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An archived Hellgate: London feature. See the Hellgate Archives for more.

Interview: Bill Roper answers 42 questions about everything: HGL's progress, items, skills, characters, and much more.
Date: January 1, 2006
Source: inHellgate.de: English or German

inHellgate.de Interview

inHellgate.de: Hello Bill, thanks for this interview. How are things going with the development? Are you guys still keeping to your schedule?

Bill Roper:
We're doing everything we can to stay on our internal schedule, and the upcoming few months will be a real test of how well our process is working. We're looking forward to showing off a bunch of new things at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Exposition, so everyone has a lot to do. We are very pleased with the progress of the game and its been really fun just playing through the beginning sections now that they are starting to be strung together and early balance passes are happening.

inHellgate.de:
What are your personal favourite features in the game right now?

Bill Roper:
I really enjoy how far we're pushing the randomization. We're seeing a lot of things click into place with how Mods are affecting weapon choices, armor choices, and even what tactics to use against different demons. I am also constantly amazed at how much diversity of content is going to be in the final game. We're getting a load of weapons, armor and monsters in right now, and the last few days before the Holiday break were a flurry of activity. I can't wait to jumo right back into the thick of things come the first of the year!

inHellgate.de: What are you yourself working on (when not answering interview questions)?

Bill Roper: As far as the game goes, I have mainly been working on the world design and quests. We created a sizeable writer's bible last year and that takes constant updating. We are also slated to flesh out the rest of the in-game storyline and quests over the next month or so, and that will be a lot of work. Also, everyone helps out whenever they can on whatever they can, so if there is anything I can contribute with my meager Photoshop skills, I do so - and of course, design discussions are always great fun!

inHellgate.de: What are the next appointments in your schedule? Any more conventions, presentations or something else planned? Which is the next milestone you want to achieve in the development process?

Bill Roper: 2006 is going to be an extremely busy time for us. We have a wide variety of conventions we're planning on attending, from E3 in Los Angeles to shows in Korea, China, Japan, and Germany. I will also undoubtedly have a handful of other trips come up, so I plan to rack up a huge amount of frequent flyer miles!

As far as our next big milestone for Hellgate: London, it is definitely E3. We have a big list of new features we want to show off, and it will be a great goal for us to hit.

inHellgate.de: We arranged a wallpaper contest lately here at inhellgate.de, where users made wallpapers for our site, keeping to the Hellgate: London atmosphere. How do you like the results (which you can see here)? Shall we perhaps even provide the artists data to you, so they can work for Flagship ;)?

Bill Roper: We love the fact that fans of our game are so creative and find inspiration in our work. We are currently doing a complete redesign of our Hellgate: London website and we're going to have a whole fan art section. We definitely will want to get some of this work for those pages.

inHellgate.de: So, lets come to the game itself now: we all still wonder about the skills. You mentioned the principles of a "Skillmap" rather than a "Skilltree". Can you explain this some more?

Bill Roper: Actually, we're not doing the "skillmap" anymore, either. We use a very organic methodology of game design. This means that we're constantly working on systems, playing them, evaluating them, changing them in both grand and minute ways, and then going through the whole process over and over again. We started with the concept of moving from a "skill tree" to a "skill map", but found the concept to be incredible complex to navigate. We have moved towards what would probably be best called a "skill menu".

Currently, any skill that a character can possibly learn is available if that character meets specific requirements. These are not just prerequisite skills as in a skill tree, but other statistics such as level, personal stats, rank, etc. We want to allow players to build exactly the type of character they want so, just like menu at a restaurant, if you can afford it - you can have it. This also means that some players may elect to "save up" skill points and not take any skills for a while if they think they can get by on their abilities as players so they can go straight for the top end skills they want as early as possible.

inHellgate.de: You also mentioned buyable and findable "Skill modules". How will those fit into the "Skillmap" and how will they interact with the allready learned skills?

Bill Roper: Skill Nodes are randomly dropped items that can teach players with the proper requirements basic skills. These will be especially valuable for a character that is saving up for that first big skill since he won’t have to invest any skill points on learning whatever the Skill Node has to teach.

