Developer Interviews Featuring:

Byte - Lead Programmer of Ascension

Byte, longtime RenWerX developer and lead programmer of Ascension has taken the time to answer community submitted questions. Enjoy!

1. How long have you been with RenWerX?

I was first brought on board for T:V Ren in late 2004, so almost 3 1/2 years!



2. When did you first start programming? and what languages have you worked with since then?

For the most part, I started looking at programming when I was 7 or 8, as we had a Commodore 64 and use to look at the magazine articles that came out that would show how to "write" a game or whatever in machine language.

I did some Basic when we got our first PC, but never really did too much. I learned some Assembly Language while being part of a few Piracy Groups (TOAST, RISE, RAZOR) [Editor's Note: RenWerX Studios does not condone piracy] and doing Patches for various applications. It wasn't really anything that has stuck with me, but I always like challenges.

Game wise, I started out with mods to Duke Nukem and Doom/Heretic, and was a UT'er early on, so stuck with it and learned UnrealScript, thus my eventual ending up working on T:V Ren. I hadn't really looked into much C++, until beginning work on Ascension.



3. What other projects have you been involved with?

My biggest project would've been Shattered Oasis for UT2k3/UT2k4. I was brought on to just band aid some things and ended up reworking various parts of it, over time. It was an experience, nonetheless.


4. What challenges are unique to creating an FPSZ?

There's really no difference between creating an FPSZ and a FPS. Depending on the style of FPS game, you still need to be aware of your "Z", because no FPS game is good if its just flat.. is it ??? :)



5. How has online, all-volunteer collaboration increased the challenges of creating a full-game?

Compared to a traditional studio environment where you're able to meet and see everybody, all day long, since it is their job, all volunteer/online collaboration is by far one of the hardest aspects of this project. The delays associated with Real Life and the fact that people do have to take breaks every once and awhile, just to refuel their drive.



6. What programming/engine work remains before release?

Honestly, I believe that Ascension could've been done long ago, but I pushed for the move to TSE/TGEA when it was early alpha/beta (MS1/MS2). Little did I know that the engine itself is basically a shaderized piece of feces, unfortunately for us though, the scope of the project and the requirements that must be met by any engine we use are limited to a small portion that are open source or inexpensive to license.



7. What have you found to be the easiest part(s) of the project?

The easiest part.. I don't know that anything is "easy", but I believe we were able to get something of a decent prototype running fairly early. It ended with the debacle that was our first tech demo, but it at least showed we were working towards something.



8. What have you found to be the hardest part(s) of the project?

The engine.. and the fact that we are all volunteer and all over the place (geographically), not to mention the community as a whole who really believes that Ascension will ever see the light of day. I know that there is no reason to be excited till something comes out and even moreso, till its something that people will play. All I can promise is that something will come out, whether people like it or play it... who knows. I think alot of us are ready to be done with the project, at least on the full development side of it.



9. How will vehicle steering handle? Will turning seem to accelerate/decelerate, or will it turn to where you point (not necessarily instantly)?

I cannot comment on the vehicles right now, due to the fact that a large part of the vehicle code is broken or shoddy in TGEA and is not a high to-do on our list, right now...



10. What advice do you have for someone beginning a development project on this scale?

Don't!  j/k... I think the scope of the project needs to be examined closely and properly scaled to what is honestly doable by the team (depending on the size of the group, etc). Ascension originally started out a lot larger scope than it is now, and while I still believe there are aspects that could be toned down, it is better than it was.

RenWerX is considering turning developer interviews into a regular feature, if you would like to see more interviews with other developers at RenWerX Studios, please let us know in this thread.

- Teratos