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[0x517A5D]

Expect to be disappointed.  Sorry.

This is extremely ambitious.  Enormously so.  Especially for a project which isn't showing off alpha code to the interviewer, yet is targeting a late 2013 launch.

Double especially if Gaslamp continues to release Dredmor DLC.

There's only so many hours in a day, only so many coders that can work on a project before Brooks' Law kicks in and you actually get negative progress.

Just saying.  Sorry about the downer, but keep your expectations in the lower atmosphere.

[Gaslamp-Daniel]

Never read Girl Genius Comic, but it looks awesome =)

For beta testing, we try to grab a cross section of people, but enthusiasm really helps as betas have a tendency of blowing up horribly and being frustrating.

Being realistic, it's unlikely that we will model a unit down to proper anatomy, at least with our current project plan.  This is part of the feature triage where we have to pick the most important things to work on, otherwise CE could balloon into a project that's just to big for our time scale.  Some simplifications to obtain the same effect but without that systems investment are possible, but I can't say for sure yet.

Regarding character depth: each character will generate relationships with other characters, with possessions, with locations, with groups of enemies or specific enemies, and so forth.  These systems of associations are incredibly important to developing rich interactions between the citizens.  We are spending a lot of brain power on this system.

Sorry guys, I think that's all the time I have today.  Thanks for your interest!

[Gaslamp-Daniel]

Wow, that's a lot of questions!  Uh, maybe I can get one of the other guys in here to help, I need to do some work!

[Aklyon]

Girl Genius is full of awesome. And also crazypeople Sparks, with large contraptions afoot and death rays being more practical than rings.

[ScriptWolf]

@A5D

A but pessimistic there, but its to early to tell anywhich way, and being overly joyfull about the game is a good posative reinforcement for developers, telling them this is the right way to go, dont be such a downer ( I say this in the lightest of tones )

I like to be optimistic with new games

[Levi]

practicality? pffft. I want a barely-functional doomsday device that requires constant maintenance to keep it from exploding.

largely because the explosion would be awesome.

I assume it'll be built next to the aristocrat mansions?

[Aklyon]

practicality? pffft. I want a barely-functional doomsday device that requires constant maintenance to keep it from exploding.

largely because the explosion would be awesome.

I assume it'll be built next to the aristocrat mansions?

No, it'll be in the middle of town.
...next to the aristocratically squashed mansions. Too many nobles not enough space for the rest of the town to revolve around

[Gaslamp-Daniel]

Oh fine, sure, just this once =P  A lot of this is totally unanswerable.  I'm only answering the ones that I feel we can at this point, and then i'm getting back to work!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. How many colonists are we able/expected to have at any one time?

not sure yet, largely set by hardware and network

2. How difficult will it be to obtain new colonists?

depends on your starting scenario, location, how well you're doing in the game, but generally not terribly hard

3. The PC Gamer interview mentioned marriage, which implies all sorts of cool things.  Is there any chance of hearing the patter of tiny feet and/or screams of tiny mouths?

Possible but not certain.  There will be young folk though

4. Are resources finite or infinite?

Ooh, good question.  Subject to balancing.

5. That procedural extruding feature sounds pretty awesome.  Will we able to save/load and/or export buildings?

Yes, and share them!

6. Which single feature excites you personally the most?

Storyline and AI - they're what I'm working on right now =)

7. How large are the playable areas?  Is it likely or very unlikely that it could be mostly developed/terraformed.

not sure yet, dependent again on hardware

8. What non-combat options (if any) will there be for interacting with native sentients?

Trade, some basic interactions, the game is not combat focused.  No more information now

9. I can has now plz?

What we have now is a really awesome tech layer with very, very rudimentary gameplay.  We're working as fast as we can!

10. What won't be moddable?

AI, probably terrain gen, combat and other systems.  Things that will be: Objects, factories and probably their processes, things like building facades.  Lots of things are possible.

11. Can we dig/mine/build hills?

Very unlikely that there will be digging in any significant way.

12. Can buildings have multiple storeys/basements?

We're playing with this right now, it is very dependent on user interface; this gets very complicated very quickly.