We are also using all of the randomization algorthyms for the generation of these skill nodes, which means that pa character could learn a rare version of a skill or spell. For example, instead of just learning Fire Ball, you might find a skill node that can teach you Exploding Fore Ball, or Tracking Fire Ball, or Spectral Fire Ball.

inHellgate.de: In many worlds that are settled in a Dark Future Environment, there are biotechnical extensions to the human body, like Cyberware in the "Shadowrun"-universe or the Nano Implants in "Deus Ex". Will there be a component in this direction in Hellgate: London?

Bill Roper: We have discussed the concept of neural implants for characters, as well as more technology-based external enhancements. We don't have anything in and working in this regard right now, but it is on the drawing board..

inHellgate.de: In the subclass of ranged weapons, in all forums worldwide one basic weapon category is missed: bows and crossbows. Do you plan to implement those? Will there also be such a variety of models as with the firearms?

Bill Roper: We have made a conscious decision to not have bows and crossbows in Hellgate: London because in our near-future setting, we use our ranged weapons as platforms for basically casting spells or creating spell-like effects. Bows-style weapons seemed out of place in the world we’re creating, and given a choice, I know I'd certainly rather have a Tempest Rifle to dispatch an angry mob of Flesh Eaters!

inHellgate.de: As talking about firearms - will there be limited ammunition that has to be collected, or will we have unlimited ammo? Will there be different kinds of ammo (like exploding, stunning, poisoned...), even more differing the effects of a weapon? Will the principle of modification and rarity only stick to the guns themselves?

Bill Roper: Since we're making an RPG and not an FPS, we do not have the concept of limited ammunition. We will have limitations such as cool-down and reload times, but you won’t be searching for ammo packs while your gun sits worthlessly empty.

We do have Ammo as a Mod for weapons, but it acts as a modified to damage, range, rate-of-fire and so on as opposed to limiting shots. If there was one big thing we learned from Diablo II, it was that as soon as you put charges on something, no one used it. They were always waiting for just the right time and were never sure if this was it.

inHellgate.de: The screenshots from the character display that we have seen until now show 11 slots that are grouped around the body. Can you explain what these slots are for? Helmet, weapon, socks, gloves...? Will all slots (including jewelry) also be animated and visible at the character, or will only certain keyslots be animated like in Diablo 2 (helmet, armor, weapon)?

Bill Roper: As with everything we design, the character interface is always under review and up for redesign. We do have plans for every section we have in the inventory screen, and I've included a handy image to show you what we're thinking. Again, I'll point out that this is what we're thinking right now and it will most certainly change!

As for what will be visible on the character, we want to show everything that makes sense to show. We’re not sure if that is going to include any of the smaller items such as jewelry quite yet, but we'll see what we can easily display.

inHellgate.de: Will there be something like waypoints, saving nodes or something else, that structures the game in certain separated areas? Will there be townportals or something comparative, with which you can retreat to a save place and rethink your strategy?

Bill Roper: We are most definitely implementing a waypoint-style system. We don't intend our game to be about running long distances to get to where you want to be. We'll have a quick means of return to the Underground station you were last at (the Recall spell) and once you've visited an Underground station, it is added to your transit listing. This means you can hit a transit point and jump between any stations you've been to quite easily. The biggest change from the Diablo way of doing things is that we don't have the 2-way travel of the Town Portal. This changes the strategy that players will use, making a rapid escape possible, but you then just can’t pop back and forth to abuse your safety.

inHellgate.de: The concept of "Auto-Aiming" is a very controversal discussed one in the global community. Can you shortly elaborate why you chose it instead of "real" aiming? What are the pros and cons about it?

Bill Roper: We chose a simplified aiming system to make the game much more accessible to a wider range of players, and more like what RPG players are used to experiencing. You don't have to aim, per se, in and RPG - you hit or miss based on your statistics, your equipment, and the comparative levels of your character and the monster you're fighting. The various methods we use to achieve this (auto-aim, area-effect, explosions, homing, etc.) achieve this distinction.

That being said, we've heard the feedback from a section of players who would like to have their personal skills tested. We’ve talked a great deal about having one set of skills for one of the character classes be dependent upon the player's aiming skills to offer something for the FPS players that are definitely interested in Hellgate: London.

inHellgate.de: Can you explain a little more detailed how the game will recognize hits at the demons and how it will separate them from just shooting holes in the air?

