TH:LS Press Archive
The following is a complete archive of every press release connected to They Hunger: Lost Souls
Contents
Gamecloud 10-25-05
NOTE: there are numbered images (001, 002, ect) placed throughout the article however none of them have been saved to known knowledge.
Black Widow Games' Neil Manke and Einar Saukas talk about their upcoming Source engine zombie action game.
(Images 1 2 and 3 would go here)
After creating some amazing single and multiplayer mods for Quake, Quake II and Half-Life, Black Widow Games are branching out with They Hunger: Lost Souls. This follow up to the acclaimed Half-Life 1 single player mod series is a full fledged Source engine title. Gamecloud got a chance to chat with Black Widow Games' Neil Manke and Einar Saukas to find out more about their plans for They Hunger: Lost Souls.
Gamecloud - First, why did you decide to create your own professional game developer after creating a number of free game projects?
Einar Saukas - We didn't have a lot of choices. Developing a SP (single-player) game requires a significant amount of work: character creation, scripting, storyline, dialogues, special sequences, monster variations, enemy placement, ambushes, puzzles, and so on. Most of all, it also entails designing many original locations, unlike MP (multiplayer) maps that people like to play over and over again. All this work was barely manageable when we produced the classic They Hunger mod trilogy using the Half-Life engine. However, the newest 3D game technologies require a much higher level of detail. Consequently, producing a full-size quality SP project becomes almost impossible for part-time developers.
Neil Manke - I still remember our first sponsored project, with 3 maps produced in 2 weeks. It was a freely released mod for Quake 1, created to promote a TV series by Rysher Entertainment. However, these days every little detail takes much more work. For example, it's not uncommon to see a multiplayer mod take up to 2 years and then launch with only 3 or 4 playable maps. And also, one must consider the considerable amounts of money the major developers now invest in their games. Simply put, modern games require much higher investments of time, energy and money and there's no magical way to avoid this reality. Starting a professional company is the only route that may give us the opportunity to be able to produce the kinds of games we've always wanted to.
Gamecloud - Why did you wish to use the Source engine from Half-Life 2 as the basis for your first game?
Neil Manke - Source is the only brush-based modern 3D game engine. In practice, it means a level designer can create interesting environments using mostly brushes, and later add special models to improve specific details. Working with brushes gives me much more flexibility and opportunity to improvise with my creativity. In comparison, most other state-of-the-art engines depend upon the rather slow and involved process of developing very specific models for every stage of architecture.
Einar Saukas - The Half-Life 2 technology is also very flexible and developer-friendly, so it's not that hard to customize it for a different game style. It's also unparallel in realistic physics simulation, making it especially appropriate for creating dynamic environments and elaborate puzzles.
(Images 4 5 and 6 go here)
Gamecloud - Overall how has it been working with the Source engine for your first game?
Einar Saukas - Technically the Source engine is a much-improved version of the Half-Life technology, which means our extensive experience working with Half-Life helps a lot. At the same time, the newer technology opens up many new possibilities of gameplay that were not possible before. So basically, we get the best of both worlds.
Neil Manke - I have always enjoyed working with the Worldcraft (now Hammer) editor. Even after accumulating experience working with more sophisticated editors such as Serious Editor (for Serious Sam), UnrealEd (for Unreal) and Sandbox (for Far Cry), Hammer is still my old, comfortable friend.
Gamecloud - Why did you want to create a new They Hunger title for Black Widow Games' first commercial project, rather than an all new concept?Neil Manke - I consider They Hunger:Lost Souls a new concept spiked with the “flavor" of the gameplay and style of the classic They Hunger Trilogy. Lost Souls is not a sequel, but rather a completely new story. The new Source engine opens a window to many new ideas and more varied gameplay styles, which could not even have be considered before.
Einar Saukas - the point is, we really like creating horror-themed games and we received literally many thousands of fan mails asking for more of it. And, although the original TH series was wild, fun and crazy we also wanted to up things a few notches and spend more time and energy to produce a more polished and coherent game, combined with new original ideas we want to introduce. (Images 7 8 and 9 go here) Gamecloud - What can you tell us about the back story for They Hunger: Lost Souls and how it relates to the previous They Hunger games?
Neil Manke - In the story, you are a tourist visiting North-Eastern Europe during the early 1960's. After a dramatic, blood-curdling accident, you find yourself wandering alone in the wilderness and seek shelter in an ancient monastery. However, you soon realize things in this place of “sanctuary" are not what they should be. You then become involved in a desperate series of bone-chilling struggles to preserve your own life, and escape from this nightmarish experience.
Einar Saukas - The Lost Souls story is independent from the classic series, but it follows a similar style. It's not exactly a sequel, so the younger players that never had a chance to play the classic mods (if there are any) can fully enjoy the new game without knowledge of the previous stories. And it's certainly not a remake either, since we prefer to explore new ideas and use our creativity instead of just re-implementing an old game with better graphics.
Gamecloud - Where will the new game take place and what will the levels be like?Neil Manke - Some of those locations have already been partially revealed in our first promotional images. Settings include: a huge ancient monastery complex comprised of many varied buildings, some clinging precariously to seaside cliffs, a zombie-infested salvage operation, an isolated farming settlement, wilderness areas with meandering river beds, lakes and waterfalls, fog shrouded swamps, and others. And there is still more to come.
Gamecloud - What new weapons can we expect to see in They Hunger: Lost Souls?Einar Saukas - The weapons are similar to those in classic They Hunger, in the sense that they are a selection of era-relevant weapons, explosives and incendiaries. With the addition of a unique and innovative new weapon, the likes of which I can't reveal to you, otherwise we will have to eliminate you and end this interview!
