Chat With Volition

by: Old Staff - November 20, 1998 for Freespace Watch

Freespace Watch sponsored a chat with Volition on November 6th, 1998. I thought it would be worthwhile to condense the discussion for those who couldn't make the chat. In the following space, I'll provide the questions and piece together/paraphrase the answers so that you can read a brief summary of what happened. Hopefully, this will help even those who attended get a better idea of what exactly was asked and answered. Although I will try to capture the entire answer, something may be lost in translation.

Without further ado, here are the highlights of the chat in a question/answer format:

FREESPACE

Q: Exactly how is FreeSpace "Descent"?
A: In name only. The game was named Descent as the best and easiest way to avoid trouble over a trademark issue with a utility called "Free Space."

Q: Overall, are you satisfied with the gaming community's reaction to FreeSpace?
A: Definitely. FreeSpace has been reviewed well, its sales are great, and it's fun to play. Any flak we've taken over multiplayer is certainly fair.

Q: So, are you guys *completely* done with FS1? No more patches, add-ons, etc.?
A: Well, we think we're done. If something quite serious comes up we'll do a patch, but it seems unlikely. The focus is now on FS2 and new projects, and we can't do both at the same time.

Q: What 3D software were the cutscenes rendered and the ships designed in?
A: 3D Studio MAX 1.2, mostly off the shelf stuff. We had some in-house plugins for some of the cutscene character stuff.

Q: What area in FreeSpace do you feel could be improved the most?
A: "It's perfect. Cancel FS2." More seriously, there are a few things we could work out in the networking. Plus, the primary weapons could have been a bit more diverse. And the story will be improved in FreeSpace 2.

Q: There weren't enough enough ships in FreeSpace, will there be more specialized vessels in FS2?
A: There were about 40 ships in FreeSpace, which is a lot since we don't have a number of ships already designed and modeled from something like Star Wars. It takes time to do good ships, but we thought FS had a great variety.

Q: What's your standing on the hacking out of the .tbl files? Would you permit the release of a .tbl editor?
A: We plan on removing any encryption. In fact, with FS 1.05, hacking of ships.tbl is detected for multiplayer. I doubt we'd make complaints unless it broke multiplayer somehow or made cheating easy. We'd like to encourage user expansion of our stuff, and people will hack it anyway.

Q: Do any of you play any user designed FS missions?
A: Yes, we think they're great. We even validate multiplayer missions.

SILENT THREAT

Q: Why was Silent Threat campaign so short?
A: Doing good new missions takes time. We couldn't work on it any longer, but we'll try to make the next one longer.

Q: Why where there no cutscenes in Silent Threat?
A: Cutscenes are very very hard, they cost a ton of money, and our timeframe was too tight. So we did some new Command Briefing animations instead, even though we would have liked to do more.

Q: Why does the Loki suck?
A: The Loki was written to be a failed experiment in stealth tech.

Q: Why were there no new Vasudan ships?
A: Vasudans were too busy evacuating the remains of Vasuda Prime to build ships.

FREESPACE 2

Q: What is the time scale for FS2? When is it expected to be released?
A: Christmas next year.

Q: When can the online FS community expect to start seeing some information/screen shots of FS2?
A: Probably in a few months. We're planning on doing a website overhaul for FS2 around January.

Q: What area in FreeSpace do you feel could be improved the most for FreeSpace 2?
A: I think everyone will be really impressed by how far the story will progress. Rest assured, the FS universe will get REALLY deep.

Q: If the Earth is cut off from the rest of the universe, how are you going to bring the GTA and Shivans face to face again in FS2?
A: The storyline is pretty much set now. We can't talk much, but the Shivans and Terrans are nowhere near done. The story kicks ass. Our new story writer did a great job. Trust me, all you FS story people will have a field day with it.

Q: What new weapons will there be in FreeSpace 2?
A: I rather doubt there will be a Fusion Cannon like in Descent. But there will be plenty of other new weapons. We're experimenting with WWII style flak guns, among other things.

Q: Will there be more ships in FreeSpace 2?
A: Installations will be changing and growing.

Q: Will FS2 make a multi-purpose ship for the Shivans?
A: Certainly. Actually, our biggest problem with new ships is coming up with even-more-evil names. How can you top the Lucifer and the Hades?

Q: What do you plan in FS2 to increase the threat posed by Cap Ships?
A: This was one of the things Dave has dreamed of improving, and its gonna get done. Like we said, we're experimenting with new weapon types like the flak gun. Although we have no specific plans for cap ship vs. cap ship weapons, its in the general mix. Capital ships weren't designed to defend themselves alone. They're supposed to rely on fighter cover.

Q: Will the FS2 engine be able to handle gigantic space battles like in the movies, say about 35-50 fighters with a few capital ships as well?
A: FreeSpace 2 will be geared to handle a greater number of ships, but will generally target the higher end of the FS1 platform. We plan on having support for "scalability" for FS2, so you can try sticking in as many ships as you want if you're machine can handle it. A lot of the stuff which was hardcoded before, like the maximum number of ships, will become more "flexible".

Q: Then what will the minimum system requirements be for FS2?
FreeSpace 2 will generally target the higher end of the FS1 platform. We can't really make a huge quantum leap just yet, but Dave would love to target today's high-end machines as a minimum due to the new technology being released.

Q: Will FS2 be hardware only, like Descent3?
Yes, that's our plan. We're 99-100% sure.

Q: Can we make our own ships with an editor in FS2?
A: No, not really. Odds are we'll have those abilities in FRED via sexpressions. But as with all things FS2, we have to balance time vs. features. Nothing is certain yet about doing that type of thing.

Q: Will the FS2 engine allow for engine created cutscenes and can mission designers create cutscenes in the new FRED?
A: We have no plans for that. It would require a major new system, which we don't have the time for.

Q: In FreeSpace 2 will there be any planet missions where fight in planet's atmosphere?
A: Well, we're planning on a "gaseous" battle type of effect. We're experimenting with it as a nebula effect, but I have a feeling that anything we do will work well within the context of "atmosphere" or "gas giant. But, fill rates on lower end 3D cards can't really keep up and we're trying to make it fast now.

Q: Will FS2 have something like a waypoint-autopilot system (WCP) to make escort missions a bit more interesting?
A: No. It's much "better to have a big-ass battlefield, than multiple small-ass ones." We dig the big battle scene thing better. Well, almost all of us anyway.

DESCENT 4

Q: When are you guys starting on Descent 4? Will it use the same Fusion engine as D3?
A: D4 is well underway, but it uses a new engine. It had a netgame test this afternoon and it's making great progress.

VOLITION

Q: What do you require for Internships?
A: We don't really do internships.

Thanks to Volition and everyone who participated in the chat.