Strategy First Takes Us Into the RTS Genre
By Michael Lafferty

Two games, two diverse patterns – both from a leader in strategy software, and packed with enough game playing to give PC fans all the action and entertainment they want.

Strategy First, a Canadian publisher has some big plans in the months ahead, and those take the forms of Disciples II: Dark Prophecy and O.R.B. – Off-World Resource Base.

GameZone had the chance to talk with a trio involved in the development of the games, ask a few questions, and get some answers about the products. But first, a little information about the games:

This, according to Strategy First:

‘Disciples II: Dark Prophecy returns gamers to the magical realm of the Sacred Lands where four races: the Empire, the Mountain Clans, the Legions of the Damned and the Undead Hordes. continue the battle for the destiny of their Gods. A decade after the First Great War, the final prophecy continues to unfold. Deep within the crevices of the Sacred Lands, the Chosen One has emerged, fated to bring salvation to some and destruction to others. Braced  with renewed faith and newfound conviction, each race must once again take up the sword for the sake of their people and the glory of their God.’

The game features unlimited upgrade possible on all units and leaders, more than 200 individually animated units and more than 100 animated spells with each race having a unique campaign. The multiplayer game supports up to four players through hot seat, LAN or Internet, and an import/export function allows you to use developed leaders in multiplayer games or stand-alone quests.

For O.R.B., here is the story:

‘Millennia Ago, an empire spanning the galaxy collapsed after a long and brutal war. In the Aldus system, two orphaned races slowly evolved on two separate planets. Both races believed that they were unique and alone in the universe. They were soon to find out that they were neither unique nor alone.’

This game features unparalleled 3D real-time strategic gaming action with full freedom of movement in space, the ability to enter the fray as one of two fully developed races with unique campaigns and strategies, an immersive dynamic environment – with a living solar system replete with planets and a vast asteroid field where danger and opportunity lurks, the opportunity to shape the world and the fate of your race by building secret bases inside them, where you can engage in epic fleet combat with a wide variety of vessels and specialized units including: Orbital ShockTroops, Mine layers, Fighters, Jamming Units, Probes and Massive Capital Ships, the ability to enjoy a unique downloadable campaign editor and tools, complete with the ability to script your own cut-scenes, and to launch explosive battles with up to eight players in cooperative and head-to-head multiplayer mode.

Disciples’ Danny Belanger, and producer Pro Sotos, and O.R.B.’s producer Phil O'Connor talked about their products.

Question: What elements do you think make a really good game? How does your program fit into that scheme, and what do you think are the most notable aspects of your game?

Pro: “In my opinion, gameplay is the most important aspect of any game. Music, art, interfaces… they are all important elements in games, but if the gameplay doesn’t appeal to the gamer, then they won’t play it enough to enjoy the other aspects. The Disciples’ world is all about gameplay, and even though the 2D art in the first game was fantastic, it’s the gameplay that made them play it enough to see it.”

Phil: “Story and gameplay. They both go together. We have taken a different approach to this in ORB, a slightly more story-oriented game. The most notable aspect of ORB is the visual one, but it’s not necessarily the most important one. On its own its not enough, it has to be supported by an actual compelling and entertaining game. This could be overstated, but there has to be a game in there somewhere, regardless of what it looks like.”

Q: Does your product bring anything new, technology-wise, to the genre?

Pro: “Technologically the newest features in the game are the resolution, which is now 800x600 with 16-bit color, and hot-seat play. Since it’s a turn-based game our programmers spend more time implementing features, improving the AI and getting rid of bugs.”

Phil: “I don’t think there is any other RTS that uses real physics. So I guess we are the first! Yeehaw! That’s a good question. I never realized that before.”

Q: Can you explain the development process of the game? What aspect takes the most priority (as in character development, environments, strategic play)? How much do public comments play into the game’s final look?

Pro: “The highest priority for Disciples is the gameplay. The design team spent a lot of time working on that and making sure that the new features were consistent with the Disciples’ world. Their biggest challenge was to keep the feeling of the first game and at the same time deliver a new experience, and I really think they’ve succeeded.

