---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | _______ _ _ _______ | | | |_____| |______ | | | | | |______ | | | | " O F F I C A L " | | _____ ______ _______ __ __ | | |_____] |_____/ |______ \_/ | | | | \_ |______ | | | | | _______ _______ _____ | | |______ |_____| | __| | | | | | |____\| | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 4-8-97 VERSION: 1.0 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Lon Matero (klmatero@oakland.edu) Copyright: The Prey FAQ is Copyright 1997 by Lon Matero. If you wish to use part of this document, please leave it intact, and show it belongs to The Prey FAQ by the author, Lon Matero. Disclaimer: This FAQ was not written by Apogee or 3D Realms and they do not take any responsibly for what is said in this document. Any information in this FAQ can change at any time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 1.1 About this FAQ 1.2 About the author 1.3 Where to obtain this FAQ 2. About Prey 2.1 What is Prey? 2.2 Who is making Prey? 2.3 Who is 3D Realms? 2.4 Who is distributing Prey? 2.5 When will Prey be released? 2.6 What is the storyline behind Prey? 2.7 What are some features in Prey? 2.8 What will the Prey Environment be like? } 2.9 The History of Prey 3. Prey's Requirements 3.1 What are the system requirements for Prey? 3.2 What Operating Systems does Prey work with? 3.3 Does Prey support 3D Graphics cards or MMX? 4. The Prey Team 4.1 Who at 3D Realms is making Prey? 4.1.1 Programmers 4.1.2 Artists 4.1.3 Level Designers 4.1.4 Producers 4.1.5 Music/Sound effects 4.2 Who left the Prey team? Who is replacing them? 4.2.1 Mark Dochtermann and Jim Dose 4.2.2 Tom Hall 4.2.3 Chuck Jones and Doug Wood 4.2.4 Summary 5. Multiplayer Prey 5.1 What kind of multiplayer support will Prey have? 6. Editing Prey 6.1 What parts of Prey can I edit? 7. Where to find more information 7.1 World Wide Web 7.2 Newsgroups 7.3 IRC 8. Revision History 9. Credits ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 About this FAQ ------------------ Prey is the game and FAQ stands for: Frequently Asked Questions. Here, you will find a vast amount of information about Prey and hopefully answer many of your questions. } - shows that this text has been added/changed since the last release. 1.2 About the author --------------------- Lon Matero is a high school student at Walled Lake Central High School. He has been an avid fan of Apogee for years. Lon is the channel manager of one of the most popular gaming IRC channels on the Undernet, #Duke3D. He also maintains two great gaming web pages. Apogee - http://www.oakland.edu/~klmatero/apogee Prey - http://www.oakland.edu/~klmatero/prey 1.3 Where to obtain this FAQ ---------------------------- The latest version will be posted on Lon's Prey Page: http://www.oakland.edu/~klmatero/prey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. About Prey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 What is Prey? ----------------- Prey is an upcoming first person, 3D, Sci-Fi, dark, futuristic, }action game. In Prey, you are Talon Brave, a Native American, out to battle }races of aliens. Prey will have both single and multiplayer play, along }with support for many hardware devices and operating systems. Prey is }also very editable, with a scripting language and a level editor. }Prey's project leader explains why "Prey" was choosen: }"Prey is a cool name because of the double-edged meaning: the prey/predator }meaning and the "pray for help" meaning." A few mottos or subtitles have been also posted: Prey: You are and you'd better! Prey: If you don't come back, they will! }Prey: Be Brave! 2.2 Who is making Prey? ----------------------- } A game company called, 3D Realms Entertainment. A team of about }10-12 members are working full time developing the game. Developers from }previous games and new members are working on the game. A full listing of the people behind Prey is in 'The Prey Team' section of this FAQ. 2.3 Who is 3D Realms? --------------------- 3D Realms is a division of Apogee Software Ltd. set up in 1994 to focus only on 3D style games. 3D Realms' first release was Terminal Velocity. 3D Realms is known for games including Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. 3D Realms uses the "Apogee model", where a shareware episode is distributed for free, then users can buy a registered version to get all the episodes. 2.4 Who is distributing Prey? ----------------------------- In 1996 Apogee chose GT Interactive to distribute it's retail }versions of their games. 3D Realms does take direct orders of games, but }GT distributes to stores. GT also handles all of the advertising of }Prey, such as magazine ads. Go to GT's WWW Page: http://www.gtinteractive.com/ } 3D Realms is taking care of the publishing and the online }distributing of the Shareware version. 