Mythic Entertainment, the creator of Dark Age of Camelot, recently announced its next project--a massively multiplayer online game called Imperator. Unlike Mythic's previous games, which have generally all featured high-fantasy settings, Imperator will be a sci-fi game that takes place in an alternate future in which the Roman Republic never fell and instead remained prominent for thousands of years. For more information on this upcoming project, we checked in with Mythic Entertainment CEO Mark Jacobs.

GameSpot: Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Mark. Could you discuss your role in developing Imperator?

Mark Jacobs: I came up with the concept for Imperator, and I am currently working on the initial game design document. Over the next few months, the design team will be expanding as we expand the initial concepts into a full design.

GS: Imperator's futuristic setting seems very different from the high-fantasy games we've come to expect from Mythic. Why the change? Could you explain why you chose a futuristic version of the Roman Empire, specifically?

MJ: In creating Dark Age of Camelot, one of the things we looked for was a property that, first of all, has great brand recognition; second, was one that we could easily make into a great game; and third, wouldn't cost us an arm and two legs to use. I did the same thing for Imperator. The second reason was that we wanted to do a science-fiction game in order to go head-to-head with the folks at Sony and LucasArts. Third, I'm a huge history buff, and Roman history happens to be one of my favorite subjects.

GS: How has the Roman Empire developed during the thousands of years that lead up to Imperator? Could you give us some general background on the game's setting?

MJ: The general background is that Rome survives its transition from a republic to an empire, and then actually goes back to being a republic. With certain changes in the timeline, Rome never falls but actually continues to flourish as a major world power. There will be several other world powers, but Rome still remains at the top of the heap.

GS: What sort of characters will players be able to play as? Will players only be allowed to be Romans, or can they belong to other factions? What sort of character classes and skills will be available to them?

MJ: Players will be able to play all sorts of human and some humanoid races (all of terran origin). There will be no classes in the game, as it will be a skill-based system.

GS: How will classical Roman culture and history figure into Imperator? Will Roman characters report to the senate, or even be able to ascend to it? Can we expect to see intervention from the Roman gods, or to visit with famous historical figures (or descendents of famous figures)?

MJ: There will not be gods or goddesses in this game as anything other than mythical figures. There will be a political aspect to the game, and the senate will certainly figure into it. As far as descendents of famous figures, that's a pretty safe bet.

GS: How will Imperator's futuristic setting figure into the game? We understand that the game will take place across an entire galaxy. Can we expect to see interstellar travel? What kind of interesting roles will space-age technology play in Imperator?

MJ: There will be space flight between planets, of course. As for space-age technology, I think we are actually going to be a bit more advanced than that. Part of our challenge as designers is to create all-new and interesting intellectual property for Imperator.