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[thorns]

There is a very nice interview at eurogamer.net.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=56012

Eurogamer: Presumably for the game to be in any way believable you've had to come up with a pretty interactive game world - just how interactive, and how big for that matter, is the world of B.C.?

Joe Rider: The simulation is based on modelling a working ecosystem where each creature shares a need for food, water and safety. If a creature is running out of food (for example) then it will be forced to migrate to a new nest. What effect does this have on the player? If the player has a raptor nest within a close proximity to camp, it might be useful to him to try and get rid of them. There are a number of ways in doing this. He can run in 'all guns blazing' and attempt to kill all of the raptors all off (risking the lives of his cavemen), or go the safer route and poison the raptors food supply (although this will take longer) or wait until night time and sneak in the nest using the Hunters skill and steal the eggs. It will then take them longer to reproduce and make it easier for the player to kill off.

The great things about the ecosystem are; 1) its easy for the player to see what's going on in the land as we show ecosystem details on an 'easy to understand' map screen, 2) every time you play the game you will get a different experience. Whenever we demonstrate BC at any game shows (like E3) it's a bugger to demo! Sometimes you can see some really cool goings on with the ecosystem with creatures fighting against each other, species dieing off, while other times the land will be quiet with each species appearing to observe each other anticipating attack. It makes the game completely unpredictable!

Eurogamer: At the time, that demo showed us how you can teach your cavemen certain tactics (like rolling a boulder down a hill to attack birds) by doing it yourself until they repeat it. It sounds rather Black & White-ish - is that a fair comment?

Joe Rider: There are obviously elements of the game that have evolved as part of the experience that Lionhead has acquired from developing previous titles. BC has a much greater depth of simulation than Black & White for example, and concentrates on this over very complex learning behaviours.

 

[Ghost]

I appriciate A-life in games, MMORPGs need to take notes from intrepid. But i think as such an integral part of the game as it is with BC, it could make things a bit unstructured, only time will tell i guess.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

This ought to be very cool.

 

[SyNapSe]

I wanted this since it was announced. Now like 4 years later and all the delays... I get the feeling that it was too big of a project.

I think it has a high chance of not turning out as well as I hoped

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Maybe. It's really a problem of too many western devs/publishers being in the habit of releasing info on a project waaaaay too early. They need to wait until the game's well past the 50% mark in development.

 

[Redbeard]

There was a picture of a bug that occurred in the game where a pterodon picked up one of the cavemen (by the nuts) for food. One of the testers said that they didn't actually program the pterodon to pick up cavemen, but that, on this occasion, it 'decided' that the caveman was food. Neat stuff.

 

[Stele]

Well that proves this game has bogus physics. Pterosaurs weigh maybe 20 pounds, with the biggest ones just barely 100.

And holy shit does that screen make the game look sterile and very very plastic.

 

[Blackace]

Well that proves this game has bogus physics. Pterosaurs weigh maybe 20 pounds, with the biggest ones just barely 100.

And holy shit does that screen make the game look sterile and very very plastic.

OMG call the reality police!!!

 

[6.8]

A normal Pterosaurs obviously can't because they wouldn't be able to maintain air-speed velocity, but what about African Pterosaurs? They are much larger and should be able to carry humans. I know they shouldn't be where the game is taking place, but the African Pterosaurs were probably migrating.

 

[fbcamp]

I remember there being a video a while back that simply blew my mind. It was of a guy getting eaten by a t-rex and the battle his cavemen companions against the dino. The animation was really insane, it truely made me look forward to the game.

 

[Blackace]

A normal Pterosaurs obviously can't because they wouldn't be able to maintain air-speed velocity, but what about African Pterosaurs? They are much larger and should be able to carry humans. I know they shouldn't be where the game is taking place, but the African Pterosaurs were probably migrating.

Well what if they carried him with a string?

 

[Stele]

A normal Pterosaurs obviously can't because they wouldn't be able to maintain air-speed velocity, but what about African Pterosaurs? They are much larger and should be able to carry humans. I know they shouldn't be where the game is taking place, but the African Pterosaurs were probably migrating.

Quetzalcoatlus are the largest pterosaurs, and they're only a 100 pounds with a 10+ meter wingspan. So, no way in hell. Pterosaurs have hollow bones, and the only thing they're designed to carry is fish -- in their beaks.

 

[6.8]

gj @ missing the Monty Python reference.

 

[DarienA]

A normal Pterosaurs obviously can't because they wouldn't be able to maintain air-speed velocity, but what about African Pterosaurs? They are much larger and should be able to carry humans. I know they shouldn't be where the game is taking place, but the African Pterosaurs were probably migrating.

Monty Python Holy Grail flashbacks...

 

[Zachack]

Well that proves this game has bogus physics. Pterosaurs weigh maybe 20 pounds, with the biggest ones just barely 100.

The higher density air (caused by suspended water crystals) in the year 5600 BC would allow a Pterosaur to carry a human of up to 250 lbs.

 

[op_ivy]

There was a picture of a bug that occurred in the game where a pterodon picked up one of the cavemen (by the nuts) for food. One of the testers said that they didn't actually program the pterodon to pick up cavemen, but that, on this occasion, it 'decided' that the caveman was food. Neat stuff.

thats bad ass. i hope that "bug" stays in the game

 

[Soul4ger]

Quetzalcoatlus are the largest pterosaurs, and they're only a 100 pounds with a 10+ meter wingspan. So, no way in hell. Pterosaurs have hollow bones, and the only thing they're designed to carry is fish -- in their beaks.

YOU'VE OBVIOUSLY NEVER SEEN JURASSIC PARK III SIR.

 

[seismologist]

I appriciate A-life in games, MMORPGs need to take notes from intrepid. But i think as such an integral part of the game as it is with BC, it could make things a bit unstructured, only time will tell i guess.

yeah I agree. They tried to do this in the game Tresspasser and had the same problems. The technology is pretty neat though.

 

[jedimike]

I remember there being a video a while back that simply blew my mind. It was of a guy getting eaten by a t-rex and the battle his cavemen companions against the dino. The animation was really insane, it truely made me look forward to the game.

An article in XBN said the team was only 2% or 3% off from the Xbox max limit.

 

[ManaByte]

The footage shown on the G4 Icons show looked really, really good. INSANE draw distance in the game, just about Farcry quality.

 

[epmode]

for some reason, i've always assumed that this game will never get finished. maybe it has to do with my lack of enthusiasm for it. still, i'm not totally disinterested. if the reviews are good, i'll give it a second look.