Recently I spoke with Frederik Schreiber (FS), CEO and creative lead at Interceptor Entertainment, and Terry Nagy (TN), chief creative officer at Apogee about their new game Rise of the Triad. Rise is a remake of the classic 3D shooter from a time before 3D graphic cards, and when online play involved dialing in on a modem. They were kind enough to answer all of our questions about this awesome looking game.
What is the storyline for the game?
TN: Since we are staying true to the original game, the overall storyline will remain intact. We may change a few things here and there to add support to items within the game for which no explanation was given in the original game, but that’s it.
Why bring the game back now and how did the decision to do some come about?
TN: Over the past few years, there have been “mentions” of a reboot of Rise of the Triad, and there seemed to be a great deal of interest from the gaming community on the subject. We had a few different attempts to remake the project, but none of the attempts quite hit the mark of what we would consider an impact remake of the classic game. I was tracking the progress Interceptor Entertainment was making on the Duke Reloaded project, and was quite impressed with their ability to take a classic game and re-envision it with all updated technology and, most importantly, keeping it fun. Once I saw that the Reloaded project was put on hold, I immediately contacted Frederik of Interceptor regarding Rise of the Triad with our proposal. A mere 5 months after we started work on the project we were showing it at QuakeCon 2012.
Will any of the people who helped create the original game be involved with the new versions?
TN: Yes. Joe Siegler who worked on the original game and did most of the level design for Extreme Rise of the Triad is working with Interceptor Entertainment. We also have some exciting news to share regarding the music composer. The others we contacted were unfortunately engaged in other projects at the time and were not able to be involved.
What can you tell us about the music and voice talent in the game?
TN: Interceptor’s musician Andrew Hulshult is doing a fantastic job of preserving the essence of the original songs created by Lee Jackson and introducing his own personal creativity to give the songs an updated sound while also taking them in a new direction. So finding a balance between classic and new direction is our challenge.
However, we are including an option to allow the game to be played with the classic songs, sounds and voiceovers. As for the voice talent in the game, we have put together an interesting bunch to portray the Triad and bring some personality to the H.U.N.T team. The original game didn’t allow for the H.U.N.T to have any personality due to technical limits of the day, but now we have the opportunity to introduce the H.U.N.T to gamers and bring those personalities forward.
Will players still be able to do “Dog Mode”
FS: They sure will! We are particular proud of our Dog Mode.
Aside from graphics, what would you say are the biggest differences between the old version and the new one?
FS: The new one focuses heavily on scoring. Everything you do in the game gives you points. From speed-running through levels and finding secrets to killing enemies in new and creative ways. We have global leaderboards for the entire game and each level, so you can compare your scores with others.
What are some of the weapons players will be able to use?
FS: We have a lot of crazy weapons. From the extremely powerful Excalibat, which shoots exploding baseballs, to the Flamewall, which creates a wall of fire. If you like crazy weapons, this game is the one to play.
What enemies will players face and will there be vehicles that players can use?
FS: You couldn’t use vehicles in the original, and you can’t use vehicles in our game. On the flip side, we have some crazy enemies and bosses you will meet. Everything from death monks and heavy guards, to robots and monsters.
What can you tell us about the gaming engine and what it will bring to the table?
FS: We are using a modified version of Unreal Engine 3, to bring the game alive. We support all the latest features you would expect from a current generation game. The best feature though, is that we will be able to supply users with our Editor, so they can create their own content to the game.
What type of multiplayer will the game offer?
FS: At launch the game will supply the classic multiplayer features, such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The important fact here is that the game is fully moddable. We expect fans will create a variety of new and awesome game modes, and we will release free DLC down the road, which further expands the multiplayer part of the game.
What are some of the biggest obstacles you see in creating the game, and what are your biggest goals for the game?
FS: Some of the biggest obstacles were our own ambition to create a game on such a short schedule. We want to create a great game, but we also want a game that fans can play very soon. Our goals are to create an extremely fast-paced and fun experience for old- and new school gamers.
