CaliGirl: John, you're the Executive Producer for NoX at Westwood Studios. What exactly does an Executive Producer do?

John Hight: I suppose the role varies from one studio to another, even from one  individual to another. At Westwood, management is very hands-on. My strengths are in design. I'm an avid gamer. It's my responsibility to find a balance  between great gameplay and accessibility. I work directly with the designers, artists, engineers, and musicians on the game to craft the look, feel, pacing, and entertainment aspects. I'm also the communication conduit for the  team.

CaliGirl: With Lands of Lore I, II and III being very well known as a role playing game from Westwood Studios, the company is pretty established in the Role Playing Gaming Community by now, what in your opinion will make NoX stand out among other Role Playing Game titles?

John Hight: NoX is more action oriented than traditional RPG's. Instead of creating dozens of slightly different character classes we've stuck to 3 carefully honed and balanced roles: Warrior, Wizard, and Conjurer. Each class has a unique strength and a set of countermeasures to deal with the other. We broke the solo game into a series of 11 chapters, very similar to missions in C&C. Each role has its own unique chapters so you can play all 3 and see different parts of the same world.

CaliGirl: I hear your plans for multiplayer will support eight players via the
Internet, but the game play modes will be Capture the Flag, Deathmatch
(Teams and Free-For-All melees), King of the Hill and Scavenger Hunt. What gave you the great idea of having Scavenger Hunt in multiplayer?

John Hight: Our multiplayer mode isn't simply a hack to allow more people into the solo maps. We looked at games designed specifically for multiplayer
competition and crafted a very addictive "third-person shooter." Multiplayer
maps and rules are designed to enhance competition and camaraderie. A number of abilities are only available in multiplayer. We have Arena (Deathmatch), King of the Realm, Capture the Flag. You can play solo (except CTF) or in teams. We're also experimenting with other variations of play. Scavenger Hunt sounded great on paper but it hasn't been as intense as the others. I suspect we'll have one other team-oriented mode when we release.

CaliGirl: Having a game where the player can set traps in sneaky locations is pretty exciting on the player's end. Will NoX support that feature in the multiplayer version of the game? Or are the traps only for single player mode?

John Hight: Absolutely! The Wizard can create a trap with up to 3 spells in it. He can pick it up and move it around, like Wile E. Coyote and his ACME movable hole. The Conjurer has a different set of spells to choose from, but he can summon a walking trap, a Bomber, to deliver the message to his enemies.

CaliGirl: Does the "Player Character Development" feature a way to play as a female in multiplayer?

John Hight: No. We opted for giving you loads of variations on a male character. Aside from picking skin color and hair, every piece of armor and every weapon you find in the world matches what you see on your paperdoll. We even tint areas on items to indicate what sort enchantment they hold. For example, a Great Sword of Embers has a nice red hilt -- easy to spot in a scramble.

CaliGirl: One pretty exciting feature in the game is the "true line of site", which restricts the player to only what your character could logically see. Giving a feeling of not actually knowing what is on the other side of the door can really create a lot of hesitation but it can also give the player a first person aspect of the game. What gave you the idea of making it where the player didn't see what was on the other side until they actually walked
through the door?

John Hight: TrueSight was invented by Mike Booth, our Technical Director. Mike is a big fan of first person shooters. He wanted that feeling of suspense while still providing the strategic view that third person perspective gives you. You get the action and tension without the nausea.

CaliGirl: The single player mode takes a different route to three lands of NoX. Do you have any details you can share concerning the three different lands?

John Hight: Actually there aren't three different lands, rather you see the lands of NoX from three different aspects. For example, as a Warrior you begin in the underground fortress of Dun Mir, there you must prove yourself in feats of combat and skill. The Wizard doesn't get to see Dun Mir until Chapter 6 and his experience is more about stealth. There is a natural animosity between Wizards and Warriors in NoX so the Wizard must use his stealth abilities (Invisibility, Magic Shield, Magic Lock, and more) to sneak into Dun Mir and steal the prized halberd of the War Lord Horrendous.

CaliGirl: Another great thing about the game is how the player can progress the skills to learn three ways of combat such as; the Warrior, Conjurer or a Wizard. With each way of learning, does the character have a different aspect on his mission to pass through specific battles and maps if the player chose to be a Wizard and not a Conjurer or Warrior?

John Hight: Oops, I guess I partially answered this above. Yes, each class is different. Warriors are built to wade in and fight. With speed, power, and
the biggest selection of toys in the game they can take on a small army single-handed. Wizards use a combination of powerful ranged spells (like fireball, lightning, energy bolt, and magic missiles) stealth, and defense. Conjurers can wear some armor items, wield a bow, and call upon the forces of nature. Before you brand them as clerics, druids, or rangers you have to look at their most important power: summoning. They can charm and summon up to eight monsters and give them commands like Hunt, Escort, Guard, and Observe (Scout). It's a blast to trundle around NoX with 4 rock lobbing Urchins and a big Stone Golem in tow.

CaliGirl: NoX will include a random map generator for single player, what type of options will it have?

John Hight: We showed some random map generation at E3 and it was cool, but we found that there's no substitute for scripted maps. As we played our maps and had others play them, the scripted maps were the most memorable. I guess it's like comparing a well written skit to improve. We prefer to plan out the action and pacing. Maybe we'll release the random generator later for fans that can't get enough.

CaliGirl: What type of video technologies will NoX support? Is the game optimized for any other technologies?

John Hight: We want NoX to run on as many PC's as possible. We avoided 3D acceleration and opted to do all the cool effects ourselves in code. You'll need a Pentium II (MMX) to see colored lighting, alpha blending, particle effects, glow, and hi-res (1024x768). But you'll still have a great game on a P-200 at 640x480. We give you loads of options to toggle to find the balance between look and performance that you want.

CaliGirl: Who influenced you the most in your career?

John Hight: Trip Hawkins, Brett Sperry, and my wife Julie. Trip gave me my first real break in the industry. He has a force of will and a savvy like few others. Brett Sperry plucked me out of the morass at Virgin three years ago and showed me what good game design was all about. I am very fortunate to have worked for both of these men. My wife Julie has stuck by me for seven years despite a lot of moves and many late nights working (and gaming.) She always gives me a smile and damn good advice.