News for you on Mythos!!
We have released a written interview with Max Shaefer about Mythos.
Check it out!
Flagship Studios COO - Max Schaefer 专访
Q: Max! 请你介绍一下自己好吗？ 你在旗舰工作室和Mythos主要负责什么工作呢？
A: Hi~我的名字是Max Schaefer， 是旗舰工作室的创始人之一，现在担任COO的工作。
我有15年做游戏的经验，其中最主要的成绩就是参与了北方暴雪的创建和《暗黑破坏神》系列游戏的工作。 现在在旗舰工作室负责创建《暗黑之门：伦敦》粒子系统和兼任Mythos 的执行制作人
Q: Mythos这个游戏已经进行了多久了？ 能告诉我们一些有关Mythos诞生的内幕么？
A: Mythos项目已经进行了1年半。 刚开始的时候我们非常渴望聘用曾经策划游戏《Fate》的 Travis Baldree， 因为我们觉得他能够抓住并表现暗黑最吸引人的灵魂部分。但是当时面对的情况是Travis不能离开西雅图，所以我们只能想出以一个特别的方式合作。那时我们正在进行《暗黑之门：伦敦》，并且正在寻找一个可以测试网络体系结构的方法。我们最终想出的办法就是制作一个本质上和《暗黑之门：伦敦》运作一样但是更加简单，用现存的工具和技术就制作出来的测试用游戏。几乎就是在测试用游戏出来的同时我们意识到这个游戏值得我们投入更多的精力。
Q: 因为游戏开发人员并没有集中在一起，你们是否遇到沟通不便的问题呢？你是怎么管理组织的呢？
A: 因为大家都用使用messenger 来保持联系，所以我们在沟通上并没有遇到困难。所有的意见都得到了及时地交换。但是最大的功臣是Travis，他严格的管理使得我不用在组织的管理运作上费神。
Q:你觉得Mythos最大的特征是什么？
A: Mythos 最大的特征是这个游戏既不复杂又非常有趣。Mythos 的世界是让人放松的，熟悉而亲切的，同时也是具有原创性的。 战斗起来非常的爽快干脆并且非常有互动的感觉。人物也很讨巧和俏皮。 完成任务的时候不需要花掉玩家整个周末。Mythos 能够让人会心一笑。
Q: 很多人都提到Mythos 让他们想起了《暗黑破坏神》。 两个游戏之间有什么联系？Mythos 和《暗黑破坏神》有什么不同和相似之处么？
A: 旗舰工作室有大约17个人曾经参与《暗黑破坏神》的开发工作。 比现在留在暴雪的人数还要多。暗黑的灵魂已经融入到我们的作品之中，所以这种联系是切不断的。 但是《暗黑破坏神》的世界和Mythos 的世界是非常不同的。《暗黑破坏神》的世界更加黑暗，具有直线型特点。
而Mythos 更具有多人连线游戏的特征。
Q:当人们把Mythos 和《暗黑破坏神》比较的时候，你们会不会觉得有压力呢？
A: 当然会。我们总是迫使自己使新的作品超越以往，这种需要从当初在暴雪那个充满竞争氛围和承诺做到最好的环境中就得到了培养。甚至延续到现在的旗舰工作室。
Q: Mythos 的封测进行的怎么样？确实对游戏改进有所帮助么？ 大致有多少人参加，从他们那里得到的反馈如何？
A: 有几千人参与了这次的Beta封测。他们的回馈非常的棒，对改进游戏的平衡性和其它部分非常有帮助。我们和参与测试的玩家每天保持着联系。 游戏社区以及公会被建立的出人意料的好，他们的活动非常积极而且充满激情，让我们非常感激。
Q: 你并没有给Mythos的封测设定一个结束的时间。为什么？测试会进行到什么时候呢？
A:尽管Mythos 已经变成了一个独立的重要项目，但是我们决定保持这个项目的灵活性并不打算改变让Mythos 帮助测试《暗黑之门：伦敦》的网络体系技术的初衷。，
Q: Mythos 什么时候会公开给公众呢？ 它的封测已经开始进行，很明显Mythos 的开发进度要快于《暗黑之门：伦敦》。 它会被抢先公开么？
A: 这是个暗藏玄机的问题。我知道同时发布两个重要的游戏是很疯狂的。 特别是对像我们这样刚刚起步的独立开发公司。 但是这就是我们正在做的事情。 随着公司开发力量的增加我们会持续完善游戏然后公布给大众。Mythos进度确实是比《暗黑之门：伦敦》快一些， 因为我们需要它去验证将要执行在《暗黑之门：伦敦》的技术。现在我们还不确定是否将Mythos放在《暗黑之门：伦敦》之前完全公布给大众，但是我们会尝试。 如果没有做到的话它将会紧随《暗黑之门：伦敦》和玩家见面。 暂时我们会集中精力在测试中完善。
Q: Mythos 和《暗黑之门：伦敦》的不同之处在哪里呢？