(Images 10 11 and 12 go here)
Gamecloud - What will the zombies and other enemies be like in the new game?
Neil Manke - This time the zombies will be much more like real zombies. And since all human corpses can become zombies, there will be a disgusting and revolting array of them to deal with. There are also other creatures that could be described as the living dead.
Gamecloud - What other new gameplay features will They Hunger: Lost Souls have?Einar Saukas - There are many new gameplay features but obviously we can't reveal much about them. For now I can only give you one example: One of the favorite features from the classic series was driving an old steam locomotive and flattening zombies with it. However, smarter zombies refuse to be such sitting ducks, so instead we decided to take advantage of realistic vehicle physics (provided by the Source engine) and give you a powerful tractor, that you can drive freely to chase the zombies down before running over them.
Gamecloud - Will this new game be episodic in nature like the previous They Hunger games?Neil Manke - It is actually a fully independent game. However, we do have it planned as being the first game in a series. We already have a basic story outline for the sequels depending upon the reception of the first. Each game in the series is a complete story within itself, and each with an exciting and satisfying ending. Most would find it extremely frustrating to spend hours playing a game and then not be rewarded with a proper story tie-in, and I'm sure our fans appreciated the nice endings we always implemented in the past.
(Images 13 14 and 15 go here)
Gamecloud - Will this new game be released via Valve's Steam system or will there be an actual retail store release for the product?
Einar Saukas - Sorry, all we can reveal at this time is that we are still working out the pricing and distribution options. We can only state that we intent to make it available for minimal cost compared to most commercial games.
Gamecloud - What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?Einar Saukas - Much of the content is almost finished, such as the levels and gameplay. Other sections like sound engineering (except for dialogue recordings) are well underway. However, there's still a lot of work remaining, for instance we are still using placeholder models for the zombies.
Neil Manke - Overall the game is approximately 75% complete. As a matter of fact, we've been hidden away in our underground lab (at an undisclosed location) for almost a year now, secretly developing the game until it was well advanced and we could start to reveal it. We have yet to announce an official release date, but we have a reputation for working fast and efficiently and we intend to keep it.
Gamecloud - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about They Hunger: Lost Souls?Neil Manke - I would like to clarify that no real zombies have been hurt (so far) during the production of this game.
Einar Saukas - Let me add that our production facilities are constantly monitored by the local S.P.C.Z.
IGN 10-27-05
Two days latter IGN uploaded a collection of images.
Planet Half-Life Black Widow Games: Five Days of Fear 01-02-06 through 01-006-06
Between the days of January 2nd through the 6th The website planethalflife.gamespy.com ran a week long interview session with Einar Saukas and Neil Manke of Black widow games. While the first day was a preamble going over all there previous work, days 2 though 5 were all about Lost Souls.
Day 2
Today, Einar Saukas and Neil Manke of Black Widow Games spill the beans on their upcoming title, They Hunger: Lost Souls. They'll be talking a little bit about the background of the entire They Hunger series, future plans for Black Widow Games, and some teasers about They Hunger: Lost Souls. Keep on reading!
Chief-Phillips: How about we start off with a bit about who you are, and what you have been up to in the game development industry over the years.Neil: Black Widow Games was initially created to produce promotional game levels and mods for state-of-the-art 3D engines. From 1997 to 2003, we released 14 sponsored game projects using the Quake and Half-Life technologies, freely distributed as part of marketing campaigns for products such as the TV series “Special Ops Force", and the theatrical movie “Underworld". They Hunger was originally a trilogy of single-player mods for Half-Life that we produced for PC Gamer magazine following the style of classic horror movies.
Einar: We've received countless requests for a follow-up to They Hunger and we had so many exciting ideas that could not be implemented earlier – due to budget or technology constraints – that the decision to produce another They Hunger, this time as a commercial game for Half-Life 2 Source engine, became an obvious choice.
Chief-Phillips: We didn't hear much from you since the game was announced last year. How's it going?Einar: Black Widow Games is a very small company, so every effort we make for game publicity directly affects our internal development schedule. Last October we dedicated a few days to officially announce the project, because every commercial game needs to generate in advance some publicity in preparation for its upcoming release. After this, we locked ourselves again into our secret underground lab and recommenced working hard to finish the game. Now Planet Half-Life troops finally breached our company security demanding a new series of interviews. Bastards!
Chief-Phillips: Now, let's dive into They Hunger: Lost Souls, and what it's all about. What kind of setting(s) will this take place in, and what period in history?
Einar: The game setting is North-Eastern Europe during the early 1960's, when strange anomalies culminate with dead corpses rising from their graves. As a tourist recovering from a tragic accident, you initially seek shelter in an ancient monastery, but soon realize bloodthirsty zombies have overrun the surrounding region. As a consequence, you become involved in a desperate series of struggles to preserve your own life, and escape from this nightmarish experience.
Neil: Moving to Europe was a conscious design decision. We didn't want just a straight remake of the classic series, so we moved the setting far away to help establish an independent story, while opening new opportunities for original and imaginative content. Early 1960's was an obvious choice because that's the time period when real zombies started to become a serious problem.
Chief-Phillips: Will there be similarities to the original, or is this a completely new start to the They Hunger saga?Einar: Lost Souls is a completely new game independent from the classic series, with a new storyline and different settings, although it follows a similar style. It's certainly not a remake, we prefer to explore new ideas and use our creativity instead of just re-implementing an old game with better graphics.
Neil: To summarize Lost Souls, we like to say "this time the zombies will be much more like real zombies". Generally, we are striving for a more realistic approach and attention to detail in the game.
Chief-Phillips: Many games and modifications draw on popular horror movies (28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, etc.), is there any filmed influence for They Hunger: Lost Souls? Will the zombies be the classic slow-moving uncoordinated zombies, or will they be fast animal-like killers?