Bill Roper: Just as in any RPG, your chance to hit based on a number of different factors - your statistics, your equipment, the comparative levels of your character and the monster you're fighting and so forth. If a demon is in the air, hits are visually registered with animations, squibs (impacts usually blood or ichor) and particle effects. Misses depend on the weapon used, but if it is a ranged attack it usually continues on past the target and then fades or explodes or ceases to be in some definable way. Melee misses are apparent because, well, you REALLY know when you hit.

inHellgate.de: Will the degree of auto-aiming will be modifieable by the player, as to change the difficulty? Will aiming be different in PvP scenarios?

Bill Roper: We are still determining the level of PVP we'll use in the game, but if you look at how MMORPGs handle player versus player combat, you don't see a change in how they target enemies. The key to thinking about the targeting systems is to view it as an RPG and not FPS.

inHellgate.de: The mercenaries were a very popular element in Diablo2: LoD. In one of the previously published Videos, you could see a second templar fight the evil forces next to the player's character. Does this mean that there will also be mercenaries in Hellgate: London, and if so, will we be able to equip and perhaps even train them in skills?

Bill Roper: There will certainly be ways to get NPC help, although we don't have plans to recycle the Mercenary game play of Diablo II. We are focusing on these being rewards the player earns, available for a short amount of time as opposed to a core component. We do intend for there to be more persistent companions for characters, however, since they provide a great strategic element and are just pain fun to have.

inHellgate.de: At inhellgate.de, we already have seven clans that prepair their structures for Hellgate:London, so of course we are curious how the clansupport (as ingame as on websites) will be...

Bill Roper: We’re currently looking at how much depth of content and support we'll be able to offer clans and guilds in Hellgate: London. While we don't have all the details quite yet, we know how important this is to the community and we're going to do everything we can to make the game a great destination for players who enjoy getting together and facing their dangers in large, well-organized groups.

inHellgate.de: You plan to provide an impressive gaming experience for the singleplayer mode, too. WIll you also implement cheats for the singleplayer mode, so the casual player at home can work around challenges that are to tough for him? What do you as a private person think about singleplayer cheats?

Bill Roper: We don't enable cheats for players as a matter of course, and we find very few people ever have issues getting past specific areas in our games because they are so self-balancing. If an area seems too hard, it is a simple and fun matter for players to go through an instance of an area that is easy enough and gain some more experience, get some better gear and so on. We'll also have short-term ways for players to get NPC help to get over rougher areas without having to resort to cheats.

inHellgate.de: And for the multiplayer? How do you plan to keep the multiplayermode a clean and save place? Do you even consider such extreme, but well-working, methods as the new "Warden" from Blizzard?

Bill Roper: We are working on a client/server system that is designed to provide a fun, safe and easy to use online destination for our players. We know that character security is a huge issue, as is protecting our community from hackers and cheaters. We have not made a final decision as to how extreme our measures will be, but since so much of our game is designed around a robust online component with plans for continuous content, we will do everything in our power to make Hellgate: London a game you'll want to play online.

inHellgate.de: There was and is a large and growing community of players who turned their back to the normal Diablo 2 and used to play a huge amount of different modifications with great passion, also the mapmaking is a common pleasure for Warcraft fans. Will Hellgate: London support this form of "users' creativity"? Do you perhaps even want to support this by providing a developers kit, or even host realms for successfull and popular mods?

Bill Roper: We're not sure if we will, or can, provide the type of support that players see from FPS games. We know that mod-makers had a lot of fun creating variants on the Diablo II game play and items, but our online plans are more detailed and grand in scope than what we ever did for Diablo II. Again, think more along the lines of what you get from an MMORPG than and FPS, or even Diablo II in this regard.

inHellgate.de: You mentioned earlier that about 30 people work at Flagship Studios. Can you explain shortly and for amateurs, what the different tasks are, which department got which assignments, and what a usual working day looks like in your company?

Bill Roper: Wow, that is a huge question! We have artists, programmers, game designer, producers, a sound designer, Quality Assurance, PR, marketing, human resources and office management, and business development going on here at Flagship. People tend to wear a lot of different hats, chipping in their expertise and opinions on a variety of issues. We also work with outside contractors on artwork, cinematic sequences, and music, so some of our team manages those relationships, as well. We do have a very open environment both in the layout of our offices as well as the structure of our company and how we make games, so there are a lot of impromptu meetings and ideas flowing freely through the team. A usual working day is probably best described as mostly organized chaos!

inHellgate.de: You mentioned many times that everyone at FSS loves to play computer games himself. How much time do you spend for gaming and what are your favourite games right now? What about the other guys in your company? Do you also play together (or against each others) in your lunch break?

