Serious Brass Ones
(A peek inside the world of Derek Smart)

By Jason "loonyboi" Bergman

I've got to ask...how much chutzpah did it take to release BC3K over the Internet for free?

LOL! Well, people have chosen words like genius, crazy, difficult, righteous ass etc, to describe me, so adding, "...he must have some serious brass ones to do this" wouldn't be that far off the mark. Then again, remember, this is me, Derek Smart, we are talking about here. The impossible I do...eventually 'cause miracles take a little longer. I knew what I was doing and to be honest, at that point, I was weighing the odds of closing the company, continuing part-time with the project and going back to consulting (I have to earn a living you know). But I somehow had an idea of the sort of response I would get. BC3K did not get the respect and exposure that it needed back when it was released in 1996 against my wishes. I felt that doing it this way was the only chance that I would get to bring the game to more people and in a different light. It was on the downloads charts for several months, in the top 10 for that matter! Imagine that, a 50MB download and this was BC3K we were talking about! What are the odds????

That single act alone spawned the idea to do BC3K v2.0. I presented the evidence to Interplay, along with a plan. They mulled it over for awhile (I actually thought that they'd say no), went through the usual review and committee process and gave me the green light. Amazing huh? Who would'a thought, Interplay? I mean, Interplay? Of course, it simply got the detractors knickers in shreds because they were already in a twist due to the response from the free version released.

What was Take Two's reaction? (did they do a spit take?)

Nah. They had no control over it and I don't think they cared. Why should they? I had taken control of my project as soon as it was released. From that point on it, it became a legal issue. I already had the rights back and I could do what I wanted with my franchise.

You seem pretty committed to continuing to fix any lingering bugs in BC3K v2.0 and keeping the community happy with competitions. Is there going to be a point fairly soon where you just close the book on the game and move on to 3020, or are you going to keep working on both games simultaneously?

Well, considering that, with the exception of graphics technology, all the games in the franchise will use the same core technologies developed, we will continue working on both titles. Besides, BC3K v2.0x is just so huge that I'm sure things will keep popping up now and again. That is the nature of the beast. At any rate, I don't think anyone will be playing BC3K v2.0x once the sequel is out.

To the newcomer, BC3K is incredibly intimidating. Is this a concern of yours, or is it your feeling that it's a necessary evil in order to accomplish what you want with the game?

Never has been a concern, never will be. That is the game I designed, that is the game we built. The BC3K series is hard core and it will remain that way. You've played it, if you think it is advanced, complex and hard core now, I've got news for you. Just wait.

There's mention of a few other BC3K related things on the Galcom Store Page...can you give us an update on a few of them? The World Tour CD?

Just an interactive audio/video tutorial the deals with the game world, play techniques etc.

The Book?

Been working it for quite some time now. Deals with the history of this whole affair, from start to finish. I will end the book at the point when BC3K v2.0 got re-released in Dec 1998.

Battlecruiser 3020?

The sequel to BC3K v2.0. Over 45 new features, advanced graphics, new interface, total multiplayer mayhem. Can't say much without repeating myself and/or spilling the beans. :)

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