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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="4">Kicking 
                        Back with a Bear</font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">An 
                        interview by Russell &quot;<a href="mailto:radpipe@loonygames.com">RadPipe</a>&quot; 

                        Lauzon</font></div>
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                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 3&nbsp; <br>
                      November 22, 1999&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
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              <h5 align="right">&nbsp; </h5><loonystart>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What's 
                the best least-known thing about Jim Molinets?</b></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ha, aside 
                from being the most entertaining person to be around that I know, 
                I would definitely have to say that even though Jim is on the 
                'Artistic' side of the business, he actually has a great deal 
                more common sense than most people I know. This definitely contributes 
                to a keen understanding of a vast number of topics, from game 
                design to business and beyond. His sense of reasoning (I know 
                you asked for the 'thing' not 'things' but this seems to tie in) 
                is astounding. He is able to understand and foresee potential 
                problems in all sorts of situations. He is terribly sharp. You 
                said 'least' known, and after typing all that I thought to myself, 
                &quot;ya know, everyone might know that about Jim already&quot;. 
                If they didn't, they do now.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What 
                are your duties at Rogue? Mainly biz? Did you help during negotiations 
                for the Alice project?</font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, 
                during Rogue's current growth phase, my duties are greatly varied. 
                I handle everything that is not directly related to game development. 
                My primary role here is to conduct all of the company business, 
                including the day to day operations, as well as looking ahead 
                for new opportunities. My responsibilities also include a lot 
                the things similar to what I did at id, like dealing with outside 
                entities, including PR and items of that nature. I definitely 
                had a role in the Alice negotiations, especially the contract 
                nitty gritty. However, I was (actually, we all were) amazed at 
                how straight forward EA was and how easy it is to deal with them. 
                So far they have been outstanding to work with and we only see 
                this fledgling relationship strengthening.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How 
                does the environment at Rogue differ from the environment at id?</b></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not 
                going to make comparisons. However, the exceptional qualities 
                I see in Rogue are:</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. The 
                TEAM environment. It's amazing, everyone has input, and your opinion 
                is treated as if there is an ounce of validity prior to it being 
                'shot down'! No, really, even me, Mr. Biz guy, gets to sit in 
                on design meetings. Everyone is treated equally, period, and there 
                is no replacement for that when running a business.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2. Belief 
                in the individuals that create the team. Rogue stands behind all 
                of their employees. In my case, giving me the freedom to go out, 
                make a decision, and then have them stand behind it. Not every 
                decision is going to be perfect, I'm human (hey, like I said, 
                I like to be honest). However, they trust that I have enough sense 
                (and understanding of direction for the company) that if I make 
                a poor decision, it won't impact the business so badly that it 
                matters. It's great to work for people who believe and trust in 
                you.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Will 
                Rogue be looking to fill in some ranks for the Alice project? 
                </font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Absolutely. 
                We expect to be up to 15 or 16 people in the next few months. 
                In particular we need, well, pretty much all facets of game design; 
                Programmers, 3D Artists (especially good game character animators), 
                and Level Designers. You can visit our web site at:</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.rogue-ent.com/jobindex.html">http://www.rogue-ent.com/jobindex.html</a></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We haven't 
                currently posted all the positions we need filled, but over the 
                next couple of weeks you should see details on more openings. 
                If there are experienced developers (I emphasize 'experienced') 
                out there that are ready to make a move, we truly are looking 
                for all positions, so, drop me an email.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rogue 
                Entertainment is a low-key company that drifts along in the background 
                yet consistently produces great work. What do you attribute Rogue's 
                continuing success to?</font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hard work 
                and focus! Even though this is an extraordinarily unique industry 
                where there is a lot of fun to be had, it's still a business and 
                should be treated as such. Rogue has always kept their proverbial 
                'nose to the grindstone', taken care of business first, and played 
                second. This is what intrigues me the most about Rogue. They have 
                built a solid foundation for the company, which will allow Rogue 
                to flourish where others would fail. Essentially, many of the 
                normal mistakes, pitfalls and learning curves have already been 
                experienced. In particular, related to the Alice project, we are 
                definitely ready for prime time again. Rogue knows how the gaming 
                industry works and what it takes to get an incredible game done, 
                and done on time.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How 
                will Rogue be tackling the task of communication with the Redwood 
                City team? Will EA be sending someone out to Rogue to help? Who's 
                your point person at EA?</b></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Essentially 
                we're in direct contact with American McGee at all times. His 
                role as the title's Director allows EA and Rogue to work together 
                to craft a new benchmark in gaming. He visits periodically, to 
                keep track of the progress and to get input from the team here, 
                while we continue along working with Jim, our internal producer, 
                to make Alice up to our combined standards of quality. EA and 
                American have entrusted a lot of faith in us.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What 
                freedoms will you have in the design/development of Alice, or 
                is it pretty much locked up? What stage is the design currently 
                at?</font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">American 
                and EA have been amazingly open minded from the beginning. They 
                have asked for input from day one and are always ready to listen 
                to new ideas, even as we progress through the development cycle. 
                As far as the current stage of development goes, it's EA's place 
                to talk about that :)</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">How 
                will making a 3rd-person game change the way Rogue usually develops?</font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, 
                I think the best answer to this question would be, &quot;looks 
                like it's time for an interview with Jim Molinets, Rogue's resident 
                producer type&quot; :)</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What's 
                the strangest thing that's happened to you in the last week?</font></b></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ha, someone 
                from a gaming site asked me to do an interview ;)</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Thanks, 
                Barrett!</b></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><i>- 
                Russell &quot;RadPipe&quot; Lauzon is some guy who just walked 
                into the loonygames office and started calling himself Features 
                Editor. The position wasn't filled so we kept him.</i></font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Francis Tsai. This interview is &copy; 1999 Russell Lauzon and Barrett 
  Alexander. All other content is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized 
  reproduction is prohibited. Grr.</font></i></p>
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