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TRIBES Extreme Update

September 8, 1999

Getting to know the TRIBES Extreme Team: An Exercise in INTENSITY

TRIBES Extreme: The single-player version of the award-winning online game TRIBES. Due out this fall, the game will feature a new and robust AI, new maps and missions, and the capability to construct cooperative missions of player tribes against AI opponents. It promises a completely new dimension to the dynamic online first-person shooter that has rocked the gaming world since its release at the end of last year.

It's a cool, sunny morning in Eugene, Oregon. The Dynamix building looks deceptively tranquil in its idyllic setting by the Willamette River. Joggers run by from the University of Oregon, ducks and squirrels browse beneath the nearby trees. Armed with a double latte, I venture inside to make contact with the team behind the next chapter in the TRIBES phenomenon: TRIBES Extreme.

"I'm telling the fans to spread the word," Designer Scott "Captain America" Rudi says after he greets me in the lobby. "If you know anyone interested in TRIBES who's intimidated by the cutthroat play on the servers, this is the way to go. Get good in the single-player campaigns and then you'll be ready to swim with the sharks. Plus, there's the ability to make your own campaigns, and practice as a tribe against the AI."

Upstairs, the rest of the TRIBES Extreme team assembles in the hallowed TRIBES rec room: Project Leader Nels "Nailz" Bruckner, Lead Programmer Lincoln "Missing" Hutton, Programmer Tinman "Kidney Thief," Assistant Designer Dave "Diamondback" Meddish, Production Assistant and Script Writer Mitch "Skeet" Shaw, Mission Scripter Jesse "Doc Awkward" Russell, Lead Tester Eric "Balefire" Lanz, Lead Artist Ian "Thelonius" Christy, and Writer/Creative Director Blake "Hexabolic" Hutchins.

They're a surprisingly normal looking bunch, until I see their eyes. Then I realize: these guys are different somehow; there's an intensity I've never seen before. They're... extreme. Yeah, that's it. Extreme. They're somewhere else in their minds, negotiating virtual firefights through ice-covered valleys and across scorching desert landscapes. Chairs creak and sofas sigh as the team members take their seats and fix me with these deadpan looks that seem to say: Yeah, OK, interview us. See if you can handle the truth.

Tinman spoons Cheerios into his mouth and chews intently. Dave folds his hands over his stomach and does his best imitation of a graven idol, like a big Buddha statue wearing a baseball cap. Scott runs a hand through his blond locks and leans forward, as eager as a puppy on speed. Everyone looks ready, so I put my latte down and pop the first question.

What's different about TRIBES Extreme?

"In a word?" Scott says. "Campaigns. With the new AI, there's incredible possibilities for new missions, single player campaigns, even cooperative campaigns where a player and his tribe buddies can go in together against the computer. The scoring system lets you keep a running point total from mission to mission in a given campaign. Difficulty levels let you adjust how hard each mission will be."

Lincoln nods. "The AI will be pretty robust, able to make repairs, jet, snipe, and use the targeting laser."

"We want it to kick the players around," Tinman adds. "But we also want it to function as a competent squadmate."

"We've set up AI warriors in different tactical roles," Scott explains. "Skirmisher, Sniper, Defender, Assault, and Bombardier. Each role will have its pre-set equipment loadout and combat behaviors. What's really cool is that it's set up to give players a lot more practice commanding squads." He shakes his head and grins. "I think it'll push into online team cooperation to a new level."

"There'll be new multiplayer maps too," Jesse says. "Plus we're offering balanced ladder maps for tournament matches."

"New buildings will also be a big part of the game," Ian puts in. "Some of the single-player buildings will be really different, and between our new multiplayer buildings and the ones we're getting from players responding to the open call, we're going to see a lot more pop in the gameplay."

According to Scott, Dynamix has put out an open call for players to submit new multiplayer games and skins. "Response has been absolutely tremendous."

"There's one map in particular that actually gives me vertigo," Blake says. "It's just amazing."

Nels points out that TRIBES Extreme will remain completely compatable with the existing TRIBES game, so players need not be concerned about not being able to take Extreme onto their favorite servers.

"We're putting in a ton of new skins, too," Ian offers. "The new Grievers faction adds a cool road-warrior, scavenger look to TRIBES. Plus, there'll be civilian skins. Medics, that kind of thing."

"Innocent bystanders," Dave gloats, rubbing his hands.

With a sigh, Blake corrects him. "Non-combatants."

What does the 'Extreme' in TRIBES Extreme mean to you?

