GameSlice: You have made the process of creating custom maps very easy for members of the Tribes 2 community.  However, due to a Worldcraft licensing limitation, users will not be able to create custom buildings.  Are you planning to create lots of building pre-fabs for mapmakers to download and insert into their maps so that they can create professional quality T2 maps?  Do you think this restriction is going to stifle creativity among mapmakers?

Dave: We will release a ton of buildings in the initial release and players should have no problem creating new maps with all those objects. However, they can also make their own buildings if they so desire. We don't actually distribute the Worldcraft tool on our CD, but it's pretty readily available elsewhere. Also, other common level editing tools that can output in that same file format will also work.

GameSlice: With teams of up to 32 players, the voice communications could become too chaotic to be of any use.  Will commanders be the only players able to talk, or is the feature really intended for clan matches instead of public server play?

Dave: This issue is still being discussed. I have many, many sets of headphones (thank you Plantronics) here that the design team will be using in a week or so once the code is implemented. We will be streamlining the interface significantly in the near future. But, no…the commanders will NOT be the only ones that can talk, and this WILL be a huge feature for public server play. You'll see.

GameSlice: Players will be able to "jet" in order to move efficiently under water.  Will any vehicles be able to move underwater as well as on land?  Besides allowing for additional entry points into a base, what role will underwater combat play in the game? How will it vary from ground battles?

Dave: Underwater combat is a bit more ponderous and the weapons all act differently (i.e., do NOT fire an ELF gun underwater…). We're discussing allowing the air vehicles to be submersible with different flight characteristics when underwater (remember the Flying Sub from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"?). We'll see.