Hellgate London Bill Roper Interview

Der Beitrag im Wortlaut

Textstand der Archivierung (2006); Schreibweise und Ansprache sind die des Originals.

Special von Marco Neubert 18. November 2005

Hellgate: London Bill Roper im Interview

Wie war die Games Convention für Bill Roper? Wann wird Hellgate: London erscheinen? Wie ist der momentane Stand in der Entwicklung des Spiels? Kann man seine Charaktere individualisieren? Und wann wird der nächste Charakter veröffentlicht? Fragen über Fragen! Antworten gibt's bei uns.

Hi Bill, one year has passed since our last interview. How are you? Still busy or relaxed?

Bill Roper: Busy, but relaxed, if that’s possible. Hellgate: London is coming along really well, we’re up 30 people at Flagship Studios, and it’s exciting just to go into the office every day and see the latest thing that’s been added to the game. This is a time in the development process where we’re dumping in content, so there is always a flurry of activity and you can really start to see everything taking shape.

This year you attended the developer conference of the Games Convention in Leipzig for the first time. What impressions did you get about europeans biggest exhibition?

Bill Roper: Leipzig is an awesome show! Since the show is open to consumers, it is very different in a lot of ways from E3 or ECTS. Knowing that gamers will be there, playing the games and forming opinions about what their going to be telling their friends is cool means that the publishers really go the extra mile to make their booths friendly, inviting and comfortable. There are whole areas set aside for people to just hang out, and the convention itself sets up things like indoor sand volleyball courts and kart racing! On top of that, the associated game developer’s conference had some exceptional speakers and was genuinely informative and valuable.

Will Flagship Studios be represented on the Games Convention 2006?

Bill Roper: We’re currently discussing all of the shows we could do next year, and Leipzig is definitely high on the list. Part of the reason we went there this year was to see the layout first-hand. This has certainly become the premiere gaming industry event in Europe, and the chance to spend time in Germany with the European gaming community makes it a very appealing show to do.

Let’s talk about Hellgate: London. How do the workings progress? Are you satisfied with the current status of the game or could it be better?

Bill Roper: We are a company with a lot of perfectionists, so the game could always be better. That being said, it is coming along very well. We’re currently in the process of putting a lot of different elements together into a single, contiguous experience. This is always an exciting and challenging time in the development process, and one we go through on every game we’ve ever made. The team is really in a groove right now, and since we have a very organic process, there is always something new in the game to iterate on, improve and polish.

During the development of the game many ideas were planned. How many of this ideas had been put into action? And which ideas couldn´t be realized?

Bill Roper: We start with a general framework for the game and tend to flesh out specific areas as the development goes along. We try and have a mixture of a strategic overview for the design of the game with the flexibility to try out ideas, refine them, and throw them out if they don’t work. As we continue to work on the game, we add new concepts, remove others, and constantly evaluate the game. We’ll undoubtedly cut some things when we get close to shipping the game that we just won’t have time to get in, because if developers tried to put in all of their ideas, they’d never get a game out!

Let us talk about the extent of the game. How many missions, items and so on will be found in the final version of the game?

Bill Roper: It is still a bit early for us to have all the numbers nailed down. To be honest, we’ve never been driven by trying to meet certain arbitrary numerical requirements, instead focusing on creating enough content to be compelling and fun. We do set guidelines for ourselves so we’re not just creating content without a vision. For example, we’ve set out to create 100 distinct base weapons types. We have similar types of goals for number of monsters, armor types, spells, skills, and so on. We’ve also been working on the overall quest and mission structures, including templates for random tasks and timed content.

Will there be a function to show the emotions of the characters (emotes)?

Bill Roper: Emotes are definitely something we’ll want to look at since it helps players live in their characters. Things like this aren’t part of the core mechanics, so they all go on a big list and we get in what we can, usually prioritized by how much they add to the overall play experience.

Many players want to create their individual character. Which possibilities do you want to give the players to customize their characters? Will there be any functions to change the look of the characters (we heard of rumors about the possibilty to modify hair, skin, etc.)

Bill Roper: Creating a specific look for your character is something that gamers love, so we definitely felt was important enough to address early. We’re currently working on a system that allows players to select a face type, hair, skin tone, and additional facial features. Since armor and equipment changes so much in the highly randomized structure of Hellgate: London, we wanted to spend some time and effort on allowing them to create an avatar that expresses the concept of their character.

