An Interview with Rob Elam
Part 1
A week or so ago I received an e-mail from Judy Elam,
Diversions Entertainment's
business manager. She'd read my review for the original
One Must Fall 2097 and offered me
the chance to interview Rob Elam, one of the two programmers and main
driving force behind the original OMF.
Considering how much I loved OMF, I instantly agreed and was delighted
at the opportunity to interview a developer I hold in much reverance. With
the help of MobyGames founder Jim Leonard I compiled a list of questions,
which Rob was gracious enough to answer.
Note: If you are not familiar with the latest happenings in Diversions
Entertainment, I suggest you go and do some reading at their website, which
is also the home site of the upcoming One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. OMF:BG
is the focus of this interview.
Visit the Diversions Entertainment Website
1. Please specify name/age/occupation.Rob Elam, 30, Game Developer.
2. First, a little background. Please share your story with us; what made
you choose game development for a career?Hmm, I really don't recall making any choice. It's just what I always
wanted to do.
3. How long had you been programming before OMF? What projects (other than
the unreleased initial version of OMF) had you done before OMF?Umm, started programming on a TRS-80 Color Computer, I guess I was
10 or 11. Did all kinds of different things, like spending about 2 years
on a role playing game before realizing there was no way I could do it
by myself. I decided to do something simpler, so I made OMF after
getting hooked on Street Fighter 2.
4. Now for some questions about the original One Must Fall. To begin with,
what was working on the game like?Hehe, well, engine was pretty simple, so that wasn't much of a chore. For
the artwork I had a video capture board (captured 1 frame at a time, and
cost $500), a $50 video camera and an $80 VCR (both of which I got from a
pawn shop). This was used to capture me doing various moves, then cleaned
up the images in Deluxe Paint (as if any other graphic editor existed at the
time :)). While delivering pizza, I toiled on it until it was done (with a
good deal of help and support from my brother), then threw it out on the
street.
5. At what point in the development cycle did OMF switch from humans to
robots? What was the reason for the switch?Well, when hooked up with Epic I'd already decided to use robots, the
biggest reason was artwork, I simply couldn't hand-draw all that was needed
for that many characters. However, I was pretty good at doing animation in
3DStudio, and ok at modeling, so that was the best choice. The ability to
combine pilot abilities with the robots came later, a fairly obvious
byproduct of the robot choice.
6. Was OMF ultimately considered, financially and otherwise, a success?I think so, I made about the money I expected, and I really can't complain,
I think it's pretty good for a first game. If stacked against larger games
with more experienced and better funded teams, I don't think it really holds
up, but when put in perspective I'm quite happy with it.
7. Moving on to OMF:BG. What are the guidelines for Battlegrounds? (For
example, a heavy emphasis on multiplayer, are there any plans to more
heavily implement a storyline in the gameplay etc.)Well, the game definitely has a heavy concentration on multiplayer. OMF:BG
is really the first step in a very long term strategy we have. We're
concentrating the bulk of our efforts on a solid engine and engaging as well
as balanced gameplay, so efforts relating to plot are assuredly getting less
effort. We have several hot game concepts that take place in the universe
OMF takes place in, so we're definitely interested in building a deep set of
characters and environments, but much of the true depth of the universe will
not be realized in OMF:BG. OMF:BG is definitely more about the gameplay
than anything else.
8. Will OMF:BG chronologically predate OMF or the other way around?OMF:BG takes place roughly 20 years after the first, which allows us to
implement new technology easily. Also, many of the pilots from the first
game will be returning, and will have matured somewhat (well, about 20 years
:)).
9. What robots from the original OMF are to appear in Battlegrounds? Why did
you choose these particular robots?Jaguar, Pyros, Chronos, Katana, and Gargoyle are the only ones that are
slated for this release. The decision was assuredly more a technical choice
rather than an artistic one. We chose the ones we thought we could get done
reasonably and make cool with current technology. Shadow is an obvious
problem because replicating himself could cause some serious slowdown, and
Flail is just so freaky he'd take twice as long due to all the custom
animation work. It's really a shame, but that's what sequels and add-ons
are for :).
10. In the promotional video for OMF:BG, the Desert Arena is shown with the
camera pointing at the airplanes. This brings an interesting issue: with the
freedirectional 3D gameplay, how do you intend to keep the player alert to
environmental hazards?Ahh, well, someone's been paying attention :). Ok, first off, there are
several types of hazards. In OMF 2097, the fire pit had a globe that you
hit that launched a fireball at your opponent, this would be a player
triggered hazard. The fighter jets in the new desert are player triggered
hazards as well. The way it works is you grab a pickup and carry it around,
and when you throw it at someone, and hit them with it, a squad of 5 fighter
jets is "called" to attack that target. When this happens, the leader of
the squad informs the target that he's their next victim, so even if you
didn't notice the target hitting you, the pilot of the jet would let you
know you're in danger. IOW, in the new desert the jets don't attack
randomly. Now, the blade pit is a different story, in there the spikes
spring out randomly, but there's a red indicator on the ground that should
make it obvious when it'll happen, you get about a 5 second head's up (you
should be able to spot this in the video).
| Table of Contents: An Interview with Rob Elam |
