Gamecloud - First, the two tech demo movies for Project Offset have generated a lot of attention. Did you expect this type of coverage for a project that is still in its infancy?
Sam McGrath - We have been shocked with the amount of attention our videos have received. We're really encouraged by all the great comments from fans. I think it's something we hoped for, but certainly not something we expected.
Gamecloud - A lot of people believe it will take a lot of money and time to create a game with graphics like Project Offset. Speaking from experience what is your opinion on this issue?
Sam McGrath - The size of team we will need to complete the game is definitely going to be much bigger than it was for our last project (Savage). For one thing, we are planning an in depth single player component, and we're going to need a lot of content there. Our plan has never been to finish the game with just the three of us. At the same time though, we have some tools which really streamline the process of getting next gen content into the engine very quickly, so time and cost will be lower than some people might expect.
Gamecloud - How did the idea for the game itself come about?
Sam McGrath - The idea for the setting of the game was almost a no brainer for us. We're all fans of the epic fantasy genre, and disappointed that the setting has largely been left to the realm of RPGs. An epic fantasy FPS is the game WE all want to play, so we're making it!
Gamecloud - Why do you think fantasy based action games haven't worked in the past and how will Project Offset overcome those problems?
Sam McGrath - We're taking a lot of inspiration from the best FPSs out there today, like Half Life 2, Call of Duty, Wolfenstein: ET, etc. There are some challenges to overcome from the game mechanics side, like making the melee combat fun and responsive, and making the ranged weapons enjoyable to use when many of them are "lobbing" weapons like bow and arrows and crossbows. I think players will be really happy with the final result.
Gamecloud - What can you tell us about some of the more important graphical elements n Project Offset?
Sam McGrath - We have a totally unified approach to shadowing and lighting that makes the Offset Engine behave much more like a traditional offline renderer like Renderman or Mental Ray. Additionally, we apply motion blur uniformly to everything that gets rendered, which in my opinion is just as important to achieve a feeling of realism as shadows are. I'm happy to say that we're finally at a point where the gap between prerendered and real time graphics is pretty darn small. Technology buffs can get a detailed listing of features that our renderer supports at www.projectoffset.com/technology.html.
Gamecloud - Is physics an important part of the game and if so how will it be used in Project Offset?
Sam McGrath - Physics is going to be a big part of gameplay, from destructible environments to vehicle physics for dragons, siege weapons, giant trolls, etc... We are also going to spend a good deal of focus on tying physics to the animation system to get the most realistic motion possible on our characters. Great graphics are kind of a waste if you don't have great physics and animation to maintain that illusion of realism.
Gamecloud - Since the release of the Project Offset movies, how much progress has there been in actually creating the game?
Sam McGrath - Development has slowed a bit since the release of our second video. Our schedule has been pretty full with publisher / investor meetings and phone calls. Our hope is that we can get full funding very soon so we can get back to working on the game. We are making sure to take our next steps carefully, though.
Gamecloud - Have there been any nibbles from publishers about the game?
Sam McGrath - Yeah, we've received emails from lots of publishers, which is really encouraging!
Gamecloud - What is the current target date for completing Project Offset and are you targeting both PCs and next-gen consoles?
Sam McGrath - We have a release schedule that we want to stick to but don't want to give out any of that info publicly yet. As far as next gen consoles go, we are looking at Xbox360 and PS3 development, but can't give any promises yet.
Gamecloud - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Project Offset at this time?
Sam McGrath - Please check out our website at http://www.projectoffset.com. We also have forums up at http://forums.projectoffset.com with a great community building already.
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ld: anzi, oldissimo... ho visto 3 video quest'estate 
