Interview with the Third Law Interactive development team

Could you tell us a bit about the Third Law Interactive development team?Pam Wolford, Biz Manager: The team members previously worked together at ION Storm. Last November they were offered a license deal with KISS to create a game based on the KISS Psycho Circus title. Third Law's previous experience in working together saved them the normal adjustment period, so they were able to leap right into the project. And the team has a solid background in game development, with various members contributing to such titles as Blake Stone (Wolfenstein engine), Doom II -Master Levels (Doom engine), Esoteria (Moebius engine), Redneck Rampage (Build engine), Hexen II, Quake - Scourge of Armagon and Quake Arcade (Quake engine).

What is your opinion of the LithTech engine? Why do you think developers have failed to make a blockbuster title with this incredible engine?

Jonathan Wright (Nelno), Programmer: LithTech is solid technology all the way around and it was built to be licensed. The forethought that went in to the LithTech engine 's API has saved us considerable effort. A huge percentage of our code has been written using DLLs that interface to the LithTech engine, with very little need to actually go in and change any of the engine's internal structure. This has been a huge plus for us considering the tight schedule we're under. As for why no one's made a blockbuster title with LithTech yet: technology is only part of the equation -- here we tend to believe that design and gameplay are the larger part (though eye candy always helps).

Could you give us a little bit of information on KISS: Psycho Circus' plot?

Sverre Kvernmo, Lead Designer: To get the backdrop it is really more exciting and rewarding to read the comic books, but here's a slim-light version of it anyway: The Psycho Circus is a caravan of nomad souls, and serves as a gateway between the different realms of reality. This circus is protected by "The Elder" (the KISS characters alter egos), demi-gods that rule over the realms of the four elements, and enter the circus through use of avatars within it.

The game begins after an old oath has been breached, which leaves the Elder powerless and sows the seed of an omnipotent-evil-to-be: The Nightmare Child. As the player you're coaxed by the circus' desperate matriarch to take on a quest to travel five dimensions and restore the Elder to power before the new god can be born. In game-terms this means collecting the six pieces of the Elder Armor (or KISS costumes if you will) and gradually build up your character from a puny human to a 10 foot God of Thunder. The creatures that have an aversion to your plans include the frothing hordes of the Nightmare Realm; the demonized mutants that once were circus-actors (including the former avatars of the Elder) and finally, the unborn god whose birth spells a drastic re-design of the universe.

I understand the KISS: Psycho Circus is based on the Todd McFarlane comic book of the same name. Did Todd McFarlane and the KISS band, have any input on the games design or did they give you free reign?

Pam: We've had total control over the project. We work closely with both Gene Simmons and Todd McFarlane's people on marketing and promotion - they're there when we need them. Gene likes to be kept informed on the progress of the game. And we're collaborating with Todd McFarlane Productions on the game box art, among other things. Everyone involved is psyched. It's been a positive and productive process so far.

What made you [Third Law] decide to make KISS: Psycho Circus? I mean it is unusual to make an action game about a rock band, no?

Sverre: The work Todd McFarlane had already put down to make the Psycho Circus world come alive was a major carrot. The artwork and mythos of the Elder is extremely rich, which makes it fun to create game environments around it. The books serve up characters, weapons, powers, environments, etc. that all fit snugly into a game world - things that you don't get from your average band's merchandise.

To re-iterate, the game isn't about "KISS, the rock band", its a horror flick in the vein of Sandman/Hellraiser/Lovecraft, where the player characters are inspired by the outlook and attitude of the band. Of course, it also helped us make up our minds that KISS is a household name in Europe, Asia and America. When the game box is seen on the store shelves, it is likely to cause a reaction one way or the other. This helps us get around the "gray mouse" problem that many quality games have suffered under at the retail end.

Could you tell us more about the single-player missions? Does the game make use of pre-scripted scenes, similar to the scenes in Valve's Half Life? And could you give us an example from one of the missions in the game?

Matt Hooper, Level Designer: The single player missions are set up around each of the 4 characters and his quest to gather the pieces of the Elder's armor. Each character's quest takes place in one of 4 unique realms (Fire, Water, Air, Earth), and a final Nightmare Realm. Putting aside the overall goals of the character there will be much smaller goals in each location of the game. Some examples of these smaller goals would include escaping a flooding cathedral in the water realm or trying to play your way out of warped, larger then life carnival games where you are the duck in the duck shoot which takes place in one of the circus levels. Some of the things that are in this game simply have no comparison because you just don't see some of the things we're doing in other games.

We are using in-game cinematics throughout the game not only to tell the story but to do other things like introduce monsters the first time you meet them and to set up the many mini-boss and boss encounters. Pre-scripted scenes are part of these in-game cinematics which we bring to life by using a combination of a cinematic camera, script language, and direct music.

What sort of multi-play capabilities do you expect to be implemented?

Mike Maynard, Programmer: The focus of the multiplayer experience will be straight up deathmatch, but the structure of the single-player game already opens up some interesting variations on the norm. Depending on the server-settings you could start out as a human and build yourself to god-hood as you play, or enter the game with full equipment and just dash it out with the various weapons. Also, each of the four player characters get an advantage when using weapons that belong to their realm, which also mixes things up a bit. Multiplayer isn't the main focus of the game's development but we're all Frag freaks, so expect a high-paced, in-your-face meat fest.

