Under the Overlord’s ruthless control, Harbinger’s shadow has fallen across countless worlds. Ravaged by endless conflict, the lumbering war machine carries her scars like trophies. Where lesser ships have fallen, Harbinger stands: a monument to her master’s destructive appetites.

But within her cold walls the old alliances are fracturing. Today, the Overlord’s dominance is threatened from all corners. The corruptive Vantir, first and oldest aboard Harbinger, continue to spread like a rampant infection throughout the ship. The tribal Scintilla, placated for decades with false promises and half-truths, are once again rising to take the blood oaths of their ancestors. But it’s the newcomers that pose the greatest threat here. The bug-like Cimicidae have arrived and with them a wave of change that threatens to rip this ship apart.

That is where you come in. A member of a small raider community, these corridors are the only home you’ve known. You’ve been living on scraps with enemies on all sides. Death is always a misstep behind. Sometimes you do the Overlord’s dirty work. Sometimes you do your own. We live by unspoken laws down here and the bloodhungry are never far behind. This is your destiny. The choices you make now will affect everything from here on. Choose wisely.

Features:

• 3 unique character classes with specific skills and items
• Dynamic NPC's to interact with
• Thousands of items to find and trade
• Unmatched artistic detail
• Event-driven storyline

GCM:

Thanks for your time. Please introduce yourself and tell us about Silverback Entertainment.

Jared:

I’m Jared Binder, one of the artists here at Silverback. Basically, Silverback Entertainment is a group of guys devoted to making the kinds of games we’ve always wanted to play. We started four years ago with a core group of 5 guys (2 programmers, 3 artists) and have grown to a team of 10 people (5 programmers, 3 artists, 1 level designer and a music guy). We do everything in-house here, from scripting tools and A.I. to cut-scenes from scratch, so with such a small team, you can imagine how valuable everyone’s contributions are. I feel really lucky to be a part of a group where everyone really knows their business.

GCM:	With Harbinger behind you, how close do you feel that the final product has come to the initial vision?
Jared:	The guys and I were just talking about this the other day. We are all in unanimous agreement that the game came out better than we ever could have imagined. It truly is an instance of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

GCM:

What innovations or new approaches do you feel that Harbinger brings to the RPG genre?

Jared:

Well for one, we’re giving the RPG public a peek into our warped minds by dropping them into a totally unique and original setting. Now I am a huge fan of all things Tolkien and D&D, but almost every RPG in the last 6 or 7 years (even the good ones) has been set in the same basic medieval/Tolkien/D&D type world. We decided early on that we wanted to give the players something they had never seen before. As designers we loved this idea because we were completely free to let our imaginations run wild. We also believe that once people have a chance to play our game, they will realize how much strategy is involved in our combat system. While it is very simple to use, it allows the player a lot of customization. Each player character plays VERY differently from the others, with items that only that particular character can use. The story also varies depending on whom you choose to play, with hidden character specific storylines being unlocked depending on choices you make throughout the game.

GCM:	How central is Harbinger's storyline to the gameplay and how will the story be told throughout the game?
Jared:	From the start we realized that RPG’s are essentially a good story and that you are the main character. So we knew that our story had to be unique and immersive, sucking you in like a good page turner. You learn about what’s going on in Harbinger from some very colorful denizens of the ship, but ultimately you get the final say in how the story turns out from choices you make along the way.

GCM:

As an Action/RPG, where has Harbinger found its balance between pure "hack-and-slash" and stat management/NPC interaction?

Jared:

We wanted our game to be accessible to main-stream as well as hard core gamers, so we found a nice balance that offers a simple stat system that won’t turn off casual players, but offers plenty of depth for the hardcore RPG fans. Our combat system is elegantly simple, but not simple-minded. We like to think that we have given the three player characters lots of toys to play with, and its up to them to figure out how best to use them in a given situation. As far as NPC interaction goes, I think our NPC’s each have so much character and are such an integral part of the storylines that you will really want to hear what they have to say.

GCM:

Please give us a breakdown of the three main characters and how the player controls them.

Jared:

First off, there’s the Human. He’s clever but physically weaker than the other PC’s. Through his weapon (combination ranged/melee), his agility, and the use of a variety of mines and injectors, the human overcomes his physical limitations by outsmarting his enemies. Secondly, there is the Gladiator, essentially a giant killing machine with an implanted sentient mind. The Gladiator is armed with an arsenal which includes an arm mounted cannon, a deadly edged weapon for hacking it out toe to toe (claw?) and the override ability, which allows control of a variety of attack cameras (such as the Camerakazi) to scout ahead and thin out the herd. Slower than the Human, he can withstand and deal out more damage and carry a few more items in his inventory. And lastly (but by no means leastly) is the Culibine, the last of 3 powerful entities created by the Scintilla prophet Ballastre. She has the innate power to manipulate ambient energy, which manifests itself in a devastating radial attack or a less powerful but more focused ranged attack. The Culibine also has the ability to control up to 6 Amps through her focus skill, which can either be used offensively, defensively or both. When activated, they will automatically attack any enemies in range or circle around, giving her a defensive bonus.

GCM:	How are character upgrades being handled?
Jared:	Each character has four basic stats that you are allowed to allocate up to 3 points upon leveling up. The main way each character can be upgraded is through customization of their items. This allows for a fair amount of personal preference to come through in each character you play.

GCM:	On the same subject, how large of a variety of weapons and armor will the player have access to?
Jared:	There are literally over a thousand unique items in the game, with many Character specific toys and gadgets for each player type. There are also several unique items to be found on Harbinger. Some of our items are hand placed, but most of our items are randomly generated when you open a locker, which adds greatly to replay value.

GCM:

As for A.I., what has been done to ensure a challenging experience for the gamer?

Jared:

Andy Muir, our Lead Programmer here at Silverback has been hammering away at the A.I., constantly tweaking it to respond to given situations in a realistic manner. For instance if you retreat across a bridge and hit the console to close it, enemies will re-activate the bridge and follow you across in pursuit. The flocking code that has been implemented is also very impressive, with large swarms of enemies working together to outflank and surround you, cutting off avenues of escape. This forces the player to think a bit before charging into unknown territory.

GCM:

Please tell us a bit about the graphics in Harbinger and what caliber of system will be needed to play the game respectably.

Jared:

The graphics in Harbinger are a combination of 2D sprites and 3D particles and lighting effects. We decided early on that we did not want to sacrifice the visual quality of our world just to have a bullet on the box. The detail in our characters and hand painted backgrounds can not be matched by current 3D standards. Harbinger can be played at 800x600 or 1024x768, depending on your preference. As for recommended system specs for running Harbinger, the majority of this game was developed on P3 500mghz boxes with Voodoo 3 and GeForce2 graphics cards. This is the base machine for Harbinger and I can tell you that it runs smoothly even on these outdated and relatively slow (by today’s standards) systems. With system requirements for upcoming titles getting steeper and steeper, we realized that we did not want to alienate a large segment of our potential audience, so we’ve made sure that Harbinger runs well whether you have a low or high end machine.

GCM:	What's next for Silverback and DreamCatcher?
Jared:	Our future largely depends on how well Harbinger is received by the gaming public. We have tried all along to stay true to our original vision, to make a game that we would have fun playing and be proud to be associated with. As far as future projects go, we do have a few aces up our sleeves, but nothing is written in stone yet.

GCM:	Thanks again for your time. Any final impressions that you would like to leave the reader with?
Jared:	We here at Silverback have put a lot of blood, sweat and gears into Harbinger over the years, and we’re very proud of how it turned out. We think people will be pleasantly surprised at what a small team of dedicated developers can come up with when left to run wild.