Alex: I think the plan is currently to release the map editor after the game itself. First of all, there’s the matter of us wanting to get the game out to people – now that they’ve seen the pyramid building, they really want to get their hands on the game. We don’t want development of the map editor to hold up the whole project. If we release the map editor right away, some people might forego the campaign we created and try do create their own straight away. With 40 or so cities that you’ll get to govern, there’s enough there to keep people busy. We’ll try to get the map editor out as soon as possible afterwards.

ARR: How will it be released? Will it be put on the internet for download?

Alex: It’ll definitely be a download. Considering that the demo is probably about 100MB, then the map editor will probably be rather large too.

ARR: Here’s a bit of a pet question of mine. Will there be a career editor where people can string several scenarios together to create a campaign?

Alex: I know that such a thing has been discussed, but I’m not sure whether it will be implemented or not.
I can assure you that every single comment that’s been made on message boards, and on Usenet, we discuss and consider. Our fans are hugely important to us. Sadly, some cannot understand all the issues involved. It takes 18 months for 40 people working all the time to create a game based on an engine which we’ve already got. I don’t think they realise that there’s so much work in adding new stuff in there.

ARR: You mentioned a demo just a moment ago. Have you got any idea when that’ll be made available? Before release or afterwards?

Alex: It will be before release. We should have a demo coming out on a number of magazine CDs in October or November, and we will probably have a very large download of a demo available at roughly the same time. People will hopefully be able to play the demo a couple of weeks before the game is available.

ARR: I couldn’t help noticing that you mentioned that the demo might be available in November. Has the release date been pushed back at all?

Alex: We are planning on finishing with the game some time between 1st and 15th October. It then has to go through final testing and be pressed. It should be on the store shelves around the end of October.

ARR: Will you be able to customise the graphics in any way?

Alex: That’s more complex than we reckon most people are ready to get into. At this point we won’t be letting people customise the graphics.

ARR: Well, I think that just about concludes my questions. Thank you very much for taking the time to explain some of the issues involved with Pharaoh.

Alex: No problem.