2.5 When will Prey be released? ------------------------------- This is one of the most popular questions for any game, and here is Apogee's most popular response: "When it's done." :) } The most specific date at this time is 1998. 2.6 What is the storyline behind Prey? -------------------------------------- }Currently, the storyline and development of the main character are }being worked on. Paul Schuytema, the new producer, will be coming up }with a new story and background for Prey. This can all change at any time. }We do know that the name of the main character is, "Talon Brave." }Here is what Scott Miller, president of Apogee, has to say about }the name: }"The word 'talon' is a claw on a bird of prey. The word brave refers }to the character's native american heritage, plus it has the double }meaning of courage. Also, the name Brave is actually a shortened }version of his real native american name which won't be revealed until }the game's release." }Here is a hint of what is to come: } } "A new main character has been developed--he's a full-blooded } Apache with an attitude. The story is all new, and involves the } Trocara, a trinity of alien species who are kept (somewhat) in } check by the mysterious Keepers." (Apogee's Web Site) 2.7 What are some features in Prey? ----------------------------------- 3D Realms are trying to make many advances in 3D gaming with Prey. Prey will have the True 3D as in Quake, and the interactivity as in Duke Nukem 3D. Here is a list of general features from 3D Realms: + True 3D engine, with shadow casting, colored lighting, dynamic lights and much more. (Our own, advanced Portal Technology engine.) + The game will be Windows95 native. + 16 bit art. + Ultra-advanced 16-bit colored, full radiosity lighting. + Full Internet TCP/IP play, as well as local network and modem play. + HEAVY use of 3D accelerator cards such as 3DFX and Rendition. + Dark, moody and extremely intense Science Fiction gameplay, in very interactive and realistic places. + A intense central character-a modern age, full-blooded American Indian Dark, violent and extremely intense gameplay a superior multiplay experience, in both competitive and co-op modes. + Some most excellent surprises. 2.8 What will the Prey Environment be like? ------------------------------------------- Prey's Environment will be futuristic and creepy. One of the largest factors will be the interactivity within the environment. 3D Realms is trying to make the interactivity at the level of Duke Nukem 3D, without loosing the speed. The amazing architecture with great lighting effects, such as colored lighting, will make Prey look very good. }2.9 The History of Prey }------------------------------------------- } The Prey project has been in progress for a number of years now. }What has happened over that time? Here is an overview of the history of }Prey from the beginning to present from George Broussard: }The concept for Prey started right after Rise of the Triad. All we knew }was that we wanted to do a dark Sci-Fi game. The game initially started }probably about July or so in 1995, but this was the very early R&D stages. }We were deciding what to do for an engine and whether we could use the }Build engine (Duke 3D), or another engine Ken Silverman was doing at the }time that was true 3D. We decided to roll the dice and write our own }engine at that point, so the team started digging into writing their first }3D engine. }The team was very small at first (mainly coders trying to write an engine }we could use). It took a little while to get things going, since we had }never written an advanced 3D engine in house and there was a lot of }experimenting, but in 3-4 months William had a true 3D texture mapped and }lit engine up and running. The engine was constantly upgraded for speed, or }a new approach to doing things, and that probably took us up until early }1996. By March 1996 we had a character on the screen moving around, }elementary net play with frag bar, items to pick up, and things were }looking good. But we still weren't happy with the engine yet, even though }we had 3Dfx support in and working. The lighting just wasn't quite right. }William Scarboro (engine programmer) kept tweaking things and about mid }year, we all decided to roll the dice again and support hardware }acceleration only. It was a bold decision, but we felt the timing was }right and it was the only way we could get some of the cool features we }wanted in the game. We wanted to be cutting edge. So William went back }and rewrote the engine again, this time specifically for hardware (3Dfx }first). At the same time he was re-writing "Preditor", our in-house editor }for Prey. Everything was converted to Win95 near the end of 1996, and we }started hiring new core team members. We started with Paul Schuytema, who }used to be a reviewer with CGW. We liked his style and found out he was }producing Mech Warrior 3 for FASA. We figured that if they