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Interview:Edge, August 1996: Difference between revisions
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DansFriend (talk | contribs) (Created page with "{{Infobox interview |issue = 35 |pages = 22-26 |interviewee = Anil Malhotra |subject = Millennium Interactive |archiveurl = https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20035/ }} An interview with Anil Malhotra from August 1996 published in Edge magazine issue 35. ==Transcript== Currently making headline news with its ''Cyberlife'' artificial life technology, Millennium Interactive has come a long way from the days of ''James Pond'...") |
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====Creatures==== | ====Creatures==== | ||
In ''Creatures'', the first product to use the much vaunted ''Cyberlife'' technology, the player starts with a set of eggs which they can hatch onto their PC and into a 2D world of about 12 screens wide and three high. The cuddly infants environment is populated with about 40 objects (food, fire, enemies, etc} for it to interact with and learn about and, after about a week, an averagely precocious creature adolescent with a stirring in its loins will be in a position to breed. Its offspring will have a distinct genetic code and, ipso facto, features and traits of its own. In fact, scientists at Millennium claim they have no way of predicting what sort of lifeforms will emerge a few hundred generations down the line. | In ''Creatures'', the first product to use the much vaunted ''Cyberlife'' technology, the player starts with a set of eggs which they can hatch onto their PC and into a 2D world of about 12 screens wide and three high. The cuddly infants environment is populated with about 40 objects (food, fire, enemies, etc} for it to interact with and learn about and, after about a week, an averagely precocious creature adolescent with a stirring in its loins will be in a position to breed. Its offspring will have a distinct genetic code and, ipso facto, features and traits of its own. In fact, scientists at Millennium claim they have no way of predicting what sort of lifeforms will emerge a few hundred generations down the line. | ||
Millennium is clearly hoping people will adopt its 'creatures' as virtual pets and, moreover, will participate, via the ''Creatures'' Website, in 'the world's largest artificial life expenmment' in which whole communities of creatures will evolve on the Net. This all sounds most intriguing - not to say downright scary - but whether or not these 'creatures' have sufficient personality to engage the heart as well as the mind remains to be seen. | |||
====Brains in Planes==== | ====Brains in Planes==== | ||
Millennium's first 3D racer is set in a 23rd century dystopia of peace, harmony and total boredom. where outlaw racers get their kicks from racing ultra-fast planes around the cities of the future. However, because the human body can't withstand the extreme G-force, the racers must remove their brains and plug them into the craft's circuitry. | Millennium's first 3D racer is set in a 23rd century dystopia of peace, harmony and total boredom. where outlaw racers get their kicks from racing ultra-fast planes around the cities of the future. However, because the human body can't withstand the extreme G-force, the racers must remove their brains and plug them into the craft's circuitry. | ||
The Brains team hope to have at least six circuits on offer, all boasting multiple routes, short cuts, and horizontal and vertical hazards (pedestrians, police vehicles, moving scenery) in true 3D space, Game modes will include multiplayer, tag, battle and time trial. The first track is still being tested on Alias but even so the team feels confident that Millennium's own 3D libraries will deliver an awesome visual experience. All the planes will be generated on SGI and ingame will be tracked by a selection of three thirdperson camera positions. Cleverly, anything that could obstruct your view is rendered in transparent polys so vision is unimpaired. The crudity of depth shading will be avoided by constructing 3D maps to limit the viewable distance from any point on the map. Graphical effects will include a particle system allowing for spectacular explosions, fountains, exhaust streams; multiple light sources and lens flare; and a dazzling chrome effect achieved through the use of environment mapping within the graphics API. | |||
''Brains in Planes'' certainly has the credentials to be an attractive and original title, and, if the team's commitment to gameplay holds true, it might even be fun. | |||
====Medievil==== | ====Medievil==== | ||
With the avowed intention of matching the rich, twisted art design of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, the classic arcade gameplay of Capcom's ''Ghouls and Ghosts'', and the dramatic 3D of the ''Alone in the Dark'' series, the ''Medievil'' team could hardly be accused of lacking ambition. | With the avowed intention of matching the rich, twisted art design of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, the classic arcade gameplay of Capcom's ''Ghouls and Ghosts'', and the dramatic 3D of the ''Alone in the Dark'' series, the ''Medievil'' team could hardly be accused of lacking ambition. | ||
The quest of the hero, Sir Daniel Fortesque, encompasses a mixture of shoot 'em up and exploration set across 11 areas ranging from a graveyard, through an asylum, to a battleground, each offering a distinct playing environment. Sir Dan can jump, duck, and use both handheld (sword, battle axe) and projectile (lightning bolts and crossbow) weapons against the sorcerer Zarok's malevolent minions. Plus, for sheer variety, there are ''Clockwork Knight'' style minisections in which you get to control Dan's sidekick, Morten, a small worm. | |||
Technically, things are shaping up nicely. All the game characters and backgrounds are true 3D objects (either texture mapped, Gouraud, or flat shaded), lit with parallel ambient and point light effects, with the realtime 3D display engine delivering an update of 30fps. If the game matches the technical expertise and the imagination and thoroughness of the design, ''Medievil'' could be a serious contender early next year. | |||
[[Category:Interviews from Edge]] | [[Category:Interviews from Edge]] | ||
[[Category:Interviews with Anil Malhotra]] | [[Category:Interviews with Anil Malhotra]] | ||
[[Category:Interviews about Millennium Interactive]] | [[Category:Interviews about Millennium Interactive]] | ||