Paul "Locki" Wedgwood's Pre-Release Talk with PQW.net

Interview with:
Paul "Locki" Wedgwood
Managing Director & Lead Game Designer
Owner of Splash Damage Ltd

U.K.Visuals: Hey Paul, thanks for taking time to answer us some questions.

Paul Wedgwood: No problem! I love these sorts of interviews because you never ask the standard PR questions :)

U.K.Visuals: QuakeWars is done! Has it become what you have planed at the beginning? If not, what has changed?

Paul Wedgwood: At the macro level it has definitely stayed true to our original goals at id Software and Splash Damage. We've always been obsessed with advancing multiplayer combat as a genre, while wanting to create a valid spiritual successor to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. The goals were pretty straightforward: you should be able to choose to fight as a human with conventional weapons, or the bio-mechanically augmented Strogg with their advanced alien weaponry, then take on a combat role that suits your preferred playing style making use of really balanced weapons, items, tools, deployables and vehicles to pursue tactical objectives as part of a coordinated team in really unique and distinct battlegrounds; encourage team-play with upgrades, unlockables, and persistent character status; generatively evolve multiplayer combat with a focus on tactics and strategy (rather than deathmatching and capturing flags), while maintaining the intensity that has won Enemy Territory so many fans already.

What's changed along the way has really been at a macro level of detail. I'd categorize most of the changes as 'throwing out Paul's crappy ideas' :) There are two good examples I can think of that I inflicted on the development team. Firstly, for a while at the start of the project we experimented with Base versus Base gameplay. The problem with this (which is obvious to me in hindsight) is that the two teams run past each other to attack, leaving only a few players back at base to defend - you end up with really unfocused combat. So we threw that out and stuck exclusively with objective-oriented gameplay. Another hang-over from this early design phase was hacking the main base structures; for a while we allowed the Covert Ops and Infiltrator to break into the bases, and once inside the Command Centre or Domination Hub, they could choose one of three hacks (disable reinforcements, disable deployable drops, or disable vehicle drops). Back then players spawned and equipped in the Command Centre so you could change class without dying, and the Command Centre had this really detailed interior with lots of cool animations for when it arrived and deployed. However, the game mechanic caused frustration – whenever you had to travel or spawn back at the base to kill the hacker, it felt like you’d had to stop playing the actual game and go do a chore - so we threw all the base structure interior art and animation work out and they’re unhackable now.

It always hurts to throw stuff out, particularly if you’ve already shed the sweat to get it in-game, but our golden rule of development (one that we learned from id Software) is that it doesn't matter how much effort we've put into something or how cool it looks - if it's not fun, we cut it.

U.K.Visuals: How much did the feedback from the Closed and Open Beta affect or change the final game? Has there been added some features or removed because of this feedback?

Paul Wedgwood: Community feedback has had a really positive impact on the project. It breaks down into three categories: balance, features, and bugs. On the game balance side, we couldn't hope to discover through internal playtests, all the amazing tactics and strategies that have been implemented through the Betas (and even the recent Demo). This has lead to hundreds of improvements that have benefited the game as a whole. On the feature side, we're always watching the forums at http://www.community.enemeyterritory.com and taking on board people's ideas - a good example was our decision to resurrect our focus on VOIP for a future update. We assumed people would much rather use more fully-featured third party VOIP apps, but it was clearly something the community wanted. For example, when it came to bugs, it was simply amazing - the quality and quantity of submissions we received was a real surprise. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is a far more stable, optimized, polished, and balanced game as a result of the community feedback.

U.K.Visuals: What has been for you the deciding reasons to play Quake III in a clan? Or rather what have you been able to implement from this experience into Quake Wars?

