Original Game Creators Group Interview with Pariahs Guild feature

There has been a lot of strange mixes over the years; peanut butter and jelly, Disney and Final Fantasy characters, and smores. But, nothing sounds more interesting then a sci-fi themed game set in a western atmosphere. I talked to Warm Gun's Joseph Cleary about the upcoming mod.

Noobkiller; Thank you for accepting this interview. Pariah's Guild is
looking forward towards your upcoming project.

Joseph Cleary; We really appreciate the opportunity. This is a game
made by players for players so giving us a chance to spread the word
really rocks.

Noobkiller; Can you tell the readers of the blog about yourself?

Joseph Cleary ; Well, my name is Joe Cleary and I am the founder and
project lead on Warm Gun. I graduated from the Game Design program at
IADT in Toronto, landed an entry level position as a beta tester and
moved my way up to game designer. I'm 29 years old and my passion is
for making games. Blues music, b-movies and a few beers with my lady
are sort of the steady hand - I say that because video gaming is the
fastest developing industry on the burner nowadays. It's a hard to go
about finding - or making - your place in it.

Noobkiller; The concept of old western themes mixed in with a sci-fi
universe sounds just as unique as the medieval/sci-fi theme found in
the Star Wars movies. What inspired your mod-team to craft such a
unique universe?

Joseph Cleary; I knew that I wanted something both original and
familiar, and that I didn't want the ‘familiar' part to consist of
alien/zombie/WWII/creature-from-the-future motifs. I also knew I
wanted a Wild West theme and so the real question was how to make the
theme new, or how to spin it - relocate the American West in time,
space or wherever.Dreaming through different ‘what if?' scenarios the whole idea just
crystalized in one line: ‘a second coming of the American Wild West'.
The Warm Gun mod-team and universe have been developing upon that
concept ever since.

Noobkiller; Out of all of the next-gen games out there like Crysis,
Enemy Territories; Quake Wars, and Bioshock, why did your mod team
decided to use the Unreal 3 engine?

Joseph Cleary; To tell you the truth, I felt that going with the
Unreal 3 engine improved our chances of getting noticed. We are able
to create a cross-platform mod that reaches PS3 players as well as PC
gamers, and mass appeal is appealing when you're talking about how to
go about getting people's attention. Another big consideration was the
Unreal Technology. The toolset provides us with everything we need to
create the world, characters and the features that we envision. It was
a combination of these things that made UT 3 the best choice for our
team.

Noobkiller; Although the game is a multiplayer shooter, I heard that
it features an interesting back-story. Can you explain what the
back-story of Warm Gun?

Joseph Cleary; The story is set in North America in the year 2088 -
two hundred years after the peak of the American Wild West. The world
of Warm Gun assumes that the predictions of all our present day
ecologists, environmentalists, resource analysts and so on have come
to fulfillment and as a result time has stopped, in a sense, and
started ticking backwards - how you might describe the decay of a
house or town that everyone all at once abandons. There is no oil;
engineering, manufacturing and industrial processes have shut down
(...a man or woman leans their shovel against the wall at the end of
the day and never returns, type thing...) Chaos climate has flooded
and withered the land; lakes and rivers are toxic; infrastructure is
overgrown; people have fled, died, hidden, rebelled and the Warm Gun
generation of North Americans have inherited a kind of ghost town
technocracy. 2088 is a future that looks more like the past. Bits and
pieces of the old world are reinvented with steam power and there is
no law or legislated territory. It's a simple scenario that throws
back and forth. The Warm Gun world is lawless, romantic and ruthless.

Noobkiller; Like any multiplayer shooter, there are multiple classes
players can choose from. Can you tell us what are the characters
available to the players and the type of special powers available to
all of them?

Joseph Cleary; The classes that we will be offering are:

Scout: Fleet footed, lightly armored and ready to capture the flag.
This is your classic TFC style scout, adapted to run at top speed and
avoid enemy fire with amazing agility.

Shaman: Equipped with medium armor and a gas mask, this character is
unaffected by poisons and has the ability to self-heal as well as
restore the health of teammates. The shaman is a medic and essential
to any successful team.

Preacher: This is the Good, the Bad and Ugly all rolled into one.
Armed with Crucifix and dual pistols that are aptly named "Heaven and
Hell", the preacher is tall, pale and stranger than fiction. This
character is still in development and definitely one to watch out for.

49er: The demo man, armed with various things-that-go-boom, this
character has a
steam-integrated leg and is the oldest of the bunch. He looks
weathered and will have the best in-game taunts you have ever heard.

Blacksmith: This dude is a huge steam-assimilated monster: a human tank
that has a mounted Gatling gun integrated into his arm. He also uses a
hammer and railway spike to melee attack.

Outlaw: Your quintessential cowboy, this is the all around, kickass
mid-range character. Pistols, shotguns, knives and the standards are
what you will find.

Noobkiller; Unlike any shooter, Warm Gun has 30 weapons to choose
from! Can you tell some of the weapons available to the player?

Joseph Cleary; We have a great mix of classic FPS weapons mixed with
totally original creations. Aside from the standards like pistols and
shotguns, we have steam-integrated weapons like Gatling guns, sniper
rifles and crossbows. The main attraction will be each character's
"special" weapon. These special weapons are totally unique and will
have hidden features that will surprise even the most veteran gamer.
And the melee attacks are going to be awesome... We have a "Kill Cam"
system in place that offers three different kills for each character's
melee kill. One of our main considerations with character and weapon
development has been balance. We want characters and gangs that are
unique and well-matched competition that is dynamic.

Noobkiller; How many levels will be available for the game, and can
you name or describe some of them?

Joseph Cleary; At the time of our beta release we are aiming for six
levels and three gametypes. The goal is to have two levels for each of
the gametypes. We hope this will satisfy players' appetites and tide
them over until the next release.

Noobkiller; When can we expect the mod to be released by?

Joseph Cleary; Right now, we're aiming to have our Alpha build
completed by the end of February and the beta should follow about
three months after that. Gamers can expect to be playing Warm Gun by
end of May 2008. We really want to get it to the players on PC and PS3
as soon as possible. We aim to release early and often.

Noobkiller; Once again, thank you for accepting this interview. Good
luck with the mod.

Joseph Cleary; On behalf of the Warm Gunners, thank you for your
support and encouragement. We're working hard to deliver. Expect great
things from us in the near future.

JC