13. Say I was to divert a river for some reason.  Could this have a negative effect on local flora/fauna?

Actually possible given the engine, but it depends on a lot of other design decisions and how much time we have.  I love these sorts of things in games but the most visible stuff is the most important.

14. Will there be robots?

Probably not "robots" as traditionally defined, but there are some... ideas in the interal wiki, shall we say.

15. What sort of needs/desires will colonists have?

This is still being written, so i'm going to dodge this one.

16. Can I pickle (or otherwise experiment on) living/dead creatures?

Pickling live creatures is a very effective form of transportation!

17. HP or limb based damage?

Likely HP, far from a firm decision

18. Do individual colonists have their own currency or is it a case of DF style Communism?

Currently, communism.  It's a colony of the empire!

19. Are those pictures concept art or in engine?

Renders of our assets, not in-engine.  We are playing with a lot of shader options right now to nail a feel for the aesthetic.  I'm not on art or rendering so I don't have much more to say here.

20. What can you tell us about megaprojects?

To be discussed.  There are a lot of knife fights ongoing in the office about this.

[Aklyon]

For later, when you aren't getting big lists of questions Daniel:
Will it be possible to have a colony full of naked (except for supposed 'safety' gear and goggles, etc) scientists? They'd have more time for science if they weren't spending a good amount of time assembling their victorian garmentry and poofy dresses in the female scientists' case, if there are any of the latter.

[Kamin]

Oh fine, sure, just this once =P  A lot of this is totally unanswerable.  I'm only answering the ones that I feel we can at this point, and then i'm getting back to work!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. How many colonists are we able/expected to have at any one time?

not sure yet, largely set by hardware and network

2. How difficult will it be to obtain new colonists?

depends on your starting scenario, location, how well you're doing in the game, but generally not terribly hard

3. The PC Gamer interview mentioned marriage, which implies all sorts of cool things.  Is there any chance of hearing the patter of tiny feet and/or screams of tiny mouths?

Possible but not certain.  There will be young folk though

4. Are resources finite or infinite?

Ooh, good question.  Subject to balancing.

5. That procedural extruding feature sounds pretty awesome.  Will we able to save/load and/or export buildings?

Yes, and share them!

6. Which single feature excites you personally the most?

Storyline and AI - they're what I'm working on right now =)

7. How large are the playable areas?  Is it likely or very unlikely that it could be mostly developed/terraformed.

not sure yet, dependent again on hardware

8. What non-combat options (if any) will there be for interacting with native sentients?

Trade, some basic interactions, the game is not combat focused.  No more information now

9. I can has now plz?

What we have now is a really awesome tech layer with very, very rudimentary gameplay.  We're working as fast as we can!

10. What won't be moddable?

AI, probably terrain gen, combat and other systems.  Things that will be: Objects, factories and probably their processes, things like building facades.  Lots of things are possible.

11. Can we dig/mine/build hills?

Very unlikely that there will be digging in any significant way.

12. Can buildings have multiple storeys/basements?

We're playing with this right now, it is very dependent on user interface; this gets very complicated very quickly.

13. Say I was to divert a river for some reason.  Could this have a negative effect on local flora/fauna?

Actually possible given the engine, but it depends on a lot of other design decisions and how much time we have.  I love these sorts of things in games but the most visible stuff is the most important.

14. Will there be robots?

Probably not "robots" as traditionally defined, but there are some... ideas in the interal wiki, shall we say.

15. What sort of needs/desires will colonists have?

This is still being written, so i'm going to dodge this one.

16. Can I pickle (or otherwise experiment on) living/dead creatures?

Pickling live creatures is a very effective form of transportation!

17. HP or limb based damage?

Likely HP, far from a firm decision

18. Do individual colonists have their own currency or is it a case of DF style Communism?

Currently, communism.  It's a colony of the empire!

19. Are those pictures concept art or in engine?

Renders of our assets, not in-engine.  We are playing with a lot of shader options right now to nail a feel for the aesthetic.  I'm not on art or rendering so I don't have much more to say here.

20. What can you tell us about megaprojects?

To be discussed.  There are a lot of knife fights ongoing in the office about this.

