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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 1</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
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              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Related 
                Links:</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="http://www.cavedog.com">Cavedog</a>: 
                Chris Taylor's former company, and the makers of <b>Total Annihilation</b>.</font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="http://www.3drealms.com">3D 
                Realms</a>: George Broussard's company, and the makers of <b>Duke 
                Nukem 3D</b>.</font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="http://www.gaspowered.com">Gas 
                Powered Games</a>: Chris Taylor's latest venture.</font></p>
              <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../1.3/feat/index.html">George 
              Broussard Gets Annihilated</a>: Chris Taylor interviews George Broussard.</font> 
              
              
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"> 
          Chris Taylor Gets Some</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT">&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="LEFT">&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font size="+1" color="#0022A8"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">New 
          Company Plans</font></b></font><b></b></p>
        <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What's the name of your 
          new company, and what type of games will you be making? </font></b></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Our first title is a role 
          playing game (RPG). I can't talk much more about it at this time but 
          I can say that we want to innovate in the same way that we did while 
          building <b>TA</b>. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Do you worry about biting 
          off more than you can chew by doing an RPG as your first title? RPG's 
          are notorious for having huge amounts of content and taking a long time 
          to get right. Or do you just like a challenge? ;)</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It's definately a huge challenge! 
          We have lots of example of RPG's out there right now that we can look 
          at and say, jeepers, look at all the content in this game...we better 

          get our tools and technology worked out and then prepare to hire a lot 
          of people! We need to get this right on the first try!</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Will you work on more 
          than one game at a time, or just focus on one for starters? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> We are just going to focus 
          on one title at a time for the first couple of years. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b> Do you have a publisher 
          lined up yet? Can you mention them?</b> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</a>. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Why Microsoft? I ask because 
          I know a lot of developers that haven't exactly cherished the fact that 
          they had to deal with Microsoft. What was it that pulled you towards 
          them and not another publisher such as GT, Activision or even Interplay. 
          Was their being local to you a big factor? </b><font color="#0022A8">(<i>Editor's 
          note: Gas Powered games, like Microsoft, is located in Seatle, Washington)</i></font><font color="#0022A8"><i></i></font></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Microsoft (MS) has really 
          turned a corner in the last couple of years and built a great infrastructure 
          for working with outside developers. Having MS nearby is a plus but 
          it's not the main reason. They have a great marketing and distribution 
          group that is capable of getting the message out and the game on the 
          shelf. The most important reason is, we saw eye to eye on what the game 
          should be and agreed on the product vision.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How many employees are 
          on board so far? How many more left to hire?</b> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We have 9 in total right 
          now. We are going to hire a few more and then the rest in about 7 months 
          after we do our technical prototype. By the end of the project we will 
          likely have hit a high of about 24 people. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What are some of the difficulties 
          you've had in setting up the new company?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, there is all sorts 
          of stuff that gets in the way. Nothing is so serious that it causes 
          big problems but its annoying to have to fill out piles of government 
          paperwork. One thing is for sure, if you start a company, get a good 
          biz guy! Can't say enough about that. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What can you tell people 
          about your new game to get them excited?</b> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I can't tell them much but 
          I can talk dirty for awhile instead. (Just kidding). </font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font size="+1" color="#0022A8"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">General</font></b></font></p>
        <p> <b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What are your favorite 
          types of games to play?</font></b></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I like all kinds of games 
          but my favorites include <b>Duke Nukem</b> and <b>Command & Conquer</b>. 
          I played a ton of <b>Warcraft 2</b>. I have been playing <b>Unreal</b> 
          lately and <b>Fallout</b>. The list goes on and on. Oh, I finally got 
          my hands on <b>Final Fantasy VII </b>which from what I understandis 
          really awesome, now I just need to play it!! </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What games are you most 
          looking forward to over the next year? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Half-Life </b>from <a href="http://www.valvesoftware.com">Valve</a> 
          and <b>Amen</b> from the guys at Cavedog. <b>Tiberian Sun</b> looks 
          good and I definately can't wait to play <b>Homeworld</b> from Relic. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What's wrong with the 
          game industry that you'd like to see change over the next couple of 
          years? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> I would like to see fewer 
          games at a much higher quality. As we move into the mass market and 
          more and more people are introduced to computer games, I want to make 
          sure we don't scare them away because the first game they play leaves 
          a bad taste in their mouth. I wouldn't mind the price dropping so that 
          the games are more affordable to more people. At the end of it all I 
          want as many people as possible playing games. <insert evil laugh here> 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Quality over quantity 
          huh? What do you think about Deer Hunter? It's hard to knock a game 
          that we all know we could have done in six weeks, but has sold as well 
          as it does. I think a lot of developers are kicking themselves about 
          now for not thinking about Joe Sixpack as a consumer. What do you think 
          about this new mass market we appear to be entering? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I will never go for quantity 
          over quality, that's out. I think Deer Hunter was a very interesting 
          success story because it reminded us that there is a huge market out 
          there and the typical "gamers game" is too hard to learn or too tough 
          to play. I want to break down the barrior between these two markets 
          and make a game that everyone can enjoy without making compromises... 
          the question is: Is this possible? I sure as hell hope so! :)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Where do you see the industry 
          going in the next few years?</b> </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I see persistent world games 
          on the internet that work really well and don't feel like an R&D project. 
          I see the hardware getting so good that designers will have to focus 
          almost entirely on game content and playability instead of technology 
          to make the game great. I see better characters with personalities that 
          weave more tightly into the story telling experience. And mostly I see 
          deep and immersive environments that don't make playing the game feel 
          like they are trying to fly a 747. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What are your hobbies, 
          or what do you like to do when you aren't working on games? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I like to play my piano and 
          wonder when I will fly the little helicopter I built 2 years ago. The 
          thought does occur to me that I should find a wife so I can have some 
          off-spring. I have it on my "to do" list. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What's a typical day like 
          for you these days? </b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I work on the "game" and 
          then sometimes watch TV when I am too wiped-out to think. I do a lot 
          of email, in fact, I am thinking about having my email program burned 
          into ROM's in my head so I can do email whilst in the shower and driving 
          down the road. This weekend I am going to go mountain climbing because 
          I need to cross that off my list and then I can say, &quot;yeah, I went 
          mountain climbing in the last Millennium, did you?&quot; </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT">&nbsp;</p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Illustration &copy; 1998 Dan Zalkus. This interview is &copy; 1998 Chris 
      Taylor &amp; George Broussard. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited and totally 
      not cool.</font></i></td>
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