Ask Me Anything with Björn

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Björn Öjlert
EW Staff
EW Staff
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Joined: July 9th, 2010, 4:59 am
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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Re: Ask Me Anything with Björn

Post by Björn Öjlert »

Wow, that's a lot of questions! Took me a couple of days to answer them all but here we go. :-)


Design

Q: TheHunter does not appear to go through any radical changes but rather small, incremental ones. Is this just due to the continual development strategy that is employed or not wanting to confuse/upset the existing player base or is there perhaps another reason?

A: I tend to favour incremental iterative changes because it allows us to gather feedback and data before committing “all in” to something unknown. Sometimes radical changes may be needed but we don’t want to rush into things before we are absolutely sure that it will make the game better.


Q: Do you feel that perhaps an overhaul of some areas of the game design are perhaps needed. Such as skills, animal behavior, achievements, permitted weapons etc, etc.

A: There is always room for improvement although I don’t see any complete overhauls coming to the mentioned systems anytime soon. If we do change something it will probably be incremental changes. Keep in mind that a lot of veterans are used to these systems and if we decide to change something we need to be very sure that it will make things better.


Q: If you could have one completely unrealistic feature in the game, what would it be.

A: Dinosaurs!


Q: Will there ever be some sort of bird spotting, comparable to the mushroom collecting?

A: It’s an interesting idea but it’s not something that we are currently prioritizing. It would probably involve a lot of work so we’d have to be sure that it’s something that a large part of the community wants before going there. In contrast the collectible system was a very simple thing to implement so we could do it without sacrificing a lot of dev time from more prioritized things such as the development of new species and reserves.


Q: Become the Game a Realistic Bullet System, That you can hit two animals with the same Bullet (when the stay close together/behind)?

A: We’ve discussed exit wounds and in extension the ability to hit additional targets after the projectile leaves the body. It’s an interesting feature because it would recreate a real life problem where you have to be careful not to shoot at animals when there is another one standing behind it for fear of an unclean kill (inviting Doc to your mailbox).

We’re currently not working on this but it is not impossible that it will happen in the future.



Q: Will You add Scopes, which you must config (distance)?

A: We already have a trajectory system which includes zeroing so it should be fairly easy to allow players to select from a number of preset zero distances. It’s not prioritized at the moment but its likely to happen at some point.


Q: It is possible to integrated small Animals...like "Baby-Moose" or shoat etc.?

A: It’s possible but we currently have no plans to make young animals. It would increase the amount of work we’d have to do for each new species and thus the time between releases so I don’t think it will happen anytime soon.


Q: Will come Dogs and Vehicles? <- I know its a terrible Question!

A: Dogs is something that I really would like to do at some point but it is a huge project. The AI and animations have to be really good as the dog would spend a lot of time close to the player and even minor problems would be painfully visible.

Vehicles could happen but it’s not highly prioritized because the tent system already provides quick transportation across reserves. However, if we find that there is enough demand for it in the community it could happen.



Q: After you guys took over this game, i can remember somebody saying "we want to add as many huntable animals from around the world as possible". is this statement still valid? will we see different species and reserves from africa, asia etc. in the future? (again i don't want to know what exactly you're working on in the moment)

A: As long as there is demand for new species it is more than likely that we will continue to make them. It has to make sense though. If an animal is not hunted real life it will probably not end up in the game other than that I see no restrictions as to continent etc.


Q: After releasing a new animal, do you ever decrease the probability for finding a high score after some time?

A: No. If we do change this for some reason we will announce it and launch a new season. We always try to avoid changes that affect the chance of players ending up on the leaderboard during active seasons.


Q: After introducing the goose to Hirschfelden, did you have to decrease the number of the other animals?

A: No, waterfowl use a simpler AI system than other species which allowed us to introduce it without reducing the other populations. With that said it is not impossible that this will change in the future if we find that there are unknown performance problems with this setup.


Q: Is the animal distribution the same for all starting times, or will there be more of a species at a certain time and less at another time?

