Interview with 3079 Developer, Jeremy “Phr00t”

The following interview is with Jeremy “Phr00t”, developer of sci-fi shooter 3079, a sequel to his prior 3069, and 3059 titles. Follow him on Twitter: @phr00t_

Hey Jeremy, thanks for doing this interview with us. Many people would say that 3079 looks a lot like Minecraft. What are some of the major differences between 3079 and Minecraft?
3079 does look like Minecraft at first glance, I agree. However, if you look a little closer, there are some visual differences. The terrain isn’t completely blocky — slopes are generated to give it a more refined look. The same goes for the characters, who are a bit more rounded and filled in with higher resolution textures.
Gameplay in 3079 is completely different. 3079 isn’t about mining or crafting, but instead, action and war. In 3079, you equip your character with randomly generated weapons and utilities in a futuristic setting and go blasting. If guns-a-blazing isn’t your style, you can sneak around and back-stab with strong melee weapons. There is much more to see, like mini-ships and with quests.

3079 has a storyline, too, right?
3079 does have a storyline, and you can actually “beat” 3079. There are a few factions in the game, the Neanders, Humoids, and Demons. There are also large Capital Ships that are trying to stop the war by destroying everything they can find. It is your job to try and find out why the Neaders and Humoids can’t stop fighting, and hopefully restore peace…

With that being said, does 3079 and Minecraft share any similarities?
3079 and Minecraft share looks, and that is about it. I went with the mostly “blocky” terrain because it is flexible and easy to work with, not because “Minecraft did it.” There is some building and mining in 3079, but it is an option, and not a primary feature.

What made you decide to use the jMonkeyEngine in the development of 3079?
I’m glad you brought up jMonkeyEngine, because they deserve publicity. First and foremost, I wanted cross-platform compatibility, and no other development environment does it easier than Java. Not only was jMonkeyEngine completely built on Java (and free), but it is full of cool features to make 3D development much smoother. Performance is pretty good too 😉

For the readers interested in the game development process, what were the pros and cons of working with the jMonkeyEngine?
Along with many of the “pros” above: it is done in Java, it’s relatively easy to use, comes with great tutorials, it’s free, and has a great community. The only “con” I can think of it is currently in beta. However, it is very stable and as you can see, production-quality games can be made with it now.

In the trailer for 3079 we see that there are “thousands” of items available in-game. What are some of your favorite items in the game?
I’m a fan of the sniper rifles because I like to sneak around and take out enemies from a distance. The radar & grappling hook are invaluable utilities too 🙂

Is the Multiplayer in 3079 cooperative? or deathmatch-based?
Multiplayer is open-ended. You can kill each other if you like, or work together to kill some baddies and get some loot. Some players have built bases together for operations & sniping.

What does the future hold for 3079? More content? Maybe even 3089?
I would like to get to a few more features for 3079, like energy shields and maybe some kind of big rare event, like asteroid strikes! Maybe some day 3089 will come out… but I’ve got another exciting game I’m starting to work on 😉

Thanks again to Jeremy.

Follow the latest news on 3079 by visiting his blog.

Pick up a copy of 3079 on Desura!