Interview with Hubert Cater

[Curry]

Here is an interview that Hubert gave for our league newletter for the SC PBEM League.

http://www.myleague.com/scpbem/

We will be forming a new league when SC II comes out.

Here is the interview.

Many thanks again to Hubert for giving the interview for the PBEM league newsletter.

Here it is

1. Lets first talk about SC-I. Briefly, can you tell us how you came up with the idea for Strategic command as a game to design out of all the possible choices?

Great question Growing up I only played a few war and strategy

games, but for those few that I did play, I think it would be safe to

say they had the biggest influence on my decision to create a game like

Strategic Command. My all time favourites were Chess, Axis and Allies

(Boardgame), Clash of Steel, Panzer General, and High Command. While

varying in depth, scale and scope, they were relatively easy to play and

offered hours of fun whether you were playing against the computer or

just head to head with other players. I enjoyed the tactical/strategic

nature of these games but like most gamers eventually found myself

thinking of ways to improve the game systems. I had put together a few

ideas and brainstormed over the years but it wasn't until I graduated in

Computer Science in 2000 that I really thought to myself, "Hey I can

really do this!" Always the amateur WWII historian/buff I finally

decided to take the plunge and hammer out a game system for the

computer. The biggest debate was whether it would be a global game or

just a single theater, but considering this was my first game I decided

to keep it a little smaller In hindsight, I could have even kept it

simpler as I later found out I was quite optimistic of how long a game

like this would take. In fact, I originally figured it would only take

me about 6 months to complete... but after about 2 years SC was finally

out the door.

In the end, I think what you see in SC are a few influences from each

game I played as well as an incorporation of my own style/preferences

when it comes to gaming. I really put in a lot of effort to trim the

fat and simplify where applicable, while at the same time providing

enough flexibility without overcomplicated/overbearing rule sets. I

never was a huge fan of the multitude of special rules that accompany

some games, but I took extra care to try and balance out (as much as

possible) each and every action and overall decision. Basically I

prefered to allow the player to explore as many strategic decisions as

possible but have each decision balanced by a strong pro and con or

necessary risk. Come to think of it, the paper/rock/scissor framework

is also a simple yet effective system I tried to emulate wherever

applicable. Overall SC may not be the perfect game but I think it comes

pretty close to what I was trying to achieve, and for a first game, I

can only be happy about the final outcome.

2. SC-I is very attractive to many in the Old war gaming community. Will SC II’s new features take away from that or enhance the features that have been so attractive to the old line players?

I really do believe SC2 will surpass SC1 in terms of game play as well

as enhance the features that have been so attractive to all players. I

realize I am the game designer and you really wouldn't expect any

statement less than that, but truth be told I honestly am excited about

what SC2 will have to offer. This really is the game I have always

wanted to make, and while certain realities prevented me from making

this type of game first time around, SC1 was a tremendous foundation

builder in terms of experience and extended funding (professional

artwork this time around) that SC2 is now possible.

Pretty much I have worked at great lengths to preserve the integrity and

ease of play of the original game system while adding an incredible

amount of depth and editing options. It really was no small task, and

while it has been a continued challenge, working as a lone wolf

developer, I have had some fantastic feedback from my beta testers to

help make this all possible. As they say, proof is in the pudding and

since there WILL be a demo available, in the end everyone will have the

chance to decide for themselves.

3. I was a founding subscriber to Strategy & Tactics magazine and have been playing hex based war games since the early 1970’s. In my view SC is one of the all time great hex based war games if not THE best. Has it lived up to your own expectations?

Wow It is a great honour to hear that and please believe me when I say I really don't take compliments like that lightly.

In terms of expectations, SC1 was really a huge risk for me back in 2000

as I did not work (read get paid) for the first few years after

graduation and I also had a sizeable school loan to pay off. My logic at the time was that I would give it a shot and in a worst case

scenario it would at least look good on my resume and hopefully better than if I had just been working somewhere for a few years. I tried to keep the expectations realistic and simply hope for the best, but I have to say that immediately after the game was announced, and after the impressive interest in the game, it had already exceeded my original expectations. To think that I could produce something that was of enough interest for gamers to buy, and create communities and even leagues, including PBEM! was a fantastic feeling and made it very much worth it in the end. While I have been a little quiet on the boards lately, reality of having to bear down and actually work , it has been an interesting few years and I really do relish every minute of it, so thank you to everyone

4. The PBEM community is not as vocal as the TCIP community on the battlefront forum boards, but by judging from the size of the leagues the PBEM community is about 4 times larger. And judging from the content on the battlefront forums about 25 times more mature. So without going into a lot of detail will SC II have any added features to secure playing by mail to help all of us that play via email?

This is something I have kept in the back of my mind and I do have a few

ideas, unfortunately and for obvious reasons, my primary focus is still

on just getting the game done. After that I plan to spend some time, as

time allows to add in a few items here and there before official

release, and of course add a few more that I will inevitably miss after

that.

5. Is there any one thing about to SC-II that excites you as a developer? Of course without going into detail.

I think the most exciting thing is the anticipation of release. We have

all been working hard over here, between myself, beta testers and

Battlefront, and I think once you know you are on to something people will enjoy, it becomes a little exciting when the end is in sight because you know you will finally get a chance to share it with everyone else. I really think this is going to be great game and simply put, I just can't wait

6. I know you are from Canada. I am a big Tamp Bay Lighting fan here in south west Florida. Do you miss the NHL as much as I do here in Florida and do you think they will play at all this season?

On some levels I do, but on others I really don't. The game has changed

so much over the last 15 years that on some nights it really is hard to

watch, and even before the lockout I don't remember the last time I

watched a full game other than in the playoffs. Playoff hockey has

always been great because they finally start to play hockey with

limited clutching and grabbing and the fighting is for the most

part left out. Regular season hockey has its good games but all too

often players just don't get the chance to really play because of all

the obstruction/interference going on in the game.

Due to the lockout, some of the sports stations have played some classic

games from the early 80's and late 70's and while it seems a little

slower, the game on the surface just appears to be that much better.

Excellent skating, nice crisp passes, coordinated breakouts and gaining

of the offensive zone, none of that awful clutching and grabbing which

leads to the really boring dump and chase hockey we see now.

Don't get me wrong, I'll most likely end up watching it again when it comes back, but in the meantime I'll just have to stick with my monday night pickup hockey to pass the time

Hubert

[Bill101]

Thanks to you both for the interview. It was very interesting reading!

[Kuniworth]

Indeed. It was indeed a gay(=happy) moment.