CaliGirl: Can you first tell us a little about yourself? Your name and the position you are in at Psygnosis?

Jason Hough: I am actually with Zono, Inc. We are the the developers and Psygnosis is our publisher. I'm Jason Hough, one of the game designers. Basically, my job at the moment is to balance the game. I am also doing not all but a lot of the level layouts. I also do all of the video editing. I actually started off as an artist at Zono and changed over to doing design about a year ago.

CaliGirl: Can you tell us about Metal Fatigue?

Jason Hough: It is a real time strategy game with a full 3d engine. The game centers around giant Combots that we call Combots. They are made out of four different parts; two arms, a torso and a set of legs. There is three sides you can play as in the game and the have their own unique set of parts when the game starts. Then during the course of a mission, as you battle against other Combots, you can either amputate their parts or they'll just fall off when the Combot dies. So you can then pick that part up if it is an arm right away and use it.

CaliGirl: What about if someone found your part that fell off, would the enemy be able to use it?

Jason Hough: Yes, absolutely. So as the game goes on, the idea is you start to collect more and more technology from other two sides. That greatly increases the number of variations on the way you can build your own Combots. The idea being that your strategy can change based on the parts you are getting. Like for an example: If you get a super long range laser weapon from one of the other sides and you don't really have that long range of a weapon, now suddenly you can add that to your strategy and start using it. We try to get as much of the strategy as possible out of technology that is required in combat rather than the order that you are building your buildings in. A lot of games sort of center on who can get to building the fastest. What we wanted to do is force you to get into combat to do that. There is still a little bit of building up and stuff.

CaliGirl: Do you have to build up your resources to be able to build?

Jason Hough: Yes, what we have is lava. You have a Hover truck which is also a unit that builds your structures and things like that. Those will go and mine the lava. The other thing you can do is collect solar energy through solar panels. There is another great feature about the game, there is actually three battlefields going on at the same time. There is the surface of the planet, then above you there is an orbit and below you, there is an underground layer where there are tunnels and things like that. We call them layers.

CaliGirl: What were those pad looking things that were floating in space while you were playing the game earlier? You would fly over to them.

Jason Hough: Right, it is actually an asteroid which was cleaved in half is the idea. Those asteroids float above you and you can use them to put your solar panels on or you can use air defenses. You can also use these large cannons which can bombard the surface of the planet from orbit. Also, below you is an underground layer where there are tunnels. When the game starts there isn't many tunnels but you have what you call a drill truck which can actually tunnel out new areas which weren't there when the game started. For an example on a strategy: While starting a minor battle on the surface, at the same time you can be drilling a tunnel underneath somebody. Then build an elevator which allows you to travels on the surface and underground. Then start flooding units out behind his front lines or whatever. Then at the same time, you can fly out some units overhead in the orbit layer. Then have them sweep down in from above.

CaliGirl: When you are on the cleaved asteroid above, can you fall off and have some type of injury?

Jason Hough: You can't just fall. What you can do is, the units that can fly will just travel between asteroid with no problem but if it is something like a tank that you managed to get up there by teleporting them, they can't actually leave the asteroid, they'll just drive to the edge and stop. So they won't fall off. However, if you have a flying Combot and you have say an enemy flying Combot come up and you fight in mid air, and one of your parts comes off, it will actually fall through the clouds and land on the surface of the planet. If there is something there that it lands on, it can damage it too. So, sometimes you will be sitting there building your base and parts will start falling down. It is kind of funny.

CaliGirl: If you are damaged like that and a part fell off, is there a way to repair the part?

Jason Hough: Yes, the same vehicle that does all of the structure building can also repair things. It also can pick up stray parts that have been left after a battle and take them back to base. Then what you can do is research them and start using them. You can build your own basically, once you have researched them.

CaliGirl: Let's say I found a part. There is different units, would I still be able to get the part? or would the unit have to be the same exact unit for me to grab it? I mean, if I had a tank, I couldn't pick up a Combot arm and use it right?

Jason Hough: No, you couldn't use the part if it was a tank. A Hovertruck can pick up parts, and a Combot can pick up only arms. If it is a Combot, the Combot can pick up the arm but it needs an open slot. So if you decide the arm on the ground is something you want, what you can do is eject one of the arms. But then of course you are at risk that someone is going to find the part you just left there and they are going to come and get it so...

CaliGirl: Can you destroy the part you just left?

Jason Hough: Well, you can either destroy it or have one of your hover trucks come pick it up and drag it back to base. Just drop it off in inventory and use it on the next bot you build.

CaliGirl: What do you have planned in terms of multi-player support for Metal Fatigue?

Jason Hough: We're currently aiming for 8 player support. The game will run over TCP/IP internet, IPX, etc. I think they're also doing something with Mplayer, but Psygnosis moves too fast for me to keep up with so you'd want to confirm with them.

CaliGirl: Have you seen many cool games around the E3? Do you have any favorites yet?

Jason Hough: Actually, I haven't had a chance to walk around yet but I can tell you the ones I want to see. Thief 2, because I loved Thief. I really want to see Homeworld that looks just gorgeous to me. So many things, I haven't been over to Sega's booth yet but I know there is a Dreamcast game called ShenMue or something like that. I have seen screenshots, it looks amazing. But I don't even know if I will get a break away so. Some others: Deus Ex, Shogun, and TeamFortress 2.

CaliGirl: Do you feel the development of games may change from the recent shooting in the Colorado High School?

Jason Hough: I have a feeling that nothing is going to change at all. In fact I think that even on the shooters, they are going to get so much publicity on this. My personal opinion is that I don't see any problem with people putting ratings on games like that. I think that makes perfect sense. I kind of like that fact that the show doesn't let minors in. I mean I see some of these games, I am not going to mention any games but I just think, some of it can just look overboard to me, I don't even think they need that much gore sometimes. But, at the same time, I personally don't feel it is the games that leads to that type of stuff.

Interview by CaliGirl