Hotdog) So, first of all, what made you decide to create a Single Player spin-off of Zombie Panic?
Brian) Well there are two reasons really. The first being that after the release of Zombie Panic: Source in December of '07, I received a lot of support and fan mail from the community. Not long after those same fans were emailing me about creating a single player campaign. More so after I posted Bios on the characters. The second being, I love story driven games and have been disappointed with trend of releasing MP only games (not that I haven't purchased some and been very happy with those purchases). It's something I've wanted to do for ZPS since before the release of the mod.
Hotdog) What are the hardest challenges with trying to turn a multiplayer game into single player?
Brian) Well multiplayer is quite a bit easier to work on. You focus on assets and overall gameplay that promises to bring the players coming back for more. Single-player on the other hand requires all that plus a story, plus a campaign that breaks up that story in a believable way that will immerse the player. The toughest part is really doing the story justice.
Hotdog) With the two main characters in the game, will there be a co-op mode?
Brian) Growing up in the 80's as a hardcore gamer the thing I loved most was playing my games with my kid brother or friends from the neighbourhood. When we decided to develop Contagion Co-op was one of the first things we discussed. It is definitely a feature we're interested in.
Hotdog) From your screenshots, where do you get your inspiration for the gritty environment?
Brian) It's a combination of the progress through the story, our concept artists interpretations, and critiques from the rest of the team. Our concept artists are quite talented and rarely have to make adjustments as if they were pulling the images right out of my head.
Hotdog)How do you intend to set Contagion apart from other zombie shooters?
Brian) Well for one thing, story. It's just not present in today's zombie shooters. Though I do have to say that They Hunger mod for HL1 was quite inspirational for the creation of ZP, ZPS, and Contagion. Of course, story isn't the only difference but we're keeping tight lipped for now on the many feature, assets, and method of telling the story that will truly set us apart.
Hotdog) How big is the team at Monochrome games, and are you currently looking to hire?
Brian) Because we're currently focused on our Vertical Slice the team is not very large, but we still receive applications on a regular basis and yes if we come across someone we feel will fit right in we hire immediately. I like to think we're always hiring :)
Hotdog) What are your hopes for Contagion, and do you have a release date set yet?
Brian) We're hoping that Contagion will be well received by the public and that we can continue to support the game with added content and can afford to release future titles out of Monochrome LLC. Release Date: TBD but development goes well and we hope to have more information on that soon.
Hotdog) It's been a great opportunity to do this interview with you, thankyou very much and we look forward to future Contagion updates.
Brian) It was my pleasure and we're grateful for the opportunity to participate in this interview.
Sounds nice, but will this be at least semi-realistic, like Zombie Panic?
I mean, will you die rather easily from a few claw slashes/bites, or you can Rambo like L4D?
Have you thought of working together with other indie studios like Unknownworlds (and use their new engine)? Just a question, I'm fine with the Source engine ^^
Would like to thank Hotdog and GAMEployment for hitting me up for this interview.
Sounds all good Tats. I hope as well to see any extra weapons hope to make their way into MP as well.
Nice and small interview. :)
Sounds nice, but will this be at least semi-realistic, like Zombie Panic?
I mean, will you die rather easily from a few claw slashes/bites, or you can Rambo like L4D?
Definitely leaning more towards ZP's realism over L4D's (intended) arcade like feel.
hope we get an alpha or beta soon
is this now a sp only game or will it also get mp-mode??
@Joker: According to the style on the summary page (right hand side has a pic of box art right below it)its SP and MP
Have you thought of working together with other indie studios like Unknownworlds (and use their new engine)? Just a question, I'm fine with the Source engine ^^
"From your screenshots, where do you get your inspiration for the gritty environment?"
They talking about ZPS screenshots or did they get to see some advance screenshots of Contagion?
Right after NS2 this is the indie game i am looking forward to the most