1.Well, David, how about introducing yourself to those troubled souls that seem to enjoy Gnome’s Lair?

2.And you’ve been working on games for how long?

I got a Fighting Fantasy gamebook (The Forest of Doom) when I was nine. I loved it and I really wanted to create my own. I wrote three full gamebooks before I was thirteen, just for the pleasure of creating my own little worlds. The first was typed up on an old Olivetti typewriter from the fifties, although I later saved up enough money to buy an electric typewriter. Working out the structure of those books would have been a lot easier on a computer. I really got into the creation of imaginary worlds came when I discovered roleplaying. I went through everything I could find: D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Cyberpunk 2020. There weren’t too many role-players where I lived, so I mostly spent my time fleshing out detailed campaigns and maps. Like many games, they didn’t survive the introduction of actual players. They were usually more interested in just killing the townsfolk or otherwise trashing the place, and usually had little interest in the extra immersion I tried to provide, in the form of carefully-aged messages or maps.

Roleplaying gave way to gaming once I got a Spectrum and then an Amiga. I started playing at the tail end of text-based games, when it started to become all about the graphics, so I never really thought I could make my own. The intervening years were spent as a consumer of games. Fast forward to a few years ago and I jumped at the chance to work on games for Jolt, first on UI and art direction then as a game designer. The skills I had learned working in print and online media seemed to come together and allow me to revive my passion for creating virtual worlds.

3.Care to reminiscence on that online Zork game you worked on?

It was a privilege to work on an actual licensed Zork game. I had a lot of fun immersing myself in the world and piecing together what could be used for a game based on the series. I was the game designer, but I also took on the role of art director and worked on the UI. The brief was very specific, so it was always going to be a certain type of online game. I know that disappointed a lot of people, but I was very careful to stay true to at least the mythology that had accrued over the various incarnations of Zork, and I tried to make use of elements like the Double Fanucci cards to keep even the game mechanics relevant to Zork. I hope that the excellent artwork created and sourced by Jim Zubkavich – who was a pleasure to work with, always enthusiastic and able to bring my descriptions to life exactly as I had imagined them – helped to make LoZ a pleasurable diversion for some Zork fans. I decided to leave Jolt very soon after the release of LoZ, so the game has developed differently from how I would have hoped.

4.So, what are your current projects?

World of the Living Dead is what we’re focusing on, although we also started a micro-patronage site called Karmafan a few years ago, as we had a lot of artist friends who wanted to get support from their fans but didn’t know how. The whole voluntary payments thing really took off a little later but by then I was working for Jolt and so Karmafan didn’t get the attention it needed to develop. Artists still sign up from MySpace, but times are hard so there isn’t much support from fans. I’m also working on a WotLD comic, but my artistic skills have atrophied over the years, so that will probably take quite some time to appear. We both have day jobs, of course.

5.Could you describe the World of the Living Dead?

I like to describe it as a survival strategy zombie sandbox MMO. Players control groups of survivors using a heavily-modified Google Maps interface. The concept is that the players are members of the fictitious National Emergency Control & Relief Agency (NECRA) who have been sealed into secure locations. They have been tasked with remotely assisting survivors via an emergency system set up when the authorities realised that centralised control and evacuation methods were futile. The government and NECRA seem to have disappeared, but these operatives have their mission, which is to ensure the survival of their own “cell” at all costs. Simulations showed that large groups would always lead to infection, so competitive survival was seen by NECRA officials as the only hope for humanity. The game is primarily about scavenging for supplies and avoiding contact with other groups of survivors or, alternatively, about finding other groups and stealing their supplies. Characters are managed by placing them in squads. The live position of any plays in the area around your squad is updated real-time – so the game is effectively a browser-based RTS, but with no Flash required.

6.But why Zombies?

I’ve been fascinated by the genre for a long time. Not because of the gore and horror, but the constant pressure on survivors to gather supplies and find safety. It’s about the apocalypse, really, so zombies are really only one aspect of it. I recently rewatched a UK series created by the often brilliant Terry Nation in the 1970s called Survivors which I remembered enjoying in the ’80s when I saw it (it was also remade recently). A virus killed over 90% of the population of the world, and the remnants of humanity are left to try and rebuild society. I find that premise fascinating, especially when rival groups form based on such basic needs as seed for planting, or a safe water supply. When zombies are involved, there’s also the tension which comes from how easy it is to be turned into the enemy, to be infected and lose control or to be killed and then “come back”. I think that fear taps into something deep inside us, a sense of how random death can sometimes be. Most of the good zombie/infected films get that fear exactly right. Other influences were Threads, a particularly harrowing UK docudrama about how a nuclear holocaust eventually leads to the collapse of society, or any number of the apocalyptic stories which seemed to be everywhere at the end of the last millenium.

In the zombie genre, the magnificent comic The Walking Dead deals with exactly these difficulties. The zombies just happen to be there in the background and only leading to deaths when the characters are tired or distracted, whereas it’s the other survivors that you really have to worry about. I’m really looking forward to the TV version of this, which starts at the end of the month in the US. And of course there’s World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide, both of which I had great pleasure in rereading repeatedly throughout the design process.

7.What would you say are its most innovative and/or unique mechanics?

I wanted the zombies to be a faceless horde, so decided that they would be represented by z-density, rather than as individual enemies. Z-density is basically a shorthand used by NECRA to determine how dense the zeds are on the ground, based on satellite tracking of their movement. We take real city blocks and work out how many actual zombies are in the block (there are over 9 million zombies moving around the LA County area we’re using for beta testing – they react to player activity, including the use of firearms, over time). Based on the size of the block, we calculate the z-density as a percentage. The players have to imagine this, as z-d is represented by colours, but we might introduce more graphics once we’re happy that all the mechanics are working correctly. Combat is effectively automated, with survivors using firearms or weapons if they have the skills to wield them. Every route completed can result in them putting down some zeds, or in injury and even death for the characters.

The need to consume enough food and liquids each day is something I wanted to have, although I know that it’s a risky prospect for games. Characters need a certain amount of calories and volume of liquids or they will start to accumulate thirst and hunger. Once these reach maximum, the character will die the following day. It takes about four days for dehydration to result in death, and 28 days for hunger to prove fatal. Even if players find supplies, they can’t just feed and water their characters back to full strength. If you neglect them for a few days, it will take a few days for them to recover, as they can only eat and drink so much each day. We decided to make consumption automatic, to avoid forcing players to feel that they had to continually tend to the characters, but it can be tough to keep a large group supplied with enough liquids. Locations do not replenish once they’ve been exhausted, so that means that players have to stockpile when they can, or work out a way to barter for their needs.

8.How long have you been developing it?

I first started working on the idea back in 2007, but we started working on it properly in mid-2009.

9.When will it reach the MMO masses?

I sometimes feel that we’re on Valve Time, so I’ll just say that we hope to be out of beta by the end of this year or the beginning of 2011. We are determined to go into open beta over the course of the next two months.

