Guests:

• Dan Houser, Rockstar Minister of Information - US
• Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games (the man, the legend!) - US
  
• Jeff Castaneda, Rockstar Public Relations Manager - US
• James Ellingford, Managing Director and Marketing Mgr of Directsoft - AU
• Colin Macdonald, Producer at DMA Design - UK
• Brian Baird, Programmer at DMA Design - UK
• Gary Penn, Creative Manager at DMA Design- UK
  

Question:
The October 22nd release date is pleasing, but will the game actually be in my local store on that day?

Gary:
Both PC and PSX versions are finished and in test.. ...so there's no obvious reason why either one should fail to hit the street date.

Question:
Why was it decided to set GTA2 in a more futuristic and fictional setting rather than the present-day and easily identifiable cities of GTA?

Gary:
San, Yup. Setting GTA2 slightly in the future gives us more scope to mess around with different ideas, eg: some of the weapons.  It's not so much a futuristic setting as a step to the side - a choice of style. Given the intense criminal nature of the city environment a darker, bleaker setting seemed more appropriate..

Question:
I thought the flash 'trailer' for GTA2 was extremely cool, but it is very UK-centric with all those pommy voices on the radio. Will you be doing something similar for the AU market, i don't recall there being such an uproar over here?

?:
The Marketing campaign that we will be doing in Australia is very Australian and all done locally.

Question:
What on-line support will there be for GTA 2?

Gary:
We will be providing on-line support for as many different aspects of GTA2 as we can possibly manage...

Colin:
There's up to 6 players, with three types of games - frag, tag and blag (points game...  We're playing around with the multiplayer maps at the moment, but we're expecting... to have the main maps converted to multiplayer maps, as well as specific multiplay only maps

Question:
What are your reactions to the common view that the cars are too generic?

Gary:
Too generic as in they all look the same?  Many of the GTA vehicles look similar at first; play with them a while and the distinctions become more apparent.

Dan:
Too generic? They seem very stylized and specific to me.

Question:
Will there be any Editor with GTA2?

Sam:
We will support the on-line 'modification' community after the launch of the game...

Gary:
GTA2 has been written from the ground up with convenience of modification very much in mind.

Question:
How many levels/mission and how many cars will be in the full product of GTA2?

Sam:
75 actual missions, and plenty of secret stuff...

Colin:
There are three main levels - Downtown, Residential and Industrial, as well as nine bonus levels, and 68 vehicles.

Question:
Will there be docs released on how to edit gta2?

Gary:
Support for modifying GTA2 will be released as necessary.

Dan:
The community doesn't seem to need our help, given their successes with the first game.

Gary:
Very much enjoyed and appreciated all the effort put into modifying GTA...

Colin:
The docs we've used in development are suitable for release - it's down to Take2 when/if they're released.

Question:
How do you expect the press to react to the full release of GTA2, considering their reactions to the original?

Sam:
The original turned heads through controversy, and then captured minds through gameplay...  I would imagine this will have some kind of similar reaction - but now it just plain notorious

James:
The press will react very well to GTA2 and are keen to see the finished product...we have so far been given great coverage and expect that to continue.

Dan:
I think the press will be less excited by the so-called controversy, and will judge the game on it's excellent gameplay.

Question:
Do you see Driver, which will be released before GTA2, as your biggest competition or something else?

Gary:
Driver is about driving. GTA - and GTA2 - are about being given the scope to mess around in a full-blown city environment.

Question:
I've read rumours of not including blood in the game to get around the censors. How do they have a case after games such as Kingpin which are more realistic?

Brian:
Kingpin's PC only - they don't have to take into consideration the Playstation market.

Gary:
Kingpin's very in-yer-face....GTA and GTA2 deliberately puts distance between the player and toy set... o the player is left to use more imagination; consequently the overall effect is more powerful.

Sam:
The censors have always been concerned by the 'realism' of GTA... not the blood - the actual world... Kingpin is violent - but still more 'fantasy'

Dan:
Kingpin never made front page news, so it isn't used as a test case by the censors.

Question:
Will the police work in multiplayer?

Gary:
yes

Sam:
YES!

Brian:
Oh yes. It adds a lot of fun dealing with them and your opponents.

Gary:
The addition of Cops in the multiplayer arena makes for a VERY different challenge>

Question:
why all the big publicity stunts before releasing the game?

James:
There have been no BIG publicity stunts yet........ Gta2 , deserves sooo much more.

Gary:
It's important to catch people's attention; we can't be complacent and rely on the name alone.

Sam:
I am sure tha James will have some fun up his sleeve...

Question:
Where did the word 'Gouranga' come from in GTA1?

Colin:
Gouranga is a catch-phrase of the Krishna Consciousness, if you go to their... web site you'll see "Say Gouranga Be Happy"....all over the place.

Gary:
Krishna. 'Gouranga' means 'Be Happy' and is used extensively by the Hare Krishna community... We liked the irony of running down a line of Krishna to be rewarded by the statement Gouranga.

Question:
you seem to be avoiding the one question everyone is burning to ask: what has been done to improve multiplayer gameplay in gta2?

Colin:
GTA is inherently not set up for multiplay - there are hundreds of people, cars, bullets... etc flying around at once. With Quake you only have to track a couple of dozen items/people at once, whereas we're tracking much much more. We've played around with various... methods - client/server etc, but the method used in the original is about the fastest possible... There is a speed increase because the game has been far better written, and with multiplay in mind, so it's going to be a lot more fun than the original, but people shouldn't get their hopes up about running super-fast games with dozens of people...it's just not possible!

