Last month Disney announced Infinity their upcoming platform where players take real world toys of established Disney characters  and bring them together into one game. We got through the madness and excitement that surrounded the initial announcement and had some questions answered by Avalanche Software Producer, John Day. 

How is the Disney atmosphere held together with the multiple-universe character interactions?

Disney infinity is a game where everything you see from characters, to vehicles, to buildings, are toys.  We’ve carefully styled these toys to look like they come from a single set, while keeping them very true to their own universes.  The result is an experience that feels very unified, but still allows the player to experience the uniqueness of each universe individually as well.

Are there any voice-overs used for the characters? If so are they the original actors/actresses or someone new?

All of our characters are voiced – in fact, it’s more voice than we’ve ever had in any previous Disney Interactive product.  All these voices are handled by Disney Character Voice – the same organization that does it for the films.  Additionally, these characters will be voiced in every language in which Disney Infinity will be available.  That’s over 20 languages!

What type of criteria is used when selecting characters?

This is never easy.  Disney has no many rich characters to choose from, and we all have our own favorites.  Ultimately, Infinity is a platform we can use to support other events within the company, so upcoming films like Monsters University made a lot of sense.  We also want to make sure that we’re bringing a wide variety of gameplay to infinity, so we look to characters that bring in new and exciting ways to play.  We had such a tough time choosing, we have over 20 characters available at launch.

Are there any characters or paths which are currently consider to be off limits?

Definitely not.  Disney Infinity is a high quality product, and we’re very careful about how we treat these iconic characters and their rich universes.  While I can’t say anything definite about what we’ll be doing moving forward, nothing is off the table and that’s really exciting for us.

 How will additional playsets work? Will they come with a new playset figure? Will the content already be on the starter pack disc, will the content come on a new disc or will the content require  an internet download to play?

 As we release new playsets, simply by having the right playset piece the player is granted access to the content.  We want the user experience to be as simple and seamless as possible, so nobody needs to download anything.

How robust are the content creation tools, will we see players designing bizarre game modes which weren’t necessarily thought about when the game launched?

I sure hope so.  We’ve provided the users with dozens of toys that affect the behavior of the game – we call these logic toys.  I’m excited to see just what people can put together with the tools available.  Our own people have already built some pretty complex stuff, like retro arcade games or huge Rube Goldberg machines, and we’ve developed even more logic toys since then.

How is the content handled? Do players load individual levels or are they within sections of the ‘toy box’ mode? Will the user created content be accessible across multiple platforms. For example: if a level is created on Xbox 360 will the players on PS3  be able to access it?

So the game is split into two big chunks: Playsets and the Toybox.  The player accesses any playset by placing its playset piece on the Infinity base, and loads into that universe.  Additionally, the player can go into the Toy Box, which is its own world.  From here, the player can build, create, and play any way they wish – And if you want a more structured experience, we have a number of Adventures you can open in the Toy Box.  Adventures are experiences that are already built, and are often tailored specifically to the character you are currently playing. Users will be able to share their creations – not only by inviting others to play with them in their worlds, but by submitting it to Disney.  After passing through our moderators, our goal is to publish the content and allow others to download it – on any game console.

 

Disney Infinity will be launching this June with playsets for Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles on Wii, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360 and 3DS.

Special thanks to Brett Gold and John Day for spending the time to ensure our questions were answered.

How long did it take to plan PRESS PAWS?

Sakura: 6 months. We originally wanted to keep it pretty small and local but as we talked more, as we met with different people, it just became bigger and bigger and it is what it is now with everyone’s enthusiasm and support.

What influenced you to do this?

Sakura: We all have different reasons. For myself, I have a rescue and I felt at this part in my life I was able to help animals with the experiences I’ve had. I used to work at Square Enix in marketing and I wanted to use the knowledge and tools I had to help other animals. On top of that, we love art, we love video games, and it clicked.

Was it the same for you (Amelia)?

Amelia: Yeah, I worked with Sakura as well and we’re both in different places now but that’s how I met her and we have this experience in the video game industry, friends in the video game industry, and it came together naturally. Video games, art, animals, it’s just an amazing theme. I think for the artists too, they were excited about the theme and they were really inspired, and that fed off everyone’s excitement.

