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By Vincent Lopez
Published November 21st, 2000
http://web.archive.org/web/20010215212318/http://pc.ign.com/news/28146.html
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Herb Flower, designer at Rewolf Software, talks Mods, swiss-army knives, and making it big time.

It's rare to see a project started as a Mod, then grown to retail proportions. It's even weirder that the game has been crafted by a team of designers who aren't even in the same building… or the same country, for that matter. Gunman Chronicles, the new shooter using the Half-Life engine from Sierra, has just hit stores today, and it delivers an interesting mixture of wild west colonial frontiersman, dinosaurs, and Half-Life style storytelling, something we can all use a lot more of. In honor of its release we present you with an interview with Herb Flower, President and Lead Designer at Rewolf software.
IGNPC: What is it about the Half-Life engine that has Mod makers going so crazy? Never before has an engine spawned so many full-fledged alternate products.

Herb Flower: We had been working with other engines in the past, and when we got our hands on Half-Life, we were very excited about the engine’s capabilities. Valve had created an engine that fulfilled almost all of the things on our wish list. Certainly Half-Life was only tapping a portion of what could be done. The Mod community is simply exploring those alternative uses of the engine.

IGNPC: What ideas were inspired first -- the customizable weapons, or the storyline?

Herb Flower: The weapons have been a part of Gunman since the start. They have evolved since the early days, but the idea of each of them being a sort of swiss-army-knife has remained the same. The story was something that we added later because originally we had planned on Gunman being a multi-player only game. The story evolved over time, as we kept adding new content. You will discover new pieces of the story over the course of the game through Half-Life style scripts and encounters that affect the player directly.

IGNPC: What do you think about the current state of first person shooters?

Herb Flower: I think that everyone is trying to do something innovative and new. The problem is that it is very easy to deviate from FPS to RPG. It’s my belief that the purpose of an FPS is to entertain the player constantly. Adding complex puzzles and overly heavy dialogue pushes a game towards that RPG category. The nice thing is that FPS games can keep people entertained even if they don’t try to re-invent the genre. All you need to do is have a story to tell and enough interesting content to keep the player constantly entertained.

IGNPC: Can you go into an example of how you hope the customizable weapons will really change a gamer's single player experience?

Herb Flower: When you’re playing Gunman on EASY, an experienced FPS gamer could run through it without ever customizing the weapons. The customizing becomes vital when you play on a higher difficulty level. Last weekend I played through the entire game on HARD, and found myself relying on the customizing features to get past the difficult spots. It’s a lot of fun to outsmart the game like that.

IGNPC: At what point did you decide to go beyond the Mod status and really make a fleshed out full product?

Herb Flower: It was always the goal. It just took time for the right people to notice.

IGNPC: How was it to have Sierra and Valve actually pick up your project for a full-fledged release? Did you feel pressure to live up to Valve's standards?

Herb Flower: I remember the day that I got the call from Valve about going commercial. I was very excited, and told the team the good news right away. The next day, it had settled in and we realized what this meant—the extra work and planning it would take to make the game commercial quality. We went through the game and started adding all the little details and big boss monsters and stuff in an attempt to live-up to commercial standards.

IGNPC: How's the multiplayer coming? Are you not as worried about focusing on the multiplayer, since your primary focus has always been Gunman's single player aspects?

Herb Flower: We’re shipping with the standard DM, just like Half-Life did, and it’s a lot of fun. I’d have loved an extra few weeks to put together a team-based multiplayer mode, though. Perhaps we will. The weapons customizing would be incredibly fun in a CS or TFC style game.

IGNPC: What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned through the process of developing Gunman Chronicles?

Herb Flower: I think the most important thing I’ve learned deals with how to find and manage a group of talented people. I’ve also learned a lot from Valve’s example about how to make a game FUN. Everyone on the team was amazed to discover that if you work hard enough for your goal, you’re bound to achieve it eventually.

IGNPC: What would you say to other aspiring Mod designers/amateur level designers out there who hope to make it big with their ideas?

Herb Flower: I always tell people to learn a skill and join an existing, well-known Mod. It’s the only way that your work will see the light of day. I think if Mod makers knew how much work went into even a simple Mod, they’d be shocked. People need to join together and stick with it till the end, concentrating on their part of the job. I’ve been very happy to see so many great Mods appearing lately—even some single-player Mods, which are harder to create.

IGNPC: What's next for Rewolf?

Herb Flower: Too soon to say. Right now, we’d all like to crawl into a cave and hibernate for a while. But for people like us, it’s hard to keep from thinking about the next game. You’ll see more from us, that’s for sure!