A: 这两个游戏使用同一个图形引擎，开发工具以及网络体系技术并且在设计感也保持了一致。可以说这两个游戏有非常多的相似之处。如果你只是看游戏截图的话会觉得它们根本就是两个不同的游戏， 但是在玩了一段时间之后你会感觉到它们相传一脉。
Q: 有没有特别想对中国玩家说的话？
A :我想说我工作中的一大乐趣就是可以到不同的国家和地区旅行，在那些有我们游戏的玩家的地方。 我最爱的地方之一就是中国。 我们深感荣耀和荣幸能够把我们的游戏介绍到中国。并且成为以惊人速度增长和发展着的中国游戏开发产业的一部分。上次的上海和北京之行让我们非常期待能够再次拜访中国。 你好~中国。
Q: Max! 请你介绍一下自己好吗？ 你在旗舰工作室和Mythos主要负责什么工作呢？
A: Hi~我的名字是Max Schaefer， 是旗舰工作室的创始人之一，现在担任COO的工作。
我有15年做游戏的经验，其中最主要的成绩就是参与了北方暴雪的创建和《暗黑破坏神》系列游戏的工作。 现在在旗舰工作室负责创建《暗黑之门：伦敦》粒子系统和兼任Mythos 的执行制作人
Q: Mythos这个游戏已经进行了多久了？ 能告诉我们一些有关Mythos诞生的内幕么？
A: Mythos项目已经进行了1年半。 刚开始的时候我们非常渴望聘用曾经策划游戏《Fate》的 Travis Baldree， 因为我们觉得他能够抓住并表现暗黑最吸引人的灵魂部分。但是当时面对的情况是Travis不能离开西雅图，所以我们只能想出以一个特别的方式合作。那时我们正在进行《暗黑之门：伦敦》，并且正在寻找一个可以测试网络体系结构的方法。我们最终想出的办法就是制作一个本质上和《暗黑之门：伦敦》运作一样但是更加简单，用现存的工具和技术就制作出来的测试用游戏。几乎就是在测试用游戏出来的同时我们意识到这个游戏值得我们投入更多的精力。
Q: 因为游戏开发人员并没有集中在一起，你们是否遇到沟通不便的问题呢？你是怎么管理组织的呢？
A: 因为大家都用使用messenger 来保持联系，所以我们在沟通上并没有遇到困难。所有的意见都得到了及时地交换。但是最大的功臣是Travis，他严格的管理使得我不用在组织的管理运作上费神。
Q:你觉得Mythos最大的特征是什么？
A: Mythos 最大的特征是这个游戏既不复杂又非常有趣。Mythos 的世界是让人放松的，熟悉而亲切的，同时也是具有原创性的。 战斗起来非常的爽快干脆并且非常有互动的感觉。人物也很讨巧和俏皮。 完成任务的时候不需要花掉玩家整个周末。Mythos 能够让人会心一笑。
Q: 很多人都提到Mythos 让他们想起了《暗黑破坏神》。 两个游戏之间有什么联系？Mythos 和《暗黑破坏神》有什么不同和相似之处么？
A: 旗舰工作室有大约17个人曾经参与《暗黑破坏神》的开发工作。 比现在留在暴雪的人数还要多。暗黑的灵魂已经融入到我们的作品之中，所以这种联系是切不断的。 但是《暗黑破坏神》的世界和Mythos 的世界是非常不同的。《暗黑破坏神》的世界更加黑暗，具有直线型特点。
而Mythos 更具有多人连线游戏的特征。
Q:当人们把Mythos 和《暗黑破坏神》比较的时候，你们会不会觉得有压力呢？
A: 当然会。我们总是迫使自己使新的作品超越以往，这种需要从当初在暴雪那个充满竞争氛围和承诺做到最好的环境中就得到了培养。甚至延续到现在的旗舰工作室。
Q: Mythos 的封测进行的怎么样？确实对游戏改进有所帮助么？ 大致有多少人参加，从他们那里得到的反馈如何？
A: 有几千人参与了这次的Beta封测。他们的回馈非常的棒，对改进游戏的平衡性和其它部分非常有帮助。我们和参与测试的玩家每天保持着联系。 游戏社区以及公会被建立的出人意料的好，他们的活动非常积极而且充满激情，让我们非常感激。
Q: 你并没有给Mythos的封测设定一个结束的时间。为什么？测试会进行到什么时候呢？
A:尽管Mythos 已经变成了一个独立的重要项目，但是我们决定保持这个项目的灵活性并不打算改变让Mythos 帮助测试《暗黑之门：伦敦》的网络体系技术的初衷。，
Q: Mythos 什么时候会公开给公众呢？ 它的封测已经开始进行，很明显Mythos 的开发进度要快于《暗黑之门：伦敦》。 它会被抢先公开么？
A: 这是个暗藏玄机的问题。我知道同时发布两个重要的游戏是很疯狂的。 特别是对像我们这样刚刚起步的独立开发公司。 但是这就是我们正在做的事情。 随着公司开发力量的增加我们会持续完善游戏然后公布给大众。Mythos进度确实是比《暗黑之门：伦敦》快一些， 因为我们需要它去验证将要执行在《暗黑之门：伦敦》的技术。现在我们还不确定是否将Mythos放在《暗黑之门：伦敦》之前完全公布给大众，但是我们会尝试。 如果没有做到的话它将会紧随《暗黑之门：伦敦》和玩家见面。 暂时我们会集中精力在测试中完善。
