Our upcoming TUC match is going to be shoutcasted by Deman from QuadV, but before he's going to kick off this weekend, we where able to have a nice talk with Deman about his crazy gaming background and his predictions for the game.



Deman enjoying his beer

Hi there, could you introduce yourself?
Im Leigh "Deman" Smith and I have recently began shoutcasting SupCom for www.quadv.com

Can you tell us something about your gaming background?
I started out real young, around 3 or 4 years old (29 now!) on the Acorn Electron and I have played and owned pretty much every console and computer since then. I started heavily competing in online gaming with my trusty 28k modem on Delta Force (god I loved that game), then became a MMO addict on Ultima Online.

After that I discovered broadband very early after £300 BT phone bills and moved over to BF1942, CS, Quake the usual. I became the EuroCup champion in BF1942 with Dignitas.

How did you come in touch with Supreme Commander?
Well I played TA years back and when visiting a friend in Switzerland I read about the game being developed in a magazine. We quickly got the video of the large nukes etc.(I'm sure you all remember it) Then forgot about it for almost a year! Then I noticed Multiplay running a beta invite competition on their website in partnership with THQ and then my love for the game began!

Which games did you shoutcast before SupCom?
I started out casting Battlefield 1942 after hearing a TsN cast by Bridger of the OpenCup Finals in which I admired. I suddenly got interested and listened to Warwitch a lot (damn he was good) and fast became THE Battlefield caster covering every competition I could get my hands on finally ending at BasseLan in Denmark were I took the EuroCup to LAN Finals the year before they "officially" did it, which I am obviously very proud of.

After that I took the obvious step to Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2 etc, which are really poor in comparison to the original. I dabbled in CounterStrike helping out at CPL UK Qualifiers one year but it didn't really hold my interest and so I disappeared back into the world of MMO's (I quit WoW!!!)

For how long are you shoutcasting now then?
Roughly 4 years on and off for various casting firms. QuadV however is the first European English speaking network I have joined, which means no more 3am meetings with Americans! :P

You are well known with the SupCom players can you do a fast round up about the TUC players for the upcoming match?
It will be an interesting match, I am sure everyone noticed last week after a short break for CnC3, Unconquerable returned seemingly a little rusty and lost around 5 matches in 1 night. Considering he had only lost 7 before that in total it was one bad night in the Unconquerable household!

Mentel on the other hand is coming into this match very strong and will expect to see his A-Game on Finns Revenge, a map he self proclaims to have "almost perfect build queue". Unconq's been quiet though so I suspect some serious training has been taking place. It should be a awesome set of matches!

What score do you predict for the upcoming TUC match?
You know I was trying to think of a score earlier on in the day reading peoples predictions and it's a really tough one to call. 3-2 is my guess with Mentel maybe just taking it but it really is a hard one to call, Don't think you'd get good odds at an e-bookie!

Which improvements for SupCom would you like to see in the near future?
wow that's a very broad question! So many small things here and there. Exploit fixed, Game Balance of various units, Commander AA(like the intro movie!), map problems like unfair start points, Ranked 2v2! There is lots of things the list goes on and I am real hopeful that this big April patch will cover them. Although admittedly game balance is something that just constantly needs tweaking.

What do you think about the competitive part of supcom?
Well it has a long road ahead of it before its really in the spot light. It clearly needs some real support from THQ at LAN's if it expects to catch the medias attention. It is in my opinion the best strategy game on the market but its seeming slow starts on some maps really let it down. For fast paced competition I can not see anyway passed the small maps like Winters Duel and Finns Revenge. If we could get some more close quarters maps made it may have a chance at LAN's.

Online gaming wise, who knows, its website like this that are doing a good job to promote SupCom and bringing competitions for the community is always a good thing no matter how badly done(Gamespot!!).

What would you like to see from the gaming community?
Maps maps maps. With a workable map editor that's meant to be close to release I am really hoping to see some proper competitive maps and not just the silly ones. Who plays an 81x81 seriously?

Thank you very much for the Interview! Any shout outs?
Yes a big shout out to Multiplay for running a SupCom tourney at i30 with Packard Bell and THQ, Long may that continue! And I would like to thank QuadV for taking me on board to make SupCom casting a reality.