How much research into future weapon research did you do for the game?

We've got a team in the studio that does Serious Games and that work gives us unique insight into weapons and tactics the military would like to have, or not want our enemies to have. Nothing classified, but we often hear or read about weapons R&D before it hits the general media.

What sort of locations and missions can people expect to see in Blacklight?

Blacklight is set in the fictional east European city of Balak, Kajikistan approximately 25 years from now. A former soviet state with dilapidated romantic architecture underneath an overbuild of high-tech, ubiquitous advertising, many sections of the Balak are haphazardly cordoned off as Biohazardous zones. Balak is an open city after civil war broke out.

Intense is probably the best way to describe the missions. They range from ambushes to search and rescue to direct action raids. You're fighting primarily in the city, but we're mixing things up to keep it exciting.

We have seen many movie-game collaborations and most of them are mediocre at best. How confident are you that Zombie and Fox Atomic will make an exception for Blacklight?

Can't argue with you there. But then, think about Dead Space. Their cross-platform design was marketing-centric, so their budgets we're limited, but man, they did a great job telling separate, self-contained stories.

I think the basic problem with movie licensed games is exactly that. They're branded entertainment. Not organically written and produced transmedia. So, as a developer, you're rushing to meet day-and-date with the feature and the result is predictable. Unless it's a franchise and you have the proper time. But nothing in Blacklight is being adapted. It's the opposite. Each element is being designed to stand on its own and compliment the others.

Will the game be released before the movie, after the movie or is it designed to be a day-and-date release?

We're not far enough along to answer that question, but I suspect you'll see the comic prequel first.

Will Zombie find a normal publisher for the game or will it distribute it themselves?

We're in active discussions with publishers now. We've been around long enough to see self-publishing tried and abandoned by colleagues. If you want the largest audience possible for your title, independent developers still need to partner with a strong publisher. Valve's Steam is changing that equation, but that's just for PC for now.

How do you feel about the overall state of the game industry at the moment?

Independent of the near term recession, I think we are on the verge of the most exciting era of game design.

My partner Joanna Alexander and I founded Zombie in 1994 and virtually all our experience to date has been fighting with various technologies to get them to do what we wanted them to do. We're just getting to the point where the primary bottleneck, memory, will become a non-issue. Memory has for the most part defined all our limitations. We have the concept of levels because of memory limitation. By the next gen, we'll see some games that load only once, at the beginning. Storytelling and environments will become more seamless. AI and physics will progress to the point that virtual worlds behave like real worlds. And displays will all be auto-stereoscopic, so you feel more present. Games are going to morph into something fantastic in the next few years and I am excited to be here to watch it happen!

Finally can you give us any hints about upcoming Zombie projects?

Next up for us will be SHRAPNEL.

SHRAPNEL is an epic, solar war comic series trilogy that Nick Sagan and I created and that Radical Publishing has partnered with us on. I was very lucky to meet Radical's President, Barry Levine, when I did. He totally got where we were going with the books - a kind of, Joan of Arc in space. And it's been a wild ride ever since. Radical is white-hot right now. Everything they are putting out is getting rave reviews. Their books are gorgeous and their IP is fresh. Expect a big announcement from us at Comic Con. And thanks, John. Always good to catch up with you.