Q: Can you tell us about the team that worked on it and how much time did it take?

We were 3 at the beginning and gradually we increased the team to reach more than 25 persons.
Research on the game began in 2001 and the first “code lines” were created in 2002.

Q: What were the main phases of the development?

First, I have designed the main features of the gameplay. I have been inspired by the board game “Dungeon & Dragon” for the turn base concept. We have been also influenced by games like Diablo (for the items). Then, Camille and Boris have started encoding the first lines of the program. At the beginning, DOFUS was a much smaller project. As we were going along we reached the limits and went further. At the end of 2003, we began the Beta-Tests. Those beta-tests were special, as only basic features of the game were implemented. During about one year, we have added new elements. Thus the player that took part to the beta tests gave us their opinion and helped us to improve the game.
Of course, we had our opinion on what we wanted the game to be, but it was really interesting to get ideas and proposal from outside the studios.

Q: Can you talk us a little about the settings of the game, and the background story?

The story is quite classic for a MMORPG; a heroic fantasy universe in which a drama caused the chaos: the disappearance of the “DOFUS”, 6 magic dragon eggs.
Adventurers from different classes hunt for those DOFUS. Their goals are diverse, from the hero that want to bring back peace in Amakna, to the vile hunter that want to control the province. Gradually, the adventurers understand that greater powers are already fighting to take over the control of Amakna and that this is influencing the fauna and flora.
Even if the story is much “roleplay”, we wanted to offer something funnier or at least more “accessible”. I think that humour permit people that are less sensitive to role playing games to be interested in DOFUS and to have fun.

Q: What are the main objectives of the game?

The main aim of the game is to recover the 6 eggs. But this is the starting point only; the players have also to find the secrets hidden in Amakna and finally take part to the combats between the different powers. There are also side objectives/aims like becoming a real inhabitant of Amakna or take part to the activities of the province.

Q: What are the basic requirements for playing the game? (cpu, video, network etc...)

Except if your computer date from the Middle Age, it is possible to play DOFUS with any computer connected to the internet. As DOFUS graphics are in 2D, you do not need the latest video card. As a minimal requirement to play DOFUS, we recommend a PC with a 1 GHz processor (800 for Mac), 128 RAM, video card 2D, a sound card and an internet connection (RTC). Some persons even play with worse configuration.

Q: How does subscription work and what are the services that you offer?

The subscription costs USD 6.9 per month. It permits to keep access to all the features of the game after the end of the trial period. The access to new versions and updates is included. It gives access to all the servers.
The free version permits to chat with all the community members, to visit the world of Amakna and discover its features. However, the combats and other advanced features (trade, crafts…) are not activated.

Q: Was the game completely planned before starting the development or did you add new ideas and options as you were working on it?

No, we had set a plan on the long term regarding the characteristics we really wanted to include to the game; however, a lot of elements have been added or created just as we went along. When we implement the plan, new, non planned ideas came out.

Q: Large works like this usually require rigorous project management. How did you coordinate the team of designers and developers?

Even if we become attached to our freedom, with the increase of the size of team we have to organise more rigorously. We have now to plan our actions more in advance. While developing DOFUS, we gradually set up working procedures in order to improve task management (designing, updates, localisation…). It is not perfect yet but we constantly make progress.

Q: Did you use specific softwares for the project management? Which would you recommend?

We have now our own project management tools: a map editor, administration consoles for the different elements of the game… We use the opensource software Eclipse for the programming and Flash for the final compilation. To manage the projects we use simple spreadsheet and often do meetings. Graphists and developers work in the same office; it permits to enhance the cohesion of the team and foster communication.

Q: How about versioning? Did you use any particular technology?

No specific one. We do as many test we can, but we still have to set up procedures and stick to them. We do not want to destroy our instinct; it is where our strength lies. However, we have to make our method of work evolving. We do not work with a publishing company, but we still have to be demanding in our work.

Q: Finally Dofus shows how the Flash technology can be employed for projects that historically were developed with standard languages/platforms (C/C++ etc...). What were the most difficult challenges you had to face?

The Flash technology is very flexible. In short, we can do everything. However, for big games like DOFUS, optimisation is not original. Our servers are specifically programmed to host a maximum of simultaneous connections.
On the customer side, the main problem was the need in RAM and the display.
We have regularly faced problems; fortunately, we have always solved them!

Q: Could you briefly describe the server infrastructure used for running the Dofus backend?

We have several inter-connected servers; several game servers, 1 connection server, several servers for databases and also spare servers in case of breakdown.

Q: Did you develop the multiplayer technology behind Dofus? Can you talk about it's main characteristics?

The servers work in Java language. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you much more about this. What you need to know is that originally DOFUS was to be a multiplayer game; but thanks to advanced research, we have succeed where other failed and have been able to develop a MMOG in Flash.

Q: Did you develop special tools for internal use like map editors etc... ?

We have developed and improved a map editor. It allows us to use graphic elements put them on the map, manage the topography, the obstacle zones, the placing of the monsters or NPC at any time. We have also developed administration consoles to the spells, the monsters, the items, the quests…

Q: How does the Dofus game world is structured? Is it dynamic? If so, how does the player get the updates about new maps?

Each server corresponds to a version of the World of Amakna. The worlds are the same, only the actions of the players are different. In a medium term, we expect to propose different worlds for each server, but before we want to foster the interconnectivity between the worlds. We want also to gradually reinforce the interactions between the players and between the players and their environment.

Q: Talking about the graphics it looks like you have seamlessly mixed bitmaps and vectors to obtain this great, cartoon-looking style. Could you describe a little more this process?

In fact, this is part of the choices we had to make when designing the game. The use of bitmap permitted to solve the problems of smoothness of the game.
The vector allow reducing the weight of data. In short, bitmaps are used for the background and vectors for the characters, monsters and animations. However, we include more and more animations in the background; so we have to be careful not to do it to the detriment of the smoothness of the game.

Q: How did you optimize the characters graphics so that you can show many of them on screen?

It is a part of the optimisation we had to do on the server. Moreover, on the player side, the hardware configuration plays an important role. It is also possible to control the number of characters displayed on the screen. When they are many, they do not disappear, but are replaced by smaller ones.
The optimisation work has been done on the animation of the characters and the sending of information between the server and the computer of the players.

Q: How many animations were approximately drawn for each character?

More than 100 for each one; we have to consider that DOFUS is in 2D, we cannot benefit from the advantages of 3D designing. It is a huge task.

Q: How many beta testers were used during the test phases?

Actually, there were 2 beta-tests: A first one for the French version, with 10,000 beta-testers and a second one for the English version, with 80,000 beta-testers. The first one permits to validate the gameplay and the second one to validate the capacity of the servers.

Q: What do you think of the latest rendering improvements coming with Flash 8? Do you plan to integrate the new Flash 8 features in Dofus?

They are interesting but I do not think they will be integrated to DOFUS for the moment. We do not want that Mac or Linux users face problems to play DOFUS.
However, we will use the 8th version for the next projects. For DOFUS, we will see in due course. If there is a migration to Flash 8, it will be done next year.

Q: What are the next plans for Dofus?

In mid-October, we will release the first extension. It will include improvements, in particular to help beginners in the game. It will also include a market place allowing every player to sell and buy to any other player.

Q: Are there other soon-to-come projects from Ankama Studio?

Indeed, we are working on other projects for us and for other companies. Our next MMOG should be released at the end of 2006 or in 2007. It is a bit early to speak about it now, but I hope to show you the first pictures in Mid-2006.