Above and beyond the call... Thanks for the insight, Daniel 

[lordcooper]

Oh fine, sure, just this once =P  A lot of this is totally unanswerable.  I'm only answering the ones that I feel we can at this point, and then i'm getting back to work!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. How many colonists are we able/expected to have at any one time?

not sure yet, largely set by hardware and network

2. How difficult will it be to obtain new colonists?

depends on your starting scenario, location, how well you're doing in the game, but generally not terribly hard

3. The PC Gamer interview mentioned marriage, which implies all sorts of cool things.  Is there any chance of hearing the patter of tiny feet and/or screams of tiny mouths?

Possible but not certain.  There will be young folk though

4. Are resources finite or infinite?

Ooh, good question.  Subject to balancing.

5. That procedural extruding feature sounds pretty awesome.  Will we able to save/load and/or export buildings?

Yes, and share them!

6. Which single feature excites you personally the most?

Storyline and AI - they're what I'm working on right now =)

7. How large are the playable areas?  Is it likely or very unlikely that it could be mostly developed/terraformed.

not sure yet, dependent again on hardware

8. What non-combat options (if any) will there be for interacting with native sentients?

Trade, some basic interactions, the game is not combat focused.  No more information now

9. I can has now plz?

What we have now is a really awesome tech layer with very, very rudimentary gameplay.  We're working as fast as we can!

10. What won't be moddable?

AI, probably terrain gen, combat and other systems.  Things that will be: Objects, factories and probably their processes, things like building facades.  Lots of things are possible.

11. Can we dig/mine/build hills?

Very unlikely that there will be digging in any significant way.

12. Can buildings have multiple storeys/basements?

We're playing with this right now, it is very dependent on user interface; this gets very complicated very quickly.

13. Say I was to divert a river for some reason.  Could this have a negative effect on local flora/fauna?

Actually possible given the engine, but it depends on a lot of other design decisions and how much time we have.  I love these sorts of things in games but the most visible stuff is the most important.

14. Will there be robots?

Probably not "robots" as traditionally defined, but there are some... ideas in the interal wiki, shall we say.

15. What sort of needs/desires will colonists have?

This is still being written, so i'm going to dodge this one.

16. Can I pickle (or otherwise experiment on) living/dead creatures?

Pickling live creatures is a very effective form of transportation!

17. HP or limb based damage?

Likely HP, far from a firm decision

18. Do individual colonists have their own currency or is it a case of DF style Communism?

Currently, communism.  It's a colony of the empire!

19. Are those pictures concept art or in engine?

Renders of our assets, not in-engine.  We are playing with a lot of shader options right now to nail a feel for the aesthetic.  I'm not on art or rendering so I don't have much more to say here.

20. What can you tell us about megaprojects?

To be discussed.  There are a lot of knife fights ongoing in the office about this.

Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time for this

[Mephansteras]

To be discussed.  There are a lot of knife fights ongoing in the office about this.

I recommend a short sword and buckler for this sort of thing. Maneuverable enough in close quarters while giving you the advantage in both reach and defense.

[Viken]

Lol. Nice.  I personally think the Mega-Projects should be something of a mish-match of building parts that all do different things.  Say you need to place a large Electricity plant in the center of a complex of other buildings that are all enterconnected.  Each of them do different things, and the order and style that you set them up in end up acheiving different 'goals' for the project upon completion.    That way there doesn't need to be a large selection of tall/massive buildings that each do their own thing, and instead offers more freedom given the creativity that's already going into factories and the like in-game.   

[Orb]

Ooo! I have a few questions. Can you tell us more about combat?:

1. Will it strictly be HP combat, or will you add status effects? (Such as being on fire)

2. Will HP tend to be lower or higher. IE, will someone die to a few musket rounds or be able to take a barrage from a firing squad?

[Sensei]

I don't know whether you like to listen to dumb spur-of-the-moment suggestions on random forums, but consider this:

It would be cool if megaprojects, once completed, mostly served to make your game more difficult- Either because they keep consuming massive resources, curious townspeople have a habit of falling off the towers, they attract more raiders or maybe best of all, they increase the chance of random events/disasters/wrath of god.