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The following
screenshots and information are about Digitalo
Studio's Devastation.
August,
2002
HomeLAN
Federation interviews
Barry Gibbs, Lead Designer for Devastation.
July,
2002
HomeLAN
Federation interviews
Vic DeLeon, senior producer for Devastation. This interview is supposed
to be part of an ongoing, monthly series.
June,
2002
A new
preview this month at GamesDomain.
May,
2002
Seems like
this month is a big month for news about Devastation, specifically,
the official announcement of a publishing deal
with ARUSH Entertainment and Groove Games. There's also a factsheet
and a set of new screen shots. I've also included
links to previews based on demos for the press
at E3, 2002.
The
fact sheet (click image for a larger view):
The
official press release:
Next-generation
Unreal technology and real-world physics power new post-apocalyptic,
team-based first-person shooter
SCOTTSDALE,
Ariz. - May 20, 2002- Global video games publisher ARUSH Entertainment,
in conjunction with Groove Games and Digitalo, today announced Devastation,
a new team-based first-person shooter (FPS) built on a heavily modified
next-generation Unreal engine. Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, Devastation
pits teams of rebelling gang leaders, street fighters, mercenaries,
and ex-military operatives together against armies of corrupt, high-tech
corporate police in a battle to win control of a devastated world.
Devastation
has a dynamic tactical component that allows the gamer to decide how
much control to exert over non-player character teammates, from giving
individual commands to giving no commands at all-game players can coordinate
an 8-person attack, or go in guns blazing, it's their choice. With 32
different areas, more than 30 different weapons, numerous multiplayer
game styles and over-the-top graphics, Devastation offers FPS fans a
captivating experience.
"I
was blown away the first time I saw this game," said ARUSH Entertainment
president and CEO Jim Perkins. "Devastation is a gunshot-to-the-head
kind of experience: it's edgy, it's raw, and it'll shock your senses.
"
The
game not only uses next-generation Unreal technology, but it also incorporates
real-world physics, providing for realistic object movements and incredible
rag-doll deaths. The environment is completely interactive, where everything
can be destroyed or manipulated-use garbage in the streets to set traps,
or pick up broken bottles and slash your enemies. The use of sound in
the game is dynamic as well--it can be manipulated or muffled to create
diversions or to move around stealthily.
The
advanced artificial intelligence controls enemies and teammates with
micro-behaviors and heightened awareness. Teammates provide intelligent
cooperation and assistance-they almost seem too real. Also, bots react
differently each time the game is played, lending incredible replay
value.
"We
have made significant enhancements to the already amazing Unreal technology,"
said Vic DeLeon, Senior Producer of Digitalo. "The graphics in
Devastation are so in-your-face that you'll think you're in the latest
Hollywood thriller, and the environments and gameplay will suck you
right in."
Devastation,
currently in the pre-beta stage of its development, is being shown at
the Electronic Entertainment Expo this week, by appointment only. For
more information, please contact Donald Case at donald@arushgames.com
or 480-609-8665.
About
Digitalo
Digitalo has often been described as a low-profile "stealth company"
as well as the "best kept secret in the videogame industry".
Founded in 1995, Digitalo is an independent design studio and software
development house balancing fierce technology R&D with a robust
design aesthetic.
About
Groove Games
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Groove is a worldwide video game publisher.
Groove's mandate is to search the globe for "hidden gems,"
finding the world's best games and delivering them to the world's best
gamers.
About
ARUSH Entertainment
Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., ARUSH Entertainment is a global entertainment
software publisher. As a division of World Entertainment Broadcasting
Corporation (WEB Corp.,) the company publishes its software for sale
in retail stores and on the Internet. For more information, please visit
www.arushgames.com.
The
new screen shots:
Previews
from E3 2002
December,
2001
HomeLAN
Federation and Alliance had the following interview
with Vic DeLeon (producer) about Devastation. Here's the complete intervew.
Devastation
Interview - 16 December 2001 00:00 - John [JCal] Callaham User Comments
: 0
Since last May, when developer Digitalo first announced that they
were developing an Unreal engine based first person multiplayer action
game called Devastation, the news about the game itself has been non-existent.
While the developer is still holding off on spilling the entire beans
about the game at this point, HomeLAN managed to get Vic DeLeon, the
senior producer at Digitalo, to finally reveal a few more details
about Devestation, as well as the game’s current status, in this
brief interview.
HomeLAN - First, we're very curious about the status of Devastation.
What can you tell us about its current progress?
Vic DeLeon - I'm happy to say that we're still pounding away tirelessly
on both PC and XBox versions and our production pipeline is making
serious progress. We're extremely pleased with the positive responses
from the recent build evaluations. The team is devoted to making the
Devastation experience even better, as thorough playtesting and private
focus groups are becoming more routine and producing better results
for us to study. Production on both gameplay and visuals has gone
through several revisions since the version we showed privately at
E3 this year, and it's still being tweaked and honed to perfection.
This, along with some of our latest technical feats brings us only
a few months away from completion. The gametypes are shaping up and
I'll have more on those later. On the business side, we're working
with several publishers and have more than one deal on the table as
the biz guys negotiate for the one that will give us the widest distribution
and best marketing.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the features in the game?