10.Any plans for the future?

Any other concepts for games have had to be consigned to my notebook while we’ve been developing WotLD. I hope to start working on at least one of those once WotLD is running smoothly, although we don’t really plan on stopping development on the game. The list of features we have planned for WotLD is extensive, and we hope to be able to grow and develop the game so that it becomes a huge multiplayer simulation of the zombocalypse. Vehicles will be making an appearance in the relatively near future, as will a deluge of content once we go into open beta, including hundreds of items and weapons. The graphics side of the game has been limited to what I can create myself, so I’m also hoping to be able to focus more energy on that as the balancing and tweaking settle down. The period of rebuilding civilization after an apocalypse provides plenty of scope for developing the game in some interesting ways.

I’m sure everyone who has played an FPS, RTS or even PVP game in a MMO sees themselves as a pro gamer. Johnathan Wendel, better known as Fatal1ty, is not only a true professional gamer, but also a business man and philanthropist. Last year you saw his gamer profile and Obsolete Gamer had a chance to ask him some questions.

Tell us about your early days of gaming. What was your first video game experience?

First video game experience was playing games like Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC and some Ikari Warriors on the Nintendo.  I did mess around with Atari, but I never owned one.  Mostly played it when I went to friends’ houses, etc.

At what point did you realize you had the talent and want to become a professional gamer?

I guess when I was 18. One of my good friends, Eric Paik, who was a pro gamer and traveled a lot, told me I was very talented and should definitely go to a tournament.  You will win money for sure!  So I saved up about $500 and went off to Dallas, TX and won a qualifier and took 3rd at my very first pro tournament winning $4,550.

So your first professional match was playing Quake 3, what was it like your first time playing competitively? 

Exhilarating!  I was amp’ed every second and wanted to play to my full potential.  It was a do or die experience for my gaming career as I was putting all my money on the line.

Tell us about how you train and prepare for tournaments?

Play about 8 hours a day in the virtual world working on my movement, timing, strategies, fighting skills and hearing the sounds of the game.  I want to be so knowledgeable about the game that if I hear a pin drop or an item picked up from anywhere on the map, I know exactly where my opponent is at all times and where he could be in the next 5 seconds.  Predicting your opponent’s moves is very important.

Personally, what differences do you notice between playing in a tournament solo versus with your team?

I’ve done both extremely heavily but I feel, in a solo environment, you can only blame yourself if you lose.  When you win, you know you won and when you lose, you know you lost.  I enjoy it the best, when the game is in my hands to win or lose.

Tell us about a day in the life when you were actively entering tournaments?

My routine was to play 4 hours, go run 2-3 miles, have lunch, play another 2 hours, relax and play another 2 hours before 4 AM so I could wake up and repeat it the next day.

Many people still don’t understand professional gamers, are there any myths or stereotypes you would want to address?

Most professional gamers are actually in shape and have a pretty good social life in their virtual and real life.  We mostly come from some other competitive sports that we played forever as kids and we’re able to use our skills of hand eye coordination and out thinking our opponents just like we do in our traditional sports.

Which game did you like competing in the most?

PainkilleR was a great game to play because we had a full season where we traveled for almost 18 months, continuously playing all over the world and winning loads of money.  It was also the biggest payday of my career in competitive gaming, taking home $150,000 for the World Tour Finals in NYC.

Do you still have people trying to challenge you to this day?

Yes, I actually go on tour promoting my products to distributors and buyers in different regions of the world, and I do exhibition/show matches for the crowd/press at these events.

What made you want to start Fatal1ty Inc?

I wanted to create a brand that a gamer who lived in the battlefield understood what competitive gamers wanted and needed in order to experience their game at the highest level.  When people shop at the store or online, I want them to know that when they buy a Fatal1ty product, they’re buying a Gaming product.

Thanks for the interview and game on,

-Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel

1. Let’s start with something personal, shall we? Nice. How did you get into game design?

2. Is it only board games you’re interested in designing or are you looking to expand into video gaming and/or RPG territory?

3. Care to mention some of your favorite games?

4. So on to your brand new It’s Alive! board game. It’s your second one right? Care to describe it a bit?

5. A set-collection and board game it is, then. How do those game mechanics work?

6. Regarding the weird an wacky game setting/plot. Did you decide on it? Could you briefly describe it?

7. Still, should be fine for kids. What’s the target group of It’s Alive?

Gamers and geeks.

8. Are you happy with the final product and Reiver Games? Why did you decide to go for a limited 300 copies only release?

9. Anything planned for the future? Should we be looking forward to more designed by Yehuda games?

10. Improvise, please. Is there anything you ‘d like t add. Something related to your blog perhaps?

Thanks for taking the time, best of luck with It’s Alive!

Thanks, Gnome.

Kondtantinos or Gnome is a classic and indie gaming writer. You can see his wonderful blog by following this link – Gnomes Lair.

Tell us a bit about yourself, oh Balrog. Some info on the cat might be nice too.

Why -and more importantly, how- did you start Zenobi? Were you all alone in this, erm, adventure of sorts?

And the focus on text-adventures on the ZX Spectrum? How did you decide on that?

Weren’t you afraid of actually competing against bigger software houses?

You’ve created a fair amount of admittedly brilliant, tough, inspired and generally hilarious adventures. Which ones are you favorites? Was there a certain way your games were designed? I mean, really, where did all this inspiration come from?

How did you come up with those intricate puzzles?

What about them weird names, settings, loading screens and stories?

Now, as Zenobi published quite a few games from a variety of authors/designers, could you give us some insight as to how this bit actually worked?

In retrospect, which would you say were the finest moments in/of Zenobi?

Why stop after the Atari ST games?

Any other platforms you developed for?

Oh, and do you still play games? Any thoughts on their current state?

Considering there is a strong Spectrum retro scene, a very lively interactive fiction scene and an obvious revival of the adventure genre, well, what does the future hold? More games? A book per-chance?

Finally, you do still feel the Zenobi love, don’t you? Mind you, feel free to add anything else you think would be vaguely appropriate and/or titillating.

1.So, Agustin, care to intorduce yourself to the Obsolete Gamer crowd and let ‘em know a bit about you and your creations; besides Scratches that is?

I’m Matt Barton, host of Matt Chat, a weekly YouTube show dedicated to classic games. I’m also co-founder of Armchair Arcade and author of Dungeons & Desktops and Vintage Games (co-authored with my friend and colleague Bill Loguidice). I’m also an assistant (soon to be associate) professor of English at St. Cloud State University, where I teach classes in writing, rhetoric, and new media.

2. And what would you say some of your favourite games are? Any particular love for a genre or a gaming machine?

My favorite genres are adventure games, role-playing games, and strategy games. Some of my favorites include Baldur’s Gate, Pool of Radiance, World of Warcraft, Civilization, and the Nancy Drew series of adventure games. I have many consoles, but my favorite gaming device is the PC. Going further back, I will always be an Amiga and Commodore fan at heart.

