Interview: Soh Raun

[MagSul]

Sitting down with Soh
Soh Raun is the chief developer of RPMod, a unique mod currently exclusive to the ::JEDI:: role-playing community, which he also helps to maintain.

MagSul:
Thank you for agreeing to do this with us.

MagSul:
Your resume includes helping to run the ::JEDI:: RP clan for well over seven years now, and of course, developing RPMod, which for now has remains an exclusive perk for ::JEDI:: members.

So! For the sake of those unfamiliar with it, how would you describe RPMod to your average Jedi Academy player?

Soh Raun:
Well first, thank you for your interest RPMod is a mod that enables Role Play in the Jedi Academy Multiplayer game. It doesn't force any particular model, but gives clans the tools they need to provide an immersive universe themselves (emotes, effects, music, dialogs, video, etc.) It also includes many admin commands and small or bigger modifications that make everyday gameplay easier and more enjoyable for players.

MagSul:
Could you expand on those kinds of features? What kind of admin commands?

Soh Raun:
There are moderation commands like you would find in JA+ (sleep, kick, ban, silence, tele, etc.), commands that affect the universe (music, weather, sounds, notifications, cinematics, effects) and commands to manage player accounts

MagSul:
How are player accounts managed, is all of this done from within the game?

Soh Raun:
Player accounts can be managed from within the game *and* outside the game, on "RPMod Web". Any action performed on any account is synchronized with a centralized database and with other JKA servers connected to it.

Accounts bring the concepts of XP, Classes and Levels to Jedi Academy, in a fully customizable way. I think we have adjusted the Classes at least 3 times in ::JEDI::, since RPMod was first released. Mentors can give Padawans XP (in game or on the web), and Padawans can spend it on Force Powers, which feature 5 levels in RPMod instead of the usual 3.

MagSul:
So is the development of RPMod entirely a solo project, or do you work as a part of a team/bring people on board occasionally?

Soh Raun:
The development of the RPMod is mostly a solo project, although several people contributed things such as enhanced weapon effects, new startup screens, new emotes and the Classes configuration for ::JEDI:: The ::JEDI:: community itself brought many suggestions to the mod as well.

MagSul:
How long have you been developing the mod now, when did you first become interested in developing?

Soh Raun:
The first release of RPMod was on July 1st, 2007. I started developing it a few months before, and have been developing it since then. But when it comes to development, my interest is much older than RPMod. I started coding in Excel (using VB macros) when I was 9 or 10, I think (I'm 25 now).

I've always been interested in making ideas come true thanks to computer programming, and I always enjoy learning new things. So the idea of making a JKA mod was very attractive for me, as I could finally give the ::JEDI:: clan the tools it needed.

MagSul:
2007's going back quite a few years now, what's prompted you to continue developing the mod for so long, do you ever find it difficult to maintain the same level of dedication, passion/motivation?

Soh Raun:
It's true it has been a long ride. In the first years, I mostly developed the JKA game mod itself, to make RP more enjoyable and to bring new possibilities to players. Lately, I've spent a lot less time on the game itself, but I've invested many months of development in the "RPMod Web" counterpart of the mod.

This new web interface brings many new features as well, such as advanced server administration tools (live logs, files management, asset repositories, one-click deployment of PK3s, etc.)
My main motivation is in pushing the limits further and learning new things along the way, I guess. Although I haven't made any new client mod release for almost 3 years, I've kept maintaining the server parts with security/stability fixes and I still have a few more things unreleased. One of these is the "RPMod Launcher", that will make auto-updating of PK3s possible with a user-friendly interface connected to RPMod Web.

MagSul:
Speaking as someone who has had to constantly keep their files up to date in the past as a member of ::JEDI::, that auto-updating feature sounds bliss!

Speaking of ::JEDI::, just how long have you been a part of the community now?

Soh Raun:
Answering this question is going to make me feel old but I first connected to the JEDI server in July 2005. I've been there since then, and the young Initiate Soh Raun became a venerable High Councilor.

MagSul
That *is* going back some. Could you explain RPMod's importance in keeping JEDI active/healthy?

Soh Raun:
Well, JEDI existed before RPMod. But RPMod certainly gave its members the opportunity to do things they couldn't do before - particularly, immersive "missions" and full-blown storylines - that may have helped keep the community active and interested in the RP experience JEDI has to offer.

MagSul:
Do you think RPMod ever had any reverse effects on the community?

Soh Raun:
The only one I can think of would be the XP system, that may have brought a sense of "competition" between Padawans that didn't really exist before. But the ::JEDI:: Council insists on the fact that XP should not matter - RP does. XP is only a gameplay tool.

MagSul:
I suppose that's a danger with any mod that introduces any kind of XP system, it bridges the gap towards the MMORPG domain of video games.

You mentioned that it's been a few years since the last major client release, what additional features can players expect from the next release of RPMod, can we expect another?

Soh Raun:
Yes, definitely. The next release will include the Launcher/Updater I mentioned earlier, along with a few game features: support for up to 64 players, some of the "cheat-only" commands as regular admin commands (noclip, nodraw, etc.), new admin commands (/rpdump to save/load all settings of the map, /rpschedule to execute commands at a certain time - you could use this to make timed events occurs in a mission) And a few others like smooth zooming, positionable/scalable shader overlays, guest account, etc.

MagSul:
Those would be some pretty good features to have in your arsenal, which leads me to ask this question originally posed by Azatha: Do you ever intend to release RPMod to the rest of Jedi Academy outside of JEDI?

Soh Raun:
This has always been the plan, since the start. However, this isn't easily done. The "connected" features of RPMod (like accounts) haven't been made to support multiple clans, so some rework is needed on this side to isolate things properly - you wouldn't want admins from other clans to have rights on you own clan servers.

The recent release of the new generation of "RPMod Web" will make this possible, but it's still a lot of work. And beyond the purely technical aspects, documentation and support is also necessary to make the mod usable by non-JEDI members.

As I'm doing all of this only on my free time, I can't give any date, but my original intention remains the same.

MagSul:
It's been a routinely asked question for quite some time now. When the first public release does comes around, I have no doubt RPMod'll become popular across a lot of servers. Which brings me to a question posed by Eezstreet. Once RPMod's out there, it will obviously be facing competition with existing mods.

What do you think about OpenRP, and how will your mod address any sort of shortcomings that OpenRP might have?

Soh Raun:
I haven't looked at OpenRP, so I can't really compare. I'm not particularly interested nor worried by competition, as I first made RPMod to make RP better in JEDI. I think this goal was reached, so the rest is bonus.
I can only say that RPMod has been field-tested for many years, and has brought some exclusive features to Jedi Academy such as connected accounts, XP/Classes/Levels, NPC dialogs. Some other mods have taken inspiration from RPMod, just like RPMod itself took ideas from JA+ and OJP.

MagSul:
I never really saw the point in comparing mods with one another, each is bound to be tailored to suit different needs of players, so we may as well just focus on sharing what we know with each other to create better content.

This last question comes from Jango40

Possibly the trickiest one to answer.

Original or Paprika flavoured Pringles?

Soh Raun:
Haha. I'd say Paprika, personally.

MagSul:
Good choice!

Thanks for taking the time to answer all of these questions, Soh!

We really appreciate it.

Soh Raun:
No problem at all. Thanks to you too, and keep up the good work at JKHub! Jedi Academy definitely needed an active community to keep it alive

MagSul:
Thanks a lot, we will do!

Click here to view the article

[therfiles]

I think I tried out RPMod once...and it was amazing! Thanks Soh Raun for the interesting interview!

[Mog]

I've always wanted to try out RPMod, it seems very well structured and maintained.