Katarn

Kool. Until I read that this area was still private I freaked out when I saw you moved this area. All is well... My heart rate is back to normal. -Katarn

You can hold back existing content and reveal it based on the day/time/event. Another easy thing to do would be to temparary change some of the tuning/balacing/rules on these special occasions. (for example everything is produced at double the normal rate for both sides. Or you can purchase things at half price. Or the scoring method is modified in some way) The tuning changes would require very little code and the size required for these changes would be tiny. Of course doing something with the artwork would allow you to do even more. Adding new weapons, changing from day to night, new levels, etc... Obviously any additions on the art side would require a bit more space so you would need to think of creative ways to reuse existing artwork whenever possible. For example if there was a small monkey in your game on special occasions you might scale his size up, give him more hitpoints and when killed he would drop a bannana worth 10,000 points instead of the normal 100. (that would require about two lines of code) Good luck -Katarn

I think you could. The main problem/limitation you have is the small size of the programs. But in theory mobile gamming seems to be the perfect media for this idea. I can envision mobile users becoming quickly addicted to any game with evolving content. The Tamiguchi (misspelled?) games where you fed, exercised, played and disciplined your little pet on a daily basis was a huge hit 4 years ago. I'm not suggesting making another game like that one but rather using a simular gameplay mechanic to encourage people to play the game on a daily basis. Ghostly, Do you have any examples of games that did what you suggested? The only ones I can think of were Animal Crossing and some of the Sim City games. > Read my furtune Cookie and this is what I got... Lol. Ghostly uses fortune cookies and Cain uses the force. Maybe these two methods are different permentaitons of the same thing -Katarn

It's too late to implement for EAW but not for EAW II or Petroglyph's next project. It's not a new idea but rather one that very few developers have yet to latch onto. the concept has huge potential and makes a lot of sense for PC games and even more for console game where downloadable content and updating the code is very difficult to do postrelease. Don't worry I'll do my part to support this design concept on the games I'm currently working on. -Katarn

I honestly think that all games should have this type of content generation system. Did you ever play Animal Crossing for the GameCube? It was a cute Nintendo game that I normally hate but they had the most brilliant time based content system. They had all of the events you described plus all of seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) where the world would change based on the seasons. Some people, creatures, events would only happened during a particular, holliday, season, day or time. The result was that you felt that there was a living breathing world inside your GameCube. I found myself waking up at 3:00 in the morning just to see who is in my town or what event was occurring. And they did all of this content generation without relying on downloads. If someone were to implement this system into an RTS game it would have infinite replayability and would somewhat minimize the need for downloadable content. Someone should tell the EAW producer about this idea Seriously it's a great idea but to do it right would take a substantial amount of development time. (but I think it would be worth the effort in the long run) -Katarn

Here are a few more links. www.gametab.com = Doesn't specificialy cover game devlopment but it has a slew of links and many of them are development related www.gamesindustry.biz = Mostly industry news www.gamedev.net = Not as good as Gamasutra.com but it's probably the second best development site Once you land a job you should request to attend GDC. That's the game development conference here in California held every March. It's the best place to learn about game development /www.gdconf.com >I just wish someday I will have fans like you have hehe. If the games you work on are half as good as your design proposals I'll be one of your fans The pay increase sounds like it will be quite a jump for you. That's great! Now you'll be able to afford some high end computers and game systems! > Hey if you decide in 10 years to expand your company in other country's (like JAMDAT did) I'm always here Wink and you can count on my support. Anything is possible. Thanx! Good luck.... -Katarn

Whoa! That's a huge topic. I would start with a subscription to gamedeveloper magizine (gdmag.com) Another great resource for everything game development releated is www.gamasutra.com. I'll add some more links once I get on my home computer. Cheers -Katarn

> Wonder if I should mention Star Wars Republic Commando. I only played the demo but from what I seen its one of the best Star Wars games out there I should try playing it myself. I was bias agaisnt the game because I know they tried to make it as non SW as possible. The weapons, locations, stroy, music and many of the ememies were not derived from any SW reference. Trying to make a SW game as non SW as possible always seemed wrong to me. I'm also bias because I thought LEC should have been making a Jedi Knight game instead. Oh well... I heard it does have a fun squad mechanic. > so it seems I will also turn in favor of a smaller company Keep in mind that I only did that after 12.5 years at LEC. If you choose the smaller company you'll have great oppertunities to do a lot of different jobs. Which is always a good thing. But once you've been there 5 years or so and shiped a few games you may want to consider working for a larger company. There are some things you can only learn at a larger company and some things you can only learn from a smaller one. There is no right or wrong choice. That said most people are happier at a small company. -Katarn