3. So, Armchair Arcade, how would you describe the site and what’s the story behind it?

We were friends on a forum dedicated to Shane R. Monroe’s Retrogaming Radio show. We talked about putting together an online magazine, and eventually set it up. For awhile we focused on “issues” and tried to make it look like a retromag. We were amazed by how much attention it got, frequently mentioned on Slashdot and many other sites (even Slate and the Discovery Channel). Eventually, though, we morphed into a blog format and started selling our features to other sites (especially Gamasutra). Now we use AA as our home base for communicating to fans and fellow retrogamers, talking about our latest projects, and so on.

4. Same question on the incredibly well produced Matt Chat episodes… How did you decide to start a video show on retro games, and what would you say is this little something that makes Matt Chat unique (for, believe me, it is unique)? By the way, love that gaming wall you got in the background.

Matt Chat has come a long, long way in a short time. When I first started, it was just me and a webcam trying to hawk my books. The production quality was terrible! But I wanted to learn more about videos because Bill and I are producing a feature documentary for Lux Digital Pictures (Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution). I figured I needed more experience with videos to really handle a project like that, so I kept learning and experimenting, trying to refine my techniques. If you notice, I usually try to put in one more technique or one more refinement per episode, so I’m always learning something new.

I don’t think Matt Chat is unique. There are many, many other YouTubers out there doing similar shows. For instance, ianwilson1978 does great work on the Sega Genesis and Marlin Lee covers a variety of games. I guess one thing that makes my show special is that I feature games from all platforms, especially covering PC and computer titles that the others miss. Most other shows are dedicated to consoles, especially Nintendo classics. I figure those games already get enough love, so I try to cover ground that is not covered by the other shows–such as Dungeons of Daggorath for the Tandy CoCo, Tunnels of Doom for the TI-99/4A, or even the PLATO platform. I also feature interviews with classic developers, such as John Romero and Al Lowe. I’ll soon release my interview with Chris Avellone.

5. Really, is it tough producing something of this quality on a weekly basis?

It can be. Sometimes my editing program (Sony Vegas Platinum) crashes so much during rendering that I’m tempted to just give up. I would really love a better setup! The other big problem is capturing footage from games, especially old Windows games. Even with fraps, virtualdub, and the rest, it can be a nightmare sometimes capturing decent footage.

Other than these purely technical problems, though, it’s not hard at all. I can easily come up with things to say, and I like researching the games anyway. I also enjoy inserting inside jokes and humor, and interacting with the fans is a real joy.

6. How about your books? They are two on games and one on Wikis, correct? Do you feel gamers actually bother reading?

I think most gamers are highly intelligent; at least the ones I talk to. I know plenty of professors and graduate students who are serious gamers. But, of course, there are many who never pick up a book. That is sad, of course, since I couldn’t imagine living life without good books to read. It’s really important to read good books, not just newspapers and such. You can always tell when you’re talking to an avid reader, because he or she will be more knowledgeable on a broader range of topics–plus, I think it makes you more articulate and, frankly, intelligent. I had a friend who read War and Peace just for fun, but he told me later he felt more intelligent after reading it. Some people laugh at comics and graphic novels, but they are actually much more sophisticated now than they used to be. You could certainly learn a thing or two from Moore‘s work.

There’s really no excuse for being ignorant. So read!

7. Now, let’s focus a bit on the rather epic Dungeons and Desktops. Why CRPGs? Could you briefly describe the book? Has it sold to your expectations? Did you enjoy writing it?

It’s pretty much what it says; the history of computer role-playing games. I tried to talk about every important or even remotely influential game in the book, describing what makes them fun and how they fit into the grand history of the genre. I tried to show connections across eras and styles, so you could get a sense of the diversity. Someone may have heard of Baldur’s Gate, for instance, but be unaware of Planescape: Torment, Pool of Radiance, or Eye of the Beholder. I meet people who may know all about Zelda and Final Fantasy, but have never heard of Ultima or Lord British. That bothered me, so I thought it was time to write a book on the topic.

The book has sold well. Of course, something like this won’t be a bestseller. But I wrote this book for people like us, not the mainstream. By “us,” of course, I’m talking about people who love games like Wizardry and Fallout and enjoy nothing more than talking and thinking about them.

8. Should we expect more books from you? Maybe even a new project or collaboration?

Almost certainly, though it’s very hard to find publishers interested in game books. I have been dying to write a book on adventure games similar to D&D, but no takers so far. Bill and I have been talking about a book on the Atari 2600, and I’ve got one on virtual worlds that needs development. We will probably also write a book based on our documentary.

9. And now for something that interests me quite a bit on a personal level. How did you really manage to -effortlessly, it seems- combine an academic career with all this quality work on computer and video games?

In a sense gaming is my job. A professor is expected to research as well as teach, and game studies is an important part of new media. I’m presenting on aspects of gaming at two national conferences later this year (Computers and Writing, Rhetoric Society of America). People tend to think of “English” strictly as literature and grammar, but it’s far more than that! There are many of us studying games as well as other technologies like wikis and social networking. All of these things involve communication and rhetoric.

10. Finally, have you thought about actually creating a game yourself?

I have, though I’m not satisfied with the results! But a few years ago I taught myself C++ out of some books and made a simple adventure game, which I entered into the Interactive Fiction contest. I was shocked that it was 28th in the 12th annual interactive fiction competition. At any rate, it was fun learning C++, and I’d love to try something more ambitious one day.

Gaming? Hm! I’m a big RPG nut. I’ve recently replayed Arcanum and I’ve just started the latest Final Fantasy, which should probably keep me busy for awhile. I have yet to finish any installment in that series, so let’s see if this is the exception.

As for non-gaming, I’m pretty low key. I love to travel, read, and wander aimlessly around NYC looking for places to go.

2. And how exactly did you first decide that playing via a keyboard and some chips was a good idea?

It’s all my mother’s fault. I was 11 years old and she bought me a copy of Infocom’s Wishbringer. After that, my fate was forevermore sealed.

3. From enjoying to creating; how and when did you decide to start coming up with your very own digital bits of interactive entertainment?

It all started during a time in my life when I was looking for some distractions. The year was 2001 and it was September and I live in New York, so you can imagine what I needed distracting from. I searched the web for freeware adventure games and I ended up discovering the Reality on the Norm project. The idea behind it was basically a shared universe. All the assets – characters, backgrounds, even the world itself – were shared by the community, and anyone could come along and make a game in that world and add to its story. The idea appealed to me. After playing a couple of them I decided to make one, so I took a week or two and made a little game called “The Repossesser.” People seemed to like it, so I kept making more.