Q: Mythos 和《暗黑之门：伦敦》的不同之处在哪里呢？
A: 这两个游戏使用同一个图形引擎，开发工具以及网络体系技术并且在设计感也保持了一致。可以说这两个游戏有非常多的相似之处。如果你只是看游戏截图的话会觉得它们根本就是两个不同的游戏， 但是在玩了一段时间之后你会感觉到它们相传一脉。
Q: 有没有特别想对中国玩家说的话？
A :我想说我工作中的一大乐趣就是可以到不同的国家和地区旅行，在那些有我们游戏的玩家的地方。 我最爱的地方之一就是中国。 我们深感荣耀和荣幸能够把我们的游戏介绍到中国。并且成为以惊人速度增长和发展着的中国游戏开发产业的一部分。上次的上海和北京之行让我们非常期待能够再次拜访中国。 你好~中国。
English version
1. Max! Tell us a little bit about yourself! What are your main roles in FSS and Mythos?
Hello! My name is Max Schaefer, and I’m the COO and co-founder of Flagship Studios. I’ve been making games for 15 years now, most notably in co-founding Blizzard North and working on the Diablo series. With Flagship Studios, I wear a lot of hats, from making particle systems for Hellgate: London, to serving as Executive Producer for Mythos.
2. How long have you guys working on Mythos? Tell us a little bit about the birth of Mythos? (When, and how you guys came up with the idea.)
The Mythos project is about a year and a half old. It began with a desire to hire Travis Baldree, who was the mastermind of the game Fate, which in our opinion best captured the hook of the Diablo games. Travis couldn’t leave Seattle so we had to come up with a creative way to work together. At the same time, we were moving along with Hellgate: London, and were looking for a way to test our network architecture. So we came up with the idea of making a test game that would work in fundamentally the same way, but be simple and easy to create with our existing tools and technology. Almost immediately, we realized we actually had to make this game something more.
3. How many developers are working on Mythos? Is everyone at FSS Seattle?
For the first six months, it was just Travis. Now they are up to 9 developers, all in Seattle. Due to the nature of the project, they work together with the network team at Ping0, and with the guys here in San Francisco from time to time.
