Member of the
Amiga Web Network
I would like to thank the many Amiga users who have responded to Aurora Works
through email and our survey. There have been many great ideas and
questions submitted to us. We have tried to respond directly to as many of
the comments as possible, but there are some common questions and
issues that I would like to address.
As a new software company, it is important that we reach as many Amiga users as
possible for both their input and their support. We are getting both, and it
makes our job that much easier.
I will endeavor to answer all your questions and give you a bit of insight on how Aurora Works is working to bring games to the Amiga market. Our intention is to publish our software ourselves. However, our goal is to create games, and if we find that the actual publishing is taking too many resources and is hampering our game development, then we will seek another party to publish and market our releases. To answer the question on what other games we have planned, I can say that we have a long list of possibilities. As our resources grow and we bring together more Amiga artists, beta-testers, and programmers, we will be able to achieve greater results. Currently, our goal of having Zone 99 ready for commercial release in March 1997 is in jeopardy. Missing planned release dates seems to be plaguing the Amiga market lately, but it is understandable. Resources for developers are hard to come by, especially here in North America. A critical software package that we ordered in early September took three months to get to us, and we are still waiting for another package on order. The reason for the delay was actually quite interesting even though it was frustrating at times -- they had too many Amiga orders and they were not prepared for the response! That is great news for the Amiga market, but it has put us behind schedule for the commercial release. The demos and shareware release should be available on time as they do not need as extensive play-testing, and much of the data has already been created.
Zone 99 is just a small first step, however, and we have a lot of great ideas to implement. For instance, we would love to add TCP/IP support so that Zone 99 can be played over the internet. We are still looking at that option, and we hope to add the function for registered customers later in 97. We would also like to eventually create a 3D version of Zone 99, but we are trying to be realistic and remain focused on what we know we can achieve with the project schedule that we have. I know that there is a demand for such a game, and it is an idea that we may revisit once our main project, Betrayed, is complete. I would like to reiterate that many of these ideas are possibilities -- we do not want to promise more than we can deliver. We can and will deliver Zone 99 and Betrayed in 1997. Two full projects in one year is our limit right now -- the extra features will only be implemented if we get ahead of schedule.
So far, much of the focus has been on Zone 99, but we have another major project, Betrayed. Zone 99 will be a full game in its own right, but our original game idea and project is Betrayed. For the past six months, a lot of work has gone into building the game design, story, and framework for Betrayed. If you can imagine a mix between Flashback and the Ultima series, you can understand what we are trying to create. The game has seven sections or chapters each with anywhere from one to four physical levels. Our scrolling display is 416x416 (on a 640x480 screen) and on some levels, there are 19 screens across and 19 screens down. One section or chapter can have three or four such levels so you can begin to see just how much data there is to create. Betrayed will only be released on cdrom. Adventure games are the most interesting and possibly the most difficult type of game to create. We definitely want to give the Amiga community a present for the Christmas season in 1997.
As far as future projects are concerned, there is only one confirmed project that we will be creating after Zone 99 and Betrayed. If anyone has played Master of Orion on the PC or VGA Planets, they know the game that we are aiming for and you can expect some sort of multiplayer option. If we had the resources, we would bring this game out much sooner than is scheduled (1998). If the Amiga market responds well to our games, we plan on using the funds generated to accelerate our game developments. Beyond the galactic conquest game, there are no set plans for the next project.
On a final note, I would like to answer the question of how we are going to deal with lower-end machines and older graphic chipsets. I repeat that our focus is on the higher-end machines and the future Amigas with a special focus on whatever retargetable graphics standard exists which is currently Cybergraphx. ECS is not a focus, but it will not be ignored if it fits with a game design -- for example, our planned galactic strategy game.
I hope that you have a better
understanding of Aurora Works' approach to gaming on the Amiga. If there
are any other concerns, questions, or suggestions, do not hesitate to email us at
info@auroraworks.com. I would
also like to invite those of you who have not filled out our survey to do
so. Your input is appreciated.
-- James Ceraldi, 24 Nov 1996
"Amiga Made" graphic �1996 Eoghann Irving
Contact webmaster@auroraworks.com
Last modified: 24 Nov 96