Sometime ago, Downlink, Modlink's sister site, had a Q&A with Introversion. Unfortunately, the site went down before they could put it up, so that privalidge goes to Modlink.

Question One - Information.... -- Question from Downlink
Okay, first things first, can each of the Introversion team members give there info to each of these questions;

Name:
Age:
IV Job Title:
Answer:

Name: Chris Delay
Age: 23
IV Job Title: Lead Developer?
(We don't really have job titles that mean anything just yet...)

Name: Mark Morris
Age: 23
IV Job Title: Managing Director
(ie Power hungry 'master of the universe')

Name: Tom Arundel
Age: 23
IV Job Title: CEO
(ie General dog's body)

Question Two - New Patch? -- Question from False
Now that the Project Nakatomi (1.2) patch has been released, what is Introversion's future plans? From what Chris said in IRC on the day of v1.2 release, there is already a new patch on the way? Or was that simply a joke, ;)

Answer:
There is another patch on the way, but like always we can't give any dates. We've learnt from the past that we always miss our deadlines - i'm sure you've noticed :) The current plan is to release a fix patch soon - this will include fixes for common problems only - no new features. We've already done quite a bit of work on this. This will be v1.3 I think.

Question Three - $$$Money$$$ -- Question for PunisherBass
What is the total sales revenue of Uplink, and how much money have you actually made (ie profit) from the sale of Uplink?

Answer:
Well, we've made enough to quit our day jobs and work for Introversion Software full time. We've done ok. We should be able to cruise along until the next game is ready. But we're not millionaires or anything.

Question Four - Future -- Question from Zaptan
Many people are wondering if you have another idea for another game (non uplink) do you? and if so can you tell us anything about it?

Answer:
Yeah i'm(Chris) currently working on a new game - not related to Uplink. It's totally new, starting from scratch. But remember we kept Uplink quiet for 18 months - so don't expect any news on this any time soon. But there's still plently of life left in Uplink yet.

Question Five - Beta testers -- Question from Zbaco
Who do I have to bribe in order to beta-test the next patch? :)

Answer:
All bribes should be made payable to Chris Delay and sent to his home address.

Question Six - Community -- Question from Zaptan
The Uplink community is rather... interesting, are you happy with your following, or do you wish it was bigger, or different people leading it?

Answer:
It's pretty much as we expected. We have pretty much someone from every group - we have the die-hard fans (you know who you are), we have the people that check our site out every now and again, and we have the trouble makers. Uplink is a little unusual in that is seems to inspire fanatical responses from some people one some issues. For me its a massive source of insipiration. Seeing the number of people who are interested in what we are doing - it's a huge rush.

Question Seven - Genre -- Question from Einstein
Chris, why did you decide to make a game in a genre that has been both avoided by the big developers and failed at by the small? (although, you have CLEARLY succeeded!)

Answer:
You've answered the question for me there. Cheers Einstein ;)

Question Eight - Easter Eggs... -- Question from Doni
How many easter eggs are as of yet undiscovered?

Answer:
Most of the big ones are gone now. We didn't expect the Easter eggs to be so well received - you do know that every game has them don't you? I think Uplink just attracts a certain kind of person who loves a puzzle...

Question Nine - Uplink Clones -- Question from Icepick
Given the recent series of Uplink clones being released by people, are you anoyed that your idea is being ripped off, or flattered that your idea has inspired people? Or something else completely...

Answer:
Excited mostly - we might actually have created a new genre of game. Ok fair enough, there was Hacker and Neuromancer, but hey that was a long time ago and they were very different games in reality. The clones i've seen so far haven't looked too good - but one did come up just recently that looks excellent. If people get ideas from our game and it inspires them to make their own then that's just fantastic.

Question Ten - Secrets! -- Question from Einstein
Chris, you seem to have an unhealthy liking for hiding things from people, the Designer's Bibles need i say more? What gave you the idea to include the 'gamebibles' and hide them in such ingenius ways?!

Answer:
The gamebibles were such an important part of Uplink's development - I mentioned them on the bonus disk, but they ended up being a source of inspiration by themselves. I'd just flick through pages and pages of ideas that i'd written down over 18 months, and i'd have more ideas. I'm making a point of writing a designers bible for the new game in much the same way. It will probably show up somewhere eventually. Why have we distributed them? I've always been interested in other peoples games - I would personally love to read the design bibles of my favourite games. So I figured other people would be interested as well. Hiding them just makes them more valuable ;)

Question Eleven - Poptarts -- Question from Icepick
Introversion Team: Which (if any) of you like poptarts? And which flavour does each of you prefer?

