Dazkarieh
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Em: http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=1429
A meta é mesmo 30fps, mas... pode haver surpresas
Could you please explain how the previous few months, since the announcement of “The Conduit” have been for you and your colleagues at High Voltage?
(Tom Martin, The Conduit Producer) It has been a very exciting time for us to say the least! The feedback from gamers has been tremendous. The team truly appreciates the support The Conduit has received from its fans. It really helps drive us to do all we can to make the game the best it can be.
For the few people that have been living under a rock the last months: Could you introduce “The Conduit” to our readers?
(Tom) The Conduit is a first-person action shooter for the Wii. The story follows an agent named Ford as he tries to unravel the secrets deep within the inner circles of Washington DC. Multiple weapon and enemy types keep the fast-paced game play moving along as Agent Ford comes closer to the truth behind The Conduit. Oh yeah, the game looks awesome!
Just when it started to look like epic, mature core games for Wii wouldn’t be coming anytime soon, all of a sudden there’s High Voltage, with a visually stunning FPS. When did you decide: “we’re going for Wii and we’re going all the way”? And what lead to this decision, since not a lot of developers were taking that direction?
(Tom) Our goal from the beginning was to leverage every bit of graphical and game play power possible from the Wii console. The Quantum 3 engine, being the core of our development process, allowed for some amazing results. The reason we went the direction we did was actually because no one else was going that way. We wanted to develop a game that no one else has for the Wii.
How did your colleagues/competitors in the game industry react to your decision to make a hardcore game for Wii?
(Tom) We have had a lot of positive comments and interest from the game development community. Seeing a demo of The Conduit is certainly near the top of everyone’s list when we get industry visitors to the studio.
Could you tell us something about the risk assessment process that, I suppose, has been done before starting this project? Did you look at titles like Resident Evil 4: Wii edition to support your view that these titles do have an audience on Wii?
(Tom) We looked at several titles for the Wii and other consoles during the planning phase. On the team side of things, we were interested in making the type of game we would like to play ourselves; one that’s very fun to play and looks fantastic. While there are a lot of excellent games available on the Wii, we hope ours will strike the same chord with other gamers as it did for us.
All the credits to wii.ign.com for picking the game up and giving it so much attention, but how did you come to the decision to stop looking for a publisher and instead introduce the game directly to the audience? And what are your feelings that this was a necessary step because publishers didn’t seem to believe in traditional core games on Wii?
(Tom) We had the opportunity and plenty of content to show. Everything just lined up in the right place at the right time. I’m not sure if it was necessary step, but it’s one I’m glad we took.
I think it’s fair to say that the hype around “The Conduit” has been astonishing, especially for a new franchise. Did you expect such a reaction from Wii owners and gamers in general? And has the hype influenced the development of the game?
(Tom) To be candid, we didn’t quite expect such an overwhelming response. We all knew we were creating something special at the time, but the feedback was amazing. We simply wanted to show the audience a bit of what we had been working so hard on over the past several months.
You already mentioned that you “borrowed” some ideas from games like Halo and Half-Life. Beside the fact that these are great FPSs they’re also quite story driven. Can we expect the same for “The Conduit”? Can you tell us something about the depth of the storyline and the background story of the game?
(Tom) The story in The Conduit is totally different than either Halo or Half-Life. We have written an original story that I find quite thought-provoking. We wanted to tell the story without taking up too much game play time. While the story and subject matter is deep, it’s also very fast-paced. All I can say about the plot is expect some twists and turns along the way!
Everyone is looking forward to a game that really shows the potential for FPSs on Wii, especially on the control side. What can we expect from “The Conduit” that even, like stated by HV in an interview, impresses gamers that mainly play FPSs on the PC?
(Tom) I think our greatest strength is the sheer amount of customization that can be done concerning the controls. The customization is closer to something you would find in a PC game, allowing the player to remap and configure their controls to be “just right”.
The Wii controls are unique to gaming and feel quite intuitive in a shooter.
How is your Quantum 3 engine received in the development world? And do you have many licensing requests for it?
(Tom) We are really proud of our Quantum 3 tech. We have an excellent team of engine developers who constantly work to refine and improve the engine to meet the needs of the game development team. I suspect they use some sort of magic. Licensing is a bit out of my realm, so I couldn’t answer to licensing requests.
