Sharky Extreme: Is the world of Arcanum where you see the typical RPG/D&D style world eventually going? After all, it is hard to believe that there aren't any technological advances—UNLESS you think that magic is holding it back?
Leonard Boyarsky: I think this is definitely where we think a D&D style world would evolve into if an industrial revolution came along. If you're asking if more games will add these elements in, only time will tell.
Sharky Extreme: Other games have mixed technology and magic with "mixed" results, such as TA: Kingdoms and more successfully Thief and Thief II. What do you think is the fundamental balance to have both fairly advanced technology and magic co-exist?
Leonard Boyarsky: In terms of the logic of a game world, you need to have the world in a state of flux, so that even though it would be difficult to have both equally powerful for a long period of time, one could be losing power while the other is gaining….
Sharky Extreme: Does the technology mean that magic is less powerful? How hard is this to keep the game balanced?
Leonard Boyarsky: Magic in itself isn't less powerful in and of itself. Technology is just a different type of power for mages to deal with. Either can overpower the other, dependent upon the skill of the user. Magick has definitely lost a lot of its political power at this point in Arcanum, though.
We're in the process of balancing the two right now. We feel very confident that though they will feel different, there will be a good balance in Arcanum between the two forces.
Sharky Extreme: There are some anarchistic elements in the game-such as how there are black powder weapons but yet the aircraft seem to have machine guns-but this also makes the game have more of an out of time feel to it, how intentional was this?
Leonard Boyarsky: We like to play with people's perceptions of what they would expect to see in a certain setting. I think it makes the experience that much more interesting.