Q: How many square miles can a medium sized map have? 

A: I would state this is a trick question. Much of this depends on the maps complexity. If you have just flat terrain then it can go on for miles, but once you start adding buildings, trees, NPC’s and so on this can be reduced. We have not really been able yet to determine a size for a zone, our largest zone has over 80 buildings inside of it, the largest underground level has over 12 levels assigned to it. 

Q: I know that you want to allow about 1000 people online per world server; is this really possible with A5? 

A: Possible, but this all depends on the speed of the system, and your ISP connection. We have tested 650+ external drop connections to the Unknown Zone 1 server. I do believe getting it to 1000 is no problems; we have written our code that the sphere of the character only sees and receives information that intersects another sphere. Except for communication and some global commands most of the communication done is only relevant to that character allowing more players to be on the zone at any given time. 

Q: How did you manage to implement the character transfer from one server to another? This was something that Unreal was supposed to have, but they had to give up the idea because of the lack of technology (I assume). 

A: Character transfers are actually stored on a SQL server here. We wrote a playerstore.dll that allows the characters to be saved between zones. We also have set up saves on different zones at different times of all characters within that zone. We do world.sav on the zones also that save the actual positions of objects dropped during world play. We also have an item server and a monster server and plot server whose job is to insure that there are only xx items that the plots have or have not been completed and last that monsters spawn correctly in each zone. 

Q: Why would you want to control four characters at the same time?  

A: Since we are promoting single player features also we felt players should have the ability to play with up to 3 other NPC’s players or connect via online and play with up to 4 friends. We did this to maximize the playing options for the Unknown. The view changes to more of a Diablo style view and you can control the characters by clicking on them or taking control of any character and moving them with the arrow or mouse button. In multi-player you may control only your own character and any NPC attached to you. 

Q: You say that our actions will determine dramatic world changes. How do you stop the players from making each other’s life a mess ;) if 
everybody can do that? 

A: Life is full of choices, the plot servers job is to insure that no 1 plot is played again once done. Can player X really screw up player Y world, yes, but this is life. They should be able to. But no plot is good unless it can be corrected one way or another. Yes, some plots cannot be corrected but that is also life, characters should have some sort of control over the world they are playing in. 

Q: I can see many different characters in your game. What tools are you using and how is the poly count ranging? How many models can be visible at the same time? 

A: We have models that range in a few hundred to well over five thousand. We use 3ds Max R4, Light Wave 6.5, Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop pro for just modeling and skinning. We also have over 15+ custom utilities we built to assist us. We have had as many as 47 models on the screen at any time, but again the FPS does slow down when there is this much action on the screen. Typically anywhere from 5-8 is seen, unless in the cities where it can range from 15-20. 

Q: Can you name some of the 3rd party utilities that you are using? 

A: We are using over 50 tools now for the Unknown. Some of them are commercial, like Tree Druid, Amni-Tek world Builder, and some were developed by use because they did not exist. We also using some of the utilities found on the Conitec web site. Surri has written some excellent tools for users, and we have used the font generator many times to save us time creating the font.pcx file. 

Q: Have you signed any contract with a publisher?  

A: No we have not signed with any publisher. We actually refuse to sign on with any publishers until we have a product ready for a demo release. We are hoping to release our first demo, all 380 Megs of it to a select set of testers within the next two weeks. 

Q: What are the features that have attracted you to use A5 for your game? What else would you need to see implemented in A5? 

A: Since we been programming the Unknown first in A3 we actually only needed one essential feature since the beginning: multi-player support. A4's multi-player support was almost impossible to code, but A5 is much easier. It is true now we have some other features we like, like LOD, flare effects, models as panels, and a particle system, and yes terrain support. 

What I would like to see ASAP, is a better editor, which I know is coming at the end of this month. We are currently doing all of our work in 3rd part tools, 3ds Max and Light Wave, and importing them into MED and WED, and hoping our importers work correct and then repairing or fixing the mistakes as we go. 

I could list a slew of features I would like to see in A5, some we have worked around, others we have created with our own .dll’s. But for the most part, I would like them expand the terrain. I would also like to see a better AI, and path finding support. I also would like to see direct .wdl calling within our .dll so we can call back upon some of our .wdl functions. 

Q: What is your advice for a beginner user? Any development tips? 

A: 
1 - Start by reading the Manuals and downloading the Demo and tutorials out on the links page. 
2 - When creating large outdoors areas count the entities in view they do effect the FPS 
3 - Do not start developing your code and think you can change it to multi-player code. Your code will never work right, start it again from the 
beginning!! If you’re going to think multiplayer then you must code multiplayer!! 
4 - Do not use the template files. They are guides, if you create your own you will have a better understanding on how A5 works 
5 - Think realistic in your game creation. Do not attempt the create an Unknown unless you have the time and resources to sink into it 
6 - Do not give up!! Just because you cannot code it does not mean no one can code it. Ask on the forums!! 
7 - Just because you do not have excellent graphics or models does not mean your game is no good. It takes ideas to create games!! If your idea is good enough publishers can assist you on getting those graphics. 
8 - Most of all have fun. Game development is hard work but the rewards of being able to play something you have created are a feeling only enjoyed by few. I cannot express the amount of times my team and myself have sat on top of the tower of orbs watching our world pass by us. 
 

Thank you Kevin.