Interviews with ACKNEX-Users

The ACKNEX game 'ANGST' was produced between April and November 1996 and has been available in Germany since December 1996. In 97 ANGST will be released on the American market and is thus available worldwide. A total of 5 people worked on ANGST, 1 level designer, 3 illustrators and 1 musician/composer.

AUM: Mr. Vahsen, for how long have you been using 3D GameStudio?

A.Vahsen: Since May 1995

AUM: Do you intend to go on using 3DGS to produce games?

A.Vahsen: up to now, yes.

AUM: Which games did you already produce using 3DGS?

A.Vahsen: Dance, Angst and a soon to be released game X

AUM: How long did it take you to produce you latest game «Angst»?

A.Vahsen: Six months.

AUM: Did you use professional programmers for it? In which area?

A.Vahsen: in the area of WDL programming

AUM: Do you think it is necessary to employ programmers or could just as well do without?

A.Vahsen: I don't hink you could do without; professional doesn't mean that he is the mega hacker; being professional I would like to define as being on time, bug-free and stress-proof.

AUM:What gave you the biggest trouble?

A.Vahsen: now and then bugs in the compiler; for some reason it didn't like the word "die". Missing loop or if...then commands, you have to do spaghetti programming with 'goto' etc.. The tendency of WAIT commands to create structures running parallel to each other.

AUM: Which new features would you think are absolutely required?

A.Vahsen: Better editor: Wireframe 3d Preview e.g. Windows-Version, Shadow and Midmapping, Lightsources (movable), slantedprops (what he means are lifted below regions with their height of ceiling surpassing the height of the floor. The Editor),MULTIPLAYER!! Polygon Creatures wtih 500 Polys per actor.

AUM: The cardinal question: Are you happy with ACKNEX at the moment?

A.Vahsen: Right now I still am; it all very much depends on the developments in the near future.

AUM: How does the toolkit compare internationally?

A.Vahsen: The quality of the representation is better than with any other Raycaster on the market including Built-Engine (i.e. the Duke-Nukem-Engine. Anm. d.Red.) all the rest, the same is true for the performance; I lift my hat!! A few features are just short of being ingenious, like Autorange, Rotating Regions

AUM: Which characteristics of a game may be carried out especially well with the toolkit? (Character-AI, Game-Events, topographical design...)

A.Vahsen:


Game events: GOOD
Overlays, Weapons: GOOD
Topograpy: O.K.
AI: Average (missing or laborious conditional operators)

AUM: Have you been experimenting with other toolkits before? Maybe produced other games with them?

A.Vahsen: I think that ZEUS is the most promising toolkit

AUM: Are you happy with the support you get from the manufacturer?

A.Vahsen: Support is good and very fast.

AUM: Which components of the game did you sorce out? And to whom?

A.Vahsen: Conitec: Programming the menue, special modules (CD Audio, text entering, 3D Actor) oP-group: graphics editing (Fonts)

AUM: In your view, what is most important for a 3D game and which cost/benefit relation do these components have among each other? (Grafics/Sound/Story/Design)

A.Vahsen: I can only talk about 3D action games.
Grafics..30
Sound..20
Design (storyline)....50
Story the storyline...0

AUM: A look into the future: What will the 3D game of the year 2001 look like?

A.Vahsen: Pure 3D accelerated, either via AGP or 3dfx Chip, VR toggles, with fogging, particles; invers kinematiks with the Actors, 1st and 3rd Person freely availabe, True Color, the whole shebang (g)

AUM: What tips could you give to any newcomers to the line of business?

A.Vahsen:
Take a look at ALL comparable games.
Surf the internet for the issue as much as you can.
produce a demo; it needs to have at least ONE new idea, or an old one with a new twist;
Then write an outline for the complete game.
Get the NDAs (non-disclosure-agreements) of all companies. Send out demo and outline, call the reviewer while he is sifting through the game, have him on the line to comment.
And another thing: on my wall I have a framed quote from Diana Gruber, one of the most successful game programmers:

You need to write a game... then you must finish it.
Then you must write another one;
eventually the whole world will open up to you.

I can only confirm that. I worked long hours after the job (programming multimedia CDs) for a year producing my first game, found a publisher, founded a company and finally got a contract for further games six months later. Four weeks ago we moved to the USA. I have now Team Eternal Designer Dia Westerteicher under contract and am in the process of hiring one of the DOOM 1 and 2 level designers. Now suddenly there is response from all sides...I can only say that you can make ends meet that way. A quote from Jay Wilbur, fromer CEO of id: .....I am not afraid of Activision or EA or Origin... I am afraid of those two guys in their cheap apartement, working on their game relentlessly and without any bureaucracy... 3D will never die!

AUM: Mr.Vahsen, thank you for the conversation.

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