Interview – Rob Alderman
I had the chance to do a written interview with Rob Alderman, Head of Sales at Prodos LTD.
Prodos Games LTD is currently working on Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins. The game will be released worldwide in 2015.
We started the interview back in december 2014 and completed it in march 2015.
If you are looking for the Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins
FAQ, you can find it
here.
Peer: Hi Rob, thank you for taking the time for this interview. Please tell us something about yourself first.
Rob: Hi! I’m the Head of Sales at Prodos Games LTD, but I have basically been with the company ever since the first Alpha Testing of Warzone Resurrection in the
UK. It was a very different game at that point! I’ve been painting miniatures since I was 6 or 7, after accidentally going into a shop in Maidstone with my parents and being showed a certain game set in the 41st millennium by an over-enthusiastic red-shirted man. One day, I would love to shake the hand of said red-shirted man and thank him. Suffice to say, I won a game, was given a small metal miniature and also a catalogue of figures which I looked at for several hours that evening. I’m 24 now and have been a ‘professional’ wargamer since I was 15; sculpting miniatures, writing rules, writing stories, playtesting games and running demos… I like to think I know my industry, but every so often I get new and exciting things thrown at me from nowhere! It’s an awesome ride!
Peer: It is December and 2014 is nearly history. The successful funding of Alien Vs Predator The Miniature Game, a lot of work, a lot of travelling, the deletion of the Kickstarter page and impatient backers are lying behind you. How do you feel at the moment?
Rob: I’m not sure words can express quite how I feel! I’m a pretty down to earth person, so if I get down, I get really, really down. Let’s just say I have an amazingly supportive fiancee and there are select fans out there that quite literally save the day. I think the most positive thing is my hope for 2015. We’ve had some amazing milestones in 2014 and 2015 promises some more amazing ones. I’ve been working out my calendar and it is all looking pretty fantastic!
Peer: What significance has the Alien franchise in your personal life?
Rob: The Alien franchise, for me, is the quintessential Science Fiction. It is dark, mysterious and has had a lot of things developed around it. The first Alien film is a horror, it is tense and keeps you on edge. Even now, 35 years later, it terrifies people. It’s one of those films, among many, that I watched when I was younger than I should have been, but I do not regret it as it really shaped things for me. Giger’s work is fantastic, and a lot of it appears (albeit significantly changed here and there) throughout the franchise. It’s dark and unremitting, exaggerating how little we actually understand of the world around us. Now, being able to present that in miniature is truly awesome.
Peer: Your favorite alien movie?
Rob: My favourite Alien movie? It’s hard as I studied film as a part of my further education (pre-University, if you like), so I therefore read a lot into how things are filmed, how characters are developed, how shots are lined up to achieve a specific reaction or effect in the viewer. Alien is a very, very clever film. However, if I was going to put on a film to watch over and over, I think it has to be Aliens. The characters are made to be endearing, the pace is fast and action-packed.
Peer: I am sure you heard that Neill Blomkamp is doing a new Alien movie. What is your opinion on that?
Rob: We’re super excited for it! Anything that extends the potential for both the Alien and Predator licenses really gets us excited. Ultimately, we’re all fans of the setting, after all!
Peer: So, what is included in the license you obtained from Fox? What are you allowed to use in your game?
Rod: Anything from the solely Alien vs Predator Films, comics, books or computer games as well as non-named characters and creatures from the Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Predator, Predator 2 and Predators film. We are currently unsure whether this includes any other future projects. This means we cannot, for example, use Terminators from the ‘Alien vs Predator vs Terminator’ comics, or Judge Dredd in ‘Judge Dredd Incubus’, but if there was a new breed of alien or predator, not linked to the other license, then we could use that potentially too. Of course, it all relies on approval, which is normally Fox deciding if they think it is suitable for the license.
Peer: Has it been your first Kickstarter or have you been involved with the Warzone Kickstarter as well?
Rob: I was involved with the Warzone Resurrection Kickstarter. I wasn’t employed by Prodos Games at that time, but the owners were good friends of mine. They threw ideas at me and I threw ideas at them too. It was very exciting as I was an ‘insider customer’, so I actually pledged quite high on the Warzone Resurrection Kickstarter! I’ve got limitless faith for the product line and setting. It’s totally awesome and the figures are fantastic.
Peer: How long has it taken you from the first talk with Fox to the start of your Kickstarter?
Rob: I’m not sure you know. It was actually Mark that initiated the conversation with 20th Century Fox. I think it was 3 months, I recall it being very quick and I was taken aback by how fast we turned that around into a Kickstarter. We had the first Infant Alien printed in China and that was knocking around our office for a few weeks. It was a very exciting time, but that print was awful! Not sure where it’s ended up now, but we’ve moved on from even then and the stuff we’re printing using our own 3d printing service (which we offer to other companies in the industry) is absolutely unbelievable.
