When Todd Hurley from Meyer/Glass posted to rec.games.diplomacy about the Hasbro Interactive Diplomacy release -- I decided to see if I could get an interview to go along with the interview Simon had set up. Todd said in his posting that the lid was coming off, so I asked him if I could climb into the pot and see what's there. He said I could, and I responded by e-mailing him a number of questions. He and his team were kind enough to provide us with the answers. What is rather eerie is that Simon and I seem to have asked very similar questions in our two interviews, without having coordinated at all beforehand! So, with two answers to the same question, we can (as good Diplomacy players) decide who, if anyone, is about to stab us!
Manus Hand: First, some groundwork. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Todd Hurley: I am an Assistant Producer on this project. Interfacing with you and the community at large is one of the many duties assigned to me. I am also one of the team members who came into the project as a Dip player.
Here is some info on the rest of the team. Mark Manyen is our Studio Head and has been in computer games since 1986, working on titles like the Chessmaster Series. Jim Haldy is the Meyer/Glass Producer on Diplomacy; he is a 12 year veteran of the games business with over 50 titles shipped. David Locke is our Senior Designer and has been involved in all aspects of computer games for ten years. Kurt Mitchell is the Lead Artist on Diplomacy.
MH: What is the size of the development team involved in the Dip project?
TH: Eight people full time, and a few others that helped out.
MH: How many were familiar with Diplomacy beforehand? (And how familiar?)
TH: Four of the eight above were familiar before starting -- all of the designers and producers.
MH: How long did the development take?
TH: We started in April 1998, and we expect to ship in October 1999.
MH: Mostly out of curiosity and as a fellow computer programmer, in which programming language is the game written?
TH: C/C++ and very tiny bits of Intel assembly, mostly for graphics performance.
MH: Diplomacy is rather unique among games in its variability, and as you know, a jillion different "variants" exist. Was any thought given to making the product adaptable for other maps? If so, how easy would it be for the hobby to set up a map "plug-in" collection or to work with you and Hasbro to provide for the expandability of the game?
TH: We are providing only the standard map (Eroupe 1901). We started out the project thinking that we would do a bunch of maps, but, as we started on the "Classic" map we found that the art time required was tremendous and stepped back to a more do-able set of maps, which is one, I am sorry to say. I would assume that other maps may be sold as expansion packs if the original game sells well enough to warrant them. The art requirements, as explained to me, are great and I am not sure that I understand them myself.
MH: What would you say were the most difficult hurdles?
TH: The hardest part of the project is the AI and rules engine. The rules because of the "human" nature of them. I mean that the rules are written in a way that humans can understand by a leap of intuition, but coding them and all the strange quirks was very difficult. The AI is by far the biggest problem; I mean how do you go about emulating a human and human thought process? A person has been dedicated full-time to the AI since the beginning and will continue until gold master.
MH: I see in your post that you mentioned Ken Lowe's judge. Was the actual judge code ever referenced or used?
TH: I think someone here read it and decided that we would not use it. We did use it to verify that we were getting the same results from our "judge" and as a model for the compromises to code the rules.
MH: Is the Ken Lowe rule that convoy paths must be explicitly spelled out used? If not, how are "unwanted convoys" and the convoy disruption rules handled?
TH: Yes, you must specify each fleet in the convoy chain for the army being convoyed. This is one of the places we looked to the Internet judge code for solutions.
MH: How is Pandin's Paradox handled?
TH: I am not familiar with that... Please send examples and I will get back to you. [Interviewer's note: I did, and Hasbro will ensure that the paradox is handled, probably according to the judge rules.]
MH: How much material on tactics is provided with the game? That is, is a "help" system in place that incorporates stuff like the Library of Diplomacy Openings and the Library of Diplomacy Tactics (examples from The Pouch) into it?
TH: We have our computer players selecting opening moves from a list of "standard" opening moves in order to give the computer player a better Fall 1901 and Spring 1902 position to work from. Some of these moves came from The Pouch, some from our own games. We have not yet implemented help or a tutorial.
MH: Speaking of The Pouch, I am curious as to whether it was used as a source of information for you and your team.
TH: We did indeed consult The Pouch, and we did use some of the information (opening moves were one example, as I said above).
MH: Are you aware of any upgrades that Hasbro has planned for you guys to do in the near or longer term?
TH: Nope. We assume that the sales numbers will drive expansions.
MH: Are you aware that you have the best job in the world, having been paid to code a Diplomacy adjudicator? Are you guys hiring? 
TH: We do know that we have the best jobs in the world, not just due to the Diplomacy Project but because we create games.
MH: Please tell us a little bit about the AI. How are negotiations handled? How complicated can they get? Do you simply propose moves (or ask for certain moves not to be made) and get a yes/no answer, which could, of course, be a lie? And you would receive similar proposals deom the AI players? Are DMZ's negotiated by the AI players? How about medium to long-term goals, such as a division of a specific set of SC's to be taken?
