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GameSpot recently spoke with Lemon Interactive's Adrian Chmielarz, the project director for the company's upcoming 3D real-time strategy game, Starmageddon. In the interview, Chmielarz discusses a variety of topics, including the game's storyline, its 3D engine, and some of its unique features. The company also sent us some new screenshots from the game showing the latest version of the game interface as well as the first look at the engine trails that will appear in the game.

GameSpot: First, tell us a little about the history of Starmageddon. When did development begin at Coda, and how did the game begin development at Lemon Interactive?

Adrian Chmielarz: After I left Metropolis, I also left developing for about a year. Meanwhile, I noticed a shooter called Genocide and was surprised it turned out to be made by a few guys (who called themselves We Open Eyes) from my very own country. I suggested that they were wasting their potential, because it didn't matter that their 3D space shooter had excellent code and amazing visuals--it represented a genre long dead on PC. Luckily, they agreed and decided to do 3D RTS. Of course, they had to throw away most of the game, but some things could be recycled--like ships or general 3D engine code.

Another year has passed and I got back into development at Coda, now Lemon Interactive. I contacted them to see what's happening with the project, but, you know, I was thinking: "It's not gonna work, they apparently don't know much about the games market, and it's their first game." Deep inside, I suspected they started work on RTS, because they were en vogue on PC. But I was very wrong. What I saw was well thought out and created with love. Those guys really understand what makes a good RTS and what makes a bad RTS. The rest is simple: Lemon got excited and we signed a deal. I try to do my best there, codesigning (for example, writing the storyline) and producing. But it really must be noted that Starmageddon is a team effort.

GS: How many people are on the development team, and what are some of the other projects they have worked on?

AC: We have four programmers, three graphic artists, a musician, a special effects engineer, and a designer, so the core team is 10 people. There are also some people helping out on the project, but not directly involved in everyday work (like someone who does sound mastering, actors, etc).

For most people, it's the first commercial game project, although everyone is experienced and skilled; for example, We Open Eyes released a couple of impressive tech demos and worked on nongame commercial stuff. I guess I have to mention myself, because I've already been designing and producing games for nine years. The biggest hit I designed and coproduced was Odium (released in US by Monolith/Interplay; in Europe, it was known as Gorky 17).

GS: Starmageddon has been described as "Homeworld meets Red Alert 2." What are some of the challenges involved in making a 3D strategy game as easy to play as a 2D game? How have the game designers accomplished this?

AC: There are two really great challenges. The first one is that people generally easily get lost in 3D. Nowadays, everyone runs in Quake or Unreal like it's their second skin, but the beginnings were hard. So the first problem to solve is to assure that the player never, I repeat, never gets lost in space. He always has to know where he is, and if he wants to fly somewhere, he executes it without thinking. In other words, the user interface has to be transparent. And I think we have something like this, and I really expect it to be copied in other games.

The second challenge is that, well, space is empty. Imagine a Red Alert map with no obstacles. Just you in one corner and the enemy in another. That would obviously be incredibly boring. That's why our space is alive. Not just the asteroid fields, but also warpgates linking up to three battle planes, force fields, and such. Also, the unit design is slightly different than in 2D RTS. It's not soldier, bigger soldier, even bigger soldier, etc., but soldier with this specialty, soldier with a different one, etc. So when you create a group, it's wise to choose a couple of different units, which complement each other in various ways.