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Zoo Tycoon Unlimited Interview
Answered by Adam Levesque, CEO and Creative Director at Blue Fang Games. Lead Designer of Zoo Tycoon 2.
Can you break down the steps, in terms of length of time, of how long it took to create Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2 from start to finish?Zoo 2 started with a prototype phase. Basically we identified some key things we wanted to try and work out before we started the full production on the game. This included the look and style of the art, the terrain system, and building fencing.
While the prototype was being created, design worked on creating the functional design of Zoo 2. Each major system had a document which explained the features and how they should work. Engineering then took these documents and created technical specifications which they would use in programming the game.
Once the prototype was more or less complete, we started full production. We determine the order in which the features will be added and then plug those into milestones. Each milestone is a deliverable to Microsoft. When production was finished, we spent a few months in “revise and debug”. During the course of development, the Microsoft QA team was finding bugs. While we tried to fix as many as possible, the revise and debug phase is where we could fix these bugs full time. All told, we spent a little less than 18 months on the whole process.
Can we expect continued patches, animals, scenarios, etc. for the original Zoo Tycoon?At this point we have no plans to make additional content or products for the original Zoo Tycoon. All our efforts are focused on improving Zoo Tycoon 2.
Why are there no canines yet in Zoo Tycoon 2? We miss our wolves and hyenas!
Well…something had to be left out  . The great thing is that we still have a wide selection of cool animals for additional Zoo 2 content. There is a good chance there will be canines in our future .
How do you choose what to include/exclude from the game?
At the beginning of development you try and identify the goals of the game. Then you make sure that the features support those goals. This can then be used as a filter to decide what gets cut and what stays. If it’s central to one of the goals, it stays. If it’s not, it gets cut. It doesn’t “always” work out this way, but we try to stay true to this as much as possible.
What can you tell us about unlockable items, easter eggs, cheats, etc. in Zoo Tycoon 2?Unlike Zoo Tycoon 1, we didn’t add many easter eggs or cheats into Zoo Tycoon 2. This is really related to the question about what to “include/exclude” from the game . All our time was consumed trying to get the main, core features in the game and working correctly. There are a few unlockable items in the game, in particular the jungle and safari themes. Completing regular and photo challenges (5 of each) will unlock these themes for placement.
What are your thoughts on user created items?
Anything that keeps people interested in the game is great . I’ve been quite surprised at the amount of stuff (and quality) created for Zoo Tycoon 1. It’s great to see that people like the game so much they are willing to invest even more time in supporting it.
In the fansite kit, we noticed a logo for “player made content”. Does this mean it will be easier for us to create content? Will you be creating a program to aid in creation?I’m interested to see how much content is created for Zoo 2. On one hand we made the system even more open by creating our data in XML. On the other hand, we are using high end software (3D Max) and a proprietary tool (from the NetImmerse engine) to create the graphics. So that might make the process a little more difficult. But, never underestimate the ingenuity of the online community . We are currently working on a FAQ to give the mod community more information about these issues.
Any chance we may see a program to create our own scenarios/campaigns?Currently we do not have plans to create a scenario/campaign tool.
Any plans to make Zoo Tycoon 2 have online multiplayer capabilities in the future? We love our community zoo projects and would love to be able to build together in real time.We have talked about ways we could incorporate multiplayer in Zoo 2, but nothing is definitive at this point. We’ll continue to look at this going forward.
Any plans to bring Zoo Tycoon or Zoo Tycoon 2 to the consoles?
I am unable to comment of future products at this time .
How did the name “Blue Fang” come to be?
Well…we were sitting in a local bar trying to come up with a name, just a free association sort of thing (Red Axe, Blue Fang, etc.). We took the top names and looked to see if they were available. Blue fang was so we chose that  . One thing that helped was that Lou Catanzaro (our Art Director) made a quick sketch of the company logo (the snake head) and that sold us.
What made you choose to design video games?
I’ve always played video games on all sorts of systems (Atari 800, Commodore 64, NES, Sega, etc.). I never thought I would earn a living doing this until I got a job as a game tester at Infocom. They did some great text adventure games back in the 80’s. I met some great people there and I knew this was what I wanted to do. I’ve been pretty lucky along the way in that some great people (Steve Meretzky, Omar Khudari) have helped me out.
A number of our younger members have really expressed an interest in going into game design. What advice can you offer them?
Play lots and lots of games! After that, study hard in whatever your discipline is (programming, art, design, etc.).
I know that more and more colleges are added some kind of “Game Development” degree. So that might be a good direction.
If you want to be a programmer, than you should obviously start with good computer science classes. You could also pick up some programming books at your local bookstore and teach yourself. I’ve know a number of great programmers who went this direction.
In terms of game design, focus on writing and English classes. Also try and read everything. It won’t do you any good to just read gaming magazines (and books). Good ideas can come from anywhere ?.
As for art….I’m not sure about that. I mean, you either have art talent or you don’t (like me). If you know you have the talent, then there are lots of great art schools. I would also say try and learn 3D Studio Max. It’s by far the most common 3D software used in the game industry.
Any plans for expansions or Zoo Tycoon 3?
I am unable to comment of future products at this time .
We would like to thank the Blue Fang team for all their hard work, and for taking the time to answer the community's questions.
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