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 And
those are all vertex animated models, right? So you are doing a vertex-by-vertex
linear interpolation in realtime on every model?
Yip. Interpolation creates extra frames for the model
animation . Not only does it have animation interpolation, but also rotation and
movement interpolation have been implemented! Not even a GeForce3 will make your
model animate smoother in this way - it's not an FPS versus Time thing.
What things are you most wanting to add to the engine - things you haven't
done yet, but plan to?
MD2 model support. For starters, MD2 has built in GLCMDS...
No external MS2 meshing... yuck. It also supports external skinning, which in
turn means with little effort you can create models with true color TGA skins.
The other advantage is there's better support for MD2 modelling than MDL - I know
only one MDL tool that'll work for H2... QME. Another planned feature is true
color TGA texture support.
You mentioned you're a web designer in "real life". Do you want to stay in
web design and keep doing game coding as a hobby, or do you want to write games
professionally, or do something else down the road?
I want to become a professional level designer, not one
day, but soon! :) I'm good at web design, but it's not as creative as level design
... besides, I hope I haven't been training myself all for nothing :) I hate that
I'm still a hobbyist level designer... not enough exposure.
 In
addition to mod and engine coding, you're a level designer?
Mapping is what I like best, and I do that better than
coding. I've developed lots of levels for ALL id Software games since Doom1 till
now. And Raven I've developed levels from Heretic up to Heretic II. Nine years
of level design :)
Wow!
Soon I will be releasing my Doom1 map-pack on NewDoom.com.
It's a virtually complete mpack that covers all 3 episodes... ultra hard, yet
realistic. Its Called "GENOCIDE", for good reason... its damn hard. The levels
themselves has a Hexen1 difficulty feel.
These are custom-made maps, for the GENOCIDE pack?
Yip... all custom, and they are a few years old, but
guaranteed its original, never before seen maps :)
 You've
got a lot going on! What's the soundtrack to Korax? Anything you like to listen
to to keep you pumped while you're working?
I'm a hardcore metalhead :) NewHexen was mainly developed
to heavy doses of Marilyn Manson and Korn :) Also AC/DC, MetallicA, Limp Bizkit,
Rage Against the Machine, NiN, Iron maiden, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Sepultura,
and a few others. Can't code without having it! :)
What's your release schedule? Do you have major and minor releases, or just
make new releases as you add new features?
I have no schedule, I basically find new features and
implement them as new versions. As for versioning, my versions are based on the
last official EXE version... so NewHexen started on v1.13
What tools you use, for programming, and for level design?
Well, in 1993 I started with Doom using DCK. I used DCK
from 1993 till 1996 and QuArK since 1995 till end of last year. This year I've
started learning Q3Radiant. I also use DEU, DoomECI, NewWadTool and a few small
misc ones. For programming I use Visual C 6 and MSDN library.
 Do
you have a guess as to how many people still play Hexen II?
I don't have a clue how many though I guess that number
could be less than Quake1, but to me it doesn't really matter. Actually a smaller
community is a better than a huge one - it's easier to get your work noticed in
a smaller community.
What do you think about game companies releasing engine source code? What has
it made possible for you to achieve, that you might not have otherwise?
Well, it taught me a lot about how things work in real
engine because I can see the source code. It helped a lot to improve my coding
skills, which shows now in NewHexen :) It also gave me some perspective on how
hard it really is to make games. Even if you take a game like Quake1, it's still
a crapload of work, which you don't realize until you start working on it - not
even code, imagine doing all those levels, doing all the texturing, the models,
their animation, scripting their AI, sound, music etc :)
What game are you most looking forward to?
Quake4 and Doom3.
 You're
not a 3rd person fan?
Actually I love any. The engine must just be damn good.
Heretic II is a better engine than Quake2 for example, and I'd much rather map
for Heretic II than for Quake2 because of it.
Thanks, Korax, for talking with me today about NewHexen and your other projects.
We got done before midnight!
I never thought that we'd have this much to talk about
:)
Check out the NewHexen
site for the latest information and downloads of NewHexen and other projects
from Korax.
Related Links:
· NewHexen
· NewHexen
Forums
· Raven Software
· Raven-Games.com
· Raven-Games Forums
· HeXenWorld.net
· Hexen
II Forums
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