- Joined
- Aug 8, 2004
- Messages
- 12,233
- Reaction score
- 239
Jailbreak: Source is a mod which has been round for a while now. The age old format of jailbreak in various mods over the years has been a popular one. Since the major Jailbreak: Source release of version 0.4 and the incremental patches since, the mod hasn't seen a great deal of new content until now with version 0.6. With loads of new maps, gamemodes, weapons and much more we grabbed some time with the development team to tell us more![br]
Jailbreak Source team
Interview with Jailbreak: Source team<hr size="3" noshade color="#ED761C"></strong>[br]
<u>Hectic Glenn: Firstly for those who haven't played Jailbreak before, what is it all about and who is behind it?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: It's the age old epic tale of the battle for domination between Robots and Dinosaurs. Two will fight, one will fall. Whoever wins, we lose. Actually wait, we win, because it's just awesome.[br]
What it actually boils down to is classic arcade team play game where death results in being put in jail. When the whole team is captured, they are executed in a gruesome and amusing way. You can avoid this by releasing your team, escaping, not dying and just generally being better than the opposing team.[br]
<u>
Glenn: How different does Jailbreak 0.4 feel to 0.6? After all the years in development does it feel like a different animal altogether?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Very much so. To be honest I haven't played 0.4 in a while now, and looking back at it, it just feels so naked! Such a stupendous amount of stuff has changed that it feels like a totally new mod.[br]
For example, we've overhauled all the weapons, added new perks, new maps, updated old maps, updated the HUD, added new in game announcements, included new and improved executions, new player models, ducks and new radio commands to name but a few things. Oh, and two new game modes. And did I mention the ducks?[br]
[br]
IZaNaGI: Massively different from an art point of view. We've replaced, added, or at least updated almost everything in terms of textures, shaders, models, particles and even huge portions of the maps. 0.4 was a long time ago, we've all grown in our abilities, and knowledge of Source. So we've strived to make Jailbreak as visually appealing as possible while NEVER sacrificing on players FPS's. [br]
There's a huge difference in terms of map Balance as well. Some maps have been rebuilt, others have had escapes altered, or changed completely. Smaller updates have also been made to focus player encounters, so no one team has the advantage over the other. The difference is huge and it will be obvious to long term fans.[br]
Wills: I played 0.4 around two weeks back with a few people. It was hilarious, I felt like someone had cut my arms off and replaced them with two stumps. I kept trying to do things that are just naturally intuitive in 0.6, except I was playing 0.4, where they didn’t work.[br]
We’ve also focussed on making everything more fun, I know that sounds broad, but things like creating new mechanics to ensure that when a release happens or an escape happens, it’s en-masse, instead of dribs and drabs, so when you release your team, you’re a freakin’ Hero, not just some release switch camper. [br]
<u>Glenn: Can you tell us a new feature you are especially proud of which is working in the new version?</u>[br]
Wills: One element I’m very proud of, which (hopefully) won’t be evident to players is the subtleties we’ve implemented to help guide players. We researched into the theories that Valve used for Team Fortress 2, watching video conferences, presentations and all sorts of things, to ensure that players would be able to play the game intuitively without having to refer to a manual. Things like player silhouettes, each weapon having a vastly different effect, using light to guide the players around the levels, using architecture to do the same, just little touches like the Dinosaurs are the Red Team, and all their bases use a red lighting scheme, even down to red glows on light fixtures. If you look hard you’ll notice all sorts of things like that throughout the mod, that have been designed to go unnoticed, and just let you enjoy yourself and get on with killing Robots![br]
[br]
Dogmeat: So many features it's hard to pick one, but I think our weapon balance is a lot better now and provides a lot more variation in game play. Want some close up action? Take the shotgun. Want to defend? The Sticky Launcher is your friend. Camper? The Railgun is for you. Just like to cause as much carnage as possible? The Grenade Launcher is the way forward. [br]Combined with the perks system you can customise your player to suit exactly how you want to play.[br]
IZaNaGI: Hmm, we've added so much it's hard to pick anything in particular. I'm especially fond of Jailbreak Deathball though. There's nothing quite like the hidden strategy of it all, as it's all well and good killing the enemy, but the focus is always in knowing where the Deathball is, and whether or not your team has managed to score a goal and hold it there, keeping the enemy team in jail. [br]
<u>Glenn: The mod is a total conversion and looks fantastic, are you looking towards SteamWorks?</u>[br]
IZaNaGI: It would be nice for the player base, keeping things simple in terms of accessibility. I love the idea of Jailbreak Achievements, so maybe one day.[br]
