Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

An Interview With Unknown Worlds

29 May, 2007, 4:25 pm IST | by Nikhil Singh

We speak to the designer of Natural Selection, Charlie Cleveland...

The Source engine is getting a little dated visually, compared to newer stuff like the Unreal 3 engine; how will NS2 match up and compete with other visually superior games?

Source may not be at the top of the heap visually, but it's a great engine to work with. Every time a new engine comes out, it comes with higher system requirements. We would much rather make a game that more people can play then make one with the highest possible visual quality. We think we can make a game every bit as immersive through sound and game design. The other big problem with newer engines is that they require much more work to create artwork for, sometimes on the order of 2-5 times more work! But we're pretty sure that with killer artwork and a few tricks we have up our sleeves, NS2 will be a great-looking game.

From what we’ve heard the project is on a pretty tight budget; how hard is it to develop a game without financial backing from a publisher?

It's a bit tricky to be sure, but it's nothing new to us. We developed NS1 on a tiny budget and we think we can do it again. This time around we have standing investment offers that we can take if we absolutely need to, but we're going to try to do it totally independently first.

Will NS 2 have a concrete storyline? Will there be a single-player campaign as well?

We've always made sure to pay special attention to the story of our game world, but that is only to ensure that the game feels coherent, not because there is a narrative during the game. Multi-player gaming and story are totally unrelated. We would love to bring NS to single-player one day, but we'd want to devote real resources to it. We're focused on making NS2 the best multi-player game we can.

Will we see NS 2 on any other platform other than PC?

We'd love to bring it to the Xbox 360 but the PC version is most important to us.

What’s next for Unknown Worlds?

That all depends on how well NS2 does! Our company goal may sound a bit lofty, but we are here to unite the world through play. That leaves a lot of room for wild projects so we'll see where we end up!

Here’s wishing you all the best for this project and thank you for your time.

You're welcome. Thanks for your support!

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Tags: Unknown Worlds , Natural Selection , Charlie Cleveland