Introduction

We're going to have something different today here at WhiningDog.NET. Recently I've had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and have a small interview with a good friend of mine, Chris Kastensmidt of SouthLogic Studios. I've known Chris since my days at Intel five years ago where he was an Application Engineer for the Developer Relations Group. While there, Chris owned a number of accounts with game companies (LucasArts being one of them!) where he basically acted as a consultant and helped in their game development. While I left for the then greener pastures of New York City (ha), Chris went down south - way south, to Brazil where he joined a small fledgling game company. That company, now known as SouthLogic Studios, will be unveiling their first major title here in the U.S. and it's none other than Trophy Hunter 2003. The game is being published by Infogrames and should be in stores sometime in late Sept. or Oct. So given the impending release of the game, I thought it would be nice to catch up with Chris (who was a Lead Designer in this project) and see how things were going for him. I also wanted to give you guys a taste of what to expect in Trophy Hunter 2003 and in SouthLogic Studios new 3D Engine, known as the Aspen Engine. I want to thank Chris for taking the time out to answer some of my annoying questions and so without further ado - here's the interview! Enjoy!!

The Interview

1) First question is more for background info on yourself. How did you end up at SouthLogic Studios? ( I know this info but I'd rather get it straight from the horses' mouth!)

Well Felix, you could have started with an easier question! :) It's a long story, but I'll try and keep it as short as possible.

About four years ago I was working for Intel as a technical consultant for software companies, mostly game companies. I worked with a lot of US companies, but was also assigned Brazil as one of my regions. At that time, no Brazilian game company had yet made a big publishing deal outside of the US. There were only a handful of startups here, and I was doing consulting for just about all of them.

Then these guys from Southlogic Studios came along, and I realized that they had art and technology as good as anything I was seeing at the time in the US. Even more impressive, they were creating it all with very limited resources. What was missing from the company was a good entrepreneur, someone who could help the company move from spectacular tech to a polished product, and sell it into the US market. So I decided to give it a shot.

2) What were the first few years down there like for you? Any Challenges/Not so pleasant times etc?

The first few years were nothing but challenges. Starting up a game company in any place in the world is difficult, but I think it is doubly so here in Brazil. Publishers are always thinking about risks. For them, our company was full of risks. First, signing a deal with a foreign company is a risk. Second, being in a country that doesn't have a tradition (or industry) of games is a risk. Third, and most importantly, a company without someone who has produced an entire game is a tough pitch. And that third rule, of course applies to game startups anywhere. Experience is key to signing a contract.

So it's a big chicken-and-egg problem, where you can't get a contract unless you've made a game, but you can't make a game until you've got a contract.

Of course another option is making an entire game and then trying to sell it, but our game ideas were so ambitious that we knew we could never finish them without some funding.

Another big hurdle was getting publishers to even look at our work. We solved this eventually by hiring an agent. Our agent, Dan, recognized the raw talent in our company. Even though he knew it would be a hard pitch, thankfully he agreed to work with us.

But even then it wasn't easy. Our first project, Aquarius, which a lot of people still think is a great game, was rejected by almost 30 publishers. The lessons we learned from that project we applied to a prototype, targeting better what the publishers were wanting. Although the prototype was well received every time we showed it, in the end still no one picked it up.

3) How did SouthLogic Studios and Infogrames come together on this project?

While we were showing around that second project at E3 last year, one of the companies that saw it was Infogrames. The prototype contained a very dense jungle environment, something that I've never seen in any published game. A lot of publishers were very impressed, one of them even saying it was the best thing they saw at the conference. But then they all went back and showed it around at their respective companies and it got shot down for one reason or another. I think we had another 20+ rejections for that game.

The funny thing is, Infogrames was one of the few companies that showed absolutely no interest in the idea. They looked at it and basically said, "Hey, this is great! But we're never going to publish it." What they did say at the time, however, was that they loved the outdoor environment, and that it might be applicable to other games in their lineup. So, after some negotiations, they allowed us to do Trophy Hunter 2003. We're very thankful they decided to take a chance on us.

