Although Amiga developers Digital Images have yet to release a game, their forthcoming titles are looking very promising. Not only are they bringing Psygnosis' hit PlayStation and PC game Wipeout 2097 to the Amiga, but they are developing highly original titles such as Space Station 3000 (previewed last issue).

You have decided that, after SS3000, all Digital Images games will be PPC-only. Why did you decide to take this route when there are still relatively few PPC machines owned?

Many people are not willing to invest any money in a PPC board until software appears which will support them. We want to support the PPC boards and help to increase the sales of these. The 680x0 processors are very old now and really aren't up to modern games. There is also the possibility of a PPC port of Space Station 3000, a patch of which would be uploaded to Aminet etc.

The Amiga used to be a relatively safe computer to own, in that you could play all the latest games without having to upgrade every 6 months, but lately the platform has begun to go the way of the PC, which is worrying a lot of people. What do you think about this situation?

As I see it, the reason for people constantly upgrading is so that they can use the latest software. If new hardware is released that is more powerful than something else, developers will want to support it to make sure that their software is of a high quality. The market is moving quickly. If you are happy as you are with a 680x0 and AGA, then fine. Nobody is forcing you to upgrade. If you want to see the best games, then you need better hardware.

You have also said that you will be developing games for the next generation of Amiga computers once the OS5 development kit becomes available. Will these just be enhanced versions of your 68k and PPC games, or will they be original titles?

They will be original titles.

Is it true that someone wants to do a PC version of SS3000?

There are several people who want to port Space Station 3000 (although they will not be disclosed until a deal is signed with them). We would like a PC version of Space Station 3000 as it will help us to fund our Amiga projects.

Games currently in development
Wipeout 2097 is a futuristic racer, which was first released on the PlayStation by Psygnosis. The Amiga version should have much improved graphics and many new features.	Space Station 3000 is an original space combat/trading game, which incorporates 3D space graphics and a Doom style section of the game when boarding enemy ships. It should be released in April.
Kijitsu Warriors is a 3D beat'em up, which is still quite a long way off, but should include some very innovative features.	Digital Soccer is a 3D football game, which is even further off, but will also have lots of new features not seen in football games before.

There has been next to no innovation in football and beat-em-up games for years. One of the few noticeable changes being graphical only - the move from 2D to 3D. However, your forthcoming games Digital Soccer and Kijitsu Warriors are touted as a redefinition of their respective genres. What more can be added to these types of games?

There are many different things that can be added (although I cannot disclose these details at the moment). Even a change in the way a game is controlled can change the whole thing and can transform a game. It's like the difference between Wipeout 2097 and F1 '97.

Will Kijitsu Warriors have a run-of-the-mill, utterly tosh plot, or will that be innovative as well?

There is a small 'joke' on our website about the plot, but it has a description of the plot. Take a look at www.digital-images.demon.co.uk.

What exactly is GoAD, the Gathering of Amiga Developers?

GoAD is a mailing list for developers to join so that they can speak to other Amiga developers. From GoAD, you can help each other with problems, you can find new people for your development team and discuss development ideas in general. To subscribe, just e-mail goad-subscribe@egroups.com.

Last year Digital Images took the unusual step of starting a club. What is the club for and when can people start joining?

The club is something where we bring Amiga users together via a large database. From there, Amiga owners can find names, e-mail addresses and interests of other Amiga owners so that they can get in touch with them. Things like this make the Amiga a real community of people who care about a platform, unlike the PC. People can start joining now. To join, just e-mail di-club@egroups.com with your name, e-mail address, system and interests.

You have a very large team, especially for an Amiga company. Exactly how many people work for Digital Images, and what do they all do?

There are 22 people working with/for Digital Images. This includes 13 programmers, 2 graphics artists, 1 animator, 1 webmaster, 6 translators (for translating our games into other languages), 1 musician and someone who is in charge of ideas as well as myself (some people do 2 jobs which is why the numbers don't add up properly). I basically look after everything, work deals out with companies etc.

How did you manage to get so many people working for you?

When Digital Images announced itself to the Amiga community around a year ago, the company was just me on my own. As we announced our games and various plans, other people became interested and got in touch with me. From there, Digital Images began to get more people working on the games. Most of the people are paid via royalties at the moment until we start releasing some of our titles.

Do you think it would have been better to work as a smaller company to start with?

Definitely not. Because we are a big company, we can work on more ideas and get projects completed in better time. We just need one or two people to look after each project to keep everyone on track and keep everything together.

You seem to be a very innovative company, what with support for PPC, 3D graphics cards and the next generation of Amigas. Will you be looking into the development of games specially designed for DVD?

DVD is the next step which we will be working for when the AmigaNG is released. It is doubtful that DVD will be released for current Amiga's, but they will play a big part in the AmigaNG. With DVD, we can have larger, better quality FMV's, more, CD quality sound effects and photo-realistic graphics. We want to push AmigaNG to the limits upon its release!

We reported last issue that you were trying to acquire the rights to port Quake 2 to the Amiga, but now you are considering a port of Sierra's excellent game Half Life instead. How likely is this port?

We are talking with Sierra again. I am waiting for the final decision from Sierra now.

Latest News from Digital Images

Sadly it has now been confirmed that Sierra have said no to an Amiga version of Half Life. This does not mean that they will be going back to bringing Quake 2 to the Amiga, though, as this has been said to be too widely pirated. They will be looking into another project to replace this one, but there is no news on this yet. Stuart has also told us that their planned Syndicate style game has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond his control.

You are currently in the process of porting Psygnosis' game Wipeout 2097 to the AmigaPPC. How supportive have Psygnosis been to you?

Psygnosis have been excellent. They have helped us all the way throughout the project and still are continuing to do so.

There have been rumours that the Amiga version of Wipeout 2097 will feature a track editor, as well as several other enhancements over the PC and PlayStation versions. Can you tell us anything about these additions?

There isn't much I can tell you about these at the moment, but they will allow the player to create their own tracks as well as their own ships. A program such as Lightwave will almost certainly be necessary to create the objects for the game.

You have also considered converting Psygnosis' highly successful F1 '97 for the Amiga. Is this still likely, and would it be updated for the '99 season?

I would very much like to port this, but we are porting games in order of popularity.

What about other games, such as Monkey Island 3?

This is a high priority game which we hope to port. I will start talking with LucasArts soon.

And what's this about a Future Gamer style web site?

This is actually part of the GoAD list. It is still being worked on, but when it is ready it will be a magazine that will be posted weekly to GoAD with tutorials, ideas, reviews and previews of serious and gaming software.

We are currently offering free advertising spaces to the first 5 people who e-mail me to request advertising information. All requests should be sent to goad-ads@digital-images.demon.co.uk.

What advice can you give to people who want to become games programmers or artists themselves? Do you think these new games development university degrees are a good idea?

If there is anyone who wishes to become a games programmer, then a course at university is a great idea as it will teach you many great things. They have lecturers who will be able to give you the kind of help that a book can't. Games development degrees are a great idea. Games development is becoming a very large part of the leisure industry and with many rapidly expanding companies looking for more staff, everything is getting very competitive right now. A good degree in the subject can make the difference between you getting the job and not.

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