Interview with Andrew Edelsten, VP of Auran, about Bridge It!

Sims are everywhere these days. If we're not careful, we may forget what we're doing, and end up living in a simulation ourselves.

Bridge It! has you now, Neo.

Bridget It! is Auran's latest entry into the Sims marketplace. The game allows you to build a bridge, factor in environmental and structural issues while you construct it, and then work with economic and ongoing context issues (earthquake, anyone?) while it stands the test of time. The game is based on Auran's own Auran Jet 3D engine. Additionally, the game was fashioned out of a partnership between Auran and NVIDIA.

I sat down with Andrew Edelsten, VP of Auran, to see what he could tell us about this title.

Mystery: Good day, Andrew. Can you tell us your position with Auran, and what you had to do with the development of Auran's latest title: Bridge It?

Andrew: I certainly can.. and I even will! :)

I have been working at Auran since my university days which is about five years now although I was practicing as *gulp* an attorney for a year in the middle. I started out writing technical documentation for Auran Jet our 3D engine. I have now moved into more of the business side and handle our relationships with hardware companies (for the engine team) and other developers (for our distribution arm). Additionally, production is something I have been doing part-time with the engine development team and what I did fulltime for the Bridge It project. So, I guess my role is ¡¨colorful¡¨ and certainly keeps me busy.

Mystery: When you shopped Bridge It around to Nvidia and others, did you usually have to end the description of the dynamics of the title with "No, really, it's cool!" How else do you end a presentation of a game whose main focus is bridge building?

Andrew: Well, actually, it was NVIDIA that came to us with the proposal! We had been talking for a while with some of the hardware companies about doing a technology demo for the Jet engine. NVIDIA thought of combining our games and technology experience and it seemed a perfect fit. So, I would like to take the credit but can¡¦t. It certainly was a good idea.

The gameplay itself is based on the Pontifex II title by Chronic Logic. Most of our staff had played Pontifex or the original Bridge Builder and knew how addictive and fun they were. So, NVIDIA sold us on the idea of making a game/tech demo and the game was pre-sold.

Mystery: The screenshots for this game look phenomenal. How much of the game is enhanced by the partnership with Nvidia?

Andrew: The Bridge It screenshots are certainly very good and we are quite amazed at how the game turned out. Doing outdoor environments is hard at the best of times as most people know. Making them true-to-life in real time is even harder but that was the goal. While there is always room for improvement, the game does look terrific and still runs smoothly even with all the effects turned on.

Working with NVIDIA on the game certainly helped our cause. Not only were we able to get a slew of pre-production cards for the programmers and some of the artists, we were also aided by some of the NVIDIA engineers. They were able to discuss techniques for some of the modeling, rendering and the effects¡K although we dreamt up most (especially the water reflection/refraction) by ourselves! ƒº It certainly helps when you have good backup like that and the NVIDIA demo team certainly has a lot of experience. I would encourage other developers to contact them for assistance early in the development cycle rather than at the last minute.

Finally there was the hardware itself which has performed admirably even during the early stages where there were large capacitors and the odd wire soldered onto the cards. The three main advantages of the NV35 (GeForce FX 5900) are: high GPU speed (hello polygon counts), plenty of memory (hence the high texture resolution in Bridge It) and a fast shader pipeline.

Mystery: As this game is a simulation game, what decisions does the user have to make with each scenario? How many theoretical branches of design/play can the user take?

Andrew: Bridge It is a simulator at heart but we have added plenty of gameplay. In essence, the primary goal is to build a bridge over a gap to allow traffic to cross from one side to the other. Simple concept. But add to that, different building materials, different budgets, different anchor points (places where you can start building), and suddenly the user is really challenged. Moreover, there is that maniacal streak in all of us¡K you know the one --. the urge to see the bridge fall just as the train is right in the middle of the bridge! Muhahahaha!

We also added high scores and earthquakes to keep people coming back for more. The high scores were cleverly balanced rewarding both strength and keeping to the budget. So, my super strong bridge that uses every last dollar of budget might score less than your weaker bridge that intelligently uses cheaper materials. But of course, if I hit the earthquake button my bridge may come crashing to the canyon floor while yours stands firm. All good fun.

Mystery: Is there a potential here for multiplayer play? Perhaps a long chasm where multiple bridges can vie for the toll dollar of the average motorist?

Andrew: For this first incarnation multiplayer was not an option. As I mentioned, we were really trying to make a small, fun game that demonstrated the power of the engine and the NVIDIA hardware. Depending on the success of this first version, we will certainly consider a second. Multiplayer can only add to a game and is certainly something I would like to see integrated; I would also invite our users to give us their ideas on possible multiplayer modes on the Bridge It forums ¡V www.auran.com/jet/bridgeit/forum/.

Mystery: Now that Auran has Trainz and Bridge It under its belt, how much longer until we see simulations for other transportation methods? How much longer until they're combined into one massive simulation event that has us so immersed that we start clicking on our dashboard with our mouse finger while we're driving down the highway?

Andrew: It is quite surprising how many people have suggested putting the Bridge It physics into our Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, which, by the way, went Gold this week. There are a number of things to consider before making this a reality. Everything is possible but at this stage, they are separate and uniquely fun for their own reasons. As for tapping away in the car just waiting to get home to play Bridge It, well, I guess that makes me a Bridge It junkie! At last, a ¡§habit¡¨ that¡¦s good!

We at Warcry send our thanks to Andrew and the whole team over at Auran for a great insight into the workings of an interesting game like Bridge It!. Now, if only we could stop wondering what the George Washington bridge would look like after an earthquake, we'd be fine.