Invasion Week - Behind the Scenes Chat about DH: Lore Invasion
Invasion Week - Behind the Scenes Chat about DH: Lore Invasion
| Submitted: | Benjamin Bradley |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Mar 16, 2005 |
| Synopsis: | We recently sat down with several members of the Max Gaming Team to talk about their latest hit game DH: Lore Invasion that will be releasing this Friday, March 18th. |
| Keywords: | games |
Article
Day One - Day Two - Day Three - Day Four Fireside Chat - DH: Lore InvasionWe recently sat down with several members of the Max Gaming Team to talk about their latest hit game DH: Lore Invasion that will be releasing this Friday, March 18th. Several of these questions were from the community, so sit back and enjoy our little fireside chat with Max Gaming. GarageGames: Why don't you guys start off by introducing yourselves for those that don't know you. Anthony: I'm Anthony Rosenbaum and I work as the Lead Programmer for Max Gaming Technologies. I'm located in Lexington, Kentucky Sebastien: I'm Sebastien Bourgon and I work as one of the Senior Programmers. Like Anthony, I work from a distance, my home is Ontario. Logan: I'm Logan Foster and I'm the creative Canadian on the team. I work as the Art Director and am located in Edmonton up here in Canada. Craig: I live across the ocean. I'm Craig Blackney and I'm the Lead QA and Tester over here in England GarageGames: So now that you've finally arrived at the point of officially releasing DH: Lore Invasion, what did you learn about trying to release a multiplayer-only game?  Anthony: Always provide a Single player experience for the players, so there is something to do if the servers are empty.Logan: I would have to say that there are many things we learned from having a game that is predominantly multiplayer such as getting a critical mass for playing, multiplayer games isn't fun if you have a dead time period where there aren't many people playing. Even AAA games have this problem, but for them they can throw some money at marketing to try to resolve it, as an indie you need to work extra hard at getting more and more people out there through viral marketing, word of mouth snd stuff. Sebastien: I agree, we ended up needing players to attract players. Which was a catch 22, since we didn't have them to get them. Logan: Also, the need to organize events and play time, this gives an excuse for people who might be new to the game to come out and play with people they don't know and thus build a friendship and a community. We found that you need to have at least 1 full time guy (or the equivalent of a bunch of part time guys) online and participating with the player base. The players love to see the devs active and the ability for them to provide feedback. Plus, You need reliable servers. One of the funniest things we have found with Lore is that even though you can host your own server, people rarely want to do that. Finally, Jerk control is very important, if someone is being abusive (either with language or actions) you need a way to remove said person from the game or game environment. One person can ruin a game for 15 others. Craig: Also that there's very few safe places to practice. GarageGames: So during your two years of Lore Invasion's development, what was the most frustrating experience? Craig: Trying to get many people from many timezones onto a server together. Logan:Personally I find that there are two frustrating things about being an indie. The first and foremost are that people that simply don't understand why your game isn't like the latest 10 million dollar AAA offering, and thus because it doesn't offer 1 little feature it's not as good. It takes a while but you need to realize that those are the types of players who are never really happy with a game so you just cannot please them. The second frustrating item, which is pretty much impossible to get around but happens anyways, is having a bug slip through into release. you feel awful when this happens and then go on a dash to find out how it slipped through and how to correct it. Sometimes you find that the solution is easy to get done and you can roll out a fix in a week or two, and others its something nasty which takes a long time to resolve. Sebastien: It was awful finding out about 3-4 crash bugs during our biggest promotion to date (FilePlanet demo) and there being nothing we could do to fix them. GarageGames: So is there a practical joker on the team? Craig: Many... Sebastien: We don't really have a practical joker ... Anthony: No real practical joker, although i am generally the most positive one. Everyone else loves sarcasm. Logan: I don't think there is any one person in particular that is a joker of the group. We all seem to take turns making the occasional joke or being the butt end of one. GarageGames: So I want to make a game, what should I do first?  Craig: Get involved in a team and concentrate on your talents and bring people in to do what you can't, or don't have time for.Sebastien: For programmers. Buy Torque. Find some interesting resources. Use them, play with them to get familiar with the engine. Then start on working on features and ideas you'd like to have in your game. Then search for an artist, which is the hardest part. Logan: The simplest answer is "small iterative steps", too many indies make the mistake of coming in and wanting to climb the mountain when they don't even know how to crawl. Thus if you want to make games I would suggest that you first learn your craft (ie. programming, art, scripting, etc.) until you have a strong solid foundation, because without one you will be completely lost and have a miserable experience trying to learn the craft and learn how to make a game, its information overload. Second, I would recommend working with another team or group, or on your own on a very small project, to just learn the engine and its tools. Get your comfort level and overall knowledge up. Knowledge is power so work smarter not harder. Third, play lots of games and try to understand what made a game good, then look at how you can make something just as entertaining but on a smaller scale. IMHO too many indies try to do everything when they should