“There was also a lot of time spent on art. With over 200 units and 100 magic spells in the game, we want gamers to be blown away by every aspect in the game.

“As for the importance of  public comments on the final product, we don’t design games with the intent of including every feature that’s posted on our forum. But, we do read every single comment, which gives us an idea of what they like and how we can make the gaming experience more pleasurable.”

Phil: “Well, as much as I hate to admit it, public comments can have an influence on development. It’s hard to resist perking up your ears when someone takes interest in what you are doing, and the forums are full of good ideas. However at the end of the day, we are getting paid to make those decisions for the player, not the other way around. We can’t give everyone everything. We have to make those choices ourselves. Anyone who bases his game design on what is said in public is in big trouble.

“It’s hard to set a priority on the elements you described, game design is a blend of many elements. Maybe strategic play is my personal priority, by a little margin over the other elements. But this falls out of the game style. Its an RTS, the game style favors large scale unit play, so naturally strategic play is more important.”

Q: What was the biggest challenge in bringing this game to life?

Pro: “Our biggest hurdle has been to get all the art up to the level of quality that we want. There was a lot of praise for the 2d art in the first game and we really want all of the art in the second game to be at that level of quality.”

Phil: “Getting everyone to agree what the game was about!”

Q: What do you wish you could add to the game if the technology was available?

Danny: “I probably would have made the battles more dynamic with a moving and rotating camera. Our 2D engine has limits when it comes to moving, although the units and general graphics look better than they would in a 3D game. Overall I am very happy with our engine.”

Phil: “I try to keep those a secret, because I may be able to use them later.”

Q: Can you give us some background information?

Pro: “To be honest, I got into the games industry totally by accident. While I was in school my dream job was to work at a games company, but I didn’t think that there were any game companies in the Montreal area. I actually don’t even remember applying for a job at Strategy First. The only thing I remember is my brother telling that someone called for a job interview. I was hired to work as a scripter on a graphic adventure, and then I worked as a programmer on a hockey game. Since we were a small company at that time, everyone helped out where they were needed, and that eventually led me to the production department.

“As for the types of games I like to play, I don’t really enjoy a specific genre over another. I’ll play anything I can get my hands on from strategy games to sports games, if the gameplay is solid then I’ll probably have fun playing it.”

Phil: “I have been playing and designing games since I was 13. Actually I started with a board game my dad used to have around the house when I was 8. It was a copy of Avalon Hill’s Panzerblitz. I remember being instantly fascinated by the board and the counters, and all the numbers on them. Next was D&D. I basically played everything under the sun for years, board games, RPGs, computer games. After tinkering around in various ‘normal’ jobs in my 20s, I decided to get a job designing games, and I tried my hand at writing role-playing supplements. My manuscript was rejected after a year of full-time effort, and I realized that I was not a writer. Then I got hired by a training consultant to create business-related games and simulations. Companies would hire him to train their staff, and I would create a game based around the concept he was trying to teach. My biggest game was an airline simulator I wrote and ran for Boeing in Seattle. It was cool flying down from the east coast of Canada every two months to work in Seattle for a week. It was a multiplayer game with 30 guys running different parts of a computer-simulated airline, and they had to save it from bankruptcy and become profitable in four years. I think it was fun, at least if you were an airline executive. I decided that I wanted to get back into designing games for fun, so I convinced these fools to hire me.”

Q: Where do you think the genre is headed?

Pro: “I think that strategy games will continue to evolve and we should expect to see more games that don’t fit neatly into a single genre. As corny as this may sound, as technology gets better, the game designer’s imagination will be the only limitation.”

Phil: “RTS is an interesting topic that hasn’t been stretched to its limit yet. On its own, it’s a very simple game concept. I think RTSs are headed towards a more realistic approach; game tastes are starting to merge with a more simulation style, like shooters are now. I think that people will start getting more hard-core with their RTS designs in the future.”
 

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