Andrzej "Klecha" Klimczuk (Gry.o2.pl): Please start off by introducing yourself and giving us a brief overview of The Precursors?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): My name is Dmitriy "Kertis" Lisenko, I am a PR-manager of the Deep Shadows company. The Precursors is a mix of freeplay RPG, FPS and space sim. The action takes place in the far future. Humanity has begun to master outer space. Humans met Aliens, but the main problems are not connected with them. The most dangerous enemy of a man is still a man. There are two powerful antagonists in the Galaxy - the Empire and the Democratic Union. Nevertheless, there is no war yet, at least it was not officially declared. There are no planetary bombings or serious space battles. The war is limited to border conflicts and random encounters in space. In fact, nothing really changed except for technologies.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What can you tell us about the storyline of this game?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): The game begins when the main character, a young pilot of the Amarn race, returns to his home planet of Goldin after having graduated from the pilot school to take some practice. He isn't aware yet of a series of mysterious and sinister events which soon will become an object of his investigation. I cannot talk about all twists and turns of the plot. I can only say that it is a freeplay game, so it's up to you how and when to proceed with the storyline. In the course of your traveling you'll visit about ten inhabited planets, make some good fighting on surface and in space, trade, complete tasks of different factions and so on. The only thing you won't have to deal with is boredom.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How big will be the world of The Precursors for the players in the game and what sorts of locations and settings they will be able to explore?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): The game world is vast - ten different planets, about fifty square kilometers to explore on each. There are also numerous space stations, and, of course, open space.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How is the development team balancing the first-person shooter, role-playing and space combat aspects of the game?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): RPG is the main component of the game. Trading, completing quests, leveling up and diplomacy make its basis. Surface and space combats are essential parts of the gameplay. It's up to you to decide which of these parts suits your style of playing. We are trying to do everything to make them both diverse and interesting.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Can we control squad of soldiers?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): You can directly control only the main character. In space you take control of his ship. Naturally, in some of the missions you'll have to cooperate with other characters or spacecrafts, but generally you act alone.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How are quests handled in the game and what kinds of quests can we expect to see?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): There are more than sixteen types of quests in the game. We did our best to make them interesting and varied; we think it is crucial for supporting gamers' interest. You'll have to fight, escort or attack other spaceships, complete stealth missions, steal secret documents and gather compromising information. There are quests designed to be completed using stealth mode or talking skills. I'm sure you won't be irritated by the monotony of the tasks. Still, there are more than 250 quests in the game, and to make all of them unique is impossible. Therefore you may come across some similar tasks.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How will combat be handled in The Precursors and what sorts of weapons and items might be used?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): There are surface and space fights. The surface combat is in fact a standard FPS with lots of destructible objects. You can drive various vehicles, some of them can be used in combat. There are fifteen something weapon types in the game, which comprise standard firearms and some unique stuff - some of weapons are alive. They are animals whose defensive functions are used by a human to his own purposes. But you should remember that any animal has to eat! Of course, some weapons can be upgraded, and these upgrades will affect the weapon's outlook. Also there are med kits, armor and lots of other useful items.

Space combat is... a combat in space:) If you are fond of space sims, you can imagine what it is like. It is dynamic, beautiful and interesting. The main character owns a ship, which can be upgraded in the course of the game. Moreover, the character has a series of perks connected with space travels and combat.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Can you discuss some of the combat vehicles that exist in the game?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): Oh, there are dozens of vehicles in the game, from heavy walking mechs to various flying devices. Unfortunately, not all types of vehicles have been properly tested yet, so I won't say much about specific modes of transportation. I can only say that you'll find it difficult to live without using vehicles. Having landed on a new planet, you should first of all find a transport - buy or hijack, it depends on you. To walk on foot through vast open territories is not much fun.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What kinds of enemies will be in the game and what will their abilities be?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): The main enemies in the game are humans, Aliens and, of course, spaceships. You'll have to encounter numerous enemies - from ordinary raiders to elite troops. Of course, they act very differently.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What other unique gameplay elements are you putting into The Precursors?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): There is an advanced economic system in the game. You can earn money by trading, transferring different goods from one planet to another. In space you may destroy asteroids and gather rare minerals or just plunder other spaceships. You'll always find a way to use some spare money.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What can you tell us about game engine?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): The game is being created using next-gen Vital Engine 3. It supports shader model 3.0 and all modern post-effects such as motion-blur, HDR, etc. In addition, we introduced rag-doll and many destructible objects into the game and greatly improved transport physics. Our engine is able to create a vast seamless world, which helps to make a game more atmospheric. An advantage of the engine is also a handy toolset, which significantly speeds up the process of development.


Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Let's talk about the sound and music portion of The Precursors. What were the goals for those areas of the game?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): I can only say that the process of making a soundtrack is just in progress. It is being written by professionals, and we hope, they'll cope with their task. Good music and SFX are very important. We are planning to present one of the tracks on the official site in the nearest future, so wait for the news on Deep-Shadows.com.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What are the system requirements likely to be?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): The minimal system requirements are: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 1GB RAM, GeForce 6600GS 128MB; Recommended: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4G (E6600), 1GB RAM, GeForce 7600GS.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Are there plans for a multiplayer mode to be put into The Precursors?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): Unfortunately, we still cannot say anything specific about multiplayer, for the main task now is to create an outstanding single mode. But if we have some spare time, why not? We like to play a good multiplayer shooter during lunch hour or after work, too.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Any plans for a free demo to be released before the full version is completed?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): We are planning to release a demo before the full version. But they are still plans, it is a publisher who makes such decisions.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Currently what is the status of the game's progress and when will it be released?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): We are planning to release The Precursors by the end of the year and currently have reached the final phase of development. The testing process is already in progress. We have no intentions to release a raw product full of bugs.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Why did you select the PC and Xbox 360 as the preferred platforms for the game?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): PC goes without saying. For local developers, it has been the principal platform for years. We also liked the toolset for Xbox 360, it is easy to work with and we guess, it won't cause any troubles. To tell the truth, we were expecting more difficulties with it.

Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Finally is there anything else you wish to say about The Precursors before we finish this interview?

Dmitriy Lisenko (Deep Shadows): I'd like to give an overview of the RPG system. The one of the The Precursors is based on perks, i.e. with each level up you can get a new perk or improve an old one. There are common perks and two types of battle ones - for space and surface combats. The number of perks is significant, so everybody gets a possibility to create a unique character ready for definite tasks. There are multiple ways to play through the game. I hope, RPG fans will enjoy our system.

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Also check out video trailer (20,6 MB) of The Precursors.