Scott Lane has been in the industry of making games since the '80s. One of his latest involvements is Interplay's Hunter: The Reckoning (developed by High Voltage and White Wolf). We get his take on zombie games set during daylight hours, Hunter's story development, the default control scheme, and the ties between Hunter and classics such as Gauntlet and Smash TV. (And when you're done here, read our review of Hunter.) Thanks for your time, Scott!

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Hunter: The Reckoning Q&A

with Scott Lane

Conducted by Omni

Who are you and how’d you wind up where you are?

I’m Scot Lane and I’ve been in the industry for a long time now. I started at Mindscape/Software Toolworks in the late 80’s, spent time at The UpperDeck Company and Sierra before joining Interplay in 1999.

Are comparisons between Hunter: The Reckoning (H:TR) and Gauntlet justified?

Oh yes, without question. When we decided to do Hunter we all felt it was a retro game and we quite openly tried to do what some great games of the past have done. There is no point reinventing the wheel, so we really used past experience when creating Hunter. You’ll see serious comparisons to Gauntlet, Smash TV, even Robotron.

You worked extensively with White Wolf. How much of the characters are your own creation? Or were they based on characters from White Wolf?

The game characters where created by the team. White Wolf was in on the creation, but the playable characters were not based on any specific White Wolf characters.

Could a prequel of H:TR be made with the same characters?

Well, it is a videogame and when you use videogame logic, you can really do any story you want.

Were there any delays associated with H:TR?

This is a tough one to answer. Originally, we did plan to ship Hunter on March 15 [2002], however, about 3 months before that date, we all took a close look at the game and decided we would like to spend an extra two months, polishing and adding some key features.

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Was there a concentrated effort at black humor? (That demonic teddy bear scene was something else.)

The World of Darkness (TWOD) is very dark/gothic and we wanted to have some fun with that. One of the artists at High Voltage came up with that one and we all instantly liked it. Teddy is without a doubt, one of the coolest bosses I’ve ever seen in a video game.

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How long did it take to develop the story? Who is largely responsible for it?

I would like to think it was a team effort, if one guy was given the story credit, it would have to be the lead designer, Dave Rodriguez. He thought it up and then we all tried to get our two cents in.

What Edges (i.e. magical abilities) got left out of the game due to time, technical, or quality issues?

The Hunters in TWOD have a lot of edges at their disposal, too many to name. It made the most sense for this game to keep it at 3 per Hunter. Much easier to manage on the gameplay side.

All those people you give special thanks to in the manual – just what did they contribute?

Most of them are family members of the team. Making a game takes a lot of commitment from the team members and in most cases requires you to work crazy hours. Most of the guys rarely saw their family during the last 4-6 weeks of development and this was a small way to say thanks.

Are there any Easter Eggs in H:TR the average gamer might have missed?

There are a few, I’d rather not get into specifics. If we are fortunate enough to do a sequel, you can expect to see a lot more.

Did you have many problems implementing the default control scheme?

Not really, this was surprisingly straightforward on Hunter. We did not have a lot of choice on button mapping, since we supported dual analog. You can’t expect someone to fire with anything but the triggers since their fingers are tied up on the analog sticks.

Do you think videogames are popular because they provide escape from what’s going on in the world – especially today’s world – even though people, as a whole, should be paying more attention to each other?

I’m not totally sure why they are so popular. I’ve been playing games since they first showed up. I think part of it is that it allows you to step out and be someone else for a short amount of time. Games are a lot more accessible and affordable in today’s world so a lot more people are playing them. Besides, with all of the harmful radiation from the sun, everyone’s staying indoors!

Why don’t zombie games take place during bright sunny days? It’s always night or raining or both.

Darkness sets the mood. Most people are not scared on bright and sunny days. It also lends itself to creepiness and the gothic theme we set up [in H:TR].

Thanks for your time Scot!

Our Review of Hunter: The Reckoning


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