How did you go about contacting the artists?

Amelia: We started off, as Sakura was saying earlier, it was going to be a small, tight knit event with some artist friends but then [we] started reaching out to artists we were fans of and following to see what their reaction would be and thankfully it was amazing how everyone reacted really positively. So we kept contacting a lot of people.

Sakura: It started with my friend Scott from Meat Bun, the t-shirt company that made this (points to shirt). He was a big supporter for us and introduced to me to a lot of his artist friends like Paul Robertson. He introduced me to all of them and all of them really liked animals. So we went through friends and it all kind of came together. And when other artists’ saw these names pop up, they were like “this seems legit.”

What’s your opinion about video games and charity?

Sakura: I definitely think the gaming industry has some really amazing people in general. I grew up with people that love games. I was raised in Japan so video games are everything. It’s been a big influence on my life and people that play it are a big influence in my life. I just knew that the community was going to be there to support and I felt they were the right people to talk to, to connect with in charity.

Have you ever thought about doing anything like this before with video games, in other ways?

Sakura: This is definitely the first one but we definitely started hearing a lot of: “hey let’s work on this together, let’s work on that together.” So hopefully next time, if there is a next time, it will have a little more than just the art show.

Has there been any planning for the next one or seeing how this one turns out?

Amelia: That’s pretty much our plan. When you’re planning an event and you’re going through all this, you’re always talking about, “next time we should do it like that.” In that sense, we’ve been talking [about] future plans but we really need to sit down after this event and assess how everything went. If it was a success, in terms of charity and donating to Whats Up Dog!, see what we can do better, everyone’s reactions, and go from there.

Sakura: So far, its, looking good.

Amelia: (laughs) Everyone looks happy.

Sakura: Everyone looks like they’re into what’s going on and so, thank you everyone.

Amelia: Yes, thank you everyone.

How did you approach “What Up Dog! L.A?” How did you pitch this to them?

Sakura: It was really difficult because there were a lot of rescues and a lot of places we could have gone but we wanted to work with a rescue that understands what we’re doing. We want [them] to be excited about the art show, we wanted them to be excited the whole event. When we first started talking to them – they all came from the entertainment industry and one of the founders works for “The Cleveland Show,” and it clicked. We’re working really well together. It just kind of, fell into place. They were the first ones we contacted and it worked out.

Were they on board right away?

Sakura: They were. They were really excited about it, we brainstormed and everything. We knew immediately that this was the right group of people to work with.

Thank you for your time.

Photography by Trevor Stamp.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising was undertaken by the younger staff at Kojima Productions after the development of Metal Gear Solid 4. Kojima, at the time, pursued the role as producer and mainly a hands-off role in order to focus his attention on the FOX Engine and Peace Walker. The premise for Rising was ambitious. The overall direction was guided by one focus: cut everything and everything. This, of course, led to development troubles when the younger staff could not find a unified vision for the game design, instead focusing on their own personal assignments. Kojima cited the Rising in an identity crisis trying to merge stealth with action and it ultimately brought the game development down. Two years of development hell had passed and it was clear for Kojima that the team would be in that perpetual circle of finding that perfect balance that would not be possible.

Rising’s woes came to a head at E3 where Kojima realized that while the story and character elements were SOLID, the game design was not there, and the overall package was not a cohesive whole. Kojima quietly cancelled Rising at the end of 2010 and it looked like all was finished for the Rising project. However, the team at Kojima Productions felt adamantly about Rising’s continuation and Kojima looked at external developers to outsource the project to. However, for Kojima, the idea of creating a Metal Gear ninja action game had to come from the Japanese development culture itself, although western developers were considered. It was then, at a holiday party, that Kojima approached his long time friend Tatsuya Minami (president of PLATINUMGAMES) and proposed that PLATINUMGAMES work on Metal Gear Rising. At first, Minami took this as a joke, but when Kojima repeated in a serious tone, the collaboration had come to fruition.

