Fasa Interactive interview (long)
There has been much rumor and hearsay on happenings within MW3 Developer Fasa Interactive. We at Bad Karma have been fortunate in being granted interviews within FASA to ensure the facts are known and to lay to rest concerns to the future of the much awaited MW3.
Mr Thorley is the CEO of Fasa Interactive and took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.
Denny Thorley
First, let me thank you for your obvious interest and concern for our organization and the products we are developing. I will answer your questions as frankly as I can at this time.
Bad Karma
What is the present status of the Mechwarrior 3 project? Is it to be completed?
MicroProse and FASA Interactive are developing a joint press release that will clarify Mech 3's status. We hope to get it out late next week. Of course Mech 3 will be completed.
Bad Karma
Rumors have indicated several possibilities as to who would be responsible for the completing of this product. Could you clarify who it will be? Fasa Interactive's own personnel, Microprose, or another?
Denny Thorley
MicroProse is responsible for publishing Mech3 and had contracted FASA Interactive to develop the product. During the course of Mech3's development, MicroProse established a working relationship with Zipper Interactive on one of their other products. Zipper has a mature "unbelievably good" 3D game engine that MicroProse thought could benefit Mech3. With a great deal of reluctance we had to agree with their decision to place the game development of Mech3 with Zipper. The bottom line: Zipper's 3D engine out performed FI's. MicroProse and FI feel that moving the project to Zipper will make Mech3 a better product. FI will still be involved from a licensor stand point and we've been asked to work with MicroProse and Zipper on the design. Jordan Weisman and I are flying back from a design meeting as I write this.
Bad Karma
A development restructure team at this stage would seem to indicate that a change in direction for the game is inevitable. Comment?
Denny Thorley
Yes, the game design will evolve. I won't comment on changes, but I'm confident our MechWarrior fans will love it.
Bad Karma
What delay can we expect upon such a restructure?
Denny Thorley
MicroProse, FI and Zipper will do everything in our power to get Mech3 on the shelves for Christmas 98.
Bad Karma
If in fact Mech3 is no longer completely in FASA Interactive's hands, what type of artistic control does FASA Interactive have on the project?
Denny Thorley
FASA Interactive has the typical licensor control over the direction of Mech3. MicroProse is very sensitive to our player base and really wants to please them. We will work very closely to insure Mech3's acceptance by our core audience.
Bad Karma
QUOTE "From: "Scott Janssens"
"I would just like to state for the record that FASA Interactive and FASA Corporation are two distinct individual SEPERATE companies. FASA Interactive is not a division or subsidiary of FASA Corporation. FASA Corporation does not affect operations of FASA Interactive other than FASA Interactive currently has the rights to all of FASA Corporation's licenses."This would suggest FASA have little or no control over Fasa Interactive, as they are completely separate entities."
This is somewhat confusing, could you clarify?
Denny Thorley
While Scott's statement is factually correct it is not practically correct. FASA Corp. is one of Virtual World Entertainment Group, Inc. (FI's parent company) largest shareholder and their Chairman and CEO, Mort Weisman, sits on our Board of Directors and is one of my closest advisors. Additionally, Jordan Weisman is a senior Executive at FI and is involved with all major decisions. FI and FASA Corp. work closely together to manage the growth of FASA Corps. brands such as BattleTech, Shadowrun and Earth Dawn.
Bad Karma
Reports from E3, were that the game was looking very smooth in its alpha state. How far along is/was the game? Had the previous team lived up to management's expectations of getting the job done?
Denny Thorley
FI never got Mech3 to an Alpha state. While the game did look good for a product scheduled to ship Xmas of 97, it was deficient in frame rate and special effects to be competitive in 1998. Products shipped on the PC next fall are going to be off the charts visually with fabulous frame rate. Technical decisions involving the renderer that were made early on with Mech3, came back to haunt us as we searched for faster frame rate and enhanced graphics. Sure I was disappointed with the results of FI's development on Mech3. The product was tracking late and would have exceeded its budget significantly. I don't blame the team, as much as the circumstances. The majority of the team is still with us and is starting work on Mech4. I have a tremendous amount of faith in their abilities.
Yes, we did reduce the scope of the team, primarily due to the inefficiency we saw with a large team. You can't have these kind of problems on a project this important and not try to improve your chances on the next project.
Bad Karma
The FASA Interactive team interfaced with the mech newsgroup's heavily months ago getting a feel for what people wanted in a game. Will FASA Interactive continue with this type of interface, for future products?
