Si: Please tell me what is your position at ALTAR Interactive.
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I am public relations manager.
Si: How long has the game been in development?
Jiri Rydl: Let me think… It’s about 18 month now.
Si: What is the UFO: Aftermath's story?
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The day after tomorrow, a giant spacecraft approaches the Earth. Silent, it hovers ominously over the world, and begins to release great clouds of spores into the upper atmosphere. Rapidly multiplying, the spores soon darken the skies, and before long obscure the sun completely. In later days, this period will be known as the "Twilight".
Having reached critical mass in the skies, the spores begin to rain down, and over the course of several days, begin to clog the streets and bodies of water, smothering people in their homes, and burying animals in the wild. During the "Nightfall", as it would come to be called, most of the higher life forms on the earth were wiped out.
During the Twilight, all human responses were futile. Choosing caution over aggression, the governments of the world didn’t realize how quickly the end could come, and were buried alongside those that they governed. A few, however, did survive, sealed in underground bases with stocks of food and oxygen. After several weeks, the spores seemed to have disintegrated, decomposing and settling into the soil. The world seemed safe again, for a time. This is where you come in: you must gather together the remaining peoples of the planet, find out what has happened, and, if possible, get your revenge.
Si: What does the UFO: Aftermath has that previous releases didn’t?
Jiri Rydl: There are two main features: The first is that our engine is capable of generating tactical missions in completely 3D environment at random; the second is unique combat system with simultaneous turns.
Si: Which game features are you most excited about?
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I am most excited about the SAS (simultaneous assault system). Let me explain how it works: You give orders while the game is paused, to avoid the frantic rush of a real time system. While paused, you can give your troops very detailed orders, taking as much time as you like. Once you are finished, you simply tell the game to start. Once the game is underway, you can pause the game at any point to update or change your orders, and the game will automatically pause when important events occur, so that you may modify your plans accordingly. Be sure to note that all of the combat happens at once, combining the finely grained tactics of a turn based game with the realism of a real time system.
Si: How will the air battles look like? Will we be able to control them?
Jiri Rydl: Air combats are more automatic. When you spot an UFO, the nearest military base asks you if you want to send airplane to shoot it down. If you agree and the interception is successful, a tactical mission is generated and you can finish survivors on the ground with your squad.
Si: How will the ground battles look like? Please tell us about the ground battle engine. How many efforts have you invested in it?
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Tactical missions are generated at random according to geographical position, level of difficulty and objective of the mission by our in-house developed engine. It means there are no two exactly same missions! When you hunt aliens in the Eastern Europe, you fight among the gray concrete buildings. When you have to find alien artifact in the middle of Africa, you defend yourself in the desert. Better wait until night, or you will be finished quickly by enemy there!
Si: How many weapons, vehicles (air & ground), aliens and technologies will the game feature?
Jiri Rydl: There is more than 60 weapons - human, hybrid and aliens, more than 20 enemies both aliens and mutants and more than 70 technologies to research. There are no vehicles in UFO: Aftermath.
Si: How strong A.I. can we expect? How smart will the computer be?
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Enemies are pretty deadly, aliens have better technology and weapons, they retreat if you hurt them badly, they try to get around you, call for reinforcements etc. Mutants are sometimes slower and stupid, but much more dangerous in close combat with sharp teeth and incredible strength. You have to watch them closely!
Si: When will the game be released? Will it hit the USA & Europe at the same time?
Jiri Rydl: We expect the release date in third quarter of 2003 both in Europe and USA.
Si: Game graphics are really well done. Which system will the game require?
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Thank you! PC for optimum performance right now is Pentium III 1GHz with 256MB RAM and GeForce 3 compatible graphics card.
Si: Would you like to add anything?
Jiri Rydl: We are looking forward to talk with you all at http://www.ufo-aftermath.com forums. If you want to know about UFO: Aftermath first, subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter!
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