Thanks

Post by **Zarel** » 30 Jun 2009, 21:20

alex wrote:I can try answer a few questions, but it was quite a long time ago! I'll check my pm's in a couple of days.

Oh, man, are you the guy who made Alex's Killa?

whippersnapper · Post by **whippersnapper** » 30 Jun 2009, 21:53

.

Hello Alex... One thing that would be cool, I think, is if you could speak to Pumpkin's design idea behind WZ 2100 being
a "living product", to quote Nick Cooke (I recall Jim B. and A. McLean referring to it as such as well). With the original
Pumpkin comments lost along with the original bbs this was a key generative commitment that merits re-exposure, from the
"horses mouth", you could say. Thanks.

Regards, whipper (aka, Rman)

.

alex · Post by **alex** » 01 Jul 2009, 06:18

I don’t remember if we ever used those words, but it was definitely something we were aware of. We played a lot of quake (and later unreal tournament) in the office and one of the things that really struck us about it was the vibrant community. Maps, mods and genuine improvements were everywhere. When working on warzone as engineers we made decisions to leave openings so that people could make changes where they saw fit. Examples including using a scripting language (the slo,vlo’s) that wasn’t compiled into the game so users could edit them, or choosing zip as our packing format instead of something proprietary. I still think it’s a positive thing to do on pc titles, am I’m busy still doing it today!

This ended up benefiting us too. While we always intended to do multiplayer, skirmish started as a bit of a hobby for me. It grew into something fun because the flexibility of the scripting language really opened up the possibilities (thanks to John Elliot)

By demonstrating our commitment to the users through the various rapid patches after release we were trying to build a community of people who would be able to keep making changes to the product. There was an intention to make warzone2120, so it was the feedback from you guys that would have really driven that title.

Post by **Per** » 01 Jul 2009, 19:21

A few questions for Alex:

When did Pumpkin first start working on Warzone?
What were your plans for continuing the campaign story in Warzone 2020?
What were, in your opinion, the best new features that you had planned for the sequel?
Was there many things that you were planning to do with commanders that you never got around to? The source code certainly gave that impression
What was the "deathmatch" multiplayer mode supposed to be like?
Did you make EditWorld before or after you began working on an internal, in-game map editor?
There are some scattered references in the source code to something called "Necromancer". Was this some other game project that you were working on?
What kind of development tools did you use for tracking bugs and version control and such?
How early during development did you know that you were going to port the game to the PSX?
Are you still in the games business?

Thanks a lot for answering

whippersnapper · Post by **whippersnapper** » 01 Jul 2009, 20:38

.

alex wrote:I don’t remember if we ever used those words, but it was definitely something we were aware of. We played a lot of quake (and later unreal tournament) in the office and one of the things that really struck us about it was the vibrant community. Maps, mods and genuine improvements were everywhere. When working on warzone as engineers we made decisions to leave openings so that people could make changes where they saw fit. Examples including using a scripting language (the slo,vlo’s) that wasn’t compiled into the game so users could edit them, or choosing zip as our packing format instead of something proprietary. I still think it’s a positive thing to do on pc titles, am I’m busy still doing it today!

Thanks for the detailed response Alex. All of those decisions by Pumpkin (AND that very disposition itself made obvious and genuine, like you said, via all the patches and even after when Pumpkin was no more) made WZ a game many core fans were actively passionate about in the extreme from day one it seemed. Not just playing and enjoying WZ but much inspired to making all manner of ingenious stuff for it, keeping it alive for all those many years while doing everything possible to help get the source liberated.... Quite a few of those fans I know even got into the software business (including working on new titles) as a result of being influenced by you guys and working with your creation over their formative years.

alex wrote:This ended up benefiting us too. While we always intended to do multiplayer, skirmish started as a bit of a hobby for me. It grew into something fun because the flexibility of the scripting language really opened up the possibilities (thanks to John Elliot)

I recall discussions about v.1.0 skirmish. Fans were merciless till you created v.1.04, then they backed-off and started crying it was too hard (the handicapping UI was to finally settle even them down).

I still remember our first exchange on "map omniscience". Rightfully proud you were that the WZ skirmish a.i did NOT use that method like "Star Craft" which was really annoying.

BTW - have you had an opportunity to work with the "xaitFramework" (by xaitment) ? Looks pretty awesome and could make a huge dif in the Indie Game dev world (I'd love to work with it, still too pricey for our budget).

alex wrote:By demonstrating our commitment to the users through the various rapid patches after release we were trying to build a community of people who would be able to keep making changes to the product. There was an intention to make warzone2120, so it was the feedback from you guys that would have really driven that title.

WZ 2120 may yet see the light of day with some of the potent developments on this Project's road map.

Sounds like you're still going strong yourself in the game business and that's good to hear especially these days when the industry is going through some fundamental tectonic shifts (thinking of the last GTA title, widely regarded as an unsustainable game biz model) putting many out of work.

