Travis Williams is the Executive Producer of all ASC PC Games and is a ex- White Wolf employee. He was one of the original collaborative authors of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and only hunts polygons and the occasional slacking tester.
t h e g a m e
Setting TNN Outdoors Pro Hunter apart from the other hunting games.
Before we decided on the scope of TNN Hunter, we took a long hard look at the existing hunting products and found them either lackluster or laughable. I really don’t have to name names, they know who they are. Some are very successful (and in the end I guess that is what really matters) so I can’t throw too many stones. Both Dreamforge and ASC decided that we weren’t gonna have to work too hard to come up with a better product because there really wasn’t a standard of excellence in this genre. This is not a case of a company jumping on the hunting bandwagon. ASC has a six year relationship with TNN (The Nashville Network). Our CEO had been told YEARS ago that he should do a hunting game. He’s a little bothered by the fact that he didn’t listen to them sooner.
TNN OPH directives were:
Work Closely with TNN - The Nashville Network has quite a few hunting shows on all the time. They are the experts. They have been awesome to work with. From picking their brains to using voices from their pool of talent we have been very pleased with their helpfulness.
Ease of use - We know the people who are the target audience would not know the first thing about 3d gaming and so we made it easy for them to maneuver. Interfaces had to be easy to use.
System Requirements - Unreal takes a pretty decent computer to use. We wanted to bring the minimum requirement down a little (P133) by using sprites for firearms and not being overly complex with the level design. Also we didn’t want to make it seem like you HAD to have a hardware acceleration. Plain ol’ MMX is fine.
Realistic Game - As you can see from the screen shots we think we have the best animal models on the market. You don’t aim at a small ugly sprite in TNN OPH. Our game (prey) look excellent. Even unaccelerated. We are also paying attention to the AI of the animals.
You are thereness (AWE) - Active Wildlife Environment. Since there is no rock music playing during your hunting excursions you will be surrounded by natural wilderness sounds. And anyone with a SB Live will be really be able to feel that going on. Animals that are not your intended target will also be present on the hunting areas. Just because you are not hunting elk doesn’t mean there wont be any around. Sounds of woodpeckers, chickadees and occasional chipmunk will help make the player feel immersed. Animals will not just appear simply to be shot at. They will be around looking for food and water. In other words doing what real animals are doing.
Hunting Dogs - We haven’t seen this done at all yet. In TNN OPH you will be able to choose either a Beagle or a Brittany to help you out. Dogs are going to help flush circle and point out your game.
Multiplayer - Why hunt alone when you can do it with a few friends? To our knowledge no one is doing this but us. Players will be able to play against each other on HEAT.NET or country.com
Basically we want to add a sense of quality to this genre so that other companies would have to play catch up. We will be the most fully featured Hunting product on the market.
t h e q u e s t i o n s
Why use the Unreal Engine for a hunting game?
We first chose the Unreal Engine to do Werewolf: The Apocalypse with Dreamforge. Our CEO (Steve Grossman) wanted to do a hunting game and jokingly suggested we use the Unreal Engine. While Mark Rein was showing the Werewolf team at Dreamforge the engine he used the sniper rifle to kill the birds in the game. Mark said "Hey Travis you know this is kinda cool! Tell Steve I think we could actually pull this off." I asked Dreamforge were they interested and they said YES! Gene Kohler, Our producer over at Dreamforge as well as most of the team are hunters. It was real easy to get everyone excited about the product. That in addition to the world building, AI, and network support of Unreal made it a no brainer. Especially cause we wanted to make Christmas. Sure, it’s like swatting a fly with a nuclear missile but who cares? We just want a great game. Also it’s easy to make more game available via downloads for TNN OPH if we use the Unreal Engine. It just made too much sense. Arcade or Simulation?
We take the subject matter seriously and to this end TNN OPH will never be "Arcade". However, we will have modes of play that make it easier to score a kill than others. So it will depend on how the user wants to play. Can you tell us a bit about the multiplayer mode?
There will be a few multiplayer modes the player can take part in. First will be the clay pigeon shooting contest. Each player will compete to see how accurate he/she is at hitting moving targets. There is also a group hunting mode where you can team up to bag a hard to kill animal. Or you can compete to see who can bag the biggest game in a given territory. There might be other modes… but I can’t give EVERYTHING away. Where will we be hunting?
There are 10 different hunting areas that represent the most popular hunting areas in the United States. From the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and Mid Atlantic regions will be modeled. Will TNN OPH have weather effects?
There aren’t any plans for weather effects right now, but things could change. Granted some of the hunting areas are summer themed and others are during the winter/fall. So even though there might not be any snow falling there will be snow on the ground How realistic will the hunting be?
We have some pretty tough task masters looking over our shoulders. TNN isn’t going to let something out that doesn’t accurately portray the hunting experience be released on the market. Also, we have a tremendous amount of respect for TNN OPH will be accurate enough without being frustrating to play. In the end it is a game. What kind of animals will we be hunting?
TNN OPH has three classes of game that you can hunt. Big Game - Deer, Turkey and Elk Small Game - Squirrel, Rabbit and Quail Migratory Birds - Duck, Dove and Goose
Instead of offering one type of hunting experience we decided to cover the gamut. It makes for a more fully featured hunting product.
Tweaks to the Animal AI?
Since there are hunters crafting these animals great care was taken to make sure that their actions mimic real life actions. What weapons will be available?
We call them firearms. Military persons use weapons. There are 12 different firearms in TNN OPHThere are three for each class. Rifles, Shotguns, Handguns and Prestige Firearms (Bows and Muzzleloaders) How much modification was done to the engine?
Other than the excellent work Tom and Keith have been doing on the Open GL portions of Unreal the engine will be untouched. Now with Werewolf it’s a completely different story….
(Note: I'll have more on Werewolf soon...) What price point are we looking at, and when can we expect to see it on the store shelves?
TNN OPH will definitely be competitive with the other hunting games. We know that price point is a major factor in this area. TNN OPH will be released for the Christmas shopping season. (Isn’t everything) With several titles using the Unreal engine coming out within the next few months, is there any fear of Unreal engine based competition?
This is a completely different area. TNN OPH is not a FPS and so we are not concerned with competing with them. We are competing with the other hunting products out there… and I am happy to say that I believe we smoke them all. Okay, now for the final and most important question! Will there be a coupon for a free six pack of beer in the box? (grin)
I don’t drink… But how about some Mt Dew? That would be the BOMB!
(Note: I have to agree, Mt. Dew is the beverage of the gods!) Thanks for all of the info Travis, you da' man!
-Yellow 5
