Summoner Interview
Posted by @ 2:54 PM, EST
Summoner Homeland slapped up an interview with Dave Baranec, a programmer that is working on the PS2 version of Summoner.
Some juicy slices from the interview:

"Ok, lets get serious now. Up to this point, what would you say is the hardest thing you've had to implement in Summoner?

Well, just getting used to the console/PSX2 way of thinking was challenging enough. But one of the primary things I've done is "optimize" the character animation and rendering system to run on the special PSX2 hardware. Essentially a total rewrite which had to stay in sync with the original code. Very challenging, but extremely fun.


Explain some of the advantages/disadvantages of programming for the PSX2 over a PC?

Well, one of the main advantages is that its a static platform. It doesn't change, and if you make it work once, it works everywhere. In this age of broken and substandard video and sound card drivers, this can be a godsend. The PSX2 certainly has a monster graphics engine, way beyond anything available on the PC, so its a nice cozy feeling knowing you can rely on it. At the same time though, its a totally new platform which makes several radically different assumptions about the a game's architecture. You have to compensate for this quite a bit. Also, it doesn't have nearly as many tools or available help since its so brand new."
Full interview