It's been sometime since Hunted: The Demon's Forge was announced, but right from the get go the game intrigued us. After getting our hands on the game at E3 for some good ol' co-op action, we were quite impressed. With an expected Spring 2011 release for the game, there's still some time to go - but we got a chance to ask some burning questions on the title.
First we chatted with Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile Entertainment, and creator of such classic games as The Bard's Tale, Wasteland and other Interplay titles.
Co-Optimus: Your career has spanned a multitude of games, such as Bard’s Tale, Fallout, and Baldur’s Gate, that have helped define the “Western RPG” experience, though these games also focused on a single-player experience. What lead to this change from solo to co-operative gaming?
Brian: A number of things affect the way my teams and I have approached the games we’ve worked on. Technology and gamers’ tastes are the primary motivators for how we view things. The internet didn't really exist in a commercial form back in those days so people were not wired into a community like they are now.
The social aspects of gaming are incredibly strong. And my original roots go back to playing Dungeons and Dragons which was always centered on a social situation. If you want to continue to be relevant in an entertainment medium you need to recognize the dynamics of the current trends - and then blend them into the way you want people to feel about the experience.
Co-Optimus: Those games are also well known for their characters and humor. Will Hunted also have some of that same light-heartedness and depth of character?
Brian: Two things that are timeless are good writing and character development. These two elements are something that we really work at achieving when creating a game. Good writing comes from creating good characters and from an understanding of the situations from a real world perspective.
The best writing is when the player thinks it is something he would have said or when the characters react realistically to situations. The more in tune you are with your game the better the writing becomes. Our writing comes both from our own personalities and from how we feel we would react should we find ourselves in those situations.
Co-Optimus: As someone who’s been in the games industry for some time, what’s your take on the increase in co-operative games that we’ve seen over the past couple of years? Do you think the kind of social interaction MMOs and gaming communities have afforded gamers has been an influence on this, or do you think there have been other contributing factors?
Brian: Having avatars on Xbox Live or profiles on Facebook are the strongest movements towards an increase in cooperative play. Playing games with your friends is always more enjoyable whether it is as your real self or as an avatar that represents you.
The dynamic is far different with something like a PSN or Xbox Live than just having a straight internet connection with peer to peer playing.
Co-Optimus: You stated in an interview with IGN that, as a dungeon crawler, you wanted Hunted to be “something where it's a sensory experience,” as opposed to the kinds of experiences you get with jRPGs or Mass Effect. Could you describe that a bit more? Is this experience related to the puzzles that players can solve in addition to fighting off hordes of terrible beasties?
Brian: If we go back to the original games of Wizardry, Stonekeep, or even Hexen, they all worked on capturing the experience of crawling around in a dungeon, finding secret doors and battling through hordes of monsters while avoiding traps. Some of these games were straight up RPG while others were more action-oriented games. As good as the graphics were at that time, you really needed to stretch your imagination in order to have them feel real. They certainly didn't hold up to the animation you’d see in a movie for example.But here in the year 2010, the hardware has gotten so powerful that you don't have to suspend your disbelief as much because things look incredible on the game consoles. This is what I mean by bringing the essence of the dungeon crawl back.
With Hunted, we could have taken a hardcore RPG, but we decided it should be more action oriented. That being said, we did decide to create experiences, such as the game’s puzzles, that are off the critical path – that bring more depth to the experience. We’re able to make as many puzzles as we want and we can make them as difficult as we want because we don't force the players to complete them in order to have fun playing the main quest.
Next up we talked with Michael "Maxx" Kaufman, Creative Director of inXile entertainment. Maxx's credits include titles like Kingpin, Redneck Rampage, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
Co-Optimus: Prior to working in the video games industry, you did model work on the fantastic (depending on who you ask) sci-fi film “Stargate.” Did your experiences in the entertainment industry have any influence on the art style for the games you’ve worked on since joining this industry?
Maxx: Absolutely! Movies create vast worlds of depth and detail from the angle of the camera. In creating games we create similar detail and depth but allow the players the freedom to look and move wherever they want to go. In the games I have been involved in I have always pushed the technology to create an experience that will be memorable -- both visually and tactually.
When we started developing the idea around Hunted we used a movie veteran concept artist to create the template for all of our outdoor environments. When we design new areas, we constantly ask ourselves “What do we want the player feel, see and experience?” As a result, Hunted has some of the most beautiful environments as well as some of the harshest I have ever seen in a video game.
Co-Optimus: We like the idea of two players still being able to support one another and not necessarily be tied at the hip through the “co-op at a distance” feature. What inspired the idea for this kind of mechanic?
