Interview 14:06h 08.01.2007
The French site Pmods.net interviewed me about Deathball.
Their french translation is here. No idea if things still make sense in French...I had it for 9 years at school, but all for nothing.
It includes many questions I've been asked over and over in the last few weeks, so here the original English version:
/David Münnich (DavidM) is the Game-, Level-, Web-, Whatever-, Designer of a famous mod called Deathball. He is 24 years old, from Germany. His mod has grown over years and it recently gained the price of “Mod of the month (December)” from ModDB./
** DavidM, what were you doing before starting the project Deathball ?*
When we started with Deathball, I was just done with the previous project, which lasted for 2.5 years and I was glad that I didn't have any pressure to do something... and at that time (Autumn 2002) I just started doing my civilian service (instead of the army for sure \o/) and it was a pretty tough job. When I came home I just wanted to go to bed again. So I was happy not to have anything to do... but well... :P
** How did you get the idea of Deathball? Were you inspired by anything ?*
2 things :
- I was playing all the Fifa games up to 2002....and today it still has the same issues it always had. I've always been dreaming about a football game where the team is not computer controled and every player has full control. You know...you can just tell that guy to hit the top right corner...and then you have to start hoping. Or you wonder why an opposing player was unmarked (afterall the computer controls the marking of 9 of your players on the field). These games made me so aggressive and I wonder how my gamepads actually survived all these years.
- Anyway, it hit me when I downloaded a rather lame ice-hockey field map for UT2003 bombing-run... I just imagined what it would be like without weapons, with proper shooting and tackling techniques, etc.. And then we quickly produced a little gameplay demo and ended up playing it for 7-8 hours a day. Then it was no doubt that we really had something awesome produced there and it needs to go on. Since then the gameplay has somewhat changed and improved... and it still is. I can never stop it. Since I'm playing it almost everyday since 2002, you always get new ideas for what could be done.
** Who or what give you the grit (courage) to continue your work through years ?*
Mostly myself, because I love playing the game and keep having new ideas to improve it. But also the community who keeps asking for new versions all day long. They keep complaining for years, but it can't be that bad, because they are very well addicted and keep demanding new things and bug fixes. And if not them, I will go on with it for my own amusement, because it's simply the most fun game I ever played... Yes, I am biased, but that's how it is :P
** There was a big break in Deathball's developement (for a long time the last version was 2.3). Why? What made you start development again ? *
The problem started when I built the first goal in the first test map and pinned down the goal size, without really trying around with other sizes. Also stuff like volley, shake etc... they were ideas which were added step by step without being planned out from the begin on. But nothing was really fitting. It was an untested game with lots of more stuff added to make it cooler. The root of all evil were the small goals. In order to be able to score we had given the keepers a big volley delay, so they couldn't use their hammer in the first half second after the ball was fired. But it wasn't playable anymore, and to keep it playable I had to invent lots of limitations.
In Winter + Spring 2005 we had no development team at this time and I've taken a 5 month break from playing. So when I started playing again and got addicted I was motivated again to get someone for the coding job and to go on. I've also known that some basic things in the gameplay have been wrong for a long time. We increased the goals by 5 times the size, increased the chargepower by 100% (x2) and removed the volley delays.
** Who is involved in the mod nowadays?*
Goldeneye and Me. I'm paying him for fixing code bugs :P
** Now that you released the new website, when will the final 2.4 come out? *
It will be 3.0 then, and it will be done when we have a beta that I consider perfect. Maybe never!
** When will you fix the AI ? The bots are running after the rolling ball...*
They still play the game as if it was version 2.3. We never had time to fix those. It was always about more important things that concerned the actual gameplay. But we'll get to it.
** Do you plan something surprising for a next version ? (time for a scoop !)*
Except fixing bugs we have one thing coming, that helps hitting fast balls. The hit cone (the rings) will remain in the air for about 30ms. So if you hit too early it compensates for a little bad timing and mainly for ping inaccuracies. Because this stuff is so fast and it's very hard to hit for most.
** What is your favorite map (and what do you like in it) ?*
There are no preferences. If we play 3on3 we use DB-SmallcubeSE, for 4on4 we play Echo or November and 5on5 is being played on Cube.
Maps with fancy stuff... walls, curves, slopes, gimmicks were all removed, because nobody (including me) wanted to play them. We only want to have an empty map with flat surfaces and 90° angles to play in. The game and my team makes the gameplay. Crazy stuff is basically nothing but annoying in Deathball. Maybe funny for 5 minutes, but once you want to actually play, you go back to normal maps. Deathball is not about maps, the game makes the gameplay, not the map... like in other game modes.
** Do you plan to port Deathball to UT2007 and what improvment do you plan to add with this port (if there is)?*
Nope.
