Quarter to Three has posted an interesting new interview contrasting the seasoned Quicksilver team currently working on Master of Orion 3 with a first-time, independent PC game maker who released Starships Unlimited. The Q&A asks the same questions of both groups and is interesting to see how they both react. The MOO3 portion provides some insight into this '5X' title due out next year from MacSoft. Here's an excerpt with more:

How important are graphics in a 4X game?

Emrich: Pretty significant if you want to evoke what we’re after, which is a 5X game, that 5th X being “eXperience.” If we’re really going to pull you into the whole breadth and scope of this epic, the graphics cannot let us down. Graphics are the road a player travels on his way toward a suspension of disbelief.

Hoseley: It depends on whether or not we want the 4X (or 5X, to use Alan’s parlance) genre to grow and be seen as a viable option by publishers. My two cents on it is that one of the major reasons that the 4X genre doesn’t attract more gamers is the art doesn’t allow for you to lose yourself in the game. The tables, information, and stats can allow for the grognard to get lost in his own head, but immersion in the ‘world’ of the game itself is pretty difficult at best. There are more intuitive ways to present this kind of game. There are more visually pleasing ways to do it, and our goal is to really have the players lose themselves in the world of MOO. We want the players to lose track of time playing it. Graphics and an intuitive interface go a long way in helping to facilitate that.

Master of Orion 3 Web Site

Quicksilver Interview at Quarter To Three

MacSoft (add to watch list)

Quicksilver Software (add to watch list)

Master of Orion III (add to watch list)

Buy Master of Orion III

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