What new mission design possibilities have been created with the new Battlezone engine that weren't available for original Battlezone?

Ok, without giving too much away...The ability for the player to enter buildings has added a few interesting design possibilities. Some buildings must be entered by a player on foot for him to be able to use that building. The new AI and functions in our scripting language also give us a lot more power, as we can tell the units to behave in much more realistic ways while on the battlefield, so we can do missions that before may have been past the limitations of the AI. Also there's now water on a lot of the worlds which will add some new strategy (you'll see why). Bridges, too, are a new addition. Wouldn't it be cool to blow up a bridge as a whole squad of the enemy is crossing it? ; ) These are just a few of the possibilities.

What are the critical elements that must be present in a good Battlezone mission? (what's critical to the creation of a cool experience?)

First it's got to be immersive as hell, you must *feel* like you are in a hovertank, on the surface of a hostile and alien world, commanding your troops to victory. There should be a clear mission objective, but with some interesting twists and turns before it's finally achieved. You should give the player a lot of chances for strategy, and some opportunities to be creative in their strategies. After you played a mission, you should feel like you've been through an experience and were an important part of the outcome of the situation. Or in the immortal words of Director George Collins "Just make it fun guys" : )

How easy will it be to use the new map editor? Can you describe how it works?

I think for most people the new map editor will be quite easy to use. It's very intuitive. Basically you start with a huge flat mesh. You then choose a brush size and shape, and just click on the terrain with the brush, pulling the vertices up and down. You can make enormous mountain ranges in seconds. It's a lot like if you just had a big flat piece of aluminum foil and you started bending it up and down in different places to get terrain. You can also texture the terrain in the editor, as well as paint those textures any color you wish. The editor is also used to place objects into the world, lay down AI path points, set up spawn points etc. The interface is easy, most of the time you are just using your mouse.

What's your favorite game (other than BZ)? Why?

Oh man I hate this question, it's so unfair. Here's a list of some of my all time faves (no particular order):

WarCraft II
Legend of Zelda
Doom
Quake
Quake II deathmatch
Betrayal at Krondor
Mechwarrior 2
Sam & Max Hit The Road
C&C
Half-Life
Wing Commander I & II
many many more...

What's the most time you spent playing a game at one sitting (no bathroom or Coke breaks).

One time a friend and I were trying to beat Resident Evil on Playstation without a save game pack, he had lost it or something. We took turns carefully playing through the whole game trying not to die once. That must have been 10 hours at least. We got about 90% through the game and then died.

How would you rate George Collins as a Director? (pick one)

a. Fantastic! It's unbelievable what a fountain of creative energy he is! And the best part is, he's right about everything!
b. Eh, he's okay. Needs to take more suggestions from fans.
c. Total moron. Mr. "La-mo Ga-mo". I mean, this guy designed BZI - nuff said.