Clone Campaigns Questions & Answers

Questions asked by Joel Peterson, Joshua Griffin, and Mark Isaacson

We had the opportunity to send a few questions in to LucasArts about Clone Campaigns, the upcoming expansion pack for Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, the Real Time Strategy game based on the same engine as Microsoft's Age of Empires II. The questions were answered by Garry Gaber, Project Director for Galactic Battlegrounds and Clone Campaigns.

 

TFN Games: Will the release come out before or after the theatrical release of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones?
Garry Gaber: We hope to ship Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns day and date with the motion picture.

TFN Games: How long has this expansion been planned?
Garry Gaber: We started working on the design two weeks after Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds shipped.

TFN Games: Is Galactic Battlegrounds and the expansion pack the first of many LucasArts titles using Ensemble Studios' engines?
Garry Gaber: I can't really comment about future projects except to say that I hope so - Ensemble is a triple A development house that produces some excellent engines.

TFN Games: Can we expect to see more titles and expansion packs with a relation to Galactic Battlegrounds (even without Ensemble Studio technology)?
Garry Gaber: Only time will tell.

TFN Games: What other improvements can we expect for Galactic Battlegrounds with the Clones Campaigns?
Garry Gaber: We've addressed the sound effects and visual effects in the original game, giving them a much better feel. We have added units for the existing civilizations, as well as the new civs. A couple in particular are the Air Cruiser (sort of a flying AT-AT) and the Power Droid (a walking power core). We've readdressed balancing as well as adding team bonuses - every side now gives and gets bonuses from its allies when joining in a multiplayer game.

TFN Games: What new civilizations can we expect to see in this expansion?
Garry Gaber: There are two new civilizations, both based on Episode II entities - the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

TFN Games: How many of the units, based on Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, have been developed by the GB team themselves?
Garry Gaber: About half of the units are developed by the team, but all were based on concepts for the motion picture wherever possible.

TFN Games: Since CC ties in with Star Wars: Episode II, how close has the GB crew been to the development of the movie?
Garry Gaber: Too close. :) We know just about everything that is going to happen in the movie.

TFN Games: How much of the fans wants/want nots have you taken into consideration while developing CC?
Garry Gaber: We take what the fans say extremely seriously - and have designed the game accordingly. For instance, a lot of fans wanted the AT-AT to be able to shoot at air units, like in "The Empire Strikes Back". We added that capability as part of the technology upgrade "Walker Research". Also, there were a lot of requests for Jabba's forces - we've got those in the scenario editor, and even found ways to integrate them into a couple scenarios. We listen to, and attentively read what the fans have to say about this game.

TFN Games: So far, have the sales figures for Galactic Battlegrounds been what you were hoping for?
Garry Gaber: Galactic Battlegrounds has sold steadily well. Well enough in fact to justify an expansion pack.

TFN Games: Will the Force Boat (cheat: 'forceboat' while cursor over water) have any sort of upgrades? The group of people that started the Force Boat at our Jedi Council forums are extremely anxious to know.
Garry Gaber:  The Force Boat was a demo-only cheat - a nod and a wink to the fans.

Thank you for Garry Gaber and all of the wonderful people at LucasArts Public Relations for their time!