Tide's Reach Interview

[Evo]

We interview Neale 'PiMuRho' from the Tide's Reach team.


Chris - So, Tide?s Reach, the name of the mod has just been announced, but as I understand it, this has been in the works for quite some time. Why the wait between starting this project and announcing the name?




Neale: It wasn't especially deliberate. There were some potential issues with there being a hotel with (nearly) the same name that I wanted to avoid. There's no particular conflict of interests - I don't intend to accomodate or feed people, and I'm pretty sure they don't intend to develop games.





Chris - Tide?s Reach, care to expand a bit on the reasoning behind the name for those who are unaware?





Neale: It's the reach of the Tide - their hegemony across the universe. In this case, the Tide are a large, heavily-armed religious group with as-yet-unknown ambitions. One of our writers actually wants to cause me physical harm for revealing even that much. He's very protective.



Chris - There have been lengthy gaps between updates on Tide?s Reach, have you been keeping everything hush hush for a reason?




Neale: Yes, that reason being that I've been busy. I've been responsible for creating virtually all the in-game content for Tide's Reach, along with the design and writing - which has now been taken over by a couple of (fairly) dedicated writers. On top of that, I spent some time working on Zombie Master, a couple of commercial contracts. Also subtract the time I've spent fighting with Valve's tools (which continues to this day - I love Valve, but some things really make you grimace). Oh yes, and I've got a marriage and a family that I'm quite fond of and would like to keep.



I also dislike giving too much away, and I tend to write far too much. If I did weekly updates, it'd take me a fortnight for each one.




Chris - You talk about the game involving both FPS and RTS elements, why have you taken this approach and how are you setting about implementing it?



Ross: After coming to the idea we took a look at Alyx, Valve's core NPC. We were pretty impressed with Valve's execution of the useful NPC companion and how she complemented the gameplay rather than hindering it (a relatively new concept to games). Still though, she was just a combat partner and a guide through the game ? you don't rely on Alyx. You, the player, are still very much the main force.



With Tides Reach we wanted to take a different approach and balance things out a little. Paul, your brother, is the muscle; he's got the guns and he does the majority of the fighting. As the player you aren't as nimble and combat worthy as Paul and take up more of a tech-role, worming your way into the ships systems and manipulating the environment to complement his fighting. You can of course control Paul yourself ? which is where the RTS angle comes in ? but he's perfectly capable of handling himself. In a way you come to rely on him, and he comes to rely on you. It's a pretty fine balance.




Neale: It was an epiphany that I had involving the third-person control of an NPC via security systems. Initially, that was going to be the sole focus of the game - you were to be more or less static, giving someone else orders through a monitor. After some interesting feedback, and based on our own tests, we came to the conclusion that this was pretty much a stupid idea and we evolved the concept into what it is now. Without wanting to sound horribly buzzword-y, we generally felt that it added an interesting dynamic to the game. You (the player) have the hacking skills and a tendency to wet yourself during confrontations.



Your brother (the NPC) has the guns and the fighting ability, but couldn't tell one end of a computer from the other. So you have to balance each other's abilities and shortcomings.



The actual implementation is quite simple. When the NPC is in your immediate vicinity you can toggle a command mode, which basically gives you a cursor. Wherever you click, he goes. If you click on something he can interact with, you'll get that choice. If he's not near you, then you can see him via the security systems and control him in the same way. It's all pretty intuitive, although we have added another layer on top of that, which adds a whole new element. I refuse to be drawn further on that at this point, though.



Chris - The game seems to be set in space?and on land?and on ships?anything else I am missing here?



Neale: The majority is set on board spacecraft. I'm not a big fan of invisible walls, and spaceships make a nice, self-contained environment. At the same time, though, I realise the need to change things up every so often, so we do branch out from time to time. Having said that, it's very important that every environment is different - all the spaceships that you'll see the insides of will be visually distinct.



Chris - Can you tell us a bit about the story? What are the ?Tide??




Neale: Not without being heavily censored and possibly mildly castrated. Ross can take this one.



Ross: The story follows two brothers, space pirates, who find themselves wrapped up in a growing conflict across the galaxy. There is a general skeleton for much of the Season and we definitely have an end game, but it is very flexible at this stage so revealing too many details too soon would be a tad impetuous of us.



The same can't be said of the Tide ? those guys have been set in stone for some time. As for what they are? A large, multi-tiered, galaxy-spanning organisation with a serious disregard for the near non-existent rules. They aren't very nice.



