GameStorm Online Chat Record

  This chat occurred on Kesmai's Gamestorm recently. Thanks to Anthony Steensgaard and Ken West for forwarding this copy.

kyll_long : Evening Ladies and Gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you all to the first of what we hope to be many GameStorm Chat sessions. Tonight we have 2 very special guests who hopefully will keep your attention riveted.

On stage with me (as you'll hear soon ) are Jonathan Baron, Producer for AW3 and Arnold Hendrick, Executive Producer for AW: Vietnam. Our special guest tonight presenting the questions from the Audience will be Doug Vernon, Product Specialist for Battletech and Flight SIMS.

Ok to get us started Jonathan Baron who's been with AW since 1992 producing everything imaginable.

blue_baron : Good evening, fellow Air Warriors and my condolences to those of you who are recent victims of the Italy scenario. I hope we can have these chats more frequently in the future - they remind me of the RTCs in the old GEnie days.

Okay, first off - stuff that's happening for the current product, AWIII. Next week, we will be releasing version 3.13. This will fix the problem with the hit shells in FR, along with some high res glitches. We're also developing special terrains for scenarios.

Also, we are working on a process that will deliver you SAC along with your regular AW software. For those of you who don't know, SAC is the Scenario Auto Converter that allows you to swap special textures for aircraft and terrain into your current AW installation, and revert when you wish to the old skins.

We are also working on reviving something I never thought we did right the first time: Autoscenarios. This will allow us to have nightly mission based events that the host can moderate rather than relying strictly on massive organization by players, though I'm sure the player run events will remain the main events for most of you, and the autos will not take away from that.

THIS IS A TEST

Finally, we're testing a smaller Europe terrain for the arena. It's based on the Europe of old, except that it's more geographically balanced rather than the old one which could have been called "The Siege of B-land." The point is that although we are moving forward with rather massive development efforts for the next generation AW products we will continue to support fully and amply the product you play now.

And that's about all I have to say for the moment.... I'll turn things over to my esteemed colleague, Arnold. I look forward to your questions.

Click to continue

arnold.hendrick : Thanks, Jonathan. I'm Arnold Hendrick, producer at Kesmai responsible for the upcoming Air Warrior products. I've been in computer games as designer and producer since 1982, including a lot of solo sims. I started in online gaming in the early 90s, on GEnie, playing Kesmai and other products, including AW.

But this is about the next generation of Air Warrior products, of which Air Warrior: Vietnam is the first. This game is an entirely new flight simulator. It's built from the ground up using the latest software technology. This means the latest and best in 3D graphics, AIs, and game design.

Our goal is to keep all the great things of Air Warrior, but add lots of things people have always wanted. We may not be all things to all people, but I can promise more things for more people.

Historically, the game covers the greatest air campaign of the jet age, the "Rolling Thunder" operations against North Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. The situation was not unlike the Battle of Britian, with Americans taking the German role, and North Vietnam in the British role. I can answer more questions about the historical era, its planes, and the tactical and strategic situation if you wish.

The game itself is about flying and fighting aircraft of the period. You can fly USAF, USN, USMC, and VPAF planes. VPAF - Vietnam People's Air Force, which used MiG-17s and various types of MiG-21s. I can go into player roles and opportunities more too.

Perhaps the most interesting and innovative aspect of AW:Vietnam is its historical campaign game. Here you can actually participate in an ongoing campaign in a massively multiplayer environment, with players in roles from pilot to theater commander. However, top strategy is dictated by the game - which means you still report to either the President, or Ho Chi Minh, and must do what he wants. That insures political realities and historical reality remain, and just happen to keep the campaign balanced as well. :) I can talk more about that too.

What I can't talk about is projects beyond AW:Vietnam. All I can say is that we'd be idiots not to reuse this technology in more flight sims. :)

I can say that AW:Vietnam is designed to be a new game. I expect that even after launch, AW3 will continue, with people enjoying both games side by side. Finally, I absolutely cannot say the release date for Air Warrior: Vietnam. All I can say is be patient - not even Rome was built in a day. Thanks, and I'm now ready for questions.

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