A: The amount of animals spawning is always the same at all times of the day. Time affect where they go and what they do. If you for instance head out when a species is resting they may be harder to find as they typically move around less and don’t respond to lures when sleeping.


Q: Do you developers ever use the Wiki to look up information?

A: I’ve done it a couple of times and I’m sure that some of the other members of the team have done it as well. :-)


Q: EW does not publish a lot of information about the game itself, the knowledge is usually collected by the community and made available through the forums or the Wikis. You support us many times in this process, however there is some information that is never revealed, such as how the spotting/tracking estimation system works, or how many animals there are in each reserve, etc. What is your rule for when you are happy to share information, and when you want to keep it a secret?

A: There isn’t a general rule, it tends to be something that we decide from case to case. Mostly we’ll reveal things in cases where the information is already more or less known such as with the CSS MPs or if we think that it is important for players to know in order to enjoy the game, such as weapon zero settings.


Q: Last but not least, what is your most wanted feature that is missing in this game?

A: There are a lot of things on my most wanted list. Convenience things like “inventory presets” and “website bait refill” is high up there but it would also be fun to do bigger things like dogs and hunting clubs (guilds).


Q: When starting on a new design being it concept or item, do you start by doodling on paper or you never leave the screen?

A: Most new features, such as for instance a species, involve a lot of research which in turn means a lot of screen time. Then comes the design phase that involves a lot of writing and drawing. Sometimes it is on paper but usually it will be on the screen simply because it’s a lot easier to share a digital document with the team than a old school hand drawing.


Q: Hint of the next species?

A: It is not a bird. ;)


Q: My question is, will there ever, in the near future, be a possibility for guests to be able to place world items such as tree stands, ground blinds or tripods, in MP games? (I'm not thinking about tents, as that would cause problems). I think that is the feature I miss most in MP games.

A: When it comes to design I don’t see a problem with this. In fact, it was part of the original design for multiplayer. The reason why it was scraped is because it added a lot of technical problems to multiplayer that we did not have the resources to solve at that time. It’s something that we want to do though, so don’t be surprised if it happens sometime in future.


Q: As a Game Designer how important is longevity of the game for you.

A: It’s very important. Not only because it is awesome to see people spend a lot of time enjoying your game but also because the business model demands it. Retail games can afford to be short lived as they only need you to pay once but a F2P game need to be entertaining for years to come.


Q: How important are adaptation of real life items (like blaser (anschütz) guns, aimpoint scopes...etc.) for the game, as many hunter love to see this in real life very expensive items in the game and use them there where they (maybe) couldnt in real life.

A: It’s important for the reason that you stated. Many times a player may be interested in a specific item not because of the specific gameplay benefits that it provides but because they have a personal relationship to it from real-life. Having real brands also adds a level of realism to the game that is hard to achieve with generic items.


Q: Are you planning on expanding the "social" aspect of the hunter further by adding true Multiplayer comps, Hunting Clubs (aka guilds) or Hunting Lodges for a Group of player (aka Guild housing)

A: It is on our list of possible future features. Personally I would love to see guilds and I believe that it would be very good for the game but it requires development resources that are currently very limited (server) so there will probably be some time yet before we can consider it.


Q: How important is the immersive feeling of the game for you?

A: It’s very important. Both because I love it personally and because we’ve discovered over the years that this is one of the things that a lot of players state is one of the major reasons why they play the game which in turn makes it a strength that we need to safeguard and build upon.


Q: The hunter say's "the most realistic hunting game" so if you were forced^^ (just only for good sake) how would you score the gaming and simulation parts in the hunter ( 50/50, 75/25 or so...)

A: It’s really hard to estimate this as there are so many variables involved. What I can say is that we want to simulate reality where it makes sense and without sacrificing fun. Some things like air temperature affecting bullet trajectories does not make sense to simulate because no one will notice the difference at the distances we are shooting at and the real life scenario of waiting for a single animal to show for 3 days is not that entertaining if your reward is ones and zeros rather than meat on the table.