Einar: The mythology established by classic horror movies was the starting point for the original They Hunger concept, although the series was not directly based on any of them specifically.
Neil: Before "28 Days Later" presented the notion of fast zombies in the movies, the classic They Hunger series had already introduced the concept of a wide range of zombies with different mobility and intellectual abilities. Humans recently transformed into zombies keep part of their higher brain functions and almost the same physical agility, while reanimated rotten corpses “usually" move in a manner similar to classic zombie movies – unless other unnatural causes affect their behavior even more. They Hunger: Lost Souls is remaining faithful to this variety, especially because it allows different styles of confrontations and zombie attack scenarios inside the same game, and thus offers a more challenging array of survival situations for the player.
Chief-Phillips: Are there any other types of influences? Perhaps any forms of scientific evidence, myth and lore, and so forth? Was any work put into researching the anatomy of zombies? Perhaps studying human decomposition, or basic animal instinct?Neil: We have actually conducted extensive field research in preparation for this game and studied typical zombie behaviors in their natural environments. This knowledge is certainly going to result in a more accurate and extraordinary gaming experience – that would be far too dangerous to actually experience in the real world with real zombies.
Chief-Phillips: Will this be a game you can complete in a few hours, or will this be a noggin-scratching experience?
Neil: It's a substantial adventure that will take several hours to play. Exactly how long will depend on your ability to survive, shoot zombie's heads, solve the hardest puzzles and your interest in exploring the environment. And as far as puzzles go, we try our best not to make any puzzles an unpleasant head-banging experience but just finding your way in many places will take some thought and careful observations. Einar is especially proud of one major puzzle he developed that spans major parts of 2 levels. Few will be able to figure out how it actually works (I still haven't and really don't care to:) but everyone should be able to solve it anyway.
Chief-Phillips: Will there be any more additions to the They Hunger series?Einar: Actually we have already established the basic design for an entire new series. The overall storyline had to be planned in advance to ensure all individual stories fit together consistently.
Neil: We classify Lost Souls as the first "Chronicle" in a grand and horrifying adventure. Each chronicle will be significantly larger than an episode, and will feature a complete story with a proper and satisfying ending. They will feature the same player character in different locations fighting bloodthirsty creatures. There's not much more we can reveal about the future chronicles without spoiling the surprises about the first one.
Chief-Phillips: Thank you for your time, gentlemen. This is defiantly a very anticipated project for Half-Life 2, one that will be talked about for some time to come. Good luck!Neil: Thanks!
Einar: Thanks.
Day 3
Today, we'll be taking a look at what it takes to make a game such as They Hunger: Lost Souls, with the younger generation over at Black Widow Games. Talking with four of the developers at Black Widow Games, we dive into a bit about what They Hunger: Lost Souls is, what working in a professional environment entails, and some tricks of the trade for those of you who are interested in breaking into the game development field yourself.
Chief-Phillips: Let's start off with some introductions. Who are each of you, and can you tell us a bit about your technical background?
Björn: I am Björn Sörensen, also known as cgmonkey. I'm a 20 years old Computer Graphics student at gsCept, Sweden. My technical background isn't as comprehensive as my artistic background. I started out developing simple games in DOS as a small kid. Years later I came in contact with 3D design through a friend, and from that day I was hooked.
Hollowmind: My name is Richard Askren aka Hollowmind. I live in southwest Michigan, USA. I'm 28 years old and have 3 daughters and I've been gaming since I was at least 9 years old. I remember the first console system I ever had was an Atari 2600. I also used to steal quarters from my mom's purse and go to the local laundry mat to play the arcade games they had there, hehe. I don't think I'll let her read this interview because I don't think she knows about that even to this day. I started modelling about 5 or 6 years ago making custom deathmatch models for HL1 and Quake 3 and I worked on a few mods (most never got finished). I first learned how to model using free demo version of Truespace way back then that came with a book on modelling a friend of mine gave me. I started making models for games when I picked up MilkShape 3D. I've since moved on to using 3DS Max.
Magnus: Hi! My name is Magnus Bernekärr and I'm 23 years old. I live in SkellefteÃ¥, a town in the northern part of Sweden, and yes its coooold! I study Computer Graphics at gsCEPT and most of my time is currently dedicated to schoolwork and They Hunger: Lost Souls. Playing games has been a part of my lifestyle for as long as I can remember – just like everybody else in the team here.
Teddy: Let's! My name is Teddy Bergsman Lind and I have been modifying games for about half my life now, starting at the age of nine. I have always been a very creative and ambitious person; I satisfy my aesthetic hunger by, amongst other things, drawing (both digitally and on paper) and playing guitar. Early in life I realized that the computer was the perfect tool to get an outlet for my artistic needs. However, I could only do what my computer allowed me to (which was really not much at all). I started to develop a taste for games and I soon started to modify them or make my own projects. Then I have pretty much just followed the very same path (updating software when hardware allows me to), the one that led me to where I am today, working for Black Widow Games.
Chief-Phillips: What kind of development experience have you all had?
Björn: I've been making games for as long as I can remember, my earliest modding experience however dates back to Half-Life 1. I worked on several small mods as a level designer (Raven, Dark Age, HL matrix among others), then I joined Silicon Ice as a modeler and that's when my spark really lit for game development. The team was working on an Enemy Territory version of the Quake 3 mod hit Urban Terror. Right before I joined Black Widow Games I'd been working on a commercial fantasy RPG called Dawnspire which was a very fun project to work with.
Hollowmind: Not a whole lot of experience unfortunately. I've worked on too many mods to remember for various game engines. To this date I don't think a single one of them has been finished except for the original They Hunger mods.
