Niklas
12-02-2010, 06:33
Eighteen months ago I fell in love with Space Hulk again and – in the absence of real people to play – went searching for a decent fan-made bootleg online. Several existed, but one was better than the rest.
Swedish micro-team Teardown began work on their own version of Space Hulk back in 2006 and even worked with EA to borrow some sounds and art assets from EA’s own first-person Space Hulk-themed title.
The extraordinary success of Teardown’s Space Hulk led to the game being reviewed like a full-price game alongside THQ’s own licensed Warhammer products and legal wranglings ensued with Games Workshop and license-holders THQ. A few months into 2010 TDSH became Alien Assault, replacing Space Marines with generic meaty blokes and Genestealers with generic toothy aliens.
Like TDSH, Alien Assault retains all Space Hulk’s original rules and is fully moddable, so you can swap Teardown’s own tiles and robo-men for scanned Third Edition Space Hulk tiles and proper hardcore badboy Ultramarine Terminators. Which is what I’ve done for that shot up there. Posters over at Teardown’s forums have made it their business to convert White Dwarf’s Space Hulk expansions into Alien Assault maps, and only a handful of Games Workshop’s official Space Hulk missions have yet to make in into the archives.
To this day I love Gremlin’s version of Space Crusade for the PC, but since that doesn’t really count I reckon Alien Assault is as good as any Games Workshop game has ever been on a computo-machine. With the game finally finished, I contacted Niklas from Teardown to talk about the last four years of TDSH.
Read the whole interview here: http://five-players.com/?p=1983
- Who is Teardown? What do you guys do and why are you making games for free? What do you do for a living?
Teardown basically started out as an indie game developer group back in the early 90s. Since then some members have left but Jorgen and I kept on developing stuff using that name. So when I started working on Alien Assault back in 2006 it felt natural to again use the TearDown name since it had been with us for that long.
Today the group has grown a bit with some members of the Alien Assault community helping out with almost all areas of the development. It is pretty funny to see that people with basically no knowledge of each other and with totally different careers can help each other out in projects like this. The love for the game beats all obsticles I guess.
- Why Space Hulk? What makes the game so good? What is your own personal history with the board game?
Back in the 90s I bought a board game called Space Hulk. I knew nothing about it but I thought the box art looked cool. I introduced it to Jorgen and as you say "the rest is history...". We played the game whenever we had time which basically was every weekend. Making our own missions and campaigns and also expanded the rules a bit allowing for some soldier progression if they survived. But around 2000 the old gang split up and moved to different cities. Jorgen and I stayed in touch with help of IMs but the Space Hulk box was put in a closet and started collecting dust.
I actually don't remember if it was me googling "Space Hulk" and found several indie games but felt "I can do better than this" or whatever it was. But I do remember that in september 2006 I made a mockup image of what the ingame view of the game could look like and sent it to Jorgen. His response was so positive I instantly started working on the game. Little did I know that it would take three years for us to reach a point where we felt we were done.
- And the same question, but for videogames. What do you play? What did you grow up playing? Is it hard (as it is for me) to find the kinds of games you like to play these days - turn-based strategy games, and so forth?
Everything? Well maybe not everything. Adventure games, racers, first person shooters, and so on. I guess I could point out at least one game and one great memory in each category except MMORPG. I just don't have time to go that deep into games these days, being a parent and having a job the time infront of a computer or a console is very limited. So if I would have some spare time I tend to use it to develope my own games instead of playing others. But to give you a small selection of games that have a special place in my heart: Moonstone, Hunter, Stunt Car Racer, Zelda 2, Kid Icarus, Dune 2, Eye Of The Beholder 1 and 2, UFO 1 and 2, Doom 1 and 2, the Battlefield series and Mirror's Edge. There are many other games too but these are the ones that first pops into mind.
- How did development on TDSH begin?
Like I said before, the start was basically a mockup screenshot that got me and Jorgen so thrilled we just had to make sure the project was finished. We live so far from each other so we maybe only see each other twice a year and when we do get together we never have time to sit down for a round of Space Hulk. This is the main reason why I started the project, I wanted to be able to play Space Hulk on my own when I have time, no matter if I am all alone.
- Can you talk me through the various milestones and problems you encountered along the way?
