FAQ

Finally we managed to put together the most recent questions on "The Y-Project" in this FAQ here. You could just read through it on our site, or download it as a Adobefile or just Word-document. If you got any further questions, do not hesitate to ask them in our notice-board https://y-pro.net/html/forum in english or german language.


Downloads of "The Y-Project" FAQ:

Download the PDF File here

Download the Word File here

Complete FAQ "The Y-Project"

What does the title "The Y-Project" means in the context of the game?

Its the name of a nearly forgotten experiment onboard the spaceship which brought the humans to the planet. The action takes place several years later.

What's the basic premise or concept of the game? What are the major underlying themes or conflicts? ?

"The Y-Project" will feature FPS and adventure game elements along with some role-playing element. For the most part, the game will be a double-agent story: At the beginning of each chapter and at several crucial points in the game you have to decide which of the two sides in the game you want to play for: the scientists or the military. The basic concept behind this structure is that you as player should decide if you want to get more strategic tools and weapons or greater firepower and different tools. But not only at these points of decision can you actively change the way the game develops, also the way you go about your tasks has direct impact on how your weapons and your abilities to use the weapons develop. ?Basically: Define your own unique way of playing through "]The Y-Project".

Could you tell us about the story behind the game - what could we expect?

The game takes place in a unique science fiction fantasy setting 200 years in the future. 70 years before the game begins, humans on board a large spaceship land on a peaceful, foreign planet. The humans begin settling the planet and the development proceeds quickly. However, before the landing, a mutant type of insect was accidentally created in a laboratory on the spaceship in a genetic experiment. At the time of the landing, this insect escaped and proceeded to develop a culture consisting of an enormous number of hostile, giant mutated insects. Due to the insects, the humans were after some time forced, for their own protection, to move into one huge, monolithic city under a glass dome. ?At the beginning of the game (70 years after landing), the giant glass dome over a monolithic city has been destroyed. Massive insects have entered the city and most of the inhabitants have been killed, leaving chaos and destruction in place of peace and prosperity.

You[??180??]re caught in the middle of this mess. The insects are ugly, they are big, there are lots of them and they are hostile. The insects have taken over the colony. The scientists and the military surviving fractions blame each other for what happened. You interact with the various remaining fractions in the city, the military, the scientists and the underground gangs, in order to solve the big riddle. To find the truth, defeat the insects and save the human colony is the task that you have been given in "The Y-Project".

Are you going to tell us the background story throughout the game or there will be cut scenes, too? If yes, do you intend to use pre-rendered movies or the game's own engine?

We are using the engine for cut scenes. For us a seamless transition between cut scenes and in-game graphics is rather important. So after the work on the plot was completed, we began together with experienced stage directors to design storyboards for the cut scenes. We[??180??]ll be able to bring a much more movie-like flair to our in-game cinematics. The players will be right in the middle of the action as events unfold, getting deeper and deeper into the story - just like in a Hollywood movie!

Will "The Y-Project" include scripted events for advancing the plot? ?

Sure, crucial developments and events will be told through extensive in game cut scenes and scripted events.

Will the hero of this game end up fighting anyone else besides these insects?

This depends on your behaviour during the game! But at the end you should team up with one of the main factions...

Please describe the games world, the range of different locations it contains, and how will it differ from other action game settings. ? ? ? ?

3/4 of the game will take place inside the colony[??180??]s gigantic glass dome. You can look forward to many stunning scenarios such as the town council, the museum, storage areas etc. Outdoor scenarios include a mine and many other interesting locations. As already mentioned, having a mix of hardcore and non-gamers on the team is really something the game benefits from. When it is your job to bring a unique and visually innovative environment to life, there is nothing quite like involving people who have actually designed and built things in real life like houses or shopping centres. Thus, our levels won[??180??]t look like just another Unreal MOD but a designed new futuristic virtual reality.

Will there be both indoor and outdoor environments? Will we actually get to go outside of the city in which most of the action seems to take place?

75 % of the game will take place inside the remains of the glass dome, which used to cover the human colony before the insect invasion. The remaining 25% will take you to locations outside of the dome. You can look forward to stunning scenarios such as the casino complex, town council, the museum, storage areas etc. Outdoor scenarios will include an old abandoned mine and others.

How is the game structured? You play it through from level to level or from a quest to another? Are there any sub-quests?

The game will consist of five chapters and approx. fifty quests. You have to fulfil the main given assignment to be able to proceed to the next chapter.

There will be three types of quests:

Main quest = the goal of a chapter
Example: Find a bug, which looks like an insect from Earth.