Are some of High Voltage’s developers sometimes frustrated with Wii’s graphical power? The game surely looks great, but I´m sure a lot of your developers have the artistic drive to deliver the best possible result. Is there no one that said “what if we made it for 360…”?
(Tom) I think what we have been able to achieve so far has pleased everyone on the team. It is extremely challenging to push the limits of the Wii as far as we have, and it’s very rewarding to see the results. There is a limited amount of memory and CPU power available, and we have to work within those constraints. There is no way around that. The team is always up for a challenge, however, and I’m very proud of their progress on The Conduit. I think the game looks even better every day!
The Conduit already looks great, but do you think your second full Wii game (if there will be one?) will look even better, since the quality of the graphics usually improves once developers gain more experience with it? Or have you already reached the limits of what’s possible on Wii?
(Tom) Technically and physically, we are pushing the limits of what’s possible on the Wii. There is a physical limit when we are talking about graphical resolution or number of processes that can be done simultaneously. The key lies in the realm of artistry. Our artists are continually amazing everyone in the studio with each new project, so I expect some delicious-looking games in the years to come.
High Voltage is one of the few developers that have experience in making a high quality game for Wii. Have you been contacted by publishers to develop for them, maybe one of their main franchises? And will your decision on who can publish “The Conduit” depend on future assignments? Or do you prefer your current strategy of developing something totally independent?
(Tom) HVS has been developing games since 1993. We have partnered with numerous publishers over the years and still enjoy close relations with them. We are taking our time to make sure we find a great partner for The Conduit. We are always considering future assignments, but our main focus remains on the current project. Developing The Conduit independently has been challenging and rewarding. I know I’ve had a great time so far!
You have stated that you receive lots of support from Nintendo. Not the first company you’d think of in regard to FPSs, can you tell us something about this cooperation?
(Tom) Nintendo has been great in their support of The Conduit as well as other titles we have worked on. They are helpful with QA standards as well as developing technology. Generally the Wii’s online capabilities aren’t considered to be the best around.
What can we expect from “The Conduit” online? Will we need FriendCodes? How many persons will be playing simultaneously?
(Tom) There is still a lot that’s undecided on the online front. We are considering all of our options at this point to make sure the online component of the game is as fun and accessible as possible. We are shooting for as many players simultaneously as we can while keeping a high graphic quality. It’s a delicate balancing act, but I’m confident we can do it well.
You’ve promised 30 frames per second stable on The Conduit. Personally I’m happy as long as it’s stable, but is there any chance the single player will run in 60fps?
(Tom) Our bar for development is set at a stable 30 frames per second, but we are constantly optimizing and improving the engine. It’s hard to say at this point what the final FPS will turn out to be.
When will we learn more on “Animales de la Muerte”? Can you already disclose something about the game?
(Tom) There has been a lot of interest in Animales. Beyond that, I currently don’t have any more information on the project at this time.
Since you have “Gyrostarr” and “Animales de la Muerte” launching on the service, what is your opinion about WiiWare? Is there a big difference in the way you treat these games in comparison with “The Conduit”? And is it hard to cope with the limitations of WiiWare?
(Tom) I personally think WiiWare is fantastic. It gives us the opportunity to create the really fun, smaller games that our talented designers have had rolling around in their heads. The biggest difference with WiiWare games is the team size, but just as much hard work goes into developing them. The file size limits of a WiiWare title are definitely challenging. We just have to wrap a lot of fun into a small package!
Can you tell us something about the (sales and critical) expectations you have for “The Conduit”, “Gyrostarr” and “Animales de la Muerte”?
(Tom) We would love to see great sales figures of course. As a team, we are concentrating really hard on making the best game we possibly can. I think that’s our best option.
What will the future bring for High Voltage? And what will High Voltage bring us in the future? (Tom) I can’t stress enough how talented and fun the people are here in our studio. I see a bright future due to all their hard work and dedication. Expect to see some more great things from High Voltage in the near future!
Em: http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=1429
A meta é mesmo 30fps, mas... pode haver surpresas
, não fica muito atrás em termos graficos dos HL2