Bill Roper: I definitely spend too much time playing games, but I love them too much not to do so. Currently I am finishing my career mode in Major League Baseball on the PS2, heading into the final quests in Untold Legends for the PSP, alternating between The Movies and City of Villains on the PC, playing Texas Hold 'Em on my cellular phone, and getting into whatever board games we have at the office. I am actually fairly typical in this regard at Flagship, although some of the guys actually put in more time than I do! We have a wide diversity of players and games at the company, and there are at least three different MMORPGs represented. A few of us have a Supergroup in City of Heroes / Villains while another gang has a guild in World of Warcraft. I am pretty sure we have one or two Everquest players in the company, still, and there are too many PS2 and Xbox games to even mention.

We're a competitive and cooperative bunch, and we not only make games together, but we play them as well. A long-standing favorite of ours is Carcassonne. We even take it on trips when some of us travel together - much to the chagrin of our spouses and significant others!

inHellgate.de: You also mentioned the cooperation with the fansite-admins. How will this cooperation look like? In which parts of the development process do you wish to include them?

Bill Roper: We have a wonderful community of fan sites, some of which that have been with us since before we even had a game announced! We've tried to foster good relationships with the administrators of these fan sites and to strengthen and put more focus on this, we're currently searching for a dedicated Community Manager. If it helps to show how important fansites are to us, in the interim, I am dealing directly with them. In fact, we put together an exclusive set of screenshots and concept art as a Holiday gift that only goes out to fansites. We love you guys!

On the development side, we’re dedicated to getting the fansites involved early in the beta testing process and having them really be a part of the balance and feedback of our game. We've always found this to be extremely beneficial to the game itself, and we love getting our most dedicated fans involved.

inHellgate.de: Rumours say that the newly founded "Online Network Division"'s task is to construct the multiplayer enviroment for Hellgate: London. You want to comment on this? What is their job at all? How do they work together with you in the "parent company" and why at all did you outsource this part of the development instead of keeping all teams under one roof?

Bill Roper: I've always wondered who sits around and makes up all the rumors we read on the Internet. I really want that job! On this case, our Online Division is in fact going to be focused on creating our destination for Hellgate: London players. They will be working directly with us, and the reason we term it a "division" is to make sure that it is clear that these are not game programmers, but individuals tasked with creating the best online gaming experience possible.

As a point of clarification, we are not outsourcing this part of the project. If we were doing that, we wouldn't be looking at resumes and conducting interviews. These are people that will be working with the Hellgate: London team and will be interfacing on a daily basis with our senior programming staff.

inHellgate.de: At Halloween, you guys could play the complete first act of Hellgate: London (which, by the way, made us green with envy ;)). Are there any assumptions circulating in your office when you'll be done with development? Will there be a beta-testing phase, and how will beta-keys be spread?

Bill Roper: We didn't quite have the entire first "act" in at Halloween, but we were fairly close. This was a big milestone for us and we were encouraged by our progress. We have a release window, or timeframe, that we are developing towards, but it is still too far away to lock down. Trust us - when we know, you'll know!

We will definitely have several beta test phases, and when these get to the closed, wide and public stage, we'll be letting people know how they can sign up through our web sites.

inHellgate.de: Europe and Germany in particular is getting more and more important as markets for American computer games, Germany is already the second biggest market worldwide. Do you therefore nowadays consider the german preferences more than you did in the past in the development process? How strong are you tied to economic issues when developing a game, and how much does this fact limit your freedom as developers, always being forced to produce something mass-compatible?

Bill Roper: We have always had excellent relationships with the European marketplace and gamers, and Germany has been a long-time focus of ours. We work diligently with the ratings boards, localization teams and marketing groups to make sure our game is represented to the community as best as it can be. We find that this helps our design process as it keeps us thinking globally, as opposed to just trying to make an "American" game and then shipping it off to other countries.

inHellgate.de: Will there be region-specific realms, like german-, french-, spanish-, korean-speaking realms etc.? Or do you prefer international realms that are limited only by capacity, not region?