The PLATINUMGAMES collaboration took the task of building Metal Gear Rising from the ground up and it was not an easy time as it had to manage its own internal projects while working on the new Rising project with the demanding Kojima Productions. Atsushi Inaba, Platinum Games producer, constantly reiterated in the QA session that Kojima has set tight deadlines and ambitious expectations for the project that has constantly kept the team on its toes. However, for PLATINUMGAMES, the fast and energetic studio culture has ultimately worked in favor for Kojima Productions and the collaboration has fostered in several ways. The work ethic of PLATINUMGAMES seems to be displayed in the trailer of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the heavy emphasis on action demonstrated through Platinum’s in-game engine (running at 60fps) and the crazy, over-the-top moments such as Raiden countering a huge Metal Gear Ray was in part due to PLATINUMGAMES involvement in the game. This even came as a shock to the Kojima Productions developers who were not used to the level of intensity that the studio brought for the action game.

This is not to leave out Kojima Productions fully as the studio has direct control over the story, characters, and the cut scenes. Of course, some elements were taken liberally under PLATINUMGAMES as Inaba noted that it has worked to spinoff Rising after the timeline of Metal Gear Solid 4 as a separate story, instead of between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4. Creatively, this has allowed Rising to have a definite beginning but more opportunities to leverage branching directions that would lend to future installments, if the project does succeed. Both Kojima and Inaba felt there is a lot on the line for the Rising project not solely for the studios involved but for the collective future of Japanese game development. Kojima, noted, the Spike Video Game Awards “world exclusive” premieres were 90% Western development and the showcase of Rising was a testament to the amount of pressure the video game world has for Japanese game developers. Kojima wants to bring back the reputation that Japan makes the best games in the world and Minami is fully in agreement.

There is still a lot to do for Rising to realize its completion as the reboot, subsequently its development, started early this year. However, Kojima and Inaba stressed that its relationship since then as held and there is a true collaboration found in Rising’s new direction, or Revengeance. While the story will focus on Raiden getting his revenge, for Kojima and PLATINUMGAMES, it’s also about avenging the failed development of Rising.

The XBLA library of games is about to add an action RPG into the mix. Crimson Alliance, developed by Certain Affinity, is hitting XBLA next week on September 7. We recently got a chance to talk to Tim Fields, Director of Business Development at Certain Affinity, about some of the team’s inspirations for Crimson Alliance and more insight into this action RPG.

Check out the interview below (interview conducted by William Saw):

How long has Crimson Alliance been in development and what stage are you currently towards completion?

We’ve been working on the game for more than a year now, and the engine and tools are a good bit older than that. But I’m happy to announce that we’re FINISHED! The game launches on September 7th!

What inspirations or sources did the writers at Certain Affinity draw upon to create the mythos of Crimson Alliance?

We’re inspired by a lot of classic dark-fantasy fiction, from games, from books, from movies, and from artwork. We love the old Howard Conan universe for example, as such a morally grey world, so brutal. More recently, we’re enchanted by the fiction of George Martin and Patrick Rothfuss. We love the Frazetta artwork, especially the stuff on the walls at Conan’s Pizza, a great oldschool local pizzeria in Austin, where a bunch of us grew up. Max, our President and Creative Director is draws heavily on his love of traditional Chinese fiction, as well as kung-fu films. I could keep going, but you get the idea. We’re into this kinda stuff. 

I read that you are experimenting from various previews that you are implementing microtransactions in-game, how will that work? Why was the reasoning in enabling that particular option for players?

We’ve not announced anything about microtransactions so far – but there are a few interesting pricing models that we’re probably going to offer on XBLA. The full game costs 1200 MSFT points though.

How is the difficulty/learning curve for players new to dungeon crawl type of adventures?

We’ve got a few different difficulty settings, so even if you’ve never held a controller before, you can learn to play the game, especially if you’ve got a friend or three to play alongside you! But don’t worry, if you grew up on Gauntlet, and played more Diablo than you care to remember… we’ve got the Ridonkulous difficulty setting specifically for you. There’s a challenge for people at every level.

In supporting four-player co-op, with three different classes at your disposal, will there be options to create say an entire team composed of wizards? Will that create a new difficulty dynamic for those that choose to go this route?

