1996

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Prey (2006).

Work on Prey would continue throughout 1996 with a constant stream of weekly updates and other news being released. However, by mid-August a few members of the team leave 3D Realms, causing the project to collapse. Paul Schuytema would be brought in by November restart the project with a new vision.

To do: Add descriptions for the weekly updates, summarising what they are about. Maybe resize the images in the galleries to better sizes. Still a fair bit more to add.

January 1996#

Concept art depicting a "Pharikus Hunter" is made on the 18th.

February 1996#

February 9th#

The very first of weekly updates for Prey is published. The update is mistakenly labeled as being in 1995. ²

Update:2/9/95 [sic] Work continues on the engine, editor, actor code, and levels. Pictured here is a scene from QuadRock, a level being built to test all the elements that will be in the game levels. Some of the team's time is being taken by support for Duke Nukem 3D (the Prey Team did the Setup program and sound routines).

3D Realms welcomes new artists Don Allie, Doug Wood, and David Demaret.

February 13th#

3D Realms would release more screenshots in a zip file.

February 16th#

Update: 2/16/96 Here's a shot from a Prey room called HexRoom2, which will be in a later section of Prey. Tom's worked this week on the Prey Bible, enemy design, and level specification, William worked on collision in the engine, and Jim's doing hundreds upon hundreds of routines for dealing with actor code. Mark's been fixing up stuff for Duke Nukem's controls, as well as making the optimum version of the fade table. The artists have been working on room visualizations and had some awesome ideas at a design meeting.

February 23rd#

Update: 2/23/96 Here's a picture from the test level QuadRock (which, if the truth be told, should be called "OctRock", since there are eight offshoots to rock in, but it's QuadRock because there are four ways off each of the two main rooms, and...oh, dear, I'm rambling. Still working on stuff. So close to net play it hurts. Really.

March 1996#

March 1st#

³

Update: 03/01/96 Howdy. Here's a room from "Lil' Rock", the amputated version of QuadRock, which was too big because William's BSPer took too much memory, or Tom got too "polygon-happy". Anyway, it awaits the player models, which Doug Wood animated. His animations look cool and we're going to try to put a lot of nice, smooth animation into Prey. Mark's skiing somewhere, and Jim's working on a Win95 version of the editor. William's birthday this weekend. H B, B!

March 8th#

Update: 03/08/96 Hey, there! This is a screenshot from the Wells test level, made for our first network test, which is going on as you read this, probably. Check out The Computer Man on The Learning Channel, 11:00am Central Sundays. Apogee, Duke, and Prey should be on there in a couple weeks! Work continues on textures, sketches and models, as the programmers furiously work on getting the game happening. Stay tuned! (Also look for a Prey feature in Titania Magazine on the Web: http://www.titania-pub.com.)

March 15th#

Update: 03/15/96 Here's a picture of the Core level, very early on, showing some cool stuff. Tom, Mark, Jim, and William are all slamming on the game in the same office now--must work speedily! Interesting things are afoot in various parts of the game. Network dudes are zipping around, and all sorts of fun are being had. The artists are working on the logo and main character, Prey of Earth.

March 22nd#

Update: 03/22/96 Here's another pic from Tom's "Core" level. Prey Deathmatch is underway, with kills, ammo, armor, and health. Tom drew some shabby texture maps for Mark to put in, as the artists are busy with the end of Duke. William is putting in fast but perfect visibility code, and Jim's working on player damage and physics and junk. Doug and David are working on textures and models, and Steve's working on textures in between Duke junk. Mark has one month to back out of this crazy marriage thing.

March 29th#

Update: 03/29/96 Here's a glimpse of the ArtTest4 level. It's a level intended for the artists to slap their new art into to see how it looks in various lighting and next to other related textures. Mark, Jim, Tom, and William are off to CGDC, the Computer Game Developers' Conference. The port of the editor to Windows 95 continues, as does the work on physics, the engine, and lots of other junk. There are exciting things afoot. Join us next week for the next exciting installment of "Preys of Our Lives"... (Sorry.)

April 1996#

April 5th#

A prank screenshot is published for April Fools, touting 258 frames per second.⁴

Update: 04/05/96 YES! That's right! Due to a bizarre use of an obscure opcode that even Carmack and Abrash don't know about, we are getting amazing frame rates, even on a 486! Wait until we take advantage of the FPU! It'll be amazing! Okay, what's wrong with this picture? Three things: 1) these aren't the final textures, as this is a level for the artists to make textures specifically for the Discipline of Might; 2) this is a level for the Discipline of Might, and there's a lot of Agility required in this room; and 3) we aren't getting 258 frames per second...yet. ;^) Well, April Fools' Day _was_ Monday.... We got back from the Computer Game Developers' Conference--no sleep, some good info, a lot of bad food, Duke everywhere, Spotlight Award for Duke, some neat gimme items, and mess of schmoozing. We are still recovering. Next week: will we see hi-res screen shots?

