[by Patrick (twisted) Hardy]

Why interview someone again, so soon? Well, Rich 'TheFatal' Whitehouse is nearing a fully playable version of the hidebot as you read this interview. TheFatal will introduce the first-ever Soldier of Fortune bot to the community very soon, so read all about it!

twisted: How has Raven helped you with the hidebot? TheFatal: They've helped in lots of ways. Their support has been greater than that of any company I've worked with so far, I would say. twisted: What is your response to those who accuse Raven stiffing Soldier of Fortune's modification community? TheFatal: I don't recall anyone accusing them of that, but, obviously, I don't agree. It looks to me as though they're making a very good effort to help with mods and things in general, in fact. twisted: When do you think the bot will be ready to release? TheFatal: I have no idea, unfortunately. There's some stuff that's got to get done first, but once that's done the bot will be released in some way or another. twisted: How do you think the community will react after releasing it? TheFatal: My guess is that I'll get a lot of e-mail (good and bad, as always), but I thnk the response will be generally positive. I've done a pretty good job on the bot considering the time I've had to develop it. twisted: What personal qualities and abilities are important to being successful when making bots? TheFatal: I suppose most things can be learned over time, but other things are basically essential for any sort of programming at all. You need to be interested in it and find it fun, and you need a lot of patience. twisted: What part of this field of interest do you find most gratifying? TheFatal: That's actually hard to answer. I enjoy the programming, and I enjoy making the bot do intelligent things for the first time. It's also nice when I get praise from people, of course. There are many good things that come from it. I guess my favorite part, though, is probably whenever I complete a new impressive feature in a bot and get to play around with it. I love it when I'm beaten by my own creation, not because of accuracy or anything like that, but because of the way it plays. twisted: Out of all the bots you have created, which was the most difficult making? TheFatal: Probably the Jumbot. The hidebot is more complex, but the Jumbot was my first project which I had to learn a lot for. Much of my knowledge from that was carried over to the hidebot. twisted: Who inspires and supports you in your profession? TheFatal: As far as inspiration, I would have to say I was first inspired by Steven Polge due to his Reaper Bot, but I've actually never even talked to him before. There are lots of people who have inspired and supported me in my bot creation, including John Crickett, and even Raven's very own Keith Fuller. twisted: What do you think sets yourself above all the rest of the bot makers? TheFatal: I wouldn't say I'm really "above" many of them. I guess people mainly like my style of creating bots. I always try to make them as customisable as possible, and I try to use the best navigation system and such that I can come up with. I've been working on my current navigation system and tweaking it up and reusing it for years. I also tend to create bots for whichever game I really like at the moment, and it happens that's usually the same game a lot of other people like as well, so I often get more attention than I otherwise would. twisted: Do you plan on pursuing a career in the gaming industry? TheFatal: Oh, I do indeed. I've been wanting to work in the gaming industry for many years, and I eventually shall (I hope). [Back to the top]