Jeff:
You have to deal with the other players, the city, the police... the "living, breathing" city isn't safe but it's a lot of fun.

Question:
I assume this is a game designed for adults, will you be doing similar things that was done for Kinpin in the US, like encouraging stores to card people to ensure they are not underage?

Sam:
I think the stores are already supposed to do that...  That's why we have a ratings system :)

Jeff:
The game has the proper ratings when it releases in the us

Question:
What weapons can you collect? Also, regarding multiplay problems, So? Take some of the cars and people out then....If they can do it in UO (or Everquest), you can do it in GTA.....

Gary:
It's a question of playability... The player gets used to a fast-paced solo experience...

Jeff:
Uzi Machine guns, flame throwers, grenades, tazers, molotov cocktails, shotguns,pistols

Brian:
Everquest works on a different scale & speed to GTA2

Dan:
And GTA2 has a much faster pace than the original

Question:
can you guys explain why a timelimit was imposed on the demo?

Dan:
Because we wanted to give people a taste, but no more, of what they could expect in the final game.  There are lots of aspects of gameplay missing the demo, but you still get a glimpse at the potential of the final game.

Question:
How come the cars are so difficult to control in GTA2? The police cars are impossible to control, they keep skidding all over the place. In GTA1 they were fast, but easier to control.

Gary:
The Cop Cars aren't supposed to be easy to control... It takes practice.

Dan:
The advantage of them being harder to control is that they are more responsive - there is more of a learning curve, but more potential for the talented player.

Sam:
There is MORE variety in control.

Gary:
The increased variety in control does encourage players to drive too fast...  But players don't have to drive recklessly; they can drive like old ladies...  Or they can learn how to drive like a psychopath. We wanted to increase the distinction.  Part of the fun in GTA2 is that it doesn't matter if you end up trashing one vehicle... You can always steal another.

Jeff:
Definitely more responsive - it's just a matter of being able to utilize the controls and braking system. but who wants to drive like an old lady anyway?

Dan:
GTA2 is all about stupid driving and insane stunts.

Question:
Will there be an active ingame map???? It really bugs when you can't find car crusher or paintshop?

Gary:
An active in-game map simply wasn't practical. That said - as Dan says - part of the experience is learning the city.

Dan:
Part of the experience is learning the city.

Jeff:
Car thieves never drive around with a map do they?

Question:
Why was the game not released for N64?

Sam:
Nintendo have much stricter rules about what you can & can't publish on their system... Also their audience tends to sku a little younger - more of a 'toy'... Whereas PSX & PC cater for more 'mature' audience.

Question:
What is your opinion of the GTA/GTA2 community? Did you ever think GTA would remain popular for so long when you initially released it and do you think GTA2 will be as popular?

Gary:
We felt that we were on to something because we were still enjoying playing GTA even after its completion... But we never expected it to appeal so strongly for so long.

Jeff:
the GTA/GTA2 community is a pure "gaming" community.. one that wants true depth and gameplay in their gaming experiences

Sam:
A lot of the lasting appeal is because of the on-line community, who have continued to modify and work with the original

Dan:
We hope GTA2 will be as popular - obviously - and really value the GTA community, as I think we have shown over the past few months... By giving them news and info much sooner than the "real" press.

Gary:
The 'pure gaming community' Jeff mentions reflects the 'purity' of GTA.

Dan:
And publisher, developer and community with gta has been good, and we will keep it so over the coming months.

Question:
Have you got as many cheats in GTA2 as GTA?

Gary:
Cheats as in recognition of quirky player performance? Or cheats such as NINEINAROW and IAMGARYPENN? :)

Colin:
Oh yes, plenty of type-your-name-in cheats - people will definitely *not* be disappointed.

Brian:
I've just been doing some cheats like the first. And there's plenty there!

Question:
The cars are really realistic, I really like that. But the thing which I think is a bit strange, when you crash in a car real fast you get launched away like BONK. That isn't really realistic is it, I like it but I was wondering why.

Gary:
It's dramatic realism.  Certain aspects are exaggerated to make the interaction all the more extreme.

Jeff:
Exactly... if you totally wrecked your car... it would slow down gameplay...  it's done to keep the action and a fast pace

Dan:
Like in karate films when they punch each other and it sounds like people hitting metal... just more spectacular.

Gary:
Or stopping vehicles dead - that made play too stilted.

Dan:
And who wants to play a game trapped against a wall?!

Gary:
Just like the little people being blown 'out' of the screen.

Question:
How long did it take to make GTA2?

Gary:
We started designing GTA2 in October 1997.  But we'd been thinking nonstop about all sorts of possibilities even while we were finishing off GTA.

Colin:
Started with a 6 man team, but it's grown somewhat since then...;)

Question:
lots of games are released these days with poor QA. What quality of product do you feel you will be delivering? or is the time pressure on games these days meaning there's nothing you can do but release buggy code and patch it later?

Colin:
In the QA process, we have various classes of bugs - an "A" is a crash, "B" is serious and "C" is non-serious. We expect to ship the game with no A's or B's.  And as few C's as humanly possible!! :)

Brian:
At DMA, we do our utmost to make the game as bugfree as possible. GTA's difficult to test because there's just so much going on in the city - so much freedom to cause chaos.

Dan:
As a publisher we do our utmost to ensure FINAL games are as bug free as possible - however given the ever-changing hardware for the PC market, this isn't always as easy to achieve, or even possible, so we will provide full support after the game is released. It is incredibly difficult to test, because of the limitless variety in situations.