Recently I got a chance to hit Emote Games with some questions about their upcoming game The Hunter. If you have not seen The Hunter yet be sure to read ahead to get some great insight and then visit the website (http://www.thehunter.com/pub/) to dive into the most realistic hunting experience you can have.
LG: First could you tell us a bit about yourself and your and Emote's history in game development?
I'm Troy Lonergan, Designer at Emote Games, and I'm working on theHunter.
Emote Games was founded in 2006 by former Directors of iFone and Eidos. Together with one of the most experienced teams in the industry we have been making top ten games for over 16 years, since the launch of PlayStation. Emote Games is a very modern company though, formed to combine social gaming, online delivery and high production value. All this realised through characters that inhabit a social space similar to Facebook from which they can share experiences and lead their characters through theHunter and soon a series of other games. In a way we all get to be 'Mr. Benn' (at last).
This has been the concept that has caused the most excitement in our audience – the idea that you have one character and that character can play many, many different games which all affect that character. So, “Mr Benn” wants to be a gladiator. As he progresses through the ranks his muscles get bigger and he gets stronger. If “Mr Benn” wanted to be a boxer, he could take the strength he earned in one game and carry it over to another.
LG: The biggest question most seem to have is why a hunting game? What influenced the decision to explore hunting in this way?
There really wasn't anything out there that was approaching hunting in a realistic way. That's a gap right there, waiting to be filled. If you play some of the other hunting games available they can, to be frank, end up as nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel. There's one, in fact, where the tutorial mission directs you to and makes you shoot an animal sleeping in clear sight. I'm not sure how that is classed either as hunting or rewarding gameplay because as a player you've really done nothing to earn even getting close to that animal – let alone taking the shot.
That's not the experience we want for the player, and moreover that's not what real hunting is all about and what real hunters do. We wanted to push a far more rewarding experience; something that is going to take skill to do. Something with a learning curve that's going to make players want to keep coming back and improve. We don't want our game dumbed down because we know the community wants, and since theHunter now expects, more than they've got thus far from other hunting games.
LG: Is anyone on the development team an avid hunter, or do you have experts you went to for the finer details?
We are mostly your typical game developers, but we do have certain sources we can draw upon. Not least of all a fantastic community – they've been absolutely key in giving us the right feedback and supporting us over the last few months.
As far as we're concerned a lot of our players are the experts – they go out and hunt in real life and they have some know how we don't. That's a big resource for us if we need to tap into it. We're very lucky to have such fantastic support coupled with a great knowledge base at our disposal.
LG: Along the same lines, the forest is magnificent in The Hunter from the sound to the look. What was done to be sure that nature was captured so well?
We're very lucky to have an engine developed by Avalanche as the main stage for theHunter. The guys over at Avalanche have done a truly outstanding job creating a gameworld that is so enchanting that at times you'll just forget about the hunt! You'll just want to drink in the wonderful views, sunrises and sunsets, or take a walk down by the beach to hear the ocean.
LG: The Hunter seems to capture the build up of a hunt , it has ups and downs but is constantly building to that hopeful climax of bagging your quarry. What went into planning the pacing for the average hunt in The Hunter?
Well you hit it pretty much on the head. It is about the ups and downs and building that climax. Anyone can shoot a gun, but can you track a deer, spot it, manage not to spook it, and get a clear shot at it that's going to take it down without any undue pain to the animal?
Take apart these core elements, build an overall understanding of game flow around them, add in suitable mechanics, and set it in this unique game world that means you have to be mindful of your movements, environment, and those of the animals – and you're onto a winner!
LG: Was the decision to remove any trace of a HUD (heads up display) a difficult one to make?
Our goal is to draw the player into the gameworld and keep them locked into that experience of “being there”. The less you show on the screen that's not a part of the gameworld, the more you achieve that goal.
LG: Are there plans for community events, contests and such? How do you plan on utilizing the social side of the site to push the game experience?
Yes! We have a whole load of things to come, stuff we've had planned for months. What's important for us from here out is to stay on track with our plans but also listen to the community and see what they want. One good example of this was when we introduced scoring for the deer. Many of those in the community also wanted to see a scoresheet; and so we started work on that right away, and within no time at all we'd posted an example sheet on the forums. It got some great feedback from the guys and girls on the forums which was awesome to see.