4. What about Wadjet Eye Games? A bold step.

Maybe! At the time I was between jobs, having just come home after spending a year abroad teaching English in Asia. My apartment was being rented out so I was staying with my parents. They were both retired, and it was a bit embarrassing to be hanging around their apartment all day when I didn’t have a job either, so I took my laptop to a nearby café. For a month, I tinkered around with making a game for 7-8 hours a day and I told myself I was working. Completely self-defeating, but The Shivah was the end result. I had so much fun making it that I realized I didn’t want to do anything else. I had about nine months worth of savings in my bank account, so I figured it was “now or never” and just dived right in. So it wasn’t a “bold step” so much as putting off getting a real job. You could say that I’m kind of still doing that.

5. And you’ve already been around for almost 5 years. Quite a feat that. How did you manage?

If I do anything on purpose it’s that I make a point of keeping my games a bit on the short and manageable side. It’s a lot easier to recover from a commercial failure if the time and money you put into it is minimal. There’s always that temptation to throw more and more money and time at a project to make it super awesome, but there’s always the fear that the game will bomb and you’ll lose it all. I’ve learned to treat every dollar I put into a game as a potential loss, and I’ve become very careful. While it does occasionally force me to cut some corners, it does force me to be very creative in how I do things. If I screw up, I can bounce back much faster.

6. What are your ambitions for Wadjet Eye? To create an absolute classic? Turn into the next EA?

Future plans, eh? Yeesh. I don’t even know if I’ll have matching socks tomorrow! Well, my wife and I have eventual plans to take a break from adventure games and work on a cRPG in the vein of Fallout. Unlike with adventure games, there is no middleware available for that kind of thing so we are making the engine ourselves. Or rather, my wife is, since she’s an actual programmer. It will take a long time to make, so in the meantime I am content working on point and clicks like Blackwell. Honestly, our only ambition is to keep things the way they are. I love that we can live this way. As long as we can still make games and enough people are still willing to buy them, I will have no complaints.

7. So, what does the (more or less) immediate future hold?

Right now I’m working on the fourth game in the Blackwell series, called “Blackwell Deception.” It’s fully designed and I’m in the midst of getting art and writing the dialog.

8. If it isn’t too much to ask of you, could you suggest a couple titles (and describe them a bit) that would help our readers understand what’s unique about your point-and-clickers?

I suppose if you have to start somewhere, you can’t go wrong with the Blackwell series. They games star a medium named Rosa Blackwell and her sardonic spirit guide Joey Malone, who are tasked to seek out lost and confused spirits and help them move on. Usually this is done by looking into the spirit’s past and using that knowledge to help them confront their death. So the games are one part mystery, one part detective story, and one part character study. They are also designed, written and programmed completely from within various cafes in the east village of Manhattan. So by supporting Blackwell you are also supporting the New York coffee industry.

9. You really seem to enjoy life in NYC. Care to tell us how you incorporate it in your -decidedly urban- games?

You look at a magnificent skyscraper, and it’s hard to imagine that it was something made by people. And a whole city of those things? It’s kind of overwhelming. As cities grow over the centuries (or millennia, in some cases) they develop a personality and history of their own. But New York is kind of special. It’s so prevalent in media – you see New York in movies, television and books all the time – that it’s touched everyone in the world in some way or another. You could live all your life in some isolated little town, but step into New York and it’s like you’ve been there before. I like being in the center of all of that. It’s a kind of energy that inspires me, and that’s obviously reflected in the games I make.

10. Ever thought of being creative in the cafes of other major cities? Berlin and Paris do sound different enough I’d say.

Not a bad idea! Although I don’t think I meet the minimum requirement of intellectual pretentiousness. Plus I look stupid in a beret.

11. Care to briefly describe the (usual/average) way to a Wadjet Eye game release?

It varies! Typically I get a notebook and scribble down ideas until something forms. Then I take those notes and compile a working design document so anyone else involved will know what to work on. For myself, I often try to make a schedule, with a day-to-day list of tasks that I intend to complete by a certain time. But then Things Happen and there are delays or I get inspired to work on something other than what I am scheduled to do that day, and it becomes a free for all. There is really no rhyme or reason to the way I work, but I’ve still managed to get six games out the door in four years so I figure I must be doing something right.

12. After publishing Puzzle Bots, do you think you might care to try something similar again? Oh, and how was working with Erin as an experience?

Puzzle Bots was an interesting experience! I had never worked on a game quite like it before, and we really stretched the limits of what AGS could do. At the time I had lofty goals of becoming a publisher for other indie adventure titles, but I soon discovered that publishing someone else’s game requires just as much time and attention as publishing your own. Over the course of making Puzzle Bots, I was also involved in several other projects (Emerald City Confidential, Blackwell Convergence, and another game for PlayFirst) which forced us to delay Puzzle Bots much longer than any of us would have liked. It turns out that I’m not one of nature’s best multi-taskers! Would I do it again? Yes. Sort of. I’m in the midst of publishing another game designed by somebody else, but rather than funding and developing it from scratch, the game has come to me 95% complete and I’m helping to push it the rest of the way. You’ll hear more about that in a month or so. It’s a project I’m really excited about.

1. Space-faring Pacian, how would you describe your game making activities? And, frankly, why do you make games?

I’d describe my game making activities as poorly focused, unproductive and easily interrupted.

Why do I keep making my little games? I guess for the same reason that I play them: escapism. I’m a hopeless day-dreamer, and I’d much rather be piloting a Zeppelin through the acrid clouds of a volcano than sitting at work writing boring software for boring people. And since, although there are plenty of games out there that grab me and draw me into their worlds, no-one’s yet made one where you specifically pilot a Zeppelin through a volcano, I end up trying to make that one myself.

2. How about your crafting of short and not particularly short stories? How? Why? Ugh…

‘Ugh’ is my take on it often enough as well. There are people who write and people who don’t write. The only difference between those two groups is whether they write or not. As simple as that.

But of the people who *do* write, there are those who write, and those who write and then re-draft and get a second opinion and a third opinion and scrap the whole middle section and re-write that and rinse and repeat until someone pays them for all the hard work they’ve done. That’s *not* me – at least, not at the moment. I only write for fun – to create worlds and characters that interest me. I just hope that a few like-minded people will come along, look at what I’ve done and say, “Hey that’d be pretty cool if it went through a few more drafts.”

One day I do mean to make a dedicated effort to write something ‘good’, but I’m such a scatter-brained procrastinator, that’s not likely to be any time soon.

3. Interactive fiction, text adventures, must have been quite a natural choice as a game making genre, right?

Yeah. Sometimes I worry that I’m focusing on this as an easy way out. I’m useless at making graphics, and I hate tedious coding, so working in ready-made environments for text games really appeals to me. In TADS and Inform it’s trivial to create a location with a character in it and some scenery and a cool gizmo – and when you push the button on the gizmo the prince dies and you have to feed dead apples to his ghost. Whereas working in C++ or even Game Maker there’s a lot of set-up to do just defining the basic rules of the universe you’re creating. How does the main character push that button? How do they pick up the apples?

