It took Pieter and I a good long time to actually be at the same place (online) at the same time, and our interview was disturbed more than once so I decided you are going to get the ICQ correspondence of this interview for the fun of it. There is a few sections that wont matter that got edited out so nevermind the timejumps. Have fun.
You can find Pieter Simoons site on Leylines here.
Here is a short description of the game:
Leylines is an intriguing turn-based strategy game of exploration and conquest.
Set in a fantasy world, it lets you pit your armies, magic and commerce against up to seven opponents and a hoard of barbarians. Start from a single city and work your way up to a grand empire. Train over fifty different units and cast over fifty different spells to gain the upper hand.
You can find Leylines here:
Pieter:
Hello once more?
Chroelle:
And I am now finally here. Did you look over the questions I sent you?
Pieter:
Yes.
Chroelle:
Ok. What did you think of them? I ain't exactly a journalist or gamereporter but we try to do our best.
Pieter:
There are a number of good questions in there. There are also a few that you wouldn't be asking if you had read the Leylines manual
(ED: Woooops -– People! Go read the manuals)
Pieter:
For instance, you ask numerous questions about whether I would, at some point, release commercial games. Turns out that I did, and Leylines was one of them, before I made it freeware.
Chroelle:
True. The questions was actually made with a blueprint first, so that there were some questions to start with. And we recently decided to do it otherwise (in this week recently...)
Pieter:
np
Chroelle:
I played Leylines some months ago so please excuse me if I dont remember something correctly. Due to our small group of manpower on board we all have SEVERAL workresponsibilities and we all have to play lots of games to go over which grades we want to give and wether games are good enough to be on our site. (All the while having lifes and kids on the sides. )
Pieter:
I think you played the old version with two races and three spheres. An improved version with seven races and four spheres is in beta.
Chroelle:
That sounds awesome. I cannot remember how many races there were but it sounds about right otherwise.
Pieter:
Human / elf. New ones are dwarf, regency, s'sirthe, goblin, theria.
Public beta: http://crystalshard.net/dls/leylines.zip
I think you could replace the file on your server with this one; I can keep you informed of upgrades.
Chroelle:
Sounds good.
(ED: And so we did!)
(Now Pieter starts answering the questions I sent him by copy/pasting)
Chroelle:
Tell us more about yourself - how old are you, where do you live, what do you do for a living? (one of these basic interview questions)
Pieter:
I'm in my twenties and live in the Netherlands. I've done a master in computer science, and now work in software development. Aside from that, I enjoy hanging out with friends, and I'm member of a stage acting club.
Chroelle:
When did you start playing games? Do you have any fond memories of those times and did you decide to make a game of your own because of some of them?
Pieter:
Ages ago; I practically grew up with them. Some great games of my youth include Civilization, Bubble Bobble, and Commander Keen. I've been dabbling in basic programming since I was twelve or so, and wrote some text adventures and the obligatory Pacman clone. At some point, I got ahold of a rather shoddy PC implementation of the game Soko-ban, and I thought I could make a better game than that. So I did
Well, what I made probably wasn't better; it took me a few years to figure out that "more complex" does not necessarily mean "better". But then, I was fifteen at the time. The game was called Block-O-Mania, got several dozen horrendously difficult levels, and was released over BBSes. Years later, I even won an award for it.
Chroelle:
Did you ever have a crisis where you almost decided to make commercial games instead of freeware?
Pieter:
Actually, I started out making commercial games instead of freeware. In 2001, when I became serious about making games, my first release was the puzzle game SubTerra. Leylines followed two years later. Both were available as shareware until summer 2004, at which point I decided to make them freeware.
Chroelle:
Keep writing please, but my neighbor is drilling and the kiddo woke up crying.
(ED: And Chroelle's attention-span is once more shortened down to milliseconds, while Pieter interviewed himself)
Pieter:
Q: Is there a reason for the game being so close to Master of Magic? Not that anyone minds!
The short answer: because MOM is a great classic that I've enjoyed for a long time. For the longer answer, consider how close they really are. The games are obviously in the same genre (strategy) and atmosphere (medieval fantasy) - but there are large differences, such as the combat system, the race design, and the terrain effects.