I actually can't remember that many big problems but I think when you are done with a project you tend to forget the bad days and remember the good ones. If we start talking about big tasks on the other hand the AI is the thing that sticks out. Making the AI as challenging as possible preventing you from reading its next move before it has acted. When we started getting beaten by the AI for our own mistakes (forgetting to set overwatch, not covering all corridors, and so on) we knew we had made it. Even today I can get fail a mission by the AI just being a better player than I am.
- Did you make improvements to Space Hulk's basic ruleset or were there any changes you resisted making?
We did some additions, removals and changes but the game was and still is more or less true to the original first edition rules. One of the biggest discussions between Jorgen and me was wether we should add "walk and fire" action or not. We decided to not add it since it felt like neither of us would never use it. To make a long story short we listened to the community's requests after the release of TDSH and the action was added in first release of Alien Assault. Even funnier is that both Jorgen and myself use the feature every round when we play the game today. I guess it was a matter of not feeling the lack of the feature since we had played the game for so long during development we got used to play without firing the weapons while walking. In the end I am really happy the community made us add the feature, really improved the pasing of the game a lot.
- What changes were you forced to make, based on programming limitations? Are there any features you'd like to include in Alien Assault but can't?
When making a computer game there is basically nothing you cannot add. It is just a matter of deciding the project's scope and try to prevent feature creep to be able to get the project done. But sure a more professional programmer would have written more optimized code for example. The AI for example was not at all optimized in TDSH making larger levels unplayable. In Alien Assault I decided to start from scratch and ended up with an AI that is so much quicker but still I think it and other parts of the game could have been improved even more.
- I'd presume you expected legal troubles with the Space Hulk name from the very beginning; what steps did you take to avoid problems?
Actually, when we were about to release TDSH we thought that everything was ok. There were several freeware indie games available on the net using the IP so if we just did what they did but better who would be angry? We had read the legal section on Games Workshop's website which we interpeted to state "you can make games based on our IP if you do not include other IPs, you honor the IP and you don't make any money of your game". However neither Jorgen or I have any deeper knowledge in reading and understanding legal documents, even less when written in English. But recently the GW website's legal section has been changed stating that you are not allowed to make games so maybe they changed their attitude too. Also I guess they did not care about the other games using the IP since they never got near as much publicity as we got. The highlight in the press was a review of our game on the same page as a review of Dawn Of War in a printed magazine. I felt that was pretty funny but I can see that people with other interests might not have been so happy even if it was a freeware indie game made by just two guys.
- You originally had EA's cooperation on the Space Hulk version of Alien Assault. How did that happen and how much cooperation did you get from EA?
It was a very informal "yes, I guess that is ok" approval to use few sprites from the first Space Hulk game published by EA back in the early 90s. However when we had to remove TDSH from the net we decided to redraw/modify these sprites instead of keep using them. This to limit the amount of legal contacts we had to get approval from.
- How and why did you drop the Space Hulk name? You're still publishing a game with rules almost identical to Space Hulk, but this is apparently not a problem? Was THQ and GW's sole problem your use of the Space Hulk name?
After removing TDSH from the net we continued to work on the game while we tried to get approval from GW and THQ to be allowed to release the game. After more than 18 months of going back and forth between the two companys lawyers getting the answer "we are ok with the game but they are not" finally got the answer from GW that "THQ must publish all games based on this IP" and in July 2009 THQ told us that they would not publish the game. Two months later we had finished rebranding the game and released it 30th September 2009. The rebranding process actually started in June when TDSH v1.1 was more or less finished since I had a feeling that it would never turn out in our favour. Officially we said we wanted approval from the two companies but from the day we had to remove TDSH from our website we decided that we would rebrand the game if we were not allowed to release it again. However this was nothing we told the public including THQ or GW since it would have removed any chance of approval to use the Space Hulk IP.
I must point out that I have full understanding of how GW and THQ acted. It is their IP and they put a lot of money and time into it. With this said, I would not have acted in the same way if I were in their position. We've recieved several emails from our fans telling us how much they love the our game being so true to the "Space Hulk" making them take out that old Space Hulk box from the closet and now 10 to 20 years later they are learning their own kids to play this wonderful board game. A game they started playing when they were kids and now they are teaching the next generation how to play it. All this thanks to our game bringing their old memories back to life. Allowing our game to be released would have generated a lot of goodwill.