This is why I keep persisting in making crappy non-text games like Space Shot. I kind of want to prove to the world that I’m not just an IF writer – and that when I do write IF it’s for a specific reason beyond it being easy for me to do.

4. Do you actually believe games can move beyond being merely games? Could they actually manage to be political, thought-provoking and interesting while embracing Dada?

Yes, of course. Creative minds can (and do) make moving and provocative experiences from any medium.

From the Dada angle, I immediately think of Cactus and games like Mondo Medicals and Psychomnium, in that they really seem to take a lot of the unquestioned assumptions about how games are ‘supposed’ to work and then slap them about a bit. Beyond that I’m afraid you’re merely dazzling me with your technical terms.

5. Am I? Well, let me blush here for a moment. [...] Done. Lovely. But, really, Mondo Medicals and co, even though surreal and innovative in style and mechanics, don’t actually offend the gaming, let alone the societal, status quo. They really aren’t political or progressive in a meaningful sense. And frankly, besides Molleindustria’s games, I think nobody has even attempted such a thing. Are you sure it’s not the short-comings of the medium?

My gut instinct is that the mere act of player participation creates a whole range of possibilities for messing about with people’s prejudices and received wisdom – but for all we know, you may be right. We never truly know if something is possible until someone actually goes and does it.

6. On a more light-hearted note, any truly favourite games? And I am asking for something that could stand next to a book or a film for example.

So what, I’m not allowed to say Resident Evil 2? When it comes to what I look for in a game – imaginative worlds and strong characters – I think Chrono Trigger is the one that immediately springs to mind. In many ways, it just chimes really well with my personality, but I’d also argue that objectively it’s a very well put together game in terms of tone and motivation.

I’m also a big fan of Emily Short’s Galatea. It’s pretty much the only IF game that I unreservedly find enjoyable to mess with, just in idle moments, and I think it has plenty of interesting things to say about the nature of interactive characters. I know a lot of people only like it as an experiment or a piece of dry academia, but I don’t really enjoy that kind of thing by itself. I like Galatea because I like the characters, the tone and the little stories you end up experiencing.

And also, Resident Evil 2, damn it.

7. Any favourites among your ludic creations?

Well there’s only about four or five to choose from. I am very pleased with Gun Mute. I think I created a nice set of characters in an accessible package, in some ways purely by chance. To be honest, I don’t expect to be able to create a better game in the future, but I hope the stories I want to tell will still interest a few people.

8. Oh, and how would you describe the general game making process you follow?

I’d say the most notable thing about my game making process is the distinct lack of process to it. It usually starts out with scrappy notes in my diary, and then graduates to a grid of tasks to tick off. And then beneath the grid are a load of scribbles supposed to remind me of other things I’ve suddenly thought of.

Honestly, it’s a wonder that I have the wherewithal to get out of bed in the morning, let alone write semi-functional code.

9. Would you ever attempt to sell a game? Live off your creativity?

That’s an interesting question. If a company offered to pay me to do interesting, creative work on a game, I’d take the offer. But I don’t think I’d ever want to charge for games that I’ve created all by myself. Going back to what I said about writing, I’d want to put a lot more time and effort into these things before I thought they were actually worth paying money for – but I have so many ideas and such a short attention span that I’m not really interested in doing that.

10. Any particular plans for the future per chance?

Over the next couple of months I’m going to try and squeeze out a small IF game for David Fisher’s EnvComp – an IF competition for unusual settings and locations. In the longer term, I’m working on a larger IF game – and of course I have plenty of ill-considered ideas for action and strategy games as well.

I’m also engaged on a super-secret collaborative project with this short, bearded fellow in a pointed hat. I last saw him standing over by the garden pond with a fishing rod…

A few weeks ago we posted an article about the upcoming series called Game Over that showcases a video game store and the funny stories and interactions that happens within. We had a chance to talk with the makers of the series about how the came up with the idea and what we can expect from the show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Great to talk with you; let’s start with how you came up with the idea to create Game Over.

I just shot Stephen King’s In The Deathroom and wanted to do something different. Kicking around different ideas, I realized it’s the perfect time to shoot a TV pilot idea I had based on working in the video game industry. I started working at an EB Gameworld in 2001. After working there for years, I was subconsciously getting ideas for this show.

Tell us a bit about the process of getting production off the ground and getting everything together.

The entire project was a battle every step of the way. I was fortunate to have a great Director of Cinematography and he had all the equipment we would needed for the shoot. The hardest part was finding an area to film in was really the hardest part. We had places confirmed but when every place fall through; we literally had to build a video game store from the ground up. I called every real estate agent I could and asked if there’s any spots they knew of. Most were very friendly once they heard about the project. I remember when I tried to film in an vacant former supermarket, the real estate agent thought I was nuts but asked the owner anyway. He came back with a total price of $20,000 for 3 day shoot. We politely declined that.

When we started our crowd funding campaign, Paypal marked as a terrorists group and refused any donations to go through and once it was fixed the same people never got around to trying to donate again.

Also various game companies showed interest in donating products to the show, as time went on they all fizzled out expect Rockstar. Rockstar Games ended up giving us a ton of prizes to give out.

Anyone that has spent a good amount of time in a video game store has seen something funny, strange or both, what types of stories, topics to you want to hit on?

I want to go beyond the obvious of dealing with annoying customers (believe me they will be in the show) but we also want to hit on the funny happenings in retail and in these characters personnel lives. I wanted to create interesting characters that people can relate to.

Do you plan to go more for the realism of life running and working in a video game store or is it more a backdrop for inside jokes and stereotypes?

I definitely will feature the various aspects of nerdcore, geek culture, etc.

Can you tell us more about the stores you were going to film in and what happened with that?

Some episodes will take place entirely in the game store, while others will take place entirely out of the store. There’s definitely going to be inside jokes, etc that gamers will pick up on such as a future episode entitled, ‘All Your Base Belong to Us.’

We had a deal in place with the 3rd largest game retailer in North America. The President of the company called me and told me how much he loved the script and how everyone in a conference call told him they wanted him to get behind the show. Everything hit the fan when he decided to take away the investment money and spend it on radio advertising instead. He said we could still film at a location in Bear, Delaware but we had to film with no money. Going ahead without money was very difficult.

From there an independent game store contacted me and the owner expressed interested about getting involved. That deal from through when he backed out.

Beyond frustrated, the entire project was in limbo. No one knew what would happen or if it would even happen.

It’s when I attended a Pennsylvania Film Industry Association (PaFIA) meeting I was introduced to the studio head of Sun Center Studios. Sun Center Studio is the new multi-million soundstage here in Aston, PA.  I told him about the idea and he agreed to let us do auditions there and let us film there. Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to shoot Game Over. He literally saved the project. We were able to film in a complex on the studio lot. We were able to transform the room they gave us completely and also we were able to build the set and keep materials there.

