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Interview: Zipper's Alan Van Slyke on MAG's past, present and future
The folks at Zipper Interactive have been in an unenviable position for the past eighteen months. Ever since the studio's flagship PS3 title MAG was revealed during Sony's E3 2008 press conference, the gaming populace's collective expectation (or, alternatively, apprehension) for the title set an impossibly high bar for the developer to clear. We first spoke to the game's producer, Alan Van Slyke, during PAX 2009, when he explained a bit of the techno-wizardry which powers the game's internal servers. Yesterday, we got a chance to speak with Van Slyke once more -- this time about the pressures associated with developing a game of this (forgive the pun) magnitude, whether the game's rigorous beta testing paid off, and how one of MAG's three factions has evolved into an unstoppable victory machine. Joystiq: When did Zipper Interactive decide on making a multiplayer game with 256 players? None of your studio's earlier games are nearly that large in scope – what kind of factors led to that decision? Alan Van Slyke: Well, I think that specific number actually came more from design than it was just an arbitrary number -- but definitely the early thinking was we want to build something big. %Gallery-51370%
MAG designed to be a 'platform,' balancing patches coming soon
We recently got a chance to speak with Zipper Interactive's Alan Van Slyke, who produced the company's recently released multi-multi-multiplayer FPS, MAG. When asked about ongoing support for the title, Van Slyke responded that the developer won't let the game go stale -- in fact, he explained that Zipper sees MAG as a platform on which new content can be added in the future. Van Slyke explained, "we made a big investment, we had a lot of learning, we built a lot of tech, and we have this awesome multiplayer platform that we can build upon and add new gametypes to." He later added, "the possibilities are endless for us, and in many ways, even though we just released the game, looking forward for us is super exciting, knowing what we can do with the engine we have today." The producer also addressed concerns many players have had with balancing issues -- particularly that the ragtag S.V.E.R. faction is far too overpowered. "It's something we're definitely aware of, and we've already got a number of fixes in the pipe. We're definitely committed to making sure all the maps, factions and gear is perfectly balanced." For more information on MAG's past, present and future, check out our full interview with Van Slyke when it goes live tomorrow afternoon.