4. Isn’t it hard to communicate when most developers are away? How do you control
This question got cut off, but I’ll try to answer. The communication isn’t hard at all, really. We all use instant messenger programs, and are fully networked, so we’re in constant contact. But the main reason is that Travis runs a tight ship, and as a result it’s not exactly a high-maintenance organization.
5. What do you think is the strongest feature of Mythos?
The strongest feature of Mythos is simple, concentrated fun. The world of Mythos is comforting. It’s familiar, yet original. The combat is crisp and responsive, the characters are endearing and mischievous, and the quests don’t require that you set aside a whole weekend to complete. Mythos makes people smile.
6. Many people say Mythos reminds them of Diablo. Does it have any connection? How is Mythos similar and different from Diablo?
We have about 17 people at Flagship Studios that worked on the Diablo series – more people than Blizzard has. The spirit of Diablo infuses our work, because our spirit infused Diablo. There will always be a connection. But the world of Diablo was a very different one than Mythos. Diablo was darker, more linear, and didn’t quite have the MMO feel that Mythos does.
7. When people compare Mythos with Diablo, do you feel any pressure?
Of course we do. We always feel pressure to do everything better than the last time. I think that need began with the competitive atmosphere and commitment to excellence at Blizzard, and lives on today at Flagship Studios.
8. How is the closed beta going on? Is it helpful? Roughly, how many are participating, and what are their responses?
There are thousands of people participating in our beta, and their response has been fantastic. We’re getting a lot of help with balance and suggestions, and we’re interacting with them every day. The community is shaping up to be unusually positive and enthusiastic, which we appreciate very much.
9. You didn’t set any time limits in Mythos’s closed beta. Why? Do you know when this test will last?
While Mythos has become a real, major project for us, it’s also still serving as a test bed for the network technologies for our upcoming Hellgate: London release. So we’re keeping the project flexible and not committing to anything that might compromise its role in doing that.
10. When will Mythos be open to public? Since its closed beta is ongoing right now, the developing process seems faster than HGLD. Will it be open before HGLD?
That is a tricky question. It’s sheer insanity to try to release two major titles at the same time, especially for a startup, independent developer. Nevertheless, that’s pretty much what we’re doing. We’ll continue to scale it up and bring it to the public as our capacity to do so grows. Mythos is one step ahead of Hellgate: London because it’s serving to prove the technologies that then get implemented in Hellgate. It’s unclear right now if we’ll open up fully to the public before the release of Hellgate: London, but we’re sure going to try. If not, it will be shortly afterwards, and in the interim, we’ll be scaling up the testing all the time.
11. How is Mythos different from HGLD?
In some ways it’s similar, especially structurally, but they look and feel like completely different games. Hellgate: London is a more serious, deep game. It’s futuristic, played from the first-person or close third person perspective, as opposed to the isometric, fixed-camera view of Mythos. However, there are many interface conventions and mechanics that are shared, so if you can play one, learning the other should come easily.
12. What are the similarities? (HGLD and Mythos)
Since we share a graphics engine, development tools, and network technology, plus design sensibilities, there are many similarities. If you look at screenshots, they look like completely unrelated games. But if you play a while, you can see the common blood between them pretty easily.
13. Anything you would like to say to gamers in china?
Yes. One of the best parts of my job is that I get to travel to all the places in the world our games are played. One of my new favorite places in the world is China, and we feel privileged and honored to be able to bring our games to Chinese gamers, and to be a part of the exciting and awe-inspiring growth and development of the game industry in China. Our last trip brought us to Shanghai and Beijing, and we can’t wait to see much more in our next visit! Ni hao, China!
Hello! My name is Max Schaefer, and I’m the COO and co-founder of Flagship Studios. I’ve been making games for 15 years now, most notably in co-founding Blizzard North and working on the Diablo series. With Flagship Studios, I wear a lot of hats, from making particle systems for Hellgate: London, to serving as Executive Producer for Mythos.
2. How long have you guys working on Mythos? Tell us a little bit about the birth of Mythos? (When, and how you guys came up with the idea.)