With Hellgate: London you want to appeal to many of the Diablo players. Don´t you think that the change from the classic RPG-view to the shooter-view will be a challenge for the players?

Bill Roper: We constantly work on making the game accessible to players, no matter what their skill level or experience. Using the first person perspective makes the game amazingly immersive. We also use a close third-person perspective for melee combat to better show special moves and effects. When Diablo was first being created, it had an incredibly different look and feel from the RPGs of the time and the novelty of the game play and the perspective really helped push it over the top. The people that have had a chance to get some hand’s on time have given us some incredibly positive feedback, and we’ll continue to tweak and hone the feel of the game.

At the moment the player-community is thinking about the Player versus Player - mode. How will this mode be in the final game? Will you integrate a classic one like Diablo or do you plan to develop a new one like a survival- or team-mode?

Bill Roper: Since we are focused on creating a cooperative RPG, we’re talking about how much we want to integrate PvP into the game. We definitely want ways for players to be able to compete in the game, rank themselves against other players, and have a way to show off their successes. One thing we’ve been discussing is creating an arena setting for players to test themselves against each other, but it is important to stress that we’re very much in the concept stages on this section of the game. The only thing we’re really sure of if that we won’t be making this the focus of Hellgate: London.

There are already a lot of fansites about Flagship Studios and Hellgate London. Does this enormous community put you under pressure to develop a good game?

Bill Roper: We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to create a great game, but knowing that we already have such a dedicated and active community excited about the game certainly adds extra incentive. We’re fortunate to have a fantastic core group of fansite administrators that we’re working with, and in the months to come we’re really looking to do much more with this vital part of our community.

At the moment „The Templer“ is the only known class. What about the other classes? How many will there be in the final game and when do we get more details about them?

Bill Roper: We’re still a little ways off from announcing the next class, so I can’t talk too much about our plans in this area. One of the things we’re committed to is making classes with a lot of depth so that players can develop a character that reflects their play style. Also, we want to incorporate flexibility in the skill and spell system so that players can use the randomness of the game to their advantage. Since there isn’t really a ‘best’ item to shoot for at any given time, we want to make sure players can shape their character as they go. Also, each class should feel and play very differently from each other, so this means that we want to spend a lot of time on the design and execution of each one.

What will be the currency in Hellgate: London? Do you plan a new one or will it be the classic gold?

Bill Roper: Amazingly this is a subject of a lot of discussion. Although the concept of “Gold” is classic in RPGs, it has so many properties that are essential from both a mystic and technological standpoint, it makes sense that creatures from the underworld would be interested in it as much as man would. We have discussed some other economic elements – everything from barter to ‘credit’ to gems – but in the end we’ll come to an agreement on something that fits within the concept of the world and will be easy for players to understand.

Online games recently tend to take money for proving their service. How will this be handled for the online mode of Hellgate: London? If it's not free of charge, how much will it cost?

Bill Roper: Hellgate: London is unique in so many ways, and this is another example. Although there is a single-player component to the game, there is also robust, MMO-level online support. We intend for players to have access to a secure place to play the game with a high level of support. As we continue to develop the online gaming model, we’ll look at how the overall structure will be supported from a business model standpoint.

In Diablo 2 the final goal was to kill Diablo himself. What will be the main aim in Hellgate London? Accomplishing all missions? Killing all enemies? Or maybe a big boss?

Bill Roper: The main objective of Hellgate: London is to shut down the means of the demonic invasion. This gateway between worlds is far from unguarded, and closing it will require a lot more than just good intentions and big weapons. This means that the players will need to find out a way to close down the Hellgate while defeating a host of monsterous minions and their vile overlords along the way.

The last and most important question: When is Hellgate: London going to be released? Could you give us a date or at least the approximate space of time?

Bill Roper: While we have goals for releasing the game, quality is our first concern. Fortunately, this is a vision that is shared by our publishing partner Namco. At the same time, this is the first game we’re doing as Flagship Studios, so we can’t take forever to finish. As we get closer to important milestones such as alpha and the various beta stages, we’ll keep everyone informed. This is especially important for when we start getting the help of the community in testing the game!

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, it was very interesting. Further good luck to you and Flagship Studios. We are waiting tensly for the release of Hellgate: London.

Bill Roper: Thank you for giving us such a great forum for reaching your gaming community. We are enthused to be working on a new game and look forward to playing with you all!