Interview on Eurogamer.de

[Snowcrash]

Kirk was asked to answer several questions in an exclusive phone interview with Eurogamer.de and so he took the time and talked with them.

Read the full interview on Eurogamer.de

P.S. I've already talked to Pilot Renfield and he will try to get an english translation up as quick as possible.

[RabbiFang]

When asked about future projects:

"One of them could certainly be a new MMO based on our classic Neocron. We'll see"

Extremely interesting

Anyway, good interview. More of a background given on the company itself, which is good to see. I look forward to seeing this game in action more and more by the day.

Thanks!

[Renfield]

Hey,

Ive made a quick translation of the interview. I hope everything makes sense. Have fun reading:

Originally Posted by eurogamer.de

Before we get started, how is Neocron?

Neocron 1 has been canceled some time ago. Neocron 2 is still online and is becoming more and more popular and often old player come back to play a bit Neocron. For many player Neocron is the 'first love'. We see this the same way. Out heart is still in Neocron.

Sometimes we come across negative comments in the web, amongst other things that we have “patched Neocron down”. This might be right or wrong, but it shows us that Neocron is well known. Against the speculation that the project was a flop, it has brought in its budget 4 times. Of course there were mistakes in the development, but it was a new area for us at this time.


How did you survive the insolvency of 10tacle?

Today I can say that we survived the debacle with 10Tacle very good. But it was a hard test for the management and the team, because I had to file Reakktor for insolvency, too. Unfortunately we are the only studio that survived the fall of 10Tacle under the same name and with the same employees. The strong will of the team, to keep the company, and the quality of Black Prophecy have made it possible in the end to save Reakktor and show new perspectives for the company.


How long is Black Prophecy in development and how big is your team?

The development of Black Prophecy has started in the mid of 2006. Today 39 employees are busy with the project. We also have put external companies in trust with remittance works (Graphics & Sound). In addition we have external employees in the area of Community and Game-Support.


Who is the targeted audience of Black Prophecy?

Black Prophecy will target Casual Games as well as Hardcore Gamers. We generally want to make the game as intuitive and uncomplicated as possible. Furthermore players won't be forced to spend tons of time for reaching goals in the character development.

The first person realtime combat will clearly separate Black Prophecy from other games. It will offer the same intense and fast FPS-Feeling, like Neocron did. Compare us with Wing commander, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter, this would be a target of us.


There is a discussion about Abo vs Micropayment. Which business model are you planing and which markets are you targeting?

We have evaluated several business models and are able to react flexibly on the wishes of our publisher, but also on the wishes of our player. Besides the classical “monthly sub”-models it would be imaginable to release Black Prophecy for example as a Free2Play game with micro transactions. From my point of view a combination of both models would be the best. In the end it will be the decision of the publisher.

Which market we are targeting? Preferable would be a worldwide release, but because we are a German developer we see the European and north American market as our primary target. In the end it depends on our publisher to release the title on other markets. There are different rules in different markets, especially in Asia.


Has Black Prophecy a Level- or Skill based system?

Partly both. The player receives experience points for actions in the game (missions, killing of NPC, etc.) and ascents within experience levels like in a classic RPG. At each level he receives a number of skillpoints which can be spent. These skillpoints do not increase performance of the player but give you access to better versions of items (ship parts, weapons, etc.).


How important ins trade in your universe?

Because Black Prophecy is designed with the focus on action and less simulation, trade won't play a big role like it is in EVE online.

At release we will only have the basic trade options (Player to Player, Player to NPC trade). We plan to increase this with one of the coming game updates or addons. The needed requirements are already present today.


How will the early-, middle-, and endgame look like? How long will it take to reach the endgame?

Because many areas, especially the content-creation, are still “work in progress”, we can't reveal anything yet.

But as I mentioned before, the players won't have to invest tons of time to reach something within the game. Furthermore we will lay our focus on making the endgame as attractive as possible.


How present will the story be in Black Prophecy and will it play an actual, active role?

The story will always accompany the player. We have epic missions that will introduce the player into the story and continue to include him into the conflicts of the factions. Furthermore the story will also be present in the regular missions.