Pieter:
(you keep referring to Leylines as a "remake" but it really isn't)
(I'd prefer a term like "spinoff" or "inspired by". A remake would be pretty much identical to the predecessor, but with better graphics; Leylines was redone from scratch with a completely different engine and so forth)
(ED: I just added a new genre to my inner index of games. I love the term spin-off of a game. Pieter has a good head on him that is for sure.)
Pieter:
Q: What parts did you leave out on purpose and which due to abilities? (And why?)
There are a few things that got cut from the game because they were too complex. In particular, the first design (Hollow Earth) had more than ten different resources, and a dozen different races. The problem was, as I said earlier, "more complex" does not necessarily mean "better" - keeping track of many resources proved more annoying to players than it's worth, and I wanted to give each race unique flavor and abilities. Hence, the gnome race got folded into dwarves, the faerie into elves, and the vampyra and thalassan combined to form the Theria.
Pieter:
Q: Did you work alone or with more people?
As listed in the credits section, there were over fifty people involved in the creation of Leylines.
Pieter:
Q: Was the game ever in danger of not being published? Why? And at what state?
The first draft, Hollow Earth, did eventually fall apart and the project got dropped. For the curious, an old version is available on my webpage in the Attic. The second draft, Leylines, managed to avoid this and was never in jeopardy.
Pieter:
Q: Any plans for a sequel?
A true sequel, not really. If and when there are sufficient ideas for new races and/or spells, I would do an expansion pack. Likewise, if I could find artists willing to re-do all the graphics, preferably in 3-D, I would do a re-release based on that.
Neither option truly feels like a "sequel" though. I have considered making Starlines, which would be a space-based strategy game; however, I don't have serious plans for that.
Chroelle:
I am back now.
Pieter:
Ok
I made some lengthy posts there.Chroelle:
Ok. I've caught up.
It seems you have a rather creatively thinking lifestyle, and see ideas all the time. Is that a correct observation?
Pieter:
I think so. One of the fun parts of game design is listing a hundred or so ideas for spells, and filtering it down to the useful ones.
Oh yeah - Q: What specific tech side of making a game is the hardest (to find people for)? (Music, Graphics, storyline, translation, etc.)
Graphics, hands down. This is mainly because it is relatively easy to find existing music to fit with a game, but graphics pretty much have to be specifically made for that game alone.
Getting a good story writer is also difficult, but most games don't really need one. For instance, if you're writing a platform game or a shoot-em-up, the gameplay tends to be more important.
Translators are hard to find if you want somebody who will actually finish the job (Leylines contains about 80 pages of text, with a 20k word count) - but personally, I don't find translations all that important.
Chroelle:
I am looking forward to hearing your idea of what kind of game you would love to make if you had the resources needed and open boundaries.
Pieter:
With full resources... probably a good puzzle game. It's a genre that has been neglected too much by the commercial market, in my opinoin.
Chroelle:
So you kept your favorite genre from you were 12?
Pieter:
Well, no. My fave genre back then was platform games, only I lacked the resources (animations, for instance) to actually make a platform game back then.
Chroelle:
Oh ok. I think most peoples fav at that age is platforms.
I think it is the linear thinking that does it.
Pieter:
Hm, I've seen some fairly non-linear platformers.
Anyway, I spent some time over the decades playing RPGs as well, and some 3-d games like Descent. And strategy, of course.
Starting with Civ/1.
Chroelle:
of course.
(ED: Of course!)
Chroelle:
Did any sacrifices have to be made with the content of the game?
Pieter:
Please rephrase that, I'm not sure if I understand the question.
Chroelle:
Were there things you really wanted to put in to the game but couldn't due to technical issues, or something else. Something we missed out on.
Pieter:
Okay. Well, "what couldn't I do" is essentially nothing at this point. I don't recall any point during development where I removed some feature because I couldn't code it.
Oh yeah - Mac support. But that's because I don't have a Mac.
Chroelle:
Ok. Please bare with me. I think I am a little preoccupied with the young one...
(ED: I edited out a section of making no sense).
Pieter:
As to what you did miss - the original plan for Hollow Earth had 12 races, there are 7 of those left.
That is because the others were just concepts and there wasn't enough substance for them. For instance, the race of "bird men" was planned at one point, but didn't really have a "niche" other than that they all fly.
