skills, and affects several different attributes.
Compliment uses speech type skills, and most notably affects
disposition. It can fail, and negatively affect disposition,
though. Intimidate is based on your level/overall power rating.
It is a temporary disposition increase. When you intimidate
someone, they are momentarily more conducive to providing you with
information (modeled as a disposition increase), but the next time
you talk to them, their disposition toward you will be lower than
when you started. Taunt is basically trying to pick a fight.
Fighting in the cities of Morrowind is illegal, and guards will
come after you if you try. However, they will only come after the
person who started the fight, so if you can successfully taunt
someone into picking a fight with you, then you can let the guards
pick them off right in the middle of the city. Those three choices
affect more than just disposition. Todd showed me a chart where it
had each action, and columns for "Increases" and "Decreases" and
there were many things in the chart, but I don't remember many
specifics.
(Reference:
http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to
Bethesda)

     19.4 Will I be able to create my own dialog in the editor?
Yes, see #16.3 - this topic for more information.

     19.5 Explain about the Journal System.  Will it be linked to
     dialog?

The journal system will be in a book format, and will record all
pertinent information you receive about any topic. The journal
features tabs dividing topics up into categories. The categories I
remember are People, Places, Items, and Miscellaneous.  Clicking
on one of the tabs will bring up a list of all topics that you
have information on that falls under that category. Clicking on a
topic will bring up a completely hyperlinked list of everything
you have heard on that topic. For example, clicking on the topic
"Grand Council" would bring up a listing that would include
everything you've heard said about the Grand Council. It includes
the name of the person who said the info, and what they said.  You
can then click on the name of the person who said the info, and
you would get a list of everything you've ever heard about that
person.

:END



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