Oh yeah! You can create parties with whatever combination of characters you and your friends want. And since you can customize your character, and make them specialize in different things, you can assemble parties that will be really diverse and powerful. For example, maybe you and I both bring a wizard, fine, but yours is a master of ice, and I’m a master of lightning, and we’ll compliment each other nicely. Of course, some enemies and areas will be a lot harder than others if you don’t have a balanced party; but other areas will be easier too, so it’ll work out either way.

Is there an option for drop-in, drop-out co-op gameplay?

People can drop out of gameplay, but to join a game in progress, you have to all start up at the beginning of the level.

Since it’s a fairly new IP are you exploring other mediums i.e. comic books, novelization, to flesh out the world of Crimson Alliance or are is it primarily focused around this downloadable action RPG experience?
Oh, we’d love to explore something like that. For the moment, we’re focused on getting the game out, the website and forums looking great, and all that. But we’d love to do more in the world of Crimson Alliance.

Will Crimson Alliance be playable on PCs in the near future?

It’s exclusive on Xbox Live Arcade right now!

Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an action RPG title based on the northern front war briefly mentioned by Gandalf. Developer Snowblind Studios, with notable RPG pedigree, took liberties with the Lord of the Rings property to craft a unique experience for fans. Players who like co-op gameplay will thoroughly find interest in War in the North’s three-player adventure. We attended a fan event during Comic Con and had an opportunity to get hands-on time with a stage demo.

The backdrop for the War in the North derives from movie and book properties, creating a synergy of both mediums. Borrowing a lot from Tolken’s work, the developers stress the importance of the northern war as an integral part of the Lord of the Rings timeline, essentially running parallel to the events of the series. Expect characters like Aragon and Gandalf to make an appearance. Additionally, our stage demo featured the ability to summon an Eagle, a popular ally in Lord of the Rings mythos, during combat.

War in the North offers three playable heroes that differentiate themselves based on their abilities. The dwarf is a melee tank, the elf specializes in magic, and the human ranger can match enemies at long distance. However, all three characters are equals on the battlefield in close range combat. The gameplay is likened to simplistic levels featuring light and heavy attacks with the ability to chain up combos and build up the special meter, when activated dials up exponentially higher damage towards enemies. Drawing a comparison to Dragon Age, each hero has a special ability and regulated with a timed cooldown.

Considering Snowblind’s background, the standard RPG elements are present. There’s loot. There’s magic. There’s upgradables. The core of its gameplay will revolve around how effective one can work in a team-based setting and completing objectives asked of you. In our demo, our set up tasked us with defending a duo of elven brothers casting magic to open a fortress door. Of course, if you’re the enemy, this would be a great time to attack, so a friend and I along with a third computer controlled AI partner took on the task of defending the vulnerable elves against an onslaught of foes. Here, Beleram, the giant eagle we talked about earlier, is summoned and tears foes apart mercilessly with a simple key pad press. While it didn’t necessarily felt too overwhelming, the hack-n-slash nature of the combat is where the demo felt a tad tedious. If the combat gameplay switched up the repetitive orc-like enemies for later stages, the overall experience would be more compelling.

Since our time with the game, Warner Bros finally announced a target release date of November 1, 2011 for the highly anticipated Lord of the Rings: War in the North. The main draw of having a new Lord of the Rings adventure will definitely strike the chords of the dedicated fanbase and moviegoers but it will also appeal to those seeking for a loot based, cooperative RPG experience on the consoles come Fall. Hey, it certainly beats waiting for The Hobbit.

At first glance, Skullgirls boast a nice hand-drawn aesthetic in its sprite art. That is because Alex Ahad, the artist behind the monster girls, believed in having a one to one representation of his artwork portrayed in game. Ahad is known for his work on Scott Pilgrim, Gaia Online. The sprite based game engine used to support Skullgirls lends quite nicely in showing off a fighter’s unique pose or animation. The inspiration for the cartoony anime look derives from Ahad’s inclusive blend of East and West art styles citing Bruce Timm, George Kamitani as artists he was inspired by.

