Interview with Carl Johnson, Lead Game Designer for Maelstrom

Maelstrom is a real-time strategy game developed by the Russian developer KD-Vision and published by Codemasters. The game is set in a war torn post-apocalyptic future in which the remaining humans fight amongst themselves over the last remaining drinkable water and against an alien invader bent on taking over the planet.

The three factions fighting for the devastated Earth of 2050 are The Remnants, made up of former U.S. military that rely on stealth, modding units and hacking, The Ascension, a technologically advanced corporation that controls shielded Mechmorph war machines, and the alien Hai-Geti, masters of bio-engineering.

Maelstrom boasts some features that are unique to the genre such as terraforming, weather control, and the ability to control any unit in first-person.


Why should someone buy Maelstrom?

Maelstrom is an action RTS game that is the most destructive and awe-inspiring game imaginable. We're offering never-before-seen environmental destructibility and customization (terraforming), control over natural disasters (tornadoes, meteors, etc) and three very different factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We've taken all this great stuff, packaged it with beautifully detailed graphics, tight camera controls and brilliant gameplay. Take a look at some of the screenshots and you'll see what I mean. Not to mention the third-person control mode that we added for even more custom control.

How did you guys come up with the idea for Maelstrom? Any specific influences or direction you wanted to follow?

When we finished up working on Perimeter with KDV Games, we were really impressed by their talent for RTS games. After a bit of deliberation on our part, we decided to approach them on working on a new project. Many of us here are major Sci-Fi fans so we kind of knew we wanted to take that route, but that was all we really knew. We spent a lot of time watching some classic Sci-Fi jams like Mad Max, Alien, etc. and decided that we needed someone who really knew their stuff. Enter: James Swallow. James is a veteran of the Sci-Fi scene, having worked on Dr. Who as well as Star Trek. We sat down and all threw our ideas at James, who carefully sat and heard everything we said. It was his task to hear all these wild and crazy thoughts, mash them together into some sort of coherent, interesting and totally compelling story. And he did just that. Once we had the story, the rest sort of fell into place, character design, maps, etc. Anyone who is a big fan of Sci-Fi will definitely be able to feel certain influences, and we tried to stay as true to the genre as we could.

How

will Maelstrom stand out against other RTS games, and what does "action RTS" mean?

Mainly, Maelstrom goes a step above and beyond your typical RTS. Gone are the days of simple top-down camera angles and poorly designed units. In the game you'll be able to zoom in as close as you can get, even to see blades of grass floating in the breeze. Some games have offered a zoom in the past, but never to such an extent, nor with the graphic details and high quality models we've developed. The other unique quality is the fully interactive and destructible environment. You can actually terraform the land, producing mounds or crevices to aid you in the battle. As far as "action RTS" is concerned, we've really put a lot of work into making sure that action is a staple of your experience in the game. We've banished the idea of a "god-like" presence on the battlefield by including a third-person mode. At any point in the game, should you want to; you can select a unit and control it in third-person mode. This brings a whole new dimension of action to the game.

The environment sounds like it's going to be major factor in the game, what can you tell us about it?

The environment itself has become a player in the story just as much as the factions themselves. As I've said, it's fully destructible, fully interactive and incredibly realistic. The "terraforming" aspect is a really great way for players to interact and customize the environment for their needs. You can build up a defensive all around your base or even a moat complete with water. At this point it really only depends on your imagination. Another interesting note is that the water is made to behave exactly as it does in the real world, flowing from high to low, always seeking sea level. So it's no problem to create a channel and run water from one location to another, either flooding or draining area. The Hai-Genti love water and it helps them to excel and breed so water to them is an asset, to other factions however, it can be quite an obstacle. Speaking of the Hai-Genti, they have a lot of environmental abilities because of their unique background and psychic abilities. The Hai-Genti are a fully bio-engineered race with psychic abilities - so much so that they can communicate with and utilize nature to their advantage. Imagine unleashing a tornado on an unsuspecting group of enemy infantry, just to watch them get sucked up and hurled miles away!

