Not too long ago we posted our preview of Chaser, a first person shooter in the works for the PC. Now we've had a chance to interview the folks at Cauldron about their action-heavy shooter and get some more details on the title. We'd like to thank David Durcak for taking time to talk with us about the game. Now on with the show...

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Chaser Q&A

March 5, 2002

Armchair Empire (AE): The story in Chaser involves a secret agent losing his memory and having to figure out why people are out to kill him now. How will the story be presented to differentiate itself from similar sci-fi stories?

David Durcak (DD) :The story is revealed to players as a mix of events that the player has recently experienced and flashbacks of his past. In the beginning players will not be able to say what some of the flashbacks mean but gradually after gaining new information they will make sense to him. It is like putting many fragments together, which at the end give the player a true picture about himself – who he really is.

AE: How will the gameplay work? Will it be straight ahead action with players going in guns blazing, or will stealth elements also be necessary?

DD: Most parts of the game will be really action-oriented and there are only a few stealth missions. But in action situations player cannot move in any area without forethought unless he wants to die very fast.

AE: What can you tell us about the enemy AI, do the bad guys have any tricks up their sleeves?

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DD: The system for path-finding in Chaser is pretty clever so enemies can use everything that the player can (so they can use e.g. ladders to move behind you and attack you), they can hide behind obstacles and they will be able to coordinate attacks (that’s part of the AI which is currently under development). So I can say that the AI will have a couple of tricks, making players’ advancement through the levels more challenging.

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AE: How many different weapons are planned for the game? Can you describe any of them?

DD: There are almost 20 weapons and almost all of them are derived from real weapons. We will gradually release a description of the weapons in Chaser together with their pictures. Generally we have weapons of all kind – from pistols, through automatic rifles and submachine guns, up to sniper rifles and grenade launchers.

AE: How big will the environments be? What sort of locales will players be exploring?

DD: It is hard to explain the size of the environments without showing them but they are pretty big. There are technical levels like spaceship interiors, then suburbs of the city, harbor, Siberia, little bit futuristic environments on Mars and many more.

AE: What type of multiplayer modes are going to be included, and how many people will be able to play together in a session?

DD: We will have classical modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF and some new modes. Among new the modes belongs e.g. Shock Troops mode, which is similar to Counter-Strike. Generally the number of people is limited by bandwidth. We are optimizing network code as much as possible to allow for multiplayer games with many people.

AE: Will a map editor eventually be released for the game?

DD: We definitely plan to release an editor. If we don’t release it with the game then it will be available to the public very soon after the release.

AE: Are you considering any of the next generation consoles for a possible port of Chaser?

DD: Yes, we are considering this.

AE: For those of us who don’t have a firm grasp of the techno-jargon, can you explain the main features of the CloakNT engine in layman’s terms?

DD: CloakNT engine has a high level of quality of graphics and details. It can use curves for smoother surfaces, it can use advance materials so e.g. metal can be shiny, opaque or it can mirror its surroundings, water is waving on impact and it distorts things in it as in real life. Characters can have facial expressions so they can smile, frown or cry. Particle system takes care of explosions and effects like smoke and steam. CloakNT can also display outdoor sceneries. The better overview of CloakNT features you can see in our technology video, which we released last year. There you can see almost everything the engine is able to do.

AE: Any final comments that you would like to impart to our readers about Chaser?

DD: Our goal is to make a game that is on the one side really fun (either playing it in single-player or multiplayer) and on the other side graphically rich. So players will have a better feeling that they are holding real weapons and they are fighting real fights. I think that e.g. Shock Troops multiplayer mode with our realistic weapons would make gameplay much more attractive.

Thanks again David!

For more info on this game, be sure to swing by our preview and Chaser's official site.


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