Interview with Star & Star Games
The other day I did an interview with one of the Hungarian GTA modder teams, Star & Star Games, about Night Rivals, the upcoming GTA Vice City add-on. The team's name might sound familiar to some of you, since they are the ones behind the Deluxe 2 and Deluxe 3 mods, also made for Vice City.
Rider: Welcome, argo001! I'd like to ask a few questions about Night Rivals! argo001: Hi Rider! Of course! Rider: So what's it all about? Please introduce the game! argo001: Well, Night Rivals will be a mix of NFS Underground and GTA VC. Rider: How is the mod coming along, and when are you planning to release it? argo001: Our mod is progressing very nicely, we're working on it right now. As for the release... well, there's no exact date yet, but if I guess right, it will be September 2006.
Rider: What extras does the mod include? argo001: First of all, there will be a lot of extras, among them nitro (but given the style of the mod, that goes without saying). We'll place special pickups on the tracks, for example a super-strong car - it's very hard to wreck for a while, every car just "bounces off" it. There will also be nitro refill packs and other goodies. You'll be able to enter every hideout (like in San Andreas), and we'll get new garages. About 20 extra cars will be added to the game, each of them a horrible asphalt-eating monster (Mazda RX8, Honda Civic), and you can even buy them and tune them to your heart's content. Of course there are more extras, but I won't give away every surprise in advance. Rider: Will there be mission series in the game too? argo001: We're planning mostly races. Rider: As far as I know, the modification doesn't only contain new features, it also gives the game a graphical tune-up. What will the system requirements be? argo001: You're right! Don't try Night Rivals with anything under a 2 GHz Intel processor, and forget about the 1700 Celerons. It's not worth trying under an AMD XP 1700+. With nVidia FX cards (FX 5200, 5500, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900) it's advisable to turn the effects off. With an ATI Radeon 9500 it will run nicely without effects. Rider: What does the future hold for S&S Games? argo001: Several projects are running alongside NR at the moment. One of them will smuggle a lot of little things into San Andreas. Another add-on is also in the works for Vice City, namely a San Andreas conversion. And then our third project (which we're making together with the East Coast Game Designs Modder Team) promises to be the biggest challenge. I'll only tell you this much: it won't be an ordinary one! Rider: Thanks for your time! I hope we'll hear from you and your projects as soon as possible! argo001: Thank you for the opportunity! See you all!
After the interview, argo001 gave me a few exclusive screenshots, which I'm sharing with you as well.