Mitch jumps in brightly. "Drinking a Mountain Dew and skyboarding off the Empire State Building." Point for him as he gets the media-fueled Extreme sports stereotype out of the way.

"Tight pants and short production cycle," adds Ian with a smirk.

Scott nods sagely. "An extremely short production cycle."

"Rinse, spin, then dry," Blake says. "No bleach."

"Mffglib wah, eh?" mumbles Tinman, gesturing incoherently with his spoon.

Shaking his head as he tries to steer the discussion back toward the game, Nels offers, "TRIBES Extreme is TRIBES taken to the next level. More intensity, cooperative play, AI warriors to expand the conflict."

Having finished swallowing, Tinman regains his ability to articulate clearly. "It means blood, sweat, tears - results! This game will rock!"

What kinds of moments from TRIBES inspire you?

Everyone sighs at this question, pleasure suffusing their expressions. Scott Rudi smiles warmly. "Machine-gunning an incoming Heavy Personnel Carrier as it tries to land on your base. Just blowing everyone away, then gloating online."

This gets an enthusiastic response from Ian, who sits up like someone's plugged his finger into a light socket. "YEAH! Machine-gunning is awesome! I like it when you jump waaaay up with an enemy like in the Mountain Dew commercials and then you machine gun 'em and their body falls forever-"

Everyone's talking at once now, excited, animated. Intense. This appears to be a magic question.

"-blowing up someone at the station and watching the body fly-"

"-luring some bunny into a turret crossfire-"

"-when you're high up and you hit a bogey with the grenade launcher-"

"-blasting someone so the body goes off the edge of a platform and bounces down the hillside-"

"-yeah! The midair disk shot! That's the best-"

"-one light armor, corner pocket-"

"-sweet to score a head shot from a mile away!"

Sudden silence. Everyone looks at one another, a little surprised. Then Lincoln speaks, looking as if he measures each word before letting it drop into the room. "I like it when you're behind someone... and you drop a mine. It's a simple thing, but very satisfying. Just watch them turn and step into an explosion."

What's the best thing about the Extreme team?

"People really care," says Eric. "They share the free beer fans send. Plus, everyone knows what they're doing."

"Singing the beer anthem," Dave puts in. He is roundly ignored.

Nels stresses that team morale is high. "Everyone's excited and invested in the product, which is great for making a fun yet dedicated environment."

Scott agrees. "We're all on the same tight focus, so there's no fight to sell ideas."

"We all work really well together," says Jesse. "I ask a programmer how something works, and I get a quick, positive answer."

"That's just because we want you to go away," says Lincoln, flashing Jesse a quick smile.

Ian nods vigorously. "No egos get in the way. There's no prima donnas."

"I like Madonna," says Tinman, putting his empty cereal bowl aside. "And fourteen hour days."

"Oy. Not gonna touch that," Ian says.

"The short cycle does create some pressure," Scott admits. "Fortunately, we work well together under these conditions."

Dave chuckles. "On the plus side, it means lots of opportunities for me to inflict my humor upon you."

"'Inflict' is right," Tinman ripostes.

"Like a recurring cold sore," adds Blake with a yawn.

Dave remains completely at ease. "Scoff if you will. You're all my victims, my puddle-thumping - hey, is the tape on?"

"Me-e-e-ed-dish," Tinman bleats.

Dave responds with a surprisingly authentic bleat of his own.

"I didn't know you were Scottish!" Ian exclaims, eyes wide.

"You're Scottish!" Tinman shoots back.

"Yup," Ian admits with a sheepish grin. "Got that right."

"On a hot day you can smell him coming," Scott comments. Ian responds with a belly laugh and a thrown magazine.

Mitch asserts that for him, TRIBES Extreme feels like the same project with a new angle and new faces. "I'm still doing TRIBES stuff, having a blast, hanging out here at the office late-"

"Work is your primary social outlet, isn't it?" Blake asks politely.

Mitch shrugs and grins. "Yeah. Basically."

Tinman laughs. "There's a lot you could say after that-"

"Walrus!" says Eric.

Nels raises an eyebrow, and Ian cracks up.

"We're just too darn wacky," Dave says.

Suddenly Lincoln offers his take on the question. "The best part about this team is the motivation. I dunno... I get more motivated now... I think."

Mitch cuts in. "Nah. It's the hallucinogens in the water cooler-"

"Or those little jelly packets with the toast," says Ian. "I love those."

Blake sits up from his writer's slouch. "Toast? We get toast here?"

