One of the most eagerly anticipated games to ever be launched is the sequel to the immensely popular Unreal. With the success of the original Unreal under Epic Entertainment's belt, everyone was sure the follow up project would certainly have to be Unreal 2. Instead, Epic launched the now famous Unreal Tournament, which in turn spawned dozens of games based on the Unreal / Unreal Tournament Engine.

...but what about Unreal 2 dammit?? 

One of the companies that had extensive experience with the Unreal / UT engine was Legend Entertainment. Legend had not only developed dozens of independent titles, they were also responsible for the Unreal Mission Pack: Return to Na Pali as well as Wheel of Time, so it seemed only natural to commission the gang at Legend to work on Unreal 2. 

I have been familiar with the Legend Entertainment guys since interviewing Scott Dalton back during the turn of the Century, and have been a huge fan since. With really funny, talented guys like Scott and Aaron Leiby ( as well as the rest of the Legend crew ) working on Unreal 2...the game is SURE to be awesome.  

1.) Unfortunately, we must start with the obligatory "Who the hell are you and why do people care" for the n00bs.

See, that’s just it… people don’t care. But that’s how I like it. Caring is for the weak, and the weak go to Canada where Hell hath frozen over!!

Uh, my pay stub claims I’m a senior programmer with Legend Entertainment (though it’s been known to lie on occasion). I wrangle anything from weapon behaviors and effects to user interface to gap stop for the level designers.

2.) Senior Programmer....does that mean your like the oldest programmer at Legend Entertainment?? Or do you just get to boss all the other programmers around?? 

Ha! Last I checked, I was the youngest soul haunting these halls. To be honest, I’m not sure what the ‘senior’ part stands for. I don’t much care for titles. I’d rather be viewed as a miracle worker conjuring up dark magic from within. But the image that paints doesn’t go over well with the chicks, so I generally stick to Entertainment Entrepreneur or some variant.

3.) O.K. ... O.K. great, so we have the formalities out of the way...Why is Unreal 2 going to be good... I mean really, with the abundance of 1st person shooters on their way to the market, what sets Unreal 2 apart??

Unreal2 is going to suck. Period. There’s nothing I hate more than the hype machine. Expectations kill products (ask Ginger). I hate going to the theatres any more because the trailers give away the best parts of all the movies you wanted to see. So expect Unreal2 to suck. But buy it anyway, and find out for yourself just how much suckitude we were able to pack into it. Maybe we’ll surprise you.

4.) With the success of the Unreal franchise...how much pressure does that put on your development team?? ( don't lie Scott Dalton looks like a man on the edge...).

Scott Dalton leaped off the edge long long ago spiraling toward the pits of doom in an enlightened flight of ecstasy. But what he discovered, like the rest of us, is that it just loops back to the top when you reach the bottom. We’ve been flying ever since.

Wait, what was the question again? Oh pressure. Yeah, we’re a bunch of toothpaste tubes here – we work best under pressure. And of course taste minty fresh.

5.) When you aren't a 3D Game Programmer...what are you doing???

2D User Interface Programming. :)

A couple of us started taking Japanese classes a few months back. I tend to read a lot, play piano a bit, trying to learn cello. I haven’t done much skydiving or bullfighting or rock climbing lately, so I guess that makes me pretty boring. If that’s not cliché enough, I’m also often found hanging out at a coffee shop mingling with the local outcasts of society in a sad bordering sick attempt to prove how normal I am.

6.) We know that design teams take the game engine they are using and do some serious mods to it in order to tailor it to the game they are working on...what have you done with the game engine in terms of tailoring it to Unreal 2.

Early on I added an advance dynamics system (particles). Epic later added their own, but we’ve stuck to ours. Our skeletal mesh requirements and timetable are different than Epic’s so we ended up rolling our own as well. Most recently, I pieced together the mother of all UI systems complete with its own little scripting language and all the bells and whistles. UT has its own Windows style user interface, but we wanted something a bit more ‘gamey’ for U2. UT’s bot AI is great, so we kept all that and built on top of it. Mike Fox added a simple command script that allows LDs to do all types of wacky stuff with the creatures above and beyond the autonomous behaviors.

The beauty of the situation is that we also get to leverage Epic’s powerhouse of programmer might. They’ve added all types of goodies like Materials, Matinee (for in-game cutscenes), Terrain, and a brand new T&L optimized renderer that we’re making extensive use of.

