The May Contract Curator is here and ready. He’s a well-known figure and Mod on Hitman Forum and Discord. He’s a very creative soul and often creates humorous, mind puzzling contracts and shares hilarious and complex videos. This also results in some very interesting ways to take out Elusive Targets. You can play his 11 Curated Contracts now in HITMAN 2.
But now, let’s take some time and get to know him a bit better, and find out more about where he gets his crazy ideas from:
Urben! Nice to meet you.
Hey! Glad to be here!
Can you give us some intel on who you are?
You already summarized me well for what I do at HITMAN so let me add something more personal:
I’m from Germany and currently try to find my place in the software industry. I am an analytic, yet also a creative mind who likes to put that into use not only in gaming but also programming. Let’s see where this leads me to.
I am eagerly using the Internet to find inspiring things, interesting people and also use it to learn. I do that since I was a kid which made me appreciate the value of the digital sphere. Because of that I am also involved in some political activities when I see this space in danger. I also try to inform others from time to time as you can easily miss these things.
If people want to see more of what you do, where can they watch/follow you online?
I am most active on Hitmanforum but also on Discord like the Official Hitman one or the Discord of Frote7’s Speedrun Community. You can find all my creative videos on my Youtube Channel.
Great! Now let’s go back in time: when did you first stumble upon the Bald Assassin?
My first HITMAN game was Blood Money. I did not play it as much as the recent games, but I played through it multiple times with joy. The level I remember the most is “You Better Watch Out…”. Vertical maps are always special and I love to climb or sneak my way to an advantage point and pull off kills from multiple levels below or above.
It’s also a classic! But let’s circle in on the games, what is your favorite Hitman game, and why?
The current ones by far with HITMAN 2 taking the lead. I think the formula was there quite much in older HITMAN games, but with all these ways to interact, multiple starting/exit locations, pickup locations, items and so on… I can only say this is a huge lethal holiday simulator sandbox that I cannot imagine to find in any other franchise.
So keeping it around HITMAN 2, what is your favourite map ?
Everyone saying it is Sapienza is boring, so I go with Isle of Sgàil. While it feels a bit too much as the fortress it actually is, I already said I love vertical maps and this surely is one of them. And the atmosphere is just beautiful.
Now we’ve talked about your favourite game and map, but what in general has been your favourite moment, in HITMAN? Can be anything, from in-game to something you’ve seen, played etc.
Hard to say as I did and saw so much. It almost became regular business. But what really stood out was being invited to the Gamescom to meet you and some cool players from the community to test the upcoming HITMAN 2. It even topped having the studio creative director of IO talking about one of my videos as one of the most creative kills that he has seen so far, right there at the E3. I still wait for my medal by the way. 😉
Also, finding myself in Haven was very special.
Finding once self is always special! – So Urben – You create many awesome videos for HITMAN, if you should point out one of your personal best – which one is it? 😊
It is the Weaponized Parrot Kill on the Revolutionary. It is not only about the idea but also the presentation. And I think I reached a peak with both of them there.
An older one that is also nice to watch is The 250,000,000 Pound Sterling Big One Throw where I throw the Big One on a propane flask. The explosion accelerates it to another flask where the target stands. The music, the slow motion and the fact the target must see the Big One coming for him nails it.
Complexity seems to be a theme here, what’s the most complex thing you’ve done in HITMAN?
There are many complicated things I did. I know you want my answers to be short but you literally ask for it with this one!
I did this sniper double kill in World of Tomorrow. The same bullet kills Franny and later Silvio in his plane. (At 7:30min in the video) The shot was very hard to do as the travel time of the bullet made it impossible to guess when to shoot. I always missed the plane so I had to apply some science!
What I did was pausing the game when his plane was where I want to hit it and made a screenshot of the map so I have his position. Then I looked for a place for 47 on the map to shoot a not-moving object that is equally far away. There I did a test shot on the object, also in slow motion, recorded it, went to my video editor and measured the time from trigger to impact. I applied the same time to a recording of the actual point of view of the kill to see where Caruso has to be on my screen to hit the trigger.
