Jurassic Rage

[Munro]

One of the most interesting of the coming horde of Half-Life 2 mods is undoubtedly
the Jurassic Rage mod. It pits two teams of human commandos against each other in
various tropical paradises, competing for command points and completing objectives.
But the big twist is that these maps are populated by an entire zoo’s-worth of prehistoric
monsters. Various dinosaurs, predatory or otherwise, will prowl the maps, causing
the best-laid plans of both teams to go very wrong, very quickly. [br]
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On a remote island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, scientists have ignored the numerous
films, books and games that warn against meddling with weird science and have done
it anyway, creating and cloning dinosaurs. Another team, the mysterious Cell, deploy
to the island with all manner of military equipment in order to capture research
materials and grab the secret of dinosaur creation for their own gains. The battles
between the Cell and the island’s security forces will form the backbone of a wide
array of multiplayer maps. [br]
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Taking the powerful and versatile Source engine and using it to shape a dinosaur-infested
labyrinth of verdant jungles and high-tech facilities is no easy task, which was
why I dodged the patrols around the team’s IRC channel to sneak an interview with
several members of the mod team... [br]
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Halflife2.net: So, who is everybody, and what are your jobs on the mod?

Splaty: I'm Splaty and I'm the lead mapper. [br]
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Mitlancer: I'm Mitlancer, I am a modeller. [br]
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d0cd: I'm d0cd, modeller and I'm the project leader.

Halflife2.net: Nice to meet you all. Okay, describe your mod in a nutshell.

d0cd: Well basically 3 way Team Co-op. Two human controlled teams playing
against each other to complete objectives, whilst a third team of AI controlled
dinosaurs "hinder" the teams. There are also plans of a deathmatch mode being
produced as well.

Halflife2.net: So describe to me the team-based dynamic. You're going for
complex objective-based assault-style games?

Splaty: That's right. The two teams each have individual objectives which
they will attempt to complete, whilst simultaneously stopping the enemy team from
completing their objectives.

Halflife2.net: What kind of objectives?

Splaty: There'll be a reasonable variety, ranging from the standard 'reach
this point' to the more complex 'destroy this, and then weld this entrance shut',
etc.

Halflife2.net: How are you going about character classes, weapons and equipment,
that kind of thing?

Splaty: The character classes will be pretty standard, such as marksman,
scout, etc, though they'll be a few classes relevant to the JR style. We're still
considering the best way to implement weapons and equipment, although we'll most
likely be going with a normal approach where the class is given relevant weapons,
and can then swap them with those they find on the battlefield. [br]
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d0cd: The systems side to JR is still under decision. As we are not too
sure how the best system would work to provide the best experience possible. More
recently we have been discussing things and have decided to base the weapons selection
as being able to choose any weapon for that given slot, ie. The primary slot will
hold the main weapons, rifles, sub-machine guns etc…, secondary slot for pistols
and so forth, and then there is a 3rd slot for the melee weapons and what not.
However these weapons will severely hinder certain classes and others will help
them. It will be complicated, there is no purchase system planned. No CS here
I am afraid. We are looking for realism. We may make it so that there are only
a certain number of weapons of available for the whole team, and its down to the
team to decide what weapons that each class chooses, so team co-operation will
play a very important role. [br]
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Mitlancer: The weapons themselves will range from the common modern day
arsenals from around the globe. They all fit in with the modern time period and
each have a great functionality towards the gameplay.

Halflife2.net: Tell me about vehicles…

d0cd: Well vehicles, we will be adding different vehicles to different
maps depending on whether the objectives require so. The vehicles will be as balanced
as possible so that if you do have a vehicle you don't have a massive advantage
over everyone else out there. [br]
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Splaty: The vehicles will range from the usual assortment of Jeeps and
trucks to, hopefully at least, boats and maybe even hovercraft.

Halflife2.net: I’m imagining a load of gamers jam-packed into a speeding
jeep just ignoring the game objectives and tearing around the place, hunting dinosaurs
like high-tech cowboys. Anyway, what really interests me is the idea of this
enormous living ecosystem that will affect how both teams play. Tell me more about
this ecosystem... i.e. the third AI dinosaur team.

d0cd: This is our MAJOR goal with JR, to produce as real an environment
as possible. Dinosaurs that feel like they're actually other players on the Internet,
counter-acting your moves. Using intelligence to navigate to the weakest prey,
etc... We will spend an enormous amount of time playtesting the dinosaur AI and
behaviour to ensure as realistic as experience as possible. [br]
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Splaty: Obviously the network requirements to throw down a full-scale Dinosaur
AI that walks around and decides who to hunt, where and when would be unrealistic.
But Dinosaurs will react to human presence [realistically] and will decide what
to do, be it ignore them or take them down. [br]
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d0cd: Yes, depending on their species. This is down to a mixture of behaviour
and resource limitations. Even on a standalone machine to be able to calculate
an island full of creatures all fully interacting and making their own decisions
requires an immense amount of processing power.

