Amiga Format CD 37/Amiga Format CD37 (1999-02-16)(Future Publishing)(GB)(Track 1 of 3)[!][issue 1999-03].iso/-readerstuff-/chris_seward/aio19/data/fe1

Text File | 1999-01-05 | 9KB | 180 lines

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{subhead} Interview with Stuart Walker/Digital Images{def}{p}
Article by Chris Seward
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CS - Chris Seward{p}
SW - Stuart Walker
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CS : In a short statement what is Digital Images about?
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SW : Digital Images is a new development team for the Amiga. We are slightly
different though. We are only going to develop for high end Amiga's (PPC's,
Permedia 2 etc.) so that we can show off the true ability of the Amiga and
to make people to upgrade. We don't want to limit our games with 680x0's and
AGA. We want the best, most technically advanced games on any platform!
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CS : Who are the people who make up Digital Images and what
does each person do?
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SW : We have quite a few people working for us, and it would take up several
pages if I told you who they were and what they do. But I can tell you that
Peter McGavin is part of Digital Images and he works on porting titles from
other platforms to the Amiga. We have a few programmers (but we really need
some more!), a couple of graphic artists as well as musicians and people who
work on ideas.
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CS : What is your own experience with the Amiga and why now
have you decided to produce software for it?
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SW : I have been using Amiga's since 1990 when I got an A1500. Since then I have
always enjoyed using the Amiga, and it has been my favourite platform since
then. At the time of Gateway purchasing the Amiga, development teams were
leaving the Amiga, Amiga owners were becoming doubtful and poor quality
games were being released. I decided that something needed to be done, so I
started getting a team together, I got new equipment and we started working
on our new games. The first of which is Space Station 3000 which is almost
ready for release. After SS3000, we intend to start getting very serious on
3D titles such as our 3D beat 'em up, Kijitsu Fighters, our 3D football
game, Digital Soccer as well as some of the PC titles we intend to port to
the Amiga.
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CS : How long have you been on the Amiga scene?
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SW : I think it's since 1989. Several friends of mine bought A500's and I saw
that was a brilliant computer. Since then, I have been following the Amiga
all the way.
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CS : What personally is your favourite game?
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SW : My favourite game has to be UFO:Enemy Unknown by Microprose. It has so much
depth to it as well as many brilliant ideas such as researching alien items,
shooting down alien ships etc. I just loved it so much and I still do. For
this reason, there are several features from UFO present in SS3000.
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CS : What games are you planning to release and any release
dates you could give us?
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SW : Space Station 3000 is nearing completion and should hopefully be released in
December. Once we have the licence for Wipeout 2097, we will start working
on that and we hope to have that released in the first quarter of 1999. Our
3D beat 'em up and 3D football game have no release date yet. Our Syndicate
game still has no release date.
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CS : Can you give us details of Space Station 3000 and what
it is all about?
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SW : Space Station 3000 is a combination of some my favourite (and probably
everyone elses) favourite games such as Sim City, UFO, Elite and Theme Park.
You start the game with a space station which has no weapons, shops, crew or
anything else. From there, you have to use your money to turn it into a
massive orbital city with defences to make even the toughest pirates
shudder. You can build shops, hire and fire staff. Each crew member has
their own skills and personalities to give the game extra interest. You can
shoot down enemy ships and board them. You can then keep the ships and use
them as your own. UFO's may attack your station. You can research these and
use them-they will be your ultimate weapon against pirates. You are also
given missions such as destroying pirate fleets, stopping wars, exploring
planets etc. Space Station 3000 will also have animation all the way through
to tell the stories of what is happening. We want it to be the best
business-sim game ever!
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CS : Any more details on the new Syndicate game you are planning
on producing?
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SW : It is still in early stages of development and we are still getting a team
together for it. It will be PPC only and will support some massive
screenmodes with true colour screens! We will keep you updated with this
excellent title.
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CS : What will the specifications of Wipeout be for the Amiga and when
can we expect a release of it?
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SW : There has been a rumor flying around that we have the licence. We haven't
got the licence yet, but we hope to have it soon. It will be PPC only and it
will support graphics cards as well as all other major hardware. It will
have amazing graphics and we are hoping to add screens with very high
resoloutions. The Amiga version of Wipeout 2097 will put the Playstation and
PC versions to shame!
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[Note : Digital Images do now have the licence to port Wipeout2097]
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CS : What are your future plans and any games in the pipeline
we haven't yet heard about?
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SW : We intend to support the Amiga forever. We are going to continue porting
games from the PC as there are some truly excellent titles on it such as
Tomb Raider 1, 2 & 3, Resident Evil 1 & 2 etc. We intend to have titles
ready for the Super Amiga as soon as it is released. The main thing that
makes a platform succeed is not the power of the computer-it is the quality
of the games for it. Look at the CD³². It was a brilliant platform that was
way ahead of its time-but all the games were just ports from the A500 or
A1200 and most of the games were 2D. There wasn't a good enough reason for
people to upgrade their systems. The games were the same-so that's why it
failed.
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As for games you haven't heared about, we are considering writing a Zeewolf
style game, but with textures and light sourcing etc.
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CS : What do you think of Amiga Incs plans for the NG: Amiga?
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SW : I think their plans are brilliant. We are supporting the Super Amiga all the
way. Amiga Inc. are being serious with the Super Amiga and when it's
released it will mop the floor with PC's, Playstations, N64's, Dreamcast. The
best things in life are worth waiting for.
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CS : What would you have in the new Amiga if it was up to you?
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SW : I think Amiga Inc. have included everything there is to have. I would make
sure it had good networking, not the PC networking which crashes every 2
minutes. The OS should be good and user friendly. It should be reliable-not
like Windoze which deletes your files for no reason. I would also make sure
that advertising was done in a big way. If you don't advertise, then nobody
will know about a product.
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CS : If a reader has a game he thinks you may be interested
in how can he go about contacting you?
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SW : First of all, they have to send a basic idea of the game (style, how it will
work, what will make it different from other games etc.) to me at the
following e-mail address:
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{bold}[e-mail]{nobold}
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If it's good enough, then we will be very interested. We pay good money for
good ideas. The more original a game is-the better. I mean, look at Tomb
Raider. There was nothing like it before. It became a best seller and will
always be remembered. Myst is another good example. If you want to design a
game in a style which has been done before, make sure it has features which
will set it apart from other games of the same style. Wipeout 2097 could
have been 'just another racing game', but it has many excellent features
such as controlling space ships around fast courses whith sharp bends. The
controlls are great and the idea of weapons is really good.
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CS : Anything you'd like to say to the whole of the Amiga
community?
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SW : Stay with the Amiga. We will make sure that you have all the titles you want
to stop you abandoning the Amiga in favour of inferior PC's. If there is a
title you would like ported from the PC, just e-mail us and we will see what
we can do! 12 months might seem a long time waiting for the new Amiga, but
with brilliant titles being released from companies such as ourselves, the
wait won't feel that long.
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One last note-Do NOT pirate Amiga software. Do NOT accept pirated software.
Piracy is damaging the industry and the Amiga. Anyone who pirates software
doesn't care about the Amiga and should be locked away forever. If you know
about anyone pirating any software, contact the developers of the titles
they are pirating and they will sort it out. Piracy is illegal-and the
penalties are severe. DON'T DO IT.
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CS : Thanks for your time!
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SW : My pleasure!
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Feel free to download screenshots for SS3000 from our website as well as
screenshots for Wipeout 2097 at :-
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{bold}http://www.digital-images.demon.co.uk{nobold}