KISS: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child Q&A

Last week, GameSpot learned that Third Law's first-person shooter, KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child, had reached the final stages of development and that it was only a matter of days away from completion. We took this opportunity to sit down with the game's project manager, Pam Wolford, and talk about The Nightmare Child's development cycle, go over any regrets the Third Law team had along the way, and look into future endeavors for the company.

GameSpot: Now that development on KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child is finished, do you look back and wish you had done something differently?

Pam Wolford: Of course! No one on the team had started and completed their own project as owners of a company, so it was very much a learning process. I think we survived it without any huge, project-altering mistakes, though certainly no one walks around here feeling smug. Common sense and humility must be shown, or you're in for a beat-down from everyone else.

GS: Has the idea behind the game changed significantly since its inception? Have you done everything you originally set out to do with The Nightmare Child?

PW: The actual design has remained mostly intact. The biggest change is that we planned a lot more levels and a few more creatures, but we eventually realized that we had way too much on our plate and scaled down the size of the game. Of course, lots of smaller things changed along the way, such as how certain weapons worked and creatures attacked... lots of tuning stuff like that.

GS: The Nightmare Child is based on a pre-existing universe, Todd McFarlane's comic book series. How much of your own creativity were you allowed to express within the game? Did McFarlane lock you down to a stringent approval process?

PW: Todd McFarlane Productions has been a dream to work with. They've let us do our thing completely unfettered, and untold numbers of people have helped us with whatever we needed. They did all our packaging art, and it was a very painless and pleasant experience. Their art director, Brent Ashe, is top notch.

GS: When you first announced the game, the idea of a shooter based on a 1970s rock band license seemed a little silly. Was the entire development team always excited about doing this game, or was there anyone who questioned the viability of a KISS Psycho Circus game?

PW: You're right... [but] when the team became familiar with the KISS Psycho Circus comic books, they knew it was absolutely viable. The rich and sinister world of the comics provided the backdrop - the Destroyer series storyline with the Nightmare King - and its ending provided us with the perfect introduction to our story.