SwampBug interview Big Boss
Big boss David Cage of Quantic dream answered a few of my questions. I'd really like to thank Mr. Cage for his time, and close contact with the community. PLease visit Quantic dreams site for more info on Omikron, Exodus, and Quark.
www.nomadsoul.com
www.quanticdream.com
Q: How has the company of Quantic dream expanded? At first I never heard of you, then I see omikron come out. Now you are working on 2 games at once. Quark and Exodus. Which are fairly similar games. Do you plan on expanding the company into different directions?
A: We started working on Omikron in May 97 with a team of 18 people. The maximum size we reached was 36 people. Omikron has been our only product during this period. Being a young company, we wanted to focus our efforts on one title rather than starting ten different things. While developing Omikron, I used my (rare) spare time writing a couple of ideas for our future games. At Quantic, we don't want to specialize in one specific genre of games, but we strongly believe in one vision. People want content, solid stories, good acting, good technology and of course, good game play. We try to create worlds, because this is what we like to do, write stories and give a cinematic feel to it. We are working at the moment on at new project more action-oriented, but still following the same vision of what a good game is.
Q: Omikron was a fairly interactive game, how do you plan on making Exodus more interactive and compelling?
A: We see Omikron as the first step in a new direction. There are still a lot of steps to make before we reach the point we want to reach... In fact, we only used 40% of what IAM (our adventure tool) can do. We are currently working on IAM 4, the new generation tool, and it should be one of the most powerful tools to build games.
Q: What movies, and other computer games directly inspired the making of the Nomad soul/Exodus. ?
A: Omikron 1 was inspired by different sources, like Brazil, Dune, Logan's Run, Blade Runner, Hyperion, and others. It is still too early to say precisely what are the directions for Exodus. We are really at the start of the process, and it can still take different directions.
Q: One thing that made Omikron: The Nomad Soul innovative was the appearance of a virtual actor (David Bowie), and the in-game concerts. Do you plan to retain this tradition in Exodus? If so, which actors and in-game events do you have in mind for Nomad Soul: Exodus?
A: We will try to have virtual actors, virtual directors and of course musicians for all our future products. The experience with Bowie has been so positive on a personal, professional and financial point of view, that it really gave the will to the team to continue with different guest stars. We hope to find other people as open-minded as Bowie. We also want people who are truly interested in participating, not only giving their names on the box, but ready to bring something on the artistic side. It is still too soon to make any announcements regarding names, but expect some surprises on our next titles...
Q: Do you have plans of including a multiplayer option in Exodus? How about a Massive online rpg game like Omikron: Online?
A: We seriously consider this option, but no decision is made at the moment.
Q: How completed is quark and when can we expect to see this really cool looking game?
A: Quark is really at the start. You won't see it before 18 months.
Q: The city of omikron was pretty futuristic, how will we be able to relate to a city 200 years more advanced? I fear playing in cities that are too futuristic.
A: It doesn't mean that the city is more advanced. It depends on what happened during these 200 years... We want to be free to change things in the design, the technology and start on new basis keeping what we liked from the first episode. Telling a story a couple of years later was the best option. But here again, Exodus will be very different from Omikron.
Q: When will you be doing beta testing for exodus?
A: No idea yet.
Q: Will the fighting and shooting modes be integrated to any extent, so that it's possible to fight someone who's trying to shoot, or shoot someone who's trying to fight?(or maybe even start a fight...).
A: Yes, this was our major concern in Omikron. It is now fixed.
Q: Do you plan on releasing any tools for editing or creating maps, characters, movements, virtual concerts etc.?
A: We consider releasing IAM 4 one day, to allow players to make the game themselves. But we first need to finish it for us before distributing it outside...
Thanks again David Cage !
Friday, April 07, 2000