** Did you say there will be no support to UT2007 for Deathball ? How will people like me continue playing this great game with the new unreal engine :'( *
We wouldn't really benefit from the new engine. Maybe some eye candy thats interesting for 5 minutes until you turn it off and enjoy the gameplay for some more years. It's just Epic getting lots of money in their pockets from us... Looking at the countless Deathball players who only bought UT2004 to play Deathball. So UT2004 as base is good as long as we can't go stand alone, because you get the game for very very few money :)
** You seem to don't like the principle of UT2007, would you buy it when released ? Or you will wait to see good mods ? Or never buy it at all ? Or dunno yet !!?*
I never played UT2003 or UT2004 nor any mods (just tried a few for some minutes and then uninstalled them again)... so: no.
Hm... my honest opinion about the mods... The ones with creative ideas are not made good enough to be fun. A good idea alone isn't worth anything. And the rest (the majority) are uninspired games that have been done a hundred times (stand alone or mods). No wait... a hundred thousand times :P
**If a new team want to continue your work, would you share your source?*
Nope, never :P
You're asking me to give my baby to some random other parents ? I'm raising my little boy in my ways :)
I f**king LOVE it and I don't trust anyone else there.
** Would you like to say anything for the new year that is coming ?*
I could say a lot, but nothing game related, neither do I have any rhyming philosophical smart ass lines to share right now either ;)
Just: Give 'less than three' to everyone!!
Yeah, that might get you thinking what it means....but it isn't quite philosophical :P
*Thank you David, it was nice to talk with you.*
<3
Their french translation is here. No idea if things still make sense in French...I had it for 9 years at school, but all for nothing.
It includes many questions I've been asked over and over in the last few weeks, so here the original English version:
/David Münnich (DavidM) is the Game-, Level-, Web-, Whatever-, Designer of a famous mod called Deathball. He is 24 years old, from Germany. His mod has grown over years and it recently gained the price of “Mod of the month (December)” from ModDB./
** DavidM, what were you doing before starting the project Deathball ?*
When we started with Deathball, I was just done with the previous project, which lasted for 2.5 years and I was glad that I didn't have any pressure to do something... and at that time (Autumn 2002) I just started doing my civilian service (instead of the army for sure \o/) and it was a pretty tough job. When I came home I just wanted to go to bed again. So I was happy not to have anything to do... but well... :P
** How did you get the idea of Deathball? Were you inspired by anything ?*
2 things :
- I was playing all the Fifa games up to 2002....and today it still has the same issues it always had. I've always been dreaming about a football game where the team is not computer controled and every player has full control. You know...you can just tell that guy to hit the top right corner...and then you have to start hoping. Or you wonder why an opposing player was unmarked (afterall the computer controls the marking of 9 of your players on the field). These games made me so aggressive and I wonder how my gamepads actually survived all these years.
- Anyway, it hit me when I downloaded a rather lame ice-hockey field map for UT2003 bombing-run... I just imagined what it would be like without weapons, with proper shooting and tackling techniques, etc.. And then we quickly produced a little gameplay demo and ended up playing it for 7-8 hours a day. Then it was no doubt that we really had something awesome produced there and it needs to go on. Since then the gameplay has somewhat changed and improved... and it still is. I can never stop it. Since I'm playing it almost everyday since 2002, you always get new ideas for what could be done.
** Who or what give you the grit (courage) to continue your work through years ?*
Mostly myself, because I love playing the game and keep having new ideas to improve it. But also the community who keeps asking for new versions all day long. They keep complaining for years, but it can't be that bad, because they are very well addicted and keep demanding new things and bug fixes. And if not them, I will go on with it for my own amusement, because it's simply the most fun game I ever played... Yes, I am biased, but that's how it is :P
** There was a big break in Deathball's developement (for a long time the last version was 2.3). Why? What made you start development again ? *
The problem started when I built the first goal in the first test map and pinned down the goal size, without really trying around with other sizes. Also stuff like volley, shake etc... they were ideas which were added step by step without being planned out from the begin on. But nothing was really fitting. It was an untested game with lots of more stuff added to make it cooler. The root of all evil were the small goals. In order to be able to score we had given the keepers a big volley delay, so they couldn't use their hammer in the first half second after the ball was fired. But it wasn't playable anymore, and to keep it playable I had to invent lots of limitations.
In Winter + Spring 2005 we had no development team at this time and I've taken a 5 month break from playing. So when I started playing again and got addicted I was motivated again to get someone for the coding job and to go on. I've also known that some basic things in the gameplay have been wrong for a long time. We increased the goals by 5 times the size, increased the chargepower by 100% (x2) and removed the volley delays.
** Who is involved in the mod nowadays?*
Goldeneye and Me. I'm paying him for fixing code bugs :P
** Now that you released the new website, when will the final 2.4 come out? *
It will be 3.0 then, and it will be done when we have a beta that I consider perfect. Maybe never!
** When will you fix the AI ? The bots are running after the rolling ball...*
They still play the game as if it was version 2.3. We never had time to fix those. It was always about more important things that concerned the actual gameplay. But we'll get to it.
