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News   E3: David Dienstbier Interview
- Posted By Mike Schneider, 05.17.2001

Join Andrew Weatherton and Mike Schneider as they interviewed Acclaim's David Dienstbier.

Andrew Weatherton with David Dienstbier

Ngenres: Whereabouts does Turok Evolution fit into the storyline of the Turok franchise? After Turok 3, or earlier than that?

David Dienstbier: Turok Evolution is actually the origin story, so it’s kind of an episode one. We decided that too many people didn’t know what Turok meant, how it began, whatever; and we really wanted to get back to the roots of what we started with. In terms of the world and prehistoric life, we really wanted to go back there and punch that up as high as we could. We found that people didn’t ever really know what Turok meant – so we’ll tell them that now. So it’s actually an episode one.

Ngenres: So it’s kind of like a “return to the roots,” and less futuristic?

David Dienstbier: Well obviously the lost land is still a mixture, but one of the things that the art team has done an amazing job with is establishing the look of the lost land and some of the different civilizations that live there – it’s all organic man. In the original Turok we had fish in the water and birds in the sky and monkeys climbing the trees and things like that, but this game you’re not going to believe…


An enemy equipped for battle


Ngenres: Can you kill the monkeys?

David Dienstbier: We can kill everything. But this time it’s not just monkeys. A little lemurs and chimpanzees and all kinds of fun stuff. But I mean, there’s life everywhere in the game, it’s just ridiculous! We’ve got fish eating insects that are then getting eaten by things that eat fish that eat get eaten by things that eat fish, it’s amazing!

Ngenres: Is it going to be the same across different consoles?

David Dienstbier: Oh it’s too early to talk about that, we haven’t even finalized which different consoles we’re going to release it for. The engine is running on all three systems right now; GameCube, X-Box, and PS2.

Ngenres: Yeah we saw it on the release list, it is listed. So is that an official confirmation?

David Dienstbier: That’s the confirmation but we’re still considering it for both PS2 and X-Box. There’s no exclusivity that we’ve really agreed on it, so things can change.

Ngenres: Have you thought about multiplayer yet?

David Dienstbier: Of course.

We then asked about Nintendo’s online plans, however he would offer nothing but a ‘no comment.’

David Dienstbier: Have you guys seen the trailer yet? This is Turok Evolution; everything you’re seeing here is game art by the way, except for that one face. It’s all in-game.

Ngenres: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the game?

David Dienstbier: Well, the game is going to release in late 2002, obviously we’ve got a reputation for doing certain things very very well with the games that we’ve done, that we’re not leaving any stone unturned. The things that we’ve historically done well we’re going to do better than ever, and in terms of specifics about the game we’re not saying too much right now – it’s a little early.

Ngenres: Is Turok your main project?

David Dienstbier: Well, I’m closer to the Turok stuff than I am to the other stuff. You always need to have one game that’s your baby when you’re Creative Director. It’s the same way if you look at someone like Miyamoto, he’s involved with many games but he’s close to just one or two; I’m closest to Turok. Because, it’s where I started and it’s my job to see that it keeps going places. I established the plot of the game a long time ago, but I’ve spent the last year and four months working on laying the foundation of the game and working with my guys getting the vision of the game going where it needs to go, and now we’ve got the entire team bilt and we’re going full steam ahead. It’s all coming together fantastically.

Ngenres: What stage in development are you in?

David Dienstbier: We’re a little over 50% through. (looking at the screen as the short trailor for Jinx begins) This is our new game in Austin, no one has seen anything about this.

Ngenres: Is there anything else that you are developing for the GameCube?

David Dienstbier: Everything that we develop with the new engine technology is already running on GameCube, so it’s just a question of what we will decide to bring to the GameCube. So, nothing confirmed yet, but this is Jinx and it’s going to be awesome.

Ngenres: This is an adventure game?

David Dienstbier: This is an adventure game coming out of Austin.

Ngenres: What’s so special about him? Is it the gloves?

David Dienstbier: The gloves are awesome, yeah they’re a really nice set of gloves. (laughing) But I’ll just let you wonder about what’s so special about them, sorry.