There�"s been few games in the action genre that provide hardcore (and casual) gamers a common thread of innovation, balance, and intensity. S2, however, developed a game that transcended the typified role of an online, multiplayer action game. The name of the game was Savage; a first or third-person RTS action game that allowed for resource management, building, and some good old fashioned melee combat. And while S2 Games is currently hard at work on the impressive looking sequel, Marc DeForest, co founder and lead designer at S2, found enough time to answer some questions for Game Tunnel regarding the original Savage.

[William Usher] How long was the original Savage in development?

Marc: Savage 1 was in development for approx. 30 months.

The concept for this game is by far one of the coolest, in recent memory. How did you come up with the idea to mix first and third-person action gaming, and real-time strategy?

Marc: I was a huge fan of Allegiance, Counter Strike, and Warcraft. My thought was imagine a game where someone was the “boss” like in a tradition RTS and his “troops” played a traditional FPS.

Console games are way off from having any titles as unique as Savage or Savage 2. Have any console specific publishers approached S2 about porting Savage or Savage 2 over to the consoles?

Marc: We have been approached by many different companies to do many different things. Our passion as gamers comes from playing PC games and for now we plan to focus on that market. I think it is especially important considering the downsizing of that market.

With the market constantly streaming on movie-to-game sequels and re-hashed military shooters, how do you think Savage affects the market? And do you think if a game fits into a specific niche, it helps or hinders its overall success?

Marc: Savage is much like a medieval fantasy game. I don�"t think Savage based upon it setting really did anything for the market. I do think it affected the market in terms of showing a stand alone FPS / RTS commercial game but lacking our reporting of online sales didn�"t really grasp any attention (good for S2 Games and Savage 2).

The fact that Savage 2 does not have a specific niche may hurt it, but I think in the long run it will prove to be one of the reasons it soars to success.

How far do you plan to take the Savage game model...will the game stop at Savage 2? Or does the team have plans to expand the game beyond a sequel?

Marc: We have some expansion plans for the Savage series and S2�"s unique approach to game play, development, and distribution. However, it is baby steps at first. Let�"s get Savage 2 to market and go from there.

Gameplay wise, Savage does a lot of things better than many AAA, super-hyped titles. How did you manage to even out the gameplay with so many different elements, without it being anywhere near as lacking, glitchy, or spotty as other games?

Marc: Savage was actually rushed to market and a lot of additional polish we intended to put in the game didn�"t make it. However, because of the strong initial direction, the game did move in a fairly straight line in its initial development which gave us a good footing to stand on. The great thing about hype is it does help a game initially, but ultimately it�"s the addictiveness of gameplay that truly sells a game. Savage went largely unknown because we didn�"t have initial hype (first time developer, first time publisher) but we think Savage 2 will remedy that problem.

What part of Savage did you enjoy designing the most, the RTS or the FPS aspects? And how difficult was it to seamlessly have both parts of the game to work cohesively, where players could go from commander mode to the battle mode?

Marc: I looked at it as the overall picture. It was never just making RTS elements or FPS elements. It was always how the 2 interacted together. Designing the 2 together was actually pretty simple if you kept your eye on the goal of their seamless interaction.

With Savage 2's Beta coming soon, will there be a single-player mode or offline tutorial mode for Savage 2?

Marc: There is both an offline tutorial and practice mode.

Will Savage 2 still support user mods?

Marc: We will distribute the SDK for the K2 engine and allow full modifications. We will, however, not allow any minor alteration to the gameplay settings of Savage 2 itself as that makes for major alterations to user�"s experiences which could negatively affect the image of Savage 2.

Any final comments for fans in the gaming community?

Marc: Look for Savage 2 to come to the market in early 2007. We�"re excited to bring what we feel will be one of the most innovative games to market in the last decade. Also, thank you so much to our community, which so actively and persistently supports us!