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| Auto Assault: The last in a series of In-Depth Q&A’s | // article |
| Recently, several members of the Auto Assault team were asked questions about their forthcoming game in the final part of a series of IRC sessions dubbed "Rush Hour". What follows is a transcript of the questions and their answers. Rockjaw: Good afternoon everyone... and welcome to the Auto Assault Rush Hour! Today's topic is... well, there isn't really a topic - today we're letting you set the agenda. Today we're joined by Ryan 'SamPenguin' Seabury, Design Director for Auto Assault... as well as Scott 'Scorch' Brown, President and Grand High Inquisitor - err I mean VIP - of NetDevil. Plus Steve Snow, producer on Auto Assault. Okay, we'll get this show rolling now with one big question to start: When will AA go live? Scott Brown: We are looking at a spring 06 launch at this point. How long will the beta last? Steven Snow: The beta will continue to run until we are live. We are polishing Auto Assault so we want to see what players think of our changes before we launch, the only way to do that is through the beta test. Is there a set amount of resources within the game (more realism) or will "mined" items respawn (more fun)? Scott Brown: There is not a set amount of resources, it all happens through our dynamic loot generation system. As you destroy buildings and enemies there is a small chance it will drop a crafting commodity. How long to you think it will take to reach max level/skill for an average player? Ryan Seabury: We are still fine tuning the numbers in that regard; however, our goal is to make the max level more achievable than your typical MMO. We want people to feel like making multiple characters is not a chore and won't take years. If we're driving cars, can we do crazy things like race, and drive over scenery items such as ramps? Scott Brown: We have specifically designed the terrain to include all kinds of jumpable features like dunes and cliffs. We also have placed ramps and broken buildings that act as ramps throughout the maps as well. We wanted driving to be fun and jumping is a big part of that. Will Auto Assault's missions have an "arc" like we've already experienced on CoH and will we see a significant bonus at the end, like a bulk of xp for completion? Ryan Seabury: Yes, each player race has a completely unique mission campaign. This includes a few epic "core" story lines that can run from the beginning to the end of the initial released content, and tons of mini-arcs along the way. Often a major story arc will culminate in a private instance adventure where you get a big boss fight or some other scripted scenario. Will the game support any movement outside of your vehicles, i.e. can you walk around as a person, chat to other players, etc.? Scott Brown: When you are on the highways you are only in your vehicle. However, when in towns you are on foot, talking to other players and NPCs. Ryan Seabury: There are also a few unique mission mini-scenarios where you get out and do some exploration on foot inside installations in the world, just to mix it up a bit. Will we be able to do respecs, like those on CoH? Or will the vehicle's guns etc., be hotswappable at any time? Scott Brown: Right now you can not respec your skill points but it is something we are evaluating. As far as your equipment goes, you can swap it out at any time. You have to be in town to swap out your vehicle though. NCsoft are famous for good back-stories, what is AA's like and will there be back-story involvement in missions? Ryan Seabury: | |
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