"Waffles, actually," Dave explains. "It's a tradition, you see."

Speaking of edibles, what's your favorite food when you're working on TRIBES Extreme?

I can tell right away from the gleam in everyone's eyes that this is another good topic.

Ian is first up on this one. "Guinness and a quad mocha."

Lincoln nods sharply. "Coffee. Definitely coffee."

Blake blinks, apparently surprised that someone might consider otherwise. His right hand twitches reflexively, reaching for a nonexistent cup. "Coffee? Of course."

"Breakfast of Champions," Dave intones.

"The jittery ones, at least." Blake rubs his eyes. "Lordy, it's been minutes since I've had my last fix."

Everyone quietly draws away from the undercaffinated writer. "Where's that bang stick?" Dave whispers. Nels shrugs and points at the Nerf blaster lying on a nearby table.

"Fava beans and beer," Tinman says, breaking the tension and blithely returning to the topic at hand. "After all, I am the Kidney Thief."

"Sunflower seeds," Eric says. "I leave 'em everywhere."

"Texas grill Fritos," Scott drawls. "They're so crunchy."

Mitch relates how he likes Cajun food, but gets no farther than mentioning blackened ribs when Ian exclaims, "Crayfish!"

"Now?" asks Jesse. "It's not even lunch time."

"Blackened ribs? Are we talking about food or game art?" asks Scott. Everyone laughs and checks watches. Lunch time is closing in, after all, and being Extreme requires proper fuel.

Scott, Eric, and Dave are unanimous that their favorite source of nutrition is simply "beer."

"Mirror Pond Pale Ale, to be precise," Dave clarifies.

"With sushi," Scott adds hurriedly.

Everyone agrees that raw meat sounds the most Extreme.

"Raw meat with beer and waffles," is Dave's contribution. "All drippery goodness." No one seems to have the stomach to talk about food after that.

O-Kay. What's your favorite TRIBES weapon?

This time, Blake answers first. "The grenade launcher. It lets you rule indoors with bankshots, hatch drops, lobs, and little corner dingers. Kinda like going around with little Christmas presents for everyone."

"I get cussed out for using grenades," Ian says.

Nels nods. "Yeah. Everyone screams 'LPB!' I hate that."

Ian continues with an aggrieved tone. "I get told, 'Hey, Crucifad, no grenades this match!' I mean they work, don't they? Why not use 'em?"

An evil smile comes over Nels's face. "I reply, 'Really? I just found some grenades right here... on your dead body.'"

"Without question I like the chaingun best," Ian says, flashing a broad grin. "It's close in, meaty, and lets me 'give the enemy a hot lead enema' - that's my favorite death message! I love that!"

Eric says he gets a perverse pleasure out of using the sniper rifle. "I only snipe friends, though, because I'm an LPB (low ping bastard), so I'm guilted out of using the sniper rifle or the chaingun in matches."

"Tough break," Nels says. "All I ever use is the spinfusor."

"I got my first kill with a spinfusor," Blake recalls. "Kinda lame because I blew myself up too, but it was funny as heck."

Ian chortles. "Nah, what's funny is taking the chaingun up to a heavy and unloading point-blank with the chaingun. I wear the little female light skin, and I love popping heavies with it. David and Goliath...! That rocks."

"So you play as a woman?" Nels asks.

"Yeah!" Ian contorts his face into a belligerent scowl. "Wanna make something of it?"

Jesse cuts in dryly. "My favorite weapon is whatever stops the person in front of me."

"It's fun to nail someone with an ELF and then mock him," Dave says.

Tinman shakes his head. "The ELF is the most irritating weapon in the game."

Mitch leans back. "I want to kill someone with the targeting laser alone, but I haven't gotten it down yet."

Lincoln prefers the spinfusor. "A well-led shot with a disk is really pretty cool."

What kind of music do y'all listen to?

Nels says he prefers the calming influences of Black Sabbath and Metallica. "Just blasts those knots out of my shoulders."

"I'm into Big Black, Alice Donut, and the Meat Beat Manifesto," says Ian. "This week, at least."

"Tom Petty or Warren Zevon be the cats for me," says Dave.

Mitch Shaw offers a different preference when he announces his liking for Dwight Yoakum. "A cool guy even if you don't like country music."

"Which we don't," Blake mutters to murmurs of assent. "Give me Sarah MacLachlan or October Project. Actually, just give me Sarah...."