April 12th#

Update: 04/12/96 Here's what the start of the level design process looks like: the hallways and rooms are made, a couple lights thrown in, ordinary textures just to have something on the wall. Soon specific art will be drawn, some nice details around the doors, places set up for items, and so on. This is the center of an energy plant, with monitoring facility and routing station. What looks like some blue nothing will be flowing energy, and there will be cool stuff everywhere. Jim's getting the DOS editor working. William's enginizing, and Mark is making sure Duke works on TEN while working on code and stuff for the game models.

Plus Mark is a week away from wedded bliss--oh, the stress! William and Jim like Viewpoint and are going to check out Resident Evil on the PlayStation. Tom meet's his girlfriend Misti's parents this weekend (gulp!). The rest of the squad are all finishing up Duke. Duke is a bunch of fun, I tell ya! I got to this cool fusion reactor and...well, you just gotta play it yourself!

April 19th#

Update: 04/19/96 This is from the Energy Station level--there's lots of cool stuff in it, and it should be a blast as a multiplayer level. We're switching over to a new map paradigm, so Tom'll have to redo it, but it should be easy. Mark and Jim should be free of Duke stuff now, so it's full on-Prey now!

Mark and Marianna get married on Sunday. Good luck to them both. Jim and Tom were up late last night playing Duke. It is really fun to play, but gets SO tough! William has switched from tuna to egg whites as the protein in his pasta, protein, and flax oil meal regimen. Tom and Romero from id had lunch Thursday, and laughed a lot, as they are wont to do. Jim's getting close to having the DOS editor up, and soon after that will be the Win 95 version. Well, that's enough for this week. Also, thanks to Rob and Ray at LucasArts for the great bounty. Later!

April 26th#

Update: 04/26/96 More stuff from the "NRG" level. Please remember that this is a work in progress, so you can see how a level goes from architecture to finished coolness. Steve Hornback's getting new textures for the plasma core. Tom's cooked up a huge long list (which is almost finished) of all the textures for the level. Doug's working on some, too. William's got the new rendering stuff working, which should make the engine pretty speedy. Jim's continuing on the editor. In Billy Z's words, "That is the best DOS editor I have ever seen." Mark's finishing off about ten different things, which is also a pun if you're in the know.

Mark and Marianna are, in the local lingo, "hitched". A honeymoon awaits them after they uncoil from the tension of setting the whole thing up. William is visiting his friend Chip this weekend. Seven of the 3D Realmers went out Frisbee Golfing, Tom's favorite pastime. Scott Miller (bigwig) lost a disc to a recently rain-widened stream, as did Doug later in the course. Tom is considering taking a blowtorch to his MX-6 so he'll fit in it. No kidding.

May 1996#

May 3rd#

⁵

Update: 05/03/96 A few more textures and the core of the Energy Monitoring Station is looking better and better. Next up: an animated energy texture instead of this old blue one, a few improvements to these textures, then on to the reactor room, which is going to look texturrrrific!

We've been working with 3DFX for a cool Prey demo on their card for E3. It looks, in the special vocabulary of William, "rockful" and "TOO sad". Jim is working on the editor while Tom drools in anticipation, and works on cool names for stuff in the game. William is polishing some new stuff in the engine code, and Mark jumps between net stuff and 3DFX stuff. Steve and Doug are texture-men at this point. More Frisbee golf was played last weekend and Wednesday. A cool sport: eight bucks and you're in. Twenty-four and you're as equipped as the pros! E3 in two weeks. Guh-boy!

May 5th#

v1.3D of Duke Nukem 3D would be shipped to retailers, included on the CD was some screenshots of then-upcoming games from 3D Realms like Shadow Warrior, Blood and Prey. These have been taken from PREVIEW/PREY and all the files were last modified on April 19th, 1996.

In addition, a .txt file called PREYINFO.TXT is included, featuring a message from Tom Hall.

NOTE
Prey's story and character are still in their infancy stages.  None of this
should be considered final product, just development info. We want to take
the step, since the game is about being hunted, of making the character a
Native American.  The character will be a successful business person or
politician, striking against the stereotypes.  While a few aspects of Native
American culture will be brought into it, it will be as part of fleshing out
the character.

STORY
You are a successful Native American, fighting for part of what were your
ancestral lands.  When the ruling goes against you, you pack up your Hummer
and head out to the wilderness to contemplate your future and hope for
guidance.  Suddenly, there is a blinding flash of light, your skin crawls
with electricity and you black out. You wake to find yourself in a hostile
alien environment. Strange creatures pour out of every crevice of the odd
alien architecture, firing weapons of incredible might.  You must find out
how to defeat them: master the alien weapons, explore the foreboding
battlefields to uncover their secrets, and discover what part you will take
in this violent new world.

