Hello everyone, this is Captain_Hastings, A.K.A. Japp. I interviewed Capt. Guy Smiley, leader of the very popular Pirates mod. So without further hindrance here it is: Q: Why did you decide to do a pirates theme for your mod? A:When I was first thinking of doing a mod for Battlefield, I looked around at what other people were doing and saw a lot of variantions on WWII and modern day combat, so I decided to go in a completely different direction. I also wanted to do something that was kind of wacky and fun rather than "serious". I have also always loved "fighting sail" kinds of games, so all those things just kinda came together and evolved into what Pirates is now. Q: How many people are on your team? A:That's hard to say. Currently there are about 4 of us that make up the core team, but that changes. We also depend a lot on "specialty volunteers". They contribute things like music and maps and are just as important as teh regular members. Instead of trying to name everyone here, I'll just refer everyone to the "crew" page of the website at http:www.bfpirates.com. That way I won't forget anyone. Of course they are also all mentioned in the credits when you install the mod. Q: Is making the Pirates mod hard at times? A:Well, "hard" is relative. There are times when it can be frustrating when you trying to track down a bug, trying to get a model just right, getting a map to balance, and so on, but everyone on the team does it because they love it, so I wouldn't really call it hard. Q: What is the hardest thing about making the mod? A: Definitely the beta testing. It's fairly easy for us to add new things to the mod that work in a local game, but when you add in the internet option, suddenly things are very different. For Beta3 we tested the game twice a week with usually around 20 players to be sure everything was solid. All those beta testers are some of the people I mentioned in the previous question that we just couldn't live without. Q: How much research do you do in designing your models and maps? A:Research? Pirates don't do research! Just kidding:) Actually we do a lot. From the very beginning I had specified that Pirates was about the kind of "pirates" you played as a kid, not the kind that actually existed. I did this because I wanted the focus to be on fun and because I knew there was no way we were ever going to get everything accurate down to the last detail. Even so, I've "toured" a lot of old sailing ships, read a lot of books, and even watched a lot of movies. I've got quite a collection of old, black-and-white pirate movies. Q: How long have you worked on this mod? A: With the release of Beta2, it will be about 2 years. Pretty much since shortly after Battlefield:1942 was released. Q: Do you plan to do any more releases? A: Most definitely. Beta2 marked the point where I felt we actually had a playable "game" as opposed to just an experiment. Now we can build upon that and start adding more of the fun bits. Q: If you did another release what new elements would you have? A: That's mostly a secret since we are evaluating a lot of things at this point, but obviously there will be more ships, more land-based artillery/guns and more "vehicles". Anyone who's played the mod knows that we don't have "normal" vehicles. we're definitely continuing with the theme, so look for a lot more in that area. Q: What civilization are your models mostly based on? A: Pretty much everything. We mostly just take the most interesting bits from history and just kindof throw them together. Most things are loosely european right now, but pretty much anywhere there is a body of water there were pirates, and since we're not tied down to any kind of "reality", we're free to add pretty much anything we want. Q: How much longer do you expect your mod to continue? A: That's a secret at the moment, but let's just say that we have plans well beyond Battlefield:1942;) Q: Many mods have gone to the Battlefield: Vietnam engine, do you plan to do this too? A: We're still looking into it. We would like to because there are several elements of BFV that we would benefit from, but there are also some technical considerations that we have to address first. Q: Is there anything else you want to tell people? A: Yaar! Quit standin about readin this and get yer scurvy carcasses back to swabbin the deck! Thanks to Capt. Guy Smiley for letting me do the interview and I can't wait for more from this awesome mod!