PC Gamer Interview mit Adam Isgreen und Frank Klepacki

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PC Gamer hat ein umfangreiches Interview mit dem ehemaligen Westwood-Mitarbeiter Adam Isgreen geführt, auch umfasst der Artikel einen längeren Text von Frank Klepacki, dem Komponisten der Soundtracks der C&C Spiele bis hin zu Yuris Rache. Beide arbeiten mittlerweile beim inoffiziellen Westwood Nachfolger Petroglyph Games die mit Star Wars: Empire at War einen Achtungserfolg ablieferten und mit Universe at War aktuell ein recht gutes RTS am Markt haben.

Hier nun ein paar Auszüge aus dem Interview:
PCG: Where did the idea come from to take C&C from the near future to recent history? What was your inspiration?

AI: I think the original idea from Westwood President & Co-Founder Brett Sperry was more financial than anything. We originally wanted to make a WWII add-on for C&C that wouldn't take a long time to do and would leverage the engine from C&C, making a tidy profit in the process. We had a ton of existing material to draw from regarding WWII units, so it should have been something easy to do. However, our own creativity and established C&C philosophy got in the way. After making two different factions with GDI and Nod, suddenly creating three tanks for the Germans that all had minor tweaks in fuel efficiency, combat range, speed and turret rotation rate didn't feel like it fit into what was now becoming the C&C brand. The more we looked into straight WWII, the more we thought "yeah that's realistic... but is that fun? Is that what C&C is about?"
PCG: I know that Red Alert was initially planned as an expansion pack for C&C; when did you realize you were on to something big enough to make the jump to a full-fledged game?

AI: After we finished Covert Operations, and looked over what we delivered and defined as an expansion, then looked at all the material we had for C&C0... and we had 10x more stuff than Covert Ops ever did. About then, we realized that this shouldn't be any kind of add-on, but a full-fledged C&C game....

PCG: Looking back, 12 years later, what are you most proud of about RA?

AI: We took C&C and created something that was C&C, yet not what C&C was originally defined as. RA was faster, featured masses of units, added naval combat, added Skirmish as a standard feature, coined the phrase "tank rush," created some crazy rule-breaking abilities and units, and helped solidify the C&C brand as a major player with two hits in a row....

PCG: What are you looking forward to about Red Alert 3, and what would you like to see?

AI: I'm really looking forward to what they do with the factions. RA has always been near and dear to my heart in terms of crazy, creative, wild units and strategies. RA2 went beyond my wildest expectations for what the RA series could become. I'm looking forward to being blown away yet again by what the EALA guys come up with for the third!


Und, damit auch der Musiker hier auszugsweise zu Wort kommt, ein paar Stellen aus Franks Text, man beachte den letzten Satz:
FK: The first thing that anyone will ever say about Red Alert’s music is that it has one of the most popular video game songs of all time: “Hell March.” This was the main theme for the game and the whole series, as Red Alert 2 saw a reworked version as well.

This was the first song I wrote for Red Alert, not having any idea about what Red Alert would be. One day I walked in my office at Westwood, picked up my guitar, plugged it in, and that was the first riff I played. I was inspired right away. I knew it would be an instant song, but had no idea it would be a "hit"! I immediately heard in my head that I wanted a marching sound effect that would be in rhythm of the riff. I could see the army NOD getting ready for battle in my head. Sometimes when you write songs, every idea comes at once, and that's what happened here for me. I knew right away that I wanted a military voice sample to put in as well, as if he were commanding the troops while marching. After going through some sound effect libraries, I found a sample that also had a similar rhythm to the song that stood out to me. I always thought he said “We Want War, Wake Up,” but it turned out it’s actually a German phrase for “Ready Weapons!”

Red Alert 3? It would be cool if they continue some of the crazy stuff we had going in Yuri’s Revenge, that was a blast. But, all I can say is it would be sacrilege not to have “Hell March” in it…


Eine deutsche Zusammenfassung des zitierten Textes folgt in Kürze.

Das komplette Interview, ein Leckerbissen für Fans, findet ihr hier:
pcgamer.com


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