thought he was }good enough for Mech Warrior, we'd give him a call. A few short weeks Paul }was here, and he threw out all the old Prey stuff and started re-doing the }Prey story (which I was much more happy with). }Things picked up fast from there. William got the new engine running under }3Dfx with 16 bit art and colored lighting, and we hired more people on. }Scott McCabe and Allen Dilling came on for art and Tom Pytel came here to }code everything William couldn't. }This brings us up to early 1997, where we nearly have the entire team in }place and are actually starting to write the game. We expect great things }from here on out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Prey's Requirements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 What are the system requirements for Prey? ---------------------------------------------- * 3D Realms has not announced any official requirements yet. An estimation is: - 100Mhz Pentium Processor - 16 MB RAM - CD-ROM Drive - PCI Video Card } - Supported 3D Video Card Recommended: } - 166Mhz Pentium Processor with MMX } - 32 MB RAM } - CD-ROM Drive } - Windows Supported Sound Card } - 3D Video Card (3DFX) 3.2 What Operating Systems does Prey work with? ----------------------------------------------- } Prey is currently planned to have a Windows 95 version only at }this time. 3D Realms decided to break away from DOS, and go with full }Windows 95 support. } As for other operating systems, it is not set in stone on what }Prey will be supporting. Mac and WindowsNT versions might happen. 3.3 Does Prey support 3D Graphics cards or MMX? ----------------------------------------------- } Prey will use 100% hardware acceleration, meaning to take }advantage of the high speed engine, Prey will be designed to use }the 3D Graphics Card. Prey will support all of the top 3D cards. }Prey will NOT run without a supported 3D Card. It is required. }Currently, Prey is supporting the following Chipsets: 3DFX - http://www.3dfx.com/ } Rendition - http://www.rendition.com/ Prey might also support the MMX(tm) Technology in Pentium Chips. }3D Realms is "looking into" MMX at this time, it is unknown whether Prey }will have support or not. MMX is included with enhanced Pentium chips and }the Pentium II processor. More information on MMX Technology: } http://www.mmx.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The Prey Team ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 Who at 3D Realms is making Prey? ------------------------------------ 4.1.1 Programmers ------------------------------- William Scarboro - (Lead programmer, engine guy) William is from El Paso, Texas. He has a B.S. in Computer Science, minor in Mathematics from Texas A&M University William did the actor code in Rise of the Triad. (Apogee's Web Site) Other projects worked on at Apogee: Rise of the Triad } Tom Pytel - (Network programmer) }High School Dropout. Started making money in computers at 16. Tom is the }network programmer on Prey, he codes all of the network, modem, serial, and }TCP/IP parts of the game. (Apogee's Web Site) 4.1.2 Artists ------------------------------- Steve Hornback - (Textures, general artwork) Steve is a veteran, having worked on many Apogee titles, including Cosmo and the original Duke Nukem I and II. He was the primary artist for Rise of the Triad, and he's done a lot of work on Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. He is currently making textures to be used in Prey. Steve's from Ohio. (Apogee's Web Site) Other projects worked on at Apogee: Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Major Stryker, Cosmo's Adventure, Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem I, Rise Of The Triad } Scott McCabe - (The texture guy) } }"Before I came here, I did some 3D modeling and animation for some }companies back home. A few months back I did a Duke add-on called }'Layre', which also played an important part in my life." }(Apogee's Web Site) }Scott McCabe was hired by 3D Realms in early 1997 to work on Prey }full time as an artist. } Allen Dilling - (3D Modeler) }Allen Dilling was hired by 3D Realms in early 1997 to create characters }in the game. 4.1.3 Level Designers -------------------------------- Randy Pitchford - Randy just joined 3D Realms in 1996 to work on the Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium Pak. Now he is one of the main map designers for Prey. Randy was a professional magician from California before coming to 3D Realms. Other projects worked on at Apogee: Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior 4.1.4 Producers -------------------------------- Paul Schuytema - (Producer/Designer) Paul previously worked for FASA Interactive Technologies, where he was the lead designer for MechWarrior 3. In November, 1996, Paul joined 3D Realms. Prior to that, Schuytema lead a "dual life," serving as a college professor half-time