Taking cues from preceding fighting games, Skullgirls boasts an innovative way to prevent players from “gaming” the system. For example, players can unleash a barrage of combos to a certain extent. The defending player has the ability, when prompted by a small icon, to enact a special attack and break the combo chain. It’s an essential lifesaving feature for combo driven games like Skullgirls. Another unique feature allows for ratio tag teams so that players can opt to choose whether to go against three weaker characters, two medium levels, or one really strong character. Fighting veterans will be pleased to hear that Skullgirls operates on a 6-button layout similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

New players hesitant to fighting games because of their learning curve will enjoy the game’s extensive tutorial mode to ease them in. Two player VS mode was demoed at Anime Expo but the full offering will include Arcade, Story, and a Tournament mode for competitive gamers. In questioning Ahad about the roster of characters available, he promises that there will be DLC support post-release that will include additional content and support for Skullgirls. Ultimately, the game will release with 8 playable characters at launch.

Skullgirls is headed onto Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade later this year but its impressive showing has already led me to believe that its low barrier cost of entry and solid gameplay mechanics will allow for this quirky fighter to shine.

Taking from what they learned in Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog is looking to build upon their multiplayer mode. From my hands on time with the multiplayer, I believe Naughty Dog is very capable of delivering an experience that could very well go up against already popular multiplayer games (looking at you, Call of Duty).

The multiplayer will be packed with features that will keep many fans busy for a while. Game modes include: Three Team Deathmatch for 2 vs. 2 vs. 2 combat; Free-For-All which features eight players; Deathmatch which features 5 vs. 5. More game modes will be unveiled later on, as well as expanded co-op content. The new three team deathmatch turned into a favorite of mine at the event. I love the idea of having only one partner, which added this extra level of dependency and urgency on both players when trying to dominate the match.

Two maps were available to us at the preview, “Chateau” and “Airport Hangar”. Both maps offered enough variety in game play. Choke points were scattered through the indoor section of the maps, and offered plenty of elevated positions to allow for snipping enemies below. In Deathmatch, each map is presented with a cut-scene. Unlike the other modes, however, the Airport Hangar map did not start out in the same area as it did in the other games modes, but began on an airstrip. One team started inside a plane, with the cargo door and side doors open. The opposing team started on several flatbed trucks chasing the plane. The team that starts on the flatbed trucks can jump to different trucks at any time as they make their way around the plane. Players can eventually jump on to the plane itself, and attempt to overrun the opposing team, eventually capturing the plane. After the segment on the plane, players reconvene at the Airport Hangar, where the rest of the match resumes.

Naughty Dog is pushing for a cinematic multiplayer experience, as evident in the airstrip battle. There will also be set piece moments in the maps like the previous titles. For example, in “Chateau”, a whole floor comes crashing down, killing all those below it, as well as those who were happening to walk on the floor before it collapses. On “Airport Hangar”, a plane will fly over the map and shoot at anyone standing outside, killing them instantly. It seems that all the set piece moments are either aimed at changing the environment, or taking out most of the players on the map, but of course we will have to wait and see what other set piece moments will have to offer in the multiplayer experience.

Customization for your player is going to be a strongly pushed feature in Uncharted 3. Players will have several options to customize, starting with their four load outs. In each load out, players can pick a primary gun, and sidearm. Weapons mods will be available for both guns, and includes mods for better accuracy, increased ammo count, scopes, and more. Next, players can pick up Boosters, which have been improved from Uncharted 2. They are more diverse, and ultimately level up. Buddy Boosters are also available and will work to enhance team play.Players can also pick a paid booster, which can be purchased through accumulated cash.

Besides customizing load outs, player will have the opportunity to customize their hero and villain characters. There will be plenty of items to dress up your avatar. Players will also have customizable emblems, allowing players to further stand out in the crowd.

Naughty Dog is making sure that their multiplayer matches are well balanced. Matchmaking will be dictated by player levels, giving players a fair shot. However, that does not guarantee that one team will not be better than the other, so in turn Naughty Dog came up with Power Play rewards. Power Play will grant the winning team extra cash opportunities, like designating one player as the V.I.P, and keeping that player alive. The losing team will get a chance to catch to the opposing team during Power Play. Overtime and Sudden Death are now added in case matches become too close to call.