pick their fights and do what they can exceed and beat the AAA market at, not try to foolishly go toe to toe with the 800lbs gorilla. GarageGames: So lets talk specifically about DH: Lore Invasion, which by the way is releasing on Friday, March 18th. What is your favorite MAV to use when you play DH: Lore Invasion? Logan: I actually like speed and mobility. So when I play I will take a Federated States Hunter Scout. I will then configure my scout as such: Laser, T15 missiles, a good balance of damage and ammo, and lastly I crank my speed/armor slider all the way to one side, thus giving me faster energy recover for my laser and jump jets and stay at a safe range. Its a configuration I have coined as "speed scouts". Sebastien: The Hunter Scout, cause that thing can almost fly. Anthony: EC scout, with high speed, spider missiles and a gatlin gun. Craig: Eastern Confederation Mantis - Infantry class all the way. GarageGames: And who do you think will win the war? Eastern Confederation or Federated States? Sebastien: Federated States, because it's got homing missiles. Anthony: EC will win, they have cooler MAVs Logan: The war is actually very close right now with some excellent pilots on both sides of the conflict, this might shift of course as Lore Invasion gets adopted by even more players. Personally I am rooting for the Federated States though. Craig: Feddies, obviously. GarageGames: Looking back over your development time, if you could change one thing, what would it be? Anthony: Remove the tanks, never cared for them, maybe replace with Tank Pack equivalents. Sebastien: NO CHANGES. Nothing, should be changed, it is finished. Logan: It's tough to think of just one thing to change because looking back its so easy to compare what you know now to what you knew back then, so you obviously will have a list compiled in your head of things that you would do differently next time. I guess if I had to pick one though I would say "Single Player", we dabbled with a single player campaign but just couldn't get it rolling just right with the resources that we had at the time, 8 months ago, and then when the resources did roll around for Lore Invasion we didn't have the time to implement it because we had other higher priority items. GarageGames: Are there any tricks or hints you could give me that would help me play DH: Lore Invasion?  Logan: Each MAV has a certain optimal range where it is destructive, learn to use it it. I would also recommend reading the terrain so that you can use it for cover and to sneak up on targets. Lastly "pack hunt" with other players, usually running off and being the lone wolf will give you a quick death, fighting with a team though can give you a lot of protection from numbers.Anthony: The higher the speed the more energy you get, that means longer jetting, longer cloaking, more laser shots... also being submerged in water will protect you from being lockable by homing missiles. Sebastien: Flares are your friend against homing missiles. Also Esd is a Lore Invasion god, so don't feel bad when he kills you. Craig: Why thank you Sebastien. Oh and if I'm in the game....never stay still....EVER. GarageGames: What was your inspiration for the game? Anthony: I just wanted to make MAVs to be able to jump jet significantly. Sebastien: Battletech... and Robotech... Big Robots just plain rule. Logan: There was a lot of inspiration. Obviously the Mechwarrior series and the canceled Battletech 3025 game are two obvious examples, but for me as an artist I also found some great inspiration from Robotech, Rifts and Star Wars to name but a few. GarageGames: Anything else you want to say? Sebastien: When making a game, don't be afraid of redoing parts. We went through 4 sets of interface art and designs and evertime there was an improvement on the ease of use and the code powering it. Logan: Aside from mentioning that everyone should go out and get Lore Invasion when its released on March 18th, I just want to say thanks to all my friends out there in the community who helped out and provided feedback and thoughts as we developed Lore Invasion. Thanks guys. Craig: Yeah... Go buy the game... GarageGames: OK, great. Thanks for taking the time for this little fireside chat during Day 3 of Invasion Week. Now stay tuned for tomorrow as we take a look at a "Day in the Life of a MAV Operator". |
Submit your own resources!| Adam deGrandis (Mar 17, 2005 at 00:31 GMT) Resource Rating: 5 |
"It's tough to think of just one thing to change because looking back its so easy to compare what you know now to what you knew back then, so you obviously will have a list compiled in your head of things that you would do differently next time."
I think its a really important thing for everyone hear that someone is you guys are still learning despite being seasoned indies/torque veterans
Awesome job guys. :)
| Nathan (Mar 17, 2005 at 00:38 GMT) |
Craig: Why thank you Sebastien. Oh and if I'm in the game....never stay still....EVER."
Now Craig, this just makes me want to go in and kick your butt.
Once I get a good enough gaming rig, I think I'll make that my life's mission.
| John Erb-Downward (Mar 17, 2005 at 01:55 GMT) |
@ Nathan: Good luck, we've been trying for years ^_^. He may not be as good a shot as Cheeseman (which is true for 99.99% of us) but he's wiley...oh is he wiley.
| Keith Frampton (Mar 17, 2005 at 04:47 GMT) Resource Rating: 5 |
Although, several of them are wrong in one area.... EC will win this war. :-)
Through Strength, Through Honor, Through Victory, The Bear Shall Arise.
| Leon D. Backer (Mar 17, 2005 at 05:08 GMT) |
And Slacker is right, EC rules. PBG Forever!!!!!
| Matthew Langley (Mar 17, 2005 at 07:12 GMT) |
Edited on Mar 17, 2005 07:13 GMT
| Zachariah Hassel (Mar 17, 2005 at 14:01 GMT) |
| Logan Foster (Mar 17, 2005 at 16:57 GMT) |
| Adrian Wright (Mar 17, 2005 at 18:07 GMT) |
Remember EC players SWARM!!!!
| Luc Jordan (Mar 18, 2005 at 14:43 GMT) |
It's Friday.
It was Friday many hours ago.
And yet when I try to buy Lore, I have no products and $0.00 in my shopping cart.
| Keith Frampton (Mar 18, 2005 at 15:15 GMT) Resource Rating: 5 |
You must be a member and be logged in to either append comments or rate this resource.
