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Sharky Games: Some people love micromanagement, some hate it. We understand you will use a concept called Imperial Focus as a way to set general goals for an empire, and let the AI take care of the little details, though players will be able to zoom to a planet and micromanage if they want. How's the implementation of that coming so far, and what are some of the challenges in getting it right?
Alan Emrich: I would say, "so far so good." The challenge in getting it right will be in the playtesting. That's where you'll know if the porridge is either too hot or too cold. Right now, it looks great in theory. Until the whole game is working in a Beta state and we can determine just the right Imperial Focus Point allowances and costs, though, we won't really have this feature nailed down.
Sharky Games: From what we've read at your site and in interviews and previews you've linked there, it appears MOO3 is a massive undertaking. What are the key design goals for your team, and have you found any of them needed modification for reasons of scope or cost? [At this point, Alan called in Quicksilver head Bill Fisher to help with this question]
Bill Fisher: Our first design goal is to take strategy gaming to the next level. We all agree that this is a very ambitious statement, so we set out from the beginning with Hasbro to craft a development schedule and management plan that would be able to keep it under control. We spent literally months scoping out the technical side of the design, planning and scheduling each anticipated task from startup through release. Knowing the scope, we were able to bring in top-notch project management like Cory Nelson, and highly experienced designers like Alan and Tom. Although we certainly won't promise a flawless project, I can say that I'm delighted with the smooth operation of the team to date, and the steady progress being made in all areas of the production.
Experience plays a role in this, too. Quicksilver Software has been designing games for 17 years now, and we know the pitfalls that can befall a game. That's why we have a veteran gamer leading the technical side, backed by a huge technical team, including three AI programmers. On the art side, Rantz Hoseley has put together a team of very talented people who won't settle for second-rate. And we've brought in additional designers for certain parts of the game, like Floyd Grubb and David Casper, so we are certain that each part of the game gets the attention it deserves. Top that off with senior management that frequently spends time "watching the horizon" for technical challenges, like Rob Barris often does, and we've got high confidence in what we're going to achieve at the end of the day.
We have a very organized design process. When I did my first game for the Mattel Intellivision in 1981, there were no design documents, and most games were written by a single programmer. Now, though, the scope of our games requires careful planning and communication to make sure everyone knows where we're going. When starting the design for MOO3, our first task was to outline a set of Key Design Decisions to guide us. Here's a summary of a few of them (there's not enough space for every one) taken right from the Design Document:
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