Q: How difficult would it be to change the specific data of two of The Hunter's weapons so they could be ethical for hunting Roosevelt Elk and also Red Fox, and what would the objections be for making such a change ? The weapons that I am referring to are the 6.5 x 55 Blaser R8 Bolt Action Rifle, and the new .30-30 Lever Action Liberator Rifle. Both of these weapons are ethical for hunting Coyote, Feral Hog, Red Deer, and Wild Boar, but not for Roosevelt Elk or Red Fox. Just wondering if you would consider making the change for either one of the weapons, or both?

A: The difficulty is not technical but with design. What is considered ethical differs all over the world and in the end we’ll just have to select one option for the game that is reasonably in line with the weapons gameplay performance. I don’t see the permissions changing for the mentioned weapons at this time but we may review it in the future.


Q: I was also wondering if there are plans to add more waterfowl species, (Pintail, Wood Ducks, Snow or Grey Geese, possibly Canvasbacks, Redheads, or Scaup) to the existing or future Reserves ? I know that you cannot release information on specific additions that are forthcoming, but sure would enjoy the variety when it comes to seeing and hunting Waterfowl.

A: It is very likely that we’ll see one of the mentioned species eventually because we know that there is a lot of demand for them.


Q: Is it possible for you guys the bring more variety into animals death? like some animals die instantly when two organs are shot, other run away for a short distance etc.?

A: It would be possible but it’s currently not a prioritized feature.


Q: In the future, when there´s hopefully a lot more reserves, will the animal species get different subspecies? (like mule deer and blacktail deer). as an example: european and american moose (with different leaderboards, competitions and scores). i don´t know if this would be very high on the priority list, but i think it would add realism if we could hunt different subspecies.

A: It’s possible that there will be subspecies at some point but it’s currently not something we prioritize as there are still a lot of unique species to implement that we feel could add even more variety to the game than a subspecies.


Q: Will there be whitetail herds in the future, or will they stay loners?

A: It’s my understanding that Whitetails are mostly loners in real life so I don’t see this particular species in herds any time soon.


Q: At one time, we were told Non-typicals (wt, bt, and md) would be added to our game. Is
this still on your "TO DO List?" If not, why?

A: It’s still on the list of possible future features but it’s currently not something that we are working on.


Q: We were also told, (after mushrooms appeared in our game), that "SHEDS". (for those of you
that don't know what Sheds are, it's the antlers you see on the ground that bucks lose in
early spring each year), might be added to our game. If these are no longer on your "TO DO List",...why?

A: It’s also still on the possible features list but currently it is not highly prioritized. If we do add sheds I’d like it to be something that provides a lot more variation, both in visuals and scoring, than our current collectibles which in turn makes it a lot more complicated than adding another mushroom or artifact.


Q: What are the chances of modeling the Zielsechs or Zielacht scopes to the K98k?

A: It’s not something that we currently prioritize.


Q: Will we see other classic bolt action rifles in the future (e.g Springfield, Mosin Nagant, Winchester 70, Karl Gustaf)?

A: Judging from how well the K98k was received I believe the chance of more classics is fairly high. :)


Q: Will there ever be wolves implemented in game? If yes -will they attack? If no - will this be due to different laws around the globe? (being protected by some countries while unprotected by others)

A: It’s very likely that there will be wolfs at some point and if so they will probably attack although only in cases where it makes sense. We don’t want to repeat the senseless attacks of other hunting games where wolfs tend to behave more like zombie hordes than intelligent hunters...


Q: Is small game being worked on by you guys? If so, what species will it likely be? If 1 is true, can we expect to see it soon?

A: Maybe, have you read the latest status update? ;-)


Q: Why have you chosen to separate single player and multiplayer competitions? Why not leave it to the players to chose if they want to participate in the most standard competitions while playing with friends or if they want to go at it alone?

A: The reason for the separation is that we did not want to upset the balance of single player competitions with the introduction of multiplayer. In multiplayer games there’s a possibility of players working out ways of cooperation that increase their chance vs. solo players. With that said it’s not impossible that we’ll review this decision in the future and remove the separation.


Q: A lot of members are crying for an African Reserve with dangerous game. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are we getting that at some point in the future? Can you elaborate a little on why or why not?

A: I can’t say much about this other than that it would be awesome to do Africa at some point.


Q: Any chance you will open any editors for creative users (like map editors, gun customization, avatar editor), or is this simply not possible in the foreseeable future or not going to happen at all?

A: The tools we use for reserves and items are not suitable for modding so this will probably not happen anytime soon. With that said we’ve discussed allowing other forms of user created content through custom tools, for instance an official tool for player created competitions.


Q: I understand fully that as a game developer one has certain goals and ideas one wants to carry out, and one needs to keep focus on that to achieve them, but how much weight does the community really carry when decisions of what to focus on next are made?

A: A lot. There’s no business sense in developing things that the community does not want. While the forum is the most visible tool that we use in this regard we also gather data through surveys, sales and gameplay metrics that we use to guide our decisions.


Q: Before the MP update whatever equipment the player was holding would move slower than the screen when the player turned, like this. It made the animations look a lot smoother. What was the reason for it's removal? Is there any chance that it will be added back to the game?

A: When we added legs to the character for multiplayer it broke the previous implementation. I think it’s a cool effect and I agree that it would be nice to see it return someday.


Q: Will we ever see the return of idle animations for the player?

A: If you are referring to the item fiddling every now and then it was removed due to popular request. A lot of players found it annoying and unrealistic so with that in mind I don’t see it returning anytime soon.


Q: What exactly means "forest area"? Its places near trees, green zones at the maps, or what?
How i can know exactly where my 3d forest camo works?

A: Any area with a lot of trees. Avoid things like roads, fields and beaches.


Q: What effective range have?: a) geese long caller b) gesse flag c) geese short caller

A: It differs depending on the location but I would begin calling when the flock is within about 200 m from your position.


Q: If we placing decoys at larger area we see more than one duck icon on huntermate.
Are here difference of effectiveness if we have one icon or more icons?

A: If you see two icons it means that your decoys are far enough apart to be treated as two separate spreads. If your prey flies above both spreads the chance is higher that they’ll land at one of them compared to if they fly over a single spread, however, you’ll have a greater area to cover since they can decide to land at either spread and if they are too far apart it may be tricky to call them in with the close range caller without leaving your blind.


Q: Theoretically geese setup at image below must work better than standard 24 decoys setup (though under the influence of wiki info's). Please confirm/negate that setup in image below are more effective than standard 24 setup.

A: See the previous answer. It should theoretically be more effective in cases where the birds fly in a direction that take them over both spreads.


Q: After some years of game development we have much more users than years ago. But still have just top 3 reward system in standard competitions. Sometimes we see some special competitions with top 10 rewarding system. Have you some plans to bring in top 10 reward system in standard competitions?
And what about poker tourneys reward system, where rewards depends on entrants quantity?

A: We currently don’t have any plans for adding top 10 trophies for the standard competitions but this may change.

The poker entry idea is interesting and I agree that it could be cool to do something like that in the future.


Q: We have info on clothing descriptions in words "some, moderate, above moderate, fairly good, good, excellent". How much these descriptions have difference of effect between them?
Its like "1,2,3,4,5,6" or "1,5,20,50,90,150"? Please tell about that more.

A: It’s fairly linear, 1,2,3,4 etc. is more accurate than 1,5,20...


Q: Was wondering about putting something in the huntermate(on the harvest screen) about rares especially the birds which are very hard to tell. It would be nice if it told us whether it was a rare or not on the screen so we can take a pic,as most of us when hunting and harvesting them we just click on them and click off because we want to get to the next before the next flock comes in but if it showed a rare on it we would take our time and take a pic...it would also help with newer players wondering on color variations if its a rare. Just wondering if you plan on implementing it in in the future?

A: Yes, this is something I’d like to do. I’d also love to see a rare statistics page where you can see how many of each you’ve harvested. It’s a matter of finding the time to do it.


Q: Is there any chance we will be able to choose between early MP weapon holding animation and current unrealistic FPS weapon holding animation?

A: No, we cannot afford to maintain two animation systems. It would increase development time for new items and it would increase system complexity which in turn means a greater risk of bugs.


Q: And will we ever be able to turn off auto reloading for bows (not automatically nocking an arrow, so we will be able to carry bow in one hand as it is now when you are out of arrows and when we hit R the character will nock the arrow)?

A: It’s would be possible to do but it’s not something that we currently prioritize.


Q: What plans if any do you have for the future of Bow hunting in theHunter?

A: Revamping penetration and ballistics is on my personal wish-list. Other than that I can’t say more at this time.


Q: I find it very important how the hunter should move in this game. And the current options are in my opinion very few. I would like for instance, when walking, that I could choose more speeds, like crouching speed and prone speed. I would also like to see a stance between standing and crouching. Are we ever going to see a more extensive movement and stance system in The Hunter?

A: It is possible that we’ll do such a system but it’s not currently prioritized. The whole game is currently built around stances so there could be a lot of unforeseen consequences from doing a variable speed system and we’d have to approach such a thing carefully.


Q: “So my question is when if ever will there be regular multiplayer competitions for all the different species other than just the special events?”

A: It is possible and definitely something that we should look into.


Q: Can we have a clothing system that allows us to pick the reserve specific dress-up with 1 click ?
It is a good thing to be able to choose between hats/jackets/pants.... but time consuming and sometimes a bit hard to see the different parts by describtion: Basic parts....
To have a tab named: "Winter camo dress"/"Forrest camodress" and click on this to equip a full dress would be mutch easyere and still have the option to choose the individual choises aswell.

A: Yes. Internally we call this “Inventory Presets” and it is fairly high on the prio list.


Q: Can we have a remote filling system for bearbait/hogfeeder from the website?

A: Yes. This is another feature that a lot of us want to do so the chance of it happening is fairly high.


Q: Since the latest game update (May 8th, 2014), why the red dot of the shotgun scope which can be mounted on the pump action shotgun does not appear anymore as a clear round red dot but rather a thick unclear red line?

A: It’s not by design. It probably got changed by mistake when we converted the scopes to the new GUI system. I will notify the art guys.


Q: Why for some time now, when we use a bow, and even the quietest one, "parker python", to shoot landed Canada goose in "Hirschfelden", they (nearly) always fly away? Are they more spooked?

A: Neither the Goose or the Parker has been tweaked recently. If you hit one of the Geese and there are other geese nearby there is a chance that the hit goose will spread fear to the other geese. Other than that I don’t know what could be causing this.


Q:My question is regarding the SP chat system, is there any plan to bring it back? will it be a new improved SP chat system? if yes, can you give us an estimation time for the arrival? If no, is it possible to bring back the same old SP chat system with at least an ability to turn it on or off?

Communication with friends is important, we need more channels of communication and not less, specially after the MP release. This makes SP chat system more important than ever... we need to be able to communicate directly with our friends and so we can arrange a live MP session if we are interested through the SP chat. Add to that it was something good and some of us really enjoyed it!

A: Bringing the SP chat back is currently not something we are working on. On the server side all our focus is currently at fixing all the bugs and performance problems that have been affecting some players after the move to the cloud server.


Q: Will come an Ingame-Voice-Chat...like TeamSpeak or something?

A: VOIP is currently not prioritized. There’re a lot of services that already do this for you such as Mumble & Team Speak so we do not believe that it is currently worth the effort to add this to the game.


Q: Will there be an Alaska map?

A: If you can hunt things in an area there is a possibility that it will eventually make it into the game...


Q: What is the chances of some new American Made bolt actions?

A: It depends on community interest, if you have any specific ideas feel free to post them in the thoughts and suggestions forum.


Q: Can you elaborate on where you see yourself taking this game in the future? What are your dreams and hopes with this game? Will it be steered towards being as realistic as possible, or are you looking into other elements being implemented to maybe draw in a wider aspect of players? (I'm not looking for any promises or anything, it would just be interesting to hear about your vision. Doesn't need to be specific either, though specific is welcome none the less.