Wills: Yeah! Chop, chop Valve!! In all seriousness, we’d love the opportunity to get access to the SteamWorks API as it would allow us to be much more pro-active in terms of releasing content packs to the Steam community, rather than focusing on incremental updates. We very much want to follow the example of TF2 and provide a steady stream of new content over time, and it would also allow us to be more reactive of the community, getting more of the feedback into the game. [br]
<u>Glenn: You've got new models, new weapons, new gamemodes and new maps! That is a lot of content, how have you found organising the team for this update?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: We only have a small team of 4 people which makes life a lot easier, and having Wills do basically everything for the release helps too.[br]
Wills: One thing that’s worked for us, which I don’t necessarily advise, is not having a leader. We’re just all mucking in, learning, enjoying ourselves and making sh*t up as we go along. To us, that’s what modding is about... learning, friends, fun and making something that on paper, sounds crazy, and would never sell! Robots and Dinosaurs in Elizabethan England with duck cannons and lasers? Only in a mod! [br]
[br]
<u>Glenn: You recently held a competition for the RoboChick through ModDB, has this helped with visits and followers of Jailbreak source?</u>[br]
Wills: The competitions were not really about attracting new followers or generating large numbers of visitors, it was about us wanting to give something back to the community for all their... oh who the **** am I kidding? We did it for the VOTES! We want to win Mod of the Year!! Haha! [br]
<u>Glenn: Standing the test of time is a real challenge for multi-player mods, what kind of support are you going to provide the community with to keep the mod alive post update?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Smaller, more focused updates in shorter time frames. So we might be talking a Dino pack with a new map and weapon etc, we're bouncing around a few ideas. [br]
IZaNaGI: Were definitely planning on releasing content more regularly from here on in. We've had our player base drop to zero in the time it's taken us to complete 0.6, but were hoping to keep things simpler now the majority of the mod is complete. Content packs seem to be the best idea at the moment, comprising of a new map, character model, additional feature, and balance/bug fixes.[br]
Wills: I’ve got an idea, like Dogmeat said above, to release things like the Dinosaur Pack, in a similar vein to the TF2 Soldier updates, releasing themed updates would be a lot of fun I reckon. [br]
<u>Glenn: Many frantic multi-player mods have a steep learning curve which makes it tricky for newer players, how have you found new players have adapted playing jailbreak for the first time?</u>[br]
Wills: One thing we’ve always been aware of is how easily we can get blinded to problems with the game by simply not seeing it from a newcomer’s perspective. To counter this, during the beta testing phase, every six or so development increments, we’ve invited a new beta tester into the squad, and forced them to play cold and afterwards provide feedback and what was confusing, intimidating or just downright wrong to them. I’ve no idea if this has worked or not, but it certainly allowed us to see things from a new perspective each time, so we’ll just have to wait and see how people react! [br]
[br]
<u>Glenn: Many mods set out to do half of what you guys have achieved, and often fail. Any advice for up and coming modders to keep their project afloat?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: It's been said before and it'll be said again, but release small and often. Do what we say, not what we do. We've been terrible at following our own advice and it's led to a stressful few months as we’ve tidied everything up. Releasing more often would have helped circumvent this a bit. [br]
IZaNaGI: One problem I’ve found over the years is trying to keep up the interest in something. I've become bored of one thing, and just moved onto another to soon be bored of that as well. Since joining the Jailbreak team though, we have had a sort of friendly competition thing running between us (at least between me and Wills), where were constantly trying to outdo each other in a fun way, which in turn keeps us on our toes.[br]
Wills: Start out with the basics! Jailbreak 0.1 had two maps, a Jail entity system and that was it. It took us three weeks to throw together, with just two of us working on it at the time. Find out if you’re mod is worth playing before spending two years on it! It also means you get feedback from the community, and a huge ego boost as well as attracting new talent if everything starts out smoothly. [br]
<u>Glenn: You've got robots and dinosaurs in your mod. If you had to marry one which would it be and why?
</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Well everyone's probably expecting me to say Harlie, but I hear she's really needy, so I'll have to take one of the Raptors. It'll still be easier to deal with than my ex-girlfriend. [br]
IZaNaGI: I'm already married, so I'd get in trouble if I told you that ... The Red Parasaur is cute though![br]
Wills: I built Harlie. I will make her mine. Just need to find me some of that Weird Science...
