One of the game’s weaknesses was that at the start of the project I did not fully
understand the limitations of theMarathonengine. It was best suited to creating indoor
environments, so outdoor areas ended up looking fake, especially when they were sup-
posed to represent real-life locations on Earth. Modeling the exterior of an alien world
in the engine, asMarathon 2had done, was one thing, but creating environments that
looked like the woods in Nebraska was another. Around half of the levels inDamage
Incorporatedare set outside, and none of these outdoor areas ended up looking very
good. If I had understood the technology better, I could have designed the game to take
place in more indoor environments, thereby better exploiting what the engine did well.
Interestingly, at the same time I was using theMarathon 2engine to createDam-
age Incorporated, MacSoft had another team using the same engine to create a game
calledPrime Target. The members of that team did not likeMarathon 2as much as I did,
and wanted to create more of aDoom-style shooter, with faster, simpler, more intense
combat. Instead of starting with the technology and running with the type of gameplay
it handled well, they started with a type of gameplay they wanted to achieve and modi-
fied the engine to better support that. As a result, thePrime Targetteam spent much
more time modifying the engine to suit their needs than we did. On the other hand, they
were wise enough to set their game primarily indoors, an environment much better
suited to the technology. Because of our different decisions in how to use the technol-
ogy,Prime Targetbecame a significantly different game from eitherMarathon 2or
Damage Incorporated. Not a better or worse game, merely different. The differences
can be traced back to the origins of the idea for their game, and the way they approached
using a licensed engine.
Centipede 3D ...............................
The Centipede 3D project was started when the publisher, Hasbro Interactive,
approached the game’s developer, Leaping Lizard Software, about using theirRaider
technology for a new version ofCentipede. Hasbro had recently found success with
their modernization ofFrogger, and wanted to do the same forCentipede, the rights to
which they had recently purchased. Producers at Hasbro had seen a preview forRaider
in a magazine, and thought it might be well suited to the project. Hasbro had a very defi-
nite idea about the type of gameplay they wanted forCentipede 3D: game mechanics
similar to the classicCentipedeexcept in a 3D world. The team at Leaping Lizard
agreed. At the time, few games were utilizing simple, elegant arcade-style gameplay,
and adapting it to a 3D world would be a unique challenge.
For the development ofCentipede 3D, the origin of the game’s development lay in
gameplay. Recreating the feel of the originalCentipedewas at the forefront of every-
one’s minds throughout the project’s development. When Hasbro set out to find a
company with a technology capable of handling the game, they knew to look for an
engine that could handle larger, more outdoor areas, because those were the type of
locations a modernizedCentipedewould require. They knew not to go for aQuake-style
technology in order to achieve the gameplay they wanted. Leaping Lizard’sRaider
engine was a good match with the gameplay, but not a perfect one. Much work was
required to modify it to achieve the responsiveness of a classic arcade game.Raider
employed a physics system that was by and large not needed forCentipede 3D, and so
50 Chapter 3: Brainstorming a Game Idea