S2Games Gives GameZone.com the Final Word on its Upcoming Hit, SAVAGE

by John Wrentmore

Before it hits the shelves early this September, find out why SAVAGE deserves it's place on your PC.

SAVAGE:  The Battle for Newerth has caught plenty of attention across the game community, blending qualities of FPS and RTS action into a completely new genre, Real Time Strategy Shooter.  You take part in a final battle for survival as the 64-player world comes to life with only one goal in mind, to conquer.  The years of uncontested human domination are over.  Eons from now, the Legion of Man must fight for their existence against the growing Beast Horde.  Extinction is now a reality for both sides as the final battle for supremacy begins.  Players can choose to be a warrior, who must use brute strength and FPS skills to subdue their enemies, or the a commander, who uses strategy and unique orders to give to his tribe while still building up their main base with arsenals, power stations, and defensive towers to protect themselves against the oncoming enemy horde.  Whether you join the tribe of Man, armed with the power of technology and science, or the tribe of Beast, masters of nature and magic, each team will use its own powers in obtaining supremacy.  Which side are you on?

GameZone.com had the privilege to talk to Rick Bosch, CEO at S2Games, and we learned more about SAVAGE as its release date draws closer.

As the newest developer in the gaming industry, how did S2Games get started?  Who are the key members, and what backgrounds do you have making games?

RB:  S2 Games was originally started as collaboration between its owner Marc DeForest, and Jesse Hayes and Sam McGrath as the lead designer/artist and programmer respectively, for the games.  Together the three of them put together a small but talented team of programmers and artists that have become the nucleus of S2 Games.  Each and every one of the members of this organization are avid gamers, many of whom have participated in the production of a number of games.  We look at S2 Games as a throwback to the days when larger development teams did not necessarily mean better development teams.   

What type of game play experience are you aiming to offer in SAVAGE?  How will this differ from your competitors?

RB:  We intend SAVAGE to be a unique combination of two very distinct genres.  Those genres are real time strategy games and first-person shooters.  While we have seen other games attempt this, most notably Microsoft’s Allegiance and more recently the Half Life mod called Natural Selection, neither of those games were designed from the ground up to encompass both methods of play.  We feel that this will be unique in the industry and that we have succeeded in merging these genres to create a terrific team based experience between commander (RTS) and action player (FPS). 

When did the idea for the game arise? When did you actually start working on it, what is your current status, and how close is the game to completion?  

RB:  The idea of the game arose through conversations between Marc DeForest and Jesse Hayes more than 2 ½ years ago.  While Sam McGrath and Jesse worked on preliminary portions of the game and began building the Silverback Engine, the true focus of the game began in September 2001.  We intend to go gold this week (August 26^th or 27^th) with release of the game to be seen in the week of September 8^th.   

Some say a game is only as good as the engine that made it.  What engine are you using, what are some important features, and what makes it especially suited to the game?

RB:  SAVAGE is based on the proprietary Silverback Engine designed primarily by Sam McGrath.  Its important feature is its flexibility.  It provides stunning graphics with an innate ability for user mods and map making that we believe is second to none.  It is especially suited to this game because it was designed to enable both the RTS and FPS viewpoints to go through the same 3D rendering process which obviously facilitates seamless team based game play and outstanding immersive graphics.   

In order to accommodate new players, will there be in-game tutorials for both action- and command-mode or will there be a game manual that serves for that?

RB:  At release we will not have any in-game tutorials for either the action or command mode.  However, we are very proud of the game manual that will ship with the game.  The manual will have some outstanding insights and “quick start” information for gamers in both action and command modes.   

What will make SAVAGE stand out from other FPS and RTS titles? To what kind of gamer will it appeal to?

RB:  We think SAVAGE will appeal to a wide range of gamers.  The beauty of the game is the combination of both the FPS and RTS genres.  How many times, in playing an RTS game, have you wondered what it would be like to actually be commanding other players as opposed to AI driven units?  Also, how many times when playing an a team based FPS games have you wondered what it would be like to have someone that has a “big picture” of what is going on that could coordinate attacks, handle resources and provide overall leadership to what is being accomplished by the action player?  We think SAVAGE does a terrific job of answering both of those questions.   

In terms of action-mode, how does the combat system in SAVAGE work?

RB:  We think SAVAGE’s combat system is somewhat unique in the FPS mode in that it has a greater emphasis on melee action than most other FPS games.  Obviously while range based weaponry is extremely important, and certainly siege weaponry is mandatory, the melee attack system in SAVAGE sets this game apart.  The system itself is unit, weapon and ranged based and while easy to learn, will take talent and practice to master.   

