Anyways, here's an interview with the UT people from like a week
ago...
quote:
GameSpy: Please tell us a little bit about the team involved
in the project.
Peter Clark: There's three of us working full-time on the
project--Josh Adams, Dave Pridie, and myself. Josh is the lead
programmer and is in charge of making sure that it all works. He
spends a lot of time modifying the content and code to fit in the
Dreamcast's limited memory budget, which is not an enviable task.
He was a happy young lad when we started, but now he wanders
around screaming things like, "We can't fit a pause screen!" I
think he's gotten shorter, too. Dave works on optimizing and
improving the framerate, which won't stop until we ship. He also
converted and implemented all the sound and music, as well as the
initial networking port. I'm the guy who plays the game all the
time, checks all the maps, talks to the designers, and makes sure
that everything is done on time.
In addition, there's Otavio Good, who's been helping
Dave a lot with the optimizations; Ross Kakuschke, who streamlined
the mesh and animation data; and Jeremy Gordon and Chris Bretz,
who are currently modifying the HUD for the Dreamcast version.
GameSpy: What are the major differences between the original PC
UT and the Dreamcast version?
Peter Clark: The Dreamcast version is remarkably similar to the
PC version. It looks, sounds, and plays just like the PC, although
the DC controller definitely changes the way you play. If you have
a DC keyboard and mouse, it feels exactly like playing on a PC.
Due to memory limitations we weren't able to include all the game
modes from the PC version so we chose the two most popular modes,
Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.
GameSpy: How long has the project been going, and when
do you expect to have the product finished?
Peter Clark: We started right after E3, so it's been about four
months. The game will ship for Thanksgiving, which gives us about
one more month. Five months from start to finish is pretty tight,
but so far so good! I say that because we haven't gone to QA, yet.
GameSpy: Will UT Dreamcast support future patches? If so, how
do you intend to make the new data accessible?
Peter Clark: Unfortunately, without some sort of storage
device, there's no way to support patches on the Dreamcast.
Certainly it could be done, but there has to be a means of saving
the new data. And no, the DC VMU isn't big enough!
GameSpy: Please talk about the online multiplayer
aspects of the Dreamcast UT. What is the most frustrating part of
the multiplayer side of the game?
Peter Clark: The multiplayer aspect of UTDC is one of its
biggest selling points. We're working toward supporting eight
players online. It's truly amazing to pick up the DC controller
and play against someone in another city. I can remember the first
time I played Doom over a modem and how exciting that was. Playing
UTDC online gives me that same feeling and represents the next big
step in online gaming.
The most frustrating part is the 56k modem. I'm so used to
playing online PC games over T1 and DSL connections that 200+ ping
times force me to play differently. Back to the old days! However,
since everyone will have the same connection, there won't be any
ping advantages for anyone, which is actually a big plus.
GameSpy: Are there any limitations with the Dreamcast
hardware as far as UT is concerned?
Peter Clark: RAM! UT was designed to work with a minimum of 64
megs of RAM on the PC. Converting that to work with 16 megs has
been the biggest hurdle and has stopped us from doing things like
Assault mode and massive maps. If only the Dreamcast had an
expansion pack...
GameSpy: From a technical standpoint, what advantages does UT
have over Quake 3 or Half-Life in regards to Dreamcast versions?
Peter Clark: Better AI, for one. The UT bots are superior to
any other game I've played. Also, UT has better editing tools,
which result in better maps. The last time I checked, Half-Life
was not going to be playable online, so that's definitely in our
favor. We can have more than four players online, which beats Q3.
I must say, however, that I've never actually played either of
those games on the Dreamcast, so my opinions are based on what
I've read about them.
GameSpy: What extra features are going to be part of
the Dreamcast UT? Are there any special tweaks that can't be found
in the PC game?
Peter Clark: Extra features would include new maps, full-screen
anti-aliasing which is available on only high-end PC video cards,
and a vastly improved interface that makes finding a server and
playing online as simple as possible.
As for special tweaks, I'm not at liberty to divulge that
information right now. 
GameSpy: What have been the best and worst moments on the
project so far?
Peter Clark: The best moment was definitely playing online from
the Epic office in Raleigh, NC to our server in SF. I was so
worried it wouldn't work that I can remember feeling ill when I
dialed out on the DC dev kit and listened for the modem handshake.
I kept trying to think of what excuse I would use if it failed (I
was going to blame Epic's phone system, btw). Everyone from Epic
and Infogrames was standing there, waiting for this miracle to
happen, and I had no idea whether it would work or not.
Then it connected, and DM-Morbias loaded. After about ten
seconds, I saw Josh run up to me and taunt me. I shot him,
everyone cheered, and the relief I felt cannot be described. It
still gives me goosebumps to think about it.
The worst moment? I've learned that those don't come until you
submit Alpha and have 30 days to go final, which happens tomorrow.
QA can be so annoying! Right now it's all happy happy joy joy. I'm
sure by next week each moment will be worse than the last.
GameSpy: Do you think the Dreamcast has the online potential to
someday rival the PC?
Peter Clark: Absolutely. If Sega supports broadband
connections, there's no reason why online gaming on the Dreamcast
can't be just as good as the PC. In fact, since there are no
compatibility issues, I think it could be superior to the PC.
That's the great part about playing UTDC online, as I mentioned
before. Everyone's on a level playing field. None of this "I have
a P3-933 with a GeForce 2 and a cable modem" vs. Mr. "P2-266 with
a TNT1 and a 33.6K modem."
GameSpy:Where do you see the state of online gaming in the
future?
Peter Clark: I definitely think online gaming is going
to take away from single-player gaming as more and more people
experience it. There's simply no way to duplicate the thrill of
playing against a human opponent. Two or three years ago, I played
single-player games 90% of the time. That number is probably down
to about 40 or 50% now. There will always be a place for
single-player games, but right now my focus, along with Secret
Level's, is online entertainment.
GameSpy: What game/s are you currently playing the most,
besides UT?
Peter Clark: I play Q3 Rocket Arena pretty frequently, although
I don't like it as much as Q2. I recently forced myself to stop
playing Diablo II, since it was taking over all my spare time. I'm
scared of what's going to happen when Baldur's Gate 2 comes out!
Console-wise, I just finished Spiderman for PSX and enjoy
playing Virtua Tennis for Dreamcast. I'm looking forward to
playing Mario Tennis, since I loved the SNES one. Oh yeah, and I'm
working on Deus Ex, although I find that if I don't play for a
couple of days, I completely forget what I'm doing.
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posted
09-27-2000 07:56 AM 
