August 18, 2000 - One of the brightest surprises out of this year's E3 was THQ's digital take on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead, with Evil Dead: Hail to the King for Dreamcast, PC and PSX. Fans of the movies were going to hold this one to close scrutiny, and our quick look at the show floor revealed that the folks behind the game were bringing us a title that maintained the spirit of the films while adding a good amount of survival horror gameplay to the mix.

The game is being developed by Heavy Iron, a team whose members previously worked with Square on Parasite Eve. In this first of a weekly set of developer diaries, you'll get a first hand report from the development team on what it's like to bring Bruce Campbell to the gaming screen. Today's contributor is Scott Krager, Executive Producer, THQ.

Read on for Scott's insights into the development of the game, along with a few new shots from the DC version, and check back in this space next week for the next installment.

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Well, it's now August and Evil Dead has come a long way. The Heavy Iron team has been burning the candle at both ends for several weeks as we crunch toward Alpha on all skus  Playstation, Dreamcast and PC. Although we're almost Alpha, there is still a ways to go before we cross the final finish line. But it's encouraging to see major sections of the game slowly come together. All of the environments except for the final area are up and running, all of the puzzle logic has been integrated, most of the enemies are in as is the inventory system. Of course, things are pretty glitchy  there are crash bugs, the AI hasn't been tweaked yet, there are placeholder graphics for many of the real-time objects and things are generally buggy. But this is all part of the process, and despite the bugs and lack of polish, it's starting to feel like a game. With that being said, I figure it's a good time to get everyone caught up on some of the things that have been happening lately.

On the music and sound front, Tommy Tallarico and his crew have delivered quite a bit of the music, which sounds awesome. We've also got a lot of different cues and such that will be used to send clues to the player that something is about to happen or perhaps a puzzle piece is in the room, in addition to some cool atmospheric stuff that will help set the tone and mood. There are also some great cues that will be looped during key battles with bosses and other enemies. The bulk of the sound effects have been completed as well. Now we're dumping them into the game to get a sense of what works and what doesn't. Sound is a key part of any game, and especially in a survival horror game in which sound plays very much into the scare factor. A lot of the ambience will come from the atmospheric sounds, so getting the sound effects just right is critical to creating a creepy environment. Next up is recording the tracks for the cinematic sequences. We're well into production on the movies, which need to be complete before mixing the soundtracks for each. For the key movies, we're actually going to record a full orchestra in order to get the full cinematic experience we're looking for. More on the cinematics in upcoming entries.

Shifting over to the voiceover front, Bruce recorded all of the Ash voice over a few weeks ago. Needless to say, that was a fun experience. We spent two days in a recording studio in Santa Monica, California, not far from the THQ and Heavy Iron offices. It didn't take Bruce long to get into the character of Ash. It actually became apparent that quite a bit Bruce and Ash are one and the same. Bruce uses a lot of Ash-isms in everyday conversation, making him a very funny guy. They also share that certain level of sarcasm that makes each very likeable. Admittedly, we were a little nervous going into the session because Evil Dead and Ash are so beloved by fans, and we knew that the voice over script needed to completely capture the voice of Ash. So, we spent quite a bit of time polishing the script and getting feedback from Evil Dead fans to make sure we faithfully brought Ash to life. Based on the feedback and how the recording sessions turned out, I'd say the script is right on target. Bruce added some great changes and adlibs. Being a huge fan of Evil Dead, I can honestly say that watching him reprise his most famous role was definitely a highlight in my videogame career. Check out evildeadgame.com for some photos, sound clips and video clips from the sessions.

So, that covers some of the latest and greatest on Evil Dead: Hail to the King. A lot more will be happening as we move into the Alpha and Beta stages, so stay tuned for more diary entries from other members of the team.

-- Scott Krager, Executive Producer, THQ

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We'd like to thank Scott for this week's installment. Be sure and take a look at our preview (linked below), along with these all new images from the DC version.