Regards,Whip aka Rman.

.

alex · Post by **alex** » 04 Jul 2009, 05:44

• When did Pumpkin first start working on Warzone?
From Pumpkin’s birth in 1996 warzone was always our primary concern.

• What were your plans for continuing the campaign story in Warzone 2020?
Jim Bambra had this pretty much worked out and sealed up in his head. Occasionally he would let a little piece loose, but I didn’t have ‘the big picture’

• What were, in your opinion, the best new features that you had planned for the sequel?
When we started warzone we had only a software rasterizer (ie, no support for 3d hardware). By the time warzone came out we had 3dfx cards, opengl and directX. It was an exciting period in pc development because the graphic ability bar was being doubled every month. My main memory was that we really wanted to raise the graphical bar in Warzone 2120.

• Was there many things that you were planning to do with commanders that you never got around to? The source code certainly gave that impression
Yes, commanders did a bunch of extra things during development, but they got scaled back, both the control mechanism and ui got very complicated. We wanted them to order units realistically, not just become a grouping with a bonus and a common goal.

• What was the "deathmatch" multiplayer mode supposed to be like?
Deathmatch was an attempt to reproduce quake like gameplay with tanks. Frankly it wasn’t that much fun, there was little variety in the play.

• Did you make EditWorld before or after you began working on an internal, in-game map editor?
I remember editworld being a constant part of development, it was an essential tool used throughout the dev process. Initially we had no intention of releasing it, we thought that someone would probably create another (Better) one.

• There are some scattered references in the source code to something called "Necromancer". Was this some other game project that you were working on?
Yes. This was an unannounced title we were working on. I probably can’t say much more than that, other than it would have been awesome!

• What kind of development tools did you use for tracking bugs and version control and such?
This was the 90’s so I wouldn’t be recommend you use any of the following today! I think we used to have filemaker for bug tracking. For version control we used visual source safe which gave us no end of problems. We ran a basic netware server to hold everything. (Today you’d go with something like DevTrack or HanSoft and Perforce for version control)

• How early during development did you know that you were going to port the game to the PSX?
We had two guys (Tim & Paul) working constantly with the PSX for considerable time. It certainly wasn’t a last minute decision. Some of the limitations of the pc version are because the same code had to run on the psx.

• Are you still in the games business?
Yes, after pumpkin I worked for sega, moving to the usa to work on ai/simulation for the nfl/nba2k titles over 6 years. After that I worked with will wright on spore, and currently I’m development director for spore stuff at Maxis.

Post by **Per** » 07 Jul 2009, 19:06

Thanks a lot for your answers.

I have been convinced until now that you had not used a version control system. Good to know I was wrong

Tenoh · Post by **Tenoh** » 25 Aug 2009, 10:49

Thank you to the current devs here that don't let this great game die.You guys doing awesome work! and my Head is off for Alexes original Pumpkin team!We wont ever forget their ingenious work!
So,any chance we get to know how the story line would continue?

Post by **Zarel** » 25 Aug 2009, 17:59

Tenoh wrote:So,any chance we get to know how the story line would continue?

I suppose I make a passable writer, but making an entirely new campaign is a ton of work. We'll just have to let the fan community do that for us.

Tenoh · Post by **Tenoh** » 25 Aug 2009, 19:42

You can compare the ideas to the stars in the night sky,everyone has one.Maybe new thread or forum section if you guys thinking seriously about a small expansion.From European campaign to the events that led to collapse,sky is the limit :p.

Sinjgarous · Post by **Sinjgarous** » 12 Sep 2009, 07:36

Thanks everyone on the development team for resurrecting this game. The first time I played it a while back I thought 'I need this game.' but could never find it. Then recently started looking for it again and 'bam' here it is.

Also once I learn to program a bit more, I would love to help you guys out in the project.

smallfly · Post by **smallfly** » 11 Oct 2009, 12:31

Yeah, You are great! Thanks for the development efforts and also thanks for all the things around the project like the wiki, the website, the forum, svn things etc.!

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » 17 Oct 2009, 11:49

Thanks... I played wz2100 for an entire day

Probably won't have enough time afterwards but this is one of the best downloadable free games i've found for mac if not simply the best:)

lancerlover · Post by **lancerlover** » 21 Oct 2009, 15:58

Hey,

I hope it's okay if I just say thanks to all the developers for their hard work on Warzone.

This was my favourite RTS ever with its awesome unit customizations, but as there were no sequels I kinda forgot about it...

I was totally shocked to see it on portableapps.com where I was downloading some boring apps... delighted to be reminded of it again.

I can't wait to play it again, and to maybe see it grow into something excitingly new as well. Thanks everyone.

milo christiansen · Post by **milo christiansen** » 04 Nov 2009, 19:38

Some how I never visited this section of the forum, but now that I have I think it would be a good time to thank the devs for all the hard work of keeping a great game alive.

Thanks

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