My name is Jesse 'WingedCat' MacDonald, leader of Hybrid Software, and the Ill-Omened project. Besides designing and writing the project I'll also be working on the level design, 2d art and skinning, among other things.

I'm a 20-year-old college student from Canada studying to become a graphic designer. I've basically been forming the Ill-Omened (originally known as Scarlet Omega) concept for about 2-3 years. I've had some pretty bad luck with ideas, so I've had to do quite a few rewrites to avoid "copying" a game that comes out with a similar theme. My story was inspired by the X-Files, so that's often difficult.

What I hope to ultimately achieve, as I mention on my site, is to have a deep, unique storyline in which the player is always involved in the action, much like being an active character in a movie. All single player games I've played (with the exception of the amazing Deus Ex, and some earlier releases like Thief) have involved the same boring, repetitive theme. Shoot-kill-findkey-pressbutton-opendoor-killbigmonster-die-repeat. I'd like to help change this, following the trend of some of the better recent releases.

I believe that the conversion from multiplayer to singleplayer will be a difficult process, but once that is out of the way I don't think the actual features will be much more difficult to implement than a multiplayer mod, other than the fact that a single player game requires a lot more coding due to its size and complexity. I don't think that any of the features will be a problem to include, although, if things don't work out I'll definitely be researching some alternative ideas.

Scarlet Omega is a mystery. She will definitely be the only character in the game you control directly. Your teammates will follow various orders you give them, but that's the extent of your control over them. She's trained in various forms of combat so, as I mention on my site, you will have a wide range of combat moves at your disposal, including sneaking up on someone and slicing their neck with a 12 inch combat knife. There are no real abilities, although, you will be able to strengthen various parts of your body to run faster, jump higher, etc.

I can't really discuss any in-game details or even the title of the TC, but I'll just summarize the background story for someone who knows nothing about Ill-Omened. It takes place around 100 years from now in the United States, which has been affected by various wars with rival countries. Basically, the only way to survive in this new world is to make money with illegal activities though other countries. This prompts the Pentagon to create a covert group to prevent these activities, so the country can grow stronger, into what it once was.

Doesn't sound very interesting, but the actual game will be much more
exciting.

Nothing worth mentioning. I used to do quite a bit of editing with the Jedi Knight engine before I got a new computer and was introduced to Half-Life, but nothing of this size and complexity.

It will definitely require a huge amount of time and work, especially considering that TF2 is a multiplayer-only game, but I am confident that all the features I wish to include will make it into the game.

I'd like to keep the team small, so that the needs of all the team members can be met. I'll probably keep it around 10-15 members. Having a different programmer assigned to the various features of the game would be great, and help move things along.

It would be nice to have the modeling side of the TC completed, or close to completion by that time, as well as the sounds, music, textures, and level outlines. I'd also like to have the various aspects of the game planned out with the programmers so that no problems or confusion would arise when they begin work with the SDK. Of course this all depends on when the SDK, and game, are released, and whether or not I get the team members I require.

There will probably be around 10 areas in the game, made up of many levels. I'm really looking forward to seeing the size of the levels in TF2.

I think (hope) it will exceed the level of hype around it. Valve has shown us that they are an extremely talented and successful group of designers, and if they think they can make the best teamplay game ever, I believe them.

Truthfully, I didn't really think about it deeply this until I read this question. I had originally planned for Ill-Omened to be an online Co-op game that you could play offline with computer controlled teammates. That changed, however, much like many of my other ideas. I guess I chose the TF2 engine because I have been interested in it for a long time. Also, I really respect Valve as a company, they are very supportive of the mod-making community.

I think the fact that it's a large single player adventure will appeal to a lot of people. The level of interactivity and realism in the game world is also something I think people will enjoy.