DEVELOPMENT CONTACT:
Tom Hall
Creative Director/Producer/Designer/etc.
Apogee / 3D Realms

Apogee Software
Attn: Tom Hall
3960 Broadway, Suite 235
Garland, TX  75043
(214) 271-1648

May 10th#

Update: 05/10/96 Here's a 640 x 480 hi-res screen shot from the Energy Monitoring Station. We're supporting the 3DFX card, and this is what it'll look like. It is so cool, we're having a hard time looking at the normal game now. Check out the card at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) in LA. You can actually walk around in Prey, and in hi-res it's a dream! (In a nutshell, we think the 3DFX card rocks.)

Tom's been spending days poring over books, looking for cool names for the character in Prey. Everyone's been throwing in suggestions, and we've been talking about the character's personality and background, too. Mark's been working on neat elegant network stuff, Jim's on the awesome "Preditor" and helping Mark, and William is doing insane incredible new engine stuff. Steve H. and Doug are whipping out some cool textures, some of which are in the screenshot. Ummm, and Doug and Tom can't recommend the movie "Twister". Three words: evil tornado chasers. Ooh.

May 17th#

Update: 05/17/96 This week's Prey development has been cancelled due to the fact that the Prey team is all off at E3 in Los Angeles, and there's no one here to give me an update. In the meantime, here is a very silly picture of Tom Hall, the Creative Director of Prey. :)

May 24th#

Update: 05/24/96 The reactor room is starting to shape up. A few more textures, some object definitions and this room would be ready to go. The engine revamping is almost complete, making it both flexible and powerful. As William polishes it off, Mark perfects the network and communication code, Jim bangs away at the editor, and Steve and Doug do the textures you see here. Work continues on coming up with amazing things for you to do in the game. It will be fun.

Jim's away this weekend for a friend's wedding in Atlanta. Tom and Mark both have a nasty cold--probably picked up from the plane ride to E3. Doug got his new girlfriend Lynn some flowers and went rollerblading. Steve's all excited about his new desk and chair for home. Tom's sore from dancing at E3. Don't ask Mark about "the black flies"--you don't want to know. Check out the live Developer Cam--it's pointed right at us! (Most of the time.)

May 31st#

Update: 05/31/96 Here's the Energy Monitoring Station control room. Doug and Steve are pumpin' out them textures, man! Mark and William are getting the new engine ever-closer, and Jim's slammin' out the editor code. Sketches continue flying out of Doug for the Prey dude. Tom's making up a bunch of different story arcs with strange situations and stuff.

Steve just got DSS (lucky stiff), Jim had a happy birthday balloon for a day (HBJ!), William slightly changed his workout habit, Doug's girlfriend went away for a bit, while Tom's is practicing Cosi Fan Tutte. Mark is setting up ketchup packets in front of the Developer Cam, and playing Karateka. He is up to "the bird".

June 1996#

June 7th#

⁶

Update: 06/07/96 Here's the Hangar bay, mostly textured. Pretty soon this level will be fully textured, and there may be a gap in pictures as the new editor wraps up. There may be a strange source of pictures soon--we'll leave this as a mystery until it happens. Doug and Steve did a good job on the textures. A little touchup here and there (and a few lights stuck in) and it will be good to go.

We are little bit crunched as the room where we stored stuff is filled up with Duke CDs to ship! Things are beginning to come together--a few weeks and these shots will get really interesting! More Frisbee golf this weekend. Doug, Mark (& Marianna), William, Jim, and Tom went to a place called the Lizard Lounge last Sunday. Let's say the crowd was "interesting": one woman's top was made of tape, one guy wore a full Scottish uniform, and one woman led her mate around by a dog collar. So, y'know--back there next week!

June 14th#

Update: 06/14/96 Here's a shot from the Auxiliary Control Room. Things are buzzing along. Mark's working with Jim on the actor/object code dealie, and William's finishing off the new engine. Steve and Doug continue on their fine textures for the Energy Monitoring plant.

Steve, Tom, Doug, and two other dudes went disc golfing in the totally unreasonable Dallas summer heat (it musta been 100, and incredible humidity). Tom chowed down with Mark, Marianna, and a friend (former Apogee employee, now TRI dude Joe Selinske). Mark and Marianna have a crezzy fish pond. Jim stayed up until noon Friday, I guess figuring that if he's going to have a rotated schedule, why not go for it? William is adjusting his workout schedule, from once every four days to once every seven. Soon, he may wait three months, then rip all his muscles off the bone, then let them heal for three months...

June 21st#

Update: 06/21/96 Here's a shot of a platform above the energy cell room. Waiting for the real energy cell graphics, and a few more specific textures. There's only one more room in the Energy Monitoring Station, and that's the fusion pool that you can barely see through the lower left doorway. Mark's working on our cool new data format, Jim has the new editor doing cool stuff, and William's so close to having the engine up in the new paradigm. Tom collated a big list of things he wants to do in levels, worked with Steve and Doug on NRG decoration, and worked on two test levels.

