Hannu and Jukka Rabina Interview on GeneRally

Shortly after release of GeneRally to the community, James Burgess interviewed both the developers for RSC.

JB: Firstly, can you both tell us a bit about yourselves and what you do.

HR: Hi, I’m Hannu.
JR: I’m a motor sport fanatic. At the moment I’m studying in university of Jyväskylä.

JB: For people who don’t know – what is GeneRally and where can we find it?

HR: GeneRally is a cute little racing “simulator”. GeneRally website is located at https://gene-rally.com/
JR: Go get it!! (Hannu told me to say that)

JB: How did you come about to start creating your own game?

HR: Out of boredom, just for fun, and to have a nice game to play every now and then.
JR: Once upon a time I couldn’t get a summer job so I decided to do something. I had done some 2D car ‘simulations’ before but they were so difficult to drive that nobody could play them with me. So this I wanted it to be easy but fun to drive. This project just kept going and it became GeneRally.

JB: Did you ever envisage that your game would become so popular?

HR: I thought GR was a good game, so I can’t say I’m too surprised. Still, it was really hard to imagine it getting this big.
JR: GeneRally is fun to play but I didn’t think it would be such a success.

JB: What do you think of the general quality of the mods and updates out there?

HR: Of course there is some good and some less good mods available. Then there’s the minority of exceptionally well-made stuff. I’m always happy to see a good new mod. Sometimes the talent and effort put into these creations just blows me away. It makes me wonder if there’s any limit to imagination of these people.
JR: There is lots of good stuff and lots of bad stuff. Because of the bad stuff it’s sometimes difficult to find that good stuff.

JB: Given the information we have about GR and the way it works – have we gone to the limits of editability or is there still more for us to find out?

HR: You may be slowly approaching the limit but I think there’s always some more to discover.
JR: Don’t know.

JB: Moving away from mods, can we expect anything new from GeneRally in the near future?

HR: Feature-wise I find the game quite satisfying. At the same time I have few ideas I would like to add to GeneRally some day. I would not describe that day as being a day in near future, though.
JR: I think GeneRally is now the final game. At the moment I’m very interested in doing a true 3D racing simulator. I don’t know if it ever will become a game.

JB: Exactly how much – if any – inspiration did you get from the “Slicks ‘n’ Slide” game?

HR: I used to play Slicks quite a lot back in the days. Therefore it’s only natural to get some inspiration from there.
JR: Very very very much. Well, Slicks ‘n’ Slide was a great game.

JB: What is your opinion on the current Competition/League situation in the GeneRally community?

HR: Hard to say. I’m not involved in that scene too much.
JR: It is great.

JB: Final question, on a non-GeneRally topic. What are your favourite games at the moment?

HR: Lately, I’ve had some fun with Worms. For some reason Grand Prix Legends is constantly at very high position in my rank.
JR: Of course GPL is always my favourite. At the moment the nostalgic Grand Prix 2 is in my mind.

JB: Thank you both for your time.

HR: You’re welcome. It was pure agony.
JR: Thank you.