and working in the computer game industry half-time. As a professor, Schuytema taught creative writing, science fiction world building, 3D animation and interactive authoring. In the game industry, Schuytema divided his time between being the contributing editor for game design for Computer Gaming World magazine and being a free lance game design consultant. Schuytema's educational background includes a technical degree in computer electronics and programming as well as a master of fine arts degree in science fiction writing from the University of North Carolina. (From the Press Release) George Broussard - (Executive Producer) Graduated with a BS in Computer Science from Stephen F. Austin University in East Texas (just to have something to fall back on -- what a dull place that was). Worked with long time friend Scott Miller at a computer consulting company for a couple of years. Joined Apogee with Scott in mid 1991 and never looked back. Proudest career highlight so far was being the Executive Producer/Team Leader for Duke Nukem 3D. (Apogee's Web Site) 4.1.5 Music/Sound effects -------------------------------- Lee Jackson - (Compose the soundtrack, and all sound effects) Graduated J. Frank Dobie HS, Pasadena, TX, 1981 - won Texas UIL State Music Theory competition, 1981. Attended University of Texas at Austin as a Music Education major from 1981-1983 - Member Longhorn Band and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Worked for IRS, Austin Service Center, from 1983-1993. Joined Apogee in 1993 as Tech Support Rep. Was primary musician on Rise of the Triad. Named Apogee's/3D Realms' first full-time Music and Sound Director, as of January 15, 1996. Married to Brenda Jackson in 1983; one son, Nathan Douglas Jackson, born 1986. (Apogee's Web Site) Other projects worked on at Apogee: }Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, Stargunner, Shadow Warrior, }Balls of Steel 4.2 Who left the Prey team? Who is replacing them? -------------------------------------------------- } The Prey Team has been through many changes. Three members }of the team left to other game companies. With all the new faces on the }Prey team, the game has also changed greatly. Here is an overview of }everyone that left the Prey team in the development process, and who }replaced them. 4.2.1 Mark Dochtermann and Jim Dose ------------------------------------ On August 12th 1996, 3D Realms announced that two programmers on the Prey team have left. Mark Dochtermann, net-programmer, and Jim Dose', level-editor programmer. They went to Hipnotic Interactive. Here is part of the Official statement from George Broussard: * What happened was two programmers left the project, leaving the main engine programmer, William Scarboro working on the engine. We see little setback, and will begin interviews immediately for the two open spots. (Tools programmer/Editor and Net code/general game programmer). We expect this will only be a little 'speed bump' in Prey's development. Nothing to worry about at all. } This 'speed bump' caused the whole project to be scrapped and }started over again. In September 1996, 3D Realms started hiring new }employees to create a new game, throwing out what was all ready done. } Tom Pytel was since hired to replace Mark Dochtermann and Jim }Dose as a programmer. On that same day, Richard Gray (aka Levelord) left with the two programmers. Richard Gray is known for his work as one of the two level designers for Duke Nukem 3D. Richard also went to Hipnotic Interactive. 4.2.2 Tom Hall --------------- A few days later, another Official announcement came from George Broussard. He said that Tom Hall, the Executive Producer for Prey had left also. Here is the announcement: * More Prey news for you all. Tom Hall has left to join John Romero's startup company. We wish Tom well and his leaving was very pleasant, and a little expected as he and John have been friends for a long time. I will continue to be Executive Producer on Prey as I was with Duke 3D and will likely bring in someone new as Asst. Producer to help guide the project and relieve the workload. Again, we know how this looks to the outside world, but rest assured that we aren't panicking at all here. These folks will be missed, but the bulk of the Prey team is here, more motivated than ever and things will go on. } Paul Schuytema replaced Tom Hall has head producer two months }later. 4.2.3 Chuck Jones and Doug Wood ------------------------------------------------- } Two artists Chuck Jones and Doug Wood did some "extra" work }on Prey in the early days of the game. They were never officially }added to the Prey team. Chuck Jones, who did some early sketches }and models, left Apogee in 1996 to go to a company called, Valve. }Doug Wood also did a little work on Prey, but never primarily }worked on the game. He has always been on the Shadow Warrior team. } Since Prey has never had any full time artists, they had }to be hired. In early 1997, two artists(Scott McCabe, and Allen }Dilling) joined the Prey team. Scott McCabe specializing in textures, }and Allen Dilling in 3D Modeling. 