Navigation
Interview by Burt Carver Interviewee: Brian Gladman, Product Manager for Emergency Fire Response in North America What is your title and what is your role on the game? I'm Brian Gladman, and I'm the DreamCatcher Product Manager for Emergency Fire Response in North America. My role has been to manage the localization of the game for North America, and to manage all the marketing. What genre would you place Emergency Fire Response (EFR) in? We're calling it a Tactical Strategy game, but there's also a pretty significant Simulation component there. The game was created with the assistance of a professional fire consultant, and much attention was paid to simulating actual fire propagation and firefighting techniques. We see EFR appealing to a wide audience. We think there's lots of people who admire firefighters and want to step into their boots for a couple hours, without really having to take the heat. The game should also appeal to strategy fans who are looking for something a little bit different; instead of commanding an army of orcs, they can take control of a team of crack firefighters. How long has the game been in development? The game has been in development a little over a year. Do you have individual control over the fire response members? Of course! Not only do you command the firefighters, but you have individual control over all the rescue vehicles as well! The game uses standard RTS conventions: left-click to select, right-click to action. The action can get a bit harried, so there's thumbnail portraits at the bottom of the screen that you can click on at any time to issue commands. Something else that's really handy is the Pause feature! What are the anticipated minimum system requirements for EFR? Minimum requirements are a 500 MHz Windows PC, with 128 MB of RAM. You'll also need a DirectX 8.1 compatible 32MB video card. Is the focus on realism (sim-like) or more arcade style action? The focus is definitely on realism. During the 34 missions, you'll experience things like surprise explosions, backdraft and flashover, all of which will occur depending on how you choose to fight the fire. For example, if you get into a room quickly enough, it won't flashover. If you vent a room before entering, you won't get a backdraft. But if you don't notice the telltale signs... watch out! What is the anticipated release date for the title? We will be shipping Emergency Fire Response on July 28, 2003.
|
| ||||||||||
