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Articles
Q1 SP views and articles: 23/07/01

Interview with Mindcrime, creator of Nehahra.

Introduction:
Nehahra is simply the most important Quake single player release ever. Achieving full mission pack status via two huge episodes, numerous innovative addons, custom engine effects, cutscenes, and maps from the very best Q1 SP mappers around, it is a classic and hugely popular release (Download (50 meg), Nehahra site, overall review, individual map reviews). The man behind the madness, Mindcrime, not only organised the pack, but also did the modelling, skinning, new monsters, new weapons, AI coding, new sounds and voices....almost everything except the engine and maps. He's now retired from the Quake scene, but I mercilessly dragged him out of retirement for a few words.

Shambler: 1. You masterminded the most important Quake single player release ever, and thus could be said to be the most important person ever in the Q1 SP community. How do you feel about that??

Mindcrime: In my opinion, you (Shambler) are the top dog. Without you, a pillar of Quake's foundation cracks. Without me... well, hell, I already gave Quake a fix of power in its veins. If I get run over by an ice cream truck tomorrow morning, it won't matter to the Q community. Nehahra is a done deal. Now if I'd never made Nehahra, well, Quake might not be enjoying its new vigor.

Whether Nehahra was the most important Quake release ever I'm sure is open to debate, especially among those who hold grudges against Nehahra for various reasons. How do I feel about being said to the be the most important person ever in the Q1 SP community? Flattered. I have to admit, if stepping outside and looking in, I'm in the top 10 easy. The most important, I wouldn't claim that title but I have no objections if anyone views me in that light.

Shambler: 2. Before Nehahra, Zerstorer, the Mexx series, and perhaps the IKspq series all had a huge impact as classics in the Quake scene. After Nehahra, will there ever be another release as important and "defining"??

Mindcrime: I'm an amazing man but I cannot predict the future. Seeing is believing. Mod teams can hype till the stars burn out, the only thing that matters is the end product.

The future depends on people in the community, how serious they are, how dedicated, how imaginative and skilled. Then again, I have only been involved in this community since the birth of Nehahra. Perhaps one day, another man will step out of the shadows with the will to see a vision realized and notwithstanding the odds against him, the attitudes towards newcomers, and the many hurdles he will face, will produce something fantastic. I sincerely hope that Nehahra isn't the last "big one". It would be a kind of tragedy if so.

Shambler: 3. So you came into the Quake scene, spent a year or so frantically making the most ambitious project ever, and then disappeared again. Doesn't that seem a bit....surreal?!

Mindcrime: Hmm. Yes, I guess it does. Perhaps downright suspicious! Such is the life of an eccentric creative person, you never know what they're gonna do next :)

Shambler: 4. Since Nehahra's release, Q1 SP maps have increased in quality AND regularity, indeed the first half of 2001 could be considered the best Q1 SP mapping period yet. Do you think Nehahra woke people up to Q1 SP's continuing potential??

Mindcrime: I think it resparked a lot of enthusiasm. I think it also showed that the Quake community is not dead nor dying. It merely adapts to the times. Nehahra might have woken some people up. I can be fairly certain that Nehahra brought several people back to Q1 judging from my rather thick fan email that comes to this day. I think Nehahra showed that Quake is flexible and mods/conversions thus far have only scratched the surface. We have not reached the end. Nehahra is not the end of Quake, nor its beginning, but a transition to a bright, amazing future for Quake.

As for the flood of great maps in the community since Nehahra's release, I think that's very encouraging. I couldn't be more pleased. For me, it's mission accomplished.

Shambler: 5. Many people have promised maps for Nehahra, to make use of it's many features, but only ELEK has delivered. Is that disappointing??

Mindcrime: Of course it's disappointing, but mappers are fragile animals. They mostly like to stick to old ways and most of them detest learning anything new (perhaps you can attribute many of them remaining in the Quake 1 community to this...) It's disappointing but understandable.

Let me ask, what's easier? Building a map for standard Quake or for a mod with a devkit1.txt the size of France?

Regarding ELEK. He always delivers. He's an amazing mapper and an awesome person to work with. Without me, there would be no Nehahra. But honestly, without ELEK, there would be no Nehahra. The amount of work he put into Nehahra is mind-boggling.

The amount of work I put in... Let's not even go there...

Shambler: 6. Why do you think Nehahra's many excellent features were underused by mappers during and indeed after it's release??

Mindcrime: It's not so much the features as they are often dryly described in the devkit. It's up to the mapper's imagination to see all the tools I have provided and realize the innovative ways they can be used in conjunction. AI features were underused, such as friendly-monsters (not including Qguys) and even some of the quirky Jagger & Gaunt AI. You can do almost anything with the Nehahra entities.

I would say the mappers of Nehahra tapped into perhaps 50% of Nehahra's potential. That might seem like a bad statement but it's not.

Nehahra's potential, like Quake, is as deep as the ocean.

Shambler: 7. How much of Nehahra's popularity was due to the innovative modifications and engine features, and how much was due the generally excellent maps??

Mindcrime: I think it was a bit of both. Engine eye candy for some. The great maps for others. And for others, the combination of the two. This is only speculation on my part, mind you...

Shambler: 8. What was your main goal behind creating Nehahra??

Mindcrime: To create the largest single player conversion known to Quakedom, and a fantastic game that I'd love to play. Notice I said *I*. I make stuff for me first, others second. I also intended to set standards. There were too many CRAP conversions out there.