Bill Roper: We have not made any binding decisions as to how and where we will have data centers for Hellgate: London, but we recognize the value of co-locating servers globally. It provides better access, better service and more control in many ways. We have found that players want to get together with others that they can easily communicate with, and having geographically organized servers makes this much easier.

inHellgate.de: Will it be possible to play Hellgate: London via LAN or will there be other possibilities to play Hellgate: London together with other players without depending on the multiplayer mode?

Bill Roper: We're looking into exactly how people will be able to experience the game in a multiplayer setting. One of our concerns is with cheating and hacking in these modes, which is why we're so focused on building our online component. We also want to have a compelling on line experience that we support MUCH more than we ever did Diablo II. In our minds, the ongoing commitment by gamers and developers to giving a great game a long life goes hand-in-hand, and that is where we are currently putting our focus.

inHellgate.de: Will there be support for players not using a Windows-system? Will there be a version for Apple-systems, or even Linux binaries?

Bill Roper: We have talked with the folks at Apple, and we're seeing if there might be some way to work something out. Our biggest issue is manpower because we have a small company. Unlike our days at Blizzard, we don't have a dedicated Macintosh team to make a version of the game for that system. We know that Mac gamers are a particularly passionate lot, and we hope to be able to find a way to get them in on the fun of Hellgate: London.

inHellgate.de: Will Hellgate: London use the advantages of OpenGL, or will you only use Direct3D again?

Bill Roper: We're looking forward to taking advantages of the new features available in DX10. We're also hoping that working directly with companies like Microsoft, NVidia and ATI, as well as delving into the new Vista OS will make the game look as good as possible. The only reason we would provide OpenGL support is if we do create a version of the game for Macintosh.

inHellgate.de: What do you think about product placement and other forms of commercials in computer games?

Bill Roper: It is definitely a growing model, and there is nothing that would technologically prevent us from including it in our game. What it really comes down to is if it makes sense on the game world. The experience of our gamers is first and foremost in our minds, and we're not going to just put in some streaming ads or giant billboards if it doesn't make any sense. As an industry business model, it is a completely viable way to get revenue - but again, it depends on the game.

inHellgate.de: In which programming language do you work on Hellgate: London? What do you think how long it will take till Java takes the lead as programming language for computer games from C?

Bill Roper: We are definitely a C++ house. We don't use any Java that I am aware of, and as far as Java becoming the lead language for games, that is really going to depend on the platforms. Right now, Java is great for web-based applications, but we would be hard-pressed on the PC or on consoles to use it as our main language.

inHellgate.de: In an earlier interview you made clear that you prefer developing for the PC over consoles. What do you think as a player about the new generation of consoles (Xbox 360, Playstation3 and Nintendo Revolution) and can you imagine to publish a Hellgate: London version for consoles?

Bill Roper: I haven't formed a complete opinion about the Xbox 360 since it is just still too new. I'm not convinced developers have gotten all they can out of the Xbox and PS2, so it feels like a lot of what we're seeing is a way to sell new hardware more than a truly necessary upgrade to get more out of our games. That being said, the new machines have a lot of promise, especially in the areas of opening up console gamers to the online world. I am looking forward to the second wave of games that come out for the new consoles because traditionally, it takes a round of development to figure out all the cool new bells and whistles. There will be some great games on the new platforms, and you can be sure we'll be playing them.

inHellgate.de: So, after examining the game, we would now also like to shed a light onto the private person Bill Roper that stands behind the game. You once mentioned that you always work till late in the night and spend only very little time at home. Can you introduce us a typical day in the life of Bill Roper? When do you get up, head for the office, etc...?

Bill Roper: I have been spending a lot more time at home on a day-to-day basis, which has made my wife very happy. I try and confine those really long hours to the times when I absolutely need to be there. Those days can be extremely long, and often include sleepovers at the office, but we're all trying to make that the exception rather than the rule.

A typical day has me up around 7:00 AM to let our dogs outside. I then either sneak back into bed, or I get started on my day, depending on what needs to get done. I am usually in the office around 9:30, and then it is a mixture of meetings, writing, phone calls, emails, lunch, design discussions, publisher meetings, PR duties, and the occasional noon-time game. The one thing I love about my job is that every day is different.