Magnus: I started working on Half-Life mods back in 1999, mostly designing maps, models, skins and Skybox textures. Later I designed weapons and player models for a Quake 3 mod called Full Metal Jacket, and I even started my own mod for UT2004 – but I had to cancel the project just a few weeks later when I joined military service.
After 1 ½ year establishing military networks across the coldest areas of Sweden, I finally restarted my gaming activities in early 2005. Valve's map contest motivated me to learn development for the Source engine, and soon after I joined BWG as a modeler. I still enjoy mapping but it seems pointless when you have a one-man-army level designer like Neil on the team!
Teddy: I have been working on many projects for various engines during my years as a texture artist, but the one modification I have ended up spending the most time working on would probably be Sven Co-op (a co-operative based modification for Half-Life). Working with this modification taught me a great deal about game development and teamwork, without the experience it gave me I doubt I would have been working with Black Widow Games. Other projects I have been/am involved with are amongst others "Jurassic Rage" (dinosaur infested team deathmatch) and "Black Mesa: Source" (a complete remake of the original Half-Life game), both for HL2.
Chief-Phillips: How did you get the opportunity to work for Black Widow Games, and what inspired you to work on this development team?
Björn: If I remember correctly I sent Neil an e-mail asking if he needed some help, before they had announced what they were working on. I didn't hear from them until a few weeks later, when they needed some help on an unannounced project. Being a huge fan of the classic They Hunger series, I didn't hesitate one minute to work with these guys, and I was pleasantly surprised when they told me I was hired to work on a new They Hunger title.
Hollowmind: I worked on They Hunger 3: Rude Awakening. I really enjoyed playing the first two They Hunger mods and when I saw they were making a third I sent Neil Manke an email asking if they could use any extra help on it. They were already familiar with my modeling work from a couple of my Half-Life deathmatch models being featured on PHL. I created the zombie bull and the zombie chicken for They Hunger 3. When they decided to make a new They Hunger for the Source engine they contacted me again to see if I wanted to work on it. There's no way I could turn down working on another They Hunger title.
Magnus: Björn and I attend the same Computer Graphics course. Björn was already working for Black Widow Games and, when asked to recommend another modeler, he indicated myself. I contacted Einar, he liked my work, and so here we are. I really like the Lost Souls concept and the people behind it. Neil and Einar are two very talented guys that deserve credit for their hard work on They Hunger, so they inspire me to work on the game a lot. And the of course the other guys on the team deserve credit also for their hard work.
Teddy: A friend of mine told me that Black Widow Games were seeking new talents – I was immediately interested having their previous projects in mind, I applied the minute I received the news. I saw this as a great opportunity to work with and learn from new and greatly talented blood. By that time I had no idea what so ever of what they had in mind for their next project, they were very secretive about this. I simply wrote about myself, my background and attached some samples of my previous work and that was all I needed to do to get accepted.
Chief-Phillips: What are your respective jobs for Black Widow Games?Björn: My title on the team is "modeler". I make everything from small map objects to characters, whatever is needed. I've also taken models other team members have made and integrated the models in the HL2 engine. Usually I make the object in 3D, painting its textures and then finally import it to the engine, it's often the latter that takes the most time.
Hollowmind: I make zombies. Mwahahahahahahahaha
Magnus: I'm a modeler, working on all kinds of models that can help the story or increase the level of detail in the maps. I also work on textures and help with additional ideas for design and story. Lately I have been working on a new secret weapon for the game and I can hardly wait to show you guys and the zombies this baby. Muhaha!
Teddy: My main task is to create textures and skins but I like to help out in other areas too (such as audio related work or additional 2D-art). For those unfamiliar with the terms "texture" and "skin", these basically mean digitally painted 2D-art applied to, respectively, map-brushes and 3D-models. A texture is often associated with environmental surfaces such as grass, rock, brick and what not. A skin on the other hand is often related to the texture applied on models, such as clothes on a human character model. This does not only involve painting the materials in an editor such as Adobe Photoshop but also properties configuration (telling the engine what the texture is supposed to do) is necessary (Source-engine specific).
Chief-Phillips: How do you enjoy working in a professional atmosphere such as Black Widow Games? What kinds of challenges present themselves in this field of work?
Björn: At first I was very intimidated to work with such talented people, but I've grown to love it. The challenges I face every time I work is a great experience for me. The leaders also push me to perfect everything I do. It's a great environment for an artist to be in.
Hollowmind: Right now it's still very much like working on a mod. I work remotely for them and communicate pretty much exclusively through the internet using various chat programs. I've yet to meet any of the other members in real life and I've only talked to Neil on the phone. The biggest difference between this and any of the mods I've worked on is the much larger amount of exposure that anything by Black Widow Games gets. It's definitely a challenge working from home. There are a lot more distractions than being in an office environment. It can be hard to stay focused and get my work done at times.
Magnus: When you work as a team, especially working remotely, communication is the main challenge. We have to ensure that everybody involved has a proper understanding about the required "look and feel" of each model before building it. The most valuable lesson I have learned while working on They Hunger was the importance of good concepts and drawings, and how to better plan my modeling work.
Teddy: The Black Widow Games team is ultimately the kind of team I have always been in the search of – as all team members are greatly talented in what they do you never have to worry about quality. Besides this, deadlines are held and promises are kept. My biggest support has without doubt been Einar who has provided me with all the information I have ever needed and then some. It's hard to lose motivation with a coordinator such as him.
To take part in the development of a game is in truth a wonderful experience. It teaches you lessons valuable in any profession where team functionality is crucial. However, most of all it is fun! I like to see my work as interactive art, where people all over the world can interact with a product I have taken part in completing.
