Maia - Simon Roth Interview: "The complexity of the game is insane"
1We talk to developer Simon Roth about the challenges of colonising a distant planet.
This interview is an older one and almost got missed, but it's very interesting and well worth a watch if you're into management sims and/or sci-fi strategy. During our chat with developer Simon Roth we find out more about the level of simulation in Maia, and a discover a bit about the game's influences.
"It's a space colony management sim. If you need to compare it to other games it's a mash-up somewhere between The Sims, Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress. It's got the management and the UI of Dungeon Keeper, but it's got the crazy simulation and depth that you'd want from a game like Dwarf Fortress."
Roth continued: "You're colonising an alien planet, and the world that you're inhabiting is incredibly hostile. It's hard sci-fi so we're using real science, a real planet that's actually been discovered based on the science that we to calculate where it would be. And we're basically making what is an incredibly intense simulator. Every little bit of grass on the ground is growing based on the sunlight that hits it and the rain. Every colonist in your colony is a fully simulated human being down to their heart-rate and what's going on in their mind. We're kind of simulating emotions and things like this. The complexity of the game is insane, but at the same time I'm trying to keep it as accessible as possible."
We played the game earlier this year (you can read our thoughts here: http://www.gamereactor.eu/previews/107334/Maia+-+Indie+Seen/), and development continues via Early Access (version 0.45 was released on Steam earlier this month - if you watch the interview you'll notice that this means the game is little bit behind schedule).
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