Recently I had the pleasure of posing some interesting questions to Brandon Marlowe from RayLogic about their upcoming strategy/sim game entitled “DARK ORE.”  Here they are and I hope they lead you to try DARK ORE once it’s out…

How did RayLogic come up with the idea for DARK ORE?

The president of RayLogic, Ken Veale, came up with the idea for Dark Ore. He has always enjoyed keeping up with the NASA Space Program. The original idea was to create a space sim based around the NASA program. However, we realized how much more fun it would be to incorporate space station construction along with an action setting. The games today focus on either the construction aspect or the action aspect. Why not put them in a blender and come out with something really fun?

Will this be a single player platform and will a multi-player venue be available as well?

The initial release will be single-player. We are planning to develop a multiplayer version in the following months after the release. The multiplayer version will be provided as a free upgrade to the single-player
version. We want the single-player experience to be exciting also, which is why we are striving to develop an A.I. that will be challenging for the player.

What is the users role in DARK ORE?

The user takes the role of the company owner. His duties will include building the space station, gathering materials to fill shipment orders to send to earth, and making a profit of $100 million dollars.

How extensive is the control of the station in the game?

The player will be able to construct his station into whatever design he desires. Being able to place beams, ship docks, manufacturing units, storage facilities, and weapons anywhere makes the number of designs endless. After gathering the appropriate materials, all the player has to do is drop off the
materials at his station. The manufacturing will be automatic.

Are there different vessels to choose from? Are they upgradeable?

There is only one type of collector ship, which the player is supplied at the start of the game, but the player will be able to upgrade his ship by adding weapons. We have designed some really great weapons for the player. One of my favorites is the rear-eject canister. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played a FPS space sim and wished I could drop a mine directly behind me when an enemy was following too close. The weapons range from the basic lasers and missiles to neutron emitters that destroy sensitive electronic equipment. The player will also have the ability to hire mercenary ships to do some of the dirty work for them.

Will the game be joystick, mouse or keyboard based or a combination of the three?

We are designing Dark Ore to work with keyboard, joystick and mouse. We want the player to have the most comfortable control while playing the game.

How easy is the GUI (Graphic User Interface) for the user to navigate through?

The user interface has very simple navigation. To put it simply, much of the construction is just a point and click method. In buying supplies and weapons, the player will just have to select what he wants and buy it. It is one of the most user-friendly interfaces I have experienced in recent games.

Are there any known conflicts with certain video and sound cards?

There are not any sound or video conflicts that we have found as of yet. We have been able to run the program on laptops and various desktop configurations. It will work with a Voodoo3 card, but we recommend having a GeForce card or any other recent video cards for the best performance.

What operating systems are you planning to support for the game?

We are developing the game using a Windows 2000 platform. However, the game will be supported under Win 98/2000.

Microsoft's “GAME VOICE” headset, for example, is now getting very popular with gamers. Do you plan on implementing any voice-activated commands with DARK ORE?

We do not plan on having any voice activation options in Dark Ore. Perhaps in future games we will include that feature.

A lot of games enable you to macro your way to higher levels. Will DARK ORE require that you actively monitor game actions to avoid this?

The player will be controlling a lot of the game play himself. The mercenary ships that the player can hire to do his dirty work can be told what to do and they will do it without the player having to watch their every move. The mineral production and shipment from the station is automated as well. The player will have his hands full with gathering materials and defending his station. We didn’t want to give the player so much to do that the game would be difficult to play.

Building a station is only one aspect of the game. What other types of game play will be included?

After the player gets his station ready for manufacturing, they will have to hyper-jump to the opponents’ zones to collect their materials. All the player has to do is fly by the appropriate asteroid to collect the minerals they need. Sounds simple, right? Not with your opponent shooting missiles and flack guns at you. Not to mention the opponents' mercenary ships sent to shoot you down. It’s not all trying to survive though. The player also has the option of attacking their opponents trying to gather materials from around their site.

In the overview the term deploy/counter-deploy was mentioned? Can you tell me what exactly this means?

Each weapon has a counter-measure that renders that weapon ineffective. If you have the right combination of counter measures on-board your ship, you can zip through an enemy's base with minimal damage. if you lack a particular counter measure, you'll have to fall back on flying skill. It becomes a
chess-game of finding out what weapons an opponent's space station has and then buying appropriate counter-measures on the black market, if you can find them.

How much testing has been involved thus far and will you be opening up your BETA tests to the public?

At this point in Dark Ore’s development we haven’t had any public testing. We soon hope to have the playable demo ready and begin the BETA testing process. We have a list of BETA testers that we will chose from once we are ready.

See you in game!

Scott