Interview with Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion developer Adrian Wright

Mech teams ruling a new online world
By Russell D. Carroll [February 28, 2005]

Q: For everyone reading out there, who are you and what was your involvement with Dark Horizons: Lore?
A: I am Adrian Wright, the founder of Max Gaming and creator of the Dark Horizons universe. I mainly concentrate on game design and project management for the team, as well as being the weapons master and level designer for DH: Lore Invasion.

Q: What do you think makes Independent games distinctive?
A: Indie studios really need to innovate to get noticed and to make their product fun to play over traditional AAA Studios. I know that even though Lore is considered more main stream, we have done a lot to innovate the community aspect of the game, and it is starting to pay off.

Q: How did your studio get your start in working with independent games?
A: Well, all of the team members have always been avid gamers, and when I started Max Gaming in 1998 my goal was to build a team of talented professionals who were gamers and knew what they wanted to play, and had a goal to make those types of games. And we have succeeded in that, we love nothing more then to play Lore Invasion with the community, even though I have to say we get owned a lot.

Q: What do gamers appreciate most about Dark Horizons: Lore?
A: One of the biggest thing we have heard from the community, is that they love the pace of the game, it's not fully a Tribes-like pace, but it is much faster then a normal Mech sim. That combined with the fact that it really is a team oriented game that has spawned many squad rivalries that are spurring on the metaverse feel of the game.

Q: What was the single most difficult part of Dark Horizons: Lore to program?
A: The interaction between the metaverse and the game servers was one of the easiest and most difficult issues we dealt with. It was easy to send data to the master server, but the challenge was making it so erroneous data didn't make it in. And I know we have done a good job with that, but it definitely has been a challenge.

Other then that we have added a lot of functionality to the Torque engine, specifically for Lore Invasion, and making sure we retained the cross platform functionality is always a fun challenge.

Q: Other than your own game did any one of the IGF finalists or Student Showcase games stand out to you? Why?
A: I think the one I noticed most, and partially because it is built with the same core engine as Lore, was Rocketbowl. I thought it was innovative, fun and easy to get into. Definitely a game you can pick up in about 10 minutes and have a enjoyable play at lunch.

Q: How do you think Independent Games will evolve in the future?
A: I think you will see bigger and more innovative games going into the future. As technology becomes available and as people learn to work remotely, I think you are going to see several top-notch quality Indie studios arise.

Q: What is the biggest challenge facing Independent games?
A: Funding by far is the biggest challenge facing Indies. It is very difficult for most to get startup funds that aren't from personal bank accounts or a loan from a family member. With this issue in mind, a lot of indies do contract work, day jobs, and do whatever it takes to survive while we build up our income base.

Q: As one of the leaders of Independent Games, what is next for you?
A: Well we still have some plans in the works for releasing DH: Lore Invasion into more channels, and have a couple smaller projects we are working on completing in the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile we are looking at our options on where to take the Dark Horizons Universe next. :) And of course, we are gearing up to really support the community as Lore grows, they are most important to us as a Indie.