Binnenkort komt Transformers Armada eindelijk uit op de PlayStation 2. De Amerikanen kunnen al van het tweede kwartaal van deze mechgame genieten. Home Lan Fed had een interview met de makers van Transformers Armada, Melbourne House.
In het interview kun je enkele leuke dingen lezen zoals op welke engine de game gebaseerd is, namelijk op die van Grand Prix Challenge. Deze game verscheen al eerder op de PlayStation 2 en had prachtige graphics.
The Transformers never die; they just get revamped in various forms, from the original toys and TV show in the 1980's to the current Transformers: Armads line of toys and TV show on the Cartoon Network. Now Atari and its in house developer Melbourne House in Australia are working hard on Transformers Armada: Prelude To Energon, a PS2 mech action game based on the Armada timeline. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with the team at Melbourne House to find out more about the game.
HomeLAN - How did the idea behind a Transformers game come about?
Melbourne House - Atari acquired the Transformers license as part of the Hasbro Interactive acquisition and Atari’s Beverly Studio identified it as having real potential. When we at Melbourne House were approached to develop the game, we realized that a transformer is actually the perfect player character for a videogame: versatile and adaptable, able to operate as either a heavily-armed robot or a fast-moving vehicle; he’s the perfect operative, and approximately eight tons heavier than Solid Snake!
HomeLAN - How has it been working with Hasbro on the game?
Melbourne House - We thought deeply about what PS2 audiences would expect to see, and so created a slightly darker, more military feeling for Transformers than what has been seen in the toys or cartoons. Hasbro has been completely supportive of this approach; without that, we could not have created the cutting edge battlezone setting that you see in the game today. Every developer dreams of flexible licensors, and that’s been our experience on this title.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for the game?
Melbourne House - The Autobots (player characters) and Decepticons (bad guys) have been at war for millions of years. A sudden signal from space reveals that Earth is the location of the long-lost Mini-Cons, a race of smaller transformers who provide powerful weapons and capabilities to the larger robots. The game is a race against time to rescue the Mini-Cons before the Decepticons find them, and to stop the invasion of Earth. We have developed a new army of robot enemies for the game, the Decepticlones, so the battles are constant and fierce! The quest takes the Autobots all over the planet, and beyond.
HomeLAN - What specific Transformers will be playable in the game?
Melbourne House - Players have the choice of three Autobot characters: Optimus Prime is the heaviest, and transforms into a truck. Red Alert has the best defense, and turns into a rescue SUV. Hot Shot is the lightest and most fast moving, and becomes a sports car. You can play the entire game through as any of these characters, but each has advantages in certain situations. We find that we enjoy playing Hot Shot for scouting and reconnaissance, Red Alert for long range exploration, and Optimus for when the going gets tough.
HomeLAN - What kinds of locations and settings will the game take place in?
Melbourne House - The game takes place in beautiful, out-of-the-way places where the Mini-Cons fell to Earth in ancient times. Locations include Antarctica, Alaska and the Amazon, and a pacific island which was inspired by Easter Island. One game level takes the player onto and inside a huge Decepticon aircraft carrier, and the game’s ultimate battle takes place on Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers. The levels are vast in scale, and the design allows players to travel through them in a linear fashion following the main story, but also to explore the further reaches for extra rewards.
We’re proud of what we have achieved in rendering the levels – our eco-system provides natural real-time vegetation on a scale we haven’t seen in any other PS2 game.
HomeLAN - How would you describe the basic gameplay in the Transformer game?
Melbourne House - High-powered intense combat mixed with free-roaming exploration of real-world landscapes. Each game level sets up the story and the conditions, but then players are free to come up with their own approaches. They can go in guns blazing, or stealth it out, or take a high speed run. As the game progresses, the acquisition of Mini-Cons radically improves and expands the capabilities of the transformer; up to four can be connected at any time for increased attacks and abilities, and players should enjoy changing these as the situation dictates.
HomeLAN - How are the transforming sequences handled in the game?
Melbourne House - The player is free to transform at any moment with a press of the triangle button – it’s entirely your choice as to when you want to be a robot, and when you want to be a car. The transformation happens in real-time, and naturally has that classic Transformers sound effect – wouldn’t be the same without it.
HomeLAN - Will the game contain any multiplayer features?
Melbourne House - Not this time, but there are many hours of single-player exploration and enjoyment to be had.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine that the Transformers game will use?
Melbourne House - Our graphics system was developed for Grand Prix Challenge, an F1 racer displaying 22 cars and terrain in high detail at 60Hz. This gave us our core features, such as reflection mapping, blur effects, and shadowing. We created some new systems tailored for Transformers to create a wide range of effects which the artists can tweak in real-time. We also have some Photoshop-style effects, such as special vision modes, lens filters, moody lighting, and beams of light coming through the forest canopy. Our Eco-system populates the landscapes with many thousands of fully-detailed trees at full frame rate. We also focus on some PS2 strengths to do things such as complex dynamics simulations for water, and to generate extra detail as you approach objects. We've had uniformly favorable response to our worlds, and are pleased with the results.
HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game’s progress and when will it be released?
Melbourne House - We are currently at beta and are very pleased with how it has come together. We’re now tuning the gameplay, and are rock solid for our Tuesday, May 11th release date.
HomeLAN - Is it possible that the game will appear on other platforms besides the PS2 in the future?
Melbourne House - Right now it is a game designed exclusively for the PS2 platform.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about the Transformers game at this time?
Melbourne House - We have had a great time developing this game, and we are still finding new ways to play through each level! With three player characters with three vehicle forms with three special onscreen Mini-Con partners and 40 customizable Mini-Cons to equip, there are over 20,000 possible loadout combinations to try. Transformers fans should appreciate seeing the Autobots come to life like never before, and PS2 fans should enjoy the intense Halo-style combat and the realistic worlds. To be honest, we can’t wait for the game to be released – there are a whole lot of Decepticlones here that need killing!
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