Hawken Interview

Upcoming mech multiplayer combat game Hawken, by Los Angeles-based Adhesive Games, has many gamers waiting feverishly for more details.  It has already been acclaimed as one of the sexiest games (and then some) of 2011, and we were given the opportunity to ask the team some questions.  We spoke with Chris Lalli, one of the company’s founders, as well as Artist and Designer Dave Nguyen, to better shed some light on the much-anticipated FPS.

Mana Pool:  We have yet to find anyone who has any solid idea of what “Hawken” means. In the context of the game, we keep thinking about things like Hawking Radiation and Thunderhawk Gunships. What is the significance and meaning of the game’s title?

Chris Lalli: The name “Hawken” doesn’t reference anything currently in the real-world.  In fact, it started as a placeholder name for the game and ended up being more well-received (or available) than the alternate titles we came up with.  The name will have significance in the story, but we haven’t revealed the details of that yet.

MP:  In other interviews you have been asked about your team’s inspiration from the gaming industry — games like MechWarrior and Virtual On. We were curious about what other sources of inspiration you might have channeled for the development of Hawken. Are there any particular films, mangas, non-video games or other works that have influenced your game’s artistic direction? In what ways?

CL: Artistically there are plenty of inspirations from outside the gaming industry.  Films like Bladerunner, Alien, and District 9 have influenced the mood and atmosphere of the environments.  The complex and chaotic look of our city maps are somewhat inspired by anime like Ghost In The Shell and Tekkon Kinkreet.  Our Art Director Khang Le likes the mech designs of Kow Yokoyama and Maschinen Krieger, so you can see a little of that style in the robots.

MP: What sorts of weaponry are your mechs going to be sporting? In the trailer, we’ve seen deployable turrets and missile launchers. All of the other weapons seem to have a very “kinetic” feel about them — that is to say, they look and sound like cannons firing bullets and shells. Are there going to be any energy weapons or more exotic ways to dispatch enemies?

Dave Nguyen: The current direction we are taking in terms of weaponry are the standard ballistics (machine gun, shotgun, rifle and rocket type weapons). If an idea for a fun energy type weapon comes along, I’m sure we would try it as long as it’s fun to play with. There will also be many different types of items that we can play with.  Stuff like proximity mines are great for setting traps and watching enemies get blown away.

MP: Assuming that most of the weapons are going to be kinetic in nature, how is ammunition going to be handled? We have seen grenade counters on your in-game HUDs (as an aside, what are those going to be like?) Will there be any way to replenish ammunition if you run dry in the field, or will you have to wait for a death and respawn?

DN: Our current system utilizes an overheating feature for the weapons. Once you fire too much, your systems overload and weapons are shut down for a short duration. With this type of weapon firing management, we were able to do without having to worry about ammo conservation. Giant robots are weapons of destruction, meaning we want to give lots of firepower without having to worry about how much ammo you have left.

MP: Expanding a bit from the subject of weapons, do your Mechs have shields? Is there going to be a way to repair or otherwise replenish your “health” during a battle, or will you fight until you die? Are the Mechs going to malfunction or take a hit to performance as they become more severely damaged?

DN: There are specific items that you can use to help defend yourself during a battle. We are still exploring the possibility of having different hit areas that affect the mech in different ways.

CL: We have a repair system in place that requires you to sometimes retreat and find a safe hiding spot.  You are vulnerable while you repair so this leads to some nice moments of tension.  There are no replenishing shields like you would see in a game like Halo.

MP: Will there be any other sort of “equipment” in the game? A lot of competitive shooters have been taking the “perks and upgrades” approach to multiplayer as of late. Will that sort of thing exist in Hawken? Will the Mechs’ equipment be customizable by the player?

MP: The hive-like mountains of industrial metal and technology in your map design almost seem to be begging us to blow them to bits. Are there any intentions to make the terrain more interactive or destuctible?

DN: There are certain things that are destructible.  Little street props, containers, and vehicles are laid out for the players to dispose of at will.  Terrain is a much more complicated thing to be able to destroy at the moment.

