RLH interview

[Titan]

I got this in my e-mail. Its from Computer and Video games.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=78569

Survival horror is a strange beast. With most titles in the genre tend to err towards a soporific pace and take themselves more than a tad too seriously, there\'s always been room for a completely over-the-top adventure brimming with visceral shock and hyper-violence. There\'s even space for a little "humour", although from the likes of Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark you\'d swear it was a dirty concept.
Publisher Interplay and developer Digital Mayhem are obviously on the ball. When PS2 exclusive Run Like Hell was announced way back in the mists of time (the prospective release date was originally spring 2001: you\'ll be playing it in October this year), horror aficionados sneered: what could an American company bring to the genre? Apple pie? Cherry trees? As it happens, Interplay brought some badly needed western influence to the fore, mixing humour reminiscent of movies like Evil Dead, the tension of Aliens, mini-games and a sci-fi plot. So that\'s that question answered.

We wiped the blood off lead producer Chuck Cuevas\'s face, slapped him around a bit, pumped him full of valium and drilled him for information after he\'d calmed down. You see, in space no one hears you scream...

Interview by Johnny Minkley

What\'s the story behind RLH?
Cuevas: Captain Nicholas Conner has been stationed on the Forseti Research and Mining Facility at the edge of explored space. This undesirable assignment is the result of his direct disobedience of orders during the Neh\'lok war.
His duty at the orbital space station is to ferry employees around the area. Not the glamorous space fighter he once was, he\'s just looking to finish out his career and move on.
While here, he meets Samantha Reilly, a xeno-biologist stationed on Forseti to observe some life forms found on a nearby planet. He was never a "love at first sight" type of guy, but it didn\'t take him long to fall in love and become engaged to Sam.
While Nick is performing a shuttle mission, something fairly nasty enters the station by deception. When Nick and Amanda Bethune return from their mission, no one is to be found, including Nick\'s fiancé.
Then the s**t hits the fan and Nick is off and running to save his loved one and any friends he can along the way.
How is the game structured? Is there a greater emphasis placed on action, or puzzle solving?
Cuevas: The game has both action and puzzles. The action is pretty much non-stop, unless of course, Nick can waste everything, then he will only have to worry about his current objective.
Objectives come from Nick\'s travels around the Forseti Station. As he discovers more friends trapped or taken hostage, he needs to find more powerful weapons, some hidden key codes and combinations of tools and his surroundings to get to the next objective. The key is to search for the tools to help Nick get past the next obstacle.
How has employing the vocal talents of well-known actors benefited the experience, and did they enjoy being involved with the project?
Cuevas: Run like Hell\'s story lent itself to a very movie-esque atmosphere. With the talents of some sci-fi actors, we were able to convey the story far more thoroughly. Watching them at the recording sessions truly gives one a better understanding of how difficult acting is.
As far as their enjoyment: I could only guess that since we had a blast recording the lines and their desire to read the next chapter in the story was truly genuine, that they indeed did enjoy themselves. When an actor\'s character died along the way, the actor still wanted to read the rest of the story, that was really rewarding and indicated to us that we were doing something right.
What makes RLH different from other survival horror games on the market?
Cuevas: The story sets itself apart from most of the genre. The constant action is a little faster paced. The weapons are a bit flashier than your run of the mill slug-throwers. Instead of the same dreary music, we have replaced the battle music with some great alternative music from Breaking Benjamin and Coma. The game is just faster paced: that would have to be the big difference.
It seems obvious that RLH has been inspired by various classic sci-fi movies - which, in your opinion, have been the main influences on the title?
Cuevas: In my opinion, Aliens, the Star Trek universe and the Dirty Harry movies are the biggest influences. Obviously something lurking about in space, ready to prove mankind is not the top of the food chain, has been a Hollywood favourite for many years. The fact that games deal with the same subject just shows us how much the public is entertained by the concept.
Dirty Harry is just a cool, straight-to-the-heart-with-a-bullet type of guy. But he also has a soft spot for the ladies, and this is the one influence on creating Nick Conner that sometimes get lost in the sci-fi aspect of the game. Nick shoots first and asks questions later, but his undying loyalty to his friends is conveyed in Run Like Hell as well.
Can you give us an overview of the weapons available in the game?
Currently, and I say currently because we are at the heart of game balancing, we have nine weapons. At the moment we have three slug-throwers, three energy weapons and three unique weapons.
Each "class" will have their own modification chips. These chips will affect rate of fire, damage amount and clip size.
A game like this lives or dies on how successfully it creates a sense of fear. In a movie, it\'s far easier to achieve this as everything you see is contrived and pre-scripted, but a free-roaming adventure naturally poses different challenges - how have you overcome these to create this effect?
Cuevas: That\'s a tough one. Most of the fear will be drawn from the story, by finding out what has happened to your friends and knowing that the same can happen to you. The sense of urgency the player gets should cause the player concern for the other characters and for Nick.
Of course, during the game, the player can expect to be scared stiff a couple of times by some creatures jumping out at very inappropriate moments. This type of scare is always fun for the developers to create.
Which aspect of the game are you most proud of?
Cuevas: The Run Like Hell story is very interesting and will keep the player coming back for more. I had very little to do with that aspect of the game, but I am proud of the story Brian Freyermuth wrote.
How long would you expect the average gamer to take in completing the adventure?
Cuevas: For the average player? In our QA and among some gamers in the office, it is taking as many as twenty hours to play. Are they average? I don\'t think so, but...
When you do complete the game, is there any incentive to replay?
Cuevas: Weapon modifications will be the biggest reason to replay: trying to defeat the enemy without dying, now that you know how to beat them is always fun.
I even hear rumors of playing the game as a different character, but I am 99 percent sure that we will not include any other characters to play. We just don\'t have time to fix the art resources that might require. But you never know.
What\'s been your experience of working with PS2 hardware - has it caused you any major headaches during development?
Cuevas: Memory has always been the biggest issue. Our engineers have come up with some pretty ingenious ways of cramming a lot of stuff in to 32Mb of RAM.
Do you have any plans to take RLH onto other formats?
Cuevas: Not at this time.
Any plans for a sequel at the moment?
Cuevas: This is a bit of as cop-out, but we will have to see. If Run Like Hell is accepted by the fans and we sell, then by all means there is incentive to continue. But that is truly in the hands of the gamers, and I hope they demand a sequel because we have learned volumes of home how to build a better scare.

Patrick Garratt

long, but very intresting.. i heard a rumour on here ages ago that this got canned

[Titan]

Yeah I heard that rumor too but wouldn\'t believe it. I couldn\'t wait for the game. I still can\'t. Atleast it\'s coming out in October.

It\'s gonna be a nice winter indeed.  Plenty of hot games to keep my warm;)

[Titan]

Agreed. Now I have money Although, I have to save up for a car too TS2, RLH and GTA4 are on my must gets list

[Kurt Angle]

Good to see it hasn\'t been canned after all.