Paul Wedgwood: It's no secret that I'm an id Software fan boy :) Setting aside some excursions into MMOs, I've pretty much exclusively played id Software games (and those driven by id Software technology) for the last 10 years. Quake 3 was the most polished multiplayer combat experience that had ever been developed. Nobody else really competed in terms of graphics, smoothness, networking, physics - everything was just incredibly solid. It was just much more fun playing it in an organised way, concentrating on skills and tactics. I played a lot of Quake 3 TDM and CTF at a fairly high competitive level, was a presenter/commentator on a Quake 3 television show, but my main focus was as Project Leader for the Q3F mod-team project. That period (2000-2002) was really the birth of Splash Damage, as a direct result of id Software's amazing mod-maker support, we're now an AAA award-winning development studio. The single most obvious influence from that period is our belief that currently at least, strategic shooters are more fun and challenging (and players develop better skills) if they have a high level of intensity and pace.

U.K.Visuals: How came it actually that you were able do turn your hobby into a profession? What were your plans when you founded Splash Damage? Why did you found Splash Damage?

Paul Wedgwood: It's really due to our team, and the mentoring we've had from id Software (especially my good friend Kevin Cloud, Co-Owner of id Software and Executive Producer on ETQW and Wolf: ET). Back when we were making Q3F, several of us within the mod-team really wanted to become professional game developers. We would keep pestering id Software during 2000 and 2001 to help us get started - predominantly me hassling Robert Duffy (later the Lead Programmer on Doom 3, but back then the main man for mod-maker support at id) to help us. Eventually we started to impress them with our work on Q3F which by that point was becoming a total conversion rather than just a mod. Q3F had become very popular, with fan-sites and tournaments in all major territories. I threw every penny I had into getting Splash Damage into offices, and hiring the Leads from the Q3F team, and eventually the company became a reality - we started work on some multiplayer maps for Return to Castle Wolfenstein Game of the Year Edition (you may remember Tram Siege), and then we moved onto Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. I'm really proud to say that seven years later we still have the same core team - Arnout 'RR2DO2' van Meer (our Technical Director) was the then Lead Programmer on the Q3F project. Richard 'Fluffy_Gimp' Jolly (our Art Director) was the Lead Artist. Matt 'Wils' Wilson (one of our two Lead Level Designers) was the Lead Level Designer on Q3F too. Our Gameplay Programmer Gordon 'Digibob' Biggans was a Programmer on Q3F. Jared 'jRad' Hefty our Tools Programmer, was also Lead Level Designer with the mod-team. Even Q3F's Lead Audio guy Tim 'Marauder' Kautz, still freelances for Splash Damage as a Sound Designer. Several clan-mates have worked at, or interned for, SD over the years too.

U.K.Visuals: How does the normal day of a Lead Designer and owner of Splash Damage look like? Is it still possible to work for you from time to time with all the PR activities and interviews?

Paul Wedgwood: It's a very varied job, with responsibilities dictated by the phase of the project. In the first few years I was focused almost exclusively on Game Design and Business Strategy, so I'd write hundreds of pages of design documentation, which I would then discuss extensively with Kevin Cloud at id Software - he would provide me with lots of direction and feedback, and I'd then discuss it all with internal senior staff such as Matt Wilson, Ed Stern, and Mark Fry. They would all contribute tons of design ideas too, so back then I spent all day, every day, in Microsoft Word or ICQ. I then hired Neil Postlethwaite (who is now Splash Damage's Managing Director and Studio Producer) and he's taken a lot of the Business work off my plate. We were also really lucky to get Ben Smedstad as Activision's Creative Director, so amongst Kevin, Ben, myself, and the senior staff at Splash Damage, we've evolved into a really cool design cabal, with lots of experts having ideas, and providing great feedback.

As the design for the game settled, my focus shifted to my PR duties. I've attended dozens of events around the world as a presenter and/or interviewee. I've probably been to the States thirty times or so in the last two years, working in many different cities, and we've hosted countless events in London and Europe. I love collaborative game design and really enjoy the PR stuff, so it's pretty much my perfect job.

U.K.Visuals: How do you actually create the story of a game... are there any story writers and the coder develops the game afterwards around that story or how does it usually work?

