Interview with James Fielding from S2 Games

An exclusive interview with Savage 2 developers, S2 Games!

Linux Gaming World: Savage 2 makes a good deal of effort to have players give "karma scores" and commander ratings. What are your plans for these rankings?

James Fielding, Savage 2 Product Manager, S2 Games: Savage 2 contains a level of player involvement that cannot be measured in normal statistics. Team work and communication are extremely important in the game, and there's no way to really measure either category via performance based stats. For that reason, we added the ability for players to rate their commanders and to give players "karma points" at the end of the match. Commander ratings are factored in to the commander ladder and are likely to not really change any time soon. Karma points were designed to be a measure of general productivity of a player. If a particular player stands out as doing a good job, communicating well or being a fun sport to play with, he generally receives positive karma votes from his team. If a player is negative and disrupts the team, or is a nuisance to play with, he generally receives negative karma votes.

In order to prevent abuse, karma has no impact on game play whatsoever and each player can only vote for one player per match (voting takes place at the end of the game). We have some plans to possibly award players with positive karma, such as providing "scratch off" tickets. Scratch off tickets are tickets used to claim "persistent items" which can be used in game and do not get deleted at the end of the match. If someone gets enough negative karma followed up by player complaints, S2 staff may look into replays containing the offending player and deal with the situation as necessary.

LGW: Savage 2 requires a good deal of team coordination, something in which player-organized "clans" excel. Looking forward, will "clans" hold a special role in the your game community ?

S2: Throughout Savage 2's development, we knew that it would really shine in a coordinated team based setting. For that reason, we created a fully functioning clan system at http://savage2clans.com. Using our clan system, clans can schedule matches, recruit players, build their own website and more. As of our latest Free Content Patch, match scheduling allows clans to reserve a server in game for use in their clan match. No longer do clans have to provide their own servers and use external chat programs to schedule competitive games. Clan support in public matches is present too, as clan icons are displayed in game so players can proudly show off which clan they represent. In future updates we plan to integrate features such as in game clan chat and in game clan recruiting.

LGW: Your Linux support is really appreciated here, obviously, but S2 has really gone one step further than most developers by supporting 64-bit Linux architectures. Discounting the one proof-of-concept Unreal Tournament version, Savage 2 is the first commercial FPS-type game with native 64-bit Linux support. Am I incorrect about this? So, would you explain what factored into that decision ?

S2: I'm not sure if we are the first commercial title with native 64 bit Linux support or not, but I can say that one factor that had a large impact on our decision was the nature of Linux users themselves. Linux is a platform simply crying out for more titles, and as such a lot of the Linux gamers end up being active and outspoken members of the community, which we value. Ultimately it comes down to S2 Games being Linux fans and wanting to support it.

LGW: There is certainly a wide range of weaponry, not only in image styles, but also in gameplay styles, too. What allowed your team to develop these creative weapons and unique weapon techniques, when so many other game titles struggle for weapon balance?

S2: Unique, fun, and interesting weapons were really a no-brainer for us. Savage 2 focuses highly on melee combat, so the melee really needed to feel good. We balanced the game in concept, with the design of our units, then from there we just gave the units cool looking and fun to use weapons that matched the unit's design.

LGW: On a slightly different weapon topic, how was the unique Attack, Block, Interrupt melee attack developed? How much focus do you want this tri-attack combo to take, over different character skills, such as the Savage's double attack?

S2: We felt that in order to make a good, solid melee system we needed to provide a viable counter to each of the melee moves, and thus the rock-paper-scissors model was born. For those not familiar with the Savage 2 melee system, quick attack is your main method of doing damage, which can be countered by a block move, which can be countered by the interrupt move. While the core concept of this system has never changed, throughout development we've made tons of tweaks/adjustments and overhauls to the balance of the system to make it fun and fair. The core of savage 2 melee combat is really this rock-paper-scissors system. Skills like double attack or venomous strike serve to compliment the system and add some strategy to the combat, but are not the main methods of doing damage.

LGW: For an indie developer, you have taken on an astonishingly large software scope, in comparison to the other offerings out there. New game designers are always making the claim they are planning a MMOFPSRPG title, but, of course, few do. Why do you think S2 succeeded?

S2: As the gaming industry grows, the resources required of a gaming studio to produce a competitive title increase tremendously. I think a lot of indie developers get tired of rehashes of existing titles, and set out to make something new. In doing so, they set their expectations a bit too high, try to add a ton of cool features and mechanics, then simply cannot produce a game of their target scope while maintaining good quality. The key is to keep your eye on the ball and go for the finished result.

During Savage 2 development, there were a lot of ideas that were brought up that would have certainly been very cool and unique, but ultimately would leave less time to focus on the finished and polished product. Ultimately our success is possible through our CEO and Lead Designer Marc DeForest. He provides all of S2's funding, and being a passionate gamer himself he made sure we had the time to make a complete and finished product.

LGW: Savage 2 fans enjoyed a very lengthy open beta, and your recent Free Content Pack included two maps that were both created by your fans. Linux community also has a well respected group of contributors. Comment on these strong communities?

S2; I like to think that S2 Games puts its best foot forward on the community front. Savage 2 would not be where it's at if it weren't for the involvement of our community during the beta. We are very receptive to suggestions - and while we certainly can't accommodate all of them, occasionally someone would have a really good suggestion that would lead to us changing how something worked or adding a certain feature. After Savage 1, we noticed a big impact that Linux users had on the modding community and general community activity. The merging of the windows and Linux culture hasn't really been a concern for us. If anything, the addition of Linux users has helped the community, as it seems like most of our Linux users have been pretty friendly and helpful to others in the community.

LGW: Thank you very much for your time today.

S2: Thank you for the opportunity.