Latest From Meatball

[Gobalopper]

It has been a while since we last posted an update from Mike Bell of Westwood, otherwise known as Meatball. These are all taken from the official forum, a good place to get answers to your questions on Emperor.

The camera is mainly there for you to use as you like. We wanted to keep it simple to control and nonintrusive so it's not as integral to gameplay as in some 3D RTSs. In fact, you could probably go an entire mission without touching the camera but that wouldn't be too functional or exciting. You can use just the mouse to control the camera or a combination of mouse/keyboard.

You can zoom, from almost a complete top-down all the way down to a 45degree angle just off the ground.

The strategic campaign layer over the tactical missions is a nice addition. It forces you to evaluate your overall battleplan beyond just your immediate mission. It feels like a real campaign as opposed to a series of 12 or 15 missions strung together in a linear fashion. I personally like the idea of seeing on the strategic map where I am, where I need to be, and how I'm going to get there.

Dune is a very cool universe with a lot of room for imagination, especially when making a video game. I think the game's storyline will be accurate and exciting enough to satisfy casual Dune fans (although I'm sure hardcore Dune fans will take issue with some of our decisions).

In our 'alternate' Dune universe, the Emperor is dead and the throne seat is temporarily empty. Thus, the Sardaukar are leaderless, but no less lethal. Who knows, they might even approve of the Harks using atomics if it meant the swiftest road back to their former status as the Emperor's empowered deathforce?

Oh, and the Deathhand missile is deadly accurate.

As I've said before, some people want the cutting-edge 3D, others want a classic RTS feel that's easy to jump into. It's kind of a touchy thing, but I believe we've found the perfect blend in Emperor. Based on all your comments, I think you should all really enjoy the game.

When zoomed all the way out, you get a great all-encompassing view of the battlefield, but some of the units (especially infantry) will look awfully small. On the other hand, when zoomed all the way in, the units are indeed big and in-your-face; the Devastator looks, well, devastating. Most of my playing time is spent somewhere between the 2 extremes.

Lastly here is Mike's comment on part I of the miniseries...

Well, I thought overall that it's doing a lot better job at telling the story than the 1984 movie. The visuals and style overall are pretty good, but a lot of the acting, particularly the Duke, is a little stiff. Paul bugs me too for some reason. But he's whiny in the book and whiny in the miniseries so I guess that's consistent. I thought the casting from the Lynch movie was better in some cases, such as with Gurney and Stilgar (so Stilgar is 5'2"?) Some of the sets and costumes do look cheesy, like the Sardaukar (what the heck is with the hats?)

Overall, a marginal thumbs up, but an A for effort. It's better than nothing at all.