Interview to homelanfed of 12.02.2003

Interview of Joel Huenink to HomeLAN (homelanfed.com) about AMP II Engine. The interview been taken at 12th Febrary 2003.
HomeLAN was a gaming site focused on game news and providing game servers to play.
==Context==
Best known as the developers of last year's first person shooter Gore, 4D Rulers is now working on their next generation game graphics engine AMP II with their partner Slam Software. The engine will be available to developers soon and a tech demo is also scheduled for release as well. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with 4D Rulers' founder Joel Huenink to find out more about their plans for licensing the AMP II engine.
HomeLAN - When did work first begin on AMP II and what was 4D Rulers and Slam Software's goals for it?
Joel Huenink - As soon as we finished the bonus pack for Gore, work began on AMP II. The primary goal was to make the renderer state of the art so the game would be visually stunning and to take advantage of next generation hardware. The secondary goal was to improve the tools and improve the work flow. 4D's main role is to market the engine, provide front line support to licensees, training, testing and feedback so Slam can focus on coding, while we guide the direction of the product so it is easy and productive to make games with.
HomeLAN - What are the most important technical features in AMP II that you can talk about at this time?
Joel Huenink - The new renderer is obviously a huge feature. Per pixel lighting, bump mapping, stencil shadows, projection shadows, fog flares are just a few of the new features that make a big difference.
HomeLAN - How would you compare the features of AMP II to the current Unreal, LithTech and Quake III engine and to what is known about id's Doom III engine?
Joel Huenink - AMP II most resembles the upcoming Doom III engine in terms of hardware supported rendering features. Those other engines renderers are not even in the same class. In terms of editing, AMP II seems to be very close to Quake III in terms of how levels are created.
HomeLAN - Is the AMP II engine better suited for a first person shooter game or can it be modified to make things like a RPG or RTS or racing game?
Joel Huenink - The engine is capable of making any type of 3D application. Obviously it is geared towards the needs of a first or third person shooter. The only real limitations are your own programmers. The engine's API is very flexible and powerful.
HomeLAN - You are selling the AMP II engine for a relatively low fee for the full engine and even cheaper for mod makers who want to create free games and/or game demos for publishers. Why did you decided to go for this route?
Joel Huenink - For several reasons. We wanted to get the engine in the hands of a lot of people, and that meant making it affordable for mod authors and recreational game makers. One, there will be an army of mod authors who know the tools and engine intimately, which is important to a developer when they hire someone. Two, it gives small developers a great tool kit for an affordable cost. Most small developers cannot afford 250k or more for the usual commercial engine licensing fee. We just want to get the engine in a lot of peoples hands and build a nice big AMP community. The more people using it, the more improvements and features we can integrate into the engine from other peoples efforts. For instance, if an AMP user decides to write a console port or makes some fantastic feature, and they do a great job, we'll probably work a deal out with them to integrate their code into the main engine source so every AMP developer can benefit.
HomeLAN - For mod makers, will the AMP II engine be a simple download or will they have to order a CD-ROM?
Joel Huenink - A simple download.
HomeLAN - How much tech support will 4D Rulers and Slam Software offer for the AMP II engine?
Joel Huenink - We'll offer phone, email and a support forum for support. For an additional cost, we'll come to your office for 1 on 1 training.
HomeLAN - Is the engine now available for licensing?
Joel Huenink - We've offered a pre-release to some well known associates. The official release will probably be out by the time this interview is published.
HomeLAN - What new features will be put into AMP II in the coming months?
Joel Huenink - Some of the bigger goals are a physics system, per polygon collision, and real time editing.
HomeLAN - Is 4D Rulers now turning into a game engine company or do you still have plans to make new games as well with AMP II, such as a sequel to Gore?
Joel Huenink - It has always been in our business plan to market the AMP engine. We'll be making some AMP II games for sure, probably not a Gore sequel though.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about AMP II and 4D Rulers' future plans?
Joel Huenink - We're very excited about the future of AMP II and our upcoming games. It is so rewarding to work with AMP II versus anything I've ever worked with, because you can add so much detail using bump and specular maps, its amazing to see such lifelike quality in a real time game engine. In previous engines it seemed like all your hard work was washed out due to the lighting limitations. Everything is so crisp and defined, detailed, it is a game developers dream come true to be working with this technology, and I'm sure many gamers dreams or nightmares will come true playing games that look this real.
==External links==
Original link - (Web Archive)