4) What's significantly different from this version of Trophy Hunter 2003 compared to the previous versions

The last version of Trophy Hunter (Rocky Mountain Trophy Hunter 3) came out two years ago. It was a well done game, within the limits of the system requirements of the time. If you go back and look at that game, the trees are all sprites, for example. Now, two years later, we can do a full 3D forest. So the environment is completely different from that game. All the objects in the world are 3D. There are dynamic objects on the ground, etc. I'll let the screens speak for themselves there.

The other big difference is that we've tried to add a lot more replayability to the game. In the older versions, every time you turned on and played it was basically the same character, with the same items, in the same environment. Nothing ever changed.

To give more replay, we have added a "campaign" system, where the hunter has abilities which increase with time. One example is tracking. When the hunter starts, he doesn't see many tracks and such. If the player chooses to build up the tracking ability of the hunter, he will begin to see more and more tracks in the game. Stealth, hardiness, presence, and responsibility are the other basic skills we've added. We also have weapons skills, which improve as the character uses different weaopns. The player can then use these same characters in multiplayer games.

We've also added a "credits" system, where the player receives credits for each successful hunt. He may then use these credits to buy new equipment.

Hopefully, players will come to relate more to these hunters they have built up themselves, and will keep playing until they've maxed out their abilities.

5) What can you tell me about the Aspen Engine? What API's does it use etc?

The Aspen Engine is a portable, object-oriented engine. Most of the game variables are handled by scripting, so we can change most anything on the fly. It has a bones system to give us fluid animation transitions, solid multiplayer support, a particle system, and a lot of great graphical features. We also have a great new landscape system which uses multiple texture layers and has LOD.

For Trophy Hunter 2003, it is running on top of DirectX 8.1. Our compatibility tests came back 100%, so we were really happy about that.

The game takes advantage of the technology with a lot of great features. For weather we have rain and snow, and lighting transitions during the day. You'll see the sun move as the day goes on, which also changes the fog, shadows, ambient lighting, clouds, everything. With our particle system we've made some nice smoke effects and a waterfall. The ground is covered with dynamic objects such as rocks and grass. And best of all, the game is filled with a lot of high-detailed, high-poly art.

6) Talk about your team of developers down there. How many are there and what was it like through this entire project.

Being pioneers of the game industry here in Brazil has both advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is there isn't a pool of trained labor like you have in the US, especially for 3D modeling. The advantage is that the few people who do work with games do it because they are deeply dedicated to the industry.

So, it was harder to find them, but we managed to put together a talented and dedicated group. Right now we have ten employees; being myself, three programmers, and six artists. That's double what we had at the start of the project, so there was a big learning curve at the start. But the guys are so great that everyone got working fast, and the result shows.

7) What are your future plans/projects?

First I'd like to explain that we made Trophy Hunter 2003 in less than eight months with ten people, which was not an easy task. The engine was in place, but the application and the art we made from scratch. We managed to meet all of our deadlines and keep it on budget. We've overcome most of those original risk factors I explained above, which will hopefully open a lot of doors for us.

We're very happy with Infogrames and would like to do more projects with them in the future. We also want to begin making console games as well, because I feel that being able to develop on multiple platforms gives a lot more stability to a company.

8) Any words of wisdoms to the folks out there who aspire to develop games?

For people who want to work in the industry, experience is key. You should start working as soon as possible in game companies, to gain experience. If you want to start up your own company some day, you'll need all the experience you can get, not just to make the product, but to make the publishers believe in you. Remember that cutting risks is the key to getting a contract.

And Finally

Again thanks Chris for taking the time out to answer some of my questions and best of luck with Trophy Hunter 2003. Now without further delay, here are some of the screenshots for the game! If you have any questions or comments, drop by our forums! Thanks!

	That's it! Thanks for dropping by!