It was an early morning in July when I drove into the Raven Software parking lot to meet up with our newly hired mercenary (consultant is perhaps the more politically correct label). I really didn't know what to expect. I guess my fear was that this guy was going to be a big brute with an overinflated opinion of himself and that we might be listening to a lot of over-the-top tales of death and destruction rather than tangible details we could use.
As I parked my car, I noticed a 50-ish man, dressed like a banker, walking toward the front doors of Raven. I thought to myself this couldn't be John Mullins, could it? Sure enough, it was Soldier of Fortune magazine's consultant here on time and ready to help out in any way that he could.
I have to be honest; when I first met John, I didn't think he was going to be of much help to us. But after we started interviewing him, we all began to realize what an incredible man he was. The thing that struck me most about our first talks with John was that he was not a braggart and that people in his position do almost everything opposite of the stereotypical mercenary.
For example, John doesn't want to stick out and be conspicuous. That's why he dresses like a banker - to blend in and confuse the enemy. Special Forces prefer that their men be of normal build and weight since they may need to be carried out of the field some day. If you weigh 270lbs, it will take more people to carry you out, and thus you become a liability to your unit. Another fact he brought up was that in Vietnam when he was behind lines and trying to get back out, he would try to wound the enemy rather than kill them.
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This struck me as odd until he explained that if you wound an enemy, it takes two others to help get him back to safety and medical attention, thus removing three enemies from the battle instead of just one. It was logical descriptions like these and not glory-filled movie-type descriptions of his profession that made us realize that John was the real deal.
Once we were convinced of his authenticity, we got right down to the nitty-gritty details regarding weapons, enemy behavior, and other real-world issues. We started off by showing John the game, GHOUL (the rendering technology), and the gore-zones system and explained to him where we were in the game's development. We were glad to see him chuckle at the groin shot (pulled off thanks to GHOUL) since most real people do!
NEXT: John Mullins offers advice on the weapons and the gore zones
Soldier of Fortune
