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Many days have passed since we have heard anything out of the Novalogic camp. Speculation as to the next move of the long time military sim giant is rampant. Fans have been found searching new copyrights and domain names to find some insight as to what is on the horizon for Nova. Action-inside decided to simply just ask.
Today we meet Jordan Blackman, he is the current Producer for bhd console and looks like also PC production. Lets dig in and find out what Nova has to say about the questions we sent.
Action-Inside: Many of us know names such as Joel, Marcus, Gieorgina, Chad and others that worked for nova at about the time of the bhd release. What’s the scenery like around calabasis these days, Is there much work getting done, and who can we look forward to be building the next NovaLogic experience?
Jordan Blackman: It’s HOT here in Calabasas. It hit 100 today. There is a lot of work being done here in our cool office. I’m not really in a position to introduce our team right now, but it is a combination of many long-time employees and significant fresh blood.
AI: Since your console release last year, how has NovaLogic's approach to game development changed. How do you consider console gaming, more important than PC?
JB- We want to leverage our strengths as a company, and at the same time bring in a new generation of gamers. Consoles are an exciting opportunity, but we still value the PC as an important platform for us.
AI: Will NILE get newer versions and bug fixes? Or will NovaLogic switch back to the MapEditor a’la DF series in it’s future games.
JB- NILE is currently under development. We’re making it significantly more powerful, easier to use and more integrated with the game-engine.
AI: If NovaLogic is developing a new game, will they use the old engine (BHD/C4) or use a totally new engine?
JB- It’s a misconception if people think that JO used the BHD or C4 engine. JO uses is a significantly more capable engine. On the other hand, nobody ever throws out all their code when they start work on a new engine. Unreal 3 has code from the original Unreal in it. We’re working on tons of new engine technology, and intend to be competitive with anything on the market in terms of our engine’s capabilities.
AI: Joint operations pushed PC requirements when it was released how will the new game compare to JO min specs - will we need to upgrade drastically?
JB- The min specs on our upcoming in-house project have not been set, so I’m not sure to what degree people with the JO min spec will need to upgrade, but I can assure you that the min spec will be higher than it was for JO. It’s just the nature of having a more advanced engine and game. Of course the market changes too; more people have better machines with better video cards.
AI: Many great games have been released in the last year since Joint Operations debut. How will the next PC experience compete with the FPS gaming scene ? Anything you can divulge to us in terms of reaching the bar set by those releases.
JB- For now, all I can say is that we are seeking to make the most exciting single player and multiplayer experiences in the world.
AI: Many young fans are very interested in gaming jobs, what kind of openings are open for enterprising modders and mappers in the community.
What kind of requirements does NovaLogic focus on when hiring new meat.
JB- We like people who are dedicated, educated, and tenacious. It really helps to have strong communication skills whatever position you are applying for. An artist or mission designer, no matter how talented, will be limited if they can’t speak, listen, and write well.
AI: Regarding game mods, what is NovaLogics view of people creating mods to a game and what do they consider before approving a mod? Will more emphasis be placed to allow game mods to be included in Nova's Lobby
JB- We like to support modders. It’s fun to see what people come up with and are able to get a game to do. Generally, when we look at a mod, we make sure that there is no malicious intent with the mod, that the mod does not interfere with normal operation of the original game, that the mod operates correctly with the NovaWorld system, and that the mod does not contain non-NovaLogic copyrighted or trademarked materials. On the subjective side, we want to ensure that the mod is “good.” Supporting mods on NovaWorld is something we continue to think about as our development efforts continue.
AI: The # of players seem to reduce due to abilities to hack or cheat in a game. Is Nova working on any new ways to reduce this for future games?
NovaLogic has always worked hard to prevent cheating, and we will continue to do so.
AI: A day in the life of - JBlackman game producer would be?
One of the things I like about my job is that what I do changes a lot over the development cycle. For example, in preproduction I may be in a lot of meetings and writing a lot. In production I’m tracking progress and working closely with the team on tough decisions. The variety is great, but some things don’t change: I spend a lot of time reading and writing emails: to hardware folks, software folks, platform holders, outsourcing people, marketing or sales people, etc… I also spend a lot of time speaking with members of the development team about current issues. Conflict resolution and proactive problem solving are key. When something comes up that isn’t easy to resolve, I make or facilitate (usually the latter) a decision to move the project forward on schedule.
Thank you for your time and patience.
