Westwood Turns 15

[Gobalopper]

Westwood is celebrating their 15th Anniversary with an interview over at GameSpot. They interview both Brett Sperry and Louis Castle who first founded Westwood back in 1984. The interview is very well done and covers the process of forming the company and the progress Westwood has made over the years. Did you know that Westwood's original name was going to be Brelous Software? Or that Sierra offered to buy them before the Virgin deal a few years later?

The interview doesn't mention Dune 2000, at least I couldn't find any, most likely since IGL did most of the programming. It does cover Dune 2 and has a statement from Brett saying, "We will definitely do another Dune game though. It has a special place in my heart because of the universe and author Frank Herbert."

I put a few of the questions below, they have been edited slightly, check for my observations afterwards:

GameSpot: We now know you are doing a persistent world based on a new universe. What about universes like Dune or Kyrandia or Blade Runner? Any plans to revisit them?

Brett: The problem is, we can only do so much. We will definitely do another Dune game though. It has a special place in my heart because of the universe and author Frank Herbert. Beyond that, anything is possible.

Louis: I should say it's not entirely our choice to revisit properties we don't own, but beyond that, I think some things just feel done. I feel that way about Monopoly and even Blade Runner. I like to move on and look forward to the next story we can tell.

GameSpot: So what does year 16 bring?

Brett: In our 16th year everything changes. Yeah, everything changes. Well, at least in the eyes of the public. We've been working on some secret games for a long time now, but next year the gamers will really get to see what is up our sleeves. We're going to start showing our babies. You'll get to see a brand-new RTS next year that's not C&C. We have our persistent-state world and our first PlayStation 2 title that's not a port of anything we've already done.

GameSpot: You published Kyrandia with Virgin, and that soon led to Dune II. Did the Dune interface stem from the same frustrations that resulted in Kyrandia's accessible point-and-click format?

Louis: I was more hooked on the real-time aspects of strategy games. I liked being pressed to make decisions quickly. Brett was the guy focused on interface back then. Dune was his game.

Brett: But yes, Dune II was a result of those early struggles with interface and design. It was an intellectual puzzle for me: How can we take this really small wargame category, bring in some fresh ideas, and make it a fun game that more gamers can play? It was a what-if scenario.

GameSpot: And Command & Conquer was sort of a natural progression from Dune II, right?

Brett: Yes, Dune II was all about taking on the challenge of combining two dynamics together. So the mechanic of C&C was really an extension of Dune II - making it more accessible.

Well from this it is rather obvious that Westwood will be releasing a new Dune game but it looks like it won't be announced until 2001. As Louis mentions Westwood doesn't own the Dune property but has to licence it, one reason why it took so long for Dune 2000 to be released.

I am also leaning towards the "persistent world" being Earth & Beyond. According to the first question GameSpot calls this game a "new universe" so chances are if that's true it won't be based on C&C. The PSX2 title they mention is most likely Skull Cove that was mentioned during this years E3.

The way things are going right now I don't expect Westwood to announce Dune 3 until after the hype of RA2 has died down, which probably won't happen until December at the earliest... maybe November but I doubt it.