Developing games however requires a great deal of free time. As I am a full-time student, school often hinders me to do work for They Hunger: Lost Souls. School is very important to me and I try to never let game development get in the way of my studies. However, since I can't miss project deadlines either, I often adjust my schedule with Einar to work out solutions. I tend to be most active on holidays.
Chief-Phillips: Are you able to input your own thoughts and suggestions into the game? Are the senior developers receptive to your suggestions?
Björn: We always discuss the object I'm going to work on before I begin. They are really open-minded about suggestions while still maintaining a certain goal.
Hollowmind: Neil and Einar are very open to hearing different ideas. I don't think any of mine have been implemented LOL, but they were both willing to listen. ;)
Magnus: They have been very open to new ideas, as long as they don't add too much development time to the schedule they have already established for Lost Souls. I don't think I can mention any stuff I have implemented because I fear Einar's wrath if I reveal too much and spoil the surprises!
Teddy: Yes! Einar and Neil are both very open minded about implementing new ideas. Besides this, I'm always allowed to take my own approach to the tasks I am given, even though I'm always provided with predefined guidelines. For the sake of quality I usually make several different versions and then let Einar and Neil decide which they think is better.
Chief-Phillips: What do you have to say to our readers who wish to enter the professional game design field as a career choice? What suggestions can you give?Björn: It's really cliché to say "work hard" because I assume that if you're serious about anything, you will work hard to achieve it anyway. So my best advice to anyone would have to be to travel a lot. Find something else to do than just sit in front of a computer all day. If you're not happy, you'll never be able to achieve 100%. Also a bit more practical advice would be to plan everything in advance before you actually do it, you'll save time and you'll get a much better end result.
Hollowmind: From a modeling stand point the best thing you can do is get your work seen. Get it noticed. Post your models on sites like Polycount, Cgtalk, and Cgchat. Many professionals visit and post on those sites regularly and give lots of good feedback to new modelers. Plus if your work is already great it'll start getting you attention by the right people. Work on mods. You never know which mod will be the next big thing, but keep in mind most mods never get finished. Even if the mods you work on never get finished you'll at least possibly end up with some pieces to use for your portfolio. Or take a chance and offer your help on an already existing mod that's already proven itself. The worse they can do is say sorry we don't need you. Mods, especially finished ones, are good for showing that you're capable of working within a team and are able to produce artwork from other people's ideas. Also creating a portfolio website of your work helps a lot, too. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a simple site that's very easy to navigate and showcases your work.
Magnus: Learn as much as you can about 3D modeling, get some education, and always work hard to improve your skills. Studying other people's games and analyzing their good and bad aspects can also teach you useful lessons.
Teddy: Most important of all is to never take on a task too big for you to handle. Before working on a large commercial project such as They Hunger: Lost Souls I had several other smaller projects to keep me busy. Working with other people really helps you keep the motivation you once generated. Also, never hesitate to exchange experiences, there's always something more to learn. When applying to a new project, it is very important to be honest about your skills and experience, and show material that you are honestly proud of. Make sure you are not too modest about your abilities, but don't exaggerate them either.
Taking the time to develop your skills is crucial so try not to rush. Be prepared to spend a lot of your free time on training, no skills come for free. I have spent up to 15 hours in total on some of the skins for They Hunger: Lost Souls. Something else you must learn if you work in a team is to take criticism and, most importantly, analyze and learn from it. This will really help you develop, that I promise you.
Chief-Phillips: Thank you for sitting down with me, and I wish you all the best of luck with They Hunger: Lost Souls, and all future endeavors you may encounter.
Björn: Thank you!
Hollowmind: Thank you for the interview. Now if you'll excuse me I must continue my work on the zombie hordes…
Magnus: Thx!
Teddy: Thanks a lot!
Day 4
The final interview in the Five Days of Fear series brings us back with Designer, Project Manager & Programmer Einar Saukas of Brazil and Game & Level Designer Neil Manke of Canada — the senior developers at Black Widow Games. Today we learn a bit about what it's like running a larger enterprise, and what it really takes to develop a commercial game or mod.
D3pth Charge: Looking back over the past few days, readers have had a chance to learn quite a bit about They Hunger's history, as well as some information about the upcoming chapter, Lost Souls. Yesterday we gained some insight into how a few of your newest team members got started in the project. Now it's time to look at how you, the senior developers, are handling the technical side of Black Widow Games. To start off with, what are each of your backgrounds and previous experiences within the gaming world?
Neil: I have been working on game and level design since 1997, soon after Quake was released. It was initially just a hobby for me, but my maps became very popular and I started receiving offers for contract-work mapping. That's when we founded Black Widow Games and started working on a sponsored mod for Rysher Entertainment to promote the Special Ops TV series.
Einar: I have been involved with game development most of my life, starting with Z80 assembly programming at 12, before most of the team was even born. I'm an electronics engineer with a master degree in computer science, with about 15 years professional experience as software developer, project manager and senior consultant. In my spare time I've published (literally) hundreds of game articles and reviews, mainly for the Brazilian magazine Info Exame. At Black Widow Games, I mainly work as game designer, project manager and programmer.
D3pth Charge: One of the most difficult parts for beginning mod leaders seems to be delegating tasks in an efficient manner to the team. Who are the members of the development team, what are their positions and how do you go about deciding who is responsible for each job?Neil: We have a small but highly efficient team of about a dozen developers. All have previously worked on mod development and some have professional experience with other commercial games. Our official web site has brief profiles concerning each person.
Einar: Several of us have been working together for a very long time. When we started Black Widow Games in 1997, I was coding Quake-C for Neil's maps, Magnus Jansén and Paul Taylor were testing them. Other team members participated in our most recent projects, including the classic They Hunger mod trilogy itself.
