The Black & White 2 Mailbag #2

These are answers to the most frequently asked questions we recently received. You can read the previous mailbag at http://www.bwgame.com.

If at the moment you can specify what NEW miracles will there be and what will they do, and what sorts of creatures will you be able to have, and also how big the creatures can get like on the first one the trainer said they can be as tall as mountains and they were not near but the screens for this one make them look twice as big as mountains, so if you can say how big they can grow could you please say how big the original Black and White creatures were as well so we can compare thank you very much. Joe

Hello Joe, you actually managed to ask us at least three questions in one go! To start with the first question: there are two kinds of miracles; standard and epics. Standard miracles are cheaper to cast in terms of mana than epics; and far quicker to charge. Epics are hugely powerful - so we'll focus now on the standard miracles. In Black&White 2 there are six brand new standard miracles and each one of them can be used in two different ways (throw and pour) effectively giving you twelve miracles: Water (Water your fields or drown your foes), Fire (Blast the infidels, incinerate your enemies), Heal (Heal your wounded, show your mercy), Lightning (Electrify the world, blast the land with crackling power), Shield (Protect all within its reach from attack or magic) and Meteor (Rain down red hot rocks upon your foes, obliterate them...). How you use a miracle will determine any alignment change. E.g. pouring a wall of fire in front of enemy troops will block their path, and isn't an evil act. Setting them all on fire however will give you an evil boost!

The following creatures will be available to the player; Cow, Wolf, Lion and Ape, while three unannounced creatures will make an appearance in the story line. Regarding their size, they start at about four times the height of a villager - this is your baby creature. Throughout the game they can grow to over triple that size, provided they are well fed and rested. And they're much, much, much more advanced...

Would you have a more exact release date for B&W 2. On AOLgames it says June 1st, 2005 - I wasn't sure if this was right or not. I would like to know. Soquerdemon

No this is not right Soquerdemon. Basically, if it's not Lionhead Studios or Electronic Arts saying it, it's an estimate. And it shouldn't be taken too serious. Currently all we can say is that we're aiming to finish Black&White 2 as soon as possible and when we have a definite release date, we'll let you know!

Hi Lionhead Studios! I have a question about the villagers. If you are an evil god, will the villagers then be evil to? And what about fields, will they grow better if you are a good god, then if you are an evil god? I apologize my spelling, I'm from Denmark so my English may not be so good... Thanks - Frank

Hi there Frank. Definitely an interesting question and several people have asked it. If you're an evil God then - indeed - your tribe will reflect your alignment. Their clothing, actions and reactions will change depending on your alignment. This is not the only thing that will change of course; the land, the creature, the buildings, your hand, and many other things will be influenced by it. Alignment doesn't have an influence over your fields - what you mean is fertility: certain locations in Eden are better to grow certain crops then others.

Your new BLACK N' WHITE 2 IS awesome. Are you going to show us the devil??? Very great job!!! Jacek

Hey Jacek, it's always nice to see the excitement in ones' email and yours is probably one of the most interesting ones. We are aware that we haven't really shown the evil advisor yet, but ask yourself this, do you really want us to spoil the beans? Yeah, you probably do, so here goes, on your (and many others) request.

Hello, I have noticed that many people on your official forum (like me) wonder if certain epic miracles will be permanent or not such as an earthquake. Will the earth split permanently or not? Like many people on the forum, I LOVE the idea of you having to build bridges across the earthquake you or the enemy has created (as I would really feel like a God who can completely alter landscape permanently). If it will not be permanent, can you please tell "us" how long the earth remains being split? Thanks, Ilyas

Hi Ilyas, this certainly has been an issue in the B&W 2 Community so we feel like addressing this. Taking a strength and direction, the Earthquake Epic Miracle sends a crack through the land destroying everything in its path, swallowing up anything that gets in its way. Fissures open up but these will heal over time, just like the Volcano will heal over time. The length of the effect will vary depending on different factors, and we're continuously balancing and reviewing the length of the effect... And to address the final misunderstanding within our own community regarding this issue : villagers will not build bridges.

Hey Lionhead! I just want to ask about a digging or land shaping feature in Black and White 2. There is much speculation on the boards about one, with the creation of moats and other nifty battle-helping features but do you think you could finally put this speculation to an end? Will there or will there not be a digging feature in Black and White 2? Much thanks. Luke

Hello Luke - just to be clear: there's no digging feature in Black&White 2. We have a special mechanic or feature in Black&White 2 which we call 'physting'. Using this new feature will allow you to affect almost everything in the world; from the land and sea to the rocks, trees, villagers and the Creatures. You will be able to 'scratch' into the ground by moving the mouse fast to each side, while not being a digging feature it does allow for some cool stuff to happen and tactics to play around with. You can even use physting to push rocks down slopes to crush enemy troops; but that's quite an evil thing to do!

I was wondering will there be other alternative ways to grow food (apple trees, orange trees wine grapes, animals, fishing, and corn). To me just having wheat day in and day out isn't sane, or healthy. And in Black and White I didn't really like how the food in the store house was always on the ground in one big pile. Will there be crates and barrels where food is more realistically possessed and distributed in that way? Nils

We completely agree Nils; eating grain every day isn't very healthy! The stuff that grows on fields will not always be grain; the Japanese for example will more likely have rice fields. Especially fertility is something to keep in mind when building fields for your villagers. So in short; yes, there will be different sorts of crops, and there's fish farms as well! There's also wildlife, and these can be picked up and placed in the Store House.