Coffee Beans:
If you missed Part I of the interview with Super X Studios' President, James Thrush, you can read that HERE.
Part II of the interview is below, and it is the remaining portion of the interview with James Thrush.
Interview Q&A Part II:
CoffeeWithGames: The players/teams in Greg Hastings Paintball 2 are all real-world paintball players, correct? What was the process of deciding which real-world players/teams made it into the game?
James Thrush: Absolutely, every one of them (except for one cat!). We set up a photo booth at several large paintball events for a year or so during development, and opened it up to any teams and players who wanted to be in the game. They just had to sign a release and stats form, and get their picture taken. We wound up with 1,262 people in the game! We did it partially to add authenticity, but also as a giant thank-you to the paintball community. I mean, who doesn't want to be in a video game?!?
CWG: Greg Hastings Paintball 2 has been in development for the PS3, but saw some delays. Why did the PS3 version see delays, was developing it for the PS3 more challenging?
JT: The PS3 got delayed only because it was the last platform we added to the roster. It isn't inherently more difficult to develop for, in fact it's one of my favorite platforms development-wise. Programming for the cell multi-core processors is a bit more work than developing for the Xbox360s multi-core, but Sony has good technical resources for it.
We're blessed at Super X because we have an awesome in-house cross-platform engine that we've been building and improving for the last 13 years. We can hit one button and generate builds for 4 different platforms at once(soon to be even more!).
CWG: Will the PS3 version have any additional features, that the Wii and Xbox 360 versions don't have?
JT: Move support is the big one, and a few minor ones as well. There will be an alternate control scheme that feels more like Call of Duty or other FPS shooters, and a few tweaks to the single and multi player game mechanics for game balance.
CWG: For PS3 owners, as you said, the game will be supporting the Sony Move control option. Are there any big control differences between the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and the PlayStation Move and Navigation, that you think players may notice if they're moving from the Wii version, to the PS3 version?
JT: They're pretty similar in execution. I think the tracking on the Move feels a little tighter to me. The big difference is just that the PS3 visuals look so much nicer than the Wii.
CWG: Are there any cheat codes in GHP2 that perhaps haven't been discovered by players yet, that you can share?
JT: Greg was adamant about not having cheat codes in the game, so you can blame him for that!
CWG: Did coffee help the development team make it through any portions of the development cycle? If so, did the development team have a preferred coffee blend?
JT: Next door to our office is an amazing Neapolitan pizzeria called Tutta Bella, and they have the most amazing authentic Italian coffee in Seattle (which is obviously saying a lot). We were over there twice a day and got to be good friends with them. In fact, a bunch of them are in a band together and I just went to their show. Shout out to "Smokey Brights", check them out!
Filtered Thoughts:
I thought it was pretty awesome for the game to have over 1,000 real-life paintball players in the game, which I knew it had a lot, but I didn't count them all...and that cat(which I can't remember if I saw!)!
Also, if I'm ever in the Seattle area, I'll try to check out the Tutta Bella pizzeria, and grab a cup of their Italian blend coffee.
So, that's Part II of the interview with Super X Studios' President James Thrush. I appreciate the time he took answering the questions, and I hope you, the readers, found it interesting to hear from a developer directly.
Questions:
Do you have any of you have questions about the development of Greg Hastings Paintball 2, that perhaps weren't answered in the interview? If so, please leave it in the comments; or send me an email to Scott(@)CoffeewithGames.com.
If any of you are interested in Greg Hastings Paintball 2, the game is currently available on the Wii and Xbox 360 linked below, and the PS3 version with be releasing on the PSN very soon!
I don't have any questions, just wanted to chime in that it was a very cool interview, and that this is a game that wasn't on my radar originally, but that I am actually going to consider grabbing down the road now. :)
ReplyDelete@Chalgyr:
ReplyDeleteDid you win the PlayStation Move? I can't remember now, but if so, the fact it uses that is a plus for you, especially considering it's a PSN game.
Yup! I did win that at Christmas time, and that was the system I was thinking of for it as well. :) I still need to do a big run down on our Move and games. I was planning to -right- after Christmas, but keep getting derailed. We've got like 4 games for it atm, though I will say it's pretty cool tech.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to have to get this game. Assuming it plays well, it's good to see a developer so invested in his art.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, sir!