sh0dans.spaces.live.com is a fan blog dedicated to tracking news about Gearbox Software’s ALIENS: Colonial Marines.

Posted by ikarop: How much time will you be doing xeno-critters? Is the ACM Gbx team already focused on the game or just part? Are you just finishing the game or redoing stuff?

 

grbxdesign (Lorin Wood, senior Concept Designer on ACM): Well, first off, I am a full-time designer in-house for the company. Been here since the end of last year, though I do contract work outside of the company in my off-hours. Not sure about the official logo on my profile. I logged in via iPod last night. I'll figure it out eventually.

 

Anyway, from our Game Informer article last year you may know we had Syd Mead and Craig Mullins do some broad-stroke design and visualization, which was pretty cool. Let your imagination run wild with that. Syd's focus was to design the rest of the interior of the Sulaco that wasn't seen in the film.

 

As far as our focus, we are obviously working first to get Borderlands done, so there are still a few people polishing that off, while a nice portion are focused on Aliens, myself included. Other than that, can't say much else...yet.

 

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Posted by ME (aka awesome moderator dude): I know you said you would be answering more questions further on down the line, but I am dieing to know, which of the four ALIEN movies is your favourite?

 

grbxdesign: Well, coming from a film background I appreciate each Alien movie differently as well as each filmmaker who made them. I'm a huge Cameron fan, so obviously I love the second film, but Ridley Scott started this franchise and he's also a master filmmaker. I'm also an admirer of Fincher. Compound all of this with me being a very forgiving audience member and having an understanding of what it takes to make films like these, I have a different perspective than most and find it hard to favor one over the other. That is, unless it REALLY sucks. Like AVP, for example. At least I didn't pay for that one, but I did lose two hours of my life. The Vanilla Coke was good. See, I'm a glass-half-full kinda guy.

 

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Posted by hells highway: So,after that there will be some new screens, info? So there is a little chance to see something for A:CM this year,yeah? And Borderlands is coming in "fall 2009" right?

 

grbxdesign: Can't say for sure. That's up to the powers-that-be.

 

Borderlands is definitely coming out before years end and after that it's up to Randy and Sega to decide when they want to announce any Aliens details. That a broad enough answer for ya?

 

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Posted by Takhen: Since the beginning of the development did you do much stuff?

 

grbxdesign: Syd, Craig and some other artists were involved in the early bulk, blue-sky phase of designing this game. Gearbox needed someone with a visual style similar to Syd's at half the price. My dad is an industrial designer and I was raised on Syd's work, the project is Aliens, so it was an easy "yes" to jump on board.

My involvement, in film parlance, is more akin to a production designer. I get to dip my fingers into real conceptual design work on occasion, but for the most part, I am translating other ideas into something practical that the level designers can run with.

 

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Posted by HudSon: I have a Q, how many guys are working on this title now..?

 

grbxdesign: Can't give an exact number of people working on the game right now (the details are confidential and I'm not in a position to divulge them publicly, sorry). Suffice it to say it's in full-swing. Things are being tweaked, fixed, upgraded, what-have-you as is the normal procedure of production.

 

I'll tell you that I'm designing a hallway for a certain spaceship. There, go crazy.

 

Keep up the excitement guys. It's a fun property and I hope you all are going to enjoy it!

 

Lorin

 

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Posted by Takhen: Will the Sulaco be big?

 

grbxdesign: Yep.

 

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Posted by Dwaine: Will there be a Nostromo class ship?

 

grbxdesign: Well, no Nostromo; this is Aliens and is set solidly in that timeframe and universe...57 years after the Nostromo blew up.

 

The details are still under wraps as far as the visual and experiential elements are concerned so I can't comment upon that at the moment.

 

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Posted by Windebieste: After 8 years of modding 'AvP2', it's kinda getting old. We need a new 'ALIENS' game to frack around with. (Maybe REBELLiON's new  'AvP' will have tools released for it - it would be a pity if that game was moddable and 'A:CM' wasn't. I'd have to go and mod that game instead...) 