Answer:
I expected better from you Icepick ;)
(HEY IVE BEEN FRAMED!!! I DIDNT ASK THIS QUESTION :( - Icepick)

Question Twelve - Game Ideas -- Question from Zaptan
You listed some major features that you left out in that Introversion server in the game are there any smaller features (like LANs) that did not or have not made it to the game? And any you particularly wish had?

Answer:
There is literally tons of stuff that didn't make it into the game - you have to stop somewhere - just look at the gamebibles. We had loads of ideas. In the end though I think all the best ideas made it in. We weren't really under any time pressures with Uplink - it's not like the commercial world where you have to finish by a certain date - we just kept working until it felt right. A lot of features of the game that now seem massively important almost didn't make it in - the beeping in the trace tracker for example was added about two weeks before completion of the master CD. It was totally last minute. Now people tell us it's one of their favourite features. The whole gateway upgrade thing didn't go in until around 15 months into development. It's amazing really.

Question Thirteen - Tom & Mark! -- Question from Einstein
Tom & Mark; everyone knows what Chris does.... but people dont always understand exactly what it is you two do. Could you take us through your duties, and then please describe your hardest day as a member of the IV software team.

Answer:
Mark and Tom are effectively the publishers, whilst Chris is the developer. Mark generally deals with shipping/shop distribution, and is working on the Mac and Palm publishing deals.
Tom does the financial/legal stuff, and is trying to push the PC version into Europe and the US. We all do a bit of the marketing (adverts, PR, shop promotions,magazine reviews etc..) as nobody really likes doing it, and we have Tom's sister Vicky to help. The hardest days always revolve around money. Everything else is easy.

Question Fourteen - What do you do all day? -- Question from Icepick & GroovyPigThing
Everyone seems to be under the impression that you have other jobs, and Uplink is worked on in your spare Time. What are the Introversion Team's day Jobs? Also, do you intend to keep working on uplink around your current jobs or do you think you might start working on games full time?

Answer:
We are all full time now. We were all at University while Uplink was being written - then we each had day jobs for a while. But now Introversion is our job.

Question Fifteen - Patch -- Question from Zaptan
LAN hacking is an interesting concept where did you come up with the Idea to make it how you did in the game?

Answer:
Nethack. Great game. Every game developer can learn something from Nethack. Look it up if you've no idea what i'm talking about.

Question Sixteen - Platforms -- Question from GroovyPigThing
Chris, there has been a lot of talk of creating an Uplink port to PDAs. Can you confirm which, if any, of these platform you are working on a port for? Also can you confirm any other platforms you are developing Uplink for?

Answer:
Uplink has been ported onto the Pocket PC. You need to be running WindowsCE. We're almost finished and we're trying to arrange distribution as we speak. This is way cool stuff - getting a 640x480 game to fit into 240x320 is particularly hard, but we are nearly done now. We also have a finished Mac version, which will be coming out soon. So, Uplink will be available for : PC, Linux, Mac, PocketPC.

Question Seventeen - Uplink Cases -- Question from Icepick
Which do you prefer, the classic Uplink cd case, or the new DVD case?

Answer:
Tricky question. The new DVD case is undoubtly better put together and more suited to shop sales. Its more professional looking. But I think I still like the original. It fits Uplink better. The original secret-books were better as well, I think. The original packaging was very minimalist - it almost “feels“ like the game.

Question Eighteen - L.A. -- Question from Einstein
During your time in L.A. at E3, you had meetings with people from American companies. Did this lead to any openings for the game to be sold in shops stateside? And overall, how do the sales to the US compare to that in the UK?

Answer:
It amazes me how long things like this take. But yes, lots of followups have occured - but nothing set in stone yet. Our Mac and PocketPC versions are both being pushed along by contacts we made in the states. In general, the US buys more copies of Uplink than the UK from our website, but of course we are in the shops in the UK so that offsets everything.

Question Nineteen - You choose... -- Question from Einstein
Linux or Windows? pc or mac? playstation or xbox? boxers or briefs? beer or lager? home&away or neighbours? wet or dry? Labour or Tory? Street Hacker or Illusion? UK or America? A.W.O.L. or “Einstein Creations“? And the grand finale... Modlink or Downlink?

Answer:
Windows. PC. Playstation of course. Boxers. Lager. Neither. No comment. Definately no comment. What? UK! (although LA is damn cool) Both good. BOTH GOOD!!!

Question Twenty - Help Me Please -- Question from Standard n00b v1.0
What is the gamebible.zip password for the game Uplink??????

Answer:
Too Many Goddamn Questions!