Reps from Paramount and Universal stopped by and complemented us on the set.

Tell us about the staff and actors, are you guys all professionals as far as writing, filming, directing and acting or is it a mix of being fans and having the drive to create something such as this?

All cast & crew were professionals who are in the industry. Something of this undertaking definitely required a lot of professional work from building the set to editing. We had to build an actually game store from the ground up. A local Blockbuster video and Rite-Aid were going out of business and I was able to buy  racks, shelving, and a friend from an EB games gave me various cases, boxes and marketing materials to help ‘dress’ the set.

Literally this project was definitely the one that tested my passion to the limit. It takes beyond fandom to make something like this.

Do you have a style you are going for as far as storytelling and direction like a Seinfeld or Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Think of our show as a hybrid of It’s Always Sunny in Philly meets Louie meets Clerks meets South Park. That’s really the best way to describe it. Haha.

This might be a question more for film nerds, but can you tell us about not being able to use real game names and products in your episodes?

If you change anything by 7% you can legally use it. If you visit our site and see the set design pictures, we changed every insert, poster, etc we received.

As for games, we used a couple ‘open source games’ like Blood, etc because they essentially the equivalent of ‘public domain’ movies (which we have some of too).

Do you have a specific season number of episodes and do you plan to keep this running as long as possible or is there a set end date?

I definitely want the show to always stay fresh. Nothing irks me more than when a show stays ‘past it’s welcome’. The plan right now, is make treatments/outlines for future episodes and see how many episodes the network wants per season.

What can those who want to help and support the show do?

When this show gets pitched to networks, a big selling point will be the built in fan base. In today’s market that’s so important, so we need everyone:

Like Us on Facebook

www.facebook.com/gameoverseries

Follow Us on Twitter

www.twitter.com/gameoverseries

This is a show by the fans for the fans! We need the support! THANK YOU!

Perhaps you have seen the video floating around the internet of our favorite plumber carrying a special tool from another one of our favorite games. Mari0 is a project being work on by a group of programmers over at StabYourself.net. The game brings together the classic Super Mario Bros game with elements from the Valve game, Portal.

Obsolete Gamer had a chance to talk with Sašo Smolej from StabYourself.net about the game:

Tell us a little about Mari0?

Mari0 is what happens when you take the NES classic and add one of the best received concepts in the last few years: Portals. It’s a feature rich, close to original remake of Super Mario Bros. with portals, map editor and co-op. We will also deliver a story with custom maps with the game, and will allow users to send us their maps, which we will host on our server to be downloadable by anyone from ingame.

 How did you come up with the idea for it?

Maurice started working on a SMB clone in January, and in April we came upon Dorkly’s Mario with portal gun video. The original idea before seeing the video was adding the same multiplayer that is found in “New Super Mario Bros. Wii”, but that changed after discovering it. Since the whole code is optimized for multiplayer, it was really easy to add co-op (With any number of players) though, so that helped.

Since this is not a mod, but a full game can you tell us about the process of creating it?

Before we started hammering away on the keyboard, we had to think the concept through, see where problems may arise and what we would have to change in order to keep the game fun. It’s not as simple as “Take Mario and add Portal Gun”. We had to start at the very basics: Level drawing, movement, collisions, controls, all that junk.

It really is a lot of work to recreate a whole game. We’re ripping graphics and sounds as we go, and compare the game a lot to the real thing to make sure we’re getting as close to for example the jumping physics as we can. After we had a solid and playable foundation and thought things through, we started adding Portal logic, as well as mouse support and everything related. This is an example of a trade that we have to make between “playability” and “close to original”, because one the one hand, Super Mario Bros. obviously doesn’t have a mouse, but on the other, having to use the arrow keys to point the portal would be a limiting solution.

We have also decided to break free a little from NES graphic restrictions concerning anything Portal related. Once we’ll be completely done with the Portal gun (we’re close!), we’ll start thinking about the story and level design.

 What made you go with the classic 1985 Mario Bros?

It’s a game everyone (or at least everyone 16+) remembers from their childhood, and we love to play with people like that: Give them a familiar environment and then surprise them with a modern twist. We think that’s what gives these games their appeal.

Can you give us an idea of the stories you might explore in the game?

We’re still collecting ideas, thinking of the direction we’ll go. We can’t say anything specific at this point since it will probably end up being completely changed.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What are your plans as far as music?

We have gotten an offer from a music artist whose work we quite liked, so he will probably be writing the music in a Portal 2 soundtrack style for the Portal levels we will ship with the game. The original levels will use the original music, for nostalgia sake.

What is your favorite classic video game and why?

Maurice: It probably really is the Super Mario Bros. series, especially the third one. It just has so many levels, worlds and side stuff, you can really tell Nintendo went all out on this one to create the best game in the NES library.

Sašo: It’s kind of a hard pick for me since I grew up with the PC, never really having the opportunity to play console games. I think Outlaws and Jazz Jackrabbit would be my pick since they’re the most memorable of the games I actually played. I did of course play games like SMB, but a bit later than most other.

When do you think the playable version will be ready?

I’d love to be able to give you an answer, but since this is a pure hobby we’re making our own times and can’t give you a solid date. We keep telling ourselves “This year” but hopefully it’ll be in about 2 months or so.

You can check out and keep up to date on Mari0 at their official website – http://stabyourself.net/mari0/

There are a lot of free-to-play MMO’s out there, but just like paid MMO’s there are the great ones and the rest and World of Tanks is definitely one of the great ones. A number of us here at Obsolete Gamer began playing World of Tanks right after E3 2011 and are still playing to this day.

World of Tanks is massive multiple team based tank fighting game where you choose from a number of World War one and two era tanks from Russia, Germany and the U.S. You start out with older smaller tanks and as you level up you upgrade the tanks and unlock new ones. You level up by playing in team based matches where the objective is to destroy all the rival tanks or capture their base.

That is a very general description to a game that while easy to play has a level of complexity to it any gamer would enjoy. Not only do you need to understand each tank, not only the ones you own, but the ones you are going up against, but you need to understand the map layouts and work with your team because victory brings more points than defeat.

The game is free to play however you can purchase gold in the game that allows you to buy game time giving you a boost in experience points and a different garage to hold your tanks. You can also purchase special ammo, tanks and more garage slots using gold, but you can play and enjoy the game without spending a dime.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Obsolete Gamer had a chance to talk with Jeremy Monroe, general manager for Wargaming America about World of Tanks and the upcoming patch for the game.

World of Tanks is becoming wildly popular. What do you think has made the game so popular with gamers?

Tanks! Who doesn’t love Tanks? The game’s a great deal of fun to play and the community is fantastic. I believe we really hit a sweet spot in the market. We’re part shooter, action, strategy and mmo coupled with a respect for the historical authenticity of the era. World of Tanks is compelling for gamers at any level. It’s fun and it’s free.