- Do you have a copy of the Third Edition of Space Hulk? What do think of it? Do you play other other boardgames or table-top wargames?
Actually no, I hoped that GW would send me a copy just to informally gesture to show that they at least appreciated what we had done to promote Space Hulk. I think the third edition looks great and some of the new rules are really nice but I'll to stick with two copies of first edition and one copy of the second. I think I'll survive.
I don't have much time to play board games nowadays - "video games killed the board game star" would be a suiting quote for me. But I actually bought a new board game a while ago - "Who Killed Doctor Lucky". That game is just brilliant and I must give Jorgen credit for introducing me to that game.
- What's your own favourite Space Hulk campaign or mission? How do you think Teardown's own campaigns compare to Games Workshop's built-in campaigns and White Dwarf missions?
I guess "Suicide Mission" from the original Space Hulk "Sin Of Damnation" campaign has a special place in my heart. Maybe because I have played it more than 1000 times since it was the real first mission we ever made during development and we used it to test everything. I even had that mission layout printed on the back of a t-shirt for me and Jorgen as a memory of these three years of our lives.
Regarding our own missions I think everyone who have played the board game or Alien Assault for a while have got a sence of how a mission should be design to be fun and playable. With saying that I mean that our missions are as good as any official Space Hulk missions. It is also very funny to see the creations of our fans made in the Alien Assault level editor with new tilesets custom shaped rooms and then add deep stories to that - amazing.
- For me, Alien Assault is the best version of any Games Workshop game ever made for any games machine - though I still have a fondness for Gremlin's versions of Space Crusade and Hero Quest - but do you have any particular favourites yourself? Who has done it right, and who has done it wrong?
I must agree with you even if I might be slightly biased. Everything in our game looks and sounds in a way people would expect a full priced title would do, at least back in the late 90s. This era is something we actually aimed for too, the slight retro feel of the visuals in the game. I don't want to point fingers at "bad examples" but the first Space Hulk game published by EA was lovely. It had a soul, an atmosphere and it made you want to play just one more mission. This is something we hear from our fans too, some stayed up all night playing the game after the release of Alien Assault. Some left new full price 360/PS3 game laying on the bookshelf still in its wrapping since they used all their free time to play Alien Assault. The feeling I get when reading posts and emails like that is undescribeble. I guess that our game managed to give the players an experience that some full priced games with multi million budgets didn't manage.
- Who did you make TDSH for? Yourself and your friends, or strangers on the internet? Do you think you did a good job? Are you happy with the game as it stands?
This is pretty funny, initially I made it for myself and Jorgen. It was not until two months before release of TDSH that we made the website and without any advertising the rumour started spreading and we started getting visitors from all over the world. That's when we understood that this was going to much larger than we ever could have imagined back in 2006 when all that existed of the game was a simple jpg image.
A good job? Yes, actually I really think we did good. I am proud of the game and that is a good rating right? Of course there are fields of improvement, both if you ask the development team and the fans but every game can have more. That's what sequels are for...
- Speaking of sequels, can you give any spoilers on your upcoming projects?
Well, the next project we are working on is going to be a nightmare for the player. It is an ultra violent game. Hordes of enemies will hurt you plenty. Friends will be able to join in to make it not too rough, but still rough enough if you are too young to die.
- That was an odd teaser, maybe something about Alien Assault 2?
We have many suggestions from the community and some interesting ideas that did not make it into Alien Assalt. Things that would make the game more interesting and give you an urge to play the game every day. But we have not started working on AA2...yet. There is another game in production right now and another one waiting after that. After that, who knows. Maybe it is time to once again stop the alien invasion. Until then players can download and play the hundreds on missions which can be found on our official forum made but the community.
- Finally, anyone you would like to thank?
Well, first of all my wife Kristina. Without her approval of using evenings and weekends during three years time this game would never have been finished. Same goes for Jorgen's girlfriend Sara. I would also like to thank our two fans who became testers who became developers, Paul and Michael. Without those two guys Alien Assault would never have been has much of an improvement from the original TDSH as it finally was. I am forever grateful to their work and dedication.