Peer: In comparison to board and card games miniature games are able to collect a lot more money on Kickstarter. While (most) board and card games can be played out of the box miniature games often need to be assembled and painted first. What is so fascinating about miniature games?
Rob: Miniature Games are tangible, they have a feel and they are nice to look at. Playing cards is nice, and artwork can be great, the feel of the game can be great, but there is certainly an itch scratched by miniature gaming that any other kind of gaming cannot achieve. That’s not to say that Miniature gaming is superior to any other kind, but each type of gaming has its own advantages.
Peer: People often say the golden age of crowdfunding already lies behind us. Established companies are using crowdfunding plattforms as pre-order system, smaller companies and projects hardly get funded and backers are more demanding. Do you agree with this opinion?
Rob: Sort of, yes. I think there are certain companies that rely on it, that’s fine. There are also smaller companies setting them up for smaller projects, that’s great. For us, it’s been a great help in a few ways, most importantly, getting the projects actually funded to be made (not just a pre-order) and also as a platform for advertising. In a way, it’s great that we did not make millions, as that would have taken away from our post-Kickstarter sales, which for Warzone has been amazing and the interest in AvP is simply stunning. I doubt we will run many more Kickstarters, if any. We would prefer to just go ahead with more great products once they are ready, and avoid the ‘
WIP’ shots, in progress stuff and nasty delays being widely shown in the public view. It doesn’t help us, nor the companies we have partnered with.
Peer: How active are you on Kickstarter? Do you back many projects?
Rob: Me, personally? I love it! I go after quite a few little ones, get to know people, socialise and offer them help where we can. We actually provide a number of manufacturing services to a number of companies. It’s up to them to tell you that we do! I’ve backed to open a ‘Cat Cafe’ in Nottingham, to create the Arcworlde Miniatures Game, to get a number of models made by Bob Olley, all sorts!
Peer: As you mentioned before you turned AvP into a Kickstarter within 3 months and have used a lot of
WIP shots. Do you think you could have achieved more if you would have taken more time before the Kickstarter launch?
Rob: Yes, we could have, but we did run the Kickstarter to raise the funding we needed to support the project’s growth. Without the Kickstarter, there would not have been an AvP at all. If anything, the estimation should have been much longer and has since been noted!
Peer: How has the project changed from the initial idea to what it is now and how much backer feedback went into it?
Rob: I’m not sure, we always knew what we wanted to achieve. We do listen to customers though and take their ideas on board. Having so many megafans on board has it’s advantages! Some of the suggestions that have been made are totally inspired. Some obvious, others less so. I obviously can’t give any examples!
Peer: What is your favorite AvP model?
Rod: Ohhhhhh, gotta be the Predator Hell Hounds! I love ‘em!
Peer: Let us talk about the future of AvP. People are already creating their own stories, scenarios and material for your game. Is there a chance that you might offer templates to support them?
Rob: The rules contain the option to make your own missions, so totally!
Peer: What about painting tips and maybe even AvP painting sets?
Rob: I’d love to. Unfortunately we were priced out of painting sets for now, but it’s certainly something we’ll look at in the future. Painting guides will pop up here there and everywhere, I am sure!
Peer: Are you going to support organized play?
Rob: That’s the plan! We do it a little for Warzone Resurrection, especially focusing on 2015. So let’s see.
Peer: It was mentioned that with the first expansion the Marine ship might crash land on a jungle planet. Are you still working on this or are you going to surprise us with something totally different?
Rob: Unfortunately we cannot talk about future projects. I can certainly say that we do have intentions to expand the game in several different ways, but you will have to wait to find out!
Peer: You cannot talk about expansions yet but can you tell us if the expansions will be made of the Kickstarter urethane plastic or the retail version plastic?
Rob: Depends on popularity really! There is a huge investment for injection moulded plastic and it is very time consuming to get it started. However, the material is affordable and you can really mass produce with it. Of course, the cost of setting it all up has to be spread across to make sure there is a profit! As for Urethane resin, individual moulds cost less, but they wear out after several dozen pulls, so must be remade. It’s more labour intensive and the setting time is longer, but for shorter production runs, it is much more suitable. We actually manufacture everything in Urethane resin at the moment, but the Procast technique has allowed us to really streamline it into a semimass production process and we have one of the largest resin casting facilities in the world.
Peer: Since you already announced that you are working on translations for your other game Warzone Resurrection, how likely is it that you will also translate AvP?
Rob: Very likely!
Peer: Might these translations see the light of day in 2015?
Rob: I’m not sure, it depends on the traction of the project. If it’s madly successful, then the investment will be easier for us and we will. If it’s a slow take-up, then it will be a slow progress.
Peer: The final words are yours!
Rob: Just remember, ‘on Kickstarter, everyone can hear you scream’…
Legion: Dark Angels 
-- $k 
-- 9k 
-- 6k 
-- 4k 
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