A Generic Interview with the creaters of Uropa 2, a puzzling shoot'em up has been released by Vulcan Software. Uropa 2 was released in late 97 and was an outstanding game that was Number 2 on Amiga Flame's Top 10 Games Of 1997. It was said at the time that if it wasn't for the release of OnEscapee, Uropa 2 would have been Number 1.
Uropa 2 is a game I have admired for it is a well designed game for which the developers Austex Software have implemented some clever ideas that have led this game to have some excellent Gameplay making it really addictive.
This Generic Interview gives you a insight into the long development of Uropa 2, the problems they faced, their own tips into making your own game and about future games from Austex Software.
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1. Who are the members of your team and how did you come to form Austex?
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Paul: Austex Software has only two members, Stephen Smith and Paul
Goulding. We have both been Amiga owners since 1987 and formed our own
demo group in 1989, with two other members, called Aushax.
We coded a few demos (about four) and then decided to do a compilation
disk with a number of demos, some utilities and a freeware game. This
compilation disk was completed in 1990 and was titled "Genesis". The
game was called Nebula and was later given some pretty good re-views in
the Amiga Magazines. As we completed the genesis collection, we decided
to leave the demo coding scene and commence a commercial project with
just Stephen and myself.
As such, one of the demos on the disk was titled "End of Aushax". It was
the death of Aushax and the birth of Austex Software. So, it was early
1991 when we first began planning the game we now call Uropa2. We had a
talented graphics artist for Uropa2, Bruce Abel, but he isn't actually a
member of Austex Software.
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2. Uropa2 is a very complex game containing a multitude of genres, did
it evolve as you progressed or did you work to a set design?
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Paul: A set design!! I wish. The game we planned and the game we
released only have one thing in common, they were both 3D isometric,
apart from that, it has completely changed.
Stephen: It was originally going to be called "Ulterior Colony" and
based on a murder investigation aboard a space freighter name
Vindicator. In the beginning of 1991, we had written down plans for the
game and needed a graphic artist. We eventually approached a local guy
by the name of Bruce Abel who agreed to do the graphics
for us. He started doing some, but was not too keen on doing Isometric
stuff. We wanted colonists drawn in Iso3D to roam around the freighter,
but what we ended up with were robotic looking creatures.
Now, Bruce was starting to add his game input which started making it
difficult to adhere to the original plans. As the design started
changing, we ended up with gameplay that was boring, repetitive and
difficult to code for. At that time, around 1994, the solution was to
modify the game to incorporate features from the original Uropa 1, which
we completed a number of years before. This made a tremendous difference
to the whole project and allowed us to finish the game. My only regret
is that the graphics could have been more modern. The surface section
should have had textures, real-time light sourcing and more control for
the hovars such as angled flying, height etc.. The base section would
look better in hi-res mode, with larger than screen rooms and levels.
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3. What was the inspiration behind Uropa2?
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Paul: Well, that's difficult, I suppose the original Uropa which we both
coded on the BBC and Commodore 64 during 85 & 86 was an inspiration.
The inspiration for the original Uropa was Elite on the 64 and BBC. I
still think Elite was more ground breaking at that time then any of the
Doom/Quake clones are today. But Uropa2 is
nothing like Elite, so I suppose there have been a number of games that
have inspired parts of Uropa2, but nothing that really stands out has
having a significant influence. Has that answer confused everyone?.
Stephen: Yes! Originally with Uropa1, I wanted to write a game where you
could travel about a planet via some sort of vehicle or ship and then go
underground and explore various cities etc. Elite was great, but I
wished that you could go down and visit the planets. Frontier sort of
fixed that, but you couldn't go down and wander around inside buildings.
Uropa2 allows you to fly about the moons surface and then visit a base
and wander around inside. However, total freedom to go anywhere on the
surface and have puzzles to solve became a coding nightmare, so the
solution was to make it mission based.
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4. Uropa2 is huge! how long did it take you to develop it?
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Paul: Oh, don't bring this up, it has taken too long. As I mentioned
earlier, we started planning the game in early 1991. We commenced
actual coding of the game in late 1991. So if my mathematics is
correct, it's taken us about six years to complete the game. It was
originally planned to be ready sometime in 1994, but we kept
changing it so much, and then it required more features to be brought
back up to date. This dragged it on a bit, plus in early 1996 we became
very disappointed in the Amiga scene and gave up on it for about six
months. Then after further thought, we decided the only chance for the
Amiga to survive was for software developers to
keep supporting it. So, we finished it.