- Thanks so much for your time, Niklas.
No problem, always nice to speak to fans. :)
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Swedish micro-team Teardown began work on their own version of Space Hulk back in 2006 and even worked with EA to borrow some sounds and art assets from EA’s own first-person Space Hulk-themed title.
The extraordinary success of Teardown’s Space Hulk led to the game being reviewed like a full-price game alongside THQ’s own licensed Warhammer products and legal wranglings ensued with Games Workshop and license-holders THQ. A few months into 2010 TDSH became Alien Assault, replacing Space Marines with generic meaty blokes and Genestealers with generic toothy aliens.
Like TDSH, Alien Assault retains all Space Hulk’s original rules and is fully moddable, so you can swap Teardown’s own tiles and robo-men for scanned Third Edition Space Hulk tiles and proper hardcore badboy Ultramarine Terminators. Which is what I’ve done for that shot up there. Posters over at Teardown’s forums have made it their business to convert White Dwarf’s Space Hulk expansions into Alien Assault maps, and only a handful of Games Workshop’s official Space Hulk missions have yet to make in into the archives.
To this day I love Gremlin’s version of Space Crusade for the PC, but since that doesn’t really count I reckon Alien Assault is as good as any Games Workshop game has ever been on a computo-machine. With the game finally finished, I contacted Niklas from Teardown to talk about the last four years of TDSH.
Read the whole interview here: http://five-players.com/?p=1983
- Who is Teardown? What do you guys do and why are you making games for free? What do you do for a living?
Teardown basically started out as an indie game developer group back in the early 90s. Since then some members have left but Jorgen and I kept on developing stuff using that name. So when I started working on Alien Assault back in 2006 it felt natural to again use the TearDown name since it had been with us for that long.
Today the group has grown a bit with some members of the Alien Assault community helping out with almost all areas of the development. It is pretty funny to see that people with basically no knowledge of each other and with totally different careers can help each other out in projects like this. The love for the game beats all obsticles I guess.
- Why Space Hulk? What makes the game so good? What is your own personal history with the board game?
Back in the 90s I bought a board game called Space Hulk. I knew nothing about it but I thought the box art looked cool. I introduced it to Jorgen and as you say "the rest is history...". We played the game whenever we had time which basically was every weekend. Making our own missions and campaigns and also expanded the rules a bit allowing for some soldier progression if they survived. But around 2000 the old gang split up and moved to different cities. Jorgen and I stayed in touch with help of IMs but the Space Hulk box was put in a closet and started collecting dust.
I actually don't remember if it was me googling "Space Hulk" and found several indie games but felt "I can do better than this" or whatever it was. But I do remember that in september 2006 I made a mockup image of what the ingame view of the game could look like and sent it to Jorgen. His response was so positive I instantly started working on the game. Little did I know that it would take three years for us to reach a point where we felt we were done.
- And the same question, but for videogames. What do you play? What did you grow up playing? Is it hard (as it is for me) to find the kinds of games you like to play these days - turn-based strategy games, and so forth?
Everything? Well maybe not everything. Adventure games, racers, first person shooters, and so on. I guess I could point out at least one game and one great memory in each category except MMORPG. I just don't have time to go that deep into games these days, being a parent and having a job the time infront of a computer or a console is very limited. So if I would have some spare time I tend to use it to develope my own games instead of playing others. But to give you a small selection of games that have a special place in my heart: Moonstone, Hunter, Stunt Car Racer, Zelda 2, Kid Icarus, Dune 2, Eye Of The Beholder 1 and 2, UFO 1 and 2, Doom 1 and 2, the Battlefield series and Mirror's Edge. There are many other games too but these are the ones that first pops into mind.
- How did development on TDSH begin?
Like I said before, the start was basically a mockup screenshot that got me and Jorgen so thrilled we just had to make sure the project was finished. We live so far from each other so we maybe only see each other twice a year and when we do get together we never have time to sit down for a round of Space Hulk. This is the main reason why I started the project, I wanted to be able to play Space Hulk on my own when I have time, no matter if I am all alone.
- Can you talk me through the various milestones and problems you encountered along the way?
