So, some of you may remember a while back we asked our community for questions to ask Lockwood Publishing, one of the leading Playstation Home Developers. Sodium Producer Jamie Riding took the time to reply to some of your Questions regarding Sodium 2 and Playstation Home in General.

Pacman_Ownage : When you started on Home, did you always envision Sodium as its own expanding universe?

Jamie Riding : Definitely, the fact that Salt Shooter was called SodiumOne was very deliberate on our part.

When we created Sodium it was always with a particular vision and feel of the future. The moment SodiumOne was published we had started thinking about Sodium2.

So the ambition for an expanding universe was always there in our minds, but the amount of suggestions and feedback from Sodium fans is what gives that universe life.

When you think that VICKIE has over 2500 facebook friends it’s great to see people taking the games and the game world so much to heart.

Farqj002 : Myself and possibly many others have been waiting for new clubhouses, is there anything you can confirm? Has this been on your mind, or to create a clubhouse?

Jamie Riding : The moment SodiumOne came out we had requests coming in for a personal spaces with a Sodium feel and though it took us a while to get there Blaster’s Paradise was a thunderous success.

We’ve already got other personal spaces in development and are seriously looking forward to seeing if we can match the success of Blaster’s Paradise.

Here at Lockwood we’re always looking to push the boundaries and having set ourselves a benchmark on personal spaces, we will admit that we have been looking at Clubhouses as well.

The Clubs on Home have been really good to us. Clubs like the Homelings and the Louisiana Hurricanes regularly use the Sodium Hub for parties and group meetings, plus we’re seeing clubs like SodiumOne E-Pi-C and SoulX Racing Team actually being created and dedicated to supporting the Sodium Universe.

So with all this support Clubhouses are definitely things we’ve started to look into. If people have a suggestion for the type of clubhouse they’d like to see suggestions and ideas are always more than welcome.

sam_reynolds01 (Part 1) : There is the mysterious fabricator facility hatch and secret underground bunker in the Sodium Hub, will there be more hidden area in the future?

Jamie Riding : With the popularity of the Fabricator Facility, the Bunker, VICKIE code and the original Vetoxade recipe the possibility of more easter eggs, hints, tips or prizes tucked away in various Sodium spaces is something Sodium fans seem to be really keen on.

So yes this is something we are looking into. There are no precise details that we can release, but we do regularly review everything we do.

sam_reynolds01 (Part 2) : How competitive did it get in the Lockwood offices, and who’s the reigning champ?

Jamie Riding : When it comes to the development team, the focus tends to be away from racing for bragging rights. When they’re in Sodium2 they see the environment rather than a competition, so their eyes are very much looking at the game in terms of how they can make it better. They really are perfectionists.

There are myths that just because you make amazing games that you’re an amazing game player, which isn’t necessarily true. Plus ganking the CEO never goes down well :)

If you’re looking for the really competitive guys then you need to speak to the QA team who put the work to the test.

sam_reynolds01 (Part 3) : Do you plan on raising the level 40 cap on Sodium2?

Jamie Riding : This is more of a game balance issue, so while it’s not a definite yes, it is something we’ve discussed.

We do monitor activity in Sodium2, if we feel that the difficulty level is set too high, too low or the development of the game warrants it we will look at raising the level cap.

Spenny_94 (Part 1) : Do you plan to add objectives and rewards to Sodium2?

Jamie Riding : Certainly, the objectives have been one of the most popular elements of Sodium. Particularly the community objectives where everyone had to work together.

Spenny_94 (Part 2) : Do you expect there to be other future Sodiums, such as SodiumThree?

Jamie Riding : The intention from the start was always for Sodium to grow into a rich universe of different games. There are plenty of updates to come for SodiumOne and Sodium2, but the Sodium universe certainly has plenty more to offer.

The_FPS : A while back there was a survey asking what new “jobs” people would like in Sodium, including hacker and scavenger.  Are any of these going to be released as a part of Sodium, or has the development of Project Velocity moved Sodium into a completely different direction?

Jamie Riding : We were recently asked a very similar question by PlayStation Lifestyle concerning the roleplay potential of Sodium2. For the moment our key focus has been on people being Velocity Racers and looking at potential upgrades and features for the game.

But one of the areas we’re looking into for the future is support for team based gaming which may well open up the options for different roles.

Dacrates : Would you ever consider developing any Home Community event items to support the Home Community if the events in question proved worthy of your attention?

I’ll be cheeky and suggest VCon. We could do with a VCon tee shirt or something ;-)

Jamie Riding : We’re always open to suggestions and ideas.

It may not be a matter of being “worthy”, but any idea would certainly need to be interesting and fun. While there may not be any ideas we can confirm are in development right now, we’re certainly open to the possibilities.

And thats that, Some really interesting and detailed responses to some of your questions. I would like to say thanks to Jamie Riding, and the rest of the awesome people at Lockwood Publishing for taking the time to provide us with this interview. And thanks to all of our members who submitted their questions.