RW: The graphics engine looks incredible. Are you guys using an all new engine, or is it a supped up version of Freespace's?

LB: We are using a supped up version of the FreeSpace 1 engine. We've added a number of new effects, such as the nebula I just spoke of. One of the most impressive looking features in FreeSpace 2 are the beam weapons the capital ships fire. It really looks quite stunning to see these giant ships firing on each other with these massive beams. We've also upped the effects on all of our weapons, explosions,and lighting.

RW: What new features does the graphics engine support?

LB: The main ones are the nebula and beam weapons.

RW: Will you be offering a software mode, and Hardware acceleration mode, or will it be hardware only?

LB: FreeSpace 2 will require hardware acceleration.

RW: How many ships can the 3d engine handle flying around at the same time?

LB: It honestly depends on which ships and what those ships are doing. If it is just a bunch of fighters flying around, we could probably have 30+. However, it is extremely rare, if ever, that we just have fighters. We always have capital ships involved in the battles, and these ships take up a bit more memory than a fighter. As a result it's hard to give you a fixed number for this.

RW: Now, on to the wingman AI. Has the AI of the wingman been improved any from Freespace? (not like it really needs it, Freespace's AI was incredible).

LB: We've done little tweaks here and there to try to fix a few things that occurred in FreeSpace 1, but overall we really didn't do much to this. As you mention, the AI in FreeSpace worked really well, so we didn't want to focus a great deal of efforts in this area since we didn't have to.

RW: How many missions will ship in the final game? Will there still be a mission editor included?

LB: We will have over 35 single player missions and about 15 multiplayer missions for FreeSpace 2. The mission editor, FRED2, will be released with FreeSpace 2.

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