Good luck with your job search Cain. It sounds like things went fairly well with your two interviews. The way you described the two companies they sounded fairly typical for a small and large company. The trick is either finding a nitch/speciality in a big company (like I did with LEC) or stick it out with a small company and hope that you can make it better and grow. (like I'm going now with F-5 > Hey they have told me that the 19 questions were one of the best answered. Cool no ?! lol. Yeah that is cool! > And wow Brett the game your helping to make just made a total of 33 game unions at Gamespot Shocked EAW only has 4 gamespot unions. That's awesome. But as expected (at this stage of development) EAW has far more people on their wish list. 39 verses 4323! -Katarn

I don't know how old you are Ismael but kids 13 or older can post on the LEC forums. The officail policy of the LucasArts website is: "Children under the age of 13 are not authorized to post messages or participate in Forums on this Site" Thanks for relaying the message from Mike. It'll be good to say hi to him and see how things are going. I miss working with those guys Cheers -Katarn

LOL. I just noticed that my account & login on the LucasArts forums is still active. If I was an evil Sluggo I could really create havoc. Of course I won't unless someone starts to trash talk Sluggo or BT -Katarn

Cain, it’s clear that you never stop thinking about design and your head is full of interesting and cool ideas. That will serve you well for the GD position. The "what if" idea is always fun because it establishes a core with known facts and then turns those facts upside down. My concern with any WWII game is that it's been done a million times. Why not WWI? The what ifs for WWI could be very interesting.... What if the war lasted another 10 years? What type of weapons would they have designed and built? Would they evolve to be like WWII weapons or some sort of mix between WWI & WWI? Where would the war have progressed to? How would the fighting tactics of trench warfare evolved if the war continued? Would they continue to use gas warfare? What would the tanks, guns, ships, planes, etc... look like? As for Petroglyph's next game I believe they are already working on a design proposal. I can't speak to that all since it's their property. But I can say that it's a very cool idea and as soon as someone hears the idea they respond by saying it sounds like a very fun and original idea. Best of luck with your two interviews. I only suggest that you don't pressure Ubisoft too much. Let them know that you are VERY interested in the position but I wouldn't talk about the other job offer during the interview unless they specifically ask you about it. However at the end of the interview that's when you should politely remind them that you do have another job offer and if they are interested in hiring you then you like to hear back from them sooner rather than later. -Katarn

Well hello... Mike!! It's good to see you posting on this forum. I know the people on this forum greatly appreciate you and Delphi taking the time to say hello and giving us small insights into the development of EAW.. We wish you guys the best during this crunch mode. Aloha -Katarn

lol. Yeah great photo. That was an interview with GameSpot back in Feb at Petroglyph's conference room. They interviewed both Mike and me. (Joe prefers written interviews over live) Ok, Cain you convinced me...I'll try your Mod. But I honestly don't know where I have my copy of Rebellion packed away. I have over 2000 games in my library. btw: Congrats the positive feedback on your mod!!! It's good to see Mike posting on the forums. But knowing Mike he's been looking at these forums all along. I'll go over to that post and say hi to him. (btw: Does he know who katarn is?) Regarding looking at the feedback... Here's the problem. It's very dangerous to say that you used or even looked at anyone's feedback on a game currenly in development. There are a bunch of money hungry leaches out there just waiting to sue a game developer for stealing their idea. I wish people could give feedback freely and developers could openly acknowledge their contribution but that is not the way of the world.

You both listed Silent hunter II & III. I really enjoyed Silent Hunter I but for whatever reason never tried the sequals. Maybe I'll run out and buy a copy or borrow one from someone at work. > Pirates of the Carrabiean (The coolest sailing ships simulation packed with action and RPG - kind of a game for a movie). Did you ever play "Pirates" the remake of the orginal pirates? This is a great game made by the master Sid Meier. >You like civ 3 ? Sweet I liked it and it was the first RTS I played. If you liked Civ III you should try the Conquest expansion. It's awesome. It has a Japanese samurai scenario, Roman, WWII, Greek wars, Future and a few more that I'm forgetting atm. >Interdictor for EAW got his inspiration from my interdictor... or I may be rung of course. My inspiration was the SWR 3D model Sorry to disappoint you but I believe he got his inspiration from the official materials > can you guess where are this guys from? Not from any LucasArts game. The first shot looks like it's set at Yavin IV with images created by you. The second shot looks like an image from Galactic Battle Grounds with some modifications. My guess is they are all from your Rebellion mode (The Remnant) as shown in the third image. -Katarn

The idea behind the name Rise of the Rebellion was that it would be in the unique time era of the birth of the Rebellion. You can direct the Rise of the rebellion or crush it before it can grow and eventually defeat the Empire. But it did sound a bit one sided and that's one reason we didn't keep the name. It was also agrued that the title sounded more approprate for an RPG than an RTS. My favorite "rencent" game is God of War for the PSII. If you haven't played this game I highly recommend it. It is truely one of the best games ever made. My all time favorites are: Masters of Orion II, CIV III, Super Mario 64, Dark Forces, Dune II & GOD of War!!! I'm sorry but I can comment on "Lair" other than to say that I'm working on it and that the name "Lair" is a working title. One thing about the Interactive Entertaiment Industry is that you sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and if you reveal information that you shouldn't you can get fired or sued. Or both!

