Thu, 6 Apr 2000 01:30:25 -0800
To: jot 
Subject: Re: Interv. Req for MacGaming.com


>Thanks for taking the time to participate in one of these ;)
No problem. I love to talk about myself. :-)
>1. How does the reality of what SpiderWeb Software is today differ from what
>you'd 
envisioned it becoming when you founded it ?
Wow. When I foudned Spiderweb, it was just an ad hoc sort of thing. I wrote
my first 
game as a stress reliever during grad school, and released it as
shareware as a lark. I was 
very surprised when it made good money. Since
then, I've just chugged along, writing 
games and selling them, and never
really thinking about where things were going.
One thing is for sure though ... I'm happy with where things are now.
>2. Anything you would do differently, if you had the chance to do it all
>over again ?
I would have been more aggressive earlier on with distributing other
developers' games. 
We are trying to get into this a lot more now, because
we have a lot to offer the 
independent developer. It's taken us a lot of
time to get into this, though.
>3. On your website you answer the question: "Shareware ? Why shareware ?"
>with 
"Shareware is a force for good." How the heck do you retain that
>youthful optimism, 
especially amidst all of Seattle's rain ?
I LOVE Seattle. I LOVE rain.
I grew up here. Lots of people have been moving here from all over the
place to do 
computer stuff here. And, as I always say, I was here when they
all came, I'll be here 
when they all leave, I will die here, and my corpse
will decompose quickly in the moist 
earth.
>4. Was it a big leap of faith for you to move games you produced from the 
2D
>overhead perspective you'd used in the Exile series to the isometric 3D
>point of 
view you've used in Nethergate and Avernum ?
Not really. I really believed that it was the best thing.
Whenever I make a design decision, I always go, whenever possible, for the
thing I 
personally prefer. That's why Avernum has a 4 person party now. I
genuinely prefer 
that. I have a great deal of faith in my instincts.
I got completely sick of looking at the flat 2-D screen. I felt, deep down,
that 3D was 
better. So I went with it and never looked back.
>5. What do you estimate to be a typical production timeline for one of
>Spiderweb's 
role-playing games ?
Varies greatly. Nethergate had about 3 months of pre-planning (before a
single line of 
code gets written) and a year of hard work. Since Avernum
built extensively on previous 
work, it took a lot less time.
>6. And how much Mountain Dew and coffee gets consumed during production ?
Not so much as you might think. I'm down to 2 cups of coffee (or one double
latte) a 
day. Mountain dew is gross.
>7. Your web site invites artists to send you sample for consideration - have
>you ever 
received anything truly bizarre ?
Not really. Sometimes artists send me very nice drawings and portfolios,
but nothing I'd 
ever not show to mother. However, I have gotten an angry
letter from a father who was 
infuriated by the presence of demons in the
game.
>8. How'd Phil Foglio, madcap fantasy/comic-book artist extraordinaire get
>involved 
with Spiderweb ?
Phil's been a friend of mine for a few years, and he loves my games. Wasn't
difficult. :-)
>9. The notion of being able to play two distinct sides of one struggle
>(Nethergate) was 
incredibly cool; can you see yourself doing that again, or
>is the planning aspect of it 
too prohibitive ?
It was a whole lot of fun to do, and I'm really pleased with how it turned
out. However, 
instead of doing it again, I'd be much more likely to try to
come up with a new idea for a 
way to structure a plot. I have some cool
ideas.
>9. You've just announced Avernum 2 - are you setting yourself any new
>technical 
challenges for the sequel, or will the single focus be to create
>an epic amount of new 
story ?
I'm very happy with the Avernum engine. It's pretty sweet, so I'll probably
leave it alone 
wfor Avernum 2, except for a few improvements and new
features. We'll mainly be 
spending out time fleshing out and improving the
world.
>10. Any advice for long-time Arachnophobes ?
What most people don't realize is how harmless most spiders are. Tarantulas
are very 
delicate creatures. A fall from a few inches can kill them. There
are only 2 sorts of 
spiders in this country who can actually harm people,
and, with medical attention, they 
aren't actully dangerous. None of this
can cure a phobia, of course, but it does make 
borderline people feel more
comfortable.
I love my tarantula.