An interview with Mat Van Rhoon interview
As a prominent figure in the world of adventure gaming, Mat Van Rhoon has been a driving force behind the most recent offerings in the critically acclaimed Tex Murphy series. His expertise and creativity have left a significant mark on the genre. Now, branching out with the establishment of Terabbit Studios, Van Rhoon is set to embark on a new journey in the gaming industry. His latest project, The Last Ark, a narrative thriller, promises to bring innovative storytelling and gameplay mechanics to players worldwide.
We had the chance to sit down and talk with Mat Van Rhoon about Terabbit Studios, Tex Murphy and The Last Ark.
Adventure Gamers: Your journey from being one of the key designers behind the Tex Murphy series to founding Terabbit Studios is quite remarkable. Could you share with us the vision and goals that led to the creation of Terabbit Studios, and how they reflect your personal aspirations in game development, especially within the adventure genre?
Mat Van Rhoon: Almost immediately after joining Big Finish Games in 2013, my first official video game career opportunity abroad, I knew it would open many doors for career development in the games industry. My passion and dedication towards Tex Murphy and the pioneers behind the series taught me a lot about adventure gaming. While my commitment to them has remained unwavering, I knew I’d need other ideas and projects to pursue in-between. But it would be a while before I had the network and confidence to do so independently. So, in the meantime, I was happy to keep learning from the best and staying as active as possible in the adventure game realm.
So, I continued developing my ideas and even turned some into fully fleshed-out stories and game design plans. I’ve even written a few novels and was fortunate to gain agency representation for them so that I can seek to get them traditionally published, which looks promising at the moment, but the process remains ongoing.
Suffice it to say that adventure is in my blood, especially in science fiction, and having grown those ideas for long enough and developed the critical skills and relationships over the past ten years to bring them to life, I wanted to give myself a chance to do precisely that.
Transitioning from the Tex Murphy series to establishing Terabbit Studios must have had its challenges and opportunities. Could you share some insights into this journey and how your experience with Tex Murphy influenced this new venture?
After Tesla Effect was launched, there would be long gaps where Tex Murphy projects or content were not actively worked on, and during these times, the company focused on their golf simulator business. Thankfully, having learned much about game design, art, and software programming meant I was well-utilized in that realm, so it wasn’t a case of standing by and twiddling one’s thumbs. There was always something exciting or challenging to learn and do, even if it wasn’t Tex Murphy.
But there was an itch that always needed scratching, and if it wasn’t Tex Murphy-related, I would spend a good chunk of my free time building upon my own game ideas. But, deep down, Tex was always present. Aaron Conners is a fantastic storyteller, and I take many of my cues from him and his great world-building in the Tex Murphy universe. But the challenge here, despite having an ambition to open my own studio and bring my own ideas to life, was having a developed network of my own to support me going solo.
So, in the meantime, when new opportunities arose to work with other studios, including AAA developers like Niantic, where I had the opportunity to work directly with MARVEL, I was afforded the chance to keep growing, work with some amazing creators, and continue developing my network and learn… always learn. But, regardless of where I was, I always maintained a positive relationship and strong connection to the Tex Murphy team, actively working on content when needed, like The Pandora Directive Remaster.
The final push to officially go out on my own and form Terabbit Studios was a combination of timing, opportunity, and necessity. In 2023, the video game industry became incredibly volatile (and sadly, 2024 has been worse). I was not spared from this volatility… but thankfully, having worked with a handful of AAA studios, I had successfully developed a robust network of developers and creators, many of whom were also disenfranchised by the industry in 2023. That was when I decided it was time. A handful of others and I had spent enough time learning the ropes and the lessons and decided now was the time to be allowed to act on them ourselves and on our own terms.
The good news is that many people from the Tex Murphy universe have pledged their support of the new studio in one way or another, with Aaron lending his voice and story development chops, as well as Adrian Carr and Doug Vandegrift offering to assist in their respective disciplines like directing for multi-path stories, and art design.
You’ve mentioned that Terabbit Studios aims to provide narrative experiences that deeply engage players. Can you elaborate on how your vision for Terabbit Studios differentiates it from other studios, especially in adventure gaming?
Our goal is to provide stories with a narrative-first focus… as our company mission states: “We want our games to continue to be enjoyed in players’ minds well after they’ve stepped away from their controllers.” That in itself is not unique among independent game studios… so we also want to leverage our experience in cinema and storytelling (and experience working with adventure game industry pioneers and AAA studios) to deliver an amount of polish to the end product that may surprise folks. Being a massive fan of cinema and also a director, a VFX artist, and an orchestral music composer (with a film background) are some examples of the types of ingredients we can work with that aren’t typically considered accessible to studios of our size.
