Scenergy #02 31 декабря 1999

Интервью

VIP - an interview with one of the authors of the game Elite.

TWICE CONFIRMED FROM THE AUTHORS - THERE IS NO RAXXLA
no no we can't believe this anyway! by raver / phantasy

Ofcourse! Raxxla exsists, we just have no possibility to land
there. And these chaps are lying anyway. Because i did read in
some old issue of ZX Review that some geek have found Raxxla
after his power supply fucked up for a short while. Shit,
probably nobody will experience such a PSU phenomena again but
still i keep trying with mine, so far three PSU's are gone but
who the hell cares? I mean i would be pleased to see a face of
that lamer claiming to see Raxxla.
Ahh as about interviews, the first one with David Braben was
already published in previous issue, but i decided to include
it here too as it is in english this time. And there also goes
the promised interview with Ian Bell, the second half of Elite
due. Also in english, go and learn language which is the right
one for the scene.
Else. These interested in The Lords interview english version
should wait for the Subliminal Extacy # 3 including a lot more
quality articles in english!
DAVID BRABEN

[?] At first, please introduce our readers with yourself a bit!

[!] I'm David Braben. I co-wrote Elite, wrote Virus, and
Frontier. I then started Frontier Developments Ltd.

[?] How and when did you started with computers and why you were
involved with games making?

[!] I got interested in computers when I was 17, an Acorn Atom.
This was in about 1981.

[?] What was your first big game project?

[!] Elite. This was started in 1982, and released in 1984 on the
BBC Micro.

[?] Elite was revolutionary new game for 8 bit market. How do
you think, why it was so succesful?

[!] It was very different to the other games at the time, and it
was pretty well the first 3D game.

[?] What pushed you to continue Elite idea after nearly 10 years
with Frontier on Amiga / PC / ST?

[!] Frontier took a long time to write (five and a half years), 
so it was really started only five years after Elite. In that 
gap, there were many different versions of Elite, and Also I 
did the games Lander, Zarch and Virus.


[?] Why wasn't Frontier released on Speccy?

[!] The Spectrum wasn't really up to doing the amount of work
required for Frontier, particularly the amount of data. It was
tricky enough putting it on the ST and Amiga.

[?] What do you prefer - Amiga or PC?

[!] The Amiga was better than the PC in its day, but now it has
been left far far behind. So sadly I now prefer the PC.

[?] What are your future plans and will there ever be released
Elite clone game again?

[!] Not sure what you mean by Elite clone. There was tons more
in Frontier than in Elite - its funny that many people remember
things that are in Frontier as being in Elite. I imagine there
will be a future sequel to the Elite-Frontier-First Encounters
sequence, but I'm currently in dispute with Gametek over
problems with First Encounters.

[?] A couple of years ago, when there on speccy scene was so
much hype about Elite, some magazines wrote - there in game
Elite is secret planet Raxxla. Is it true?

[!] No.

[?] What else secrets can be found in old 8 bit Elite versions?

[!] Various missions, there was a secret ship you could find
(Called the Constrictor), there were "Rock Hermits" to be
discovered in some versions.

[?] What're doing nowadays your mate and elite co-author Ian
Bell?

[!] I don't know what he's up to now.

[?] What's your opinion about games future and about Amiga and
PC future?

[!] PC future is very exiting. I'm not sure of the Amiga's
future. I hope Gateway don't simply use is as a brand name for
a graphic card or something.



IAN BELL

[?] This time i will start it unusual way: do you know that old
eight bitters like c = 64 and speccy are still alive? What do 
you think of these computers ('other eight bit machines) and 
which was the first computer you ever used?


[!] I was not aware that these machines still generated any
interest. The first computer i used was, IIRC, a Radio Shack
TRS-80. The first i owned was the excellent BBC Micro (B).
I quite liked the C64.

[?] Are these of any interest for you? Or do you completely
moved to modern technologies?