Vic DeLeon - We've developed many amazing enhancements and tools for
the Unreal Engine since we started this title, and I will save the
details for another interview with Bob Berry, our Lead Programmer,
a LOT more technical than I. Rest assured, we have a new and utterly
amazing rendering system, as well as some very smart bots that will
surprise everyone will their abilities and behaviors just as the UT
bots did way back. Plus, we've created a skeletal animation, blending,
and character expression system that gives the computer-controlled
players more realistic and fluid motion as well as more human movement
characteristics and, of course, some really graphic dismemberment
action. We're also taking our time and making sure the game is very
mod friendly and easy to work with, providing our own tools and upgraded
editors. More on all this stuff will be released at a later time :)
HomeLAN - Is there an overall storyline to the game?
Vic DeLeon - Typically, a strong storyline is one of those elements
that simply cannot be portrayed in a high-action shooter for obvious
reasons -players usually don't want it, nor do they care. Still, a
little bit of story is always nice, and Devastation has what could
be considered a subtle storyline, gradually presented to the players.
It can be better described as some very strong aesthetic elements
and scenarios, interesting enough to be noticed, but not overdone
to the point of being blatant, annoying, or pretentious in any way.
In other words, it's more than just a simple theme, but less than
a full-blown storyline.
The details of the story will have to remain a secret, but I can reveal
that first and foremost, it's all about teams and teamwork. The teams
consist of two warring factions of humans living in a somewhat dysfunctional
version of the not too distant future. It's a very dark and cyberpunky
kind of genre with a very unique visual interpretation. The 30+ massive
levels are all based on real-world locations from some local as well
as exotic parts of the world. There's no aliens, no spaceships, no
really insanely impossible fantasy weapons, just real pulpy "cyberpunk
grit" somewhat reminiscent of the kind of stuff you'd get from
William Gibson and Neil Stephenson novels.
HomeLAN - What are the weapons like in Devastation?
Vic DeLeon - We have provided the player with a rather extensive urban-action
arsenal, but with a nice edge unlike any other game to date. First,
you get a pretty standard assortment of 20th century present-day weapons
like pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and assault rifles, plus you
also get some retrofitted versions of current-day models that have
been upgraded with special accessories. Now is where things start
to get really exciting as Devastation also sports some more exotic
weaponry and explosive devices based on prototypes from current military
and police forces- all those weapons that we'll be seeing in the next
couple of decades ;)
The action in the gametypes is very diverse, complementing the weapons
so different types of players will have different experiences. The
less carnage-minded will get to chose from some pretty interesting
and fun surveillance equipment and robotic drone-type gear, as well
as handheld PDA devices that you must use to infiltrate and hack your
way into enemy computers- a feature we have spent a long time on,
and have integrated into the primary gametype as a main feature. Finally,
for the stealth-minded players there is an assortment of sniper rifles,
as well as my personal favorite, a massive samurai-style katana sword
for those quiet, up-close encounters.
HomeLAN - How many character models are in the game and what are
they like?
Vic DeLeon - We have over a dozen characters in-game right now and
by this time next month we should have close to twenty. I have to
make a point about the character models in Devastation and I can't
stress this enough- our artists have spent a long, long, time developing
the styles and wardobes to look unique and very distinctive. That's
all I'm going to say about the characters right now, you can see many
of them in the screenshots.
HomeLAN
- Finally, what else have you guys been up to?
Vic DeLeon - We're the last of an endangered species- the privately-owned
indy studio, so we enjoy that very rare and much sought after freedom
in experimenting and perfecting our craft. Seriously, we humble ourselves
and undertand that we're very lucky to have what we have. The tradeoff
to all this free-flowing madness is that in the past we've found ourselves
picking up external projects to support our internal development.
Our familiarity with software engines along with our very talented
team and biz people means we're often approached by other developers
seeking our assistance to finish projects. Earlier this year Digitalo
was offered a contract by Electronic Arts to create and manage level
design and technical gameplay mechanics on the PC version of Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Since Devastation was our pet project,
and we had independently funded the majority of its production, we
decided to continue working on it while simultaneously accepting the
EA contract even if it did cost us some internal delays on Devastation.
It has all been well worth it, and tons of fun.
Links
Here are
the thumbnails for all the shots.
May,
2001
Devastation
is still in development. Here's the press release from May, 2001.
"Yes
the official word is out. Our team has been hard at work for over
a year and a half on a next-gen action title called Devastation. We're
releasing a few tidbits of information at the present, more updates
and screenshots will follow.
Devastation
is a high-action, teamplay-oriented, first person game powered by
heavily modified Unreal Engine technology. Set in the very near future,
dozens of unique characters are pit against each other in urban combat
spanning several devastated locales. Devastation focuses on intense
multiplayer action with an equally satisfying single-player experience.
The revolutionary AI enables computer-controlled players to be both
strategically cunning enemies, as well as highly intelligent allies.
Devastation reinvents the FPS genre with a fresh game type that will
appeal to both hardcore DM and Team-Play fans alike. Also included
for online tournament play are maps specifically designed for traditional
DM and CTF game-types."
[Updated
27th May, 2002]
Site content and original site art copyright© 2001 Chris Blundell.
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