by Eric Caoili - 02.23.07
If you missed the first half of our interview with Infinite Interactive’s Steve Fawkner yesterday, make sure to read up on it now. We had an in-depth look at their genre-mixing RPG for to the DS and PSP, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.
We will be continuing our session today with questions about Infinite Interactive’s other projects coming to the DS, Galactrix and Warlords. We’ve got information and exclusive screenshots for Galactrix DS, a puzzle/strategy/RPG blend with a Science Fiction backdrop. Warlords brings the beloved turn-based strategy game from the PC to the DS. Steve also clued us in on their plans for working with the Wii. Read on for the lurid details!
Galactrix
Publisher: TBA
Platforms: PC, DS, PSP, & X360
Release Date: TBA
Multiplayer: 2-4 (Online?)
4 Color Rebellion: Along with the Sci-Fi setting, Galactrix adds strategy elements to the Puzzle+RPG formula. Can you describe some of these features?
Steve Fawkner: We seem to be on a mission to breed hybrid games. Two of our favorite games from years gone by are Elite and Starflight. We wanted to get some of the story and trading elements from these games and wrap them around a more traditional puzzle game.
The essence of Galactrix is the ship-to-ship combat which plays out in the form of a competitive puzzle game – but it’s quite a different puzzle game to our other title Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. This one is competitive for up to 6 players and is a mixture of real-time and turn-based play.
The strategy elements in Galactrix are separate to the puzzle game and all about flying around the universe, trading merchandise and managing your reputation with various factions by completing missions. Of course there is a central story here as well.
Will there also be a class system in Galactrix, or will strengths and weaknesses be determined by the ship we’re piloting? What sort of skills and items will we be able to customize our characters with?
We don’t have a class system. It’s all about collecting and customizing new ships. A given character might have 3 or more different ships that he owns and operates at any given time. Of course he can only choose to fly one ship at a time, but the choice of the correctly fitted-out ship for a given mission, will give a big advantage to the player.
As for the actual customizations, each ship can accept a different number of specialized items that plug into it – for example military ships can handle more weapons, but fewer computer systems. Merchant vessels can take more hull modifications, but less weaponry, etc…
Different crew members will also join the player in the course of the story and these will affect how the ship operates in combat. So if you do some missions for the Vortraag and you manage to enlist Lor’Briss the Vortraag Weapons Officer, you can expect to receive a small bonus to inflicted damage in future combats.
The PC version of Galactrix will feature online battles and downloadable content like new ships, missions, and planets. Is there any possibility that we’ll see any similar online functionality with the planned DS port?
We don’t have a definite answer on that one yet. Downloadable content is much easier to support on PC and Xbox 360. It is possible on the DS but it will depend on the memory available to us, which is a decision that will be made much later when we have a publishing partner on board.
Warlords DS
Publisher & Release Date: Strategy First
Platforms: DS
Multiplayer: 2-8 (Online)
We haven’t heard much about this port since it was first announced. Is the game still on track for a Summer 2007 release? Can we get an update on how development is going?
Warlords DS (actually based on the game Warlords 2) is being developed by Glyphic Entertainment, who are about 10,000km away, across the Pacific, so unfortunately we don’t get a chance to chat every day. As far as I know though, everything is still on track. The early prototype of the game was successful and they’re currently working on a number of improvements in the interface, the graphics and the AI.
In addition to 8-player hot-seat and WiFi multiplayer, Warlords DS was confirmed to have online support. Are the online features still planned to make the final cut? Can you reveal anymore details about what this it will consist of?
The current plan is definitely for ad-hoc connection for 1-8 players. Online support is planned, but we know from Puzzle Quest that this is tricky. It will definitely be added if there is time.
What are some of the significant improvements and changes that this remake will have over the original?
Wow. Almost everything is getting an update! To start with, there will be new graphics, which is a necessity on a 12 year old game, so that will all look nice and fresh.
Then the AI is getting an update. The Warlords 2 AI doesn’t cheat, and it was already very strong, so the new one should be even nastier on the top difficulty setting. Of course there will still be an easy setting for those who like to treat world domination as a less stressful exercise.
Lastly –we have the stylus! Using the stylus is so good for strategy games, I’m surprised there’s not a whole heap of them available for DS. I think that in every way, this game has managed to improve on the original Warlords 2.
None of the games we’ve talked about have been announced for the Nintendo Wii. What’s your opinion on the console? The system is just waiting for companies like Infinite Interactive to fill that RTS and TBS genre hole. What will it take for you to start planning your future projects with the Wii in mind?
I love the Wii. I can see potential for all of our current projects to go there, but we don’t have any definite plans yet. We have another project just starting up now, it’s too early to mention it in detail yet, but it’s a strategy game in the Warlords series. We’re developing this one with both handhelds and the Wii in mind. We’ll be taking it along to show off at GDC in March, so hopefully in a few months’ time we might have some good news on that front.
Galactrix official site
Warlords DS official site
Infinite Interactive
Puzzle Quest official site
4cr Interview - Infinite Interactive, Puzzle Quest DS
Steve and Infinate Interactive are heroes. They’re Western developers giving solid support to Nintendo platforms (and even the PSP); not half-baked ports or crummy license tie-ins.
Also, buy Warlords DS. Don’t even think twice about it (even if it is offline
). Few games do ad hoc strategy better than Warlords 2 did - none of them do it more accessibly.
That means you can get together with a group of friends who’ve never touched it before, and still have a long, engrossing match (with plenty of laughs, I might add). Goes without saying that it’d be a perfect fit for the DS.
… perhaps even better than Advance Wars DS. Expect to shelf that game away for some time - WDS’s ad hoc play is much more repayable, and enjoyable to start up again (even right after a prior match).
Crispy4001 - 02.23.07 5:40 pm
Wish I could edit
:
WDS’s ad hoc play is much more *re-playable*
Crispy4001 - 02.23.07 5:41 pm
I say: “Give it a try you fanboys.” Lol.
Travis - 02.23.07 8:48 pm
I’m a big fan of Steve’s. Some of my favourite games of all time have been made by SSG, and later Infinite Interactive.
But I really have been worried that they were going to be left behind as a tiny developer (especially since the split with SSG). Production values for PC games have been improving dramatically, and the costs for developing a “AAA” game (and especially the art assets) has been skyrocketing.
Thankfully, it seems that the DS has become something of a saviour for smaller developers. I’d love to see a brand new Warlords strategy game for the DS, and I hope that Infinite Interactive keep focusing on the DS, since it seems like a perfect match with their strengths.
Marlor - 02.24.07 5:56 am