Rafael Paiz 2019

January 2019 on Kingpin.info
A = Rafael Paiz (Lead Programmer)
Q = Questions from the Community

1. What inspired you to get into video game development in the first place?

After I purchased my first computer an Apple II+ I realized that all the games that I was playing were really not that difficult to make, so I made a couple simple games with a generic game development kit that a friend gave me and the rest is history.

2. Do you know of there were any assets that survived that were not used in the final game (such as maps, fragments of maps, skins, models, etc.)?

I think that we used all of them but I am not 100% sure. Maxx would be better able to answer that.

Anything that is available would be interesting for some people.

Maxx may have some concept art that nobody has ever seen, you should ask him. I have some art pieces but I had them printed and framed.

3. What elements were cut from the game? Like levels, weapons, etc. Was there anything they wanted to do with the game but couldn't?

This is a sad subject for me because we didn’t have enough budget to see this to the very end, however we were able to use what we had to come up with a nice ending while leaving room for a sequel that we could never accomplish, since we got purchased by Activision and Interplay was the owner of Kingpin.

4. Do you have any idea what happened to the Kingpin source code? If you don't know is there anyone you think that might know? Why was it never released?

The code was never released and as far as I know it belongs to Interplay.

5. Can you elaborate on any ideas or future plans you had for Kingpin during development like expansion packs, maps, etc. (Since it ends on a semi cliffhanger with the Kingpin's right hand leaving in the helicopter).

There are no plans as far as I know. Yan made a mod with some levels and a boss character with some additional lines and content. That was in 2003 but I am not 100% sure about that.

6. Were there any thoughts of turning it into a franchise or at least making a sequel?

At one point we had a petition with about 20 k signatures asking for the game. However, we were offered to make Wolfenstien and that sealed the fate of a Kingpin sequel.

7. How did Xatrix get Viktor Antonov to join the team? Was the art direction for the game decided before or after he joined?
That is a Maxx Kaufman question. I believe he was working for Maxx at that time as a texture artist. Viktor was really young back then, I hope he is doing well.

8. Did Kingpin change much during development?

Drew, the creative mind behind Kingpin had the design locked down from the beginning. There was very little change during the course of the development. We may have made a few quick changes to accommodate the delivery of the product to Interplay.

9. Do the early alpha versions with different models, skins, weapons etc. still exist?

If Corky or Maxx have them, I don’t sorry.

10. Interplay announced they were working on Kingpin 2 back in 2004. Do you know if any/many of the original developers were asked to be involved and do you know why the game was cancelled?

One word "Activision". They purchased Xatrix and we became Grey Matter.

11. Why were the motorcycle and jetpack left out of the game?

Due to time constraints.

12. Why weren't all the ammo mods included in the final game?

I don’t understand this question.

13. Do you remember why the hud changed during production?

My experience has been that the hud always changes more than once in the life cycle of a project probably because the artist and designers get tired of seeing the same thing for months at a time.

14. Were you planning a Sniper Rifle in the game or did that become the HMG?

There was never any mention of that in the original design.

15. Was an ECD gun (Electro Capacitance Discharger) originally going to be included? What was the elf gun? Was a concussion rifle going to be included?

No, it got pulled but you got to use it in another game ;) [Wolfenstein]

16. Were there more weapons planned?

No, that’s all the weapons that were requested.

17. In the SDK (Game Code) there some test code showing there were maybe plans for other enemies other than Thug, Runt and Bitch. For example: elps, buma, bumb and rosie. Where they just test models or models that never make it to the game?

Rosie was one of the ambient street chicks. BumA and BumB were just variant bums, probably just leftover that didn’t get taken out.

18. There is some LightPaint code in the SDK with the console command 'burn_enabled' what was the purpose of that code?

Kingpin had a built-in tool to custom paint the lighmaps.

19. Were there plans to start Kingpin's first map with a Tutorial map like in Half-Life?

There were never any plans to do that.

20. Dr. Sleep (John Anderson) said he made the final two levels (Crystal Palace) for Kingpin, but he's not included anywhere in the credits. Why is that? Are there more level designers who worked on Kingpin but aren't credited?

Yea, John worked very hard on the game. I have no idea why he was not in the credits. Oh wait, why am I not in the Wolfenstein credits? May he rest in peace.

21. Was Crystal Palace episode originally larger? It seems at least one map was left out of final release?

Not sure about that one, it’s the first time I see this image.

22. When Kingpin was released in 1999 it spawned a huge worldwide online community. The Bagman game mode was a large contributor to that success. Was it frustrating not to be able to build on the KP platform due to the collapse of Xatrix?

It was out of our hands since we got purchased by Activision.

23. Are you surprised to find that there is a community still playing it online in 2018?

Yea, knowing you guys still play it makes all those sleepless nights to finish it worthwhile.

24. How do you feel that a game you helped create almost 20 years ago is still being enjoyed today and that players are still creating new content for it?

Makes me smile thinking about it.

25. Do you have any thoughts on Brian Fargo's plan to buy back Interplay if The Bards Tale 4 is a big success?

I owe a lot to Brian. I hope he can do it. I would jump at any chance to make games for him again.

26. Do you believe there will ever be a sequel to Kingpin?

I do hope so.

27. Do you have a couple of good stories about your time at Xatrix?

Working at Xatrix/Gray Matter was probably the best time of my life. The entire team worked so well together it was like there was magic between us. It’s hard to explain it things just happened there and turned out great.
I would like to tell you some stories but if I do, they would come from a programmer's point of view and I can just imagine all the people reading this saying to themselves "Nerd Alert!" so I would like to keep them for myself.

28. What are your favorite games?

Doom, Battle Field, Battle Front, Quake, World of Tanks, World of Warships, All Total War games, plus a bunch of others.

29. What game are you working on currently?

I am working on the AI portion of a game to help autistic children.

30. Thank you for your time. Anything else you would like to say to the Kingpin community?

Thank you for your support, I love you guys.

---