Chroelle:
SO is there a chance that we will see any of these races in future releases or are they altogether dropped?
Pieter:
There is a chance of seeing more races in future releases, but not these ones.
Because these were tried and proven not to work all that well.
Chroelle:
What race do you think will become the most popular one? Do you have a favorite?
Pieter:
It depends on who you ask. The races are really very different (one of my gripes with some other strategy games is that the races are all alike except for one or two "special units")
I think the Humans and S'sirthe are the most straightforward to play.
- The Elves and Regency are more for subtle players who like a handful of dirty tricks. Especially the Regency.
- The Dwarves are very strong but have a few challenges with sight ranges and supply lines, and are probably not so good for first-time players.
- The Goblins are highly mobile but have trouble defending themselves.
- And the Theria need some planning ahead and building up to get to their truly powerful units, and have some exotic/strange units on the side.
Chroelle:
So if I ask you what race you will be playing the most you will say...?
Pieter:
Me? I play whichever race I didn't play last time. If I had too much of a personal favorite, I'd have to move the design around.
Chroelle:
What do you think was the coolest feature in the game, what will be out of the ordinary so to speak.
(I am not saying Leylines is ordinary - so please do not see it that way.)
Pieter:
I think a great feature is that there are many different strategic combinations you can make (of race, magic type, and deity), that they all play really differently, and that there aren't really any inferior or useless options.
For instance, we don't have "fireblast", "water blast" and "earth blast" as elemental spells; body magic really works differently from energy magic.
Chroelle:
Enough about Leylines for now. Now to the future...
Q: Have you ever dreamed of making another remake of any particular other game? (That you didn't do yet -mind you.)
...Brb
(ED: Once again Chroelle leaves the interview to take care of his young-one.)
Pieter:
Like I said earlier, Leylines really isn't a remake, and neither is SubTerra.
- 10 mins later
Chroelle:
Sorry...That was my girl crying again. Are you still there?
Pieter:
ya
Chroelle:
I am really sorry for the disturbances...! And I need to get used to using the term spin-oof. I like that.
So I rephrase:
Have you ever dreamed of making another spinoff of any particular other game? (That you didn't do yet -mind you.)
(ED: That is a spinoff of the last question! It is not a remake.)
Pieter:
There's a few true remakes out there (e.g. people remaking Space Quest 1 in a 3-d engine but the same plot). But Leylines isn't that
Actually I'm working on an RPG these days, with the kind of first-person perspective known from Might & Magic, Eye of the Beholder, or Lands of Lore.
I'd like to do a 2-d Zelda game at some point, as these are all too rare on the PC.
Chroelle:
Have you got a working title for the RPG?
Pieter:
Eye of the Tempest.
Chroelle:
Ok. Any ETA yet?
Pieter:
No.
Chroelle:
Have you got a site for it yet?
Pieter:
No. We tend not to do that until a game is finished.
Chroelle:
Will it be freeware?
Pieter:
Most likely, yes.
Chroelle:
Sounds good. You do make some good games which tend to raise happiness-levels all around.
Q: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now regarding game making?
Pieter:
Frankly I haven't planned ahead that far, I just move to new projects as old ones get finished, time permitting.
Chroelle:
Where do you hope to be?
Pieter:
Famous
Chroelle:
Good answer!
Q: Any favorite freeware games we should know about?
Pieter:
http://crystalshard.net?f=playlist
Chroelle:
Which leads up to: Q: If you were to mention a GOD of freeware, who would that be?
Pieter:
That's a hard question actually. Depends highly on one's taste in genres.
Chroelle:
Can you name a group of people?
Pieter:
I guess my criteria would be that (1) said person must have written multiple full-length games, and (2) those games must have good replay value.
Unfortunately "replay value" rules out pretty much the entire adventure game genre.
There aren't too many of those people. Pixel is a good example, though.
(ED: Pixel made Cave Story amongst others.)
Pieter (03:11 PM) :
I think perhaps the GODs of freeware are the people that allow others to write more freeware games.
Thus, the creators of GameMaker, Adventure Game Studio, MUGEN, and so forth.
Does that answer your question?