Thanks to Andrew, Richard and Rob for their time. Jailbreak: Source 0.6 is available now from the Jailbreak website.[br]
Jailbreak Source team
- Richard "Dogmeat" Slaughter: Coding and Development
- Andrew "Wills" Wills: Maps, Textures, Modelling, Animation, Skins, Voices, Sound and Graphics
- Rob "IZaNaGI" Molde: Maps, Textures, Modelling, Skins, Sound and Graphics
- Axel "Azelito" Dahlstedt:
Weapon Modelling, Player Modelling and Graphics (not present during interview)
Interview with Jailbreak: Source team<hr size="3" noshade color="#ED761C"></strong>[br]
<u>Hectic Glenn: Firstly for those who haven't played Jailbreak before, what is it all about and who is behind it?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: It's the age old epic tale of the battle for domination between Robots and Dinosaurs. Two will fight, one will fall. Whoever wins, we lose. Actually wait, we win, because it's just awesome.[br]
What it actually boils down to is classic arcade team play game where death results in being put in jail. When the whole team is captured, they are executed in a gruesome and amusing way. You can avoid this by releasing your team, escaping, not dying and just generally being better than the opposing team.[br]
<u>
Glenn: How different does Jailbreak 0.4 feel to 0.6? After all the years in development does it feel like a different animal altogether?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Very much so. To be honest I haven't played 0.4 in a while now, and looking back at it, it just feels so naked! Such a stupendous amount of stuff has changed that it feels like a totally new mod.[br]
For example, we've overhauled all the weapons, added new perks, new maps, updated old maps, updated the HUD, added new in game announcements, included new and improved executions, new player models, ducks and new radio commands to name but a few things. Oh, and two new game modes. And did I mention the ducks?[br]
IZaNaGI: Massively different from an art point of view. We've replaced, added, or at least updated almost everything in terms of textures, shaders, models, particles and even huge portions of the maps. 0.4 was a long time ago, we've all grown in our abilities, and knowledge of Source. So we've strived to make Jailbreak as visually appealing as possible while NEVER sacrificing on players FPS's. [br]
There's a huge difference in terms of map Balance as well. Some maps have been rebuilt, others have had escapes altered, or changed completely. Smaller updates have also been made to focus player encounters, so no one team has the advantage over the other. The difference is huge and it will be obvious to long term fans.[br]
Wills: I played 0.4 around two weeks back with a few people. It was hilarious, I felt like someone had cut my arms off and replaced them with two stumps. I kept trying to do things that are just naturally intuitive in 0.6, except I was playing 0.4, where they didn’t work.[br]
We’ve also focussed on making everything more fun, I know that sounds broad, but things like creating new mechanics to ensure that when a release happens or an escape happens, it’s en-masse, instead of dribs and drabs, so when you release your team, you’re a freakin’ Hero, not just some release switch camper. [br]
<u>Glenn: Can you tell us a new feature you are especially proud of which is working in the new version?</u>[br]
Wills: One element I’m very proud of, which (hopefully) won’t be evident to players is the subtleties we’ve implemented to help guide players. We researched into the theories that Valve used for Team Fortress 2, watching video conferences, presentations and all sorts of things, to ensure that players would be able to play the game intuitively without having to refer to a manual. Things like player silhouettes, each weapon having a vastly different effect, using light to guide the players around the levels, using architecture to do the same, just little touches like the Dinosaurs are the Red Team, and all their bases use a red lighting scheme, even down to red glows on light fixtures. If you look hard you’ll notice all sorts of things like that throughout the mod, that have been designed to go unnoticed, and just let you enjoy yourself and get on with killing Robots![br]
Dogmeat: So many features it's hard to pick one, but I think our weapon balance is a lot better now and provides a lot more variation in game play. Want some close up action? Take the shotgun. Want to defend? The Sticky Launcher is your friend. Camper? The Railgun is for you. Just like to cause as much carnage as possible? The Grenade Launcher is the way forward. [br]Combined with the perks system you can customise your player to suit exactly how you want to play.[br]
IZaNaGI: Hmm, we've added so much it's hard to pick anything in particular. I'm especially fond of Jailbreak Deathball though. There's nothing quite like the hidden strategy of it all, as it's all well and good killing the enemy, but the focus is always in knowing where the Deathball is, and whether or not your team has managed to score a goal and hold it there, keeping the enemy team in jail. [br]
<u>Glenn: The mod is a total conversion and looks fantastic, are you looking towards SteamWorks?</u>[br]
IZaNaGI: It would be nice for the player base, keeping things simple in terms of accessibility. I love the idea of Jailbreak Achievements, so maybe one day.[br]
