Strategy Informer: Hi! Please tell us your role within Quantum Legacy: Initial Tactics developing team?
Four Thirty One: Well, we have a very small team, and as a result, everyone is forced to perform "multiple roles" in the company. With me, this means being the game designer, lead programmer as well as doing the voice of the main character in the game.
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| Base management with resource management is a part of this futuristic RTS |
Close up on a vehicle artwork |
Strategy Informer: What other games has your team worked on previously?
Four Thirty One: Different team members have worked on various projects in the past. Our lead artist/producer worked on a MMORPG game few years back (that was unfortunately canceled). I myself was also involved in, and have done programming for a number of small budget games. That said, Quantum Legacy will be the first game that we have all worked on as a group, since the founding of Four Thirty One Interactive back in 2002.
Strategy Informer: Ok so what is the story behind Quantum Legacy?
Four Thirty One: The game takes place on a distant planet named Saltus, which is being colonized by two earth-based organizations named FTA and Globex. They soon discover a form of time-travel technology, and begin to use it for personal gain. As the story progresses, each side begins to re-write the timeline in order to annihilate one another, creating a catastrophic loop which cannot be stopped.
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| You will have various futuristic vehicles at your disposal |
And buildings |
Strategy Informer: Will it be a tactical game or will it feature any base management? If so, what kind of?
Four Thirty One: Fortunately for some (but not others), our team consists of old-school RTS fans, and as a result, Quantum Legacy will have a familiar feel to it with two resources, base management, and a population cap for each of the maps. The player will start off with a single unit, which has the ability to create all other units in the game. Each new technological advancement or upgrade is normally identified by a structure which has to be built. Each of these are power dependent (which forces the player to make sure he has enough generators on hand). While all of these concepts may have a "it's been done" feel to them, our game also adds an added twist of "multi-sector" style of game play. This means that a lot of the time you are forced to manage multiple bases located in either different sectors, or different time periods. It's a very unique concept that is very hard to describe. Try to think along the lines of playing on two chess boards at the same time.
Strategy Informer: How about resource collection?
Four Thirty One: This portion will be kept simple. There are two resources being made available to the player: "power" and "money". Generator buildings are created to increase the available power, while funds have to be gathered from "resource pods" scattered all over the level. Things of course get complicated in multi-time levels, where buildings in the "past" are also used to power technology in the future. Furthermore, your future wealth is directly depended on your resource collection efforts from the past. All of this may seem confusing at first, but once you get into the game, it will all begin to make perfect sense.
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| Aim, fire... |
...*boom* |
Strategy Informer: How many sides will there be in the game and how many different units will it feature?
Four Thirty One: In total, there are 3 different organizations in control of Saltus. The "Free Trade Alliance" (FTA), "Globex Corporation", and "Saltus Defense Force" (SDF). The player can only control FTA and Globex (with SDF being used only by the NPC's in order to progress the single player story). Each of the two playable sides will feature about 20 different units and structures, with each of these having an alternate counterpart from the future.
Strategy Informer: What feature are you most proud of? How will the game clash with other similar games in this genre?
Four Thirty One: It really is hard for me to narrow down a single unique feature of the game, since we have a few of them (such as: browser integration technology and multi-sector levels). In the end however, I think the players will be most intrigued by the idea of managing two temporal-paradox filled levels in real-time (aka: the "two chessboards" idea I mentioned before). And competition wise? Well, we are a small and privately funded development studio, so we don't have a multi million dollar budget that would allow us to compete with the production values of some of the other strategy games published today. That said, we will offer unique game play concepts and innovation to those who seek it in the RTS genre (which should help us create quite a following for the game).
Strategy Informer: Are you planning on any sequels at this point?
Four Thirty One: Actually, we are working on one as we speak! What we've decided to do was split the immense story and game play of the Quantum Legacy universe into two separate games. "Initial Tactics" (the one described here, and currently seen as a pre-beta public release) will be the first (and will also be distributed free of charge to everyone). At the same time, we will also be releasing it's sequel "Price of Justice", that will continue the story of the game.
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| When things go wrong |
Isometric view of your base |
Strategy Informer: Does it feature multiplayer? How many players will be able to play it online if so?
Four Thirty One: I think today, a multiplayer aspect to any RTS game is a must. So yes, Quantum Legacy will feature "death-match" and "co-op" multiplay via the Internet, supporting up to 8 human players.
Strategy Informer: Thank you for your time at Strategyinformer.com!
Four Thirty One: My pleasure. With some luck this interview will spark some interest in our game, as well as help your readers sheds some light on Quantum Legacy.