A Buddy System has been implemented to ensure players who work together will always be rewarded. It also allows for players to spawn on a teammate, whether they are in party together or total strangers.

Split-screen is now offered in Uncharted 3′s multiplayer, but rather than using the same account, players have to option to log in individual PSN accounts for both players.

Cinema mode has also improved, allowing more tools for editing. Players can now rewind clips, giving them the ability to piece together highlight reels and clips, which can be uploaded to YouTube or Facebook.

Speaking of YouTube and Facebook, Uncharted 3 will also focus on delivering an in-depth Social Experience. There will be a deep Facebook integration, which will allow players to join their Facebook friends in matches, or invite them to their party. A new feature, known as Uncharted TV is something that I could see other popping up in other titles in the future. It integrates videos from YouTube and Facebook, such as highlight reels and clips from other matches and players will be able to view Uncharted TV via a small window on the bottom right hand of the screen while waiting in the lobby for a match to start. I think it will motivate people to utilize Cinema mode,since those competitive enough will try to one-up all the clips they see. It also kills the time between matches which for the impatient players out there, is a great addition to the game.

Naughty Dog is really pushing to improve their Uncharted multiplayer experience in a big way. With everything I have seen so far, I believe that the Naughty Dogs behind Uncharted 3, will be able to pull off a multiplayer experience that will keep fans hooked long after its release.

Of course this is just a teaser of what’s to come. There’s still plenty of time between now and the game’s release as Naughty Dog still has a lot to reveal for the multiplayer in Uncharted 3. But until that release day, fans can look forward to playing the beta in the Summer. Those who purchase inFamous 2, or have a PlayStation Plus account, will get early access to the beta on June, 28. The beta will open up to everyone on the PSN on July, 5.

MonsterVine: In the development of Human Revolution, did Eidos Montreal have any contact with any of the original Deus Ex team or consulted advice?

Dugas:

We were in touch with few of them, including Sheldon Pacotti (the writer on the first 2 games), who played an important role in reviewing and giving us ideas on the story. We think (and have heard) that the original Deus Ex team will be very pleased with where Deus Ex: Human Revolution is taking the franchise.

Adam Jensen ponders his next meal

MonsterVine: How will the game reach fans who are new to the series? What connections can old school Deus Ex players expect with the game?

Dugas:

It was really important to us to respect the core values that made the original game outstanding. With that said, we also knew that we needed to bring new ideas to the table that would elevate the experience for old fans, while adding new levels of excitement and surprise to draw newcomers into the Deus Ex world. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is going to stay true to the original game on many levels, but of course we’re coming up with new gameplay possibilities, reinforcing the choice and consequence aspect, and introducing a brand new cast of characters and storylines that will expand the Deus Ex experience for a new generation of gamers and old fans alike. As far as specific connections to the original Deus Ex games, I don’t want to spoil anything, but there will definitely be some callbacks to the original game.

MonsterVine: At what stage is Human Revolution at in terms of development towards “going gold”?

Dugas:

We’re in full debug mode and are fine tuning the gameplay. The game is at a point where we’re making sure it is stable and well balanced.

MonsterVine: How much of a role has Square-Enix played as a publisher for Deus Ex? What about conveying this game to the Japanese audience?

Dugas:

When Square-Enix bought Eidos, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was already fairly well advanced in its production cycle. As our publisher, they have been a very supportive partner. They respected what we had created before the purchase and then gave us everything we needed to make it through the end, allowing us to make the game we truly wanted to make. One of the visibly biggest (and first) roles they played in our partnership was our collaboration on the CGI trailers we did with Goldtooth. They did an amazing job!

MonsterVine: As a reboot of the franchise, what influences from media did you draw on to create the sci-fi atmosphere for Human Revolution?

Dugas:

Our inspiration comes from different places– cyberpunk material (movies, books, etc.), the Renaissance era (art, novels, opera), science books, comic book, what’s happening in the world around us, etc. We looked at everything that was relevant to what we were doing with the game. To be specific, we looked at some of the cyberpunk classics such as Blade Runner and Akira. We also looked at where technology was headed in order to anticipate what might happen 20 years from now, etc.