 

grbxdesign: As far as customization it's too early to say anything. I'm sure those conversations will happen when get further along. I'll keep you posted as that info is cool to disclose.

 

Lorin

 

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Posted by Takhen: Saying that looks like the game has a long way to be completed?

Posted by hells higway: Is the game looking better than the screenshots at this stage of developement?

 

grbxdesign: To answer both questions, we got sidetracked to help out on Borderlands. As it sits, the screenshots are still an accurate representation. At the moment.

 

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Posted by Chris!(($$))!: So it is around 17 Days and we are the Rescue Team like Hicks said?

 

grbxdesign: I think Game Informer gave pretty good idea of the nature of the game. If it didn't, well, you'll just have to wait and see. :P 

 

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Posted by Takhen: Are you working only on the Sulaco?

 

grbxdesign: I'm covering the whole spectrum of the game: the Sulaco, which is a major setting, to some other familiar environments. Don't ask what they because I can't say at the moment.

 

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Posted by Tonks: Can you comment at all on how the xeno's are looking? movement, attacking, all out crap your pants scariness? A very general or vague summary would suffice!

 

grbxdesign: The Xenos look really good. Improving their animation.

 

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Posted by JayHy17: Sooooo botman, now that lwood has answered some questions on his side of the project, is there anything you would like to share with your fans?

 

botman (Jeffrey B, Programmer): Nope :)  << (Classic botman right there.) :P

 

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Posted by JayHy17: Do you think we will see something new about Aliens: Colonial Marines before Aliens vs Predator gets released?

 

ennui (Allison B, Community Manager): It's not known to me right now either when we'll start talking again. As soon as we have anything, we'll let you know.

"Pure ALIENS brand." WOOT!

And how cool does Borderlands look?  Way cool IMO.

Quote: The game’s story is being written by Battlestar Galactica’s writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle and is set after the events of the Aliens and Alien 3 movies. The game not only features the adrift Sulaco, but also the Fiorina ‘Fury’ 161 prison facility and the derelict alien spacecraft from the original movie as backdrops to the action. One aspect of the story that ties neatly into the Aliens universe is the use of the Weyland Yutani Corporation as an over-arching evil, a puppet-master pulling the strings behind the action. Though your immediate survival against the Sulaco’s alien infestation is your primary concern, the game will build in a conspiracy story behind the gunplay. And who knows, maybe an unexpected betrayal.

 

Each mission will put you in the space armor of a different marine in the six-man squad. You’ll use commands familiar to Brothers in Arms players to guide your troop through the maze of acid-blasted corridors, trying to stay ahead of the critters. By focusing on one squad member at a time, Gearbox has been able to create an episodic feel to the action. Back stories, plot details and characters gently expand and you’ll get a deeper perspective on the action. It also means that the game will have a very immediate feel – you can dip in for an hour at a time to play out one episode of the full story arc.

 

Before you reach for the keyboard and start hurling abuse at Gearbox, this is no casual blaster. There will be more than six episodes to wade through, including some revelations that could affect the Aliens canon. The game builds slowly, emulating the slow burn pace of the movies. Your first foray onto the abandoned USS Sulaco is a tense affair with few aliens to be seen and only the ominous pinging from your handheld motion detector for company.

 

Quote: Like this month's exceptional Left 4 Dead, Colonial Marines is a four-player co-op game centred around survival: you're constantly under attack and the environments you move through are frequently hiding your enemy. However, whereas Left 4 Dead pitches you into the middle of a nameless American city awash in zombies, Colonial Marines goes for fan-pleasing recreations of the movie quadrilogy's best locations: LV-426, the planet where the Nostromo first discovers the derelict alien ship in the original film; the Sulaco, where Ripley joins up with the marines in Aliens; and Fiorina 'Fury' 161, the prison facility from Alien 3.

 Thanks to hells highway and Trekster_Gamer for the info.