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Interview with Timothy Gerritsen
by twisted
RuneNews.com's twisted
got the chance recently to interview Human
Head's Biz Guy, Timothy Gerritsen,
asking him a few questions about (what else?) Rune.
twisted: Rune
obviously got a lot of people's attention at E3. What were some of the common
comments you got from people who talked to you about your game?
Timothy Gerritsen (Biz Head at HH):
We were really happy, obviously, with the reaction we got at E3. It's hard
for us when making the game, and seeing it day in and day out, to gauge who
the public will react to it. With Rune, we knew we were on to something before
the show, but we weren't sure how the gaming press would react. When we had
people lined up outside our door waiting up to an hour to see the demo, it
was the greatest compliment we could have received. The most common comments
were
a) great combat system and
b) you guys have done an incredible amount of work since
last E3.
twised: What do you think is the most
innovative feature that stands out and sets itself apart from the others?
Tim: It's hard to say, as we are proud of a
lot of what is in this game, but for me, I think it is the incredibly detailed
animations we've created using our skeletal system. The convergence of tech
and art in this case played out much better than we could have possibly imagined.
twisted: The player plays the role
of a Viking and the game is based on actual mythology from the Viking culture.
How can the player spot the mythology's gods, etc? Ex: The player sees a
huge shrine of the thunder god, Thor.
Tim: We would rather leave that for players
to discover for themselves when they play the game. We all agreed early on
that we wanted to leave this aspect of the game for players to discover for
themselves. We don't want to give it all away in the previews.
twisted: Why did the human head team
choose to do a FPS about a Viking? Sure it is creative, but what was the
thinking behind it?
Tim: Actually, it's a 3PS, and even then, its
not really an S. :) It's more like a Third Person Melee Combat Game, which
is technically a 3PMC, but that's a hard mouthful. Ted Halsted came up with
the idea of doing a game about a big Viking character wielding an axe. He
was facsinated, as many of us here are, with Viking legends and their heroic
myths. We all agreed that this was an area of history, and a deep body of
legends that has previously been overlooked. The group worked on the idea
and decided that if we were going to do a game about using swords and axes,
then it only made sense to give you a third person perspective. After that,
it pretty much all folded into place. The camera system was finished early
on, and the ease of it made it quickly evident that we were on to something.
From a story perspective, it was a matter of picking the elements we wanted
to concentrate on for this game. The Viking mythologies are so deep and vast,
and vary from region to region, that it would be impossible to present all
of it in one game format- especially one that is an action game. We decided
to concentrate on the aspects of Viking mythology that we felt were most
exciting to us and which made sense within the story we wanted to tell. We
also added our own spin on some of these legends, so as to make the game
unique to our version.
twisted: How would you describe to
a friend the atmosphere created by the game's soundtrack?
Tim: It's very
moody and atmospheric. The music is there to establish and then reinforce
the epic feel we are going for with the game. Mike Larson, our sound director,
is doing a fantastic job. Lately we've been getting pressure to present a
more modern musical spin on the game from our publisher, but we feel that
would needlessly date the game, and we've stuck to our guns. The music of
the game absolutely fits the setting, and we feel that a huge guitar riff
would just cheapen the game and not make any logical sense. Besides, if you
want to play the game with a huge guitar riff in the background, you can
put in your own music CD. We chose music that we felt was right for a game
dealing with legends over a thousand years old.
twisted: Please describe the scenery
and environment Ragnar will encounter throughout the game.
Tim: Ragnar will traverse from a Viking village
in fjord, through deep underground caverns, underwater lakes and pools, and
into areas of Viking Legend, such as Muspelheim, one of the two lands of
the dead (a sort of Viking hell) and into the lands of goblins. Later he
makes his way through the mountain tops, through peaks and into the fortress
city of Thorstadt. Then he travels down into the Dwarvenlands and into....well
you'll just have to play that part for yourselves.
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