Interviews// Interview: Jonas Møller: Lost Empire: Immortals

SPOnG: Is there much variation between the systems?

Jonas Møller: There's their temperatures. So, if it's really hot your race might not be able to live at the surface, so there can't be as many people. And then there is size of the planets – which determines how many people can live there. Then there are agricultural areas, which determine how much food you can have there. Then there are mineral concentrations...

Then there's the position relative to other systems, so if you want to have a trade system you probably want to get a cluster of systems so you can connect (them easily).

Trade routes are also simplified compared to our previous games, because we don't want the player to establish them and then remember, 'oh, I had this trade route'. It might not be optimal, they might have to change it.

So, you'll have a set of systems, and then a trade route will connect them, and then as a system builds up its trade ports you get more and more trade out of each system. And you can see them visually on the star map. You can also see your opponent's trade system – so it's also strategically important.

It's all about the strategic decisions you want the player to make. You don't want them to decide if they want to build a sewer. You want the big picture.


SPOnG: How far does the online play go?

Jonas Møller: It's the entire game, but with human players and without the storyline.


SPOnG: Do online games have to be played in one session?

Jonas Møller: Currently you have to, yeah. We might want to improve that... The game can last from a short time to a very long time, and it depends mostly on how close you shadow. That's one thing we learned from the first game, that players are close to each other it makes for a short game, even if it's a huge galaxy, 'cause there's a lot of conflict very early on. So if you start further apart, you get larger empires before you meet and more resources to battle it out.


SPOnG: Do you have any thoughts on where you'll go with the franchise next yet?

Jonas Møller: We have another game in the works that's not like this at all. So we're trying to come up with different things... That doesn't mean we won't make a new Lost Empire. It just means we like to try different things and not do the same thing over and over.

Hopefully we'll make an expansion pack for this, put some more features in, and we'll see where we end up...