Dave Flamburis (Demiurge Studios) Interview

AvPGalaxy – How difficult would it have been to include facehuggers, chestbursters, and power loaders from the single player campaign into Bug Hunt? A lot of people are hoping these elements can either be patched in or introduced in new maps somehow! 

Dave Flamburis: I don’t think I would have had the strength to support anything but what we gave. We were a real tiny, but scrappy team. In the end, we were exhausted… and then I went right to the Movie Pack DLC.

In terms of gameplay, I instantly defer to Demiurge. These guys nailed everything and I don’t think I will ever work with such impassioned and fine-tuned designers and engineers, ever. We were like a bunch of ninjas and acrobats at the same time.

I often use a quote when talking about future game development: “5 top performers can out-develop a team of twenty, hands-down, any day.” This is a direct result of my experience working at Demiurge. We were able to hone our skills and no one held us back. That’s not only pretty cool, but pretty rare. It gave me the confidence I needed when I set out on my own. So yeah, I’d lob this one over to Josh for his input. The guy’s got some serious and well-rounded design chops.

From a technical standpoint? I’m sure there would have been ways to accommodate all, but there’s only so much we could do. I love the facehuggers. They’re great popcorn enemies, but they’re also a HUGE part of the canon. More so than the Queen, IMO. But, having a QUEEN fight in something like the Atmosphere Processor? Oh, man… another dream come true in the making right there.

That’s kinda my personal style. I love the “recreation” portion. It really lets the fans create their own experience. That’s what it’s all about for me. Same with NASCAR, same with ALIENS. It’s a “build it and they will come” mind-set. To that I add: “And do it with veracity and passion!”

AvPGalaxy – Many fans particularly enjoy the “Processor” map and wish it was big enough to be a full-blown, movie-accurate Bug Hunt map, with a Queen boss fight during wave 30. Is this something that was ever considered and, if fans make enough noise, is this still something that can be made a reality? 

Dave Flamburis: I WOULD LOVE a full-blown, Tribute-style Processor BH map… lem’me at it!

In terms of building content and creating engrossing experiences, it’s very simple and straightforward. The hard part is all the stakeholders in this unbelievably amazing franchise, and the business end.  My attitude’s always been to use the Golden Rule. Everyone’s cool in this industry. Being pro and acting pro usually returns pro results. On the other side is the fan-base. It’s super-passionate and ready for more. Getting the two sides together is key.

Again, it’s like NASCAR. We had so many serious users and we were dealing with hundreds of serious clients (Track organizations, sponsors, track owners, drivers, teams, team owners, manufacturers, sanctioning bodies, and on and on). But there was this great trust between us (clients, users, licensing, TV, marketing, PR, development, developer relations) that everything worked. And, we were doing this while EA Sports was chipping away at us.

To this day we all pretty much still keep in touch. To this day there’s still business being done. So I feel; heck, why not something like that for this franchise? When you’ve worked within a multi-tiered playing field like NASCAR and licensed motorsports simulations everything else seems more doable than not.

Another way of thinking about it is, there’s more than enough room for everyone. There’s were very few crossover players between Papyrus and EA Sports, but both did really well and in the end it’s the veracity-based route that ultimately resonates in folks’ memories. That last part is particularly important for me.

AvPGalaxy – What would YOU like to see in Bug Hunt? 

Dave Flamburis: A full-bore, no-holds-barred, triple-sized , Bug Hunt Processor map ripped right from the film, just as the fans would want. And a then a million other things…

AvPGalaxy – What parting message would you like to share with the fans that are supporting the petition for more Bug Hunt content? 

Dave Flamburis: Without passionate fans and player-advocates like you, Melissa, there is no market. This is why we do what we do and, more important, who we do it for. It’s a win win. When you think about it, passionate players and passionate developers are one and the same. We’re all parts of the same game. Same goes for working with Gearbox. They really trusted us and never stopped our momentum. That’s even more rare. I learned so much from them over the years. They’re super altruistic. More so than folks give them credit for, you know? Probably the best partnership experience I’ve had since NASCAR, and that’s saying something.

AvPGalaxy -Thank you so much for your time Dave, and for answering some of our fan questions, it has been a pleasure chatting with you! 

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If you wish to learn more about the making of Aliens: Colonial marines’ Bug Hunt, please check out the following article at Dave Flamburis’ blog here.

Also, click here if you’re interested in learning more about the petition for further content for A:CM.