This week, Tom introduced his girlfriend to the World Wide Web, and hasn't see her since. Jim's out for a New Orleans weekend with friends Robert (our manual dude) and his wife Sheila. William eagerly anticipates June 28th (if ya knew him, you'd know why), and Mark just got an incredible deal on RAM--like two bucks a meg or something. (Okay, it wasn't _that_ good...) Steve got a new computer and Doug had a friend visit, experience a few catastrophes, and leave. Oh yeah, and Joe Siegler, the guy who does our Web site, and puts these updates online for y'all to see got engaged - he'll be married in October!

June 28th#

Update: 06/28/96 This is the dark access tunnel between the auxiliary control room and the energy cell room. This heavy door can be opened "elsewhere". The bottom of the plasma core emits a cool glow.

The "cold" is going around--it's hit Jim and many others. Steve has an upper respiratory infection. Doug had to stay home sick. Tom's family is visiting with colds and a horrible cough. It got up to 115 in Dallas last week (with the heat index). It's alternating rainy and sunny days here. Mark and Jim played Sniper (or Subspace) on the Internet. William is mumbling something about "ternary operators--I LOVE em!".

July 1996#

July 5th#

The update for the week of July 5th had been scrapped due to Independence Day celebrations, however 3D Realms did post about the film Independence Day and advised to go see it.⁷

Update: 07/05/96 (sort of) This week's update is cancelled due to the July 4th holiday. However, we did manage to do something over the holiday. That's see Independence Day. If you haven't seen it, you should go see it!

This update was later commented out on the webpage and in its place was a message saying the update had been scrapped.

The July 5th update of Prey did not happen due to the July 4th Holiday.

July 12th#

An update showing main characters face is published.

Update: 07/12/96 Here's the wireframe and phong-shaded model of the Prey character by Doug Wood. Of course, the character in the _game_ won't have this many faces, but it gives you a little insight into what the artists have to do to construct a character's model. If you'd like to see a much larger version of this file, click here. This file is somewhat large, it's 267k.

There's a pool party this weekend at Tom's. Mark and Jim are planning for their SIGGRAPH trip, and William is absorbed by Dream Team basketball. Doug wants to play Super Bomberman 2. Steve's kids just visited and had a great time. Mark and Jim bought a bunch of cool classic arcade games (Heavy Barrel, Dig Dug, and a number of others).

July 19th#

A moratorium is put in place for new screenshots as the team was moving into a new engine. This would end up being the last update posted on the website.

Update: 07/19/96 This just in: Ladies and gentlemen, the Prey Team has been ordered by a top secret organization to have a news blackout until they finish top secret work for an unnamed party. More news as it breaks in this amazing story of human perserverance, mind-boggling ingenuity, and hot intrigue...

(Well, actually, we're really busy moving to the new engine, so we're putting a moratorium on new pictures until we have something mind-blowingly rockful, or as William says, "rock-fuel". See you then.)

August 1996#

August 1st#

Gamecenter publishes an interview with Tom Hall.⁸

GAMECENTER: I've read that the human character in Prey is still in development. Can you tell us which decisions have been made so far?

Tom Hall: He's a Native American. His job: a special investigator of strange phenomena. While investigating one of these phenomena, he's teleported to an alien planet. He's captured and thrown into an arena with a gigantic alien warrior. If he survives the battle and escapes, he must find his way back home. To do that, he's going to have to be tough and resourceful.

GAMECENTER: Are there any more details available about the story line?

T. H.: The arena concept is from the early stages of Prey's development. The story starts this way; then events in the story bring about other reasons that everyone else is hunting him. But his main desire is to make it home in one piece.

GAMECENTER: How would you, as Prey's creative director, describe the feel of the game?

T. H.: The overall tone of the game will be alien and technological. It will be very alive and dynamic, with large things moving in rooms, the ability to control and change things with real effects in your environment, the ability to pilot small ships and platforms. You can mess around in the Prey environment with consequences and purpose.

GAMECENTER: How many alien opponents will there be to choose from, and what are they like? Can the player alter the aliens?

T. H.: This is unknown at this time, but each [alien] will have one special ability that makes them stand out from each other. In terms of who you control, you might be limited to creatures that can use the weapons you do, or, as a novelty, we could leave it open. Most matches will likely consist of player characters, though, as this is a more equal test of skills. Of course, everything in the game should be alterable. There should be an ability to compile scripts, link in code, or even interpret code compiled to assembly.

(Continuing on the next webpage.)

GAMECENTER: There is a relationship between each alien's race and their skill levels. What ability is the human known for? Will players be able to acquire and develop skills, depending on which character they choose? What kind of advantages will they be able to gain?