It is planed to continue the story consistently and offer new content with game updates. With Michael Marrak we found the creative author who will supply us again and again with new content.


How do you think about MMOs on consoles. Is this a medium-term subject for you?

It was a subject for us, but in the early development stage our former publisher 10Tacle decided to cancel a port due time and financial reasons. Porting the game today would be very unrealistic, because we would have had made appropriate preparations in the early stage.


How will Reakktor continue? What will be after the release? Are there any new and secret projects?

At this moment the team is completely focused on the development of Black Prophecy. We cant tell you a release date, because this has to be done in close cooperation with our future publisher. After the release the development of Black Prophecy will continue. This is the nature of an MMO. The work will continue with addons and patches.

Of course we are evaluating future projects and are looking out for possible partners to realize them. One of them could be a new MMO based on our classic Neocron. We will see.


Where do you see the MMO market in the next years?

This is hard to tell because of the present economic situation. On one hand, the entertainment industry has its peaks in times of crisis, but on the other hand is there a big risk with MMOGs. Publishers and investors have to invest a lot.

MMOs do not have the risk of illegal copies and because of the success of WoW I think the marked has big chances to grow. In the end the publisher must be convinced with attractive concepts, so that he is willing to offer the big investments for development, launch and other services.

[Ulli]

Good read, and thanks for the translation Renfield.

I would say that I'm concerned that they're considering a P2P with micropayments. At least that's how I read it.

[Stevil]

Originally Posted by Gunslinger

When asked about future projects:

"One of them could certainly be a new MMO based on our classic Neocron. We'll see"

Extremely interesting

Anyway, good interview. More of a background given on the company itself, which is good to see. I look forward to seeing this game in action more and more by the day.

Thanks!

More than extremely interesting!

I have to say that Neocron will always have a special place in my heart. I've said before that it was more than a game and in fact the community was greater than the sum of it's parts as well. I've played games since I was about 7 and I'm 30 now and the fondest memories I have playing online was when Neocron was in it's pomp. I met great friends and mortal enemies and although I was a below average player the game still filled me with adrenaline. It brings a tear to my eye just recalling it. Games are rarely special and Neocron was special indeed. Even my wife would come back and play tomorrow if it was the same game!

I hope Black Prophecy is a success. I'm back on board and looking forward to the next KK title for sure and even hooked back up with some old NC mates. But a new Neocron? One that can compete in today's market with updated engine and graphics? Rebuilt from the ground up? That's beyond mine and many others wildest dreams!

Every other new MMOFPS in development has a Neocron Refugee thread on their forums. Just goes to show that Neocrack(TM) is still alive and present today!

[Doc Holliday]

wow. sorry this threads gonna go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off the topic of bp if its not careful but wow.

a proper new game of the 'cron. based on it what ever. it will be a new neocron. if it captures the essence of the game correctly and brings in plenty of players like it did once in its glory days then you are on to an absolute winner. polish a game like that with nc1 mechanics at its core to make it look as shiny as BP does now and i think the sky really could be the limit.

ps. renfield thank you very much for the translation as you have made me and im sure several other readers really happy at reading this.

[warstory]

I have to admit I have some concerns, the mircopaying for this game is very unattractive to me as a westerner and the fact that they are already talking about future projects before the game has went into beta kinda shows to me that there is not much loyalty for this game and updates maybe few.

[Ulli]

Originally Posted by warstory

the fact that they are already talking about future projects before the game has went into beta kinda shows to me that there is not much loyalty for this game and updates maybe few.

I'm sure the thoughts on Neocron were at or before BP was put into production. Personally, I'd prefer a company that is thinking ahead.

[Stevil]

Originally Posted by Ulli

I'm sure the thoughts on Neocron were at or before BP was put into production. Personally, I'd prefer a company that is thinking ahead.

Yeah Ulli's right. If we want BP to remain sustained and competitive they have to think about developing more games in the future to bring in much needed extra revenue.

It makes sense financially to have a cross over of developers, customer services and technical support.

[Wyatt Earp]

this thread makes me wanna touch myself.