CL: Fully destructible environments isn’t really a feasible goal for our small team to tackle.  We still have interaction with the environments through destructible props and moving or animated elements that affect gameplay.

MP: Speaking of the terrain, are there going to be any sorts of environmental hazards present in the maps? Will you take damage if you fly face-first into the wall of a building, or fall too far?

CL: Yes, your mech can take damage both from falling and from environmental hazards.  As I mentioned above, some maps will have moving elements that can affect a battle or even be deadly to you.

MP: In the two videos that you have released so far, there have been scenes that seem to show some sort of combat frigate or destroyer shooting missiles down onto the map. What was that? Will there be vehicles in the game that are not Mechs? Will they be playable?

CL: Our only playable vehicles so far are the mechs, mostly because we’re trying to be realistic about the scope of our game considering our resources.  There will still be other vehicles in the game that aren’t mechs, however.  The battleship in the video is one example, and that is a component of one of our unique team modes where you can enlist the help of a giant ship to destroy the enemy base.

MP: Your website states that Hawken will be a “Multiplayer Mech Combat Game.” Are there any plans to include a campaign and story arc, or will Hawken be more arena-like in its delivery? Are there any factions or groups with which players will affiliate, or is it going to be a fairly open brawl?

CL: We’ve narrowed our focus to a multiplayer experience, something like TF2 in gameplay scope, and this is again a matter of resources. We want to complete Hawken in a reasonable amount of time and we don’t have the team size to deliver a worthwhile single player campaign.  We will have both open brawl deathmatch-style modes and more strategy-based team modes (which is our main focus).  We’d like to encourage clans and offer other community support, so hopefully the players can create their own factions and affiliations.

MP: Will there be any opportunity to become acquainted with your pilot as a character in the game, or is the intent for the Mech to be your sole “avatar” in the world, with the player as “pilot?” Will there be in-game voice options or communications that in any way “reveal” a character within? If so, will they be customizable / configurable?

CL: Currently the Mechs are the main face of the player in the game, but we’re working on adding more depth to the pilots within.  As a solely multiplayer game there won’t be pre-developed characters per-say, but we’d like players to be able to customize the look of their pilots and even provide a backstory or statistics.

MP: We haven’t been able to find any indication as to what your “Two Unique Team Game Modes” will consist of. Have you hammered out any of those details? If not, might you give us any insight into what you might want them to be like?

CL: One of these unique team modes is essentially completely developed, and we are in the middle of testing and prototyping the other one.  We haven’t released too many specifics yet, but these modes will involve some strategy elements as well as resource collection/management, and will require communication and cooperation among teammates to be effective.

MP: Do you have any idea how many players will be supported in your multiplayer maps when the game is finished?

CL: We’re trying to aim for less of a chaotic free-for-all, and more teamwork and strategy so our ideal team matches are in the neighborhood of 5v5.  Deathmatch modes could support more players but it’s not necessarily more fun with more people.

MP: Are there any plans for Adhesive Games to develop other titles concurrently with Hawken, or will all of your efforts be invested in this game until it is completed and launched?

CL: Hawken will be our only focus until it’s released, although we do have plans for a different type of game down the road. We are also planning to continue supporting Hawken with additional content (maps, weapons, mechs) after release, so we aren’t committing to future projects just yet.

MP: Although everyone is asking, it feels somewhat obligatory to inquire if there has been any more developments on the platform selection front. Even if you aren’t sure about exactly which platforms will eventually be able to play Hawken, is there one that you are particularly building the game for?

CL: The game has been developed with differing control schemes in mind, and we’re keeping our options open for all platforms.  When we playtest Hawken it’s on the PC, but we mix and match between keyboard/mouse and game controllers and it’s enjoyable on both.  The main factor will be the publisher we end up with, whether it’s first or third party, etc… Those details are still being worked through at the moment.

MP: Thanks for your time, and good luck with the game.  We can’t wait to play it.

CL: Thanks for the interest in Hawken, we’re hard at work on the game and we look forward to releasing more info in the future!

Be sure to check out some of the work-in-progress gameplay footage released by Adhesive on March 30, 2011: