SUBSIM: The idea for PT Boats has been cooking at Akella for quite
a while, since 2001. It now appears PT Boats is your current project.
When did full development get underway?
Akella: We’ve been developing the game for 4 years already and as we’re
planning, the game will hit the store shelves by the end of the year –
December 2007.
SUBSIM: Akella is renown for the Storm
game engine that powered successful sailing games such as Sea Dogs, Age of
Sail II, and Pirates of the Caribbean. How has Storm evolved for PT Boats?
Akella: We have completely redesigned
the Storm engine to meet the project requirements thus creating a favorable
environment to develop modern high tech naval games.
SUBSIM: What are the biggest
improvements to the graphics and physics?
SUBSIM: Will the player get transfers
from the Baltic to the Barents and the Black Seas?
Akella: All the missions will take
place in various environments – starting from the Baltic Sea to the Barents
and Black seas; however we avoided making direct references to the game
geography.
SUBSIM:
Does that mean the game will not have historical flotillas or ports?
Akella:
Game missions are based on real event of World War II, but we changed it a
little for gameplay improvement.
SUBSIM: How will combat tactics and
conditions change for the player when he is in different theaters?
Akella: Every theater
will have its own specifics varying in combat tactics and tasks. For
instance, Northern episodes have a prevailing number of missions of
escorting/attacking transport vessels. Thus a player should use
corresponding tactics – blistering attacks in groups.
SUBSIM:
What enemy units will appear in PT Boats?
Akella:
You will find a wide variety of battle vessels such as Hipper class
cruisers, torpedo boats, secondary cruisers, cargo ships, destroyers,
bombers, minesweepers, barges, tankers, and submarines of various types in
the game.
SUBSIM:
Can you be a little more specific? What class torpedo boats, destroyers, and
submarines?
Akella:
For the present moment we have:
Torpedo boats:
Elco (USA), Fairmile (UK), Vosper (UK), G5 (USSR), Komsomolets
(USSR), S-26 (GER), S-100 (GER)
Minesweepers:
SKR-Tuman (USSR), M-Class (GER), VMV (GER), KFK (GER), RAUMBOOT
(GER)
Submarines:
Shuka (USSR), U-995 (GER), V-class (UK)
Destroyers:
Cannon (USA), Fletcher (USA), 7-Type (USSR), 7Y-Type (USSR), NOVIK
(USSR), TRIBAL (UK), T-Type (GER), Z-34 (GER), Z-36 (GER)
SUBSIM: How varied are the AI
routines? Describe a couple of examples of enemy behavior?
but we still go on adding up more features. As an example, we can prescribe
enemy behavior towards a convoy. If a player attacks the enemy convoy
escorted by boats and destroyers it’s going to cost him/her big! Same thing
when you protect your convoy from the enemy boats.
SUBSIM: The last time we checked with
the dev team, PT Boats would provide the player with a career that
spanned around 30 missions. What is the current mission setup?
Akella: By now, we
have developed 6 historical episodes, 5-6 missions in each – you’ll be able
to play for 3 parties: USSR, Allied Forces, and Germany. The player
will be able to play each mission for any of the parties chosen – that’s
quite an interesting experience – to see something from different angles and
perspectives, feel what your enemy must have filled when you were playing
for the (current) enemy party.
Subsim
brings PT Boats: Knights of the Sea into focus.