[!] No. I'm interested in the current (and likely future) mass
market machines, whatever they may be.

[?] Please tell us the story of Elite - how it started, what was
the inital idea and why it became so succesful multiplatform
game?

[!] The idea of ​​a first person wireframe 3D space combat game
was obvious to us, and others, at that time. We just decided to
do it. As i recall, the addition of trading as a rationale came
later. Our main worry was that someone else would beat us to it.
It was so succesful because it was substantially unlike anything
else at the time. It was the next step. Further, it was very
skillfully packaged and marketed by Acornsoft and, on the BBC,
was perhaps not competing with as many games as it would have
been had it been first released on another platform. People who
had BBC Micro home computers initially had them, by and large,
to program on (in theory if not in practice). It was a smart
audience that appreciated a challenging game. The reviewers
almost all loved it and it just took off.

[?] Which one is the best Elite version in your opinion?

[!] NES. (Ed: it's eight bit console, better known in ex-USSR
from clones such as Dandy, Zhiloton, Ufo etc)

[?] Are there any special differences?

[!] Pre-game practice combat sequence. Icon strip replacing
keyboard controls. Pretty pictures and nice music.

[?] What secrets can be found in eight bit Elite versions? What
are difference between them and does in any of these exist a
planet named Raxxla?

[!] I don't know. The missions vary across the platforms. There
is no Raxxla functionality in the 6502 versions AFAICR.

[?] What are you doing nowadays, any software making activities?

[!] I've been working on a new game for a long time now.
Recently i have been developing various dynamic texture
algorithms (fire, water, etc.) for PS Unreal.

[?] Can you tell a bit more about the game you're working on?

[!] Its not a space sim. Its a whole new genre AFAIK. Thats all
i'm saying.

[?] When i interviewed David Braben i asked what are doing his
mate (you) at present time and he said he don't know. You are
not keeping in touch anymore?

[!] No.

[?] Is there any particular reason for it and for the fact that
David continued Elite with Frontier and you not?

[!] See:

http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview/archive/iview003.html
http://www.ndirect.co.uk/ ~ law / ispdefr.htm # innocent

(Ed: some copyrights disagreement and conflict in general
between former partners)

[?] 3D is the thing which invades every genre of games today,
how do you like this trend?

[!] Its to be expected. Games mimic life and life is percieved
as 3D.

[?] But is it right to turn every genre into 3D? Everything we
had before as 2D we now get in three dimensions. Where are the
cute platformers, shoot'em up's and mazes, which originally was
2D only (no it's not only for the nostalgy)?

[!] I didn't say it was right. I said it was to be expected.

[?] Is PC the gaming future, or maybe it's up to consoles? What
are your expectations on amiga comeback?

[!] Amiga's chances are nil IMHO, though i wouldn't describe my
opinion as informed. PCs and consoles will meet in some sort
of ungodly home info / game-station wired in to the Internet and
most likely with state surveillance capabilities.

[?] If only companies will drop their egos and will sort out the
business things.

[!] Companies exsist to make money.

[?] What are the main things to create the right atmosphere in
game?

[!] Consistency. Responsiveness. Aesthetics. Audio.

[?] What are your favorite games of all time then and on which
platforms?

[!] Chuckie Egg (BBC). Elite (BBC / NES). Starship Command 
(BBC). Gauntlet (Arcades).


[?] I've heard you are DJing now, what music do you like
spinning and listening to?

[!] Psychaedelic intelligent layered trance and mellow ambient.

[?] How do you think does coders nowadays use all available
resources of machines? does they optimize they code to get
best performance?

[!] I think few coders use all available resources optimally.
Optimised INTEL assembly is an increasingly arcane and black
art. With increased resources folk get away with greater wastage
and inefficiencies. To a certain extent this is what increased
resources are for.

[?] What are your opinion about software piracy and the
"Cracking scene", is it harming software market very much?

[!] I haven't kept up with events enough to have an informed
opinion.