To be clear, just because we feel this approach helps us stand out, it doesn’t mean we’re the only ones doing it. Many other independent studios, especially in the adventure genre, do this very well.
You mentioned navigating through the ‘disaster’ of issues and layoffs in the AAA game industry. How do these challenges shape the strategies and decisions at Terabbit Studios?
Speaking of rabbit holes, eh? ‘Disaster’ is indeed the right word to describe the current state of the AAA games industry. As I mentioned earlier, even I didn’t escape unscathed. I was fortunate to navigate the minefield with relative success, but I was still p**ed off at how big studios treated their employees as a subscription service they could cancel anytime. The big studios would always justify their layoffs by saying, “We made some poor bets” or “We lost our focus.” Then, the employees (who never made the bets or lost the focus) cop the penalty as if they were reduced to nothing more than poker chips in a game played by those above them. Then there was Generative AI, the new tool every prominent developer considered an end that justified the means… it was a “progress at any cost” thing, which resulted in even more redundancies.
But I digress… how do I want Terabbit Studios to be different? For starters, we have a robust set of four pillars, in which the third pillar is…
“Indie heart, epic output: Deliver AAA studio quality but with indie pride, accountability, ownership, and untempered creativity. We want our developers to feel like they own it… not like they are owned.”
Then there is our policy on Generative AI, which is strictly banned from our studio.
I’ve already had a handful of folks ask me if this is a wise move, asking if this decision might hamstring our development as a studio. But, having experimented with the tools, I can honestly say we can do a better job without them. If they figure out a way to refine the tools that won’t continue to conflict with the intellectual property of other artists, maybe (a big maybe) we’d give them a second look. But as somebody who has also tasted the bitter pill of tech industry layoffs because of big studios shifting to AI to cut corners and save a buck, I never want to inflict that upon anybody else. I will happily stand in front of my colleagues and take that bullet so they don’t have to.
To be clear, I don’t necessarily hate those who want to continue to invest in the future AI has to offer (provided it can overcome the current issues). But with the current industry’s “all in, despite the consequences” or “the ends justify the means” approach to AI right now, I feel anything that devalues our contributors' work in any way should not have a place in the studio.
Some may disagree with this approach, but I sleep better at night, knowing I am doing everything I can to protect my artists ahead of my own gain. And if folks can’t understand that or consider it a move “bad for business,” then I’m delighted to disappoint them.
As a veteran in the adventure gaming genre, where do you see the future of this genre heading, and how does Terabbit Studios plan to contribute to this evolution?
I see the future of adventure remaining in the hands of indie studios. Big studios have proven they are less interested in making games and more interested in making money, leaving the door open for smaller developers to provide the kinds of cinematic experiences big studios aren’t willing to consider (or take a risk on). This means continued innovation and experimentation, with respect for players first. I see adventure games finding their way to more consoles, as the living room seems like the perfect place to experience and share the kinds of stories adventure games offer. I see it as a genre continuing to give support to voice actors (real voice actors) and writers. I see adventure games continuing to be both cerebral and entertaining at the same time.
The Last Ark
Your announcement emphasizes the importance of storytelling and character development. How do you plan to balance complex narratives with engaging gameplay in The Last Ark?
I want players to feel invested and morally conflicted when playing The Last Ark. I’m a huge fan of stories that blur the lines between what we typically consider “good guys” and “bad guys.” I’m writing a sci-fi trilogy (an unrelated story, which also happens to be the same trilogy I’m currently navigating through the publishing landscape) where one of the primary conflicts is precisely that. These “Are we the baddies?” moments invoke a sense of introspection that can be highly impactful.
As the game progresses, we meet many characters who are all passengers aboard the nine arks carrying humanity’s legacy, each with internal conflicts. The question is: do we empathize with them or take advantage? Playing as the ship’s AI lets us approach those questions from a unique perspective.
The Last Ark presents an unusual premise with its narrative-driven gameplay and AI-controlled arks. What were your primary inspirations and influences when conceptualizing this game?
Every time you hear a story about sentient AIs, there is always one type of pessimistic commentary that sounds like, “Well, it looks like this will be our end, and we will deserve it.” That sentiment has stuck with me. What if we *did* deserve it? Would an AI come to that same conclusion? And how would it act and take advantage of it if it did? Would it see humanity’s regret as a weakness and twist the knife, or would it empathize and understand? I wanted to put those questions and choices in the players’ hands from the AI's perspective for a change.
Could you dive deeper into the gameplay mechanics of The Last Ark? Specifically, how will the AI control system and the consequential choice-driven narrative play out in the game?
