TimeGate designers give a peek into the development of the Kohan prequel
By Michael Lafferty

Time to move forward, into the past.

Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift ( http://www.gamezone.com/gzreviews/p18892.htm ) is the prequel to Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, a release for the PC from Strategy First and TimeGate Studios.

The game is part civilization simulation, but mostly strategic game play as you seek to deliver the faithful of the planet Khaldun from an evil that seeks to roll across the lands and plunge the world into darkness. The Kohan, of the title, were semi-immortals who possessed great powers and could overthrow the legions of darkness. But they must be found. Great cataclysms over caused their downfall in the distant past, but it is said that if amulets can be found, they may be resurrected. It is up to a young Ceyah warrior to find the amulets and lead the fight for freedom.

Ok, so now you have the gist of the game. Recently game designer Steve Hemmesch and lead designer Ian Klimon talked with GameZone about this title.

Question: Why the decision to go back to the past of the world of Khaldun, and not pick up the game where Immortal Sovereigns left off?

Hemmesch: “We knew of a lot of interesting events that occurred leading up to the story that unfolded in Immortal Sovereigns and we wanted to expand on them. The Ceyah faction was so intriguing and we wanted to explore the darker side of the Kohan society, looking deeper into the characters that make up the Ceyah faction. Players would already be familiar with most of these characters from Immortal Sovereigns, so we enjoyed expanding their roles in the new campaigns.

Q: You seem to have crossed several boundaries, or genres, (using the RTS of combat games, and the resource management style of civ games) with these two programs. Was that the intent, or did the storyline and the building of the game dictate the direction it went?

Hemmesch: “Much of what Kohan is was determined before we had even started on its development. We consciously worked on melding the most interesting and exciting aspects of the real-time and turn-based genres in ways no one had ever experienced before. Luckily for us, our development team consisted of some people who were turn-based fanatics and others that were real-time aficionados. This kept the direction of the game balanced and we ended up with a product that merged both genres successfully.”

Q: How much input did fans have in directing the course or time period of the game?

Hemmesch: “We listened closely to the fans about what they liked in Immortal Sovereigns and what directions they would like to see any future products take. Their input did influence some of our decisions about the number and type of new units to introduce, what types of spells and techs would be fun to add, and the tone our future scenario and multiplayer maps would take.”

Q: Do you envision the Kohan legend becoming more than a two-part series, and if so, can you give us a hint what direction a third title might take?

Hemmesch: “If the Kohan world does expand more, then I would envision it to be the next evolution in RTS. Perhaps bigger scale, more military structure, increasing the number of players in multiplayer …

Q: What is your favorite part of the new Kohan title? What was the biggest challenge in building the game?

Hemmesch: “My favorite part was the creation of the new units. I really enjoy brainstorming about new units, their looks, abilities, and strategies associated with them. The biggest challenge is related to this, and that is game balancing. It is all well and good to come out with a new war mage, but it will often end up being exploitable in certain situations, throwing strategies and general game balance out of whack.”

Q: Can you give us a little background information (as in how you got into the gaming scene, education, games you like to play, titles you have worked on, that sort of thing)?

Hemmesch: “I broke into the gaming scene by doing minor freelance and self-publishing work on paper and dice games. They helped me get my first big break and enter the field of computer gaming, moving me to warm southern climates in the process. I particularly enjoy role-playing and strategy titles, but I am somewhat of an eclectic gamer. Anything that is well designed and proves to hold my interest for more than a day is worth buying, in my mind. The Kohan series are the titles I am most proud of getting the opportunity to work on and I enjoy playing them even more than developing them.”

Klimon: “I became interested in games sometime around the time I discovered a Macintosh football game called PlayMaker Football. I found the original designer/programmer of the game, and with him, acquired the rights from Broderbund for the game and its sequel. We went on to successfully market the game and a few others as keyware. I then spent some time going to law school and becoming an attorney, before coming back to gaming through Simutronics (GemStoneIII and Hercules and Xena) and forming my own company. Eventually, I found my way down to Houston to TimeGate Studios.”

Q: Where do you see this entertainment field being in five years from now? How about 10 years from now?

Klimon: “I think you’ll see more merging of varying mediums for entertainment. Games like Majestic are only the beginning. You’ll also see more MMORPGs announced, but only a few standing tall enough to make an impression. You’ll always see the RTS, TBS, RPG genres as long as developers are willing to put the time into a quality product.”  

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