The Mythos project is about a year and a half old. It began with a desire to hire Travis Baldree, who was the mastermind of the game Fate, which in our opinion best captured the hook of the Diablo games. Travis couldn’t leave Seattle so we had to come up with a creative way to work together. At the same time, we were moving along with Hellgate: London, and were looking for a way to test our network architecture. So we came up with the idea of making a test game that would work in fundamentally the same way, but be simple and easy to create with our existing tools and technology. Almost immediately, we realized we actually had to make this game something more.
3. How many developers are working on Mythos? Is everyone at FSS Seattle?
For the first six months, it was just Travis. Now they are up to 9 developers, all in Seattle. Due to the nature of the project, they work together with the network team at Ping0, and with the guys here in San Francisco from time to time.
4. Isn’t it hard to communicate when most developers are away? How do you control
This question got cut off, but I’ll try to answer. The communication isn’t hard at all, really. We all use instant messenger programs, and are fully networked, so we’re in constant contact. But the main reason is that Travis runs a tight ship, and as a result it’s not exactly a high-maintenance organization.
5. What do you think is the strongest feature of Mythos?
The strongest feature of Mythos is simple, concentrated fun. The world of Mythos is comforting. It’s familiar, yet original. The combat is crisp and responsive, the characters are endearing and mischievous, and the quests don’t require that you set aside a whole weekend to complete. Mythos makes people smile.
6. Many people say Mythos reminds them of Diablo. Does it have any connection? How is Mythos similar and different from Diablo?
We have about 17 people at Flagship Studios that worked on the Diablo series – more people than Blizzard has. The spirit of Diablo infuses our work, because our spirit infused Diablo. There will always be a connection. But the world of Diablo was a very different one than Mythos. Diablo was darker, more linear, and didn’t quite have the MMO feel that Mythos does.
7. When people compare Mythos with Diablo, do you feel any pressure?
Of course we do. We always feel pressure to do everything better than the last time. I think that need began with the competitive atmosphere and commitment to excellence at Blizzard, and lives on today at Flagship Studios.
8. How is the closed beta going on? Is it helpful? Roughly, how many are participating, and what are their responses?
There are thousands of people participating in our beta, and their response has been fantastic. We’re getting a lot of help with balance and suggestions, and we’re interacting with them every day. The community is shaping up to be unusually positive and enthusiastic, which we appreciate very much.
9. You didn’t set any time limits in Mythos’s closed beta. Why? Do you know when this test will last?
While Mythos has become a real, major project for us, it’s also still serving as a test bed for the network technologies for our upcoming Hellgate: London release. So we’re keeping the project flexible and not committing to anything that might compromise its role in doing that.
10. When will Mythos be open to public? Since its closed beta is ongoing right now, the developing process seems faster than HGLD. Will it be open before HGLD?
That is a tricky question. It’s sheer insanity to try to release two major titles at the same time, especially for a startup, independent developer. Nevertheless, that’s pretty much what we’re doing. We’ll continue to scale it up and bring it to the public as our capacity to do so grows. Mythos is one step ahead of Hellgate: London because it’s serving to prove the technologies that then get implemented in Hellgate. It’s unclear right now if we’ll open up fully to the public before the release of Hellgate: London, but we’re sure going to try. If not, it will be shortly afterwards, and in the interim, we’ll be scaling up the testing all the time.
11. How is Mythos different from HGLD?
In some ways it’s similar, especially structurally, but they look and feel like completely different games. Hellgate: London is a more serious, deep game. It’s futuristic, played from the first-person or close third person perspective, as opposed to the isometric, fixed-camera view of Mythos. However, there are many interface conventions and mechanics that are shared, so if you can play one, learning the other should come easily.
12. What are the similarities? (HGLD and Mythos)
Since we share a graphics engine, development tools, and network technology, plus design sensibilities, there are many similarities. If you look at screenshots, they look like completely unrelated games. But if you play a while, you can see the common blood between them pretty easily.
13. Anything you would like to say to gamers in china?
Yes. One of the best parts of my job is that I get to travel to all the places in the world our games are played. One of my new favorite places in the world is China, and we feel privileged and honored to be able to bring our games to Chinese gamers, and to be a part of the exciting and awe-inspiring growth and development of the game industry in China. Our last trip brought us to Shanghai and Beijing, and we can’t wait to see much more in our next visit! Ni hao, China!
