From Star Trek Game Information
This interview with Doug Pearson of Activision took place on the 21st May 2001.
We catch up with Doug Pearson for an exclusive interview to put forward some new questions regarding what was shown and revealed on the Activision stand at E3 2001.
Armada Universe: We have seen the new LCARS interface so far in the screen shots. Will each race have its own new and unique interface like Armada I?
Doug Pearson: Yes, each race will have a different looking interface...However for consistency each of the locations for the interface will be the same. Meaning the lower right will be the cinematic window, lower left the mini-map, upper right the menu controls, upper left the resources, and center lower middle for the controls and ship information.
Armada Universe: It has been mentioned where you can research upgrades for weapons, shields etc... Are they researched in the same way that special weapons are researched in Armada I? Also, when you have researched an upgrade such as phasers, do all ships automatically get this upgrade?
Doug Pearson: Yes and No. All ships that have phasers would get the upgrade. You don't need to manually bring each ship in for individual upgrades.
Armada Universe: It was stated by someone on the Official Boards that the USS Incursion may make an appearance in Armada II... Any chance you can elaborate on this? :-)
Doug Pearson: Yes there will be an Incursion-class vessel in the single player campaign as part of one of our stealth missions. It should also make an appearance in the MP game as well. Also during the intro movie the ship where the briefing is occurring on is an Incursion-class vessel.
Armada Universe: In the E3 movies, we saw that each race has its own version of a Frigate, Colony Ship etc... Will each race have the same amount of ships as in Armada I or will they be varied but with different strengths and weaknesses to balance it out?
Doug Pearson: Each race will have ships that are more keyed to their races specific characteristics. The Federation will be more balanced in capabilities, Klingons more geared towards offensive capabilities vs. shields, and Romulans more towards stealth and cloaking. Each of the other races will take on the same basic structure. Some races will have more ships then others.
Armada Universe: It has been stated that planets play an important role in the game, will there be any sort of planetary defenses such as orbital weapons platforms?
Doug Pearson: Planets now have strategic importance in Armada II. You need to use them as a resource of metal and for getting crew as well. Some planets are better for colonization, while others are better for recovering resources (based on planet class). You can place mining platforms around all planet types, but you can't colonize all types. When you do colonize a planet you can put up a planetary shield and also orbiting weapons platforms. Those platforms will circle around the planet at a higher orbit then the mining platforms. If they see a target they will fire their reverse thrusters to stabilize their position. When the enemy unit is destroyed they will fire their thrusters again and continue to orbit the planet.
Armada Universe: It was revealed at E3 that warp has now been implemented in Armada II. Will it be possible for battles to take place whilst ships are in warp?
Doug Pearson: We are still working out the specifics for this, however I'll go through our plans right now for this. When at warp you'll travel through the map at an accelerated pace (currently about 4x max normal speed). You'll have a reduced vision cone so during warp you wont reveal as much of the map as you would while moving out of warp. No target not in warp will be able to engage you and you can't engage anything that warps past your location. However if you do pass by enemy AI that has warp capability, then those AI will go into warp to follow you. They can attack you while both vessels are in warp. Lastly you won't be able to warp near planets because their gravity well makes it so that you can only travel at impulse speed. Some ships and base structure will also be able to destabilize warp fields in a radius from themselves making warp travel impossible in their radius.
Armada Universe: We saw quite a few of the new Borg ships in the latest E3 movies - will the Borg ships be significantly more powerful than the other ships in the game so that they attack with fewer ships rather than a fleet of cubes in Armada II?
Doug Pearson: The plan is to make the Borg more threatening overall. They will also have 4 different cube types and several other new vessels which are geared towards taking down different systems on the enemy ships. Also assimilation and ship capturing will become more of tactic for the Borg with Armada II.
Armada Universe: Lastly, are there any things that you originally wanted to include in Armada I but couldn't that are being implemented in Armada II?
Doug Pearson: There are quite a few, but one of the key is our Tactical View, which couldn't be done in time for the previous game. Instead they had to make it into a Cinematic View to watch battles, but not play from this mode. We've expanded even on that by adding Formations, and 3D depth to the maps as well.
Armada Universe: Thanks for answering these questions, and best of luck on the game. :)
