Q: How does the editor compare to others that are already out there such as World Craft and UnrealEd?
-Red can be a bit steeper to learn than World Craft and UnrealEd, but you will have to judge for yourself of course. Our interface is text driven (not wacky icons like some other editors). That is, Red has text labels on top of every functional button within the editor to help identify what said button does. Red also uses a lot of hot keys. While it may take a little time to memorize all the hot keys, they are infinitely faster than clicking on buttons or navigating the pull down menus. Red is based in part from every editor and 3D program any of the designers on the RF team have used. We have all had input on it so while it shares some similarities with other editors out there, we feel it's much better than any of them. You will, of course, have to judge for yourself, but we're confident you'll like it. top

Q: Is Red. more comparable to an Unreal type of level editor or to a Quake style level editor?
-Red is more like UnrealEd in the fact that you start with a solid world and carve out of it. We feel this is inherently faster and more intuitive than additive CSG editors. You also don't have to worry about those nasty leaks that you can get in Quake based engines. You can, however, still do additive CSG (make solid brushes) just as easily. The editor/engine doesn't care. Once the level is compiled, it's basically one big brush. top

Q: How do geo-mods effect level designing and the general gameplay in that respect?
-The level designers really need to think about the fact that the player can shoot through a wall, but they have to think about where the player can go because normally in a FPS game it's very linear in terms of where you can go. To a certain extent we still have to, because our game is very story driven, but the level designers need to think about what areas are destructible, to what degree, and to how that fits into solving puzzles. So, a lot of time is spent making sure you can still progress through the game and see the story, while all the while taking advantage of a destructible environment. top

Q: Will geo-mods make level creation very difficult?
-Geo-mods do not make building levels any more difficult compared to other editors. Where you can geo-mod is determined by what we call a "geo-region." It has nothing to do with textures or materials. A geo-region is just an arbitrarily sized bounding box or sphere that has certain properties. If you want to geo-mod in an area, you just slap a geo-region in, set the properties and that's it; the engine handles the rest. There are special brushes (detail brushes) that are not affected by geo-mods, so you can use detail brushes for things like door frames and metal supports so they won't be affected by geo-mods. top

Q: How long does it take to compile a level?
-In general, our levels compile very quickly. top

Q: What will be used to render the map, Direct 3D or OpenGL? Or, will there be an option?
-The 3D-preview window of the editor uses D3D. No one on the team is using OpenGL and as far as I know, we are not supporting it in the editor. top

Q: Will the entities be Quake style or Unreal style?
-They will be Red Faction style. top

Q: Will the editing of levels and game progress in Red Faction be similar to the 'sexp' system in Freespace2?
-It's more like a traditional FPS editor in the way you build missions, but it has that "friendliness" that FRED2 had. So, you don't build missions, as you do with FRED; instead, you build levels. A level might have multiple goals for the player to achieve within it, or a goal might extend over several levels. Unlike Freespace2's missions, Red Faction's levels are all physically connected and you can go back and forth between them. top

Q: Will the level editor have an option to not use sprites for the entities, and have colored boxes instead?
-Yes, there is an option to render objects as bounding boxes. top

Q: Will it be possible to create our own in-game cinematic cut-scenes?
-All the tools for producing in-game cut-scenes will be made available with the game. It's very likely everything will be self-contained in the editor. top

Q: Can I make my own vehicles from within the editor?
-We model our vehicles in Max. I suppose you could make one in the editor but it would have to move on a specific path, like a mining cart or gondola. This is possible because we use key-frame based moving geometry; however, the player would not be able to pilot this 'vehicle' as it were. top

Q: Could you tell me more specifics on lighting in the editor?
-Most of the lights are objects (created in Max). When you create a light object in the editor, you can also create a light entity at the same time. You can specify the style, color, radius, intensity, offset, etc. for every light object's entity light in a text file; then, you can still change it in the editor if you want to. We also support over-brightening which, as far as I know, other engines do not offer. top

Q: It seems as though every light has a lens flare to it, is this put on by the engine or will people have to put in lens flare sprites on their lights to get the same effect?
-Lens flares (actually coronas) are set in text files. When you place a light object, it has a certain corona associated with it. top