"Sorry, she's Canadian. Won't sully herself with you Americans," replies Tinman with a chuckle. He adds that he likes John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, a group no one else has heard of.

"Is it a Canadian thing?" asks Eric. Tinman snorts.

Lincoln tries to "always play the three B's: Bach, Beethoven, and Bob." Bob as in Bob Dylan, that is.

"Slayer, if that's not too apropos," Eric says.

"You look too wholesome for Slayer," Dave comments.

"Probably KMFDM or Peter Gabriel for me," says Scott. "Or some cool bedroom music, like the 1812 Overture."

"Oooh, cannons," says Dave, rapture lighting up his face.

"Boom, baby, boom," agrees Ian.

A look of shock comes over Nels. He glances at Scott as though Scott's just grown antennae and a four-foot proboscis. "The 1812 Overture for bedroom music? Isn't that a little extreme?"

Scott shrugs. "That's what we're all about, right? Being extreme?"

The logic of that answer strikes everyone as surreal. There's much blinking and shaking of heads.

"That's pretty extreme, all right," someone says wonderingly.

"Extreme!" says Ian, pumping a fist in the air.

"Swanky," says Dave.

What's your favorite skin?

Eric likes the Children of Phoenix male skins best. "The metallic textures are the coolest."

Tinman likes the Phoenix skins too. "They show the most skin, and don't look as clunky to me."

Nels relates how a player called "Vortex" made him a skin with his own face and an armor modeled after medieval plate armor. "I'd love to go out in it, but I'd be the only one who could see it, unfortunately. It's very cool."

"I just go out as a female," Ian says.

"Yeah, but what about in TRIBES?" Nels cracks.

Ian laughs. "Yeah, I like to be a female there, too. It's just more fun. Seems weaker (even though it's not) and therefore more satisfying when you pop someone." Ian adds that his favorite fan skin is the Hopping Zombie Hockey Players. "It's the absolute Bomb."

Jesse goes out as a light male. "I'm not really into skins, though. Just whatever works."

"I have no real preferences," says Dave.

Eric jumps all over this. "That's because you never see him. He's always behind you-"

"-like in prison-" Ian says quickly.

"-just boom! Then 'No soup for you!'"

"It's the quiet ones that give the most smack talk," Nels says wryly. "Meddish is the smack talk king around here."

"I prefer female skins," Lincoln says. "I think the female voices are better, more 'can do.'"

"He just likes number three the best," Tinman quips to much laughter. Lincoln's preference is evidently well-known around here.

Mitch shakes his head. "John ("Sneaker" Alden) used to get all hot and bothered when number three said, 'Cover me!'" More laughter.

"I use the light Diamond Sword skin myself," Tinman says. "Though I'm the Kidney Thief, so my skins should all have stitch marks."

"That'd be rad," Ian agrees.

If you could put anything you wanted into TRIBES Extreme, if the sky's the limit, what would it be?

"More vehicles," Nels says.

"Multiplayer vehicles," Dave appends.

"Blimps! Hydrogen blimps!" Ian traces a huge outline in the air.

Tinman sounds doubtful. "You know what a disk would do to those?"

Ian looks completely delighted. "Yeahhh!"

"Oh, the humanity!" Dave says with a pious glance at the ceiling.

Eric says he would add forests. "Huge ones, with a canopy, lots of trees."

"What about an action figure presence?" Scott asks. "I'd love to have a figure of the heavy Diamond Sword ship with the game - that'd be sweet!"

"Hand-to-hand combat." This from Jesse, a hungry gleam in his eye.

"Yeah," Scott says. "With a laser katana."

"How about being able to kick someone off a building?" Blake asks.

"Steamrollers!" Ian crows.

"Mud or deep snow," Blake says. "So if you come down in the wrong place, you're hip deep, even stuck for a few seconds."

"A bigger variety of packs and deployable objects," Mitch says.

Ian's getting more and more excited. "Molly wire-"

Mitch catches Ian's surge of enthusiasm. "-bouncing Betty mines-"

"-shotgun mini-rockets-" Blake puts in.

"-multiple-person semi-portable weapons-" Scott says.

"Snot bombs that would stick you to the wall!" Ian says. "That'd be so obnoxious!"

Tinman shudders. "Ugghh."

Lincoln has been pondering his answer. "I guess just good, crafty AI," he says. "The kind that would stalk you. Maybe also creatures, native wildlife-"

"Monsters," Nels says, smiling. "Big ones, like Sandworms."

"Hunting dogs," Eric offers. "In packs. With jets."

