Mark Healey Interview (Ragdoll Kung Fu)

Innovation - or the lack of - is a topic sparking heated debate in forums across the net. Next-gen titles like Doom 3 and Far Cry are released, and the flames of the argument rage to the point of explosion. There’s nothing new, many argue. Amongst the bundles of potential kindling developers present us with though, there’s a moss-covered pillar of inflammability.

Rag Doll Kung Fu, and the strange, colourful, boneless figures within it, were shown in a video released back in March. The mouse orientated beat ‘em up, where “to walk forwards, you literally have to put one foot in front of the other” immediately caught our attention back then, but since, we’ve heard nothing of the game or its creator. Now, as the game nears completion, we decided it was time to seek out Lionhead Studios artist Mark Healey for a brief introduction.

Mark, you’re an artist at Lionhead. What’ve you been involved with?

I've been here since the start, so obviously, I worked on Black and White. I did some creatures, the advisors, and some other stuff. I also worked on Fable.

3D modelling? Concept art? Or has it been different work per project?

Well, I like to get involved in it all really. In Black and White, I did some concept, some modelling, and animation.

Design contributions too?

Yes, I helped design Black and White. I've worked with Peter [Molyneux] for a long time, we did Dungeon Keeper together.

What games do you play currently? And your all time favourites?

Currently, I'm playing my own game, that’s about all I have time for. As for all time favourites, let me think… Wizball, Mario 64, Dropzone, Virtua Tennis, off the top of my head. And Ico. To be honest, I don't actually spend that much time playing games.

Have any of those influenced RDKF?

Well, I love the way Nintendo present their stuff, and make it easy to get into. I suppose RDKF is slightly influenced by an old game called Thrust, because it had this kind of verlet physics in it.

Verlet physics?

It's quite a simple method for creating links, a bit like using lots of springs; it's how the characters work in RDKF.

What’s it been like making your own game? Did you find yourself having to learn a host of new skills?

Well I’ve definitely learnt a lot but this isn't the first game I've made on my own. I learnt C++ (to an extent) and Direct X, (to a lesser extent!) There’s also been a lot of help from people. Thing is, once you know how to structure a game, you can adapt to any language quite easily.

About the controls: was the analogue concept the first idea? Or the physics? Or just to make a kung fu beat ‘em up?

Well, I wanted to make a beat em up that was different, using a mouse. That was about it. The physics came later really. When I started it was more like Street Fighter, using animated sprites. It had a kind of similar control, but there was limited attacks - high punch, mid punch, low punch etc. It was kind of cool, but a bit tricky for other people.

It’s changed quite a lot then?

It changed loads, it's been a very organic process. I totally believe in designing that way; i.e. just start it, and see where it goes. None of this 'design it all on paper first’. It’s getting harder to do that though. At Lionhead for example, and Bullfrog, the design was always very organic, but because of team size, things are getting designed on paper a lot more. I always prefer to work in a small team. A few enthusiastic people can be 100 times more productive than 100 confused people.

Take a look at my mate Scawen, him and two others made/are still making an amazing on line racing game, - LIVE FOR SPEED – and it gives other huge commercial products a run for their money. That’s one coder, one artist, and one musician. Not a producer in sight.

Surely though, you're limited in what you can make with three people.

Yes, of course, but not as limited as you might think. You can always get help towards the end. Sometimes a simple fun game mechanic can be much more entertaining than 10 million hi res meshes. I think some games forget that.


Coming back to animation: What do you think the future is for movement in games? Are canned animations on their way out?

I think it will be a combination of canned anims, with physics. So, a bit like a rag doll, the canned animation simply adds forces to the doll, but can also be controlled by other things. Such as being hit etc.

Is that far off?

No, not at all. It's what my game does really, but in a simple 2d way. My characters don't have constraints, because I like how daft it looks. But they could be added, to make more realistic looking humans.

What analogue movements mean for RDKF is allowance for the player to move how they want to, effectively being able to invent their own style of play, how has that come out?

Well, I’m pleased with it. I've looked at the beta testers videos, and they definitely have different technique to me - less elegant. :D The great thing is, I get surprised by my own game. Sometimes I'm playing it, and I actually laugh out loud. That's the beauty of using physics, it kind of instantly adds an element of creativity for the user.

I made my mum play it. Bear in mind that it took me about ten minutes to make her understand that she had to leave the mouse on the table; she kind of made the character wobble about really madly, then she pissed herself laughing. That's good enough for me.

The video marked dancing as a feature. Tell us about that.

Well, I haven't explored that side of it yet much, it's just something you can do, whenever you want.

So there's the network code left to do? And?

I made the decision to release the online multiplayer as a free patch after the initial release, it’s going to be much more work than I thought. But the multiplayer on a single machine works. The main things I have left to do are pulling it all together really. Quite a bit of graphics work, a few features to add, then polishing. It’s well worth a tenner, even if I do say so myself.

Demo? Release date?

I'm really trying to finish it all before the end of the summer. The demo will be out about the same time.

We can’t wait, thanks Mark.

Cheers.


Sam Goldwater