4.2.4 Summary ------------- To sum it up, here are the Here are the replacements: people who left the team: }1. Mark Dochtermann Tom Pytel 2. Jim Dose' 3. Tom Hall Paul Schuytema ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Multiplayer Prey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 What kind of multiplayer support will Prey have? ---------------------------------------------------- While making Prey, 3D Realms made sure Multiplayer was kept in mind. Playing with multiple players is one of the main parts of Prey. One can do it many ways. By modem, serial cables, IPX network, and TCP/IP(Internet). When playing a multiplayer game, usually one will battle face to face with another person, or many people. There is also the option of CO-OP or team play mode. With CO-OP all the human players will fight the enemies on the regular single player levels. NOTE: The exact details of Multi-player Prey are not known yet, that goes } for the setup of network games, and Prey servers. 100% of the }multiplayer code in Prey will be changed this year(1997). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Editing Prey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 What parts of Prey can I edit? ---------------------------------- Many parts of Prey will be editable and changeable. One of the largest pluses will be the Win95 Level Editor that will be packaged with the registered version. 3D Realms will give the same editor that they used for making the levels for Prey. } Prey's level editor is named, Preditor. In early 1997, 3D Realms }released a few screenshots showing the editor in use. The screenshots }show Preditor's simple design and ease of use. George Broussard has made a few comments on the level editor for Prey: "Plus the engine works differently, so we don't need to BSP anything and it's still fast. That means you can edit and run levels on the FLY. No waiting or lameness." "The Prey editor will work like Build. Easy texturing and geometry creation. Plus you can walk around in 3D realtime and light things and see it NOW. Not in 20 minutes" } PreyScript? A scripting language like QuakeC in Prey is still up in }the air. There are plans of having some sort of language, but the details }are still in the works. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Where to find more information ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1 World Wide Web ------------------ * For the Official Information, go to 3D Realms' Prey Page: http://www.3drealms.com/catalog/prey/ }* Other great Prey Pages on the Web: }Lon's Prey Page - http://www.oakland.edu/~klmatero/prey/ }Atz's Prey Page - http://www.n2.net/prey/ }Preystation - http://www.preystation.com/ }Pailhead's Prey Zone - http://www.citicom.com/~pailhead/prey/ }* For a listing of Prey Web sites, please visit this URL: }http://www.3drealms.com/catalog/prey/links.html 7.2 Newsgroups -------------- The reserved spot for all discussion on Apogee and 3D Realms games in the news groups currently is: alt.games.apogee A Prey newsgroup might pop up like one did for Duke Nukem 3D after Prey's release. 7.3 IRC ------- IRC or Internet Relay Chat is talking in real time to other people. }If you want to talk to many Prey fans get a IRC program, such as mIRC, }log in to one of the 'Undernet' servers, and join one of the following }channels. } #Prey - Channel Manager: Adam Brill }This channel has been set as the main channel for Prey discussion on IRC. } #Preystation - Channel Manager: Aaron Corcoran }This channel was set up as an alternative to #Prey for general discussion and }chat about the web site, Preystation. } #Duke3D - Channel Manager: Lon Matero }The Official Duke Nukem 3D channel has been around since early 1996 and has }been the meeting place for all Apogee fans. Sometimes, employees of Apogee }visit #Duke3D and answer questions. } Apogee also has their own IRC channel that can be accessed through }and IRC client or through a Java supported Web Browser. It can be reached }at irc.pseudo.com, channel #apogee, or www.apogee1.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Revision History ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- }v1.0 - 4-8-97 The Prey FAQ renamed to The Official Prey FAQ. Brought the FAQ up to date. Started the history of Prey. }v0.16 - v0.19 Non-public versions, minor updates. v0.15 - 12-7-96 First public release. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Credits ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Rob Brown - robbrown@nwinfo.net (Proof-reader, biography, IRC section) } + George Broussard (The history of Prey section) } + Joe Siegler - joe.siegler@apogee1.com (For guiding me along)