7.) O.K., after all the interviews I have done, I have realized not all programmers drive a Ferrari like John Carmack...what does Aaron Leiby drive??

I was never a big car fan. While all my friends were tripping over themselves on their 16th birthdays to go get their licenses, I was off blowing up bridges and discovering the many alternate uses for various household products. I don’t like to drive, never have. If I need to get somewhere, I want to be there now, not 10 minutes from now. Luckily, my 3000GT helps me out in that department. It makes driving bearable, and if I have to pay a toll once a year or so to maintain my preferred cruising velocities, then that’s something I don’t mind donating to the cause of.

8.) What was your first real Computer related job... don't lie...I wouldn't ask if I didn't already know ;^)

Does working register at Computer City count? Didn’t think so. I did a short intern at ABB in Rochester, NY. They’re an international company that makes process control software for controlling anything from paper mills to oil refineries to nuclear power plants. You wouldn’t sleep at night if I broke out some of the stories from that place. 

9.) How did you get from THERE to working for Legend??

I borrowed my parent’s Suburban. :)

Actually, I’m not really sure. All the pieces just fell perfectly into place. You might call it destiny.

I’ve got my own theories, but usually don’t share them as they make me sound conceited (which I am, but that’s besides the point).

10.) Asia Carrera is a friend of mine, as well as a big Unreal / Unreal Tournament fan. . . I always thought she'd make a great model for a game character...what do you think?? Any chance of a player model resembling the lovely Asia making it into U2?

She’d have to duke it out with Aida first. Actually, Ms. Carrera would make a beautiful Aida model for E3 if she were into that type of thing.

11.) What game is the Legend Gang playing right now??

Scott and I recently played through Halo in coop and had a blast. A lot of the other guys are as well. For the longest time we were huge Soul Calibur fans. We’ve since tried both DOA2 and 3, but pretty as they may be, couldn’t get into either. I’ve also been working my way slowly through Xenogears, but still have a long way to go.

12.) You've been with Legend since 98'... you gotta have some really wild stories by now, I wanna hear one, don't be shy it's just you me and thousands of readers...let's hear it.

Most of them all come back to Warren Marshall (now at Epic), and a flight of stairs.

13.) Legend Entertainment doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the media eye, even while developing a high profile game... is that by design??

Every second we spend preparing or giving demos to press is seconds lost toward shipping the game. Beyond that, I refer you back to my rant in question three. Let the game speak, not the hype.

14.) The trend lately has been to release the playable demos AFTER the game has launched, what is the plan for Unreal 2??

Undecided.

15.) What is lined up for AFTER Unreal 2....

I cannot say. I can promise it won’t be a spreadsheet application however.

16.) I have an enormous amount of PC Hardware Junkies that visit my site. . . and they all wanna know what the developers use in their rigs?? What's the specs on your personal PC??

966 Mhz, 512 MB, GeForce3, 21” monitor, 40 & 100 GB harddrives. Just the essentials.

17.) If you were to look at Unreal 2 right now...how close are you??

About a foot and a half.

18.) Replay value. . . are we looking at the basic single player campaign, when it's over...it's over, move on to multiplayer?? or will Unreal 2 have multiple endings or other ways to enhance the games replay value??

That’s a hard one to say. In general, I’m not a big fan of replayability in singleplayer environments. When I get to the end of a game, I want the satisfaction that I got as much out of it as humanly possible, not a nagging feeling that I may have missed something three missions back that would have lead to a different ending.

I would argue (have argued) that non-linearity hurts a solid story and instead petition for variation within a strictly linear progression. Let the player choose to heal a dying soldier or keep the health for himself. Maybe you’ll need that health later, maybe the soldier will save your life.

But these are just my personal views. You’ll have to wait till the game is release to see if my views have influenced the final game.

Most replayability comes from multiplayer anyway. Come for the singleplayer experience, come back for the multiplayer experience.

19.) "I invented pants...." where the hell does that come from ???

I swear I have nothing to do with that. We’ll just have to leave it at that and let your imagination provide the details.

A big huge Thanks goes out to Aaron for taking the time to sit down and answer a few questions..... now get back to work dammit...we wanna play Unreal 2!!!

As with almost every interview done here at Hypothermia, we are giving a couple of you a chance to win an Autographed copy of Unreal 2 when the game is released. How is that for KICK ASS!?!?!?!? Click the link, and get busy....cause you gotta GET IN IT...TO WIN IT.