A chat with Myscha

Ok, first of all, thanks for taking the time out and doing this.
I'd like to start off with Paul Steed, he recently said this in his
.plan update "It would be easy to push back a release date to
whenever we please but we are professionals who
make commitments to various parties (including ourselves) to get
the product done on time."

1. This is obviously the opposite approach Epic has taken with
UNREAL, what are your thoughts on this?

Actually it is not an "obviously opposite approach" I think ID software knows what they need to do to meet their goals and I think Epic MegaGames knows what they need to do to meet their goals. Neither company shares the exact final goal. Although providing a new game is the underlying similarity between the two, the similarities do not go past that. As far as a release date goes, our goal is to provide an incredible game that will stand the test of time in addition to open new doorways in how developers go about creating these types of games. Unreal, in addition to a unique title itself, is a proprietary technology that has been created by Tim Sweeney with an infrastructure that is expandable. This concept allows Unreal developers and licensees the capability to easily incorporate new PC technology into their titles w/o having to re-write from the ground up on each excursion. That fact will make Unreal very versatile to our licensees and to ourselves, in addition to allowing the gamers themselves to explore their own creativity through their own projects with flexibilty that is limited only by your imagination.

2. UNREAL's story. I like many people am looking forward to
the story elements in UNREAL, who came up with the story?
I was disappointed in the 3 senence story that was Quake, and
this makes me look forward to UNREAL all the more.

The core theme story was developed by James Schmalz and Cliff Bleszinski. From there, I took their core and expanded it into a large scale universe that gives realistic meaning and subtle connections to the world and the specific levels I would be working on before I even began. Each level in the game makes sense. A wrote an extensive theme document that set forth the history of the regions and the environments I would be working with. That history becomes evident in the design. On top of this, the situations the player encounters further expands upon his/ her past and allows the player to write the rest of the chapters. The storyline to a game such as this is an important aspect for setting the stage for the gamer to act upon.

3. Goldeneye for the N64 has set some very high
standerds in my book for UNREAL. Can you go into
detail about the types of missions for UNREAL, i.e.
will there be more than just *kill everything that moves,
blow up everything that doesn't, shoot the switch, exit
the level* in UNREAL, or is this a "no comment"
question cause you can't give away too much?

Unreal is set up with a living and breathing world with it's own wheels turning and developing. It has a history that is ancient and old but now has fallen into a state of conflict and war. The player is brought into this world and is thrust into it not only to survive but to escape. The existing conditions make this very complicated. On top of all this you are an escaped convict who is being pursued by your former jailors. It is an extremely dangerous situation. Your only hope is to figure out a way to get off this planet before you are re-captured or mistaken as an enemy and hunted down by the inhabitants.

4. UNREAL's AI. This has me as excited as anything,
(watch out again!) IMO Goldeneye also has the most
advanced AI in any FPS out there, but it is also
crucially flawed, there are some instances where
a soldier will throw a grenade at you even if 5 different
soldiers are surrounding you. Can we expect better from
UNREAL?

Unreal's AI is utterly amazing. Steve Polge's entire scheme and AI structure allows me the level designer to create just about any dynamic situation I can imagine-And I'm not talking about pre-scripted situations either. The goal has been to create realistic living breathing creatures that act according to their intelligence and stimuli. Steve has accomplished this and more.
I feel extremely confident that no AI in any other title will be as realistic as Unreal's.

5. (last Question) Ok on the record this time, what games
are you looking forward too the most this season? Which
will be the sleeper hit?

Daikatana, The Journeyman Project 3, Riven. As far as a sleeper hit? Hmmm well in terms of sales Riven.
Most 3D shooter fans despise those style of games, but in terms of sales
Riven will be a huge success. I respect CYAN's talent and high standards of archtectural excellenece. I am
looking forward to purchasing it.

Thanks again Myscha, I tried to keep this as short as possible and
still get some worthwile info out of it. I really appreciate you doing
this. And see ya in #unreal!
--
Seth Krieg, The Hound