Five Questions With Valve Software

   The following interview was conducted with Yahn Bernier, one of Valve's
senior software engineers.

Ivan Trembow: It wasn't a surprise that Half-Life was a hit with hardcore 
gamers, but it was somewhat of a surprise that it appealed to casual gamers 
as well.  What do you think it is about the game that has made it so popular
among hardcore and casual gamers alike?

Yahn Bernier: Probably a whole range of things.  For instance, Half-Life was
focused on its story and on making the player feel like he or she was the 
hero in an action movie.  This approach was pretty different from most of 
the previous first-person shooters.  We also spent a lot of time thinking 
about the user's experience, and making sure it was understandable and fun 
rather than frustrating.  That also increased the game's appeal.  At the 
same time, we had to make sure that there was enough complexity to keep 
hardcore gamers interested.  A lot of hardcore gamers play online, and we've
done a pretty good job of building an interesting online platform for mods.

Ivan: How important has the mod community been in sustaining the popularity 
of Half-Life over two years after its release?

Yahn: I don't think we should underestimate the importance of the mod 
community.  It perpetuates a buzz about the original product and about all 
of the other mods in a very positive way.  That's why we made the major 
investments in our technology as a mod development platform, because we 
suspected that the mod community would create lots of synergy for Half-Life.

Ivan: Is an expansion into other genres in the cards for Valve, or will you 
continue to focus on first-person action games?

Yahn: We often consider whether there are other types of games that we 
should be making, but our core competencies are focused in the action space.
Branching into other areas just depends on the particular experience that we
are trying to create for the end users.

Ivan: What has your role been in the development of Half-Life for the 
Dreamcast?

Yahn: We've been pretty hands-off since our engineering and art talent is 
completely occupied with other projects.  I suppose we have somewhat of an 
executive producer role on the Dreamcast version, but Gearbox and 
Captivation have been more directly in charge of day-to-day oversight.

Ivan: What's next for Valve after Team Fortress 2?

Yahn: Hopefully, some vacation.

Send your thoughts on this interview to ivan@mastergamer.com

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