SHHF Exclusive Interview with Tomm Hulett - READ IT HERE!

Ten years after the original game and Harry's still searching for his daughter.

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Vixx
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SHHF Exclusive Interview with Tomm Hulett - READ IT HERE!

Post by Vixx »

Thank you to everyone who responded to my plea for questions to Tomm Hulett, producer of Silent Hill Shattered Memories. I'm delighted to be able to unveil the interview right here:

http://silenthillheaven.com/main/shhf_shsminterview/

I'm sure you'll all join me in thanking Tomm and Sam for their time. I didn't expect them to answer either the scope or number of questions that they did, and certainly not that frankly, either. It must be a testament to the challenging, thought-provoking questions submitted by SHHF members! (Just FYI, I passed all of the questions submitted to SHHF onto Tomm.)

Questions/comments about the interview? Post 'em here!
Last edited by Vixx on 26 Jul 2009, edited 4 times in total.
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Post by Terminus »

Sounding more and more delicious by the moment. Thank-you very much to all persons involved.

The site is looking good too!
Last edited by Terminus on 20 Jun 2009, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Kairu »

Holy shit they answered my questions, I would really like to thank Tomm and Sam and everyone at cClimax/Konami and say I'm really looking forward to the game and will be buying a Wii for this game and others that I've become interested in. A special thanks to Vixx for organising the interview too, thank you.
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Post by BurningWitch »

I kind of like the no health pickups idea.

That could make it interesting.
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Post by rm2kking »

Raw Shocks? Reminds me of Rorschach. I dearly hope those aren't the only monsters in the game...
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I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
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Post by Vixx »

rm2kking wrote:Raw Shocks? Reminds me of Rorschach. I dearly hope those aren't the only monsters in the game...
The guy [Hulett] writes an epic response to all of our questions and that's the best response you can come up with?

Dude, you kind of suck.

Anyways ... I almost don't know where to start with this. The interview throws up as many questions as it seems to answer, but I'm really, really intrigued about the gameplay, particularly how the creatures change/shift according to the player's capabilities and psych profile. Also relieved to read that the blue line isn't necessary signposting an exit ... and the idea that test players found the game 'too scary' is amazing. I know game testers and they don't get fazed by nothing. :P

It's the lack of health items that scares me though. Not sure I can wander up Koontz St. without the safety of a Health Drink!
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Post by rm2kking »

Sorry, you misunderstand me, I'm actually still reading the interview :? . Just wanted to share my thoughts on the name (remember that scene in the watchmen comic when the police were tipped off to Rorschach's whereabouts? The informant used the name "Raw Shark"), and I'm sure it has significance. I got a bit farther and it sounds as if the monsters evolve somewhat as the game goes on, and THIS intrigues me quite a lot. This is a fantastic interview and it's making me want to invent a time machine so that I can buy this game!
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Post by Vixx »

^ Whoops. In that case, it's my bad and please accept my apologies. Clearly it's ME who sucks. :P
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Post by Varg6 »

Vixx wrote:Anyways ... I almost don't know where to start with this. The interview throws up as many questions as it seems to answer, but I'm really, really intrigued about the gameplay, particularly how the creatures change/shift according to the player's capabilities and psych profile. Also relieved to read that the blue line isn't necessary signposting an exit ... and the idea that test players found the game 'too scary' is amazing. I know game testers and they don't get fazed by nothing. :P

It's the lack of health items that scares me though. Not sure I can wander up Koontz St. without the safety of a Health Drink!
I agree with you. I'm so intrigued right now with this game. It's unlike any Silent Hill we've ever seen, obviously.

As far as the health drinks go, I thought he said the fatigue (in this case, the blurry screen, showing Harry's in pain) goes away? So, although it seems odd to not have health drinks, Harry will, I'm assuming, regenerate on his own...
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Post by rm2kking »

Vixx wrote:^ Whoops. In that case, it's my bad and please accept my apologies. Clearly it's ME who sucks. :P
No hard feelings :) I admit it was a sucky response. God, I love the comparison of seeing the "new" Dahlia to James meeting Maria. I was like "hell yeah thats what it felt like!!"