A: I believe that this game will continue to evolve for many years to come and that we have yet to reach all the players that may be interested in what we are doing. I don’t think there need to be a lot of changes to the core gameplay in order to reach a wider audience but rather that we should build on what has proven to be a very successful formula while adding more depth and variety to the whole experience. Of course there are many areas where we can be better at teaching new players about the game but it does not have to happen at the expense of complexity.

As to specific features I can’t say what the future holds because I simply don’t know. We tend to only plan a couple of months ahead in order to be able to react to opportunities and community wishes. Currently we focus on hunting but it is not impossible that we’ll explore related activities such as for instance fishing if we see that there is large enough demand for it within the community.


Tech - Client

Q: “How is the chances for a upgrade from DX 9c to DX10 or 11 for a better graphic in theHunter ?”

A: It’s not something that we prioritize at the moment. It’s important to note that just upgrading to DX 11 would not automagically make the game look better. To gain something from such an upgrade we would have to spend a lot of time adding new effects that use new API features and we currently do not have the resources available for such a project.

With that said it is not impossible that we will do something like this in the future but in that case it will probably be as part of a larger upgrade of the whole game engine.



Q: Is it possible to have a option to choose between DX settings for those that can't afford high end computers ? I mean: Will it take a lot of work to change the game to do that?

A: If you mean having a DX9 & DX11 version of the game, then yes, it would be possible. However, it is generally something that you want to avoid this since it increases complexity and in turn the possibility of unexpected bugs.


Q: The graphic engine is starting to show its age (it's still pretty darn good). Is there any plans to upgrade or change the engine to allow for longer draw distance and more detailed maps, or should we just come to terms with that it is going to stay the way it is for a good while longer?

A: An upgrade of the engine is something that could happen at some point but it’s currently not something we are working on.


Q: “Will come the Support for an 5 or 7 Switch Mouse, that i can use more then 3 Buttons and the wheel)?”

A: This should already possible. Some of us here at EW already use mice with more that 3 buttons in the game with no binding issues so it could be a problem with the configuration of your hardware.


Q: Why does sunlight (before sunrise) shine thru tracks, blood, windows, animals and decoys?

A: Only Doc knows why this happens. Ancient Aliens devices tampering with the code? :)


Q: When will the "aiming below the horizon" bug be fixed. There are still many many areas all over the reserves, especially on roads where, when in prone position, you still cannot aim/fire below the horizon? It's frustrating when you quickly hit the ground to only realize you cannot take a shot and you loose the animal.

A: We need more information in order to solve this, such as the coordinates to the locations where it happens.


Tech - Web

Q: Do you intend to release a public API to query stuff like total harvests, achievements, etc ?

A: We are not currently working on such a feature but it is not impossible that it may happen in the future.


Q: And why i can not erase messages from other Players or DOC?

A: It’s simply because the server team has been prioritizing on other things such as solving bugs and performance issues.


Q: Is there any chance you will revert to the way the webpages were before the last update, where you could sift through pages a bit faster than clicking prev/next and where you had a full list of animals in your "Personal Bests" and not just the top 20 etc?

A: We had to do this to solve a serious performance issue on the server but the ambition is to return this feature someday when we have time to find a better implementation.


Sound

Q: Are there any plans to improve on the sound design? To be more specific, I really like to walk around the forests and stuff and hear the birds whistling and that kind of stuff. It would be nice to hear a lot more different bird sounds. Another thing that seems like a nice idea is more wind noises, walking in an open field are having the wind come in stronger and hearing it gushing past you.

A: We currently have no such plans but I agree that the sound design could use an overhaul sometime in the future.

Q: Can you get that grebe (or loon) in Rougarou Bayou to shut up? It would be preferable to at least tone it down a notch or two, and maybe not having it on a continous cycle.... It makes the hogs wear ear muffs and the ducks literally place themselves in front of my shotgun to escape the sound.


A: It’s currently not something we are working on. If we find that there is a consensus among the community about this issue things may change.


Business Model

Q: How many active (paying) customers are there currently? Average number of new memberships per month? .......Etc.

