by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson

Sound Off

Q. What sound APIs will be supported? Will digitized sound be used for various weapon systems and effects?

Mo: We are doing some sound experimentation, trying new techniques and technologies. The sound system is not finished yet though, so we haven't made hard-copy decisions. We're working with cross fading regular wav technology, and also trying a physical sound modeling engine from a company called Staccato Systems. Our sound engineer is Neil "corn" Huntly from WarBirds fame. He's doing some great work so far. The demo we showed at the con featured a great sound set. We've got sounds mapped to many more parameters of the engine and flight model to give much more detailed audio feedback. It's very cool.

Talk to Me!

Q. Will voice interaction be built in so that a squadron leader can command his squad or coordinate an attack?

Mo: Yes, voice technology will be supported. There will be no reason not to include that in online sims from now on. We're looking into a few different things, but it will be in there for sure.

Q. How many players will be able to participate in one active world?

Mo: We're looking to get 1000+ in each Theatre,

Snail: We'll be starting with a single theatre and adding more theatres as we go, all operating together.

Q. When do you expect to hit beta? Will there be an open beta?

Mo: Beta should hit by the end of the year, 1st Q of 2000 at the latest, and yes there will be an open beta stage.

Recommended System

Q. What is the recommended system spec? Will a 3d card be necessary?

Mo: Right now we're looking at a PII 266, 32megs, and a second generation 3D card minimum.

Q. Hardware nuts after my own heart. Tell us a bit about your team and their credits.

Mo: Well, most of us cut our teeth on WarBirds development and support with ICI and IMOL. As gamers and community leaders we have experience that is very extensive, and a lot more varied. One thing that keeps hitting me here is that there are no conflicts keeping our productivity down. Everyone is organized and productive, and there's a lot of mutual respect within the team.

I'm amazed we were able to pull off the con demo as well as we did. From a producer's POV I was expecting a lot less than what the team delivered. Everyone here is totally motivated to make this happen and that is infectious. We'll have bios on the web soon, so let me save that for the team to share.

Click to continue

Q. What is the most exciting thing about this game for you personally?

Mo: That it's going to work. When we first started looking at doing it I had my doubts. It's a huge project, with a huge scope. But we spent SO much time in developing the design that our confidence in getting it completed is very high. I guess the most exciting thing to me is that I get to be a part of it. My job is to make sure it happens, and that is a very inviting prospect. I just let the team get their job done and keep the machine free from interference. This team needs room to run, and I'm letting them do just that.

The Morning After..

Q. After Blitzkrieg there will be more modules. What are they and when might we see them?

Mo: Eventually we will model all the major theatres of World War2. We haven't decided on a timeline yet, but the war will go on until it's done and progress through the theatres in a relative timeline. ETO, PTO, MED, CBI, and Russian fronts will all have multiple theatres open eventually with interconnected supply flows and resource systems.

Q. What will be the payment structure for Blitzkrieg? What will it cost me per hour or week?

Mo: We're gonna hold that card close to our chest for a bit still. The online combat sim market is changing right now and we don't know where it'll be when we go pay. We have some ideas, but we're gonna grab a beer and watch the parade for a while before we commit.

Q. Reasonable. Did I miss anything? ;-D

Mo: Well, yes. There's a fly in your coffee!

Q: That ain't no fly.. it's our direct line to the Pentagon. See the microwave relay on the head? Ain't technology wonderful...

Fade to black...

Join a discussion forum on this article by clicking   HERE.