The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006 is getting closer, with only a month and a half to go. It is one of the worlds largest gaming conventions, and large parts of the gaming industry displays their upcoming games there. May 10th-12th is the date for the expo, and StrategyCore is sending two reporters this year.

Mike Nino has performed interview duties for us 3 years in a row, and this year Olav "Slaughter" Lognvik will also be going. We'll talk to the developers of interest, and would like your input on who to interview. So if you have any games you'd like us to check out, or questions you'd like us to ask, let us know. You can either provide feedback through replies to this thread, or use our contact sheet.

Read up on the history of E3 at The Armchair Empire, and find the official E3 site here.



Some of the Mike's pictures last year. You can see them all here.

@Slaughter:

"Mike Nino has performed interview duties for us 3 years in a row, and this year Olav "Slaughter" Lognvik will also be going.(...)"

Hmmm, this Olav character sounds vaguely familiar... I hope he manages to uphold his gaming coverage standards out there in the wilds...

"(...) would like your input on who to interview.(...)"

This almost goes without saying, but:

- the representatives of the newly formed ALTAR Games to enquire about the progress and features of UFO: Afterlight, naturally, but also (and don't let this slip by) that notorious role-playing game titled 'Vision' as - and if I remember correctly - there were some strong and rather unique strategic elements present in that title's combat facet.

- the people at Nival Interactive's booth (especially concerning HOMM V)

- those at the Gas Powered Games' booth (to catch up on Supreme Commander)

::

Also

- if you'd like an exclusive, you'll probably get one if you get a fix on the russian FireGlow Games Inc personnel (no doubt somewhere in the vicinity of 'Can't-seeya hall'[a.k.a. Kentia hall]) and take their game 'Stranger' for a spin. It sports a rather uncharacteristic mix of real-time strategy and RPG elements.


p.s.: I'll be sure to submit some questions about Afterlight at a later time. Don't know if 'Vision' is a possibility though...

Woohoo! Olav is going to be on my turf: the beautiful hell that is Southern California. They should move the show down to San Diego, though. It's much nicer.
If you talk to the Fireglow guys, make sure you ask them about Sudden Strike 3 instead of that MMO crap. And of course, bug the Nival reps about a new Silent Storm game.

Hmm, I'm not familiar with the Sudden Strike games, but I'll be sure to ask them. I'll also take a look at Stranger Thor

As for Nival, I sure want to know about a possible sequel to Silent Storm as well. I fear that JoWooD is the guys I really need to ask however, as I believe they own the license. JoWooD publishes some very good games, and I am thankful for that. Problem is that they don't do it very well...

ALTAR is a sure thing. I don't know if anyone from ALTAR will be there, but Cenega and IDEA Games will have representatives at least. Questions are welcome Thorondor!

ask the nival guys about the ramifications of moving the HQ to US soil and multiplatform development (i.e. will they sacrifice their in-depth games to pump out crappy action titles based on licenses?).

@Slaughter:

"I'll also take a look at Stranger Thor (...)"

Nice!

"Questions are welcomed (...)"

Oki-doke!

::

p.s.: oh - and make sure to take some snaps of the games' marketing stuff (leaflets, posters, etc.) this year, Olav; know what I mean...

If SSE are there please ask what is happening withteh English language version of Tha Fall. Thanks. I say If because according to the list Altar won't be present either.

Cenega (the publisher) will be showing Afterlight, and IDEA Games (several of the previous ALTAR employees) will also be there. I will ask Carsten what's happening with The Fall if I find him or anyone else from SSE there. With the catastrophe that was the German release I guess they wish to be better prepared this time . That, or the publishers will not touch it...


Yeah, I'll get as much information out of them as possible. I fear the answers however....

@Thorondor: Yeah, I'll keep the camera hot all the way

Besides the obvious game developers mentioned, how about visiting Take-Two's booth Slaughter? You might be able to put some pressure on them to admit they actually own the rights to the X-COM series. "Official contact" (even with booth trolls) is better than nothing. It would go miles in our quest to resurrect X-COM.

I wish safe travels to both yourself and Mike Nino and hope you both have a great time. If you have any time left, how's about a quick interview with our roving reporter Mike. I hardly know anything about him.

- Zombie

You bet! There will be a new X-COM game in development after E3 if I can help it...


Good idea . We'll see what Mike says.

Well, if they can't be convinced through regular means.... show them what you did to that door. Or threaten them with another scandal, they already had the "hot coffee" one and apparently some of their employees have been accused of financial malversations. Another scandal wouldn't be good right now.

Hehe, I'll do that if need be

@Slaughter:

IDEA Games' web site has been updated to notify those interested *wink, wink* that they'll be present at E3 showcasing a couple of their members' projects. Here's a snip:

"IDEA Games can be found in Kentia Hall and publishers or journalists wishing to arrange a meeting should contact us."

::

Probably nothing new for you, but logged just in case.