Wills: Yeah! Chop, chop Valve!! In all seriousness, we’d love the opportunity to get access to the SteamWorks API as it would allow us to be much more pro-active in terms of releasing content packs to the Steam community, rather than focusing on incremental updates. We very much want to follow the example of TF2 and provide a steady stream of new content over time, and it would also allow us to be more reactive of the community, getting more of the feedback into the game. [br]
<u>Glenn: You've got new models, new weapons, new gamemodes and new maps! That is a lot of content, how have you found organising the team for this update?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: We only have a small team of 4 people which makes life a lot easier, and having Wills do basically everything for the release helps too.[br]
Wills: One thing that’s worked for us, which I don’t necessarily advise, is not having a leader. We’re just all mucking in, learning, enjoying ourselves and making sh*t up as we go along. To us, that’s what modding is about... learning, friends, fun and making something that on paper, sounds crazy, and would never sell! Robots and Dinosaurs in Elizabethan England with duck cannons and lasers? Only in a mod! [br]
<u>Glenn: You recently held a competition for the RoboChick through ModDB, has this helped with visits and followers of Jailbreak source?</u>[br]
Wills: The competitions were not really about attracting new followers or generating large numbers of visitors, it was about us wanting to give something back to the community for all their... oh who the **** am I kidding? We did it for the VOTES! We want to win Mod of the Year!! Haha! [br]
<u>Glenn: Standing the test of time is a real challenge for multi-player mods, what kind of support are you going to provide the community with to keep the mod alive post update?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Smaller, more focused updates in shorter time frames. So we might be talking a Dino pack with a new map and weapon etc, we're bouncing around a few ideas. [br]
IZaNaGI: Were definitely planning on releasing content more regularly from here on in. We've had our player base drop to zero in the time it's taken us to complete 0.6, but were hoping to keep things simpler now the majority of the mod is complete. Content packs seem to be the best idea at the moment, comprising of a new map, character model, additional feature, and balance/bug fixes.[br]
Wills: I’ve got an idea, like Dogmeat said above, to release things like the Dinosaur Pack, in a similar vein to the TF2 Soldier updates, releasing themed updates would be a lot of fun I reckon. [br]
<u>Glenn: Many frantic multi-player mods have a steep learning curve which makes it tricky for newer players, how have you found new players have adapted playing jailbreak for the first time?</u>[br]
Wills: One thing we’ve always been aware of is how easily we can get blinded to problems with the game by simply not seeing it from a newcomer’s perspective. To counter this, during the beta testing phase, every six or so development increments, we’ve invited a new beta tester into the squad, and forced them to play cold and afterwards provide feedback and what was confusing, intimidating or just downright wrong to them. I’ve no idea if this has worked or not, but it certainly allowed us to see things from a new perspective each time, so we’ll just have to wait and see how people react! [br]
<u>Glenn: Many mods set out to do half of what you guys have achieved, and often fail. Any advice for up and coming modders to keep their project afloat?</u>[br]
Dogmeat: It's been said before and it'll be said again, but release small and often. Do what we say, not what we do. We've been terrible at following our own advice and it's led to a stressful few months as we’ve tidied everything up. Releasing more often would have helped circumvent this a bit. [br]
IZaNaGI: One problem I’ve found over the years is trying to keep up the interest in something. I've become bored of one thing, and just moved onto another to soon be bored of that as well. Since joining the Jailbreak team though, we have had a sort of friendly competition thing running between us (at least between me and Wills), where were constantly trying to outdo each other in a fun way, which in turn keeps us on our toes.[br]
Wills: Start out with the basics! Jailbreak 0.1 had two maps, a Jail entity system and that was it. It took us three weeks to throw together, with just two of us working on it at the time. Find out if you’re mod is worth playing before spending two years on it! It also means you get feedback from the community, and a huge ego boost as well as attracting new talent if everything starts out smoothly. [br]
<u>Glenn: You've got robots and dinosaurs in your mod. If you had to marry one which would it be and why?
</u>[br]
Dogmeat: Well everyone's probably expecting me to say Harlie, but I hear she's really needy, so I'll have to take one of the Raptors. It'll still be easier to deal with than my ex-girlfriend. [br]
IZaNaGI: I'm already married, so I'd get in trouble if I told you that ... The Red Parasaur is cute though![br]
Wills: I built Harlie. I will make her mine. Just need to find me some of that Weird Science...
Thanks to Andrew, Richard and Rob for their time. Jailbreak: Source 0.6 is available now from the Jailbreak website.[br]