Maxx: The concept of “co-op at a distance” came purely out of our desire to play co-op games, which we love to do, without the constraint of being tied to the person we’re playing with.
We were all talking and coming up with the design for the game and we asked “What happens if your partner is across the room and needs help?” or “What happens if you want to do something with your partner cooperatively but they are far away?” So we came up with the ideas such as healing your partner at a distance and battle charging your partner when they are in the heat of the battle and need “super powers” for a limited time.
Co-Optimus: What were some of the goals you set out to accomplish with the Hunted that you haven’t been able to do before?
Maxx: On the visual side we had never been able to create such a richly detailed world. It takes a lot of very talented people these days to create a big game, and we are fortunate to have so many working on this project. Through their hard work we have created a very exciting world for people to experience.
On the gameplay side the elements we have put into this game are truly unique for a game in this genre – including co-op at a distance and the ability to effectively use ranged and melee weapons. Another unique feature is that players will have two very different characters to play as – along with the ability to switch between using one character or another.
Co-Optimus: In the two to three years that Hunted’s been in development, have there been any changes made or features added as a result of some of the games (be they co-op or not) that have been released, or has the vision for the game been constant?
Maxx: We are always refining our game and paying attention to the market. However, the core design or its features remain true to our original game concept.
Co-Optimus: In an IGN preview it was noted “you're free to jump in and out of as many different games at any time, regardless of how far you are in your own adventure.” Will the joining player’s quest progression be tied to the hosts’ progression, meaning that he or she will either miss out on some aspects of the story if the host is far ahead, or wait for the host to catch up?
Maxx: If the player decides they would like to jump into someone else's game that is further along in the story, we allow them to do so. We also allow them to jump into someone's game that is not as far along. All of the gold and crystal progress that the player makes, in addition to what they've achieved in their single player game, can be taken with them, if they choose to do so. This will allow players to use the experience they gained in their single player campaign.
Co-Optimus: In that same preview, it was stated, “nothing is randomized (the grounds are not covered in random loot after every battle) in Hunted.” Does this just mean that loot isn’t doled out on a random basis, but the kind of weapons/gear you do find is random, or is everything set? If the latter is true, what’s being done to keep the game interesting through multiple playthroughs?
Maxx: Loot that enemies drop is randomized to some extent. Enemies will drop items like weapons, shields, gold, crystals, various health and mana pickups and occasionally rare items. We want to keep playthroughs exciting for players and random drops helps to keep that slot machine jackpot feeling.
Co-Optimus: A lot of our readers enjoy playing these kinds of games with their friends, significant others, or kids on the couch through splitscreen or system link play. What lead to the decision to have this game be on-line co-op only?
Maxx: We made the decision early on that graphical fidelity was one of our major areas of focus. In order achieve the level of detail we wanted, we had make some tough decisions. We hope that people will really enjoy the environments and atmospheric detail we have in our world.
Co-Optimus: Will the loot and experience you earn in the first playthrough of the game carry over into a second?
Maxx: Yes, you will have all of your gold and your character will have his full experience and powers on the second play through.
Co-Optimus: How much of an exclusive support class is E'laara going to be? I appreciate a good ranged character, but I like that range to be able to hand out some pretty mean damage, too. To go with that, will Caddoc be exclusively a fighter, or will they still balance out fairly well being able to support each other when the need arises?
Maxx: Our core design focuses on making sure the two heroes support each other. E'lara's strength is her bow, but also can deal out magic damage and use her sword when needed. Caddoc is an expert with melee weapons, but he has a crossbow ready when the situation warrants it. While both characters have a definite strength, they will still be able to use their secondary weapons when needed. E'lara and Caddoc can also gain additional skills in their main class and their magic class as well as co-op focused skills that can be combined to deal massive amounts of damage. The co-op skills were designed so the players can assess the enemy distribution and together use a skill that is best suited to exploit the different enemies’ weaknesses.
Co-Optimus: What's one of the coolest things you've seen happen in co-op that couldn't happen if the game was single player?
Maxx: I think the coolest things are the reactions different people have playing with a friend. I remember playing the game with Matt one night; we were in a really dark area of the game. He was using lightning and shooting enemies that were coming towards me when out of the darkness a skeleton jumped him from behind it was freaky and cool all at the same time. Seeing that enemy totally surprise both of us and listening to his reaction was great.
Thanks Maxx and Brian from inXile for their time, and thanks Tracey from Bethesda for helping get this Q&A together!