Blades of Exile  Spiderweb Software
Jeff Vogel refers to himself as Keeper, Blades of Exile, his top-down
tiled role-playing game with a medieval atmosphere.  BoE has a scenario editor
so you can create new adventures and never have to experience the same situation
twice, which keeps the game always new and interesting.  Jeff took the time to
share his views with Arreouw, Vault Network's roving reporter:

Arreouw:  First, Jeff, thank you for taking the time to let me pick your
brains for some info about your software.  Before we get into details about the
Blades of Exile shareware series, I'd like to ask you to tell me something about
yourself; can you share a little personal bio and some info on your company?

Jeff Vogel:  I'm 27 years old and currently engaged to Mariann Krizsan, our
only other full-time employee.  I'm sure we'll hire a third person for phone
answering and data entry within the year.  We have four games which are
out for Mac and Windows and which have sold extremely well, enough to buy us a big
house.  Also, I have a masters in combinatorics and probability.

Arreouw:  Okay, my ignorance is showing here, I know what probability is, but
what are "combinatorics"?

Jeff Vogel:  It's a related field to probability, mainly concerned with
counting problems.  An example: You have 8 balls, numbered "1" to "8".  How
many different ways are there to select 3 of them? (Answer: 56)

Arreouw:  How did you come to be involved in the creation of computer games?

Jeff Vogel:  Well, I was studying mathematics in graduate school.  Graduate
school was, to say the least, painful.  At the same time, I got my first real
computer, a PowerMac 6100.  Iāve always loved rpgs, so I looked for some good
ones, only to not be able to find any.  So I wrote my own.  Exile v1.0.  Not a
big leap .  .  .  I've been writing my own games since I was in 7th grade.
Just never tried anything on the scale of Exile.
When it was done, I decided to release it as shareware.  It wasn't the
greatest
game in the world, but it had its good points, and I thought some people might
send me some money for it.  It started to sell very well, and I was in the
game.
Arreouw:  How long have you been doing this?

Jeff Vogel:  Exile: Escape From the Pit was released in January, 1995, and I
started it in May, 1994 (I work fast).  Iāve been writing games, though, for a
long time.

Arreouw:  What was the first RPG you played yourself, and did it ever make you
think.  .  .  Gee, if this were MY game, I would have done THAT differently.
.  .  ?

Jeff Vogel:  The first computer rpg I played was Wizardry, on my Apple II+, in
around 1984.  No, wait.  I played Eamon before that.  That was a great old
game, a sort of public domain text rpg for the Apple II+.  But the first real,
professional game I played was Wizardry.  Boy, was that a revelation.  It was
my first exposure to the whole gain levels/go on adventures/play AD&D on the
computer, and I couldnāt pull myself away from the Apple for weeks.

I've never played a computer game in which I didnāt see room for improvement.
For most games, the possible improvements are many, some few, but nothing is
perfect.
I've also never played a computer game that didnāt do something well.  Pretty
much every game Iāve ever played had some clever idea in it which was worth
emulating.
Arreouw:  Why this particular genre?

Jeff Vogel:  Before I got my first computer, I was a big fan of tabletop
role-playing, especially Dungeons and Dragons.  Computer rpgs were a natural
extension of that.  In particular, I loved the Ultima games.  I loved the
setting, I loved the writing and the elaborate plots, and I loved the
complexity and the puzzles.  Were it not for the Ultima games, Exile would
never have existed.
Arreouw:  What other games influenced you in the creation of Blades of Exile?

Jeff Vogel:  All of them.  Dozens and dozens of them.  Every time I play a
game, I make it a point to notice one good idea in the game, and let it
influence me.

Arreouw:  I seem to notice a similarity to some of the old Ultima Games.  Have
those games been an influence at all?

Jeff Vogel:  Iāve been more influenced by the mid-range Ultimas (IV-VI) than
any other series of games.  How could you not be?   Just for the stories
alone,
these are probably the best and most influential rpgs ever.
Arreouw:  Is there any chance of these games becoming multiplayer and/or
online
games?

Jeff Vogel:  No.  I'	m having too much fun just writing one-player games, and I
have nowhere near the resources or technical skills to try to make them online
games.
Plus, heck, look at the field right now.  Everyone and their cousin is
doing an
online game system.  There are, what, a dozen online rpgs out now? Why on
Earth
would I want to compete with this, when thereās plenty of demand for good
old-fashioned computer games out there?

Plus, all along, the great strength of the Exile games has been the
writing and
the stories.  These are things best enjoyed in a regular 1-player game anyway.
Arreouw:  What is one of the most fun things about writing these games?

