The Rise of the Automatons is coming very soon. Very soon, very soon, we keep on saying that, I know! But really, the add-on should go live tonight.
In a few hours, if everything goes according to plan, you should be able to discover the brand new add-on and especially the Automatons! For now, and because I think this might be interesting, here is a Q&A of Panzer, the almighty Automaton creator.
MAKING THE AUTOMATONS
Can you introduce yourself?
I am a regular 11th grade high school student who lives in New York City and goes to an engineering school. I have been part of a robotics team where I do electronics and programming, as well as a ballroom dance club for 3 years now which has resulted in a lot of fun, good times. Sci-fi is the best genre ever and that is exactly why I dedicate a lot of time to reading, writing, drawing, watching, and contemplating anything and everything sci-fi. I am an animal person especially when it comes to cats since I own a cat named Timmy, but otherwise I like dogs too. I am teaching myself 3DSMax and C++ programming and I hope to attend MIT once I graduate high school so that I can pursue some type of engineering/programming career. And I speak Russian and English fluently.
How did you find out about Amplitude Studios, Endless Space and Games2Gether?
To be honest I don't even remember exactly how I found out that Endless Space existed, but I do keep up with video game news, so I probably saw an advertisement of some sort which led me here. After that, the game itself sparked my interest, and Games2Gether did so even more, which made me create a forum account and end up where we are today.
What do you like about Endless Space or 4X games in general?
Space battles.......really the one thing I love about Endless Space more then everything else is the absolutely beautiful space battles because most 4X games have graphics that neglect the actual battles and simply show you some cheap enactment of the battle. Other than that I like creating an empire in my own form and desire to the point that it basically becomes a reflection of my personality and thoughts even when I many times, do not notice it.
What inspired you for the Faction Creation Competition? Where are the Automatons from?
Inspiration for this competition came slowly and painfully for me, which is why I ended up posting the Automatons a day before the due date if I remember correctly. I found out about the competition the first day that it was put up on the forums, and while I usually stray away from competitions I decided to try my hand at a faction. After that initial excitement came 2 weeks of taking ideas and trying to refine them to work in the game as well as to be interesting. The way I finally decided on the Automatons, which was about 4 days before the due date, was I did a marathon of Miyazaki movies and the last movie I watched happens to be my favorite; "The Castle in the Sky - Laputa". In the movie there are these long forgotten robots that were built long ago as guardians and war machines of destruction, but now only live as peaceful gardeners until they are disturbed. And since I was sick of typical "death machine robots that conquer the universe and exterminate organics", I decided why not make a peaceful race. Shortly after I decided to use steam punk instead of cyberpunk as their basis because visually I believe it fits together better with nature. Then I got my laptop and started doing some typing, some drawing, some modeling, and some writing to try and flesh out my idea until it became what I finally posted on the forums.
What is the particularity of the Automatons? How would you define their gameplay? Which victory suits them the best?
The Automatons, as I said before, are a peaceful race and if you left them alone, they would not bother anyone which makes them extremely isolationist. Their game play was built around making a faction that can turtle (be very defensive) while still having a chance at victory. Sure, you can exploit them in a way that would help you conquer the galaxy in cold mechanized blood if you wanted to, but the point of them existing is if you finally get bored of slaughtering people endlessly, try the Automatons, be peaceful, relax, and win a Diplomatic Victory. They are one of the rare mechanical species, that has a heart and can actually be emotionally compelling because if you think about it, they only want peace, and to work on their plants, but evil organics come and try to kill them off or exploit them. The Automatons hate war and love peace, but remember that if you press declare war, you will have a very difficult time of taking over their small empire.
To get our winner, we decided to go through different polls and a Games2Gether vote: were you excited to compete against Nosferatiel’s “Fal Hadei” faction and Sadi’s “Apparatus”? The results were very close until the very end!
I don't really think excited is the right word....panicking maybe, or hysterical, because that is exactly how I felt every time I checked the polls and let me tell you, I checked often. A lot of the factions that didn't make it to the final Games2Gether vote were really awesome and although they didn't make it, the Eaters of the dead and the Wayfarers were probably my favorite factions. It was a very nerve-wracking experience and I honestly don't recommend it to the faint of heart, but the result is quite amazing and when I finally saw the polls were closed with the Automatons in the lead, I jumped for joy and threw myself a mini dance party to celebrate!
We then contacted you to implement your faction into the game. Did you like working along with our Game Designer? What were your main discussions/issues/compromises to get the best out of your Custom Faction?
To many of today's youth meeting lady gaga or Eminem would be the most amazing thing ever, but for me, working with the developers of a game that are listening to you and trying to make sure what you want is done....is the absolute most amazing thing ever. Honestly I do not have a single complaint about anything that was written or discussed during the implementation process as everyone who contacted me were awesome people and I fully understood the fact that they were basically listening to me tell them what I want and then doing it for free. All I have to say about my experience with the Amplitude Studios team is that they are all nice people!
The dev team will deliver your faction in the first free add-on in less than a month! Did you enjoy taking part in the “Games2Gether”?
I am beyond excited to see it happen. I just hope I'll have time to play it with all my boring real life responsibilities since Endless Space does take quite a bit of time out of a person. The Games2Gether experience was one of the most fun things a Game Company has done since I can remember! I can honestly say that I will miss talking to members of the dev team and getting to understand how some things work around the company. All in all, I am glad I took the chance and decided to enter the contest. Thanks for the interview!
Automaton illustration
Release notes here.
Thank you guys for supporting and helping us improve the game. We are really hoping you will enjoy this Add-On!
