I had an opportunity to pose a few questions to Sebastian Saramago about the new EPIC wave under development by SSI. I had been hearing a lot of rumors regarding the wave and its possible features so I thought I’d go right to the source.
Q-
Sebastian; being the Co-Creative force behind SSI what has been the progression of wave development that lead to the creation of your new EPIC Wave?
A:
We always had the desire to make surfing more dynamic. The new wave is an attempt to bring some innovative design characteristics in to play. We always wanted to develop a way that looks great, and rode even better. Working within the confines of Second Life has been a challenge.
Q-
It seems like sculpt is the “wave” of the future, no pun intended, what advantages does the sculpted wave have over the standard linked PRIM wave?
A:
There are many advantages to the linked prim wave actually. The cool thing about the sculpted wave is that you don't get the seams and synchronization issues. We started developing the one prim sculpted was back when sculpted prims were first available. Of course, and many know speed to market has not been our strong suit do to the real life schedules Heather and I have. Our competitors will always wait for new innovative ideas from us, then try to imitate the look and feel thru reverse engineering. Its a great compliment to us. Just as in the real world, people always look to the best then try to follow the style. Same as in SL. People will continue to look to us for the innovation. We really change and shape the market in this way. Bottom line, if SSi has it under development, you can be sure the competitors are working to keep up and follow suit. That's the way it should be in a free market.
Q-
I have surfed and also own just about every wave available in SL; what will be the biggest difference between the “New” Epic and the existing “EPIC” that everyone knows and loves so well?
A:
There was a lot of thought and planing into the way the wave is shaped. The goal was to have a wave that looks great, yet also lets you do more then just surf on a half pipe. The new shape will offer swells in sections that allow for jumps and tricks when timed just right. Also, one side of the wave has a low lip, and a graduating edge that leads to the mostly enclosed curl of the wave. When ridden by a skilled rider, this will allow for some amazing combos on the wave.
Q-
Was there any features that you really wanted to add to the wave, but decided against due to performance of complexity?
A:
Sure, always. There were some effects for looks that I wanted to add, but its always a balance between lag... which equals suitability, and performance and constancy. I have not given up on some feature that Heather and I are working on. I cant say at the moment for obvious reasons, but we have some great plans.
Q-
As you know there are a few Sculpted waves out there right now ranging from very expensive to very affordable where will you position the “New” EPIC wave?
A:
My intent is to make the new wave available to most of the public. That means competitive pricing. Truly, that's the only thing that gave our fellow wave makers a slight edge in the past.
Q-
Finally; I know your getting ready to launch the “New” EPIC wave shortly, but is there anything brewing in the way of advanced surfboard development you may want to share?
A:
Yes, the board have been in development for some time. I know people get disappointed in us for not being faster to market with things. However, we do love what we do, and are still working at it. We decided that the new boards must be complete before we roll out a major update. Many people have seen some of the improvements in the 6.4 design. I would say this design is about 55% of what the final board will be. We listen to our surfers and have taken note of the features they would like to see. Such as competition mode, that will make each board preform to the same standards for far competition, with registered scripts that let Judges know if board is not in comp mode. Also, duel riders, more animations, and more customizations options right out of the box.
If you would like to see the wave in second life got to
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dive%20World%20SouthWest/78/53/51/
Thanks to Sebastian one half of the creative team at SSI for letting us get a preview of what's in the pipeline at SSI
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