TH: The game has a negotiation phase which is broken down into two areas; the assembly room where all players (including AI players) start, and the meeting rooms where players go off to negotiate in private. Up to six players can be in a meeting room at one time. Within the meeting room human players can construct offers for other human players and also AI players. At the same time players will receive offers from other human players and AI players. These offers can include allying (or not), attacking, moves, convoys, DMZ's, bounces, and hearsay. You and the other players, both human and AI, are free to accept or decline these offers. But in no way are you or the AI players bound to their acceptance. The AI prioritizes its goals and compares that with offers made to control its movement. The best AI (we will have three) will plan and look more turns out.
MH: Is the system meant for real-time play only or are PBEM-esque games (lasting weeks and months) possible? That is, must all players who wish to communicate with each other be "online" with each other at all times during the game? If so, I assume that (a) games can be saved until all players are online again if a break is needed and (b) PBEM games are being left to the existing systems (i.e., the judges)??
TH: We will have four play modes in Diplomacy; Single player against computer opponents, Multi-player over a LAN or the Internet, Hot Seat for multiple players on one computer, and a PBEM mode.
MH: Assuming a "real-time" mode is played, how are deadlines set and handled? How about deadline misses? Do powers get put into civil disorder? How are deadlines extended by players if more time is wanted/needed?
TH: There is the ability to set timers for each of the game phases. If a timer is set on and runs out of time, the game will try to advance to the next phase. For players who want no time limits, all of the timers can be turned off.
MH: Is there a turn rollback mechanism?
TH: No.
MH: Is there any restriction on "press"? I have heard that there is a "chat" room concept into which you can invite any other player(s), but is there also the ability to send messages for reading later (a la PBEM)?
TH: In a multi-player game, messages are sent to where you are; if you are in the assembly, then all other players in the assembly can see your message. Likewise, if you are in a meeting room, only those players in the meeting room will get the message. You must understand that we are recreating the board game and the look and feel is meant to be that of players sitting around playing face to face.
MH: Did you enjoy working on the project?
TH: This question is unfair to ask at this time.
MH: Were any members of the development team involved in the organized Diplomacy hobby before the project?
TH: Nope, sorry...
MH: As a result of the project, have any members of the team become interested in the game when they were not before?
TH: All of the team members have shown interest in playing to varying degrees.
MH: Have any members of the team become sick to death of Diplomacy?
TH: No Comment.
MH: Those of us who use the Ken Lowe judge are very happy that you are making the new product compatible with input and output from the judges. Can you tell us more fully exactly what is being done?
TH: Play by e-mail will be part of the product, but we have not nailed down the exact implementation
MH: The hobby considers itself to be the game's greatest asset and would like to be involved in making sure that Diplomacy is implemented and marketed in a way the game deserves. Do you know of any plans by you or Hasbro to involve representatives of the hobby in any advisory or quality control capacity?
TH: I am not aware of any, but this is a question for Hasbro to answer. [Interviewer's note: Bill Levay of Hasbro has already announced formation of a playtesting group made up of members of the Diplomacy hobby.]
MH: As you are aware, there are a great many Diplomacy tournaments and conventions scheduled every year around the world. Will your company or Hasbro be attending or promoting these types of hobby activities?
TH: That is really a Hasbro question. They own the rights and are publishing the game. They have done some promoting of titles in the past, so I would hope that they will do so with Diplomacy.
MH: When do I sit to be videotaped and put on the "Tips from the Experts" part of the CD? (Like Steve Mizerak in my "Virtual Pool 2" game ) Actually, this isn't a bad idea if you haven't already thought of it. Allan Calhamer, inventor of the game, would be nice to have immortalized on CD in your product. Other hobby legends like Edi Birsan should also be considered.
TH: This again would be a Hasbro thing. [Interviewer's note: In Simon's interview with Hasbro's Bill Levay, Bill revealed that Mr. Calhamer will indeed appear in the final product.]
MH: The Diplomacy hobby is truly international, as is made testament by the annual world championships. Some of the best face-to-face players in the world come from outside North America, and these players have become very good friends of mine and of other hobbyists here, via the World Championships and through e-mail. I have two questions here. First, is your product multi-lingual? (I won't presume that it automatically runs outgoing player-to-player messages through a babelfish-like translator to render them into the chosen language of the recipient, though that would be very very cool), but rather, I'm just asking if the code itself has been internationalized? Secondly, European nations use alternate game-ending rules than do Americans. That is, Frenchmen play only the first seven game-years, and Swedes play only the first nine. This differs from the American way of playing until the game is won or drawn. Does your product support such alternate rules?
TH: To the first question, yes. We will localize in six or seven languages. Also, within the game, if you use the icons to negotiate with, it will display in the correct language of the other player. That means if each player used a version with a different language, they could play a game. Secondly, we are working on a game editor which will give some flexibility in the game. We hope to be able to set various victory conditions.
MH: Could your product be used in a tournament setting, and if so, how much help would it be? (That is, would a tournament-arranger be included or possible, that would "score" and "seed" rounds using any of the accepted Diplomacy scoring systems?)
TH: It is not designed for this. It is meant to be a stand alone product for gamers.
MH: Are you sure you don't want to hire me, if not as a coder, then as the guy who thinks up all this great new stuff for you to do?
TH: Then Dave Locke would have nothing to do.
Well, that's all the questions I can think of just now. On behalf of The Pouch and its readership, thank you very much for taking the time to reply!
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Manus Hand (manus@manushand.com) |
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