Don't expect to pull this off and live.

MonsterVine:What style of gameplay is Deus Ex emphasizing, in particular, can players augment themselves to play it like a first-person run n’ gun shooter or is it more tactically oriented?

Dugas:

You can totally play it with a combat-focused style, but even within that style of gameplay, it’s not a traditional “run & shoot” type of experience. If you try to play this way – in the way you might play Halo or another more arcade shooter — chances are you won’t last very long. It’s a tactical shooter. You need to survey the area, consider all of your options including finding the best spot, locating the higher ground when available, keeping abreast of your ammo count, etc., before executing your plan. You need to use cover wisely and then combine all of these elements with your equipped augmentations and weapons load-out to attack the problem strategically. It’s a game that encourages you to look at the options around you and how they can help you defeat or outsmart your opponents.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule Mr. Jean-Francois Dugas to answer our questions about Deus Ex: Human Revolution!

First off, besides the obvious inspirations from classic art did you take any other influence from perhaps a certain artist or any other form of media?

Yes, we certainly did. As many of us are grew up watching Monty Python movies and their excellent short animations by Terry Gilliam we started developing the concept for Rock of Ages we thought that the visual style of those shorts were a match made in heaven for the Rock of Ages concept.

Besides online player vs player games will we be able to have local pvp, and possibly a mode where we play alone and set up the terrain with the obstacles and play as the rock.

The game features a full single player campaign with world bosses and a funny story plus some additional modes we haven’t spoken of yet. The objective of the game is to set up obstacles for enemy boulders, which means you get to place units and smash through others a lot in the game.

All the multiplayer modes can be played in both local split screen and online.

Is there a chance for new content themed around current modern art or possibly just modern style obstacles like tanks to replace the catapult obstacle for example?

We still don’t know what we might do if we decide to release DLC for the game (now we’re really focused on the main game for now), but creating modern art styles has been something we’d really enjoy doing. Some type of more abstract levels with the style of Picasso could be really fun!

Don’t forget to check out Rock of Ages when it releases this spring!

You guys created a unique world for this game that seems to have a fantasy look to it, as well as an alien look. Where does this game take place?

Santamaria: We never really say exactly where the game takes place, although people often think it’s in space or underwater. Like the character itself, we left this a little vague so that people wouldn’t make assumptions about the environment, or say “it’s a space game” for example. We wanted this to be something that people would discover, or better yet, interpret for themselves. By the time people finish, they might have developed a theory or two. We’ve heard some good ones!

Visually, what were you aiming for in this game and what were your influences going into designing the levels?

Santamaria: As the game emphasized creation over destruction, we wanted an environment that really showed this off. Having flowers grow over dark, lifeless rocks and caverns seemed like a natural fit, since that’s what basically happens in nature. For the flowers themselves, these have their roots (no pun intended) in exotic plants that you might find in tropical locales or underwater, although these have been exaggerated somewhat to give them a more imaginative, fantastical look. So if you look at an underwater scene of a coral reef, for example, you might see these really bright formations standing in stark contrast to the dark overall surroundings. That’s kind of what we were after: the world starts out mostly dark and lifeless, and fills with color and music as you play.

You mentioned in posts on the Playstation Blog that the game is easy for anyone to pick up. Are you going with a simple button configuration, or are you using the SIXAXIS feature, or a combination of the two to allow for those who don’t typically play games to pick up the controller and play The UnderGarden?

Santamaria: The control scheme is pretty simple, and most of the game can be played with the left stick and just one button. Players use the left stick to float around, and the square button to grab and release fruit that you pull off the plants. We have a separate button for boosting, but this is optional and only needed to help you dart around faster or pull some especially sticky fruits off a branch. Otherwise, there’s another button to warp out of a level, or back to the next checkpoint. For the most part however, it’s strictly a one-button game, and if you are playing co-op, one of the players can even get by without the button!

We didn’t use the sixaxis motion controls, although we have talked about Move support. That is something that we are considering as a future update, so it could happen.

