Bart Simon: Ich bin Design Drone 1 von 3. (lacht) -Schneiden sie das raus- Ich bin Chef Desginer von Borg Assimilator. Ich hab auch bei vielen anderen Cyber Lore Produkten mitgewirkt.
DR: Wie würden Sie das Gameplay beschreiben?
Bart Simon: Cyber Lore ist erblicht immer ein einzigartiges Gameplay zu kreieren. Ich denke, Borg Assimilator ist ist ein solches Spiel. Wir kombinieren Kampf mit Aufbau Strategie. Man wird auch sein eigenes Szenario erstellen können. Wir versuchen zu simulieren, wie es ist, eine Borg Kolonie zu bauen und zu verteidigen. Ist Widerstand wirklich zwecklos? Das entscheiden die Spieler.
DR: Wird man irgendwelche berühmten Star Trek Charkatere sehen, die die Borg bekämpfen?
BS: Wir diskutieren gerade über Auftritte verschiedener Star Trek Charaktere.
DR: Wird der Spieler die Kontrolle über Borg Armeen oder Schiffe haben?
BS: Man wird eine indirekte Kontrolle über die Borg Dronen haben.
DR: In wiefern unterscheidet sich das Gameplay zu anderen Strategie Spielen auf dem Martk?
BS: Die "Assimilations Technik" bei Borg Assimilator ist einzigartig. In Borg Assimilator sind Dronen soetwas wie Resourcen - und Dronen als Resorucen sind schon ein Unterschied als wie Gold bei AoE. Außerdem kann man ja auch Schiffe und Gebäude assimilieren.
DR: Erzählen sie uns etwas über die Grafik
BS: Das Spiel wird aus der isometrischen Sicht gespielt.
DR: Wird man auch Spezies 8472 zu sehen bekommen?
BS: Was wäre ein Spiel über die Borg ohne der Spezies 8472?
DR: Wann wird das Spiel herauskommen?
BS: Wahrscheinlich zu Weihnachten 2001
DR: Danke für das Interview
Hier der Original Text in Englisch:
DailyRadar: Who are you, what do you do on ST: Borg, and what other projects have you worked on?
Bart Simon: I am design drone 1 of 3. Wait – scratch that - I am the design lead and creative director on Borg. I have been involved in roughly half of Cyberlore’s shipped products – from Heroes of Might and Magic: The Price of Loyalty, to Deadlock 2: Shrine Wars, to our most recent releases, Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, and its forthcoming add-on Majesty: The Northern Expansion.
DailyRadar: What would you describe gameplay as, RTS, City Builder, Simulation? And what does that mean?
BS: At Cyberlore, we pride ourselves on our ability to create unique gameplay that can make our games difficult to pigeonhole, and in many ways Borg is such a game. We’re combining elements of RTS games (mission-based combat system), city-building games (an emphasis on Borg colony construction), and software toys (the game is very configurable, and provides a sort of “sand-box” mode where the player can construct exactly the scenario they wish to play with). That being said, I’d say that Borg is a simulation at heart – we are attempting to simulate what running a Borg colony is like. You get to run a bustling hive of Borg drones. Is resistance really “futile”? Its up to you, and how well you run your colony.
Is it Sim City? Decidedly no.
DailyRadar: The other species will resist being borg-afied, will we get to see any famous Star Trek characters fight against the borg? Any available for assimilation?
BS: We are currently discussing the appearance of several high-profile Star Trek characters. To be honest, though, the inclusion of marquee ST characters is not integral to Borg’s success. The ability to run a Borg Colony, and assimilate any individualistic threats is innately entertaining.
DailyRadar: Will the player control armies of borg, ships, etc, or will this be taken care of through some type of computer controlled interface?
BS: You have indirect control over your Borg drones. Borg drone AI is fully capable of performing the typical colonial duties (assimilation, combat, resource procurement, labor). You have many methods to interact with your colony – from placing buildings, to constructing control beacons, to deploying drones on dynamically generated “missions”.