Sub quest = May (but not necessarily) help the player to solving the main quest
Example: Rescue a museum employee (to get a fire extinguisher which will help you opening another way to the insect from Earth)

Fun quest = Not relevant for the main storyline, but fun to solve (may yield additional goods and pieces of information)
Example: Go gambling in a casino to get 10.000 energy units for the Cyberpunk leader. Once you complete the quest a secret door will open in the casino. Now you may play the slot machine whenever you feel like it.

Depending on your choice your weapons and tools the mission objectives will vary. Each side has its pros and cons. You decide which risk taking and how to solve the mystery behind "The Y-Project".

What are your major considerations in the areas of mission design? ?How many missions will there be, and how varied will they be? ?

The game will be divided into five chapters with a total of approx. fifty quests. The main quests will set the tone for a chapter: It is what you will have to do to move to the next chapter. However, it is entirely up to you how you move through a chapter location or level; you are in full control of your game play experience. Our mission and level designers make sure the levels will offer players many incentives to let themselves get carried away by simply exploring the huge city with its many locations. After all, the game is all about creating a believable environment for people to explore and enjoy. There will be a vast variety of sub quests to keep players involved, from rescuing people to finding a way through a blocked passageway, from getting access to secret areas to gathering information on the mutant insects. Simply help the humans to survive.

How often will you be able to change sides?

Each of the five chapters will have points at which you may choose sides. The closer you get to completing a chapter, the fewer the opportunities for switching sides will become.

Obviously this game is going to have a lot of replay value because of the plot and the two groups attempting to recruit you. How many different endings do you have planned?

Both sides have the same aims: Save humanity and get rid of the insects. In that respect, the players mission is the same, no matter which side they choose. Still, the means of reaching your aims are different, so it is not as simple as having two linear ways through the story instead of one. So there will be different endings! Two of the main features of ?"The Y-Project" will be freedom of choice and freedom of movement. It is up to you to decide what is right, whom you trust and which way to go!

How many weapons are we going to have while playing through?
(Is it a fixed number or are we able to develop them?)

"The Y-Project" will feature 16 different weapons, while many of them will be heavily upgradeable. So the total amount of different possibilities will be much bigger! Depending on your decisions while playing the game you will be able to get 10 out of the 16 weapons. We have a real cool upgrade system for our weapons which will make sure that - if you wish so - you could even play the whole game with very few weapons if you specialise in getting more heavy upgrade modules. These modules are fully visible in 1st person view and are changing much more then only some digits on the damage value. They even fully transform the weapon into something new if upgraded to their maximum!

Will the hero of this game end up fighting anyone else besides these insects?

This depends on your behaviour during the game! But at the end you should team up with one of the main factions...

What about a Multiplayer and will "The Y-Project" offer any support for the mod community that likes to create original skins, custom levels etc.?

We are already getting a lot of valuable feedback from the Unreal community. So, of course, we would love to provide "The Y-Project" community with the tools to start creating their own stuff. We have a lot of trust in the creativity, enthusiasm and imagination of our community, which is why we will support them as much as we can. The same applies for our thoughts concerning a multiplayer mode. But these issues need to be discussed with the publisher, before we could say any word about this!

What might be interesting to the community out there is our very unique Layer enhancement for the Y-Editor. It gives the community much more freedom in creating location based virtual realities witch could dramatically change after each revisit.

What engine uses "The Y-Project"?

We are using a heavily modified Unreal Engine (latest build).

Will "The Y-Project" be released on a console? Which?

Answering the platform question is entirely up to the publisher. It is not really our choice which platform to support. The Xbox would be a natural choice. We also would like to do a Gamecube version as well and a PS2 version would be imaginable.

What is the scheduled release date for "The Y-Project "?

The game is scheduled for a Q2 2003 release.

What are the system requirements for "The Y-Project"?

Minimum requirements are:
Intel Pentium 3 or AMD Athlon with 733 MHZ (1,4 GHZ recommended)
128 MB RAM (256 MB RAM recommended)
DirectX 8.1 running on Win 98 - WinME - Win2K - WinXP
GeForce 2 MX, Radeon 7500, GeForce 4 MX - all with 32 MB onboard memory
(GeForce 2 / 5 or Radeon 8500 / 9700 with 64 or 128 MB recommended)
Fully Windows compatible sound system

Note:
The GPU is more speed and quality relevant then the CPU!!!

Recently we got worrying news that Westka owners has gone bankrupt. How deep does it affect your company or the game?

To be honest it has effects actually! But we are confident that we got all raised problems out of the world within the next weeks so that the impact on the game itself should be minimal.