(ED: Gamemaker: Mark Overmars; Adventure Game Studio: Chris Jones; M.U.G.E.N.: Elecbyte; and so forth)
Chroelle:
I think so yes.
Q: Have you ever heard of CWF's developer help project?
Pieter:
No.
Chroelle:
Q: CWF's dev help project aims to be a 'bridge' between freeware developers and people interested in participating creating freeware games. If you needed more helpers, would you consider opening a thread in CWF, telling which kind of help you need?
Pieter:
Got a link for that?
Chroelle:
It is nothing big atm. But hey everybody has to start somewhere.
Pieter:
Given the lack of activity at that forum, I'm afraid I'd have to look elsewhere to find helpers.(e.g. the forum of an artist community)
Chroelle:
You might yes, but you could find some good helpers there. We already made translations for more than a handful of games, and currently we have one of our coders coding on the FREE ORION project.
But of course it is still just a beginning place.
Artists forums some times scare off the regular enthusiast, which have some qualities but not enough to compete with some of the heavy guys out there.
Pieter:
Okay, but do you have any musicians or sprite artists offering help?
Chroelle:
Musicians we might have. But just one, but no sprite artists I think.
Pieter:
Okay. See, I'm not interested in translating my games, and I tend to do my own programming. So what you're offering is really not what I'm seeking for.
Chroelle:
Ok. Then that is the answer.
Chroelle:
Next:
Q: If you could choose to do a freeware game with any game developer (freeware or commercial) who would it be?
Pieter:
Don't you mean "publisher"?
Chroelle:
No no. Developer. Like yourself.
But you can answer publisher if you want to.
Pieter:
Pixel, maybe. Or Bullfrog.
I don't think either still works in software development, though.
The Bitmap Brothers are likewise defunct.
Chroelle:
Well they actually got some news on their site the other day...BitmapB that is. I have been watching them.
Pieter:
That's a problem, no? Most indie studios release one game, then fade away.
As for commercial studios, there are some I'd like that I'd like to work WITH (like Bitmap and Bullfrog) but I'm not sure I'd like to work FOR them.
Chroelle:
Being a freeware developer is rather free work in more than one sense, so working for someone might not be that appealing?? Do I understand you correctly?
Pieter:
The point is that I want to design games, not just program them. If you work FOR somebody (as would be the case if I, say, applied for a job at Electronic Arts) somebody else would do the design and I would do what they tell me to do.
Chroelle:
Ok. To finish off the interview. The classic question:
Q: Any words for other freeware game developers?
Pieter:
Like "keep up the good work"?
Chroelle:
Something like that yes
Pieter:
Or "be realistic"? As far as I can see, most indie projects have too large a scope, and thus never get finished. It's better to design a small game and complete it, than to design a huge one and lose interest after a year.
Chroelle:
True. Good advice there.
Thanks for answering my questions and baring with my short attention span.
Pieter:
Lol. No problem
You may want to check out the other dozen-or-so games on crystalshard.net
I think some of them may be suitable for your CWF site
SubTerra is quite nice, as is Warthogs. META is probably more of an acquired taste, though
Chroelle:
I think so too. We are looking through them at a steady pace.
Pieter:
And let's not forget A Tale of Two Kingdoms.
Chroelle:
Tale of two kingdoms will be on shortly if it is not already on.
Pieter:
Cool.
Is there some "other games by this publisher" button on the page for Leylines?
Chroelle:
No, but we are working on that.
Pieter:
Oh, and might I just say you could use some work on your site design...
Chroelle:
You think=-O
(ED: Here followed a section where Pieter gave advice on the design of our site. Only removed cause it has nothing to do with the game and was rather extensive. But we have it copied elsewhere in our developmentsection. Good ideas).
Pieter:
But thanks for listing me on there!
Chroelle:
No - thank you.
I gotta go. Kiddo needs food. But I will work this over and present it on the frontpage with our interviewssection ASAP.
Pieter:
k
Chroelle:
Talk to you later. I will propably catch up with you regarding ATOTK soon though. If you are up for it?
Pieter:
Certainly.
ED: And so ended the interview with my attention finally breaking and Pieter still bearing with me. I do however not doubt that a tiny shake of the head and a smurk came upon his lips as he closed down his ICQ. And it was justified too…
Thanks for lettings us confuse you Pieter!