Neil: We previously produced 14 promotional mods for Quake and Half-Life. This experience taught us to produce games very efficiently with minimal resources, before we finally decided to develop our first commercial game.
Einar: A common mistake in project management is to delegate tasks as if people were just numbers in a spreadsheet. We always schedule activities considering the kind of work that best matches each one's abilities, strengths and preferences. Another common mistake is to believe that detailed planning restrains creativity. We always keep an open mind about new ideas, analyze their potential to improve the game and readjust our planning as many times as needed to accommodate them, which is still much better than having no schedule at all.
D3pth Charge: Do you find that responsibilities overlap between positions, and/or that team members' work is affected by other members' work? (IE: does the programming affect design, or vice versa?)Neil: Einar and I share the main responsibilities for game design, and this establishes the basic outline that helps to guide everybody's work. Everyone still has a fair amount of independence but carefully planning tasks in advance ensure each one's contributions fit together into a coherent game.
D3pth Charge: As we all know, one of the biggest attractions to a mod is the level of professionalism shown in media releases and of course, the final product: the mod itself. In order to set high standards, a team has to consist of members that are able to perform to that standard. Keeping this in mind, what criteria did you use when hiring?Einar: We look especially for quality, talent, discipline, responsibility, common sense and hard work. We try to evaluate this when interviewing candidates and analyzing samples of their previous works.
D3pth Charge: Why did you choose the Source engine, and how does it compare to other cutting-edge graphics engines? Are there any obstacles that you have encountered because of your choice to use Source as your platform?
Neil: Half-Life 2 Source is a very attractive technology for several reasons. For me, the main advantage is a very productive level editor, which allows me to create the level designs faster than most other developing environments.
Einar: The source code is also very flexible and customizable, making it easily adaptable for all kinds of game styles. It also provides the best physics simulation, which is essential to create more realistic scenarios and interesting puzzles.
Neil: Obviously every graphics engine has specific strengths and limitations, more adequate to certain types of scenarios than others. We took into account the Source engine's characteristics in our game design since the beginning, and because of this we never faced any serious obstacles later.
D3pth Charge: In terms of attention to detail, deadlines and efficiency, do you notice any differences between how it is now that you are making a commercial game and when you were making freely distributed mods?Neil: There are several differences. High quality is obviously very important for a mod, but rough spots are still acceptable as long as the final result is really fun. However, a commercial game requires more rigorous quality control, longer development cycles and more content, demanding more organization, planning and resources.
D3pth Charge: You guys have a lot of experience with game design—not only with single-player modifications, but with multiplayer modifications as well, such as your Underworld: Bloodline project for Sony Pictures. In what aspects does game design differ for a multiplayer game and a single-player game? In your opinion, is one easier to create than the other?Einar: There's no doubt developing a single-player game requires more initial work than multiplayer. It requires character creation, scripting, storyline, dialogues, AI, special sequences, monster variations, enemy placement, ambushes, puzzles, and so on. Single-player also demands the creation of many different and varied locations, unlike multiplayer games where a small set of maps will do, initially.
Neil: The development cycle for a multiplayer mod is completely different. It doesn't have to be implement all at once, it actually works better when it's released as early as possible and gradually improved based on players' feedback. In this case, the main challenge is not to actually create a multiplayer mod, but the continuous work required to keep improving it and gradually increase its popularity.
Einar: The multiplayer mod we created to promote Sony's movie was produced in only two months and attracted a lot of attention. Unfortunately we never had a budget to keep working on it after the movie was released, so we didn't have a chance to try expanding its popularity.
D3pth Charge: In most industries in order to be successful, project teams have to prioritize their work; the most important, critical aspects of the project need to be completed before any other parts are worked on. How does your team prioritize its work?Einar: We break down all game features into individual tasks and classify them according to their relevance. The ones directly related to the storyline and gameplay received a higher priority, other features that don't affect too much the rest of the game are postponed and may even be cancelled later if we really run out of time. Activities that affect someone else's work are always implemented first.
Neil: Teams working on horror mods usually start working on monster models since it's the most fun part and it attracts much more attention. In Lost Souls, we have followed the opposite path and kept using placeholder models until recently, simply because it was more efficient to concentrate first on other models required by level design for instance, and much easier to replace monster models later without affecting anything else.
D3pth Charge: There are many ways to plan out projects. A team can try and cover all the ground before starting, so that they have a distinctive, clear view of their goal throughout the development process, or a team can brainstorm ideas and go from there, allowing themselves to change their mind as they go, which is sometimes where the most creative ideas come from. What method of planning does your team follow? In your experiences, which method produces the best results?
Neil: We have a mixed approach. Although we plan the entire game and establish the general game design in advance, we are not very restrictive about specific details so we maintain the flexibility to incorporate new ideas as we go. Keeping the project under control while continuously improving the original design takes a lot of management and we have to frequently re-evaluate our design in order to accommodate new ideas without impacting the work already done. However, that's the price we have to pay for targeting efficiency and creativity in the same project.
D3pth Charge: Thank you so much for this opportunity to take an intensive look into a part of game development that most of the average gamers don't normally get to see. Hopefully this week's interviews and articles will motivate more people to try their hand in mod creation!Neil: Thanks!
Einar: Thanks!