You can also expect to see the announcement of our first video competition very soon, where our players submit videos of themselves playing theHunter.
LG: On a personal note, it blew my mind when I hit the space bar and discovered that no kind of jumping existed. While it really is unnecessary in The Hunter, was the decision to not include an ability to jump much talked about?
Do you remember when Zelda first made the leap into 3d and there wasn't a jump button? That threw a lot of people; but most importantly, it worked.
You have to ask yourself what's the point of any feature in the context of theHunter and how does it affect the experience for the player. Is it positive? Does it lead to interesting gameplay? If there answers here are no then you don't go with that feature no matter how cool it might seem.
We are keeping the player connected to the world on a very tactile level. When you walk across a field, spot a deer, and drop to your knees to hide in the grass, you get that real feeling of connection with the environment. The last thing we want is the player bunny hopping around the landscape like they're playing Counter-Strike. Is it “funny” - maybe for a bit. But it's not something a real hunter is going to do, jumping across a field with a pack full of equipment and a rifle slung over his shoulder. Suddenly even this apparently simple addition of a jump button is turning the whole experience into something quite different.
LG: What kind of hunting environments can players expect to see as the game grows? Any other upcoming plans you would like to share?
Well! We've got more than a few plans on this front, but as you can imagine we can't release details as of yet. Rest assured we're going to be releasing details of new areas with new animals in, hopefully in the not too distant future too.
LG: You have gotten organizations like Boone and Crockett Club involved, what has been their take on The Hunter?
They've certainly embraced the game just as our community has. Our focus on the ethical aspects of hunting and the more studied, careful approach you need to take in theHunter impressed them enough to have their name linked with the game. I think that speaks for itself.
LG: When first creating my profile I had to choose from a collection of faces and names instead of designing my own. I assume that this is to prevent immaturity in the community, is that an accurate assumption?
Our community covers remarkably diverse demographics, and yet there's really nothing like the immaturity you may expect having browsed other internet forums!
I could name a load of guys and girls now who've been brilliant since we opened the community gates but I know I'd miss someone out – they know who they are, thanks people!
The decision was made for a couple of reasons.
Firstly - getting our players into the game without too much hassle.
Our system here works because while the player who wants to customise madly is happy to spend an hour doing so, we have to also think about those who don't. So by giving a choice of pre-generated avatars those who want to spend ages choosing a look still can, and those who aren't so bothered can spend a lot less time doing so. Really, we are still giving people a damn good choice.
Additionally with a lot of character customisation systems you'll get loads of people hitting “random” to generate a character. Then perhaps tweaking. Then ending up with something they are sort of happy with – but probably a face that still looks not quite what they'd hoped for. We're randomising loads of faces for the player without them having to do anything – except hit one button to cycle through the choices.
Personally I like picking a face from a crowd instead of looking at one face that changes over and over. I've immediately got some context for my chosen face against all the other faces on the page and I can go “that guy stands out” or “that girl looks pretty hot!”.
To use a well known example – Nintendo Mii characters. Once you've made a character they get put into the Mii Parade area where you can line up and view all your Miis at once. Viewing everyone together really gives you a good idea of who you like, who stands out, and who you wouldn't mind losing.
After all we can only truly judge one character by comparing them personally against another, so why not offer that functionality from the word go?
Secondly – quality of characters.
Our Participate platform produces characters that are of a very high quality. Far superior to anything you'll see in a game where you get to customise a character. We want that visual fidelity that comes with the characters, because it ties directly into TheHunter. The gameworld is magnificent, and for us to deliver characters that do not match up to that would send entirely the wrong message.
Let's use that Mii example again. Imagine a Mii character in theHunter! That just isn't going to work, in fact it would look ridiculous.
We do not want to sacrifice our quality or dilute the overall experience in theHunter, so it's very important that we get this area right.
Plus the random name generation is truly brilliant. We've seen so many great names come out of it, it's always a wonder to see what you'll get next. When you get a randomised character called “Chance Funk” do you really need to name him yourself? Well, you can choose your own nicknames anyway, just in case you do.
I would like to thank Emote Games and Troy Lonergan for their time, and be sure to check out The Hunter. You will be surprised.
