We have had the chance to field some questions to Crescent Moon Games Russ and Josh all about their long awaited RPG title Ravensword: The Fallen King. The game is due to be released on the iTunes App Store for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch very shortly. The interview also contains some exclusive new screenshots from the game.

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Techulous: What have been the influences behind Ravensword: The Fallen King?

Crescent Moon: Adventure, Zork, Zelda, Wizardry, Morrowind, Oblivion, Gothic, Fable… Stuff like that. I’ve been a Zelda fan since day one. Some people are saying Ravensword is a lot like the original Gothic -- which looks to be true (scaled down to iPhone size of course)

Techulous: Do you have plans for a sequel yet, or perhaps some new content in the future?

Crescent Moon: We plan on doing an update that will contain Chillingo’s new Crystal Network, and then after that there will be an expansion pack which will have a lot of new content and possibly some (multi player)We are already concepting the expansion pack, and there will be Elves in it…

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Techulous: What problems have you come across bringing what seems like a very detailed RPG to the iPhone/iPod?

Crescent Moon: We had to plan out very carefully the character poly counts, texture sizes, etc. We wanted it to look great, and have real light sources, which it does, but we had to make it so the world is broken up into zones that load as you go in between them. It works perfectly this way - we can add as many new areas as we want, and it won’t slow it down.

Techulous: Have you come across any technical hurdles in making sure the game runs well across all iPhones and iPod touches?

Crescent Moon: Having to tone it down for the older phones is tough. We originally planned it as a 3GS game but realized that we would have isolated most of the iPhone market with that plan. So we’ve been doing things to optimize for the older phones. Its still not perfect, but people will be able to play Ravensword on the older phones now.

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Techulous: How long have you been developing games for?

Crescent Moon: Professionally, for about 2 years. (Russ) Same with me (Josh) Ravensword started over 2 years ago. Russ was a network programmer, and I was an Art Director, before starting this project.

Techulous: Can you give us any examples of missions you will take part in during Ravensword: The Fallen King?

Crescent Moon: Some of the main missions have you retrieving items for people, saving fair maidens, battling powerful boss’s, etc. The side missions consist of herding sheep, killing imps, collecting animal hides, and more.

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Techulous: What are you most proud of in Ravensword: The Fallen King?

Crescent Moon: The hugeness of it, and the fact that so much of it is outdoors.  It’s fun just to roam around in and find things. We’re amazed that we were able to put a game of this size out for the iPhone. Its a battle cry to the bigger studios that the iPhone is a real gaming device, and that they should take notice.

Techulous: You have spoken before that you would like to do Ravensword Online - has there been any movement on this front that you can talk about?

Crescent Moon: Russ and I have been discussing this lately at length. I think we have an idea of how to do it -- we’re waiting to see how the first release pans out before emptying our (already) diminished bank accounts on the online version. So the answer to your question is -- yes we are thinking about it. Sounds like a really good challenge for 2010.

Techulous: Thank you both for your time and everyone here at Techulous look forward to seeing Ravensword on the app store and on our iPhones as soon as it is released!

Ravensword: The Fallen King is to be released exclusively for the iPhone and the iPod Touch and is published by Chillingo

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