When it comes to me saying embarrassingly adoring things about developer Tilted Mill, you'd think my comments about the Enhanced Edition of Children of the Nile would be enough for one week. But no! This week is a twofer, because the developer just announced Hinterland, a $20 direct-download fantasy-themed city-builder-meets-RPG to be available later this summer.

You can read the basics on the game's page here, where the tagline is like a heat-seeking missile locked directly onto my brain. "Loot, Level, Build," it reads. Holy cats, I love doing all three of those things! Sign me up! For a bit more information, you can read my email exchange with Tilted Mill founder Chris Beatrice and designer Jeff Fiske after the jump.

Tom Chick: Hey guys, I don't know if you can answer these questions, but I'll throw them out anyway.

Chris Beatrice and Jeff Fiske: You know… right now (unlike in the past) we’re in the mode of, “all you need to do is ask.” We’re not purposefully holding back info for the mere reason of doling it out over time to “build hype” or whatever – but we are going to refrain from commenting on things we feel might change significantly, or which we’re not close to 100% sure of at this point.

TC: What graphics engine are you using? Is this building on the Caesar IV and SimCity Societies eye candy, or will it be more modest?

CB and JF: We’re not using the [Children of the Nile] / Caesar IV / [SimCity Societies] technology. We’re using a third party engine. Our goal here is to focus on the gameplay, and not chase the ‘killer screenshot’, so yes, graphically it will be more modest and also play smoother on lower end machines which, given our history, is important for users to understand. As I’ve said elsewhere, I think this is what makes the PC special as a gaming platform, allowing innovation, quick turnaround, close collaboration between the audience and the people making games (really unlike any other type of entertainment) and judging by the responses we’re getting, others agree.

TC: On the feature list, "party-based tactical combat" implies the game breaking out into turn-based battles. Is this the case? If not, how will battles work? Is it hands-off Majesty style fighting?

CB and JF: Play follows your character continuously, so when he/you are in the village, you can interact with the village. As you move outside the village you encounter enemies and other characters and creatures. Combat can happen anywhere – the village can be attacked, you’ll discover hostile lairs in the countryside, etc. You directly control only yourself throughout the game, and some of the fun comes from the fact that you don’t directly control any of the folks on whom your success is dependent (which is entirely the case in [city-builder] games). Your success in combat depends largely on which followers you bring with you, and how you equip them. Because your party is only a maximum of four characters (including you), what you do tactically with yourself is extremely important-- and no, you do all of your fighting and should you flee, your party flees with you. But the really interesting context for combat is not just about deciding who is going to be best to bring, in terms of combat victory, but also thinking about what happens if you lose that guy. In a village with a dozen people, each person’s specific capabilities are critical.

TC: You mention mythology, but the description seems to avoid any talk of spell-casters or wizards. Is magic a part of the player's village in Hinterlands?

CB and JF: Magic is a big part, but again, it is more of the ‘find an ancient relic and do research’ or ‘get some herbs and maybe in a week you can make a healing potion’ type of scale, vs. worrying about [damage-over-time] firestorms, and what branch of spell casting should you specialize in. This is more about witches, alchemists, herbalists, charms, and so on. Really, if you get the right resources or find the right item, the right followers might become available and they can cast spells or perhaps you will find a wand you can use.

TC: I'd love to know a bit more about the resource model. Barring that, which of your previous games does the resource model closest resemble?

CB and JF: Without telling you everything, your village needs certain things, gold to build residences for your followers and food to feed them. You need to manage these critical resources pretty closely. Beyond that, you will find a bunch of different resources and artifacts in the world that enable to you to acquire different followers with unique capabilities, and to improve your village.