Why did you choose to use Monolith's LithTech engine? How will KISS: Psycho Circus push the LithTech engine to its limits and are there any special or unique features that you'd care to comment on?

Mike: There were several major reasons we chose Lithtech over other engines. First, it's a solid engine. Monolith had already released two games using the engine and we needed a proven technology. Second, initial tests showed that the engine could render a large number of creatures and still maintain a reasonable frame rate -- something very important to our game. Third, its use of Direct3D makes the engine compatible with most video cards out there now, and in the future. Finally, Monolith's commitment to developer support and continuous upgrades until our game is released was very important. It's like having our own dedicated engine team working on the game! Probably the biggest stress we're putting on the engine is the large number of creatures you'll be fighting throughout the game. Along with the engine's ability to LOD models, we've designed with this in mind by creating low-poly models and super-fast AI. Even still, this will surely push Lithtech to it's rendering limits.

I'm not quite sure which character from KISS I will be playing. Will I play all of them and how will each character be different?

Ronn Harbin, Animator: Yes, you'll be able to play as all four of the KISS personalities. In the world of Psycho Circus, they are known as The Demon (Gene Simmons), Starbearer (Paul Stanley), Celestial (Ace Frehley) and Beast King (Peter Criss). From a gameplay perspective, they differ in a few ways. First, each character represents a natural element (water, earth, air, fire) and has their own unique episode in which they are played. For instance, The Celestial is of the air element and he stars in Episode 3, which takes place in the Air Realm. Each character also has their own unique melee weapon (like The Demon's massive battle-axe, Punisher) and ultimate weapon (like the Beast King's railgun-esque Soul Lance). They also inflict more damage when using weapons of their element, so The Starbearer is more lethal with the water-based Zero Cannon than The Demon, who is fire-based. Finally, each character gets a unique enhancement when they find the mask piece of their armor.

What can you tell us about the creature's A.I. that inhabit this world?

Nelno: First and foremost, there are LOTS of them. It will be common place to have a battle with 20 or more monsters swarming you. Rather than take a classic artificial intelligence approach and try to design an AI that can encompass any situation, I've taken our very specific design for each creature and made sure they do what they're supposed to very well. Each creature was designed with a set of specific abilities that make it stand out, but which also interact with other creatures to create situations that will keep the player's mind working. For example, the Headless creatures tend to try to overwhelm the player with sheer numbers, and by themselves in an open area, they're usually manageable. However, throw in just one Unipsycho with is chaotic, flaming, heat-seeking missiles and you've got a challenge. Put a couple bloated, floating Gasbags in the same place and the player must use their brain and their skills to get out alive. So, rather than providing the player with a few monsters with bot-like super AI, we're going to give them intense, overloaded situations that require all their attention in order for them to triumph. Don't get me wrong, though... the monster's aren't dumb -- they're just designed. Rather than thinking of the Headless monster as it's own entity, you've got to think of what you're going to do with 20 Headless crawling up your shorts while 4 Ballbusters take cannon shots at your head.

Many of them look like warped clowns and circus freaks. Is this the overall theme of the enemies?

Ronn: Definitely. We're populating the world with nightmarish versions of traditional circus actors. One of my favorites is the fire-lobbing Unipsycho, a twist on uni-cyclists. He has a demonic upper torso that is merged with a uni-cycle for his lower torso. The effect is pretty creepy. Not all of the creatures are derived from circus folk though. We also have some nasties that come straight from the Nightmare Realm, like the Headless and the Stump. They are weaker creatures, but have strength in numbers. We call them Horde creatures and you either destroy them wholesale or get overrun. You're gonna love it.

How many different missions are in there? How big is a level and what different types of environments will these levels encompass?

Matt: Each of the 4 realms has approximately 5 locations leading up to the circus(where all hell has broken loose). Each of these locations is made up of 2-3 sub-levels which are roughly the size of a quake map. Once you get the 4 characters to the circus you get to take on the final nightmare realm which I won't spoil for anyone:)

The locations in the game vary wildly from a chasm in the earth realm to a sky world in the air realm to a freak show at the end of the water realm.

What types of weapons are available? Are the weapons strictly ranged weapons (guns) or is there hand-to-hand fighting also?

Sverre: Its been a point from the start to remedy the fact that despite all the FPS's made, there still isn't one with cool hack & slash weapons in it. The melee weapons aren't the wussy tools that you're used to anymore, but a necessary ally to complete the game. The Demon's axe can for instance take out up to three creatures with one swipe. The majority of the weapons are big & beefy "guns" though.

How far into development is the team? When do you think the game will be completed and when will there be a playable demo?

Pam: We're about 9 months deep into the development cycle, with the game still having a March 2000 release date. A demo will be released simultaneously or very near to the game release date.

Is KISS: Psycho Circus the only project you are currently involved with? Are there any future projects planned after you finish this game?

Sverre: We take one project at a time, so everyone here is involved with KPC right now. As for future projects, we can't announce those plans yet, as they might still change before this project is up. We've got a few venues we'd like to see 3D gaming go of course and we'll probably create our own IP the next time around.

What about the game's sound track... KISS tunes?