"[But] the visuals weren't the only aspects that I kept overhauling. ... Initially, Out of Hell played very much like a standard FPS in that it was a straight-through, linear presentation. ... I've recently implemented a new idea where the game will follow a set story arc, with other maps that you could choose to play in-between in order to replenish supplies. Though this has gone back to a more linear presentation as was originally intended, I hoped the decision would add just a bit more variety than the standard method, and I'm happy to say that it all finally works."
Which should mean it's time to kick the baby out of the nest, right? Not so fast. Out of Hell is, after all, a labor of love, and Nguyen still has a lot of love to give it. After four years, three story arcs, two engines, a professional score and a brutal course in the school of hard knocks game design, Long Nguyen has paid his dues by any accounting, but will the game be any good? Only time will tell, but even if it plays like Daikatana and looks like ass, Nguyen will be satisfied that he at least did his best and had a great time doing it.
"I kept thinking to myself, 'Alright, enough is enough, people won't wait forever so let's just release it and release fixes and improvements with patches over time,'" he says. "But despite this and the friendly prodding of many people who wanted to see this project come to fruition, I always came back to the same conclusion that kept me from just letting it go.
"I have to make sure ... the full version justifies the long wait and is as memorable an experience as possible. ... Though I've committed a lot of time and resources to Out of Hell, I have no regrets on what has gone into the project because I've loved (almost) every minute of it. It's an investment in that I hope it will make a strong enough portfolio piece (this is the sort of work that I eventually want to get into) to get my foot in the door, but it will only be a huge bonus because I just like doing this kind of thing for fun anyway!"
Russ Pitts is an Associate Editor for The Escapist. He has written and produced for television, theatre and film, has been writing on the web since it was invented and claims to have played every console ever made. His blog can be found at www.falsegravity.com.
