The Interview:
Dansemacabre: Why did you decide to make a Rune mod? Jetrell: I'm a big fan of Rune but its popularity is slowly dwindling so I thought a new Rune mod would be helpful. The other reasons are; Rune is an excellent melee combat game with tons of great animations and other assets.
Dansemacabre: What type of mod are you guys making? Jetrell: Thieves Guild is loosely inspired by Thief: The Dark Project. Thieves Guild is a "cloak and dagger" stealth mod like "Thief" but not exactly...
Dansemacabre: What are some of the new items/elements in this mod? Jetrell: If I say too much it will spoil the fun. I'll say this; we have new weapons, new monsters, new gadgets, and lots and lots of cool things like "picklocks", "shadow zones", and "thief sense".
Dansemacabre: What has been the most enjoyable part of making this mod? Jetrell: This answer surprises me but the answer is definitely working with all the members of the team. I started off making this mod all by myself because I've worked on other projects and know how tricky it is to assemble a good team. I've been delighted with the entire team and truly appreciate how much time and effort they've put into this mod.
Dansemacabre: What has been the most difficult part? Jetrell: The answer to that question is "time". The time that it takes to make a quality mod is quite ridiculous.
Dansemacabre: Who are the members of the team? Jetrell: Warlawk, Durus, and Mute Machine. We also have a separate play testing team. When I first started making this mod it was just me but then I contacted my friend Warlawk because I knew he had some amazing pawn models and I wanted to use them. He quickly agreed and he also started making models specifically for this mod. Durus is another friend who I first contacted when I got into a technical jam. He was able to help and since then he's added a bunch of other wonderful things. Mute Machine contacted me after learning about the mod. He joined the team and quickly became a huge contributor. He's been a godsend.
Dansemacabre: When will the Thieves Guild mod be released? Jetrell: That's a difficult question to answer... This mod was nearly completed about a year or so ago but then we had some breakthrough ideas, which we felt we just had to implement. Subsequently we've added new elements, maps, and lengthened the storyline, which takes lots of time... The good news is that we are finally ready to announce that we have started play testing the mod. We will then wait for feedback from our game testers and if all goes well we will finally be ready to release this mod.
Dansemacabre: What do you want to happen when this mod is released? Jetrell: Obviously I want people to play and enjoy this mod but I also hope that people will use what we've started and create their own Thieves Guild missions/maps.
Dansemacabre: Good luck and we're all looking forward to seeing more. Jetrell: Thanks, I'll keep you all posted on our progress.
If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.
~ Denis Diderot
Nice interview ;-) When I asked the question about the team I should have followed up with the question what do they do? How's the beta testing going?
The beta testing is going well but you already know that because you are a tester...
It's a collaboration of efforts so it's difficult to delegate a team member to a specific title because there's such a vast overlap of work being done but basically put, Mute Machine is our lead engineer, he's made everything from the shadow zones to the picklocks. Durus is our lead artist, he's made everything from our Hud to skinning. Warlawk is our lead modeler, he's made everything from our flags to the Balrog.
Do you have any reaction to the various Thief-related releases around this time? Namely:
1. The Dark Mod project, Doom 3 / id Tech 4 source code release by the end of this year.
2. Thief 2: The Metal Age partial source code.
3. Thief IV which is at some early/mid stage of development.
You mention gadgets. Do you consider the setting to be closer to the spooky/undead feel of TDP or perhaps the more steampunk TMA?
What's next after Thieves Guild? A full campaign using it perhaps?
Thanks jaxa for the questions.
I'm very excited about all the projects/games you mentioned, they are very impressive and I'm delighted to see the "Thief" genre continue to flourish. I'm a big fan of this genre and so for me, the more the merrier. I started the Thieves Guild project because I thought I had something new and different to contribute to the "Thief" universe.
Our setting is somewhat unique to other "Thief" games. Yes, it takes place in a dark city and there are spooky undead monsters and steampunk elements but... The Thieves Guild mod is a little bit faster and has a little bit more melee combat/action than other "Thief" games. Rune is a third-person perspective game with lots of great assets like jumping, climbing (mantling), swimming, and melee combat and so we tried our best to incorporate all of these elements (plus more than a few elements of our own) into this mod.
The Thieves Guild mod is a complete story and a full campaign. When this mod is released it will come with all the necessary tools to make new missions so if people wish they will be able to continue. As for what I intend to do afterward, I haven't given that a whole lot of thought but I would guess that I will want to work on another project but probably with a newer engine.