But there was another problem: I did not find an object to shoot at for the test, even from edge-to-edge the map was too small for that distance. So instead I shot at a bell of the boat that is related to the Kraken Easter Egg. But that one is not marked on the map! How do I find out it’s position?
I aimed on the bell from multiple positions on the map so I could use the direction indicator of 47’s position symbol on the map to draw the lines of sight. Where the lines crossed was the position of the bell on the map. With that knowledge I found out that shooting the boat’s bell from the church’s bell (oh the irony) is pretty much the very same distance I was looking for. The rest was the described math with my video editor.
NOW – Contracts time!
Share with us howd you went about choosing/creating/ finding the 11 contracts, what was your process?
I began collecting contracts way before you asked me as I am slow at this. I had a short list of people that are quite creative so I tried to include a contract from each of them. But that was not enough. So I went through the HITMAN 2 contract thread on HMF. Yes, all 3k posts. But I still had not enough! So I reinstalled HITMAN 2016 and went through the contract thread for this game. Yes, all 10k posts. Luckily this way I could also include other creative people that are less active these days. That also made up for me turning down the offer to become the last HITMAN 2016 curator.
I also tweaked some contracts, labelled as REMIX. I want that to be understood as a collaboration, a new concept that makes the batch more special. Not as some attempt to fix something. I wanted the cool ideas to fit better in what I tried to accomplish with this batch.
Legacy, Remix and Mashup – this is awesome! Your 11 picks are now playable in HITMAN 2, can you tell us about the contracts you’ve chosen/ created and why you chose them.
Every contract offers multiple solutions. For example in “The Accidental Gardener“ (Santa Fortuna by Kent) you can either infiltrate the tunnels or set up traps when starting there undercover.
Every contract can also be speedrun, which means there is always a way to spend time usefully. “Bookend Beauties” (Paris by Euler13) kind of requires you to not waste too much time as you cannot KO the targets and need to keep them isolated before returning with the required axes.
Still every contract should be enjoyable if you take your time. You don’t even need Mastery for any of them… in theory.
Although, I could not resist to include a narrower contract that really tests your creativity: “Perfect Shooter Puzzle” (Miami by WhiteHalf).
And as a finish, you get to… uh meet me in Haven in another tricky contract I made myself. Please be gentle~!
Let us go a little behind the screen here:
Preparation is key. What is the one item you always take into a contract with you and why do you like it so much?
I often have my pre-set loadout contain stuff from my last Elusive Target, so I happen to start contracts often with the Big One or Laser Tripwire in my pockets. I am more than happy if I am able to make use of them in the most obscure ways.
Haha Laser Tripwire in pockets – you play a dangerous game Urben! If you should sum up: What makes Contracts so special for you?
The maps, the tools and the ways to combine them is my main enjoyment in these games. I loved Lego as a kid and I kind of do the same here now. Please keep on making unique pieces I can put together!
If it exists, What makes the perfect Contract?
The perfect contract offers a puzzle to solve. And a way to bypass it with more effort if you don’t like that. It can also be done fast, but does not push you if you don’t want to. It limits you to become creative, but is still open enough if you want to do things your way. And you come back to it because after finishing it you have new ideas, new knowledge you want to try out.
What I personally try is to wrap that up in an appearance that makes the contract look easier than it is. According to Munga I am successful at this.
We’re almost at the end Urben, so now is your chance to share or say one last thing before you go. Have at it!
If you like contracts and missed out my featured ones in HITMAN 2016, you are in luck! With the help of MulletPride the best of them are ready to be played on all platforms.
Or if you want to get into contract creation yourself, let me help you with this huge guide that contains many tips about what makes a generally enjoyable contract. Join us whenever Clemens is asking for submissions for Featured Contracts!
And finally I thank all people who follow my videos and leave comments, even to old ones. It wouldn’t be half the fun if I could not share them with you! This community in general is very positive, it is nice to be part of it!
Thank you Urben, and thanks for giving us and the community the opportunity to get to know you a bit better !
Thank you as well! What could I want more?
No seriously, where is my medal?
