What is the plot and general premise of the sequel?
Gangsters 2 remains true to the original concept of ‘Gangsters: Organized Crime’. Your main objectives are still to build a successful gang and use your power to take control and monopolize illegal activity within a city. In Gangsters 2 you will find the city of New Temperance is located alongside many others in the State of Temperance. This time your task will be to take over the entire state! Some cities will contain linked objectives forming a campaign.
What are the things that draw you to the gangster theme?
We are drawn by the richness of the subject matter, the real world aspect that allows everyone to identify with it. It is a shared perception; we have all seen gangster films or read about gangsters. Lots of us remember playing cops & gangsters when we were kids, then we probably wanted to play the cops, now we want to try our hand at being the gangsters! It’s a great form of escapism, pure and simple.
What are some of the basic and essential changes we can anticipate from the original title, and what led to their implementation?
Real-time, day and night, context sensitive orders, multiple cities, specialist skills, the family tree (these are all covered elsewhere) along with:
Muscle - Each of your gang members can be escorted by his ‘muscle’, a group of up to four hoods that will flank him while he carries out orders. If your gangster gets into a gunfight the muscle will do their best to protect him. If your gangster is on the offensive the muscle will help against your target.
Objectives - Cities will have player objectives. These will vary from broad objectives such as wipe out the opposition in any way you see fit, through to elimination of specific individuals or businesses.
Non-grid cities - City layouts have changed dramatically, the generated standard grid structure is gone. We will design cities with layouts that offer more strategic opportunities for the player. By running an event time-line in each city we will be able to create plots and objectives that are unique for each city.
Street maps - There are now several levels of magnification for the overhead view city maps. You can get a truly micro or macro view of the city. Maps have been rotated by 45° so movement of people on the overhead map matches the isometric view. Road names and city districts now appear on the maps for easier navigation.
Weapons - The weapons system for Gangsters 2 is being reworked, with more emphasis on range, rate and arc of fire. As an example a rifle will have a greater range than a machine gun; a bunch of hoods holed up in a dead end may well be able to pick off a couple of rivals with machines guns before they get in machine gun range.
We are also planning to allow bombs to be used in the streets against enemies as well as against buildings. Pistols with silencers will also be available for discreet hits!
Weapons in the hands of gangsters with special skills will be more effective. Arming your men effectively for their tasks will bring bigger rewards in Gangsters 2.
Hothouse is determined that the sequel will not be a ‘lick of paint’ but truly offer the player a new experience with more variety of game play, new features and ideas.
Why the switch to real-time?
We want to give the player more control over his gangs actions, more flexibility to respond to in-game events. Going real-time helps us to achieve this. We will still have a regular phase in the game where you can take a break and check up on city information to help make strategic decisions. We had a lot of requests to be able to give *all * orders in ‘street mode’; and this prompted the change to real-time.
A city newspaper will be published twice a day, creating a natural pause to the real-time phase. Depending on preferred style of gaming a player might spend time using the information to gauge progress and plan future actions or move straight back to the action.
Can you give us a sense of what the gameplay will be like in a real-time Gangsters universe?
It will give the player a lot more scope for opportunistic actions, enabling players to take advantage of events as they unfold. In Gangsters-II there is a greater focus on particular businesses being of strategic importance. Businesses will have an associated territory, control that business and you control its territory. The player will be able to ‘cherry-pick’ to achieve his goals and build his empire.
What are some of the current prevailing features of RTS titles that Gangsters will be approaching from a different angle? In essence, how will Gangsters 2 set itself apart from the rest of the RTS genre?
An awful lot of RTS games work solely on the basis of unit against unit, victory is measured in resolution of battle. Gangsters 2 considers money, power, influence and territory along with ‘military’ domination.
Describe your approach to the game's interface and how the user interacts with the program.
The interface for Gangsters 2 is substantially different to the original game. Orders are mostly context sensitive. Street orders are given using an intelligent cursor. For example if you select a Gangster and then select an empty parked car there are only a couple of logical options. If you own the car your gangster will get into it, If you don’t own it and it is unlocked he will attempt to steal it!
If you select a gangster in a car then select a section of road elsewhere the Gangster will drive to that location. If you select a section of pavement he will get out of the car and move to the pavement. Selecting a group of your men in a car and an enemy gangster on foot indicates your desire for a drive by shooting! Orders for buildings can be selected from a pop-up window for that particular building. Giving orders in real-time is less complex and more streamlined.
Can you elaborate on the impact a wider range of characters and management of multiple cities in Gangsters 2 will have?
There is more focus on keeping your gang alive; they are less disposable than in the original game. Some have special skills that make them valuable members of the gang.
Gangsters 2 will have a ’family tree’, an area where you can store your best gang members and take them with you to new cities. Apart from basic skills gangsters may also have specialist skills such as, safe cracker, hit man or kidnapper. These are people you should look after! Gangster skills can be increased as the game progresses.
What are some examples of some of the characters--or units--and locales?
Alongside your gang members specialist skills you will also find that specialist characters will live in the cities. These characters can be hired to do one-off crimes or employed to run your illegal businesses. Some example characters are:
Tony ‘one shot’ Falco. Tony is an expert hit man, you can hire him to make a hit and success is almost guaranteed, however his rates are extortionate. You will need to budget to use him and hope the opposition does not hire him first!
‘Florida Bob’ is an average hit man. The chances of him pulling of a hit are only about fifty percent but he is cheap, stealthy and loyal, if he gets busted he wont squeal ...
‘Inky’ Muller is the best plate engraver in Temperance. If you can hire him to run your counterfeit money operation profits will soar.
The press release for Gangsters 2 alludes to having living, breathing cities with day and night events. Can you elaborate on this?
Game time has changed for Gangsters 2, it now runs 24-7 including a night phase as well as a day phase.
At night there will be fewer civilians on the streets, this means a higher concentration of the people who are around will be FBI, police and enemy gangsters!
Darkness offers natural cover for your men, stealth is increased, and unless they are in well-lit areas will only be visible to others from much shorter distances than during the day.
Crime types and probability of success change from day to night. Banks can have their safes blown at night, but a straight stickup is a daytime operation.
In Gangsters 2 people will travel from home to their places of work businesses will open and close according to the time of day.
The original Gangsters drew criticism for having a steep learning curve hindered by the absence of a comprehensive manual. Will the sequel be more thoroughly documented and user friendly?
Gangsters 2 will have better documentation, better tutorials, an on screen adviser and help. Gangsters 2 will be less complicated, having context sensitive orders along with an intelligent mouse cursor, and together these will produce an easier learning curve. We have listened to customer feedback.
The original had comparatively modest levels of violence. Are you planning the same tone for the sequel?
There are no plans to substantially increase violence for Gangsters 2. The game is about gaining power, influence, territory and control. Violent crime can play a big part in achieving your objectives but violence is not the main focus of the game.
What changes have been made to the graphics?
The display engine for Gangsters 2 has been completely rewritten. Although many won’t have realized it Gangsters was in 256 colours. The new engine supports 16bit colour and more detailed people and diverse buildings. Motion capture data has been used to animate game characters; there will be a marked improvement to the city and its inhabitants.
Where is Gangsters 2 in its development cycle?
The main engine is up and running, next comes city and scenario design, The current production schedule runs through to the end of January 2001.
-Informant source, Gangsters2 Web site, Hothouse Creations.