I try to leave between 6:00 and 7:00 in the evening, unless we have deadlines to meet, or if I have an evening business appointment. One thing that can make the hours shift around is our international relationships with our publishers and also our fans and partners. There are days when I will conference in from home at about 7:30 AM and stay late at the office until 8:00 or 9:00 depending on what needs to get done.

When I get home, its dinner, time with the wife, and (when she goes to sleep), gaming! I am a real night owl, so I usually am not in bed before midnight.

inHellgate.de: How much time do you got left for recreation and spare time? How do you relax from your daily working routine, or is even in this part of your life gaming in first place?

Bill Roper: I try and relax on weekends, or if I am on a long business trip, my wife will sometimes come along. When this happens, we try and squeeze in a couple of days and see the sights. As an example, after attending Leipzig this year, we took the train to Prague for a day or so. Basically, you fit it in when you can because when it gets busy, you have to be able to just work like crazy.

inHellgate.de: How does your private enviroment handle this strain or are your private friends and relatives also as obsessive gamers as you are?

Bill Roper: Some are, but many are not. I am also a musician, so I have a whole group of friends with whom I share that particular passion. I love movies as well, so I have a different group of friends that share that obsession. Basically, I like to enjoy life and it is pretty easy to find people with the same mindset, regardless of the activity.

Another real interest both my wife and I have picked up is fine restaurants. This is definitely a side-effect of living in the San Francisco area since there are literally hundreds of amazing restaurants here. Spending an evening out with friends, eating good food and enjoying great conversation is a great way to relax.

inHellgate.de: Do you also meet your workmates in your spare time or do you strictly separate the working sphere from the private sphere?

Bill Roper: One of the fantastic things about Flagship is that so many of us are friends outside of the workplace. We often have dinners, go to ball games (Go Giants!) and take vacations together. Some of the guys play on the same hockey team, one of our programmers has a cooking club that a bunch of the people from work are a part of, and we have BBQs and parties just to maintain our close atmosphere. It is great working with people you also like spending time with and respect.

inHellgate.de: Do you still have private or business relations to Blizzard? For example, have you been to the Blizzcon? What are your feelings towards Blizzard like? And to Vivendi, who are responsible for you quitting Blizzard?

Bill Roper: We all have a lot of personal friends that work at Blizzard. A couple of our guys went down to Blizzcon, for example, and stayed with friends there. Blizzard is a huge company now, with a ton of employees, and the success they have had over the past 15 years is obvious. The thing we missed in all of that was the comraderie and "us against the world" feeling that was such a driving force in the early days. This sense of pure focus and dedication to each other is what makes Flagship so special to us and, hopefully, this will be reflected in our games.

inHellgate.de: Do you still keep an eye on the developments from Blizzard, especially what happens around "your" universes Diablo and Warcraft?

Bill Roper: A lot of us play World of Warcraft, so we're certainly aware of what's happening there. As for Diablo, Dave Brevik (our Chief Visionary Officer), Erich Schaefer (Our Chief Creative Officer) and Max Schaefer (our Chief Operations Officer) were the creators of the series. We are all hoping that Blizzard continues on with the Diablo universe because, well, we're gamers first and foremost and we want to play!

inHellgate.de: If you had the chance to influence the development of Diablo3, what would you be important for you? Which direction would you like your universe to go to?

Bill Roper: To be honest, I stopped thinking about what I would do to the Diablo universe the day we left Blizzard. For me, that is the past and Hellgate: London is the future. My ideas are focused on making our game better, and I think that there are a lot of fantastic things that Diablo players are going to love in what we’re doing here at Flagship Studios. If you want to see the direction we would take with our next great game, keep an eye out for what we’re doing now - it's all there.

inHellgate.de: Gem activated?

Bill Roper: Perfect Gem Activation!

inHellgate.de: So, we thank you very much for this entertaining and informating interview. Is there anything left you want the huge german community to know?

Bill Roper: Just that we're all extremely excited to be able to continue making games for such devoted and encouraging fans. I have had the personal pleasure of visiting Germany a number of times, and continue to be impressed with the dedication of the gamers there. We're looking forward to coming to Leipzig this year and showing Hellgate: London off to you all - see you there!