Stephen: Also, the shareware release was a bit of a flop, so Vulcan came
to rescue us. I suppose a lot of people would be asking, "why the hell
did it take six years to write Uropa2?". I've asked that question
myself, quite a lot. One of the major reasons for taking so long is that
we both have other jobs and Uropa2 was a part-time programming project.
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5. What is your favourite element of the finished game?
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Paul: It's not a "Doom/Quake" clone or a "Red alert" clone. Now, I
really like Red alert, but that genre of game is very common at the
moment and Uropa2 is very different to either one. We also put in a
hell of a lot of attention to finer detail, there are a lot of aspects
to the game that most people won't see unless they play
around and try doing things in the game that arent necessary to
complete objectives. Little things like, burn a few colonists and see
what happens, another Centurion droid will transport into the main
transporter room and start hunting you down.
Stephen: I like the duality of the game with the base and surface
sections. I think that it breaks up the game from just being one style.
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6. What other Amiga projects have you been involved in?
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Stephen: I worked on a number of projects involving the Amiga at the
University I worked for. These included a VHF radar system, of which I
designed and programmed the A/D card, firmware and radar software.
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7. What is the Amiga scene like down under?
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Paul: A bit sad really, there are still dedicated Amiga shops in about
four or five of the major metropolitan cities, but out in the regional
cities like Townsville there are none. I guess there are still a number
of enthusiasts around and we still talk to them on IRC, but it needs a
major injection of enthusiasm from Gateway 2000.
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8. Has it been difficult developing for the Amiga during these turbulent
times?
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Paul: In the early days it was very exciting, this gave us the needed
push, but once Commodore went crash in 1994, it did become difficult.
We became very annoyed with a number of the people that we thought were
responsible for the Amigas downfall. You will be able to guess who by
playing the game, they get a few
disguised mentions. The surprising part is the renewed interest in the
Amiga over the last six
months, companies like Vulcan, Phase 5, and others are pushing it, this
is good to see.
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9. What would you like to see happen to the Amiga?
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Stephen: The Amiga obviously needs an overhaul, in both the OS and
hardware. The OS is all that the Amiga has going for it at the moment
though. When the Amiga came out, it's custom chipset astounded everyone.
The push nowadays is to go with the flow and use "off the shelf" parts.
However, an interesting trend at the
moment is that some companies are just designers and leave the actual
chip making to other known companies. I can't see why this couldn't be
done with the Amiga, design a new chipset and get some large
semiconductor manufacturer to produce them. This has happened with
Chromatic Research and their MPact chips.
Paul: Become a new, modern, powerful and wonderful computer again
(nostalgia kicks in). I still remember the days when we could look at
other computer owners, especially PC's, and really pity them. The Amiga
was better in every feature back in the late 80's. There are still some
features about the Amiga that are better than the
only other two (Macs & PC's).
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10. What is the best part about being Amiga developers?
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Paul: Not having to code on a PC. Lets face it, Windows is the most
bloated piece of software I have ever used.
Stephen: I like the Amiga, and I like coding for it. The fact that it
has survived through two bankruptcies is testament to it's original
concept. I have never coded on the PC and never will.
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11. What advice would you give to other people who want to develop Amiga
games?
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Paul: I have 3 tips.;
1. Don't code in 100% assembly language.
2. Don't code in 100% assembly language.
3. Don't code in 100% assembly language.
Seriously though, when we coded the demos, we were quite happy to use
assembly language and hit the hardware. However, games are an
application that should obey all the operating system rules. Such a
large application is too difficult and time consuming to code in
assembly. The next project we do will probably be
an 80/20 mix, 80% will be C, or C++, or a similar high level language
and the remaining 20% will be assembly.
Make sure you find some dedicated beta testers that are serious about
testing and not just trying to get hold of a game for free. We had a
few good testers and they were excellent while others basically told us
nothing and just wanted another free copy as they became available (may
their chooks turn into Emu's and kick their dunny doors down). Look
after your good ones and get rid of the useless ones.
Stephen: My advice would be to never program a game part-time (nowadays
anyway). Also, make sure you have a team of people organised so that
each person knows exactly what they're supposed to do.
Paul: Also, if your writing a game part-time, it will take you take you
at least two to three years to complete. You need to realise that
computers are advancing rapidly and the base computer at the time of
release will probably be the mid range computer of today.
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12. What are your plans for the future?
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Paul: Play other peoples games for about six months, and then plan and
commence another project. How does Uropa3D sound??
Stephen: The idea for Uropa3D has been around for quite some time. It
would be a Quake2 type game but with a Uropa2 theme to it, although it
would be more mission based. I have some plans for some hardware and
software that requires a lot of work, which I'm looking forward to.
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Visit their web site for details on how to get Uropa 2 :-
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