T. H.: This isn't [a role-playing game]--the human protagonist is the focus of Prey. Playing as aliens will be a novelty in deathmatch. It is always better in action games to have the advantages be the literal skill improvements of the real-life player. In other words, the more you play, the better shot you become. Or the easier it is to evade enemy fire. Of course, you'll get new items to play with, and the action and puzzles will get more difficult as you go on, but by the time you get to them you should be able to handle them. There's more pure accomplishment for players this way. Their success isn't the luck of the dice--they did it themselves.

Not that I don't like RPGs--they're cool. Prey just isn't one, that's all.

GAMECENTER: Is the main character's biosuit still part of the game?

T. H.: The biosuit is an idea from the early stages of Prey's development. We've been open about our concepts, just because when we were getting into the industry, we loved to hear about how other people develop games. We're still sharing our process--that's why everyone knows about the biosuit. The big problem with the biosuit, although it is cool, is that it totally obscures the character, who is the real focus of the game. So the hero now wears two wrist bracers: one that shields him, and one that's a universal translator. Everyone will use the same weapons system, except for those creatures that have built-in weapons. Say a snake spits as you. You can't expect to kill it and use its venom glands or whatever. (Actually, you kind of do that in our other game, Shadow Warrior, but...)

(Continuing on the next webpage.)

GAMECENTER: It has been reported that due to Prey's advanced graphics technology fewer monsters will exist on each level. How will that affect gameplay?

T. H.: There are going to be plenty of monsters.

GAMECENTER: Will it be possible to have a straight slugfest and still come out the victor, or will we have to get used to planning more tactical attacks?

T. H.: All sorts of tactics will be necessary to defeat your foes. You won't be able to simply wade into every battle. You'll be using your wits quite a bit.

GAMECENTER: How many levels will Prey have?

T. H.: That will depend on development, but there will be more than enough to really enjoy the game.

GAMECENTER: What kind of weapons will be in Prey?

T. H.: The weapons are going to be very interesting. I'd rather not go into specifics--sorry--but they will all be very impressive visually and will take weapons beyond what you're used to. Heh heh...

GAMECENTER: Strategy seems to be key to victory. What other items in the world besides the much-talked-about ropes, weapons, and opponents will be interactive?

T. H.: Ropes, again, may or may not be in there. We can do them, but their physics--unless you use unrealistic swinging ropes--doesn't actually lend itself to getting places fast, especially in deathmatch. Gee, you wouldn't be too vulnerable hanging up in the air on a rope, would you now?

But virtually everything in the game will be interactive. There won't just be a graphic of a computer over there. It will be a real computer; you can go up to it, read its monitor, and use it to control the environment or gain information. If you see a spaceship, you can get in it and pilot it. The interactivity is going to be wonderful. People will probably just sit around levels and fiddle with things at first.

GAMECENTER: What sets the Prey engine apart?

:T. H.: We are making an engine that is truly dynamic. Things will move on a scale you haven't seen before. And lights are used impressively. Plus, there are ways to use the full six degrees of freedom that will be both fun and nauseating.

(Continuing on the next webpage.)

GAMECENTER: We've all heard about the lava glow and the shadows. What else can you tell us about the lighting in the game? How do you achieve these effects?

T. H.: We'll have dynamic lights, fuzzy shadows, and other lighting effects to really give Prey's environment a sense of realism. The effects are programmed by William Scarboro, who has a grand affinity for cool-looking stuff. The levels will have precomputed lighting, and dynamic lights will be all over. You'll even have dynamic lighting in the editor, so you'll have a decent idea of what things will look like as you edit. Jim Dose's DOS/Windows 95 editor destroys all editors I've used before.

GAMECENTER: The final version of Quake has been released. After seeing it, what do you feel will be the gaming features that take Prey a step beyond? Quake has been hailed as "true 3D." How will Prey's 3D be different?

T. H.: Quake is awesome, with fast technology, impressive art, cool architecture, and awesome control. What it lacks is content. It is just bare experience--the amazingness of being in a fast six-degrees-of-freedom environment. Our game will have real places that function like you'd think they would, and your actions will have logical consequences. And what you're doing will have a purpose. It is much more enriching to do something with a point than to "get key X, get key Y, and get to door Z" at every level. You'll be an everyday guy thrown into extreme circumstances, using both your physical and mental abilities to get out of the situation. You'll know what you have to do and where you have to go. And you'll get a real reward for getting there.

Apart from slightly different approaches to the technology, how can real six-degrees-of-freedom 3D be so different? So we have some more flashing lights. So Quake has particles. What is important is the gameplay, the experience, the revelation of the new, and the reward for a job well done. We'll have bells and whistles, but we're not really a bells-and-whistles company. We don't want you to go "Wow!" and stumble around some hallways. We want you to say, "Whoa! How can I accomplish my goal? This device probably works like the way I've learned that similar things do...Maybe this will work. No way--cool!"

