SOVEREIGN
INTERVIEW (PART 2) With
Verant's Clint Worley, lead Producer on
'Sovereign'
Platform:
Specification:
Out:
Genre:
PC/Windows
Not
Known
Q3
2000
On-line/RTS
An
Interview with Clint Worley of Verant
Interactive, lead producer on Sovereign.
Obviously, as Sovereign is still in the
early stages of development, there isn't
that much you can tell us in the way of
specific unit details, resource models
and the real nitty gritty stuff that our
readers love to hear about, but we'd
certainly like to give them a clearer
idea of what Sovereign is all about.
What can you let us know is working
really well in play testing presently?
Sovereign is a Massively
Multiplayer RTS with elements of
espionage and diplomacy. Currently in
play testing we are focusing on the
resource management and how it is dealt
with pertaining to city construction and
unit construction.
Given the games diplomacy feature, as
well as knockout 3D graphics (The
screenshots I've seen show Aircraft
carriers, Tanks and Destroyers, all
lovingly modeled in 3D) and the thrill of
real time combat, the audience appeal
should be huge. But how are we going to
have time to
play - after all, I know several people
who haven't seen daylight for months
since they started playing EQ - or are
you hoping to get a new crowd of online
players by showing the non-RPGers among
us a damn good online time?
We are targeting a wide variety
of gamers. The game will feature many
elements that will attract players from
each genre. The game is usually
associated with RTS games but it is
played at a much slower pace on a much
larger scale, MUCH LARGER!
Speaking of the real-time crowd, their
main online multiplayer experience has
been with Age of Empires, Command &
Conquer, StarCraft etcetera. Although for
those of us who've played in persistent
worlds before (Such as Ultima Online,
Everquest and to a lesser degree
Asheron's Call) Sovereign's concept is
easier to grasp. How do you think you can
best explain the incredible difference
between traditional multiplayer and
multiplay in a persistent universe?
I believe that persistence adds a
much-needed element to on-line games.
Traditional multiplayer is tried and true
and we all love LAN games. Now with
persistence in gameplay, games can open
up previously unexplored possibilities in
games. Worlds that can exist when the
players are logged out is still a new
area that is being explored and we are
excited to be one of the first titles to
enter the market delivering the first
persistent RTS.
