The information engines have yet to cool off for MotorStorm: Pacific Rift as Paul Hollywood, Creative Director for Evolution Studios talks to eu.playstation.com to get you revved up for an off-road racing extravaganza.
How is MotorStorm: Pacific Rift using the abilities of PLAYSTATION 3?
PS3 is the only console powerful enough to realise our dreams. We're using every single part of the system, but we're not maximising it yet - more through our knowledge rather than the hardware itself. What we did on our games, from our first game to our fifth on PlayStation 2, were miles apart. The hardware was the same, the changes are just the way we utilise the hardware. We try a few things, we learn and then we advance on that, so we're just getting far more from the system in comparison to the first MotorStorm game.
What were the main factors you had to deal with in putting the monster truck into the game, regarding balance and other gameplay elements?
The monster truck was one of our biggest challenges because we don't like to do things half-heartedly or give ourselves an easy ride - we like to push and challenge ourselves. Selecting seven vehicles for the first MotorStorm title which all have their unique characteristics and have to balance against each other to race around a single track (which is actually more like seven tracks in one), and then throwing in the monster truck as well... that could have put the whole thing out of skew.
But I think we've got the right balance as even though the monster truck can go over certain terrain it can't fit down other channels, and while it's good in a straight line it's not too good on cornering, so there are positives and negatives on every single vehicle class and then we temper that with positives and negatives in all the different groups, such as water, vegetation, hot rocks which may all slow you down, the size of the channel, the terrain you're on...
Have there been some unexpected or surprising events that have happened during testing the game?
Yeah! An analogy is it's like making a chilli. You put all the ingredients in the pot and you stir it up and give it a taste. When we made MotorStorm we put in all these different vehicles with different handling characteristics into this chaotic environment and then added things like the Havok physics. I'm not saying it was a bit hit or miss, but it started to taste really good straight away and then we seasoned it and made it really good looking at the end of production.
Where we are with Pacific Rift is very much the same sort of thing - we've got all the latest Havok code and are very lucky to have their full support. We really pushed their systems with the amount of vehicles, the amount of debris objects, the amount of hinged objects, the rag doll physics... all this stuff we're demanding from them and they deliver for us. And it just adds that element of realism because it's all loaded into a true physics engine, but sometimes when you're playing a game you get that Uncanny Valley effect, that something didn't quite bounce or move right and it destroys that illusion. It has to be believable. It has to look real so you don't feel like you have to question it, and allow yourself to be totally immersed in that experience.
The island obviously plays a massive part of the game, almost acting as a character to MotorStorm: Pacific Rift itself. What was it like researching it?
[laughs] Yeah... it was a real bind to go to Hawaii for three weeks and fly around in helicopters and travel in speedboats... [laughs]. Doing the reference trip is a fantastic experience but very difficult as well. I was lucky enough during the World Rally Championship games to go to all the different countries where the rallies were showing, sometimes on my own with just a camera going on a little adventure. You never quite know what you're going to find on a reference trip, and half of it is like a guerrilla attitude where you just turn up and do whatever you need to do.
Similarly, when we went to Hawaii, we sort of had an idea of the location. It's the most amazing place I've ever been to, because of the variety and the tension. You'll be in the thickest jungle and then you'd pop out and there'd be nothing, just death and black lava because 100 years ago it had totally wiped out everything and nothing would be living there at all. And then we were like on top of a 12,000 foot volcano, above the clouds, we were in swamps, we were on beautiful beaches and the coast... and it was just awesome.
We've got some interesting fly-on-the-wall footage that we took while we were there. We may include it, possibly in the extras of the game. But while we were there we weren't just looking at the beauty of it, thinking that if we could just replicate this we could put this in the game, but we could also see how we could add to these elements of the environment to the gameplay, so we had water with flow and buoyancy, lava with heat, high altitude tracks with the danger of falling off... and it's just the most amazing place to put brutal off-road racing.
What were the main characteristics and essential elements from Hawaii that you wanted to portray in the game?
The tension. The variety and differences between all these areas that make up the island. We've classified these four elements for the tracks, so there's water, air, earth, and fire, but they're not mutually exclusive, so in one track you'll have a bit of vegetation, water and then maybe end up high on a cliff, so it's recreating that tension between these different areas that we saw in the reference trip and the way that made us feel when we encountered it, that amazement. That's what we wanted to get into the game.
Was there anything that you came across in your research for MotorStorm: Pacific Rift that you initially wanted to put in, but didn't find the time or it wasn't realistically viable?
Not really... our ambitions are limited by our imagination and sometimes we'll get back and we'll try a few things and yet they may not work, but all the key things we wanted to do when we were at the reference trip and wanted to put into the game, we got into the game. It's getting that balance and knowing where to draw the line with stuff we don't need against the important things, and I think we've really nailed that. This part of development is my favourite time, where we really start to see the game mature.
What sort of emotions do you want the players to feel when they play MotorStorm: Pacific Rift?
We want the player to laugh out loud. I remember vividly working on the Tokyo Game Show demo for MotorStorm. I sat in the office on my own at 3am in the morning, playing the demo laughing out loud and turning around to tell anyone "did you see that..." and then realising I was on my own [laughs]. It was mad. And that's where brutal off-road racing was born, it's that combination of the rag doll physics, the destruction of the vehicles, that element of "come on, reset it, I want to play again".
Especially with the split-screen racing - there's nothing better than sitting with a friend and seeing how they're actually playing while jostling them, so I'm really excited about that social aspect. I think we've reinvigorated the arcade style off-road racer, and I'd like to think that with MotorStorm: Pacific Rift we're going to reinvigorate that offline multiplayer experience.
We'd also like to think it's a bit of a lifestyle to check into as well. We've got a brand new score for the music track, which helps create this rich tapestry of a festival experience. We wanted to get that into the games. But not everybody likes our taste in music, so we've added the ability to play your own music in the game. So if you want to listen to Chris De Burgh while you play MotorStorm you can do that now!
What are the main factors in deciding what goes on the soundtrack for the game, especially in comparison to how you made the selection for MotorStorm?
It has to be raucous, high octane, adrenaline pumping racing music, that's what we're going for. I don't care what genre, there's always a good tune in every genre, but it's got to be pumping, it's got to be driving, it's got to fit with brutal off-road racing. I like to think we're maturing in our tastes of music and we've got a much larger selection of tracks. It's bigger, it's badder, it's better.
What's your favourite part/expression of the game so far?
The gestures. The way you can gesture disrespect to opponents. And also the satisfaction of chinning another opponent. Now we've added bunny hopping and ducking, you get an immense satisfaction out of clearing a log or ducking under it at the right time.
What would you like to say to any players who may have passed on the first MotorStorm game, to try and attract them to this one?
Firstly, they missed out. Hopefully when they see the quality of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, if they haven't got the first game they'll go out and get it because the core of the game hasn't changed - that laugh out loud, brutal off-road racing experience... that's always going to be there in the MotorStorm games. We just build upon and make it better. I feel sorry for anyone who's missed out [laughs].
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