Where Winds Meet will be about many things, but one thing is for sure, there will be plenty to experience in 10th-century China beyond the combat.

PC Gamer recently conducted an exclusive interview with Everstone developers. In the lengthy report, a link to which can be found at the end of this article, the Chinese developers go into detail about everything we currently know about Where Winds Meet. What seems particularly interesting is how much you’ll be able to try out in this open-world role-playing game in addition to (or even instead of) combat.

According to the developers, players can stray from the main quest to make a living from healing, trading goods, building buildings and a variety of other jobs for NPCs.

Other players can also request your services in multiplayer mode. The latter will be closely linked to the plot of the game anyway. Also of interest is the impact that changes in the environment can have. As the developers put it, “changes in the natural environment, the gameplay that players can participate in will also change. After a meteorite disaster, players playing different roles will need to work together to solve problems. For example, doctors will need to treat the injured, firefighters will need to fight fires, architects will need to rebuild homes, etc.”

All this can also have a severe negative impact on our character. For example, according to the studio, players could catch a cold “after exposure to alternating periods of cold and hot temperatures” or injure themselves in a fall. The role of the doctor is, therefore, perfectly understandable. However, the game will also be full of less conventional and, in this environment, at least, more surprising activities. For example, the orator or the compere, roles which Everstone also mentioned.

It is particularly interesting to note that the developers of Where Winds Meet have mentioned that players and NPCs can participate in almost every activity described.

It really seems essential to the studio that NPCs are not cardboard cut-outs. They will get involved in the fights and get hurt. “We have introduced an NPC behavior control system based on interest and objective decision-making,” says the studio. “When receiving a large number of events, NPCs can judge the importance of the event and perform appropriate feedback behavior.”

It’s also worth noting the locations where characters and NPCs operate. Everstone emphasizes that the RPG is still in development, but as of now, it includes “a large city, Bianjing City, a large wild area and small towns,” which totals a 20-square-kilometre map. We’ve seen more extensive than that. But more than size, it’s how they fill it with content.

Where Winds Meet has been three years in the making. It will be released only for PC first, with a console version coming later. A release date is not yet known.

Source: PC Gamer