hehe. The idea of capturing and rescuing of heroes sounds very much like hummm.... Rebellion. For many reasons I think it would be best not to kill off major heroes. I only gave that Obi example to demonstrate that in the movies they make a connection between defeating a major hero and giving the remaining hero an advantage. I agree that any advantage should probably be limitied to Rebels. As is true with real history if a leader of a small rebel group is defeated he often becomes a martyr which in turn strengthens the rebels cause. But if a powerfull leader from an established government falls it has the opposite effect. How does that translate to gameplay? Well if Vader is defeated on the battle field he would not "die" but by some means he would be removed from the battlefield. He would be unavailable to the Imperial side for some undetermined duration. Maybe he is captured, he retreats, he needs to sit in a bacta tank for a month, how his is removed doesn't matter for this discussion. What is important is that as a result of losing a major hero the remaining Imperial troops may decide to retreat sooner than they normally would. And when troops are in retreat they might be easier to kill. This would grant the small groups of Rebel forces a huge tactical advantage if they could neutralizing Vader or any major hero on the Imperial side. The opposite would be true for the Rebels. If you neutralized one of their heroes they would be less likely to retreat and more willing to fight to the last man. Just a thought -Katarn

> Hero dies and the boost of revenge goes that much higher for us and probably your AI friends you control. Now that is an interesting concept. Granting the remaining troops a boost would be a kool feature and might even discourage some people from simply reloading their game if they lost a hero. It also has the effect of balancing the gameplay for the person losing a hero. The idea is also consistent with Star Wars lore. When Vader killed Obi his death gave Luke an significant advantage. It also allowed Obi to reappear as a silly green ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi. -Katarn

Ok, we know that heroes can affect tactical battles in both space and on the ground. Given that, it seems to me a viable tactic would be to specifically target these heroes (or be required to defend your heroes/fleet commander) for the purpose of breaking to moral of the troops. This would either allow youan oppertunity to wipe out panicking troops or to encourage the enemy to retreat. Personally I know that if I was a stormtrooper fighting alongside Vader and I saw him defeated I'd be on the first transport out of there. -Katarn

You aren't interrupting anything Ghostly. This thread is in a holding pattern waiting to hear what Ubisoft says regarding Cain's LD application. Glad you liked the Dragon trailer. But it wasn't really a trailer in the traditional sense. It was actually footage while running the game engine! Yes the game really looks like that while playing. I'm a bit shocked that Sony left in the "lair" title since it's not the final name. It's just the working title that we call the product. That reminds me. Here's a small bit of trivia. Empire at War's working title was originally called "Rise of the Rebellion". Cain your Rebellion mod sounds really kool. I'll have to dig out my copy of Rebellion and give it a go soon. -Katarn

- I enjoyed playing Rebellion but I HATED the interface! Not sure I can force myself to boot it up to try your mod. Maybe.. - Good photos. Yeah, It would be good to meet up with you at E3 one of these days. And now I see why you wanted me to dress up as an Imperial officer for the interviews. But it wasn't going to happen. I relate more to the Rebellion than the Empire. The Empire has too many simularities to real goverments and histrorical events. I much prefer the grungy mercenary clothing of Kyle Katarn -Here's the link to the game I'm working on. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/635/635496p1.html -Katarn

WOOT! Congrats! Well don't expect a quick reply. It may take a month or more before you hear back from Ubisoft. Yeah, Your Avatar is awesome. I was wondering where you found it. Now I know... Don't worry about creating artwork. Level designers are not required to create any artwork. (other than maybe creating crude artwork for early mockups) Most Level designed artwork tends to be as bad as programer art

Count me in as an offical fan of Mike Legg. I would also add Joe Bostic, Steve Tall & Chuck Krogel to my Petroglyph fan club. Of course there are 25 other very tallented team members at Petroglyph that deserve my respect and their own fan clubs as well... -Katarn

Nice welcome. Thanx. Ok, Let's move our converstations out of this private section and start discussing tactics, strategy and gameplay. -Katarn

Hey everyone! Thanks for the warm welcome to your forums. Wow I'm 15 Cains?!! You may remember me as "Sluggo" or AKA Brett Tosti the former producer of EAW. I thought I'd join your forum as a fan and contribute to the conversations. That said please do NOT ask me specific questions about the game that haven’t been officially announced yet. 1) I wouldn't want to circumvent the project's plans for releasing content/information. (Particularly when I help devise them) 2) I am still legally bound by a non disclosure agreement (NDA) to not reveal confidential material. 3) Legal action could be taken against me if I violated that agreement. The other thing I ask is to please keep my identity secret to the non Moderators. I don't want who I am to become general knowledge. I'll stop posting here if hoards of people start asking me questions I can't answer. That said I can and will join the great conversations on this forum which discuss general tactics, strategy and gameplay. I am after all still a fan -Katarn