He says he hopes the game meets our expectations. Sounds to me like it's exceeding them!
Last edited by rm2kking on 21 Jun 2009, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by crucifix »

The creatures, which are called Raw Shocks, have a very advanced AI. They don’t have any patrol routes that they follow or anything that you’ve encountered in “sneak games.” They prowl about the Nightmare areas sniffing Harry out and communicating to one another, so if Harry is spotted, the other creatures will arrive soon. They’re a lot more agile than Harry and they know the environment, so they can break off from the group and flank him, or follow him through hidden tunnels, etc. They will definitely keep you on your toes.
i am so incredibly stoked to see this AI in action.
You won’t be finding any Health Drinks or First Aid Kits this time around.
oh my god. i suppose that's more realistic, though.
I can’t go into detail about this right now, but I will say you should expand your definition of what a “boss” is. They can be more than a big monster you hit a bunch of times.
... mmm, mysteriousness.
ENIKA: When working with the storyline, have you drawn any inspiration from the Silent Hill movie?
TOMM: The movie exists in its own reality outside of the games, so no.
good answer.
no longer active. thanks for the memories.
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Post by Koshercrackers »

I'm a bit confused by the whole monster dynamic now. Are there actually going to be different "species" of monsters? The way it was worded made it sound, to me, that there'd only be that one designer monster (which, by the by, is sounding cooler every step of the way).
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Post by rm2kking »

Just finished reading, and I will sum up my thoughts as follows: *EXCITED SQUEAL!!*
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I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
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Post by Kairu »

Well I'm quite excited by the one monster approach. Instead of creating many monsters that can be hit or miss, they've been designed so the player tailors them to be more personal to him/her which I think is an awesome idea.
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Post by Dark Sky »

Brilliant interview! Big thanks to Tomm and Sam for answering all the questions!

Bit surprised no-one asked Tomm why he has too many M's in his name, though.
rm2kking wrote:Sorry, you misunderstand me, I'm actually still reading the interview :? . Just wanted to share my thoughts on the name (remember that scene in the watchmen comic when the police were tipped off to Rorschach's whereabouts? The informant used the name "Raw Shark"), and I'm sure it has significance. I got a bit farther and it sounds as if the monsters evolve somewhat as the game goes on, and THIS intrigues me quite a lot.
Oh of course! Actually seems bleedingly obvious but yeah, well noticed! The Rorschach's test is a psychological profiling test, and the Raw Shark creatures in Shattered Memories will develop depending on how the game analyses the player's psychology.

Nice little pun there. Again, well spotted!
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Post by KROD »

Thanks ^^!! Ill be sure to read the full thing in a second! :D
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Post by SilentMadness »

Awesome! I'm feelng more at ease now that he seems to know what he is doing and has taken thought of how the fans would want in a silent hill game. And by the way Vixx, I am loving the new design on the website. Is that the whole theme or just for that section?
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Post by rm2kking »

Dark Sky wrote:
rm2kking wrote:Sorry, you misunderstand me, I'm actually still reading the interview :? . Just wanted to share my thoughts on the name (remember that scene in the watchmen comic when the police were tipped off to Rorschach's whereabouts? The informant used the name "Raw Shark"), and I'm sure it has significance. I got a bit farther and it sounds as if the monsters evolve somewhat as the game goes on, and THIS intrigues me quite a lot.
Oh of course! Actually seems bleedingly obvious but yeah, well noticed! The Rorschach's test is a psychological profiling test, and the Raw Shark creatures in Shattered Memories will develop depending on how the game analyses the player's psychology.

Nice little pun there. Again, well spotted!
Yeah, the Rorschach test (more commonly known as the inkblot test) is a great look into the psyche. The ideas that they have incorporated into the monsters (the whole game really, it seems) reflect the idea of the Rorschach test to a T. I am sure the name is not coincidental at all (also seems to hint that the designers are Watchmen fans as well, due to the simmiliar puns with the name Rorschach; raw shark, and raw shocks).
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Post by GrievousGarland »

Hmm... he avoided the question about whether Lisa was in or not...
Sounds like they're planning something with her character.

But god, way to build up anticipation.

EDIT: Loved his answer on how he felt about Lisa. He's won my trust. ^_^
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Post by Revolverhawk »

D'oh. I feel stupid for saying the Ice thing sucked now: It's Harry's personal hell. Or rather, it's THIS Harry's personal hell. I still don't find it scary, or at least I still don't personally see the ice levels that were present in the trailers as scary, due to how I personally percieve ice, but I could understand that some people would see it as scary. Still: if they are going to tailor the monsters to us, wouldn't it had also been cool if they could have tailored otherworld to us specifically too?

They could have also included a "fight or flight" question in the questionaire and let me choose whether or not to carry guns. Tailoring the game to the player is a great idea...it's too bad they stopped short of giving me a choice on those two things. I just personally prefer combat and something other than ice for an otherworld. I can choose whether or not Cybil is horny and will flirt with me, but not the other two. Sigh.
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