POSTMORTEMS FROM Austin Grossman, editor San Francisco, CA • New York, NY • Lawrence, KS Published by CMP Books an imprint of CMP Media LLC Main office: 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Tel: 415-947-6615; fax: 415-947-6015 Editorial office: 1601 West 23rd Street, Suite 200, Lawrence, KS 66046 USA www.cmpbooks.com email: [email protected] Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. In all instances where CMP is aware of a trademark claim, the product name appears in initial capital letters, in all capital letters, or in accordance with the vendor’s capitalization preference. Readers should contact the appropriate companies for more complete information on trademarks and trademark registrations. All trademarks and registered trademarks in this book are the property of their respective holders. Copyright © 2003 by CMP Media LLC, except where noted otherwise. Published by CMP Books, CMP Media LLC. All rights reserved. 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Acquisitions editor: Dorothy Cox Managing editor: Michelle O’Neal Copyeditor: Madeleine Reardon Dimond Layout design: Justin Fulmer Cover design: Damien Castaneda Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. by: Distributed in Canada by: Publishers Group West Jaguar Book Group 1700 Fourth Street 100 Armstrong Avenue Berkeley, CA 94710 Georgetown, Ontario M6K 3E7 Canada 1-800-788-3123 905-877-4483 For individual orders and for information on special discounts for quantity orders, please contact: CMP Books Distribution Center, 6600 Silacci Way, Gilroy, CA 95020 Tel: 1-800-500-6875 or 408-848-3854; fax: 408-848-5784 email: [email protected]; Web: www.cmpbooks.com Printed in the United States of America 03 04 05 06 07 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN: 1-57820-214-0 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Tales from the Front Line . .ix SECTION ISTARTUPS . 1 Irrational Games’ SYSTEM SHOCK 2 . 5 by jonathan chey It’s the Engine, Stupid . 7 What Went Right . 7 What Went Wrong . 12 Bohemia Interactive Studios’ OPERATION FLASHPOINT . 19 by marek spanel and ondrej spanel What Went Right . 21 What Went Wrong . 24 Future Dreaming . 28 Surreal Software’s DRAKAN: ORDER OF THE FLAME . 29 by stuart denman Origins of the Team . 29 Origins of the Beast . 30 What Went Right . 31 What Went Wrong . 36 Onward to the Next Project . 40 Pseudo Interactive’s CEL DAMAGE . 41 by kevin barrett, john harley, rich hilmer, daniel posner, gary snyder, and david wu What Went Right . 42 What Went Wrong . 47 Damage Control . 50 iv Table of Contents Nihilistic Software’s VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE—REDEMPTION .51 by robert huebner What Went Right . .53 What Went Wrong . .58 At Last, Redemption . .61 Ensemble’s AGE OF EMPIRES . 63 by matt pritchard Designing the Past Perfect . .63 Blazing the Multiplayer Path . .65 Painting the Scene . .66 Going for Speed . .67 Things That Worked Out (S)well . .68 Things That Went Wrong Or We Could Have Done Better . .70 Patching It All Up . .73 SECTION II SEQUELS AND SOPHOMORE OUTINGS . 75 Blizzard Entertainment’s DIABLO II . 79 by erich schaefer What Went Right . .81 What Went Wrong . .86 The Final Word . .90 Epic Games’ UNREAL TOURNAMENT . 91 by brandon reinhart Early Development . .91 A Game Takes Shape . .92 New Code, New Features . .94 In the End, It All Worked Out . .95 What Went Right . .96 What Went Wrong . .100 Where We Go from Here . .102 Table of Contents v Westwood Studios’ TIBERIAN SUN . .103 by rade stojsavljevic What Went Right . 104 What Went Wrong . 109 Overall Tips . 113 Ensemble Studios’ AGE OF EMPIRES II: THE AGE OF KINGS . .115 by matt pritchard Catching Up . 115 Designing a Sequel . 115 What Went Right . 117 What Went Wrong . 121 The Show Goes On . 124 Presto Studios’ MYST III: EXILE . .127 by greg uhler What Went Right . 128 What Went Wrong . 133 Closing Thoughts . 135 Poptop Software’s TROPICO . .137 by brent smith What Went Right . 138 What Went Wrong . 141 In Hindsight . 146 SECTION III MANAGING INNOVATION . 147 Lionhead Studios’ BLACK & WHITE . .151 by peter molyneux What Went Right . 152 What Went Wrong . 156 “Just More” . 160 vi Table of Contents Bungie Software’s MYTH: THE FALLEN LORDS . 161 by jason regier The Making of a Legend, er, Myth . .162 What Went Right . .163 What Went Wrong . ..