Chris - Can we expect to see any multiplayer action in Tide's Reach?




Neale: Multiplayer is something I've considered (and there's a section on our development wiki about it), but it's not in our immediate plans. Tide's Reach is, and has always been, primarily a singleplayer game, so that's where the focus is. As it stands now, we haven't done anything that should specifically preclude multiplayer in technical terms, but we also haven't tried testing it. It's entirely likely that something we develop along the line will make it impossible. If that occurs, then any multiplayer will have to be developed separately, and it becomes a whole bigger issue of its own then. I'd love to have it at some point - there's a huge amount of scenarios that I can think of that would be absolutely fantastic in multiplayer - but it's a definite "wait and see."



Chris - The site says Tide?s Reach is following a 6 Episode arc, what are your reasons for the Episodic approach?



Neale: To theoretically reduce development time. Once we've got the major basic elements in place, it should be relatively easy to produce each episode. Of course, I realise how unlikely this is going to be in reality (hi Valve!), but I'm still generally quite confident. The other reason is for flexibility. Our storyline isn't set in stone - obviously, we have major events that are fixed, but we generally want to be able to react to feedback and being episodic allows us to do that and for the results to be visible more quickly. That doesn't just apply to storylines either - it's a lot easier to fix something that people are responding negatively to. Ultimately, it's about how much fun the game is to play. While "fun" may be unquantifiable, you certainly have a better chance of achieving it if you can hone and fine-tune things in response to the biggest focus group you'll ever get.



Ross: Episodic allows us to test, evaluate and experiment with different gameplay styles. We have the fantastic ability to alter the shape of later episodes based on player feedback and really develop something as a response to that. I think that is a great plus in going with episodic content.



Another benefit would be the length and the density of the Episodes. You're looking at about 3 to 4 hours per episode so you greatly reduce the risk of boring the player or fatiguing him of certain gameplay elements. We can really concentrate on that Episode and make it as fluid as possible.



On the story side of things you do the same ? plot out the direction and find something specific to tell. You're making each Episode a worthwhile addition to the overall arc in that every piece has a role in telling something new. You don't have to draw things out, you don't have to worry about filler ? you can manage your storyline much more effectively.



I could probably go on about the awesome of Episodic but I'll spare you.





Chris - Was there any particular reason you went to use the Source engine?



Neale: Selfish reasons, mainly. For all it's faults (and I'm thinking mainly of the tools here again. Hi Valve!) I can use it in my sleep, and the support that Valve give on an individual basis is fantastic. Plus, everyone owns a Source-based game. Even my mother.



Chris - Do you have any plans on implementing any parts of 'Steamworks'




Neale: Tricky question, this. It all boils down to the question of whether or not Tide's Reach is a mod or a game. At the moment, it's technically a mod. I want it to be a commercial game - what we're working on at the moment is a proof-of-concept demo which, if successful, will allow us to go forward and develop the episodes as a standalone product. Happily, the demo is also fully playable, and will be released to the public whether we go commercial or not.



So, regarding Steamworks - most of the features are already implemented for mods (some by proxy, i.e. you have to own HL2 to play in the first place), so the question is moot if we're a mod. If we go commercial, though, then definitely. I think Steamworks is a fantastic idea, and I can't see any reason why any sane developer *wouldn't* want to implement those features.

[ríomhaire]

"So, Tide's Reach, the name of the mod has just been announced"
I was under the impression that this was a game, not a mod? ie, that it is for sale, not free to download.

Also, having a brother named Paul. Is that a reference to something?

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by riomhaire

"So, Tide's Reach, the name of the mod has just been announced"
I was under the impression that this was a game, not a mod? ie, that it is for sale, not free to download.

Working on a tech demo to pitch for us to make it a game. So mod now, but hopefully game.

[Pi Mu Rho]

Originally Posted by riomhaire

"So, Tide's Reach, the name of the mod has just been announced"
I was under the impression that this was a game, not a mod? ie, that it is for sale, not free to download.

It's easier to refer to it as a mod at the moment, because the actual description is somewhat convoluted.

Also, having a brother named Paul. Is that a reference to something?

Yes.

[Druckles]

Originally Posted by Pi Mu Rho

Yes.

You finally got around to it

[Godron]

Sounds ripe for a co-op, what with the emphasis on partnership. I suppose you would have to create loads more maps though, and a load of fresh code for Paul.