Posted: 01-06-05 In: Interviews By: Munro2 |


Halflife2.net: Your website describes Mist as a total conversion of Half-Life 2 based on the world of Pirates. From what sources does your team get its inspiration?

kathunx: We all know that everyone reading this interview used to dream of being a pirate when they were young, who didn't? The creators of Battlefield Pirates captured that dream and converted it into a solid, pirate-based modification for Battlefield 1942. I can easily say that was probably our biggest source of inspiration towards beginning development for Mist.

Halflife2.net: As far as the world of Mist, the Mist Isles, is concerned, what sort of landscapes (jungles, waterfalls, wildlife, villages, cities, etc) should we expect?

kathunx: One of my favorite parts of Mist is where the game takes place. The Mist isles is an array of various islands, each island having it's own environmental diversity. For example, one island is a former Spanish settlement named El Rico (The Rich). El Rico is ideal for urban warfare, as well as ship-to-coast and fort-to-ship combat. More islands including The Waterhole (containing tropical jungle-based setting) and The Ruins (containing barren, desert-based setting) are also available for an enjoyable, diverse game-play experience.

Halflife2.net: What I feel makes Mist so special is that it is NOT a shooter in a time when virtually every mod out there is. Why does your team feel that this game will be so appealing?

kathunx: In my own opinion, I think most videogames based in the 20th or 21st century have already been structured to set examples for the rest, and all they can do is slowly improve. However, not many video games based before the 20th century have been enjoyable to a wide variety of people. I think that Mist will appeal to a large, diverse crowd because of the various features that we implement into the game. The variety of environments, the diversity of classes and the importance of team-based game-play is something that we hope will turn into a solid, enjoyable experience for all types of gamers.

Halflife2.net: Mist features three playable sides, the Cursed Pirates, the Black Buccaneers, and the Cut-Throats. What can you tell us about each of these?

kathunx: The Cursed Pirates are undead scavengers who are solely trying to conquer the Mist Isles for one reason; they want them back. Long before the Cut-Throats and Black Buccaneers found out about the Mist Isles, the Cursed Pirates had taken over the Mist Isles and treated them poorly. As a result, the spirits of Mist placed a curse on them, stating that if they want to return to life, they must keep the Mist Isles from being taken by anyone else.

The Black Buccaneers are greedy, rich and pampered seadogs that want ownership of the Mist Isles only for the luxuries it offers. Their state-of-the-art equipment gives them an obvious advantage to taking whatever they wish.

The Cut-Throats are men of honor and nobility. They wish to succeed in taking over the Mist Isles only to restore the honor it once had. Being experienced in piracy and having a history of being a just yet rebellious group of pirates, will give them a great advantage towards the other two teams.

Halflife2.net: Tell us a little bit about where your team's background comes from. What communities were your team members a part of previously?

kathunx: Sean (anonymousity) is from the Battlefield Pirates staff. I've been on several mod teams, most of them for Battlefield 1942 and Unreal Tournament 2003. A lot of our staff is oriented around the Battlefield Pirates community; Sean leads a clan called CT (you guessed it, Cut-Throats), and our lead Public Relations man Chris leads his own clan, the BB (just guess). The rest of our staff members are fresh from college or already have a wife and kids. I guess you can say we're pretty diverse.

Halflife2.net: As far as your plans for the game-play, will Mist go for a more fast and furious arcade approach, or will it go for a more subtle and gratifying (to some) realistic approach?

kathunx: Mist's game-play is actually a healthy mix of both genres. The life of piracy itself was often fast and furious, but depicting it correctly while still making the game enjoyable and fast-paced is something we want to be sure to accomplish. The game will have it's ominous, yet subtle moments, but it will also feature the edge-of-your-seat game-play that most gamers thirst for.

Halflife2.net: As far as the eight islands of Mist go, will all eight be featured in one large map? From a technical standpoint, will the players have to have a certain hardware minimum?

kathunx: There are currently 24 levels scheduled for development at the moment. There are usually more than one map per island, but some islands are too small to have more than one. As hardware requirements go, our models are easily making par with polycounts and still look great (for example look at our CP characters). I believe that if you can run Half-Life 2 on your computer without any worries, Mist should run on your computer just as easily.

Halflife2.net: Does Mist have an existing fanbase?

kathunx: Most of the community from Battlefield Pirates has also shifted to the Mist Mod community. Mist is also a part of the Pirated Studios community (www.piratedstudios.com).

Halflife2.net: According to the Mist website, there are 5 to 6 different ships being planned. What can you tell us about the vehicles of Mist and does the team know how vehicular combat will be done?

kathunx: Vehicles and Vehicular Combat have already been planned out thoroughly. The ships in development range from a small rowboat to a large galleon. The larger ships require a crew to control. For example, to control a galleon, people need to be on the ropes to control throttle, people need to be on separate cannons to control the ship's arsenal, and a captain needs to be on the wheel, controlling the ships movement. People may have heard of a body-spot damage system, in which a shot to the head causes massive damage, where as a shot to the hand or foot does not. We are trying to accomplish a vehicular-spot damage system, in which a cannon ball to the mast disturbs control, or impact near the bottom of the ship causes leaking and a chance of sinking (depending on the amount of damage). Hopefully this will encourage team-based game-play and almost a sense of camaraderie between players.