I actually can't remember that many big problems but I think when you are done with a project you tend to forget the bad days and remember the good ones. If we start talking about big tasks on the other hand the AI is the thing that sticks out. Making the AI as challenging as possible preventing you from reading its next move before it has acted. When we started getting beaten by the AI for our own mistakes (forgetting to set overwatch, not covering all corridors, and so on) we knew we had made it. Even today I can get fail a mission by the AI just being a better player than I am.
- Did you make improvements to Space Hulk's basic ruleset or were there any changes you resisted making?
We did some additions, removals and changes but the game was and still is more or less true to the original first edition rules. One of the biggest discussions between Jorgen and me was wether we should add "walk and fire" action or not. We decided to not add it since it felt like neither of us would never use it. To make a long story short we listened to the community's requests after the release of TDSH and the action was added in first release of Alien Assault. Even funnier is that both Jorgen and myself use the feature every round when we play the game today. I guess it was a matter of not feeling the lack of the feature since we had played the game for so long during development we got used to play without firing the weapons while walking. In the end I am really happy the community made us add the feature, really improved the pasing of the game a lot.
- What changes were you forced to make, based on programming limitations? Are there any features you'd like to include in Alien Assault but can't?
When making a computer game there is basically nothing you cannot add. It is just a matter of deciding the project's scope and try to prevent feature creep to be able to get the project done. But sure a more professional programmer would have written more optimized code for example. The AI for example was not at all optimized in TDSH making larger levels unplayable. In Alien Assault I decided to start from scratch and ended up with an AI that is so much quicker but still I think it and other parts of the game could have been improved even more.
- I'd presume you expected legal troubles with the Space Hulk name from the very beginning; what steps did you take to avoid problems?
Actually, when we were about to release TDSH we thought that everything was ok. There were several freeware indie games available on the net using the IP so if we just did what they did but better who would be angry? We had read the legal section on Games Workshop's website which we interpeted to state "you can make games based on our IP if you do not include other IPs, you honor the IP and you don't make any money of your game". However neither Jorgen or I have any deeper knowledge in reading and understanding legal documents, even less when written in English. But recently the GW website's legal section has been changed stating that you are not allowed to make games so maybe they changed their attitude too. Also I guess they did not care about the other games using the IP since they never got near as much publicity as we got. The highlight in the press was a review of our game on the same page as a review of Dawn Of War in a printed magazine. I felt that was pretty funny but I can see that people with other interests might not have been so happy even if it was a freeware indie game made by just two guys.
- You originally had EA's cooperation on the Space Hulk version of Alien Assault. How did that happen and how much cooperation did you get from EA?
It was a very informal "yes, I guess that is ok" approval to use few sprites from the first Space Hulk game published by EA back in the early 90s. However when we had to remove TDSH from the net we decided to redraw/modify these sprites instead of keep using them. This to limit the amount of legal contacts we had to get approval from.
- How and why did you drop the Space Hulk name? You're still publishing a game with rules almost identical to Space Hulk, but this is apparently not a problem? Was THQ and GW's sole problem your use of the Space Hulk name?
After removing TDSH from the net we continued to work on the game while we tried to get approval from GW and THQ to be allowed to release the game. After more than 18 months of going back and forth between the two companys lawyers getting the answer "we are ok with the game but they are not" finally got the answer from GW that "THQ must publish all games based on this IP" and in July 2009 THQ told us that they would not publish the game. Two months later we had finished rebranding the game and released it 30th September 2009. The rebranding process actually started in June when TDSH v1.1 was more or less finished since I had a feeling that it would never turn out in our favour. Officially we said we wanted approval from the two companies but from the day we had to remove TDSH from our website we decided that we would rebrand the game if we were not allowed to release it again. However this was nothing we told the public including THQ or GW since it would have removed any chance of approval to use the Space Hulk IP.
I must point out that I have full understanding of how GW and THQ acted. It is their IP and they put a lot of money and time into it. With this said, I would not have acted in the same way if I were in their position. We've recieved several emails from our fans telling us how much they love the our game being so true to the "Space Hulk" making them take out that old Space Hulk box from the closet and now 10 to 20 years later they are learning their own kids to play this wonderful board game. A game they started playing when they were kids and now they are teaching the next generation how to play it. All this thanks to our game bringing their old memories back to life. Allowing our game to be released would have generated a lot of goodwill.