Denny Thorley
Of course we will stay in touch with our fans and listen to their advice when practical. The fanatic fans are what make these projects so much fun to work on. Unfortunately, too much information on Mech3 was released to the news groups. MicroProse is a public company and some of the status info on Mech3 was not appropriate. While I'm sure none of the info leeks were malicious, we will make an effort to curb the inappropriate communication to the news groups.
Bad Karma
PC networked gaming is rapidly becoming a major sector of the market, Quake has been a success largely due to it's networked game. With the closing of the Virtual World sites in Seattle, WA. and Pasadena, CA facility (the last US VW sites) many people are looking forward to Mech3 as a at home replacement. We feel that the networked portion of Mech3 will be a major factor in the success of the game. How much emphasis is FI putting into the networked game at this time?
Denny Thorley
For clarification: Virtual World never operated a retail location in Washington. You maybe referring to The Wizards of the Coast gaming facility in Seattle which has purchased 12 of VWE's Tesla Cockpits. Wizards' new center is doing great and they continue to feature the Tesla cockpits.
VWE closed its dedicated locations in California. We still operate one store in the Circle Center Mall in Indianapolis. However, we have expanded the number of locations our Tesla cockpits are played at. We have a long-term agreement with Dave & Busters (D&B) (a large entertainment/restaurant/bar facility) to feature the Tesla cockpits and VWE's BattleTech simulation. D&B are great locations for our cockpits and more people are playing BattleTech than ever before.
We have cockpits domestically in Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati and Seattle. Whistler Mountain Canada, Japan, Australia and South Korea mark our international installations. Tesla will soon be in Dallas, Denver, Puente Hills, Irvine and Ontario California, Philadelphia, Bethesda and Charleston South Carolina. In fact, BattleTech is the number one earning game at D&B's new stores.
To answer your real questions; Networked games are and will continue to be a focus of FI product where it's appropriate. Both Mech3 from MicroProse and MechCommander have robust multi-player support.
Bad Karma
The discussion has centered on MW3. What is the status on Mech Commander?
Denny Thorley
MechCommander is quickly approaching ALPHA. We are really getting pumped about it. People loved it at E3, Gen Con and ECTS. It is a very unique game and presents some pretty interesting challenges from a mission design perspective. We've left ourselves plenty of time to tweak the missions.
Bad Karma
I recall a 5 game deal being mentioned with FASA Interactive and Microprose, what were the other 3 games planned.
Denny Thorley
FI is developing an action based Shadowrun game, a computer version of BattleTech the board game and a couple of titles that will remain nameless at this time.
Bad Karma
Could you give us an overview of FASA's structure.
For clarification we have three companies: VWEG is the parent company, FI is software development and publishing and VWE is location based sales and service.
Bad Karma
Will beta testing proceed within a foreseeable time frame? When it does, will there be "open" beta testing for customers? Also, concerning testing. We have had several professional programmers join the team this year. They indicate grunt work of early beta testing is less than popular with most programmers, would you be interested in volunteers for that purpose to assist in getting this product on the shelves?
Denny Thorley
Beta testing for MechCommander is a MicroProse responsibility. I'm pretty sure we will not put the product out to the public for Beta testing. We don't have the infrastructure to make that kind of effort successful.
Bad Karma
Is there any one thing in public opinion or misconceptions,
that concerns you and would like to address?
Denny Thorley
I'm not sure I have a good enough handle on public opinion to even respond to that question. Maybe you can let me know what public opinion is?
Bad Karma
There has been much speculation upon what time frame within the Battletech Universe the planned games will be set in. Assuming that Mech Commander and Mechwarrior3 are to be completed, are the "Battletech Timelines" decided that their action occurs in? Will the players have Inner Sphere and/or Clan technology options?
Denny Thorley
Both MechCommander and MechWarrior 3 are fictionally right in step with the novels and printed game materials. Both are set during the upcoming Inner Sphere counter offensive and thus take place during a very dynamic and dangerous period of BattleTech history. In both games the players will have a mix of both Clan and Inner Sphere technologies available to them.
Bad Karma
One review in CGW recently downplayed Mech Commander in a top ten projected release. Lack of pre press release of demos and or information appears to have been a frustration with Magazines as well as consumers. Recently, a Real Player preview of Mech Commander, was "discovered" on Real Audio's web site. The Fasa Interactive site and mail list has not had any information change since going "On-line". With a perception of the planned Heavy Gear release from Activision, to be a competitor to FASA, and the greater access to information they have structured, do you agree that FASA marketing is not keeping pace with the "sizzle" of the competition?
