The best source of information I've been able to find so far is an article about the game in a
study association's magazine from 2001, by Marc Reekers. It's in Dutch, here's a lightly cleaned up machine translation:
Crash Masters was commissioned by Schaeffer Wunsch Has to create an internet site and computer game that is the central part of a new campaign to promote milk to Dutch young people: the 'Milk, the White Engine' campaign. We were called in by the advertising agency when they decided to create a real game, instead of making TV commercials starring a game character.
Paramount was that the game should be accessible to as many young people as possible. A game that can be downloaded for free from the Internet is an obvious choice. The requirements for the hardware had to be be as low as possible, without the game losing quality. Therefore, although SWH would would have preferred this, a 3d engine was not used, because that would leave out anyone who does not have a 3d card or a fast computer. Instead, an existing 2d engine was adapted, namely that of JazzJackrabbit2, a sidescrolling platform game. The adaptation was carried out by Lost Boys games, which is also responsible for the original engine. The integration of site and game was something that was paramount for Crash Masters from the very first moment. A game on the Internet, a web game, has usually has the function of generating more traffic, and to enlarge the stickyness of a site and the visitor's attachment to a product or company. Web games, however, are usually rather non-committal. There is no connection with the product or company beyond the fact that the logo or product might be visible. It is always the same games you come across: golden oldies like pacman, tetris or memory. The only bond the player can build with a particular game is trying to get on the highscores list. He might as well go to another site to play the same game in a different form. Crash's starting point is that a game on the Internet is more effective when it distinguishes itself in originality, quality and in offering extras on the site that increase involvement with the game.Moreover, the site, and not the game, is particularly suited to convey a message about the product. Although Milk the game is not a web game in the strict sense - you don't play it in a browser - the transition from browser to game has been made as "seamless" as possible.The game must be downloaded and saved to the hard drive, but it can only be started from the site.
In developing the site, the goal was to create a true 'Milk, the White Engine' site aimed at young people.The premise was that visitors should feel that the site is "cool" over and over again.There should be something new to find each time. This target audience is particularly enticed by the communicative aspects of the Internet. Chat is one of the most widely used forms of (Internet) communication. By offering it as an integral part of both the game and the site, it provides a good basis for a community.
Visitors log into a chat environment, where they can connect with peers and play Melk the game. They choose an avatar and walk around in a consistently elaborated virtual world: a street in an indeterminate, but typically Dutch city, including (milk) bar, game shop, phone booth and residence.The design is consistent with that of the game. The avatar chosen in the chat environment is also the hero or heroine in the game. Services are available such as e-cards and a magazine where information about milk can be found, which are regularly updated.The services are embedded in the chat world in the form of a post office and a kiosk. Once visitors have played the game, all kinds of additional features are available in the chat world. For example, they can "rent" their own chat room, where they can meet up with other visitors and exclude anyone who is not welcome. They can decorate that chat room to their own taste. Milk cartons picked up in the game serve as a means of payment. They also offer the visitor extra possibilities when chatting; for example, they can pelt another visitor with a milk carton, so they then temporarily turn into a cow and every fourth word they say is replaced by 'meuh'.
In line with the chat environment, emphasis was placed from the beginning on the multiplayer game, in which several players play against each other over the Internet. Initially, a single player platform game was still chosen where levels had to be completed in a certain order to make a multiplayer level available. After the first test, however, the multiplayer level emerged as the strongest.In the end, the single player part was dropped completely and five multiplayer games were developed, all in a different setting in the Dutch city, where the player encounters not only the opponents but also the computer-controlled enemies from the single player version (the "monsters"). With the combination of human and computer-controlled opponents, Melk the game is fairly unique. Ensuring that the players and the monsters appear on the screens of all players without delay was the biggest technical challenge of Melk the game.
Most online multiplayer games are of the deathmatch type, or they are team games. In Milk the game, players can choose from a standard deathmatch, where they have to defeat each other and the monsters, and a standard team game, namely 'capture the cow' (normally 'capture the flag'), where they have to capture the other party's cow and throw it into a large meat grinder to score milk cartons. There are also three new game modes: 'milkman,' where players must hold the cow for as long as possible (they lose her if they are hit); 'milk hunt,' where as many milk packs as possible must be collected; and 'payback,' where the game continues until all monsters are defeated. To guarantee broad accessibility, explicit violence was dispensed with. Players pelt each other with milk cartons and fish bowls, and they can only be hit or bitten.
Crash did most of this job in-house. Outsourced were the programming of the game (engine was provided by Lost Boys games) and the site in Shockwave (Eric Adriaans and Martijn Voerman); the backgrounds were done by Anitime, and Hotel is responsible for the design and maintenance of the e-card service and the magazine. The various ingame characters were developed together with SWH. The music was commissioned by SWH and created by Thomas Krarup of Massive Music. Faried Verheul was responsible for the imple- mentation of his compositions within Melk the game.