- Do you have a copy of the Third Edition of Space Hulk? What do think of it? Do you play other other boardgames or table-top wargames?
Actually no, I hoped that GW would send me a copy just to informally gesture to show that they at least appreciated what we had done to promote Space Hulk. I think the third edition looks great and some of the new rules are really nice but I'll to stick with two copies of first edition and one copy of the second. I think I'll survive.
I don't have much time to play board games nowadays - "video games killed the board game star" would be a suiting quote for me. But I actually bought a new board game a while ago - "Who Killed Doctor Lucky". That game is just brilliant and I must give Jorgen credit for introducing me to that game.
- What's your own favourite Space Hulk campaign or mission? How do you think Teardown's own campaigns compare to Games Workshop's built-in campaigns and White Dwarf missions?
I guess "Suicide Mission" from the original Space Hulk "Sin Of Damnation" campaign has a special place in my heart. Maybe because I have played it more than 1000 times since it was the real first mission we ever made during development and we used it to test everything. I even had that mission layout printed on the back of a t-shirt for me and Jorgen as a memory of these three years of our lives.
Regarding our own missions I think everyone who have played the board game or Alien Assault for a while have got a sence of how a mission should be design to be fun and playable. With saying that I mean that our missions are as good as any official Space Hulk missions. It is also very funny to see the creations of our fans made in the Alien Assault level editor with new tilesets custom shaped rooms and then add deep stories to that - amazing.
- For me, Alien Assault is the best version of any Games Workshop game ever made for any games machine - though I still have a fondness for Gremlin's versions of Space Crusade and Hero Quest - but do you have any particular favourites yourself? Who has done it right, and who has done it wrong?
I must agree with you even if I might be slightly biased. Everything in our game looks and sounds in a way people would expect a full priced title would do, at least back in the late 90s. This era is something we actually aimed for too, the slight retro feel of the visuals in the game. I don't want to point fingers at "bad examples" but the first Space Hulk game published by EA was lovely. It had a soul, an atmosphere and it made you want to play just one more mission. This is something we hear from our fans too, some stayed up all night playing the game after the release of Alien Assault. Some left new full price 360/PS3 game laying on the bookshelf still in its wrapping since they used all their free time to play Alien Assault. The feeling I get when reading posts and emails like that is undescribeble. I guess that our game managed to give the players an experience that some full priced games with multi million budgets didn't manage.
- Who did you make TDSH for? Yourself and your friends, or strangers on the internet? Do you think you did a good job? Are you happy with the game as it stands?
This is pretty funny, initially I made it for myself and Jorgen. It was not until two months before release of TDSH that we made the website and without any advertising the rumour started spreading and we started getting visitors from all over the world. That's when we understood that this was going to much larger than we ever could have imagined back in 2006 when all that existed of the game was a simple jpg image.
A good job? Yes, actually I really think we did good. I am proud of the game and that is a good rating right? Of course there are fields of improvement, both if you ask the development team and the fans but every game can have more. That's what sequels are for...
- Speaking of sequels, can you give any spoilers on your upcoming projects?
Well, the next project we are working on is going to be a nightmare for the player. It is an ultra violent game. Hordes of enemies will hurt you plenty. Friends will be able to join in to make it not too rough, but still rough enough if you are too young to die.
- That was an odd teaser, maybe something about Alien Assault 2?
We have many suggestions from the community and some interesting ideas that did not make it into Alien Assalt. Things that would make the game more interesting and give you an urge to play the game every day. But we have not started working on AA2...yet. There is another game in production right now and another one waiting after that. After that, who knows. Maybe it is time to once again stop the alien invasion. Until then players can download and play the hundreds on missions which can be found on our official forum made but the community.
- Finally, anyone you would like to thank?
Well, first of all my wife Kristina. Without her approval of using evenings and weekends during three years time this game would never have been finished. Same goes for Jorgen's girlfriend Sara. I would also like to thank our two fans who became testers who became developers, Paul and Michael. Without those two guys Alien Assault would never have been has much of an improvement from the original TDSH as it finally was. I am forever grateful to their work and dedication.
- Thanks so much for your time, Niklas.
No problem, always nice to speak to fans. :)
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