Each tribe, Beasts and Humans, have unique weapons and units available only to their side.  How will this affect team balance?

RB:  As you indicated, both beasts and humans have unique weapons and are available only to their side.  However, our team has worked long and hard, together with out beta testers to insure that, while unique, there is always a point and counterpoint to each of the weapons, units and items available in the game.  We think one of the key fun elements in the game is to discover what works best for each individual player, how to counter the effects of units, items and weapons on each side and the use of the combination of items to form a cohesive tactical and strategic experience within the game.   

Is there any form of character progression in SAVAGE?

RB:  There will not be any form of character progression as in a persistent on-line universe, but we do intend to have a robust statistic tracking system in place at or shortly after release.  Within each individual game, however, your units will gain levels that will add various enhancements such as combat damages and armor.   

How many maps will be available upon the initial release and how will each environment affect game play in general?  Will there be a weather systems and day/night cycles?

RB:  We anticipate releasing between 10 and 12 maps with the game.  Each map will provide its own challenges relative to game play strategies and tactics.  The beauty of the Silverback engine is that there is an almost infinite number of possibilities available to these maps.  We intend to continually add content to the game, including new maps.  We also expect that our user community will have fun in creating new and challenging battlegrounds right from the release of the game.  There is available weather systems and of course, there will be day/night cycles. 

The game comes with a map editor that allows players to create or edit their favorite map with ease.  How will these player-created maps be available to play?

RB:  As stated earlier, the key feature of the Silverback Engine is a player’s ability to modify and create their own maps.  Player created maps will be incorporated into servers as games are created.  We are still working out the details on how to incorporate player created maps into game play but anticipate having a system in which player created maps will be added to a library of maps available for game play.   

As far as the soundtrack is concerned, who does the music scores and how many separate tracks will there be on release?  Will the music depend on the environment/map or combat situation of the player?

RB:  I am proud to say that our lead programmer, Sam McGrath, is also responsible for the original music scores that will be added to the game at release.  I am not sure how many actual tracks there are, but as of this writing, there were over 5.  We believe the music does a tremendous job of setting the tone and ambiance for the game that really adds to the player’s experience.   

In the past month, there have been two ways in gaining access to Beta Test: Applying or Preordering.  When (if at all) do you plan on initiating a Demo stage?

RB:  Inasmuch as we intend to go gold as of the date of this writing, the beta test will be pretty much wrapping up.  However, we do intend to initiate the demo for the game in the very near future.  We have been focusing on finishing the game and that has taken up nearly all of our resources.  As soon as we get past a release stage, we have a demo in place that we intend, at this time, to make available to players on-line as soon as possible.   

Exploits and cheats are always a fair concern with most online games.  Because the game depends greatly on player-commander cooperation, how will S2Games allow teams to handle uncooperative/cheating players?

RB:  We intend to be aggressive in identifying and countering both exploits and cheats as they are made.  We will do out utmost to patch and rectify such exploits and cheats again as we identify them.  As far as uncooperative/cheating players are concerned, S2 Games reserves the rights to remove players that are directly violating the end users license agreement and creating an unpleasant experience of the other players involved.  We’ve also addressed this ingame.  Players will have the ability remove uncooperative/cheating players from the game.  Obviously we will watch this very closely and do our utmost to be fair to everyone concerned.   

What do you think the system requirements and recommendations will be?

RB:  We have not set minimum recommended system specs as of yet.  However, we are finding that through beta testing that players on minimal systems are still having a good time with the game by turning the graphic options to the minimum settings.  However, players with high end systems will be able to turn the graphics options to its maximum and will find that the game runs smoothly on their configurations.  We will be posting minimum system requirements and recommended requirements along with the game in the near future. 

Are there any plans for expanding the world of SAVAGE or is the team focused on developing new project ideas?

RB:  We have, of course, a number of plans for expanding the world of SAVAGE.  We are also looking at other opportunities and other uses of the Silverback Engine.  Our focus at this time is, of course, on SAVAGE and making SAVAGE the best game that it can possibly be.  Where we go from here will depend on, to some degree, on how well SAVAGE is received by the gaming public.  However I can tell you that we think that Savage; the Battle for Newerth is truly only the beginning of a new and exciting era of multiplayer gaming.  There is so much more than can be done with this basic concept that are incorporated in Savage that we can’t wait to dive into further expansions and sequels.   

Thank you for your time.

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