An interview with Mike (CHAOS) Werckle by Bakshra.

Bakshra: For those who don't know, who are you and what did you do on HeXen II?

CHAOS: I am CHAOS, and I make the monsters GO.


Bakshra: Where did you grow up, and what lead you to become a 3d modeler/animator?

CHAOS: I grew up in Rockford, Illinois. I wanted to be an actor, so, after high school, I went to California Institute of the Arts for acting. After two years I realized that I sucked, so I switched over to the Character Animation department in the Film School at CalArts. After one semester I realized that I sucked. So I started skipping my life drawing class to go into the computer lab where I diddled around and made a few goofy animations with Deluxe Paint on the Amiga. I was just having fun, but my stuff caught the eye of John Lasseter, a former CalArtian and Pixar Director, who was looking for new talent for an upcoming feature (Something about "toys"). I thought I sucked, and I really didn't want to be an animator anyway, so I sort of blew it off (doh!).

I lived a strange life after college, bouncing back and forth several times between Rockford and LA. I worked with Alzheimer's patients in a retirement home, I did telephone surveys in Hollywood, I started my own theater company, and I even worked as an usher in a movie theater. Everything but what I wanted to do. And what did I want to do? Well... I sort of wanted...uh...to be...uh...a stage actor/ movie director/ novel writer/ kid's book illustrator/ opera singer /drag queen/ I dunno...sort of...whatever. I knew one thing: I was sick of living with the folks. So I answered an ad for "video game artist" in the Chicago Tribune. I was working at Viacom New Media within two weeks. I learned 3D Studio over the summer and then, seeing that I had a knack for 3D, Viacom trained me in Softimage that fall. While I was there I played Heretic (Raven who?) and found my new favorite game. After two years of doing sucky art for crappy game titles like "SNES Guts," and "Beavis and Butt-Head," and "Indian in the Cupboard," I ended up at Raven animating creatures for Hexen2.

I can hardly believe it! I finally got to work on a game that I knew I would enjoy playing. And looking back on my work in Hexen2, I understood what John Lasseter had seen in me all those years before-I had the knack for making things GO.

I dunno. It just seems like I fell into it. The bottom line is that I'm animating so I can make some cash so I don't have to live with the folks while I figure out what the hell I want to do with my life. Don't worry, though, I've totally given up on that whole drag queen thing.


Bakshra: How long did it take you to animate an "average" model?

CHAOS: Two weeks per monster was my average. That includes the Four Riders of the Apocalypse, which were like three regular monsters in one (they bumped my average up). I have learned some new techniques with Softimage that will help me decrease my average to about one week per character for the next game. With Hexen2, Brian Shubat and I were the only ones who knew Softimage, so the work sort of bottlenecked when it got to us. We have a lot more Soft animators on staff now, so, hopefully, it will free me up to do more modeling.


Bakshra: What was the reson behind starting that Eidolon is a giant snail hoax?

CHAOS: How many times do I have to tell you people?!?!?!? It's REAL!!! It's NOT A GODDAMN HOAX!!!!! Play the game and find out! If you didn't get Escargolon at the end, THEN YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED GAME CORRECTLY!!!!


Bakshra: What was the funnest part of being on the HeXen II team for you?

CHAOS: Working with the Hexen2 team was mostly great. Brian Raffel was a great leader who gave me a huge amount of freedom within his vision.

I really enjoyed working with John Carmack's engine and bringing the creatures to life in it. I can not be grateful enough to be working (albeit indirectly) with the master of modern gaming.

It was inspirational the first time we saw the imp (our first creature) flying around in the world. Just about everybody worked on the imp: Shane made the complex model and the skin, Brian Pelletier modeled him, I animated him, and even Brian Raffel and Kim Lathrop did some tweaking on the skin. We all gathered around Bob's "Love Corner" and cheered when we saw those wings flapping for the first time. That was the day I knew I was going to be a part of Raven for a long time to come.

Other than that, cooking up the Snail Hoax was pretty fun. I thought that we had released too many screenshots of the game and of the monsters, and that it was spoiling the game for many would be players. So as a joke, I told someone, who was pondering Eidolon's look, that he was a giant red snail, with three green eyes. I just wanted to cook up something that people would think was the LAMEST boss ever. And from there, it went over like wildfire. I can't believe any one actually bought it! Then I made the model and "leaked" pictures of him to the net. People were debating the issue all over on the IRC channels. And it had exactly the effect that I anticipated. It kept people talking about the game, and it helped reinstate a sense of mystery as to what the ending would really be like. I didn't want people to play the game and say "oh, yeah. I saw that in the screenshot," at every turn. I wanted people to be surprised.


Bakshra: Do you feel all the sleep-less hours put into HeXen II paid off in the end? (I sure do ;)

CHAOS: Yes and No.

The game is really good, but it should be a lot better. Take, for instance, a finely crafted dining room table: You can have the best wood and the most expensive nails and the finest varnish. But if you don't have a blueprint, then all you'll end up with is a pile of the best wood, nails and varnish that money can buy. And that is what Hexen2 is: a pile of the best tiles, monsters, weapons and levels that money can buy all rammed together into a game. But little thought was given to how all that stuff fit together to create an engaging, interesting and exciting Player's Experience. I don't think anyone even thought about the puzzles until a couple of months before the game shipped.

Raven has some of the finest craftsmen in the industry. When they realize the importance of the Player's Experience, and when they decide to artistically shape and hone that experience, then I think they will be unstoppable.


Bakshra: What's your all time favorite computer game?

CHAOS: Prince of Persia. Jordan Mechner understands that the Players Experience IS the story, in a game.


Bakshra: What kind of car do you drive? (hehe, I just had to ask :)

CHAOS: I want to take this opportunity to dispel a myth. We are not phenomenally rich here at Raven (except for Brian , Steve and Activision). Unlike the guys at id or 3D Realms, we do not see any of the money that our games make, even though we work just as hard. We are straight salary earners here, just a bunch of normal guys driving a bunch of junky old cars. I don't even own a house, I rent a two bedroom apartment and walk to work. My only furniture is stuff that my family has handed down to me, like my Uncle Chubby's couch, vintage 1975. If I could afford a fancy car, I might get some sort of a sport/utility vehicle-they go really well in the snow up here. To answer your question, I drive a used 1988 Ford Bronco II that cost me about 4 grand.

I would like to thank Mr. Werckle for taking time out of his busy day to answer all my questions, he's one great guy :)

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