We don't want to sell you empty experience. We want to run you through the wringer, make you think on your feet, and finally prove to yourself that you were actually good enough to make it. It's sort of like life--if you don't have a personal reason for what you're doing, why are you doing it? Life shouldn't be just a series of paychecks; and games, now that they've grown up, shouldn't be just a series of rooms.

August 12th#

On Black Monday, several members of the Prey team leave 3D Realms. Mark Dochtermann and Jim Dose left to join Hipnotic Software (later known as Ritual Entertainment). Duke Nukem 3D's Richard "Levelord" Gray also left to join Hipnotic as well.

Perhaps the biggest of them, Tom Hall would resign to join John Romero at his new studio Dream Design (later known as Ion Storm). John Carmack of id Software updates his .plan file with the following:

Aug 12:

Apogee's Prey team (and Duke's Levelord) leave 3drealms to work with Quake technology as Hipnotic Interactive.

:-)

August 13th#

>> John Carmack's Finger info: Aug 12:

Apogee's Prey team (and Duke's Levelord) leave 3drealms to work with Quake technology as Hipnotic Interactive. :-) >>

3D Realms' response:

Correct, but a little misleading. The entire team did not leave. Far from it. What happened was two programmers left the project, leaving the main engine programmer, William Scarboro working on the engine. We see little setback, and will begin interviews immediately for the two open spots. (Tools programmer/Editor and Net code/general game programmer). We expect this will only be a little 'speed bump' in Prey's development. Nothing to worry about at all.

Richard Gray/Levelord left to join them also, but we will simply bring on a new mapper from the net as soon as we find someone who builds really promising Duke maps. We are looking for people with Build experience and a love of gaming.

The REST of the Prey team is still here and will stay. This includes musicians, several artists and other map designers.

To sum it up: Prey has had a minor setback; new people will be brought on board at once to fill the new spots; The engine technology is solid and intact; Prey lives and you can expect it in late 1997, according to original plan, or "when it's done" :)

The only reason for this finger is to avoid the mass amounts of disinformation that will be filling the net by now. This finger will be updated as new developments occur.

From American McGee @ id Software: >> Here's what tokay (American McGee) said on #quake earlier today:

Prey is not going to happen. <<

Uh.. Yes it is. :D

--George Broussard, Pres., 3D Realms

August 15th#

Stephen "Blue" Heaslip of Blue's News sends John Romero an email asking about the Tom Hall rumour, in which Romero respond back.⁹

Not a rumor. Completely true. Tom Hall tendered his resignation on Black Monday (this last Monday) at the same time the Prey team tendered theirs. Tom is now a Game Designer at Dream Design.

More to come! :)

August 16th#

George Broussard updates his .plan confirming that Tom Hall has left.^{Missing Source}

Aug. 16, 1996

More Prey news for you all. Tom Hall has left to join John Romero's startup company. We wish Tom well and his leaving was very pleasant, and a little expected as he and John have been friends for a long time. I will continue to be Executive Producer on Prey as I was with Duke 3D and will likely bring in someone new as Asst. Producer to help guide the project and relieve the workload. Again, we know how this looks to the outside world, but rest assured that we aren't panicking at all here. These folks will be missed, but the bulk of the Prey team is here, more motivated than ever and things will go on.

[From Tim Willits finger info. (willits@idsoftware.com)]

>>Discussed game ideas with the Ex-Prey team guys. Their level pack will be cool.

>>Discussed game ideas with Rogue Entertainment. Their level pack will be cool.

>>Discussed game ideas with Quake 2 design team. Our levels will be cooler!

Yes, you can see from the above that the ex-Prey guys have selected a Quake level pack as their first startup project. Interesting. We wish them luck.

--George Broussard, President, 3D Realms Entertainment

August 20th(?)#

Scott Miller partakes in an interview with PCME, this interview appears to have become lost but a key quote from the article did survive.

Two months ago we had a re-evaluation meeting and concluded that Prey would be a 1998 game

August 25th(?)#

An interview with Broussard (and a brief comment by Scarboro) is published on Gamespot.¹⁰

GameSpot: Did the personnel movement catch you off guard?

George Broussard: We're not going to comment much on this except to say, that yes, we were caught by surprise, but we don't expect a big delay in Prey's development.

GameSpot: Was there a particular event that triggered the moves? Were they in any way related to each other?

George Broussard: As to events that led to people leaving, you will have to ask them. I hear they are doing a Quake level pack for their first project.

GameSpot: What do you think about these new companies sprouting up around the concept of licensing Quake technology?