** Do you plan something surprising for a next version ? (time for a scoop !)*
Except fixing bugs we have one thing coming, that helps hitting fast balls. The hit cone (the rings) will remain in the air for about 30ms. So if you hit too early it compensates for a little bad timing and mainly for ping inaccuracies. Because this stuff is so fast and it's very hard to hit for most.
** What is your favorite map (and what do you like in it) ?*
There are no preferences. If we play 3on3 we use DB-SmallcubeSE, for 4on4 we play Echo or November and 5on5 is being played on Cube.
Maps with fancy stuff... walls, curves, slopes, gimmicks were all removed, because nobody (including me) wanted to play them. We only want to have an empty map with flat surfaces and 90° angles to play in. The game and my team makes the gameplay. Crazy stuff is basically nothing but annoying in Deathball. Maybe funny for 5 minutes, but once you want to actually play, you go back to normal maps. Deathball is not about maps, the game makes the gameplay, not the map... like in other game modes.
** Do you plan to port Deathball to UT2007 and what improvment do you plan to add with this port (if there is)?*
Nope.
** Did you say there will be no support to UT2007 for Deathball ? How will people like me continue playing this great game with the new unreal engine :'( *
We wouldn't really benefit from the new engine. Maybe some eye candy thats interesting for 5 minutes until you turn it off and enjoy the gameplay for some more years. It's just Epic getting lots of money in their pockets from us... Looking at the countless Deathball players who only bought UT2004 to play Deathball. So UT2004 as base is good as long as we can't go stand alone, because you get the game for very very few money :)
** You seem to don't like the principle of UT2007, would you buy it when released ? Or you will wait to see good mods ? Or never buy it at all ? Or dunno yet !!?*
I never played UT2003 or UT2004 nor any mods (just tried a few for some minutes and then uninstalled them again)... so: no.
Hm... my honest opinion about the mods... The ones with creative ideas are not made good enough to be fun. A good idea alone isn't worth anything. And the rest (the majority) are uninspired games that have been done a hundred times (stand alone or mods). No wait... a hundred thousand times :P
**If a new team want to continue your work, would you share your source?*
Nope, never :P
You're asking me to give my baby to some random other parents ? I'm raising my little boy in my ways :)
I f**king LOVE it and I don't trust anyone else there.
** Would you like to say anything for the new year that is coming ?*
I could say a lot, but nothing game related, neither do I have any rhyming philosophical smart ass lines to share right now either ;)
Just: Give 'less than three' to everyone!!
Yeah, that might get you thinking what it means....but it isn't quite philosophical :P
*Thank you David, it was nice to talk with you.*
<3
11 Comments
posted by 14:48:44h 08.01.2007
I dont mean to be rude, but that sounds like a pretty fucked up interviewer..
posted by 14:49:19h 08.01.2007
(C'est l'heure du scoop !)
:D
:D
posted by 15:43:55h 08.01.2007
wtfux way to big up the lovely community!
posted by 20:41:07h 08.01.2007
the interviewer probably be taking crack before the interview.
posted by 08:09:48h 09.01.2007
Thank you for all your kindness ! ^^ :P
Yes, I'm the interviewer. And yes, I'm taking crack, weed, heroin, and cocain. And also lsd for parties ^^.
I love you all *smack* !
(I'm kiding of course, the only "bad" thing I do is murdering babies for satanic rituals)
Yes, I'm the interviewer. And yes, I'm taking crack, weed, heroin, and cocain. And also lsd for parties ^^.
I love you all *smack* !
(I'm kiding of course, the only "bad" thing I do is murdering babies for satanic rituals)
posted by 21:11:04h 09.01.2007
peXounet? The interviewers name on the pmods website is raVen... hmmmmmmmm...
posted by 22:40:22h 09.01.2007
so you at least know, if someone was trying to fake him, he would have used the name 'raven'
posted by 01:39:24h 11.01.2007
(I'm kiding of course, the only "bad" thing I do is murdering babies for satanic rituals)
stereotyping twat
stereotyping twat
posted by 08:19:57h 11.01.2007
Of course it's stereotype, I was also kiding about that.
I'm really the interviewer (raVen). I'm not called raVen here 'cause this surname is often already used on forums and website. So, I distinguish my forum surname and the one I use to play. I like pretty much "raVen", and that's why I'm so called on PMods.
Whatever you like the interview(er) or not, it was piece of great fun and talking with David was really nice and instructive.
I'm really the interviewer (raVen). I'm not called raVen here 'cause this surname is often already used on forums and website. So, I distinguish my forum surname and the one I use to play. I like pretty much "raVen", and that's why I'm so called on PMods.
Whatever you like the interview(er) or not, it was piece of great fun and talking with David was really nice and instructive.
posted by 12:00:18h 11.01.2007
aha !! peXounet is DavidM !! it must be !! ;) lol
lol someone should tell this guy we're just kidding too ;) ... that and some people are just a bit daft :P 'nuf said
lol someone should tell this guy we're just kidding too ;) ... that and some people are just a bit daft :P 'nuf said
posted by 13:12:48h 11.01.2007
I already mailed him to ignore these comments for certain reasons <3