Shambler: 9. What were the best and worst aspects of creating and organising Nehahra??

Mindcrime: BEST: Working with the Nehahra team. The friendship, late nights, and the creative process itself.

WORST: The strain it placed on my personal life. The wasted time (On a Quake level, it was not time wasted, on a real life level... it was a waste of a year, especially considering this is only a hobby). Keeping certain mappers from squabbling. Shutting everyone else out (many wanted in, but I ran a tight ship). Deadlines. Arguing with engine guys whom I got along with as much as I clashed with them in terms of preference and my idea of a good game.

The attention, especially after release... I enjoyed it at first. Then it became too much.

Shambler: 10. Despite it's overall quality, Nehahra did have several obvious flaws. Given your unashamed dedication to high quality, how did those slip through??

Mindcrime: Constraints of time. Self-imposed deadlines. Real life intruding (as many know, Nehahra development coincided with considerable shaky times in my personal life). Burn out. Lack of sleep. Conflicting creative interests. The division of resources between the gigantic Nehahra movie and the game. Any number of things affect judgment and overall quality.

If you're referring to engine bugs...well, that's not my department. I was happy to get a working engine. Let me rephrase, I felt blessed to get a working engine!

Shambler: 11. Many people found the gameplay and new AI in Nehahra very hard. Although technically the AI is an impressive achievement, don't you think you should have made it a bit more accessible to normal players??

Mindcrime: Well, there is EASY skill and the NOMONSTERS 1 option which shuts off a good deal of AI in certain monsters. Accessible to "normal players". I'm not sure what you mean by this reference, but I will assume you mean "bad players". I, myself, am a terrible DM player and a below-average player in general. I might also add that I am a keyboarder.I might also add that I have defeated Nehahra on hard dozens of times, including the final boss without losing a single life to him... However, I can't have a great deal of sympathy for these 'normal players'. Nehahra was meant to be a challenge, because some did not wish to rise to this challenge is no fault of mine. It is unfortunate that it made it a bad experience for some, but ya can't win 'em all.

Shambler: 12. What would you have liked to improved most about Nehahra??

Mindcrime: You might laugh, but I might have liked to improve the AI and made it even smarter. At least it's efficient. A Nehahra enforcer could probably wipe the walls with a Reaperbot. Stick 12 Reaperbots in a levvel and the whole thing slows down. Stick a hundred Nehahra monsters in a level and little slowage.

I might have liked to improve the boss combat with Nehahra. The boss combat with Max, I wouldn't change for a second... Max came out precisely as I had envisioned and that's the best a creator can hope for.

I also may have liked to improve the cohesion/transition between levels.

Shambler: 13. Why did you choose to make Nehahra for Quake and not any other game/engine??

Mindcrime: Simple answer. No other game/engine inspired me like Quake did. If there's no inspiration, there's nothing.

Shambler: 14. Did you feel any concern that making such a major project for Quake, rather than, say, Q3A or HL, would seriously reduce it's popularity??

Mindcrime: Popularity didn't matter to me on a global gamer scale. I was only interested in the Quake community's attention.

Shambler: 15. What would you say to people who have ignored Nehahra simply because it's an addon for Quake??

Mindcrime: You're missing a good time.

Shambler: 16. Nehahra was, overall, extremely good. However, other Q1 SP releases, before and after it, were at least as good if not better, yet Nehahra has had 10 times as many downloads as other great releases. Isn't that unfair??

Mindcrime: To tell you the truth, I don't think about it that much. Fair to whom? I don't think it's unfair that Nehahra received a lot of downloads. I do think it's unfortunate that other maps aren't getting as much attention. If there is any unfairness involved, it is perpetuated by the community, not by myself or any other map-maker or mod-maker who gets more downloads than someone else. It may very well be that the larger the package... the larger the audience. Hype and promotion also plays a role. Nehahra was in the headlines all over the place for, hell, weeks. Interviews up the ass from various sites. You also have to take into account The Seal of Nehahra movie which was insanely popular (perhaps more so than even the Nehahra game). I think we reached and found fans even beyond the boundaries of the Q1 community. A lot of Nehahra's success is probably attributed to the draw of it being the first massive conversion built onan enhanced engine.

When was the last time you saw mass advertising, hype, and interviews... regarding one mapper releasing 1 map or even a map pack? Not often.

If you're a mapper and release a 2-3 map pack, or even something larger, you better scream it from the rooftops and get as much coverage as possible. The more people who know about, the more people who will download it. Simple as that. It's all in the promotion and what you have to offer.

Shambler: 17. What would you say to people who have played an enjoyed Nehahra, but who haven't tried the many excellent Q1 SP maps in recent years??

Mindcrime: There's a wealth of Quake SP goodness out there. Go find it. I'd send them to your site so they find the quality stuff, Shambler :) <GRIN> You could even play many of these excellent Q1 SP maps of recent years using Nehahra =]

Honestly, I cannot pre-suppose to know what people will like. Preferences vary, but there's a shitload of good maps out there. There's no good reason not to give them all a shot.

Shambler: 18. How long do you think the Q1 SP scene will last, and how do you think it will evolve in the future?? How would this be different if Nehahra had never been made??

Mindcrime: I think it will last a long time. How long? I dare not predict. How would it be different without Nehahra? I don't know, but I strongly suspect that Nehahra gave the community a big enough boost to keep its engines running longer than it otherwise may have. How much, who knows. One thing is for certain, Quake will outlive Nehahra.