Halflife2.net: Could provide some very interesting battles. About the dinosaurs
themselves…you've got a very wide range of species in there, including some really
obscure ones like Therizinosaurus - a dinosaur which no-one knows really much about.
I’m a dinosaur nut so I’m interested to know whether it'll be a carnivore or herbivore
seeing as there is some debate over the matter.

Splaty: We do have quite a few dinosaur 'experts' on the team, including
at least one who studies palaeontology at university. I myself don't know much
about it, so I can't answer your question. [br]
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d0cd: Hmm there are many theories surrounding this dinosaur. I only know
about the thoughts behind this dinosaur because of a Walking with Dinosaurs special
on it. Though I can’t remember what the conclusion was as to whether it was herbivore
or carnivore. I’m sure it was herbivore that it used its enormous claws for grabbing
at branches.

Halflife2.net: I always thought it probably used the claws to open termite
mounds and eat all the termites. Anyway...for the benefit of people who haven't
looked on your website, could you tell me about some of the dinosaurs’ species that
you're putting in and what are your individual favourite dinosaurs in there?

d0cd: Hmm species names I'm not too good on. But I can give you dinosaur
names, hell I've modelled pretty much all them. We have the well know herbivores
like Brachiosaurus, Gallimimus, Triceratops, and the carnivores, Velociraptor,
T-Rex, Compsognathus. We have a few obscure ones like Elasmosaurus, which is a
water creature, and Carnotaurus.

Halflife2.net: Can you tell me about the kind of maps you’ve got? Just how
free roaming will it be? Will there be secret or hidden areas? It’d be cool to find
some abandoned building you never knew was there…also, how many players per map?

Splaty: We'll be taking the large map size limits into consideration as
we design them. We're planning on having a variety, including outside and internal
areas. For the most part, the outside areas will be pretty free roaming. You could
easily wander off from your squad, get lost in the jungle and fog and end up getting
munched on by a pack of dinosaurs. As for hidden areas, you'll have to wait and
see!

Halflife2.net: How do you go about doing jungles in Valve's Hammer editor?

Splaty: Our modellers create the bulk of the jungle, and an intuitive use
of fog and model-fadeouts mean that we can create a realistic jungle without having
to render too much at one time.

Halflife2.net: Many people would ask you why you chose the HL2 engine. UT
is more multiplayer orientated, and Far Cry has better jungles, so why the choice
of engine?

Splaty: Yes, we were at a time going to create the mod for both the CryTek
and Source engine, but decided to stick with HL2. While Far Cry does have large,
immense jungles, we felt that if we used Far Cry, our mod would just look the
same as any other mod on that engine. I haven't used the Far Cry editor myself,
but I've heard that it's not particularly difficult to create realistic jungles.
While in HL2 it's more difficult, it will also be more diverse and look unique
to JR.

Halflife2.net: Good point. How do you plan to exploit HL2’s incredible physics
engine?

Mitlancer: I've answered this question a thousand times from a modellers
point of view, the engine is far superior to any other engine currently available
because of the sheer power it holds, the engine itself is capable of doing a lot
more than people give it credit for. [br]
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Splaty: Oh yes indeed. We plan on having a variety of natural and man-made
traps littered about the maps

Halflife2.net: Rolling boulders! [br]
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Anyway, I gather your mod was originally a Jurassic Park one. Did you change to
Rage because it gave you more creative freedom or because legal action was threatened
- or because you thought it might be threatened?

Splaty: The former. [br]
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d0cd: Basically because of possible legal action. We didn't love the idea
of getting half way through production and then being told to shut down. [br]
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Splaty: We were never threatened with legal action, but we never received
any form of written reply from them either. So we just played it safe. [br]
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d0cd: Plus our own design provides us with a lot more creative freedom
Mitlancer: When a modification is restricted to a license, it can be held
back at every point. Not to mention the problems with actually obtaining the rights
to work from that base.

Halflife2.net: One last question: Fast-paced arcade antics or more stealthy
realistic style gameplay?

Mitlancer: A little from column A, a little from column B. [br]
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Splaty: We're catering for both styles. If you want to run in without your
team you can, although you might get jumped on by a dinosaur. Alternatively you
can take it slow, watch your squad-members backs, etc.

Halflife2.net: Sounds good. Well, it’s been very nice talking to you guys
and good luck with your mod.

Splaty: Thanks very much and thanks for the interview!

Halflife2.net: Thank you. Currently the
Jurassic Rage team are looking for programmers,
mappers and positions in other areas, so if you're interested in working for them
then get yourself to their website and
sign up!