Scott injects that he'd like to see a fabulously detailed cooperative campaign. "Something with a ton of NPCs, roleplaying with the squadmates, forking storylines, and dynamic missions."

"Yeah, something with lots of dialog, like Yojimbo or Last Man Standing," Ian says. "And I'd like to have the ability to spit blood as a last act of defiance. You know, you're lying there, your armor's just chewed, and just as the guy comes up to put you down - ptoo! - Right in the faceplate!"

"I'd like to see weather," Tinman says. "Tornadoes and lightning, especially the lightning. That would look so cool hitting someone."

"Oooh, like a Highlander moment," Ian says.

Ian's comment triggers a short but spirited debate as to which was better: the Highlander TV show or the movie. The TV show wins, though Dave refuses to admit defeat for his support of the movie. He continues to argue his points, using a variety of cartoon voices.

The discussion evidently sparks a new idea for Tinman. "Maybe a Highlander version of the game where you have to decapitate someone to kill them...." He gets a faraway look in his eyes as he considers the coding difficulties. Then he snaps out of it. "That'll have to wait, I guess. It'd be pretty cool, though."

"Especially if your victims explode after they die," Ian says. "And you get all their energy."

Eric chuckles. "There can be only one."

If you only had a word or two to describe TRIBES Extreme, what would you say?

"Pleasantly moist," says Ian.

"The buttery slope of death," says Blake.

"Crescent-like," Dave says.

"Dairy cow," Jesse says. "Because it'll milk you dry," he explains quickly.

"Addicting," Eric says. "Way too addicting."

"A totally new dimension," Scott maintains. "It'll really change the way people play."

"That's for sure." Tinman laughs. "It's pushing the envelope of what we can do with TRIBES."

"Empowering," Mitch says. "Everyone's getting a lot of say in what we're making."

"Intensely euphoric," Tinman adds.

A worshipful looks slides over Mitch's face. "Ooooh! A Canadian word!" Tinman shoots him a look that seems to say, "You and me, buddy, spinfusors on Raindance, in five!"

"It's going to be a pretty intense product," Nels concludes.

What would you like to say to the fans of the game?

"Quit calling my house," Mitch shoots back. He folds his arms across his chest and beams while the rest of the team stares at him in amazement.

"You're kidding," someone says at last. Mitch shakes his head.

"Finding those demon faces in the terrain was the coolest thing I've ever seen," Nels says a moment later.

Mitch nods vigorously. "We'll need to find new and subtle ways to introduce our occult agenda." Everyone rolls their eyes at this.

"Oh, behave!" says Dave in his best Austin Powers voice.

"I always thought it'd be Meddish introducing the darker side of TRIBES," Tinman muses.

Dave affects a hurt look. "Moi?"

Eric leans forward. "You mean people say they saw a demon face on one of our maps?"

Mitch dismisses this topic. "Inkblots."

Nels scratches his head bemusedly. "When I look at the map, all I see is a patch of dirt."

Ian leans back and puts his hands behind his head. "I dunno, there's one mission where I always think of 'Little House on the Prairie.' I'm running down this grassy hill and the music starts in my head, and then I expect Michael Landon to be waiting for me at the base."

"We do need more of a Waltons influence in the game," Mitch puts in.

Eric laughs. "I'd like to see Waldo from 'Where's Waldo?' waiting with a sniper rifle."

"You know, Ian," Lincoln injects calmly. "The Little House on the Prairie thing really wigs me out. A lot."

Ian and most of the team crack up at this unexpected comment. "That's- that's the most wholesome show in history," Ian manages after he catches his breath. "And it wigs you out? Oy!"

Nels hauls the team back on-topic. "Guys, how about we answer the question, OK?"

"I'm just really appreciative of the support the fans have given the story end of things," Blake says. "It pushes us to try more cool stuff and build a lot more depth into the setting."

Eric takes his turn. "Remember that LPBs are people too. It's frustrating when everyone on a server gripes on every kill."

"Send more beer," Dave says, putting his fingertips to his temples and miming intense concentration.

"Send more toys," Ian adds.

"More coffee," Blake says.

Tinman says he really appreciates the comments and excitement from the Hunters game he created. "Keep hunting!"

Ian gets serious and leans forward for the closing comment. "Fan input is really, really valuable. It shapes the direction of the game; they need to keep it up so we can give them what they want. Feedback is crucial - and we do listen."

Everyone nods, instantly serious. Clearly, fan support and input provide an enormous inspiration for this group. And that's the Extreme truth.