Neil Manke (They Hunger) Interview

Does your wife think you spend too much time with your computer?

I don’t think so because oftentimes she will say to me, "Don’t you have something you could be doing on your computer?" LOL

There was a recent news item about Hypersonic planes (which will be able to get people from New York to London in 40 minutes) will the idea ever fly?

So what if it does? What they really need is hypersonic airports.

Has your mod work resulted in many job offers from game developers?

Yes, I have had a few job enquires during the last couple years.

In previous interviews you seemed hyped about Daikatana. Did you play it and what were your reactions?

I never did play it. At the time it came out I was very busy, plus the reviews weren’t promising, so I never did bother to get it.

Do you think the current economic downturn in North America will affect gamers? What about developers?

Undoubtedly it will affect the game industry but to what extend I don’t know, you would have to ask a developer this.

How far should the government go to keep kids away from explicitly violent games?

I think a simple rating system like that used for movies would be more than sufficient.

Do you ever get tired of the "how do I become a mapper" questions?

I am not tired of it because I can’t even recall receiving such a question. :)

Are pure adventure games ever going to die – or are we just witnessing another stage in evolution?

I ‘m a big adventure game fan, although I haven’t had the time/inclination to play any since I began mapping. Therefore, I am out of touch with the adventure game scene but I certainly can’t imagine them disappearing.

What games did you play as a kid?

When I was young I always played outside …even in winter I’d be outside as long as I could, which was always until my feet and hands froze. :)  So the games I played were digging holes, climbing trees, catching bugs, etc.

Is the console market over-saturated?

I haven’t a clue; I ‘ve never played a console game and thus know absolutely nothing about them.

Do you think Sierra should be giving you royalties of some kind for keeping the Half-Life engine in the public eye?

My mods have certainly helped to keep HL single-player alive and thus in an indirect way have affected Valve’s and Sierra’s profits. I do not expect anything from them after the fact, but if I did similar work for another game I would probably expect at least a bit of financial support.

How many fan/critic emails do you get in a week? How many do you reply to?

I try to reply to them all. I get a steady 20 mails/day during slow times and then at the time of release of a new mod that jumps up to about 100/day for several weeks. Most of the mails are general enquires, followed by tech-help, and the rest are fan mails. I rarely get a purely critical mail but usually some criticisms are mixed in with the praise.

Is it difficult to maintain a cohesive development team when everyone is so spread out?

Communicating and coordinating by email is grueling but we keep the core team to a minimum, which helps make such things more efficient and easier to deal with.

Would you get as much done if you were all in the same room?

Well I am the only one who works on the mods full-time. All my assistants have demanding real world jobs or go to school ….so yes; we would certainly get a lot more done if in the same room and all working full-time.

Do you view yourself as the leader or one cog in the machine?

I used to be the leader but I believe Einar Saukas thinks he’s the leader now. He is more than welcome to it :]

How many of the team members have you met face-to-face? And are they people you would ask, "What time is it?" if you forgot your watch?

Last year I spent a couple days visiting with Einar in Seattle and I have also met my lead tester Paul Taylor (when Valve sent us to the HL Mod Expo a couple years ago) …Einar is a nice guy but Paul is certainly a fellow I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark, back alley! 

Any work done on They Hunger multiplayer? And will it be a "Counter-Strike clone" as Einar Saukas speculates? And will I get to buy a shovel emblazoned with a flaming, "Dig it!"

It is just a very simple DM Mod we are doing for TH, but actually it is Einar’s and Jack’s project. I have had little to do with it since there aren’t any new maps, I believe it will just use the 5 existing TH DM maps.

Do you think there’s enough support of independent game creation by gamers and developers?

Yes, generally I think so.

Will your three cats ever make a cameo in your creations?

Nope, being cats they never do anything they don’t want to.

They Hunger 2 saw some contributions from the guys who developed Counter-Strike. Is the mod community a tight knit group of people? Can you put out the call for help and get a response?

Sure, I will occasionally put out a call for help and most people are as helpful as they have time to be.

How important is lighting to a level?

Extremely important.

What about sound?

Extremely important.

We’d get flamed if we didn’t ask, when are we going to see They Hunger 3 available for download? And how much did PC Gamer shell-out to keep you from posting it for nothing?

It will be available whenever PC Gamer decides to make it so, since TH3 will be in the June issue that will ‘probably’ be when the July issue replaces it on the newsstands.

Besides, No One Lives Forever what games have you played lately?

Elite Force is about it, and I plan on playing Serious Sam soon.

What is your personal favorite mod made by someone other than yourself?

TFC is my favorite mod but it is also the only one I have played a lot. And in fact, I have not even seen most HL MP mods.

What kind of computer rig do you use to make mods? Is it the same rig you use to play games?

It is a P3 800 with a GeForce 2 and 256 megs ram.

Canadian Trivia Question: Name the trade agreement between the US and Canada that recently expired.

That would probably be the softwood lumber deal, but I am only guessing.

Correct!

Keep your eyes peeled for They Hunger 3!  Thanks again, Neil.

Check out his official site here: