(ƒ) does a happy lil' dance

 
 


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Engine 2
Welcome to the feature of Luke Drelick's newest masterpiece Engine 2: Second Attack. This includes screen shots, an interview with Luke himself and more information about the game.

Duky Incorporated

Okay, let's start of with a little bit information about Luke Drelick's company: Duky Inc. Duky Inc. is a great company which has been around for a really long while, probably since about 1996. Since its beginning many people, like gaK, OWCP and Asterick, have been in and out of the company. The remaining guys now are: Luke himself, Luke's brother Alex, Dan Patalano, Chronos, JDM Sonic, Roto, Nemesis^ and Red Peterson. For a while, we haven't heard heard anything from the company, and that's why a lot of people thought it was dead. But now Duky's back with a bang: Chronos' Chrono Wars 11 finished, Engine 2 in its final stages, and RedP's great side-scroller Adlo is going to be a Duky title too.

Previous games

In the early days of Duky Inc, Luke programmed mostly in ZZT, but nowadays his games are released in MegaZeux. This is a list of of the games that he has released before he started working on Engine 2.
  • Overflow (ZZT)
  • The Coliseum (ZZT)
  • Final Fantasy Extreme (ZZT)
  • Engine (MegaZeux)
  • Final Fantasy EdVenture (MegaZeux)
  • Seiken Densetsu: Blade of Islan (MegaZeux)
  • Kikan (MegaZeux)
  • nWo Hollywood (MegaZeux)
Engine 2 screenshot
Information about the game

In this game you play the role of Abigail, a teenage girl. The game starts with you going on your first date with Brian. The two of you fall in love... But then, Brian slips off a dune. Abigail, being desperate, makes a prayer to the God Ramia. Ramia wants to help you, but in exchange you will need to become the bearer of his soul. This is where a long adventureof exploring a vast RPG world starts. Along the way you will meet many people who will help you, hundreds of enemies to defeat, and more... The graphics in this game look awesome too, and there will be plenty of GDM songs to listen to. This all will probably make this game THE MegaZeux hit of 1999!

Interview with Luke Drelick

Hydra:

First of all, I'm glad Duky Inc. is "back" now. How come us ZZT/MZXers heard so little of you guys lately?

Luke Drelick:

Well, mainly since we've all been fairly busy lately. This is my senior year, so a lot of it was spent doing college-oriented stuff, and mundane crap like that. I was always working on Engine 2 (I started it about a week after finishing nWo), just I didn't really choose to tell many people about it. Alex and Dan still have their projects going, and a lot of other people have little side projects.

Hydra:

Did Chronos and you plan to release two new titles (Chrono Wars 11 and Engine 2) this soon after each other?

Luke Drelick:

Well, actually, Chronos knew about E2 for a while, but I didn't know about CW11 until it's release :)

Hydra:

Engine 2 is (obviously :) the sequel to Engine. Why did you chose to make a sequel to that particular game?

Luke Drelick:

Well, Engine is considered by some to be the best MZX game ever, and there was a lot of demand for a sequel. I finally decided to give 'em all what they want. In fact, before starting Engine 2, I played the original, registered Engine nonstop all-the-way-through so the game has the same "feel". Basically, it has everything that made Engine what it was, but in much greater droves.

Engine 2 screenshot
Hydra:

In this game, just like in Seiken Densetsu, you assume the role of a female person. Do you think that more ZZT and MegaZeux games need a female main character?

Luke Drelick:

Yes, of course! I'm a big fan of women, so I choose to make a lot of women in my games... :)

Hydra:

When making a game like this, I'm sure you get your inspiration from somewhere. Can you tell me a little more about your inspiration sources?

Luke Drelick:

Well, for Engine 2, I got my inspiration from the original Engine, which has its inspiration slightly from this old "Empire" MegaZeux game (big points to whoever has a copy of that lying around that they could send me). I also got my inspiration from games like Sivion, Seiken Densetsu, and, on a video-game level, Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean (my 2 favorite games of all time). I also get some of the inspiration from the music I listen to while working on the game, which includes the Wamdue Project, Sash!, the Ibiza Club Convention album, and the 666 album.

Hydra:

Something that's cool is that in titles by you (especially in FF:EdVenture and this game) is that there are always lots of elements from the "real" world added to the "RPG" world: CDs of music you like, video games, cameo appearances of people, etc... Do you have a special reason for doing this?

Engine 2 screenshot
Luke Drelick:

Well, actually I have a quite interesting reason... If you explore the houses in Engine 2, like look at the CD's the guys have, what's in their dressers, you can begin to get a little bit about the personality of the character; I try to make the character seem more "real" by giving him objects that people can relate to. Like, a lot of my characters are based on people I know... Abigail is based upon myself, so I placed a CD I like in her stereo, and a game I like in her SFC, I gave her stuff that I would have, like the same style of dress, same attitude when interacting with the opposite sex, etc. Miko is based upon a real stuck up smart girl in one of my AP classes... Eiyuu isn't based on anyone in particular, he's just an easygoing Japanese guy with a corny sense of humor :) Kylie is another made-up character, Brian, my friend believes is supposed to be like an old girlfriend I had (though, aside from the same kinds of music, I don't see a connection), Dan is based on a cross between my friends Dan and Colin.

Hydra:

What do you think is the importance of so called side-games, like the dolphin ride in E2, in MZX RPGs?

Luke Drelick:

Well, I threw in a number of side games like the Dolphin ride, Fishing (every RPG seems to have this nowadays, BOF3, Legaia, etc), Foozball, and a Sidescroller, just to break up the regular game. They're fun diversions that look cool and have some bonus effects if completed successfully (E2 is a game of a lot of secrets).

Hydra:

And the question everybody has been waiting for, when do you think that the full version will be released to the public?

Luke Drelick:

I'd say probably July 30, a year after the best videogame ever made it's first Japanese experience, what'll hopefully be the best MZX game ever will make it :)

Engine 2 screenshot
Hydra:

Thanks for the interview! Let's hope the full version will be out soon.

Luke Drelick:

Okay, it was a pleasure doing the interview!