Day 5
Black Widow Games: Five Days of Fear (Day 5)
More Than You Bargained For
In They Hunger: Lost Souls, you begin your journey as a tourist in a small, North-eastern European town. For as long as you could remember, you had been stuck in a rut doing the same daily routine, day in and day out. Tired of your stressful yet disappointingly uneventful everyday life, you decided it was time for a greatly-needed vacation, and here you are. Little do you know, your wish for "excitement" is about to be granted in more ways than you can imagine or would have ever hoped for…
As in the original They Hunger, in Lost Souls you start off innocently enough: simply trying to get away from it all and enjoy your vacation. You hail a cab and set off across the coastline to your hotel in a neighbouring town… but then everything goes wrong, and a tragic accident changes your life forever. After regaining consciousness moments after the accident, you awake to find your cab driver lying near you, badly injured and covered in blood. Not quite sure where you are, how you got there, or what has happened, you lament the fact that nobody is around to help you. Ironically, you are far from alone, but you and your cab driver are the only ones around with a pulse…
The cab driver knows the area well, but has yet to muster the strength to guide you through the area and therefore advises you to seek shelter in the local monastery on the coast. You leave your injured comrade behind and make your way through the woods—all the while being stalked by the walking dead…
You eventually arrive at the monastery, but something doesn't seem quite right—in fact, things seem a LOT worse than they did on the trip. You now find yourself in the fight for your life, with no one to lend a hand and nowhere to go for help. The hunt is on, but who will be the hunter and who will be the hunted? The decision is yours.
Breaking the Mold
They Hunger: Lost Souls won't transport you around to unconnected locations, leaving you wondering just how you managed to get to where you are. A solid storyline will provide a clear view of where you are going to next, and why. However, gameplay will be anything but linear; one of the key features of the game is the fact that it gives you multiple routes to take throughout the game, leaving you to choose the path that you see fit.
Lost Souls is the first commercial pursuit of the game development company Black Widow Games, who have a rich portfolio of released modifications and levels since 1997 (most of which were per request of companies and publications like Rysher Entertainment, Sony Pictures, PC Gamer, and so forth). Many companies breaking into the professional game development field are afraid to stray from the mainstream standards of gaming, but Black Widow Games refuses to be held back by such limitations. BWG's goal is to make you think before you act and to give you multiple options on how to act. Most games involve a "reactionary" type of gameplay, in which players involuntarily fall into traps and puzzles and then must work their way out. Lost Souls will allow you to take an active roll within the game, and decide for yourself what the best course of action is (possibly allowing you to avoid certain traps altogether).
Lost Souls pays homage to Half-Life's style of story-development in that as the player, you are not set into combat right away, but instead partake in the initial storyline, observing firsthand as it unfolds and grows increasingly complex. The storyline of Lost Souls is not one filled with senseless action and gore like most horror games (that's not to say that there aren't your fair share of zombies), but instead is focused on a well-developed plot filled with twists and turns, endlessly keeping you on your toes to the very end of the game.
What's in Store
They Hunger: Lost Souls is a game with endless possibilities. Developing their game on the Source engine provides the BWG developers with a much wider array of options and tools. The use of physics will play an integral part in this new series, as will many other features that Source brings to the table. One of the most popular features in the original They Hunger was the ability to control vehicles like the train, or the squad car which you could drive through a wall; this will all be seen in Lost Souls, but will be implemented in a much more enjoyable fashion, such as a fully-controllable tractor that you can chase down and run over zombies with.
Over the past five days, we here at Planet Half-Life, as well as you-our readers, have had the opportunity to explore the many intricacies of Black Widow Games, their software projects and their views on game development. This close look has hopefully given you a better understanding of what it takes to initiate the creation of a mod as well as a new appreciation for the team behind They Hunger, who are an inspiration to mod developers everywhere. As shown by the BWG team, it is possible to work from the bottom up, and they have proven that a hobby like simple map creation can turn into a full-blown career; all it takes is initiative, creativity and desire.
As for Lost Souls, one can only speculate as to the type of unspeakable horror that will be experienced while playing the game, but one thing is for certain: Lost Souls will undoubtedly spark the interest of gamers new to They Hunger and veterans of the series alike, by providing the same riveting, spine-tingling, hair-raising gameplay that characterized the original game and set the bar for single-player Half-Life mods. While not yet in development, sequels to Lost Souls are entering into the initial stages of planning, making obvious the fact that BWG plans on creating just as rich of a saga for the new They Hunger game series as they did for the original. Keep your eyes on Planet Half-Life for continued coverage of this amazing project.
Firingsquad.com 10-27-06
The website firingsquad.com uploads 4 new screenshots of the game.
They Hunger: Lost Souls Dev Update; Exclusive New Screenshots
Many of you may have enjoyed the great free single player-multiplayer add-ons for the original Half-Life called They Hunger, a zombie filled first person horror action game that were developed by Neil Manke and Einar Saukas. The two men released three chapters of They Hunger (they are generally considered to be the best third party single player add-ons for Half-Life) along with a deathmatch mod for the game several years ago. Howeve, you may not be aware that for a long time now both men and a small dev team called Black Widow Games have been working on They Hunger: Lost Souls, a new stand alone horror-action game that uses Valve's Source engine. They first announced their plans to the public about a year ago but have remained silent about the status of the game for the past several months. Today, we have some exclusive new screenshots for They Hunger: Lost Souls along with a new update on the game from Einar Saukas. Saukas told us that part of the reason for the lack of new info and screenshots for the game is that the team wants to keep the mystery of what happens in They Hunger: Lost Souls and not reveal too much beforehand. They also are a small team and would rather work on finishing the game rather than do a lot of advanced publicity. However they have graciously given us an update on the status of the title. Here is a snip:
The game is now very close to release. From our previous screenshots, you can see the biggest issue we had was the lack of proper zombies. We were using "placeholder" models as temporary replacements for zombies during most of the development process, so we could continue working on other areas while we didn't have enough people to model and animate new zombies. But in the last few months we were able to focus on the game pending issues, especially additional models and animations. You can see the difference in these latest images.
