The year is 2054. Fifty years ago, something terrible happened and the surface of Earth became uninhabitable. The remnants of humankind escaped to an immense flying island, the Laputa. However a revolt against increasingly rigid and corrupt human leadership of the island escalated into a conflict that eventually destroyed it. The survivors of the survivors flee once again. Can they reclaim the Earth from the unknown forces now holding her in their grasp?

Features:

• Global strategy and small scale tactical missions intertwined
• New amazing technologies and items to be researched and developed
• New enemies and allies
• Resource and base management in the strategic game
• Improved SAS and RPG systems in the tactical game
• Strong story

GCM:	Thank you for taking time out to answer our questions. Would you care to start off by introducing yourself and telling us about the team behind UFO: Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl:	I am Jiri Rydl from ALTAR interactive. We have developed puzzle game Fish Fillets, real-time strategy Original War and squad-based strategy UFO: Aftermath.

GCM:

What can you tell us about the storyline driving Aftershock and will those who didn’t play Aftermath have any trouble getting up to speed?

Jiri Rydl:

UFO: Aftershock begins fifty years after accepting Reticulans offer in UFO: Aftermath, when remnants of humankind escaped to flying island Laputa. However a revolt against increasingly rigid and corrupt human leadership of the island escalated into a conflict that eventually destroyed it. The player is a leader of the group of survivors and his task is as simple as it is far-reaching: figure out what happened and reclaim the Earth back for the humankind. You don’t have to know what happened in UFO: Aftermath, because knowledge from that time is already lost and you have to start from the beginning.

GCM:

For those unfamiliar with the series, would you please give us a basic sense for Aftershock’s gameplay?

Jiri Rydl:

UFO: Aftershock is combination of squad-based strategy with strategy game on planetary level. You are in charge of the rest of survivors at Laputa, thinking of what happened to Earth. To find out you have to contact other factions on the planet surface, research strange alien objects and gather resources to spread your influence. To do so, you have to build and equip small group of specialist, which fight for you in tactical battles.

GCM:	Above all else, what aspects of Aftermath did you most want to improve or evolve with UFO: Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl:	We listen to our fans, thus we focus on more tactical options in the game. In UFO: Aftershock you can enter building, climb roofs, your soldiers have more moving options and we have improved our turn-based system with simultaneous turns last but not least.

GCM:

Breaking the game down, please give us some details regarding Aftershock’s RPG elements.

Jiri Rydl:

There are two ways of improving your soldiers: attributes and trainings. The attributes are improved in "traditional" RPG way: As your troops are fighting, they will earn experience points that will enable them to go up in levels. When they gain a level, they will get one attribute point they can allocate, improving their skills in the department of your choice. The trainings are bit more fun, though nothing completely original, too. There will about a dozen different trainings, each with three different grades: basic, medium, advanced. Every training, and every grade, gives a soldier a unique new ability. Each soldier can receive only a small number of different trainings, so you have to choose carefully.

GCM:	Aftershock also has strong strategic elements. Could you please walk us through the basics this end of UFO: Aftershock and how it has evolved since Aftermath?
Jiri Rydl:	To offer much deeper strategic gameplay in UFO: Aftershock, we have add several new options like resource management, building your own bases, manufacturing new items including ammo or diplomacy for dealing with other factions.

GCM:

As for all-out combat, what can gamers expect from Aftershock?

Jiri Rydl:

For those who didn’t play UFO: Aftermath, we developed fighting system using the best from both turn-based and real-time system. It works like this: you issue orders to your soldiers in a pause mode, then see the implementation of these orders in real time. When something unexpected occurs, the game will pause, allowing you to revise your orders and react to the new situation. This pause setting will be configurable, as to leave the game as fluid as the player wants it. The player can pause the game any time he wishes to change or review orders, however the implementation of those orders will only occur once the game is unpaused, where everyone, both soldiers and enemies will move simultaneously. This system is called SAS, short for Simultaneous Action System. Using our system you are able to queue you orders, create group of soldiers, synchronize their actions or by turning stop-situations off make the game real-time.

GCM:	We understand that feedback from Aftermath’s fans has influenced the direction of Aftershock’s development. How important has the gaming community’s opinions been to the development team and could you please give us a few examples of their influence?
Jiri Rydl:	Feedback from players is very important to us and together with our ideas we have incorporated many of them in UFO: Aftershock. For instance there was huge demand for entering buildings, manufacturing ammo, more different enemies or research tree with several brunches, which all will be in UFO: Aftershock.

GCM:	What key features in Aftershock currently planned that you would qualify as being completely new to the series?
Jiri Rydl:	I would name just one, which is dealing with other humans and non-humans faction, which influences your access to resources, ability to build new bases and more.

GCM:	What can you tell us about the graphics engine and art direction to be found in UFO: Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl:	UFO: Aftershock uses basics from UFO: Aftermath engine with many enhancements to the core, so it’s almost new. I am sure you will be able to see it for yourself in a future trailer.

GCM:	When do you currently expect UFO: Aftershock to be released and will there be a demo released around the same time?
Jiri Rydl:	UFO: Aftershock is scheduled for the second half of 2005 and if nothing changes there would be demo available around the release.

GCM:	Thank you again for your time! Would you care to close this interview with any last thoughts or impressions for our readers?
Jiri Rydl:	Watch ufo-aftershock.com for news!

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