Trash Q&A at GamersClick

[Kreegle]

<strong>[ -> N/A]</strong>

<a href="http://www.gamersclick.com/interview.cf ... rsclick</a> have conducted a Q&A with Mark Currie from <a href="http://www.inhumangames.com/default.asp" target="_blank">Inhuman Games</a>, prying some more info out of him about the the up-and-coming post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game, <b>Trash</b>. Sample for ya, guv'na:<blockquote><em><b>GC:</b> What are some of the benefits for each race (Humans, Mutants, and Intelligent Machines)?

<b>MC:</b> Humans can make roads so that units can move quickly from place to place. Humans have mechanics that automatically go around upgrading any friendly units with out-of-date technology. This allows Humans to share technology upgrades with their Human teammates.


The Mutants can develop technology so that their factories can produce teleporting units. They can retrofit factories belonging to any teammate with this ability. Mutants can setup warp gates that link any two points of the game map. This is totally integrated in the path finding system. Units will automatically use these gates if it reduces their transit time.


Machine units use pipe like rails, they need pipe wherever they move. They automatically make pipe when traveling to places without. Making pipe takes time and resources, but once in place they can move quickly. Machine units are modular in design. Machine players can design new unit types in real time. For example, you can design an invisible harvester. </em></blockquote>Definitely sounds unique, that's for sure. Spotted this one over at <a href="http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLanFed</a>.

[Saint_Proverbius]

Automatic upgrading and repair, a la Total Annihilation, is a fantastic feature. It's a shame more RTSes out there didn't mirror TA's feature set, because that RTS is definitely the echelon of the genre as far as I'm concerned.

I also like the infrastructure thing. That's a fairly nice concept.

[Dan]

The best promise I saw in a RTS was Battle Zone 2.

The idea of combining the game with first person view really expands the game play option.

Playing battlezone 2 online was really fun, espacialy with the Battlestrat mod.

I would also like to state that I never saw BZ 1, so the ideas i'm talking about were probably implemented in the first game also.

Note: I think TA2 also has first person view, but i'm not sure.

[MF]

BZ1 was better. BZ2 was a system hog where it didn't need to be one. Guess that's why it more or less flopped. Also, BZ1 had a more robust resource system. Apart from that, it was the same. There's another battlezone game with wireframes from the late 80's I believe, but that's an arcade spacetanktank shooter.

As for Trash, I must say the infrastructure idea is great. It's basically been implemented in mostly every turn based strategy game but I guess it's just too much of a management hassle in real-time. If they found a way to circumvent this and implement it in a way which is fun and entertaining it would be really great.

[Dan]

BZ1 was better. BZ2 was a system hog where it didn't need to be one. Guess that's why it more or less flopped. Also, BZ1 had a more robust resource system. Apart from that, it was the same. There's another battlezone game with wireframes from the late 80's I believe, but that's an arcade spacetanktank shooter.

I don't know BZ1.

But if it had the same principle of first person view in a RTS, then I'll say that BZ 1 was great because it had an interesting idea.

[DarkUnderlord]

Yeah, I agree with MF. Battlezone 1 was great. Ejecting out of your tank and going commando mode, sniping out Russian tanks was sweet. Trying that in Battlezone 2 was harder to near impossible because the Tanks would see you and move towards you, or they'd never stop moving long enough for you to take a shot. When you did take a shot, you hit the tank and they came after you. Damn aliens.

Plus that and a lot of the default tank weapons were useless (or rather, seemed useless). They didn't cause the damage that the scout's minigun in BZ1 did. You always had to upgrade your weapons to get anything decent. Throw in the better enemy targetting and your one-man commando-style scout minigun runs on the enemy base just don't work anymore. In BZ1, you HAD to be in the battle, otherwise your troops would lose. In BZ2, you were better off staying back at your base using the satellite.

But if it had the same principle of first person view in a RTS, then I'll say that BZ 1 was great because it had an interesting idea.

Yes, BZ1 had the same implementation as BZ2. I think, what was it, Dark Reign 2 went the same way as well? Not sure, but I know there was another game out there that tried the concept. Never played it, just heard about it.

[Red]

Fuck all that "reality" BZ crap, gimme the good old original (free) fast a furious LAN party game: http://www.bzflag.org

[Saint_Proverbius]

BattleZone is about the United States and the USSR having a war on the moon, Mars, and other planets with hover tanks back in the 1960s. So.. erm.. "Reality"?