Paul Wedgwood: At Splash Damage, Ed 'BongoBoy' Stern is our main writer. He's been the Senior Game Designer since Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, and amongst his other game design work, provides the backstory for everything in the game. This is based on the story that Kevin Cloud wrote for Quake 2, which Ed has then expanded to provide direction for all the concepts that were produced. Every weapon, piece of technology, or map, has a detailed backstory. There are hundreds pages of design and story development that players will never see, and while Ed likes to insist that much of this isn't apparent to the player, what it helped achieve was consistent direction for the artists in their development of concepts, and as a result, established motifs for all the human and Strogg teams' weapons, items, tools, deployables, and vehicles. Ed works very closely with id Software, so we're sure to keep everything true to their vision of the universe.

U.K.Visuals: Which game was the first one that really made you addicted to? What had this game that others didn't?

Paul Wedgwood: Definitely Quake 1. These days I think people take it for granted that you can occupy virtual space with others online and witness their interactions, but back then simply watching a friend walking along a wall, and knowing that your friend, a real human in front of an entirely different computer in a different house, was in control, was simply mind blowing. Add to that the fact that I could then shoot him off the wall and I was hooked :). I tried the plethora of other multiplayer 'me too!' games that other developers released in an attempt to copy id Software's online success, but they never felt as solid or real. To compound the challenge other developers faced in trying to keep up with id Software, id then originated the mod-making community - so now as a community, we could add our own levels, and play mods that added even more depth to the game. My first true love was Quake 1 Team Fortress - we dominated the UK leagues and tournaments for a couple of years - after we won our first major tournament in 1998, I used to go to work and look at people on the train and think to myself 'None of them KNOW I'm the Clan Leader of the UK's top Team Fortress team!' It was like I had discovered something amazing, and exclusive, and I was elite, and all the people dressed in grey clothes on this gray train leading their normal gray lives were dull and plain and stupid :) Watching waves of games and communities come and go, I've realized now of course that everyone (including me) is a noob at something.

U.K.Visuals: Which game that will be released soon interests you the most (apart from ET:QW)? For what reason?

Paul Wedgwood: Since ETQW went GOLD I've caught up on a lot of games that I haven't had the chance to play these past couple of years. I've played over 15 different games in the past two weeks alone. I'm really enjoying the latest Guild Wars, but I'm most looking forward to the next Wolfenstein that's in development over at Raven Software. I absolutely loved Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and from what I've seen so far, the new Wolfenstein is going to blow people away.

U.K.Visuals: How do you see the future of the PC as a gaming platform? Consoles are taking a more and more an important place and accordingly some games are developed only for the consoles. What will SD be focused on primarly in future?

Paul Wedgwood: We're definitely seeing a significant rise in popularity for gaming consoles, and I think in part this is due to gaming becoming an acceptable mainstream pursuit. Game development is so expensive now that Publishers must attempt to do all their marketing for a game across different platforms at the same time - this naturally puts pressure on developers to work towards simultaneous releases on multiple platforms. As for Splash Damage, we're keen to get to a point where we can develop for multiple platforms internally, but that's not because of any decline in PC game sales. In fact for our studio's expertise (multiplayer combat) is one of the few areas (along with MMOs) where we're seeing significant growth on the PC. We're just looking forward to the challenge.

U.K.Visuals: What will actually happen on the 28th of September at Splash Damage in Bromley? Are you going to have a big party? Are you waiting on the courier that brings you your copy of ET:QW or will it be a day like everyone else?

Paul Wedgwood: We had a party for the development team, Partners and close friends at my house when we went GOLD, and I really enjoyed that. I'd love to do the same again, but we'll probably do something more professional for the official launch party. For the GOLD party we bought proper display fireworks (that actually came in an ammo crate) and set them off in my back garden, which was probably not the safest thing to do - but it looked WICKED. We had a fun Guitar Hero Tournament (which unlike our last Halloween party, did not have the 'full body contact is allowed' rule - which stopped the plasma screens getting broken again hehe), and turned my dining room into a dance floor. We even had actual, real, normal, proper, females attend (including my fiancée) - so that was a revolutionary and cool moment in gaming :)



U.K.Visuals: Once again, thanks a lot for your time and for the excellent community work. It’s not normal that a company spends this much time to be in touch with the community itself. I think this is just one of the reasons why SD is today one of the best Gameproducers Worldwide.

Paul Wedgwood: Thank you for all your support! We're really looking forward to joining everyone on the European servers on September 28th!