Our work is concentrated now on game improvements overall. There isn't much left to do, but the game still needs lots of small details and tweaks that are very time consuming. We understand our fans are anxious to play it, but after about 2 years of development, it doesn't make sense to rush its release now and sacrifice quality, when the game is so close to be finished. We still don't have an official release date, but we can say it will be "very soon".
nofrag.com 10-28-06
One day later, french gaming site nofrag. Its prectically the same statement from the day before and the same images are included. This article has been translated for convinence.
They Hunger Lost Souls close to completion
Black Widow Games tells FiringSquad that They Hunger: Lost Souls, the Source Engine sequel of the mod They Hunger, should be released soon. The game is almost complete, but we still do not know when it will be released, or whether it will be via Steam or in stores. There are still 4 new pictures:
CVG 11-28-06
computerandvideogames.com posts a small artice on the game.The article otlines some background on the games location and ends saying that they have more information coming soon.
The classic Half-Life horror mod is reborn on Source
Perhaps you were too young, perhaps you'd never heard of it, perhaps you were a big scaredy girl; but none of these are a good enough excuse for not having played the venerable They Hunger series - the best single-player Half-Life mods in all of modtown. But don't worry - shambling from the selfsame shadows comes They Hunger: Lost Souls, an all-new zombie offering that sees the undead's transition into Source.
The plotline has now been transferred to the increasingly zombified plains of north-eastern Europe, yet has a few similarities with They Hunger past. "It's the early 1960s, and strange anomalies have culminated with dead corpses rising from their graves," explains designer Neil Manke in portentous tones.
"As a tourist recovering from a tragic accident, you initially seek shelter in an ancient monastery, but soon realise bloodthirsty zombies have overrun the entire area... It's not exactly a sequel, so younger players that never had a chance to play the original adventures can fully enjoy the new game. And it's certainly not a remake either, so the original fans will have a chance to play a fresh game with original challenges instead of just replaying an old game with better graphics."
Pay attention to the time period too: a prime reason for the '60s setting is that it ups the terror quotient quite a bit - and not just because of the terrifying advance of women's lib either. "Zombies aren't nearly as scary if you have powerful modern weapons capable of quickly exterminating everything in sight," explains Mr Manke. "In comparison, 1960s weaponry is just capable enough to give you a surviving chance against zombies." And if you're really struggling, you'll still be able to pull out your trusty zombie-battering spade.
We'll have a ton more information on Lost Souls soon, and although it hasn't been announced, we'd be the uncles of particularly gruesome undead monkeys if it weren't headed towards some form of Valve-associated online delivery system in the near future.
It also includes 3 new images.
CVG 12-27-06
One month later CVG uploads a new article detailing more about the games story, setting and the experiences the author had while playing.
One of the best series of mods for Half-Life returns on Source to eat our brains
I've been to Eastern Europe. It seemed quite nice, if a bit stark: quite a few beards, devastatingly beautiful women, bears surprisingly thin on the ground. At no stage did I realise I was standing in zombie central - even if HL2, Resi 4 and, now, They Hunger: Lost Souls are insistent on the matter. Maybe it's the eerie Soviet architecture, or maybe there's just something in the water - whatever, there's certainly something rotten in the Baltic states.
They Hunger: Lost Souls is the commercial follow-up to Black Widow Games' stellar line of Half-Life mods - a heritage that cannot be ignored. It sets you up as a tourist recovering from a tragic accident who's sought ill-advised shelter in a monastery - only to discover (and you've probably seen this one coming) that the dead have woken.
"Our zombies range in looks from healthy living dead to fully decayed corpses. And because real zombies have a rather tough lifestyle they will, as a whole, be a rather damaged bunch," explains game designer Einar Saukas.
"Plus, unlike most action games where you suddenly become a highly equipped super-soldier, in Lost Souls you're a simple tourist struggling to survive in a hostile environment. So you'll have to rely mostly on everyday objects utilised as melee weapons, old rusty pistols or rifles, improvised Molotov cocktails, TNT sticks and a few special weapons."
I GOT CHILLS...
As well as the ancient monastery complex you find yourself in (odd how undead monks are, by and large, scarier than undead nuns isn't it?), Black Widow intend to lead you into isolated farmsteads, fog-shrouded swamps, a salvage operation of sorts and even (gasp) a cemetery. Although quite why anyone would want to visit a moonlit graveyard during a time of increased zombie activity is yet to be explained.
The 1960s setting, meanwhile, not only provides a more retro arsenal (and corresponding decreased rate of fire), but also some Cold War paranoia to knit together a neat fabric of tension that goes beyond a dead man in a cupboard saying 'Urgh' and trying to kill you. It won't all be chills though, there are also spills promised; following up on the marvellous moment that saw you running down countless moaning misters with a train in the original mods, you'll now be able to career around on a dilapidated tractor dealing the zombies' second deaths via the medium of squashing.
I myself ran over a hedgehog with a tractor once, and can testify it's a plan that works. Lovingly basted in Source engine, and hugely likely to be hurled at you through the wonders of the Web via Steam, the only question that needs answering is whether these are traditional zombies controlled by forces beyond the veil, new-fangled 'plague' zombies or the nu-technology zombies provided by Half-Life? Einar Saukas is remaining tight-lipped. But will they at least like brains?
Saukas concludes: "According to practical experiments, we've observed real zombies and yes, they consistently demonstrate a preference for fresh brains. Since our goal is to provide a gameplay experience as realistic as possible, the zombies in Lost Souls will present exactly the same behaviour." At least some things are sacred...
References
http://web.archive.org/web/20051220200113/http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=2018
https://nofrag.com/2006/10/28/23461/
http://web.archive.org/web/20070222231106/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=150085