We have made a conscious effort to create a game environment and game system that can automate many aspects of your colony’s daily routine, but we have been careful not to neglect those players that would rather hand-tune every component of the game. In essence, our hope is that you can play the game in a hands-off way – only making high-level decisions, or you can micro-manage, fine-tuning minute aspects of the colony’s daily rituals in order to eek as much efficiency as you can out of your civilization.
We’re also really pushing our engine to up potential unit count – we want hundreds of units running around, and when you take into account the fact that these units aren’t just “dumb” vehicles, they are thinking, logical beings, you can see that this is quite a challenge.
DailyRadar: How will gameplay differ from other strategy games on the market? Star Craft, Ground Control, Age of Empires, etc?
BS: Borg Assimilator’s emphasis on assimilation is very unique. In the game, “individuals” typically constitute the most important resource – and individuals are a much different resource than gold in AoE or stone in Pharaoh. I mean – you can count on gold not to run away or fight back, right? Beyond assimilating individuals in Borg, you also get to assimilate alien structures. As you can probably recall from the TV shows, Borg are capable of changing the physical makeup of impounded spacecraft from their normal state into a “borg-ified” vessel. They can do the surface of planets as well, and any buildings that gets in their way.
In comparing Borg to other sim-style games, its focus on units as opposed to infrastructure affords it a level of immersion that has yet to be fully explored within the genre. Each borg drone you create actually does something, whether it be transporting resources, fighting hazards, or laboring in structures. Borg drones are not an abstract component of the Sim, as they are in Sim City – they are very concrete, and in many cases the number of drones you have in your colony dictates how effective and potent your colony is.
DailyRadar: What are some of those " unique genre innovations pioneered by Cyberlore Studios" that will be incorporated into the game?
BS: The focus on assimilation, the methods of indirect drone control, and the amount of attention and time we are allocating to making the drones into the core game element. Additionally, we are pushing our random scenario generation system into previously uncharted territory, which will add a ton of depth and replayability to the game. Our campaign system, our special-event system, and our freestyle system all rely on second-generation randomization toolsets. If (and when) we hit our mark, you’ll have a game that presents almost unlimited gameplay possibilities, but that does so in a cohesive, logical manner, rather than in a haphazard way.
DailyRadar: Tell us about the graphics, 3D polygon based with 2D sprites, a mixture of both? Isometric view or will the player have camera control?
BS: Our gameworld is a polygonal mesh that can be deformed on the fly. This is evident when you borg-ify terrain around your colony – watch as organic grassy knolls and scenic rivers are flattened into Borg’s trademark techno-gridwork. Game-art consists of pre-rendered sprites. Our art-staff and art toolset are extremely veteran and mature when it comes to working with sprites, and on Borg, they have outdone themselves. We also have animated tiles, particle effects, and a rotating isometrically-oriented camera (which means that a fair amount of out sprites are actually rendered out from four different directions so they are more immersive.)
DailyRadar: Will Species 8472, the Borg biggest challenge, make an appearance?
BS: What would a Borg game be without Species 8472? They’ll show up, and you better get ready for them, because they aren’t around to have a toast and throw back a case of Romulan Ale.
DailyRadar: Right now what's you're time frame on releasing the game?
BS: We’re aiming for a pre-holidays 2001 release. It’s going to be a Borg Christmas!
DailyRadar: Will the player act as the Borg Queen when controlling the other borg?
BS: Instead of using the Borg Queen as the player’s avatar, we’re actually having you portray the collective intelligence of a Borg colony. This allows us to use the Queen as a tool that can be deployed when your colony reaches a certain level of proficiency.
DailyRadar: Why is ST: Borg Assimilator going to kick ass?
BS: Join the collective.
Travel to distant eco-spheres.
Meet distinctive individuals.
And assimilate them.
Thanks Bart!
Quelle: http://www.dailyradar.com
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