Did you experiment with the Playstation Move controller to be compatible with the game?

Santamaria: We have been developing with the Move for a little while, and have some ideas about how we would implement Move support. It will all depend on how much demand there is for this, but if enough people want it this would be something we would like to try.

I know you mentioned in a previous post on the Playstation Blog that there will be puzzles in the game, and you also stated that this is a relaxing game to pick up and play. Will the puzzles be difficult to solve, or does it fit well with the relaxing atmosphere that you are going for?

Santamaria: We tried to have puzzles that were satisfying to solve, but never frustrating. This was important because we found that when people were “in the zone”, just enjoying the colours and music, if they found themselves stuck they would immediately get pulled away from the fluid feel we were trying to engage them in. So making a puzzle a little challenging, but not overly so, became a bit of a balancing act. The approach we took was to first make sure all the puzzles made sense, ie. heavy fruit was used to push things down, explosive fruit blew things open, etc., and this had to remain consistent throughout the game. There are a few trickier puzzles though, so the other thing we did was keep them off the critical path. These puzzles are generally optional, although they often lead to a special flower or collectable if you manage to work your way through one.

What other game play features will we expect to see with this game?

Santamaria: Beyond the plants, fruits and soft puzzles, there are also some environmental properties to contend with. For example, some levels have windy areas that will carry you through sections, or smog that needs to be cleared up using some other fruits that you find. There are also some plants that are more active; they can actually be manipulated to some degree to perform some actions. There are a few other life forms in the world, and these can help or hinder your progress as well (but never kill you). We’ve also hidden a bunch of special flowers throughout the game, along with some special crystals. These are collectables, and are there for the completionists to go for some of the Trophies. And of course, there are these little musicians scattered about, that allow you to alter the background music of the game. Of course, the entire game supports drop-in/drop-out co-op play, so you can jump into any or all of the levels with a friend.

In a recent post on the PS Blog, you mentioned that music plays a huge role in the game. How does it play out with the game?

Santamaria: We’ve always felt the aural experience was really important in a game, so for The UnderGarden we treat the player as an active participant in the music. The interesting thing about the music is that it is dynamic. The background tracks are layered, and the player really is in control of the overall mix. So, for example, floating near some of the musicians scattered about might add a layer of flute, or bass or percussion to the mix. But you can also pick up the musicians and pull them along in any combination. This changes the background music, and if you pull them through the flora you can alter the sounds effects as well, adding even more to the soundscape. It is all tied to the visuals, and done in a nice ambient way that really emphasizes the relaxing, calming nature of the game.

Musically, what tone were you going with for the game? Will it have a consistent tempo throughout the game?

Santamaria: The music has an ambient, almost new-age feel to it, with many of the sounds based around piano’s, synths, and other symphonic elements. This applies to the sound effects as well, which are all based on some musical instrument or another. As the player completes levels, the soundtrack in the hub changes to reflect their progress, and more and more of the orchestra comes in and fills out the arrangement. Each area also has its own personality and feel, from more ambient sounds on the wind based levels, to the more energetic feel of the electrical based levels. Our talented audio director created well over an hour’s worth of music for the game and spent a fair bit of time trying to find the best way to allow the player to control the mix, so what you end up hearing to some extent is based on your actions.

How will the Co-op work for this game? Will your partner need to contribute to your overall goal? Will there be an AI controlled character if someone were to play by themselves?

Santamaria: The game is normally played by one player, but a second can join in on the hub and jump into (or out of) any level. We love co-op games, but find that too often the assumption is that both players are equally good. We wanted a system where the second player could participate in the action, but not have to worry about getting left behind or being stuck. We ended up casting player two as a helper of sorts: they can do almost everything player one can, but will also get pulled along if player one decides they want to move on. So the second player can help solve the puzzles, or collect pollen, or grow different plants, or they can also just float around. People have told us that they like to have their co-op partner grow flowers, decorate the world and change the music, while player one does the heavy lifting. Like the entire game itself, we’ve left the decision of how people want to play The UnderGarden up to the players, whether playing alone or with a friend.