Jeff Vogel:  I try to put all my friends in my games.  Sometimes just the
names. Sometimes the personality as well.  For example, there's a character in
one of the forts in Exile II named Mariann.  I included this as an offhand way
of flirting with a friend of mine named Mariann Krizsan.  We're now
engaged, so it worked.  Similarly, there's a town in Exile III where the characters are
named after characters in Laverne and Shirley.  I do this a lot.  Keeps me
mildly sane.

Arreouw:  Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with the name of your
company?

Jeff Vogel:  I love spiders.  Our mascot is a female Chilean Rose Tarantula.

Arreouw:  I notice your website has a series of ratings for the scenarios
uploaded by aficionados of the BofE series.  How much time, if any, does a
busy developer like yourself have to spend playing their scenarios?

Jeff Vogel:  We can't play all the scenarios ourselves, and, even if we could,
we couldn't enjoy them in the way that our users would.  That's why the
scenario review page is there.  We really want to use the feedback of the
people who actually play the things.  We have been getting incredibly well
thought out and detailed feedback, too, which we then try to pass on to the
designers.

But, I do look them over.  I get a huge kick out of seeing what people came up
with in the Exile world.  I just canāt actually play them.  Usually.  The
exceptional ones get a run.

Arreouw:  Are all the NPCs in these games fair game, or do you find puzzles
more important than combat strategies?

Jeff Vogel:  Both are important.  Half and half.  Puzzles provide relief from
combat, and vice versa.  And the friendly NPCs are almost never fair game.
The guards are mean.

Arreouw:  What are the elements you consider crucial for an exciting game that
will keep you coming back time and again?

Jeff Vogel:  A hook.  Something neat, something that gets the imagination
going.  Something that makes the user go ŅWowÓ.  ThatÕs cool.   Like, for
example, the fact that you can buy your own house in Exile III, and there are
tiny adventures that go on inside the house.  People absolutely love that.

Another example is the realism and detail in the Ultima VII world.  I
loved the way you could search through the trash you find, and find cool stuff in
peopleÕs dressers.  That was great.
Arreouw:  What kind of ŅhookÓ do you have in mind for future releases?

Jeff Vogel:  My next game is Nethergate, a historical fantasy rpg set in Roman
Britain.  I have a lot of great ideas for this, including your being able to
play a Roman party or a Celtic party.  The game will be completely different
depending on which you play.  ItÕs two games in one! There are also a lot of
small touches, humorous puzzles, the usual density of plot and special
encounters.  I will continue to include all the qualities that made the Exile
games so popular.

Arreouw:  The Roman/Celtic scenario has great possibilities for fans of
mythology - will there be any aspects of gods/goddesses and their powers
(as in
favors granted for rituals performed and such) or magic (such as might be
related to the mythology)?

Jeff Vogel:  Basically, itāll take place in a remote area of Britain,
where the
last few remaining faeries are hiding, looking for a place where they can
escape to and be safe from advancing humanity.  The Celts are trying to help
them.  The Romans are trying to stop them.  There will be magical, spiritual
beings, and all the other expected fantasy rpg trappings.
Arreouw:  How do you determine pricing for your shareware?

Jeff Vogel:  The sweet spot for shareware tends to be about half the price of
comparable commercial programs.  Thatās where I got $25-30.  Itās a fair price
for the size of the games, but less than other new rpgs.  It's also enough to
keep me in business, which is key.
Arreouw:  What advice, if any, would you give to an aspiring game
programmer/developer?

Jeff Vogel:  Write a game.  Don't plan a game.  Donāt dream about a game.
Write a game.  Get a computer, get a compiler, sit down, and write.  Releasing
a shareware game is a great way to get a job in this business.  It's a sort of
walking resume/portfolio.
If you want to show people you can write a computer game and learn how to
write
a computer game, the only real way to do it is to write one.  It's a lot of
work, but this craft is worth it.

Arreouw:  Is there a down side?

Jeff Vogel:  Writing computer games is really exciting at first, but, over
time, tends to become just like anything else.  It's just a job.  And, since
the vast majority of the time is spent alone, you donāt even get the
interesting/painful interaction with other humans.

Arreouw:  Can you think of anything else you would like Vault Networkās
readers to know?

Jeff Vogel:  Just that the URL for the website, where the shareware can be
downloaded is http://www.spidweb.com and that they should feel free to
come and
check it out!


- Jeff Vogel
Spiderweb Software, Inc.
http://www.spidweb.com