How will the individual factions play in the game, any cool features or abilities?

You'll be working with three main factions, the Remnants, Ascension and Hai-Genti.

The Remnants are a group of survivors that have scavenged and salvaged an army to oppose the ruthless Ascension in their battle for the Earth. The Remnants are mainly into guerilla warfare, they prefer surprise attacks and intelligent tactics versus brute force. Led by former Navy SEAL James Buchanan, they resemble any modern military today�covered in about 50 years of rust.

Next, the Ascension is a technologically advanced mega-corporation that survived the Maelstrom. Their units are all highly advanced and almost all of them are capable of transformation. Their transforming capabilities offer a duality of function that is unprecedented in the RTS genre. Transforming units convert themselves into completely different units to take on additional tasks. They are led by Arlan Khan, but his son Maximilian is the one to lead them on the battlefield. Their advance technology often gives them the edge over the Remnants, but with the Hai-Genti things could be a bit more difficult.

The Hai-Genti is a race of aliens from another star system called Proxima-Centauri. Everything that they have from buildings to units is bio-engineered. They are aquatic creatures, so they will always try to flood the land with mutagen-laced water. They follow a hive-mind mentality and will fight in great numbers. Their psychic abilities also allow them to communicate with nature, unleashing its forces for their benefit.

To what extent will the deformable terrain effect gameplay?

The terrain is a huge part of gameplay for many reasons. First off most of your terrain interaction will have to do with water - no matter what faction you are (Hai-Genti love water). The water is designed to behave exactly as it would in nature, so expect it to fill depressions and run down mountains - always seeking sea level. So, if your base is flooded and you need to drain it, create a canal that leads away from the base, and voila - you're dry. On the other hand if you need to flood an area you can do that as well. As far as building up the terrain, it can offer great defensive assets, imagine creating wall surrounding your base with a single chokepoint for enemies - its wholesale carnage! It's really up to the player's imagination on what they want to do; we're just giving them the option.

Many places view this game as a cautionary game. It is being called the video game version of an Inconvenient Truth. How much truth is in this statement?

Maelstrom is first and foremost a fun, progressive action strategy game. There is no real message to it. But we've all heard from scientists that we need to step back and be more environmentally conscious, the possibility of widespread ecological disaster is certainly an influence on design. That tinge of reality that kind of makes the game hit home at some level.

Will there be multi-player?

Yes, we're going to have built-in online multiplayer for one to six players with some different modes to liven it up a bit. There will also be an online ranking system to keep track of your status.

How customizable and upgradeable will the units and weapons be? Will players have complete freedom in this aspect?

Without getting too far into details (don't want to spoil anything for anyone) upgrades will be available for every unit in the game. These upgrades range from weapons and armor to special abilities for individual units. The real customization comes in when you start working with your hero characters, as they level up they'll gain access to new abilities. At that point you'll have to make some decisions on what abilities to take and what to leave behind. I find it helps to choose whatever helps you in the here and now - you can always upgrade again later.

How will you integrate the RTS and third-person elements into Maelstrom?

Again I don't want to spoil anything, but some characters will be more suited for third person action. That is, a melee unit might not be the best opportunity to use the third person, whereas someone with a long range or high powered weapon would have a much greater gain. Playing in third person will depend on the mission as well - in some missions, it simply won't make strategic sense to fight this way. The diversity of the action, as well as the combination of traditional RTS and 3rd person gameplay, is what make Maelstrom addictive.

What is the learning curve for the game? Are there tutorials in the beginning to start off newcomers to the RTS world?

We tried to make it as accessible as we could for everyone. We certainly had a specific goal of not turning people off with an extremely academic control scheme. The tutorials run you through the basics of movement and camera function all the way to construction of buildings and vehicles. As for tactics, that's something the player has to form on their own. We can't tell you how to do everything now can we? :)

Will this be available for PC only or other OS?

Maelstrom will be available on only PC.