A: Exact numbers about this is unfortunately not something that we are willing to share at this time. What I can say is that we recently passed 3 million registered users and that the amount of paying members has increased substantially since we released multiplayer.


Q: Do you derive much revenue from sponsors (Nosler, Anschütz), and why aren't there more sponsored products, perhaps regionally target toward where the player lives?

A: Our sponsor deals are typically symbiotic in that they promote us and we promote them. No direct revenue is involved. The main reason why we do this is that we believe that having these brands adds an extra sense of realism to the game. Unfortunately it is fairly complicated to work out these deals and this is the main reason why there aren’t more of them.


Q: Why are there no links or small ads for goods and services that might be of interest to your customers. Nothing too intrusive of course, we don't want to be bombarded by ads, but many companies derive significant revenue for such cross-promotion links. I'd think your customer base could be very targeted for certain types of outdoor and hunting products and services.

A: We used to have ads on the page but we removed them because we felt that it was too much of an unnecessary annoyance to our players to be worth doing.


Q: Is todays business model tested and proved so you will continue on that path, or are you looking into other ways to reach a bigger user base and to give more options or solutions to existing members?

A: We are always exploring new opportunities and evaluating the model but I don’t think there will be any drastic changes anytime soon.


Q: Will there ever be an option to gift store items and memberships instead of Em$? If not, what is the reason for that?

A: You can already gift memberships via the membership store. I don’t think item gifting will happen as Em$ gifting should already cover that need for most players.


Misc

Q: If you could hunt a colleague, who would it be.

A: Probably our wallmounted Wild Boar “Hoggy”, if he was still fit enough to roam the plains.


Q: Blondes or brunettes?

A: The correct answer depends on what color of hair my girlfriend currently has.


Q: Pepsi or Coke?

A: Pepsi.


Q: What is the proper response when your wife/girlfriend asks "Do this make me look fat?"

A: There is no correct answer. In my experience the best option is to leg it.


Q: Ok, now that we had a little fun, here is the real question: what has the atmosphere at the EW office been like? Example: is it fairly light hearted, totally serious, etc.

A: It differs from situation to situation like I imagine that it’s like at most workplaces. Usually it is pretty lighthearted but things become very serious when for instance the live server goes down.


Q: Last question: What is the thing that you, as the lead guy and programmer, find the most interesting about the game, as well as the most frustrating thing?

A: The most interesting aspect is probably the “game as a service” model where we get to develop directly for the community. This is a lot more rewarding than working according to the traditional retail model where your customer is a publisher and you have very little chance to get feedback from the actual audience of your game.

The most frustrating aspect is probably having to prioritize among the futures that the community wants due to the realities of there not being enough time in the world to do it all.


Q: “Is theHunter code commented in Swedish or English? If Swedish, is that because the obvious threat of hostile Canadian takeover?”

A: All our documentation is in English. I believe this is more or less standard at most game developers in Sweden as we work a lot with international partners, customers and staff. Verbal communication within the EW team is mostly Swedish but our friends at Avalanche tend to speak English because they have a large number of international staff. So, no, we are not worried about Canada at this time. :-)


Q: “If you don't mind, I just want to see how your face looks like..”

A: The beardless man left of the Roe Deer: http://news.thehunter.com/wp-content/up ... r_team.jpg


Q: Whats a belief that you hold that many people disagree with?

A: Settler Creeks is the coolest reserve in the game. But I’m very biased since it was the first reserve that I were privileged to work on. I’m especially proud over things like the mystery cave. Never have rocks been abused in such a way to create a cave in an engine that should not support it. :-)


Q: If you can teach something what would it be

A: The ways of the force. Preferably the dark side since they have cooler outfits and powers.


Q: Fill in the blank - Life is too short to tolerate _______

A: Telemarketing.


Q: Whats your favorite free-time activity?

A: I play a lot of computer games although the correct answer is of course spending quality time with the love of my life... I also play guitar and visit ancient ruins in far off lands whenever possible.


Q: What is the most secret thing you guys are working on right now?

A: I could tell you but then I would have to ban you... ;-)
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