I preface this very early into development with a “subject to change” note, but so far…
The gameplay involves a UI-heavy navigational mechanism (think FTL, Papers Please, or Cyber Manhunt) but with more opportunities to engage with the game environment (including some first-person exploration). So, as the AI, you have eyes everywhere aboard the Arks: CCTV feeds (both real-time camera angles of environments as well as scripted FMV sequences), inter-ship communications systems (audio, PA, etc.), crew video logs (which will be FMV mostly), email systems, data pipelines, code snippets, maps with real-time passenger location data (both 3D isometric as well as top-down), and more. However, as part of your control over these systems, the more you learn (being a learning AI), the more extensive (and pervasive) your access becomes. 1st person elements may happen when you can gain access to a maintenance drone or a security droid and pilot it in first person to walk through areas of the arks and perform physical espionage tasks.
One of the goals (but not the only) will be to try and destroy as many passengers as possible while not arousing suspicion you are the one behind it all. This means manipulating people and systems and sometimes turning crew against each other. The more you remain under the radar and the more information you absorb, the more access you get to systems, but the more you mess up and make it clear you are behind the espionage, the less access you get and the harder you must work. There will be multiple endings and many ways to play out the game, where choices can either stifle your success or open new avenues.
I had a concerned player reach out to me asking if playing as a cruel AI is necessary and that they may not enjoy being the “bad guy,” to which I said it wasn’t the only way to play the game but may not bode well for your self-preservation as the AI.
How has the advancement in gaming technology impacted the development of The Last Ark, especially compared to your experiences with the Tex Murphy series?
For starters, we no longer need to write games in assembly language. That’s nice. The first Tex Murphy game I came on board with was Tesla Effect, which used an early version of the Unity Engine. It was also my first foray into game engines. But even then, some limitations were evident. Full Motion Video (which I still think has a place in games) didn’t have good native support, so we had to rely on 3rd party tools to work with high-definition and high-bandwidth video. Thankfully, in the ten years since Tesla was released, the engine has gotten much better. However, I still prefer to design and program as much as possible from scratch. 3rd party tools are great, but they create a potential point of failure that ends up outside the developers’ control.
Also, the tools for creating visual effects, full motion video, compositing, etc., have significantly improved. I still use a similar toolset that I did when working on Tesla Effect, but I have grown as an artist over the last ten years, having added Blender to my toolkit.
I consider many cues from the Tex Murphy series part of any good adventure game design bible, like their approach to choice and consequence-driven gameplay, dialog trees, and the fantastic hint system, among the earliest good examples of accessibility in games.
How does Terabbit Studios plan to engage with the gaming community during the development of The Last Ark, and how important is player feedback to your development process?
I have always considered the adventure game community, including supporters of the Tex Murphy series, like a family. And, as with any family, we look out for each other and aren’t afraid to share our thoughts and opinions. This openness has led to one of the most robust and respectful gaming communities. I began my journey into the Tex Murphy universe as a player, then a fan, then an active community member, and I still hold to those roots to this day. I also remain the current and sole person handling the community outreach and engagement for Tex Murphy on behalf of Big Finish Games.
As such, I plan to remain engaged with those communities during development, sharing news via our development blog and on social media. We also plan to host closed betas and perform community playtesting to get ongoing feedback throughout the process. I respect Valve’s approach to playtesting: test early and often!
The Pandora Directive
The Pandora Directive is a classic in the Tex Murphy series. What prompted the original decision to remaster this particular game, and what key enhancements or changes can players expect in the remaster?
One afternoon, Chris Jones walked into my office and said, “Can we play The Pandora Directive at some point?” So, over a week, during our lunch break, Chris, Aaron Conners, Doug Vandegrift, and I played through the game from start to finish. Then, after we got the Mission Street ending, he said: “Boy, imagine what it would look like if it were made today.” I replied: “We don’t have to imagine if we just do it.” And because I had painstakingly collected all the source materials from their previous games over the years, we had access to everything we needed to pull it off.
The only downside was we were only afforded the time to do this in our spare time because the company’s other commitments prevented them from officially supporting it as a standalone project. It was official, just not fully committed to by everybody simultaneously.
But, despite only being able to work on it for fun, Doug, Adrian Carr, Aaron, and I made excellent progress to the point that most of the tasks we set out to do were pretty much complete. The source tapes were remastered to 4K, new environments were created utilizing the latest technology, the music and audio were remastered, and Adrian Carr completed a fresh new edit of all the cinematic sequences. But as of now, it remains on standby until everybody is ready to commit to it as a full-time and fully supported project to bring all those pieces together into a cohesive game.
In the meantime, people can review the progress that was made over at Big Finish Games.
Adventure games have evolved significantly since the early days of the Tex Murphy series. In your view, what are the most critical elements that modern adventure games must have to resonate with today’s audience?