Q: Will there be Texture-based lights?
-We are not supporting texture based lighting. I think we can all agree though that good looking lighting is good looking lighting. How it is produced is not relevant, or at least should not be. top

Q: Will the maps have light in them as you add a light entity to the map?
-If you use dynamic lights (which are more expensive, CPU-wise) you will see lights in real-time in the editor. Otherwise, you just recalculate lighting (which doesn't take long at all). 2D icons in the editor can also represent lights. top

Q: Will Red Faction allow colored self-illumination maps and gloss/specular level maps?
-We have support for self-illuminated textures (which is how we can have bright lights on a computer console, even in a dark room). We also support reflection mapping, which I believe is the same thing as specular mapping. top

Q: How are level transitions set up?
-They are similar to those found in Half-Life. You will notice them, but they won't be very long and they'll occur in-game; the screen you see while loading will be the same one you saw just before you hit the level load point. You'll then be in the exact same screen/location when you come out of the level load. It'll be just as if the game paused for a few seconds, (which, I guess, is exactly what it's doing). The word "Loading" will appear briefly on-screen, just to let you know that the game's not locked up and all is well. We are working to make them considerably shorter to those in Half-Life and indeed expect them to be after optimizing takes place. top

Q: Will Red Faction support multiple level transition spots in a level for those who don't want to make a linear mission or campaign?
-There will be only one load point for the next level, but you'll often be able to reach that spot in different ways. You can make it so long that it stretches across the entire level so that whenever you reached this wall (as it were) from any point along it, the load would initiate and you would find yourself on the other side of the wall. Clever modders can do some pretty cool stuff with this. top

Q: Will you be able to put the required geo-mod damage levels so low that a pistol could make a hole?
-We can do this right now but a whole bunch of little geo-mods caused by bullets is going to kill your framerate. Consider this, when you create a geo-mod, you don't just add the faces from the geo-mod itself but the faces that are created as a result of the faces the geo-mod touches being split. top

Q: Let's say I want to create a level that is already destroyed, like the aftermath of a battle... How will this be accomplished?
-The only way to make a level look partially destroyed is to do it in the editor. It's not much more difficult than if you could run around in the game, blow up stuff, and save the game to the editor. We support carving of the world and brushes you place in the world. top

Q: How does the engine handle large, outdoor, open environments?
-Outdoor environments are handled sort of like the way Unreal handles them. I suppose that would be the best comparison. There are fairly wide outdoor areas, but it's not like Planetside or MechWarrior 4. The outdoor areas in RF are generally less detailed than the indoor areas. top

Q: So the engine will be able to handle large outside areas like unreal, but will these areas be really detailed?
-No, Red Faction is not being designed to handle large detailed outside areas. The engine is portal based, so it's optimized to handle interior areas very well. That being said, we will have outdoor areas, but there will not be lots of detailed geometry found there. top

Q: Will the source code be released like Half-Life?
-Mike Kulas, resident Volition bigwig and head chef said, "I don't know whether the source code will ever be released. It's not just my choice. If it is released, I would think it would be at least a couple years after the initial release of the game." top

Q: Can we create our own AI routines or modify AI in any way?
-Not much is yet known about modding, but Red. does contain a very powerful scripting system that should enable you to do most anything with the AI. top

Q: Does the RF editor allow importing common 3D file formats such as dxf?
-We looked at doing that along time ago, but it was not worth the time it would have taken. You can import 3D meshes that have been exported to our proprietary format though. top

Q: Can a mapper define what is and what is not geo-moddable?
-Yes. If you are creating a map or level you can assign whatever geo-mod properties (if any) to whatever environmental face you like. top

Q: Does Red Faction use table files like Freespace?
-Yes. top

Q: Will Volition be releasing any plug-ins for model, weapon, or vehicle creation?
--Yes, we plan to release our exporters for 3D Studio Max. This will allow fans to create new characters, weapons, vehicles, and objects for Red Faction. For instance, with the plug-ins for 3D Studio Max (which should be included with the editor upon release) you can create your own, freely moving vehicles, export them into a form the game can use, and then give them specs in the appropriate table files and you'd be ready to go. These would be things like fighters, school buses, garbage trucks, etc. You can give them weaponry and any movement and aesthetic features you'd like. top

Q: Will there be an SDK released?
-It's too early to tell. top

Q: What format are the maps?
-.rfl top