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It's middle of the summer vacations, so the pace has slowed down a bit. Well, looking at all the promos we're running and the recent releases you can't really say it's "silly season" at GOG.com, but you know what we mean. We decided to take a more in-depth look at the games we've released, especially the ones from Electronic Arts, and chat with some of the developers that made those classics.

Thanks to our own Silencer - Vagabond - we got in touch with Tony Zurovec, the lead designer of Crusader games, and asked him some questions about these awesome classics. As we love getting you involved in pretty much everything we do, we'd like you to ask your questions about Crusader: No Remorse to Tony. We'll pick 5 most interesting ones and forward them to him to get the answers, while the authors of those questions will receive a GOG.com game of their choice(this includes the awesome The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings!). Post your questions in the comments section until end of Sunday, July 24th.
Are the "Crusader" games in the same universe as the "Wing Commander" games? There are several references throughout the games!
Do you think the lesser technical complexity of games in the 90's, like the Crusader games, was a meaningful factor in allowing for more complete overview and control of a game's theme and feel by a single mind, such as the lead designer or creative director? In other words, was it easier to avoid design-by-committee back then?
What has got you inspired for this game? And if possibly known, what did this game inspire?
Hi Tony, before I ask my question(s) id just like to thank you and your team for the hours of enjoyment the crusader series gave me. To this day both titles are my favourite games of all time.

Q1
On the internet there is a screenshot kicking about depicting a multi player scene from the third instalment but never released Crusader No mercy (dam shame it wasn't released). Is this just a mock up screen ? or did the Origin team actually start development on the third game and did they have multi player working in a development environment ?

Q2
If you were to do a third game in the series would you stick to the isometric view but with an upgraded engine (e.g Diablo 3 has stuck to the original view with updated graphics) or go more main stream with a FPS or 3rd person approach? Please say Isometric :)

Q3
What is your favourite weapon/bomb/device in the series? spider mines rock!


Again thanks for an awesome game series, please, please consider doing a third instalment!
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davey_C: Q2
If you were to do a third game in the series would you stick to the isometric view but with an upgraded engine (e.g Diablo 3 has stuck to the original view with updated graphics) or go more main stream with a FPS or 3rd person approach? Please say Isometric :)
As much as I like the isometric view of games like Crusader or, for exampe, Syndicate Wars, I wouldn't mind playing them in first person. I think an FPS version could be great IF DONE RIGHT, which means without taking out any of the complexities of these games, especially the sandbox-style environments that made them feel much less linear and scripted than, say, CoD or MoH.

What do you think?
Post edited July 25, 2011 by Death-Incarnate
Thank you all for contributing. Now I need to go through 11 pages of questions and pick the best ones! :)

I'll let ya'll know who gets to pick their free games later on.
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davey_C: Q2
If you were to do a third game in the series would you stick to the isometric view but with an upgraded engine (e.g Diablo 3 has stuck to the original view with updated graphics) or go more main stream with a FPS or 3rd person approach? Please say Isometric :)
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Death-Incarnate: As much as I like the isometric view of games like Crusader or, for exampe, Syndicate Wars, I wouldn't mind playing them in first person. I think an FPS version could be great IF DONE RIGHT, which means without taking out any of the complexities of these games, especially the sandbox-style environments that made them feel much less linear and scripted than, say, CoD or MoH.

What do you think?
Hmmm if done extremely well then maybe but why change something thats not broken? e.g Blizzard has stuck to their guns with Diablo 3 which will no doubt be a success . I also think there are just far to many FPS out there.
I would be interested to know if Tony Zurovec expected this many questions to be posted here.

First-person Crusader would sacrifice a lot of the tactical gameplay. Better to have a floating camera that can look around while staying true to the original perspective.
Ok, then... what if you could switch camera like in Dungeon Keeper and Machines? :D

Also, when I imagine a first person Crusader, I think of something like Deus Ex or 007 Goldeneye... and that's because when I played those games they both reminded me of Crusader, especially in those missions where you're in some enemy facility and you have to shoot down cameras and avoid detection!

Anyway I agree that there are too many FPS's around. But I think there are not many good ones, and I would like to see more of those!
Post edited July 26, 2011 by Death-Incarnate
One problem with first-person Crusader is that the level of detail would have to skyrocket to meet modern expectations. You'd need hallways on the order of Metro 2033 or Portal 2. With everything destructible. You'd see cameras all the way at the other end of the hall. Would they see you? Would you need a way to scout beyond walls? How would those little electric eyes be able to hide amid all that detail yet remain detectable?

They could put a first-person view into a game designed for 3rd person, but I doubt it would live up to expectations unless they sank a ton of extra resources into it.
Ok, so I have finally chosen the 5 questions that has been submitted to Tony. The lucky authors of those questions are F4LL0UT, Tallima, heylonghair, Ghegs and Roman5! Thanks and congrats! Just PM me with the games you'd like to get and I'll take care of the rest.

Thank you all for contributing, I'm sure if Tony looks at this thread he'll be proud of you. And for all you who are curious what the questions were, here they are:

What's the actual relationship to the Wing Commander series (or maybe even other Origin games)? Crusader is using the same dating system as the WC games (and placing it before those, as far as I remember) and the WEC is being mentioned in the WC series as part of terran history. Did you just add some WC references as easter eggs to the Crusader games or did you actually think of them as part of the same universe?

We've all heard the stories about game development that modern developers talk about. The hard push toward the deadline, the sleepless nights and the piles of Mountain Dew. Was it the same for older games like Crusader: No Remorse? Got any good stories you remember from the final push?

What is your perception of the current state of computer games?

When was the last time you played through the games yourself? Do you still find them fun to play?

When I played the game, one of the things that I really liked about it (and games in general) is the music. During the development of Crusader: No Remorse how did you implement the music/sound effects around the environment and gameplay? Was the music inspired by anything and was there something that you wanted to Put in the game in terms of Sound but didn't make it in the end?

Let's hope Tony will answer all of them.
Post edited July 26, 2011 by Cook
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Cook: I'll let ya'll know who gets to pick their free games later on.
I've clearly contaminated your English with my made-up Southern words. I apologize. :P
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Cook: Ok, so I have finally chosen the 5 questions that has been submitted to Tony. The lucky authors of those questions are F4LL0UT, Tallima, heylonghair, Ghegs and Roman5!
These are all fine questions (congrats to the authors) but how could you miss this one?
Post edited July 26, 2011 by tburger
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Cook: Ok, so I have finally chosen the 5 questions that has been submitted to Tony. The lucky authors of those questions are F4LL0UT, Tallima, heylonghair, Ghegs and Roman5!
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tburger: These are all fine questions (congrats to the authors) but how could you miss this one?
Have to admit, that's a damn good question.
This thread got me browsing Zurovec's Superluminal blog, which led me to this:
http://www.superluminal.us/Blog.asp?uid=0&view=1&id=40

Answers a lot of the questions that didn't make GOG's cut.