KanonBall Interview feature

[page=Interview]
modDB.com: Mods are played but many dont realize your a human being so! State your real name, job, place where you are from and age!

My name is Damian Scott, and I work as a lecturer of Multimedia for Monash University in Victoria, Australia. I've just turned 29, for the record :) I'm the lead designer of Kanonball.

2. Kanonball was thought up when? Why the futuristic feel? Is the mod like another game or mod in your opinion?

Kanonball started life in 1999 as an attempt at recreating the intense gameplay of the Bitmap Brother's classic Speedball Deluxe, only this time in first person. The futuristic theme was a direct result of a story idea I had developed that involved the abuse of cloning technology 100 years into the future - the game of Kanonball replaced the olympics
as the ultimate expression of human physical perfection. Gameplay wise, our goal was to create a game that simulated that same thought processes you would experience if you were actually playing the sport - sport psychology. By sticking to this, we ended up making a game that I feel
is still fairly unique in the world of 1st person gaming.

modDB.com: How long have you been working on Kanonball?

I've been working on Kanonball on and off for just over 4 years. Our team size has fluctuated from 4 to 10 members throughout the years.

modDB.com: Describe the best feature in the mod in your opinion? What should the person look for that they might miss?

The best feature of Kanonball is we deliberatly made a contact sport, and not a combat sport. Kanonball is a violent sport, but we didn't want the game to degenerate into melee fighting - otherwise, Kanonball would be a very poor Tekken style clone. To win in Kanonball, you have to score. There are several gameplay mechanisms in place that compell
the player to play Kanonball as it was intended - you can still knock players down, but the real fun is scoring goals. In most 1st person games, all the action occurs at medium to long range with guns. In Kanonball, the action is all close-up, and it makes for a brutally fun and unqiue experience.

modDB.com: Describe the weapons in Kanonball or what you do to challenge the other player?

There are only 2 weapons in Kanonball - your body, and the ball. Both can be devasting if used well :)

modDB.com: How is the damage system or score system in Kanonball?

Scoring in Kanonball is easy - throw the ball into the goals. Of course, each Kanonball arena is different, which different architectural engineering creating unique obstacles, as well as goal that can be opened and closed. The damage system is also simple - when you get hit, you go down for a brief period of time, the duration determined by the amount of damage. When the time is up, you jump back to your feet, and are ready to play again. You can't die in Kanonball, but you can spend a lot of time on your back :)

modDB.com: Gameplays whats your favorite and explain them in Kanonball?

My favorite moment in Kanonball is when you affect a mid-air
interception. One of your abilities as a super clone athelete of the future is to do a super jump, where you launch yourself into the air. When on goal defence, you crouch below the goals, and wait for the oppostion to have a shot at goal. As the ball streaks forward, you aim yourself on a collision course and attempt the catch - if you can pull it off, and it's hard to do, the crowd and your fellow players roar, though in the noise that ensues, it's hard to tell if it's adulation or insults - either way, it's music to your ears!

modDB.com: I see on the site "Players can leap, back flip, lunge, slide, charge and hurl in their quest to become the Champions of the Kanonball League" for a new modder to your mod explain this a little more!

Given there are no guns in Kanonball (except of course the ball itself, which you can throw at the unsuspecting head of an opposition clone to spectacular effect!), your body is your primary weapon, and to that end you have several attacks you can perform, such as the leaping lunge tackle, or the bone-crunching shoulder charge. Of course, you have the
ability to evade attacks too, by backfliping, or super jumping away.

The most devasting attack you can deliver is "death from above" - when you super jump into the air, and then land on another players head - you backflip off the players head, the crowd roar, and your victim goes down for 7 seconds - it's great stuff :)

modDB.com: Explain how the player classes will work and why I should be one over the other in your opinion:

There are 3 clone classes, or bodytypes, you can choose from - the fast but delicate Ectomorph, the powerful, hulking Ubermorph, or the well rounded Mesomorph. Each bodytype requires a new strategy to play, and can suit differnet player styles, and even different arenas, so experimentation is fun and essential to mastering Kanonball.

modDB.com: What mods do you like in Half Life?

Ricochet was great fun, and Science and Industry was a great concept. Almost any mod that reaches maturity has something great to offer - the beauty of the mod community is that the community itself helps mold the game, so after a few versions, the gameplay is rockin'.

Final words - Bring on Half-Life 2...I can't wait to mess around with it :)

Damian Scott
Kanonball