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Interview: Bill Roper talks about Flagship's multiplayer plans, game engine and coding, and system requirements.
Date: November 10, 2003
Source: The Helper.net

Warforums Interview

Darg: In an earlier interview, Flagship stated that there would be a multiplayer component to your games. Given your experiences with both "free" and "pay to play" games, which model is Flagship leaning toward?

Bill Roper: We’re spending a lot of time looking into how we want to approach this specific aspect of the game, including the potential creation of our own online multiplayer destination. No matter what we do, it has to be simple to use and offer something towards the game play experience and the way the community interacts. As we move through the development process, we will better define our final online model, but it is just too early now to make a definitive statement.

Chile: We realize that Flagship is extremely early in the development of its first game, but has there been any consideration to include module software for the creation of custom content? For example, the Aurora Toolset that Bioware produced for NeverWinter Nights?

Bill Roper:We have not put a specific focus on creating a full-featured, user-friendly toolset. We do, however, understand the importance and fervor of the modding community, so we have been thinking towards ways to support these gamers. We don’t have the intention of doing anything to make the game especially hard for those in the mod community to manipulate.

Wargasm: There has been some talk about the 3d engine. Is it easier to buy a license from another company such as the Havoc engine from Valve, or Doom 3 from ID? Or, better put, wouldn't it be easier to take a 3d engine that is out there, customize it, and save a lot of time in the production of an in-house 3d engine?

Bill Roper:The amount of time to modify an engine to do specifically what you need a game to do can very well take as long as designing the engine yourself. There are numerous examples of games that have continued to slip in regards to release dates because they keep switching technology. The engines that have been developed by companies like Id and Valve are certainly impressive, but at this time we feel that the specific needs of the game we are creating are best served by the creation of our own technology.

Wargasm: How do the increase of CPU speeds and faster and faster video cards affect the design of your game? For example, ID software seems to have some pretty high specs to enjoy all the eye candy, yet people with less expensive and/or older systems suffer in a way. How does one decide on what to include and what to omit when producing a game for the average consumer?

Bill Roper: We have always made games that appeal to a broad community of gamers. This means that we need to support a wide range of hardware, from CPU to video cards, to make the game playable by as many people as possible. We will continue this tradition with our current game and want to do all we can to both ensure the average player can enjoy our game, as well as having all the bells and whistles for those who have the top of the line equipment.

Wargasm: There is a relationship between the consumer and the game developer, this goes without question. However, some developers sign away the support aspects of their game to the publisher. For the most part, our experiences with both developer support and publisher support have left us wanting more of the former. Where does Flagship Studios believe the customer should be assisted? And, more specifically, will Flagship support it's own products?

Bill Roper: Supporting the player community is really the responsibility of both the developer and the publisher. This is especially true in the case of a game with an online multiplayer component. In all of our discussions with potential publishing partners we have put the support and growth of the game, as well as interaction with the gaming community, as a top priority. Very directly, we intend to support the game we make and be an active part of the community that grows around it.

Chile: The sole conceptual illustration Flagship has released presents the viewer with a humanoid female that is distinctly non-human. Can we anticipate this dark and otherworldly tone to reflect throughout the rest of the game, or will we see happier looking characters appear in the game? (in other words, will there be any clowns, dude?).

Bill Roper: We like gritty worlds that have a variety of character types. With the launching of our website we wanted to take the opportunity to show gamers a great piece of conceptual art that reflects our design sensibilities. We could certainly have characters with cleaner, less sinister features, but I would be fairly surprised if we ever created someone or something with the distinct intention of making it “happy”.

Chile: Linux is steadily gaining widespread acceptance as an alternative Operating System. In earlier interviews, Bill Roper has mentioned that the focus of Flagship initial game will be for personal computers. Has Flagship thought to develop "the game" for Linux and/or the Mac OS X operating systems?

Bill Roper: We are currently focusing all of our energies on creating a great game for the PC and have not yet discussed our long-range plans for support on the Macintosh or other operating systems. We do come from a tradition of supporting the Mac with our games, and we will certainly be keeping such a great, passionate base of gamers in our thoughts as our development progresses.

Chile: The games industry, in general, has witnessed movement of high-level employees from established companies to found new companies (ArenaNet, inXile, etc) over the last couple of years. Do you see this phenomenon more as a trend toward the grassroots of game development, or as a flight by developers away from corporate hindrances?

Bill Roper: It really depends on the individuals, but I think a bit of both applies. We are a creative industry, and many of the top developers do find themselves stifled in many ways within the structure of large corporations. Many developers who leave established companies to start up a new concern do so to get back to their roots – being a vital part of a small, focused team in a company where they set their own destiny and success as much as possible.

Chile: There are many computer game sites online to provide value added features such as video files, interviews, previews, patches, and media. But, many of these sites are moving toward a greater focus on marketing campaigns. That is, many sites now force users to view full-page ads, oftentimes for completely unrelated products, before they can reach the content they intended to obtain. Some developers seem both content to trade away their fan's attention spans, and exclusive content, in exchange for the seductive availability of bandwidth and server space provided by these game sites. With these thoughts in mind, will Flagship Studios provide content related to their game(s) equally to all fan sites? Or, will Flagship offer the fans all content on Flagship servers in addition to the regular routes of value added media features?

Bill Roper: This is so far from where we are on the game, I cannot speak to the question with any level of certainty. What I can say is that we want to create an exciting and compelling game with an equally fantastic online destination. The game is our first and foremost concern, and every decision we make is with the game and the player’s experience in mind.

Wargasm: Lastly, and this one should be the easiest to answer, what are the system specs of your computer(s), and why do you have them in your machine?

Bill Roper: Since I am doing mainly game and graphic design, as well as puting about a thousand virtual miles on Word documents a day, I am using an older system right now. When I start to get into daily work with the engine, I’ll use that as an excuse to buy a new rig !

AMD Athlon XP 1700+
55 GB disk drive
Radeon 8500LE Video Card
512 MB RAM
Yamaha CRW2200E DVD drive (for grabbing screen captures and watching movies!)