GameSlice:  What did [the members of your team that worked on Heretic II] learn from that’s game development process that you have applied to Rune?

Tim:  The design of Rune was begun long before we had our first look at Heretic 2, and when we finally did get to play it, it really just served to reinforce our original game design assertions, that a 3^rd person game can be made fun, and that melee combat can be really fun in a deathmatch game.  Since our design is really very different than Heretic 2's, and the focus of the action and combat elements are in such a different direction, there weren't any direct design elements that influenced us.  We actually drew many more inspiration elements from Soul Caliber on Dreamcast.  The look, pacing and ease of combat system really influenced our combat design decisions, though the influence was subtle, and you won't immediately see it when you sit down to play Rune.

GameSlice:  When Human Head was first announced you had planned to do Daikatana II for Ion Storm.  Now that Daikatana has been released, do you think it would have been a good idea to go ahead with Daikatana II, or do you think the right decision was made to do a unique property?

Tim:  Yes, we were first slated to do Daikatana II, and we feel that we would have created a very cool game based on that property.  However, things didn't work out.  As for doing our own unique properties, Human Head was really formed to do our original designs, so we already had the concept for Rune and one other game prepared when the company was in its early days.  It was our intention to do our own game some day, but thanks to Epic that someday came much earlier than we could have ever anticipated.  They helped us find a publisher and promoted our game as if it was one of their own.  We already had the tools, but they really gave us the leg up to make Rune a reality, and we really thank them for it.

GameSlice:  When Rune was announced much was made of the special alliance between Human Head and Unreal-engine developer Epic – If I remember correctly you were supposed to have some exclusive access to new technology and Cliff Bleszinski was going to produce the game.  What role has Epic played in the development of Rune and how do you see this relationship maturing in the future?

Tim:  Epic let us know their plans for improving the engine in detail, and it really helped us in our plans for creating new technology.  Based on their technology roadmap, we knew that we wouldn't be able to wait for their skeletal system to be completed and instead created our own.  They also gave us advice and assistance in the best use of their engine and what things to watch out for.  They weren't involved much in the game play elements early on, but first James Schmalz of Digital Extremes was our producer, and then Cliff Bleszinski.  They gave us feedback on the design, and later Cliffy shared his vast design experience with us and gave us specific feedback on level and game element design.  

We intend to stay in close touch with Epic as Rune draws closer to completion and on our future projects.  They are a world-class team, and we would be foolish not to listen to their advice.