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Dangerous Waters in Europe |
In Europe, |
My trip to Portsmouth by LeRedoutable (webmaster of Mille-Sabords.com)
At Portsmouth Tuesday afternoon, I search for the hotel near the town center when my phone rings, I got an SMS; an invitation to the restaurant where the media (mainly from Italy, Germany, and Spain) are drinking. I am just in time to put my luggage at the hotel where I meet Oneshot, a German from SimHQ. We sympathize rapidly and walk to the pub for our first meeting with the BlackBean people and, of course, for some English beer (not new for us, in fact). Friday March 31th at 08:00AM: The head is flooded with alcohol vapours from the last night I walk to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum located on the small island of Hampshire. We meet the Commander Jeff Tall and Dangerous Waters Producer Jamie Carlson who proceeded to tell us more about S.C.S. and the European version of DW. The European version of Dangerous Waters : What is new? The European version of DW will not be the same as the North American one, there are some improvements, the standard version will be the last patch (1.03). - With the CD’s comes a movie about the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine. - An additional campaign based on the best seller from Tom Clancy "Red Storm Rising" designed by the famous Bill Nichols. - Nine others scenarios will be available from simple ones to large ones. The MP mission "US Naval Blockade" involving a Task Force against north Korea forces is also included. - The trailer staring commander Jeff Tall will also be included (you can see it here) and, with the documentation you will find a coupon offer to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Interview with Jamie Carlson
Hi Jamie, nice to meet you. My first question is about the extension Opposing Force, the add-on with the new Russian controllable platforms, can you tell us more? [J. Carlson] : We would very much like to create more platforms (specifically Russian platforms to balance the experience of the airborne and surface platforms of DW), but the release of this expansion will be linked with the sale of Dangerous Waters (at this time they are under those of Sub Command). Once we’ve established a very healthy install base due to a successful response to the game, we will release the OppFor expansion; we are very optimistic about it.
[J. Carlson] : We would love to add Europeans platforms (Germany has always been on our strongest markets for our games would undoubtedly be at the top list for the future platforms). However, a concern is always how to obtain accurate technical data for foreign naval platforms. We should have good contacts with former U.S. subject matter experts (which was always a distinct difficulty that we had for the Russian platforms) and our hope is with any additional European platforms it will be an easier process. Can you give us some information about the "Last Resort" campaign CD"? [J. Carlson] : I can’t give you more information, this new campaign is in fact mainly the work of the community and the DW Beta Test team. It’s an external concept in which myself or the Dangerous Waters development team have very little control. However, I have played a few of the missions in addition to the RSR campaign and am excited for the release in 3 or 4 weeks (end of April)
[J. Carlson] : It’s an interesting idea but the economic model of that kind of game is not an easy task nor is our development team currently configured to handle that sort of undertaking. In order to maintain a persistent world we would have to have a dedicated staff in charge of creating additional content and managing the ‘persistent world’. It’s just not something we’re interested in at this time, but the concept is certainly a viable one. Talking about the multiplayer game, can we expect the integration of Gamespy (or other code) in the code game to improve the MP games finding? [J. Carlson] : The licensing scheme for an integrated Gamespy multi-player component is different than a Gamespy Arcade implementation. For the short-term, Gamespy Arcade will be the primary matchmaking service for Dangerous Waters. Some players complain about the lack of information we have in the replay module, did you plan to enhance it in a future patch? [J. Carlson] : The replay viewer that was created for Sub Command could be used a "starting point" for the format that was included in Dangerous Waters, but there is still significant work that needs to be completed. The enhancement of the replay viewer is still feasible (some work has been completed) but we have to plan according to the priorities and where our time and resources are best spent.
[J. Carlson] : I can tell you that the new patch will fix many critical bugs in v1.03 and we hope that the BETA team is very optimistic about this new patch. This simulation is very complex and it takes a great deal of time to accommodate for all the applicable details and behaviors, especially with regards to the physics, sensors, and AI responses. A last question about the general design of the game. I suppose you didn’t miss the launch of Silent Hunter 3 with it fantastic 3D. What do you think about it compared to DW graphics? [J. Carlson] : We were obviously extremely impressed by the graphics fidelity of SH3 and congratulate them on their achievements with the game! There is no one who wishes UbiSoft Romania more success than myself, because I feel that a successful SH3 is a success for the naval simulation genre as a whole. If they are able to grow the fanbase of our genre with new customers, then everyone will potentially benefit from that. Obviously our 3D assets and rendering engine by a smaller team of artists and programmer and the primary focus of our products is in regards to the realism and technical fidelity, as that is often what our government customers are concerned with. However, we do acknowledge that the 3D visualization is an integral part to any product’s success in this marketplace, and we will certainly prioritize this component in the future. An attractive 3D graphics engine is undoubtedly vital to attracting new players to our genre and to the future success of S.C.S. titles. Thank you, Jamie.
And finally a more about the future project of SCS: Sonalysts is thinking about the future, and although the government contracts are a priority for the company and society, they are not neglecting the game work. There are many projects in their bag. We can notice the will of S.C.S. to make the games more accessible to the whole gamer population with a simplification of the environment (inutitive interface) and better tutorials. Sonalysts is aware that the flight simmer’s community can be attracted by their products (more aerial platforms with better flight models using joystick/gamepad input instead of only the station panels in the game). An another approach is to develop cross genre games (simulations with strategic level play in addition the tactical play as it is now) but all of this future developments are partially linked to the success of Dangerous Waters in North America and abroad. Of course, the ability for Sonalysts to develop many of their military contracts allow them to develop their titles when other dedicated game developers would not be able to.
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Tuesday March 30th
: I am on the way to Portsmouth, a small town in the south of UK, to have
a meeting with a representative of S.C.S. and BlackBean to know more about
the future launch of Dangerous Waters in Europe (late of April – beginning
of May 2006).