Do you find the free-to-play model works best for games such as yours?

Free to Play is a great model for most, if not all games. It really puts gamers in a position to have quality choices and the industry in a position to showcase fantastic titles, unique gameplay and innovative features. The evolution of the industry has been tremendous with the widespread adoption of the free-to-play model.  Given the quality of the game, its design and the merging of so many popular genres, we knew the model was perfect for World of Tanks and gamers.

 There have been questions about balance where lower tier tanks keep getting in matches with higher tier tanks. Can you tell us a bit about that and any changes you are working on?

We’re constantly adjusting the match making system to provide challenging but evenly matched battles at every level. With that said, consideration must be given to the number of players and the tiers of the tanks being queued. It’s a difficult balance to strike. On one hand, you want fair and evenly-matched battles and on the other, you want short queues for the players. It’s a key priority for us to strike that balance and we’re constantly growing, evolving and getting better over time.

Third party add-ons like skins for tanks and the crosshairs are becoming popular. Do you have plans to add your own skins and add-ons?

Yes; in our 7.0 update we’ll be introducing a number of cool features like that including camouflage; the camo will be true to the era so no pink bunnies or rainbows.

What can we expect in the next update and content patches in the near future?

We try to update every month with fixes and upgrades but it’s also critical we listen to our community and continue to evolve World of Tanks with significant changes that include new compelling features, maps and of course more bad ass TANKS!

Our newest update will include  -

• A new Fishing Bay map
• New tier 4-5 light tanks: Т-50, Т-50-2, VK2801, M24 Chaffee
• Tier 6 American tanks M4A3E2

You can always find the newest information here – http://game.worldoftanks.com/in_development

With the recent announcement of World of Warplanes and World of Battleships, are there future plans to integrate both games with World of Tanks? And will there be universal Clan War maps where tanks, planes, and ships will partake?

Right now the 3 games will not be integrated into one world…but as this is a constantly evolving game with innovative designers behind it there is never a definite “No”. As for clan wars, we are looking at being able to bring the 3 games together into that world. We’ll update you as soon as we get more information.

People are reporting on forums that World of Tanks will be released in a retail box form. Any information as to when it will be released and what it contains? Any plans for a collector’s edition?

Yes, we are releasing a box in North America; it will be in stores Sept 1^st at the top retailers. The box will be $19.99 and includes $30 worth of in-game items. We are looking at a collector’s edition but we want to make sure it is truly compelling for our players. We’ll certainly keep you posted as we finalize our plans.

Besides the three current armies (USSR, Germany, USA) represented in World of Tanks; are there any more that will be added in the future?

Yes, definitely. French Tanks will be introduced very soon (here is a peek – Wot Facebook) and as you can see with the new additions to the German tank lines: Pz.VI Tiger (P), VK 4502 (P) Ausf. A, E-50, Е-75, Е-100 and two new premium tanks T-15, T-25, we are always expanding the current roster of tanks.

Right now the Clan Wars map takes place in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Are there future plans to add more map locations, like the Pacific region? 

Yes, currently Clan Wars is still in beta but we will be expanding. Eventually clans can compete for global domination.

Are there any plans to add special tanks or tanks skins that are purchasable if your clan holds certain objectives or territories?

We’re definitely looking into these options and many other ways to reward and recognize the top clans for playing well. Unfortunately, I can’t go into further details at this time but we hope to be able to present it to our players very soon.

You can download and play World of Tanks for free at - http://www.worldoftanks.com/

Remember when browser based games were barely a little more advanced than Pac-Man? Then we were introduced to flash games and from there skies were the limit. BattleStar Galactica online has flown past the skies into space bringing us their free-to-play massive multiplayer game based on the SyFy series. Obsolete Gamer had a chance to talk with Sarah Levantine, Producer for Battlestar Galactica Online about the game and its upcoming changes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Can you give us an overview of Battlestar Galactica Online?

Battlestar Galactica Online is a free-to-play, browser-based space combat MMOG that combines high-quality, 3D graphics with intense gameplay. The game is based on the acclaimed Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television series “Battlestar Galactica,” which aired for four seasons on Syfy. In the game, humans and Cylons are in a constant struggle to control the universe, which players accomplish through a mixture of tactical space combat, exploration, and mission-based gameplay.

Can you tell us a little about the process of creating this game from the idea stage to the beta and post release?

In terms of visual fidelity and design, Battlestar Galactica Online represents a new breed of online, free-to-play games. Prior to its launch, BSGO was been met with some disbelief that a browser-based game could look and feel good. We knew we had to get it right, so we made sure we didn’t launch until we were all quite confident that we had a hit on our hands. Thanks to Unity 3D, the platform on which BSGO was built, we’re able to deliver an extremely high-quality gaming experience. When seeing it for the first time, people often forget it’s played through a standard web browser. Core to all development is our desire to be authentic to the IP, yet flexible enough to introduce new content; after all, our game must live beyond four seasons. Recently, BSGO’s post-launch development has fully transitioned to our San Francisco office. Here we’re focused on short- and long-term content additions, and of course continued optimization and polish.

Would you say you would need to know BSG or be a fan to enjoy this game?

No, it’s as easy for players who aren’t familiar with Battlestar Galactica as it is for those who are fans of the show. Battlestar Galactica has an enormously loyal and passionate following, and we wanted to give fans the opportunity to experience it through an engaging online experience

Now it being free to play can you have fun and do everything in the game without having to buy anything additionally?

Players can earn Cubits (premium in-game currency) through PvP, although much more slowly than by purchasing them outright with real money. While most ships and items in the game can be purchased with Cubits, there are some that you can only buy or upgrade with Merits – a type of currency that is earned solely through gameplay. Generally, we’ve found that players who earn their achievements through gameplay are better than players who spend money to reach new levels or unlock items faster, and even find “grinding” to be the most fun part of the experience. At Bigpoint, we take the issue of player balance very seriously. We have a design requirement that everything can be achieved for free. However, because we need to pay for developers and servers, we have to allow players to spend money in-game…not doing so would mean we simply couldn’t build, launch, and support any game.

What can you purchase if you wish and what benefits would you gain if you do so?

There are many items available for purchase in the game, including things likes weapons, engines, computer systems, ammo, and even complete ships. The benefit of buying an item comes down to time…some players would like to experience new ships, for example, but they simply can’t dedicate enough time to earn it through basic gameplay. Like most F2P titles, however, the number of paying players is dwarfed by those who play 100% for free. This is top of mind with us at every step of development.

Since it will be humans versus Cylons PVP will be a big part of this game, can you tell us more about that aspect?