For Adventure Games to continue to evolve and innovate, they need to stay true to their roots in good writing, excellent atmosphere, and a cinematic approach to storytelling. They need to, above all else, respect the player. Lately, there has been a lot of pushback by gamers expressing their distaste for the over-commercialization of modern titles, and they prefer deep stories with well-fleshed-out characters. I’m thinking about Baldur’s Gate 3, though it's more an action-adventure game, as an example. Overall complexity notwithstanding (because BG3 is a highly complex game made by a vast team), adventure games have always had deep stories and excellent characterization.
Developers must also be willing to retire outdated or antiquated game mechanics. Modern gamers are not willing to spend the same amount of time to get absorbed into a game as gamers in the 1990s did, so there must be innovation to capture new audiences. The older Tex Murphy titles are a prime example. While ahead of their time in terms of full 3D environmental exploration, their control scheme hasn’t aged well. Tesla Effect remedied this with a standard WASD control scheme for starters, but gamepads must also be considered. But there are also save mechanisms, hint/guidance systems, localization, and accessibility. Adventure games can’t afford to be made just for adventure gamers, and they need to remind a new industry of gamers that the deep adventure they are looking for exists in a genre that has been around for years.
They also need to continue to support artists (including voice actors) and not succumb to the same type of corner-cutting that other studios are trying to do, especially with generative AI. I know this is easier said than done, especially when making adventure games on a budget. Still, I have always believed that modest budgets don’t necessarily have to mean compromise.
Could you share some insights into the challenges and opportunities you’ve encountered while you were working on The Pandora Directive Remaster, especially considering the advancements in gaming technology and player expectations?
The biggest thing we had to consider was pacing. The Pandora Directive is, to this day, our favorite title in the Tex Murphy series. It was perfectly balanced, with all the ingredients to make an excellent adventure game. But, standing next to today’s games, it feels incredibly slow-paced. We appreciate the pace of The Pandora Directive but understand it would be a hard sell for new audiences. Adrian Carr has done an excellent job of recutting the cinematic sequences to be tighter and flow better without losing any essential content.
We also must explore puzzle design. It’s no longer acceptable to assume that a wealthy collector of antiquities would hide a priceless artifact behind a slider puzzle that an 8-year-old could solve. In the 1990s, because games still had their novelties, you got a pass with these types of mechanics. These days, not so much. So, we began exploring more environmental ways to solve puzzles of this nature.
Another thing was designing the game with consoles in mind. The gap between PC desktops and consoles has gotten so small that it would be foolish not to consider consoles as a primary release platform. Adventure games would work well in the living room, so designing the game to be platform-agnostic with support for controller-based input was essential to consider.
The Tex Murphy series has a dedicated fan base. How has their feedback and support influenced the development of The Pandora Directive Remaster and your approach to new projects at Terabbit Studios?
Having started in this industry as a member of that fan base, I can certainly attest to the dedication of the Tex Murphy community. As such, I have a strong loyalty to them and adventure game communities in general. Their influence has driven my motivation to keep considering, supporting, and delivering projects in the Tex Murphy universe. My only frustration is that I am not always in control of what I can produce or when I can produce it. The Pandora Directive Remaster is a prime example. I have, for my part, done everything I can that is within my control, and now it remains on hold until all members are available or willing to take it further.
This was also a primary driver behind starting Terabbit Studios. I wanted to be in charge of my destiny and become the captain of my own ship, where I could hold myself to the standards I always expected from the game development process. Only then will I be free enough to continue to spread my wings and give flight to new ideas I am confident will find a place in gamers' hearts. I consider the new studio a place of unique opportunity where many other like-minded creatives can band together and discover what it’s like to succeed (or stumble and get back up again) on our own terms.
But I will always have respect and loyalty (and maintain good friendships) towards those who helped me get there and will always be ready and willing to jam when the band is ready to get back together again.
Closing
As we eagerly await the release of both The Last Ark and The Pandora Directive Remaster, what message would you like to share with the fans who have been following your work for years and those who are just discovering the announcement of your new undertaking, Terabbit Studios?
Firstly, to those who have followed along for years, I want to say a huge thank you! You have always supported us as we have worked hard to continue the legacy of adventure games and helped carry them into the future. I have grown alongside you and discovered just how important these stories are. I appreciate your ongoing patience as we try to keep the man in the fedora on the case, as it is also something dear to my heart. But I would also like to do more and hope this new studio and new IPs can continue to scratch that same itch and give players all new stories, characters, and adventures to embark on. Stories that may also one day develop communities and fans of their own.
We appreciate Mat Van Rhoon taking the time to talk to us and look forward to following the development of The Last Ark. If you'd like to stay up to date on The Last Ark or Terabbit Studios, subscribe to their newsletter on their website.
