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3/29/00 - An interview with Heretic II Siege mod author,
David (The Shadowlord) Corrales
Conducted by ùtøpiâ

ùtøpiâ: What inspired you to make Heretic II Siege?

Shadowlord: Well that good old mod in HexenWorld inspired me. Actually I always thought that Siege for HexenWorld was the best mod I have ever played. It created a whole new game out of Hexen II The idea of laying siege to a castle was very exciting. I found the mod to be very addictive and very fun to play. I loved it so much that I even made two maps and a add-on mod for it. After Heretic II came out I thought why not port over this great mod to Heretic II? I thought that Her2 would allow more room for improvement and that Siege could do more in the newer engine and especially when it came to mapping.


ùtøpiâ: What are some advantages of mapping with the Quake II engine instead of Hexen II's version of the Quake engine? Higher polygon and face counts must be able to make better maps, correct?

Shadowlord: Well now that I look at the engine, I have to say it is much better. First off the graphics are better, the models are much better. I thought Quake2 engine poly count was better and it seems like it, but it still limited. You have to try to keep the count down so that maps can play smoother in multiplayer games, but I don’t mind pushing it a bit. Making the open spaces still are a problem, but at least in Heretic II engine, the walls don’t start disappearing, like in Hexen II, when the poly count is too high. So when it comes to mapping I think you could pull off more detail and better maps. Don’t get me wrong, Hexen II map where very impressive. But I’m no expert on the engines; in fact I’m far from it.


ùtøpiâ: What has been the most difficult part of creating Heretic II Siege?

Shadowlord: Well getting start had to be the hardest. Having to figure out what does what in the code. In HW Siege, the code was rather simple, but in Her2 it's more complicated. Now you have the separate dll files that communicate with each other. You have the effects, the game mechanics, and the player mechanics, which controls the player animations. But the code allows you to do more with it then HW code, but sometimes I wish it were simple like HW. Lucky I had Wankeroo, (programmer of THF) to help me out at the start.

I started off with the basic game mechanics like gain mana by time and coding the teams. It got more complicated when I had to code the catapults. This along with the key code was what was going to determine if I could pull of Heretic II Siege. I was able to convert most of the catapult code, but I had to cut and add allot of code. I had problems in all aspects of the catapult. Since the engine hands player movement very differently then in HW, it was a big problem to get the catapult to launch the player. There were problems with the barrels and getting them to fall with gravity and explode on contact. I had to get the catapults to move, which Her2 also handled differently. There were problems with the control for the catapult and getting to move along with the catapult and later getting the catapult to fire only when hit by the players blade or fist. It was a major pain to get the final version of the catapult you see now. But after this point I knew that it could be done and that I could make Heretic II Siege.


ùtøpiâ: What are you currently doing to improve Heretic II Siege from Hexen II Siege?

Shadowlord: I must say that a mapper can do allot more with Heretic II then with HW Siege. I remember when I was mapping for HW Siege and I couldn't use some monsters. There were things you wanted to do but just couldn't. You had to make your own mod like Rival Kingdoms or JackStraw's Assault mod or my Wiz-mod.

I try to make Heretic II more mapper friendly. I have made it so the mapper can make his or her own "mini mod", by altering existing entities and adding new entities to Siege. I tried to incorporate all the HW Siege mods, like the ones listed above. A mapper could make maps like the original Siege map, which I converted over to Heretic II Siege, where the defender team defend the crown and the attacker team try to capture it. A mapper can make maps where both teams go for the same crown, or where both teams fight for the other team's crown. You can make maps in Heretic II Siege where you don't even require a crown. For example I just added a new map where you simply have to wipe out your enemies (Similar to team blading). You can make a maps where the goal of the Attacker team is to destroy a particular object, structure, or even a monster. I have allowed monsters to be used so a mapper can make maps similar to coop game. I also altered the monsters' code so that they can be put on teams. I made a map where two chickens are on different teams (One is attacker other is defender) and placed them in a small arena and let them fight it out after a button is pressed. The winner determines which team wins. So you can see that Heretic II Siege can do much more then HW Siege.


ùtøpiâ: What features will have been added by the time the final release rolls around?

Shadowlord: The final version will have a status display, which gives you information about the player classes. The information includes spells and spell cost, starting health and armor. This is to help new players and even old players out. I also added a new trigger_message so that players can know what the buttons do in the original map.

It will have player movement rates. If you are a Wizard you will run much slower than if you are an Assassin. Along with the movement rates, I have fixed the speed of strife running and reduced the speed of strafe jumping. I just recently add the "Wrath of God" spell to the Cleric class. For those who are not familiar with the spell it is a sacrifice spell which can kill any player and most monsters. But this version of the spell is different then the HW version. The spell is no longer by sight, which I thought was a bit too strong. So now it has a radial effect and it has more visual effects.

Today I added the option of having multiple spawning spots for the key. So the key will randomly start at one of the spawn spots.

When I release the final version I expect to have all the player models and skins ready. Right now I'm just waiting for the Succubus model and a few skins. Once they are done you can expect to see the final version shortly after.

I have fixed many bugs including many of the ones originally in Heretic II. So hopefully the final version is easier to use and more balanced.

By the way I should mention that Gwynhala has been doing a great job on the models. Also -MONSTER-, Gunsmoke and Drax have also done a great job on the skins. Thanks guys


ùtøpiâ: Do you expect to add any new classes? Or keep to the basics?

Shadowlord: Right now I don't have plans for a new class. I currently have 6 classes, which I think is a good number. But if I were to add a new class, it would probably be an ogle/dwarf class.


ùtøpiâ: Will any new maps be converted?

Shadowlord: Due to the time it takes to make a conversion, I don't plan to convert any of my maps as of now. I may eventually convert one, but I make no promises. As for the other HW Siege mappers, they are welcome to convert their maps if they wish.


ùtøpiâ: When would you expect a "final" release of Heretic II Siege?

Shadowlord: Well I'm not sure. After I get complete set of model and skins and all the testing goes well it should be very soon. Unfortunately the testing has been going very slow since the lack of testers. The code is pretty much complete. Now I’m just fixing any bugs I find and I’m making any additions I see fit. I would like to have the final version out by the beginning of next month, but we will see.


ùtøpiâ: Great work! Thanks for your time, anything you'd like to add?

Shadowlord: Yes, I would like to tell Heretic II players to please give Heretic II Siege a try. Who knows you may find that you like it. If you don't like the mod, that's ok too. I would also like to know what the players think about Heretic II Siege. I appreciate feedback be it bad or good.

Thanks.

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