BSGO is primarily an MMO that pits humans against Cylons; you can play as either side. One of the newest features that we’ve added to the game is a “Top Gun” match system, which pairs players based on level in 1v1 or 3v3 battles. Players can challenge other players to private, instanced PvP ranked battles to determine who is the “Top Gun” and Top 100 on each server. Alternatively, players who wish to compete against other pilots of any faction (including their own), rating, ship size, or class can engage in “duel” PvP matches, where no rewards or changes in rating will occur after winning/losing a match. PvP is a core element of Battlestar Galactica Online, but we also have plans to expand the PvE space combat, missions, mining operations, and exploration of capital ships, outposts, and bases.

As far as adding to the game meaning content or additional features how will those come about?

Our games live online for many years, so there are a lot of opportunities to introduce new content and features. Working with the acclaimed IP provides us with a direction where we can take the game, but we also carve out opportunities where we can intertwine new concepts into show’s storyline. Since BSGO has transitioned out of beta, the dev team has been able to shift away from making patches and optimizing performance to adding new content and features. We have our own (very big) list, and pay close attention to what the community wants – we’re building this game for them.

Currently are you working on a release that will address issues and add more content and if so when might we see that?

Our development team continues to work on performance optimization and new content features on a daily basis. Every couple weeks a new release is sent out to include information on bug fixes, UI improvements, patches, new ships, gameplay features, etc. The next big content update and announcement on Battlestar Galactica Online is expected this fall.

Some players have experienced lag even with high-speed internet, can you address that?

What players describe as lag in any online game can actually be caused by several different issues. First, their Internet connection may be slow or intermittent. Second, older or slower machines may not be able to render all of the ships and effects in heavy combat situations at the target frame rate. Finally, during peak hours game servers under heavy load may have trouble sending out the volume of network messages that they need to – this is a network issue on the game server side, as opposed to the user’s side. Our development plan definitely includes paying attention to performance on both the client and server sides of the game.

Do you plan to add a marketplace or trade area for the game?

A marketplace or trade area is definitely a feature we have discussed, but don’t plan to implement in the near future.

Do you plan to make changes/advancements to the current chat system?

The chat system has had a number of changes made to it since the game’s launch. It now has the ability to send specific messages to the entire system, squad, or wing, and also send private messages to individuals or to your own fleet.

Will players ever be able to switch between servers but keep their character?

At the moment, players are not able to transfer their characters over to another server. It is something that we have also considered, but is not possible to achieve quickly. Our current focus is to expand the game in various directions, pumping out new content and ships for existing players to look forward to. The dev team is also very open to receiving feedback and suggestions from the community, as they are incorporated in many of the decisions made about the game and how BSGO will evolve.

There have been issues of balance on servers do you have a plan to address that?

The balance between the different classes of ship – strike, escort and line – was very carefully planned out in a rock-paper-scissors design. Each class has unique strengths and weaknesses. The balance between the two factions is a trickier question. Players will always choose Colonial characters at a higher rate than Cylon, simply because they identify with the protagonists of the show. What you end up with is a larger number of Colonial players at a lower level, and more hard-core, high level players on the Cylon side. It’s an interesting thing to try and balance, and we are definitely working on a plan to weight the two factions in a more organic manner than occasionally offering a faction switch token.

How many people over at Bigpoint are fans of BSG?

Most of us at Bigpoint very familiar with BSG, and we have around 800 employees. Members of the Battlestar Galactica Online development team are of course diehard fans (a solid group of developers and artists, plus additional colleagues from the community management, QA, web development, marketing, and PR departments). There are a few people who follow the show closely and can’t wait until the prequel of the series “Blood & Chrome” airs. Many of us also play Battlestar Galactica Online in our spare time as either a Colonial or Cylon – and we have a bit of an internal rivalry – all in good fun. Often times, we even have company-wide playtests to show off our dog-fighting skills.

 There is quite a legacy of space based games, can you tell us what some of your favorites were and did any inspire you for BSGO?

While I played some X-Wing back in the day, I find most of my inspiration for BSGO from the show itself, and trying to bring as many cinematic moments into the game as possible. We want to allow the players to create stories to add to the already rich Battlestar Galactica universe. At the end of the day, who wouldn’t want to be a Cylon in tactical space combat?

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You can play Battlestar Galactica Online free by heading over to their website.

1. Well fearless developers, care to introduce yourselves?

2. Now, how about introducing us to your forthcoming release: Age of Decadence?

3. Any idea when we should expect to play it? Will it be a download-only title?

4. And the name, the name… What is the significance of the Age of Decadence title?

5. Care to elaborate a bit on the setting and story bits of the game?

The story begins when your character acquires an ancient map and revolves around learning where and what the map leads to, dealing with factions that have very different goals, and finally dealing with what awaits for you at the end of your journey.

6. I understand this will be more or less a turn based experience. How exactly will AoD play?

So, going with the above mentioned example, armed with a short sword and 12AP per turn, you can do 3 regular attacks, or 4 fast attacks, or 2 power attacks, in which case you’ll still have 2AP left. If you grab a dagger in your free hand, you can perform a fast attack with a dagger. We also offer throwing nets, acid, and black powder bombs to enhance your combat experience.

7. Will there be dialog? Puzzles? Moral Choices? Naked goblins?

Overall, dialogues and choices are the main aspect of the game and the main attraction. We have seven different endings and only two involve mortal combat. You’ll be able to talk your way in and out of trouble, make allies and enemies (there are no default good and bad guys), and handle quests in non-combat ways using dialogues and text adventure elements.

8. Any information on the engine you’ll be using you’d care to share?

9. How about the available quests?

10. What kind of character creation and game mechanics systems will you be using? Should we expect something like D&D or something more akin to Fallout/GURPS?

1. So, it’s Bob, Robert and oddbob. Care to explain who you are and state your age, obsessions and/or any bit of personal info you think the Gnome’s Lair lot would be interested in? You know, for the record…

2. Besides being responsible for some brilliant retro remakes you (well, Mersey Remakes and you) have a lovely blog. Love the name. What do you mean with it? Do you guys indeed make the cops look bad?

3. On to Mersey Remakes. What’s the story behind this very giving group?

4. Ok, that was slightly confusing yet quite reassuring. Then again you are not thinking to try creating some non-retro inspired games, are you?

5. Any hopes for a commercial game? You would do quite an impressive indie group you know…

6. Oh, and -I know that’s quite irrelevant- but are you interested in them modern games? Played anything interesting lately?

7. Couldn’t agree more. Also, there are just too few memorable (and even less funny) songs in gaming. Then again, there aren’t enough Python references either… Anyway. Aren’t you immensely proud for Jet Set Willy Online?

8. Guess you should be proud about G-Force too, even though I’ve wasted an unhealthy amount of time on the beast. Still, top visuals, great humour, trippy music and frantic old-school shooting action are too good to ignore. How did you manage to pull this one off?

9. So, uhm, not a particularly exciting question, but which is your favorite Mersey Remakes game?

10. And finally, what do you think of innovation in game design? Can it co-exist with a retro feeling or was JSWO a work of demons?