George Broussard: I think it's a great idea for some companies that are either unable, or unwilling to invest the time it takes to create their own engines. This option gives them a head start. We've licensed our build engine seen in Duke Nukem 3D several times and have a few more licenses coming. We see engine licensing as a viable revenue stream in the future and have shaped our business around it. There will always be lots of people in line to license a great 3-D gaming engine. GameSpot: Is Quake as good as graphic engines need to get?

George Broussard: The Quake engine is the best one out there right now, but it certainly can be expanded upon a great deal.

GameSpot: What are the key differences between it and the Prey engine?

George Broussard: As far as gameplay goes, I think Prey will go considerably farther than Quake did, a lot like Duke 3D did to Doom. This isn't to say anything bad about Quake, but we want Prey to have a very dynamic environment with lots of interaction.

GameSpot: Such as?

George Broussard: We envision things like hopping into a shuttle craft and flying around a ship in space knocking out turrets, then landing in a hangar and continuing your adventure on foot. This is all pretty easy to do with the engine and unlike Duke 3D, the shuttle won't just slide back and forth across the level. You will literally be flying as in Decent, going anywhere you want to. This in addition to creating real world settings and objects to interact with will set Prey apart from others. Not to mention the very, very dark Sci-Fi theme complete with blood and guts and super high-tech weaponry.

William Scarboro: The Prey engine doesn't use a BSP tree for its hidden surface removal, so Prey levels won't be static. You can have everything moving everywhere. The Prey engine is a room-based portal engine, which means the level editor designs each level one room at a time and then defines the portals through which you can see out of the room. GameSpot: A lot of players thought Quake's graphics were disappointing - partially because expectations were so high, partially because it took so long to be released and other great looking titles, such as Duke, came out in the interim. Prey is now slated for late '97 release. Is this long development cycle a concern? Is it possible to spend literally two years developing an engine and still have it be state of the art?

George Broussard: The Prey engine will be state of the art when the game comes out. We are always enhancing it. The base engine has been done for awhile, but we keep going back to it, and adding things like dynamic lighting, and that pushes the game design a little farther. You may work on the game for two years, but the base engine usually settles down [after] around 75 percent of game completion and isn't touched much more, except for optimizations in speed.

October 1996#

October 6th#

Gamespot publishes an interview with Tom Hall, where he discusses Prey.¹¹

GameSpot: Cutting straight to the chase, why are you leaving Apogee?

Tom Hall: We have different design goals. I want to make fun, positive games with tons of cool characters and design innovations. Apogee is more about blood-spilling, over-the-top-offensive action games that stick close to the tried-and-true formulas. Which is fine--just not what I want to do. We parted amicably. Now they can make their games and I can finally make mine.

GameSpot: How do you think the personnel changes at Apogee/3D Realms will affect the development of Prey?

Tom Hall: It will be delayed until 1998 for sure now. If they do the game I laid out when I left, it will be pretty cool. I left a really cool story and laid out levels. Plus there's tons of enemy and weapon ideas there. I just hope someone competent finishes the project.

GameSpot: Can you comment on the Prey engine vs. the Quake engine, since you're leaving one to work with another?

Tom Hall: The Prey engine wasn't done when I left, but it was turning out pretty cool. Quake is a little prettier. Our editor was a lot faster. Their engine was a lot faster. Our paradigm allowed a much more dynamic environment. We'll see what happens. We're looking at all possibilities for licensing engines, not just Quake.

GameSpot: Does the first person shooter genre have much life left? What new elements do you hope to bring to the genre?

Tom Hall:Sure, (sic) if new elements are added. The monster-filled mazes are getting tiresome, so companies really need to have content now. To make what you're doing matter to the player. Key-door-key-door-switch doesn't cut it anymore. We will use the technology for new, innovative kinds of games.

October 16th(?)#

Gameslice conducts an interview with George Broussard and Scott Miller where Prey is mentioned.¹²

GSW: id said that Hipnotic Interactive, the team that is currently creating a Quake add-on pack, is comprised of the best developers "3D Realms had," who left your company in August. Were these developers the cream of the crop at 3D Realms?

George: I have to laugh at the statement that they were the "best talent". . What a joke. The Duke team produced the biggest 3D game of 1996, so I'd have to say they are in the running for the "best." The guys that left were talented, but easily replaced. We've already hired two new mappers and a new Prey producer. We have several hot technology programmers coming in for interviews over the next few weeks as well. All in all, we're a lot more happy now, and the rest of the company is more happy, without the "boat rockers."

October 21st#

3D Realms announces that Paul Schuytema will be the new lead of Prey.¹³

3D REALMS SNAGS MECHWARRIOR 3'S LEAD DESIGNER TO BE PROJECT LEADER FOR PREY

GARLAND, TEXAS--Oct. 21, 1996--3D Realms Entertainment, developers of 1996's top selling retail PC game, Duke Nukem 3D, today announced it has hired Paul Schuytema to head up the eagerly anticipated 3D action game, currently titled "Prey".