I got the invite to E3 from Jiri, so I'm well aware . That being said, I should probably make sure we've got a time set anyway, so thanks for the heads up!

Okay, a list of questions for us to ask:

Will the plotline be consistent with UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock? Will we get more insights into the Reticulan civilization?

Will Afterlight explore the mythology of the Martian canals and the Cydonia region?

Will there be multiplayer capability? (I don't think there will be on account of the nature of the SAS combat system but it would be useful to have confirmation)

What technical specifications are you aiming for?

Will there be plenty of maps? Will we have the option to create our own maps and integrate them into the game? A lot of people have critisised the number of maps in UFO: Aftershock, so an option to create our own maps would be rather useful

What diplomatic options will the player have?

How many scripted missions will there be? Will they appear on fixed in-game dates like they did in UFO: Aftershock?

Will we have the same freedom to instigate missions as we had in UFO: Aftershock?

Will a soldier's line of sight be restricted to what is actually in front of him?

How advanced will the AI be? Will it be capable of learning from its mistakes?

Time to make good on my word as well, I suppose - here are my questions for ALTAR Games' UFO Afterlight, Olav:

- We've heard that it will be possible to include special elements in the player-controlled squad such as robots. Are those the very same alien-built robots that threaten the player early on in the game, man-made constructs or distinct self-aware beings ?

- Given the announced added emphasis on characters, how many from among the original human contingent may die ? Is there any specific character that can't die, for instance ? And, if so, is that directly tied to story (a main character) or individual qualifications (i.e. last scientist/technician available) ?

- Beyond the instrumental personnel (and equipment), what resource types will the player be managing in UFO: Afterlight ?

- I understand there is to be a central base from which most of the human intervention will originate from. Is that base's starting location fixed or randomly placed ? Also, will the player ever be able to move it afterwards ?

- In the strategic part of the game, players will gradually spread out their forces' influence to nearby territories. How is this accomplished in the game ?

- Upon gaining the opportunity to build mines, etc., can any defensive implements be employed in the protection of those periferal sites ?

- Given the possibility to establish diplomatic relationships, could a given "faction" be simultaneously on good terms with our own as well as with that of an irreconcileable enemy of ours ?

- Will it be feasible to win the game without resorting to the help of another faction?

- In the tactical part of the game what is the player generally encouraged to do when encountering enemy presence - to engage targets immediately upon sighting or to wait and pick them off selectively ? Will there ever be a time when leaving live hostile aliens behind could be regarded as the optimal tactical choice, for example?

- Will there be a full-time, dynamic fog-of-war present in the game this time around ? If not, what other form of feedback will be used to convey how much is visible to the player's units and their alien counterparts respectively ?

- Our decisions in diplomacy and research are said to have significant impact on the game's outcome. Can we once again count on multiple endings, then ?

::

Less than a month for E3 and counting...

OK, so there's ALTAR and Nival to interview. Last year I tried to do too many interviews in too few days and I was not happy with the results. I'm voluntering Slaughter to do the Nival ones. I am not a HOMM fan and did a lifeless job last year. Slaughter and I can tag team ALTAR: it'll be an easy interview since we both like the UFO games and the ALTAR people are easy to talk with. I also took more time off work this year so I don't have to jam so many interviews into one day (last year I tried 4 in one day).

I'm not familiar with The Fall, but it looks interesting. Very Falloutish, and I 've been a Fallout fan for a while and was at the Fallout 2 release party (still have my Gecko in a Can). If its at E3 I'd be glad to check it out, but I don't see SSE listed as an exhibitor.

I tried to interview MiSTland/GFI about Jagged Alliance 3D last year but no one at the booth would talk about the game (African Alliance had just been cancelled and they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off). I'll try again this year if I can find a reliable contact (last year's PR contact quit the company).

Even though the voice acting is pretty over-the-top bad, I've always liked 4x games so I'd like to interview Sword of the Stars. However, neither they nor their publisher is listed as an E3 exhibitor. I e-mailed them over the weekend but have not received a response.

So, what other games would be of interest?

With you mentioning Fallout I would be very interested to hear from Bethesda what their plans are for it. From memory they said they work on one major project at a time, and with Oblivion now released, hopefully they are starting work on Fallout 3.

As for AL questions for ALTAR:

Are there plans to make the game mod friendly, perhaps with tools allowing players to create their own maps and levels.

Some more details on what their plans for bases are. It sounds like one main base which can be built how the player wants, while the rest are to be "simplified".

Are any major changes planned for the SAS system, or will it be fairly similar to AS.

Will there be a lot of variety in the types of enemies encountered on missions.

What types of mission will be available, and will the results of one impact on the availability of other missions.

Haven't got long now, but if I think of more I now know where to post them - thanks Thorondor

Akella will be at E3 so you can ask them about Disciples III and a few other things.

Akella's E3 line-up

edit: According to Martin Cirulis, the CEO of Kerberos Productions, Sword of the Stars will be represented at E3. Keep an eye out for either Kerberos or Lighthouse (the publisher).