HGL - HGL Fan Interview III : FPS / MMORPG / RTS Discussion

Happy new year, all! Kicking off the start of Hellgate: London news in 2008, here's the third installment of the interview series featuring the Halloween contest's grand prize winners. This time it's Nick Choate's turn. Nick turned his skill with the blade into the prize-winning jack-o-lantern seen below.



Mild-mannered pumpkin by day, seriously ill jack-o-lantern by night.


***CONTEST ENTRY***


What inspired you to create your submission?


Inspiration...uhh...nothing really, the idea kinda just popped in my head when i saw the box art for the game (the Davy Jones reject)


What did you use to create it?


Pumpkin, Photosho..I mean...lots of hard work, and an Exacto knife. I did use Photoshop to trace an outline of the pictures, then transferred it onto the pumpkin.


How long did it take to complete your submission?


22 hours give or take an hour.


Have you ever won grand prize in a contest before?


Hmm (thinks real hard to the old days) no. Broke my grand prize winner cherry


Do you use this talent professionally or as a hobby?


Hobby, I don't have the patience to do something like this every day.


How rigorous was your pumpkin selection process?


I went through about 50-60 pumpkins before I found one I liked, nice, round, smooth, with few imperfections.



Nick is modeling our lovely "HELL" t-shirt. Pay no heed to the blood splatter.


***GAME/COMMUNITY HISTORY***


When did you first hear about Hellgate: London?


I think it was E3 of this year.


When did you first get involved in the Hellgate: London community?


About one to two weeks before the contest deadline.


Which faction/class do you prefer playing?


I've only tried the Marksman and Summoner so far. The Marksman is my single player character and Summoner is my multiplayer character. I like the Summoner, I can clear out a room pretty fast with my army. In Diablo 2, my favorite class was Necromancer, so Summoner is a nice choice for me.


Name: Nicolaius
Class: Summoner
I have brown hair, brown eyes, 75% height, 50% muscle, I like long walks on the beach and oh yeah, I enjoy melting demons in my spare time...I'm going to London.


How long have you been playing online games?


Uhh...when did online gaming first seriously start? Not sure...I think my first online game was either Counter-Strike or Unreal Tournament Alpha or it could've been Command & Conquer or Total Annihilation...oh no wait I think I remember, it was Warcraft. Whatever one of those came out first. I do know my first RPG was Diablo.



Note the demonic runes from the Hellgate: London logo drawn in Sharpie!


***GAME THOUGHTS***


Which achievement would you like to see in the game?


I wouldn't mind being able to unlock or win some of those dye kits I saw on the pre-order sites.


What's your favorite feature of the game? What would you like to see?


My favorite feature would be the upgrade system, it's nice to be able to keep a certain weapon longer than finding something newer to switch to. I would like to see improvement in the NPCs though; I would like full audio dialogue and smoother NPC movement.


***BONUS!***


Has the character creation screen gem brought you good fortune and health?


Gem? What gem? I never received any gem! *pulls out his gun* YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE THIS "GEM" IS OR I'M GONNA HAVE TO CAP SOMEONE!


Do you believe in the cow level?


Oh no...you made more cows? Not the cows, anything but the cows...I'm still having nightmares about cow tippings gone wrong...I tip, they don't fall...they don't fall...why don't they fall...WHY GOD! WHY DON'T THEY FALL!!! Oh and then they stand up, pull a flaming pitchfork out of thin air, and chase me till I wake up.


What was the name of Flagship Studios' recently-deceased hamster?


Uhh...Zardon? Rumpelstiltskin! Rosie O'Donnell? The incredibly talented Mr. Zippy? ...I have no idea...I named my dog "Snafu".


What does the name "Zardon" bring to mind?


Zardon, hmm? Made two things come to mind: I pictured Zordon, a character from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers...wow that's an OLD memory, and then I pictured the scene form Dude Where's My Car with the space/alien weirdos who were wearing bubble wrap and they were doing their "Z" hand symbol thing calling the guys name "Zolcrats" or whatever it was...another old memory...


http://www.hellgatelondon.com/undergrou ... erview-iii