Paul Schuytema will be joining 3D Realms in early November, coming from FASA Interactive Technologies, where he was the lead designer for MechWarrior 3.

Prior to that, Schuytema lead a "dual life," serving as a college professor half-time and working in the computer game industry half-time. As a professor, Schuytema taught creative writing, science fiction world building, 3D animation and interactive authoring. In the game industry, Schuytema divided his time between being the contributing editor for game design for Computer Gaming World magazine and being a free lance [sic] game design consultant.

Schuytema's educational background includes a technical degree in computer electronics and programming as well as a master of fine arts [sic] degree in science fiction writing from the University of North Carolina.

"I couldn't be more excited about joining the Prey team. I took one look at the Prey engine, and knew immediately that Prey was going to be a force to reckoned with," boasts Schuytema. "I think that Prey was the only project in the industry that could have pulled me away from MechWarrior 3, plus 3D Realms' reputation as a game company is impeccable. It's going to be an awesome opportunity to blend my storytelling ability into their formula for incredible game play. We're going to take Prey over the top."

3D Realms President George Broussard commented: "We're totally stoked to have Paul joining us. He shares the same gritty sci-fi vision that we have for Prey, and isn't afraid to get a little blood and guts on his hands. We think his background in science fiction will help shape Prey into something unique and he's also a die hard gamer who knows how to play games, as well as what most people want from a game. Having Paul join Prey is like winning the lotto."

Prey is one of the most eagerly awaited 3D action titles due out, and features a true 3D engine with polygon characters, network, modem and internet play. Beyond this the game has a dark sci-fi theme, that will pull no punches with it's action and content.

Headquartered in Garland, Texas, 3D Realms Entertainment (www.3drealms.com) is a division of Apogee Software, Ltd., a leading action game developer and publisher.

November 1996#

By Early November, Schuytema begins working at 3D Realms where he restarts development of Prey with a new vision.

At some point in the month, Joe Siegler posts a notice on the update section of the website about Prey, generally explaining the lack of updates.¹⁴

We realize that this hasn't been updated in awhile [sic]. Some of the reasons for this are:

• The fact that we scrapped most of the work we had done to recode in a much better engine.
• The departure of Tom Hall and two of the game's programmers
• There wasn't much new to report.

Now that we've got a new producer (see press release on main Prey page), we expect things to get rolling in high gear again shortly. Once the new producer gets inhouse, and we get settled in again, the updates will start again. We're sorry for the delay.. [sic]
--- Joe Siegler
Apogee Software

December 1996#

December 27th#

Broussard answered some questions in the #Duke3D IRC channel.

<[vince]> George: you guys making Prey win95? or going down that dead-end street known as DOS? We are 100% Win95 now, after Shadow Warrior and blood
Prey is all Win95

George, since the 3dfx chipset sounds like it's gonna be the thing, will Prey support 3dfx completely?
Sure, that's been planned since we first got the card...

george, how's the mechwarrior guy doing with prey?
Cookie: Great...

<[vince]> George: you guys getting geared up for prey now? seems like shadow warrior is almost done, are you getting ready for serious Prey work?
Vince: Prey is all business now. People are working on it every day.

References#

To do: Incorporate/reference this information below into article.

• https://www.matero.net/games/prey/about/news/96news.html
• Previews from various sites.
  • Mirror of Titania Magazine preview and interview.
    • Another mirror of Titania Magazine article (without interview)
  • PC Gamer
  • Gamesdomain
• https://www.bluesnews.com/archives/august96.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/19970606052334/http://www.next-generation.com/news/081496b.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/19970205062900/http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,80,00.html
• https://www.bluesnews.com/s/224181/scott-miller-speaks
• BLAST FROM THE PAST - Preyweb, August 24th 1998
• Some IRC logs from 1996.
• Info from Broussard from Lon Matero's Prey FAQ.

By March 1996 we had a character on the screen moving around, elementary net play with frag bar, items to pick up, and things were looking good. But we still weren't happy with the engine yet, even though we had 3Dfx support in and working. The lighting just wasn't quite right.

William Scarboro (engine programmer) kept tweaking things and about mid year, we all decided to roll the dice again and support hardware acceleration only. It was a bold decision, but we felt the timing was right and it was the only way we could get some of the cool features we wanted in the game. We wanted to be cutting edge. So William went back and rewrote the engine again, this time specifically for hardware (3Dfx first). At the same time he was re-writing "Preditor", our in-house editor for Prey.

Things picked up fast from there. William got the new engine running under 3Dfx with 16 bit art and colored lighting, and we hired more people on. Scott McCabe and Allen Dilling came on for art and Tom Pytel came here to code everything William couldn't. The game was also being converted to Windows 95/98 during this time.

• 1996 concept art