Denny Thorley
Please keep in mind FI is not the publisher of MechCommander, MicroProse is. I agree Activision does a great job with their marketing efforts and they are not shy about spending money. We have an enormous amount of respect for Activision and their commitment to building brands.
MicroProse will answer the bell soon. Sure it would be fun to rev everybody up about MechCommander, but the truth is FI has not been able to lock in a ship date on MechCommander for MicroProse until very recently. I refuse to push them to spend money on vapor ware. I want them to really drop a dime when it will do the most good. You will see the ads for MechCommander very soon.
I'm surprised you read frustration into the CGW preview of MechCommander. We have not given the game to anybody to play yet, nor will we for a while. I was surprised it got on CGW's radar with all of those games that have shipped, or are about to. Although I understand they are anxious to play it.
My frustration is MechCommander keeps getting lumped into the command and clone category. It is not a clone of anything that I know of. Really, the only similarity is the POV. This game is about tactical command of a small force in real time. Your forces carry forward from mission to mission.
Anytime you start developing a game you need to estimate the risky areas of development. The production value and unique game play are the risky areas for MechCommander. We have the production values nailed, but the game play is a little slower process.
We are striving to invoke, in the player, a very strong emotional attachment to the MechWarriors and the Mechs themselves. The game gives the player incredible amounts of flexibility in terms of how he/she approaches liberating Port Arthur.
In MechCommander the player can put his Elite MechWarrior (that's taken you 10 missions to painstakingly nurture) in a speedy, sensor laden Ravine to get the longest sensor range possible. The problem is, one alpha strike from a Clan HunchBack may murder the irreplaceable pilot. Or, the player might play conservative and choose to put all his good Warriors in assault class Mechs loaded with long range weapons and never, never let them go out alone.
The player could put his rookies in the Clan Mad Cat that you captured in operation 304, but watching that Omni-Mech stumble and fall if in rough terrain will be painful. And of course rookies paired up with assault Mechs are worthless in battle. But it might be worth the risk because it's the only way the rookie will ever get any better.
How the player destroys an enemy base is up to him. He can dismantle it piece by piece with his 100 ton Atlases or go over the wall with his speedy, jump capable Centurions and capture the turret control towers. His covert actions will be rewarded because once he captures these towers, the turrets start hunting Clanners.
FI's challenge is tuning the missions to be fun regardless of the players approach.
To answer your question on the marketing: Our time is coming. MechCommander.com starts ??? and will be updated regularly. The MechCommander ads will start to break in the January magazines. We are working on on-line service deals for multi-player as well. Once MicroProse and GTI get settled together, I believe more money will be spent promoting their products.
Bad Karma
Mr. Babcock and Weisman's products have captured the imaginations of thousands since those early Battle Droid days. In an industry review of FASA, the aim for truly interactive war gaming appears to have been the initial concept, and now it is quite attainable via Internet services like Jay Cottons KALI. Now with gained experience of recent events and the Virtual Worlds project, do you foresee greater exploration into this area for Fasa?
We have seen Fasa grow from a small company in the days when TSR ruled the RPG world, to a perceived "Megacorp" in 15 years. What direction do you see the industry heading in the next one to five years?
Denny Thorley
I'm not sure to be thrilled or disappointed that you refer to FI as a Megacorp. We are a small start up company that is modestly funded and has an incredibly bright future. We have a very talented staff working on some very interesting products.
It has been almost 17 years since Jordan Weisman and Ross Babcock started FASA, which eventually resulted in the founding of both Virtual World and my partnership with them to found FASA Interactive. In that time the world of entertainment and gaming has certainly changed. FASA has been lucky enough to lead some of these changes with the creation of what's now called the Location Based Entertainment industry and the relatively early introduction of network gaming. At it's core, and the primary reason for it's long term success, has always been the creation of lasting intellectual properties, designing universes that people cared about and wanted to be immersed within. Thus, as technology advances we still believe that it is the universe, the characters, and most importantly the game play that matters the most. Now having said all that we have learned a great deal about social interactions and network gaming over the last decade that we have been making it available to the public, and have great hopes for using that knowledge to now create killer multi-player games for the home.
Bad Karma
Are first person games planned for the Earthdawn and Shadowrun series? Have ground plans been set for this yet?
Denny Thorley
Our Shadowrun game is 3rd person and is looking hot. The working title is "Assassin" and the team is extremely focused on getting Shadowrun to the top of the charts.
I apologize for the time it took for me to respond to your questions. If my responses to your questions raise additional inquiries, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Denny Thorley
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