Si: For start please introduce yourself and the team behind Lords of EverQuest.
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My name is James Parker I am the Producer of Lords of Everquest. Rapid Eye Entertainment are the developers of the game and are some of the greatest people I have had the pleasure of working with. The core individuals of this company are responsible for the original Heroes of Might & Magic I & II.
Si: When will the game be released?
James Parker: This Fall.
Si: Please introduce Lords of EverQuest to our readers.
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Lords of EverQuest is a Real Time Strategy game with 3 factions to choose from. The battle takes place about 10,000 years in the passed and takes about 3 large factions that fought over an ancient artifact that endowed the reader the power of a god. It is actually a very involved story spanning over 75 hours of gameplay.
Si: Game seems similar to Warcraft 3 on the first look. Has Warcraft inspired the development of Lords of EverQuest in any way?
James Parker: Well I would first like to say thank you. I have been hearing this a lot recently and I am very flattered. We have tried to have our own unique take on the Everquest style art and make it suitable for an RTS. Warcraft definitely inspired us to a degree as well as Command & Conquer, the Age Series, Total Annihilation, and many of the Strategy First titles. There has been a lot of great ground work set in the Strategy genre and I think everyone takes there own spin on it. Our development team has really been working hard at getting the right mix together to make a really great RTS first and foremost.
Si: How many units, buildings and in the end races will there be?
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Currently we do not have a set unit or building number. We are balancing and playing with the numbers, I mean even if a unit looks really cool it may have to be cut. No reason to have two units doing the same thing, every choice should be significant when making an RTS. That is one rule most strategy people believe in.
Si: As the game is fantasy based, can you please mention any spells that the game will have?
James Parker: Well I could run off a list of more than 100 spells, but than an assassin might jump out of my rice bowl at lunch and bust a . . .um. . .well you know the routine.
Si: Which game feature are you most exited about? Will this be another clone game or will it have anything new to offer to the crowded game market.
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I think one of the most exciting things we have is how we handle mounted units. Have you ever wondered why when you attack a mounted unit both of them die at the same time? Or maybe wondered what would happen if the rider jumped off before the mount died? Would he be the same unit? Could he fight solo? What about if the rider took and arrow to the chest on a critical hit would the mount fight to defend him? I think I will let you think about the rest. Let's just say we have done some very unique things with mounted units.
The next big thing we have done differently is allowed units to gain in experience as well as your NPC types. A unit can gain experience and even become promoted, changing his physical appearance, and even granting him different command auras that add beneficial effects to allies.
Actually there are about another dozen or so things we are doing that are unique to the genre, but I think I am saying a little too much.
Si: What sort of machine will the game require to run at optimum performance?
James Parker: Right now we are geared towards performing on a GeForce 2, 1 gig machine with 256 Megs of Ram.
Si: Would you like to add anything?
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We will be posting new updates every week at www.lordsofeverquest.com so feel free to stop by and look for our upcoming forums as well as dev diary and producer letter.
