NoFrag a interviewé John Williamson, de Zombie Studios, un studio de développement de Seattle, travaillant entre autres sur Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Il s’agit d’un FPS dans une ambiance Far West, un thème et une époque très rarement abordés dans les shoots. John Williamson a répondu à quelques unes de nos questions, et nous en dit un peu plus sur le contenu de Wanted.
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On a quelques nouvelles informations sur la composante jeu de rôle incluse dans le jeu, exploitée via les objets que le joueur choisit d’obtenir au fur et à mesure de sa progression : une façon de simuler la notion d’implants de certains titres SF. Chevaux et trains seront également à la disposition du joueur. Ce titre est développé sur une base LithTech 2.5 (le vieux donc), mais Zombie est prêt à adapter Wanted à des moteurs plus modernes, pour le sortir dès que possible.
NoFrag: Which FPS games have you put your hands on since your beginning?
John Williamson: We’ve put out a few straight up FPS and a few more creative ones. Here are all some of our FPS titles: Delta Force: Task Force Dagger (Nova Logic), Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials (Redstorm), SPEC OPS series (Ripcord & Take 2)
ZPC was unique in that all the art was hand drawn (no 3D models) by Aidain Hughes, best known for doing music videos and album cover art for KMFDM. Ice and Fire was a puzzle FPS done with the inventor of Tetris, it support the three VR HMDs that were available at the time.
Spec Ops was the first 3D squad based shooter, coming out before Rainbow Six or Delta Force. We have sense worked on sequels for all three.
Atlantis may be the FPS with the largest distribution. Disney has given away over 10 million demo CDs on the back of cereal boxes, at gas stations etc. The game was really two games. A complete prequel (given away for free), which told the back story of the movie, something that Disney has never done before, and another full game that loosely followed the plot of the movie.
NF: How many employees do you have, and how many people are working on FPS titles?
JW: We range in size from 20-45 employees depending on the number of projects we have. During one period, we had 3 PC titles in development, an animated music video and a VR/motion platform roller coaster ride for Disney in production.
NF: Let’s talk about Wanted: Dead or Alive, your upcoming action-adventure FPS with a Western theme. What is the main story line? Who are the available playable characters? Does the campaign include several adventure paths and endings?
JW: Throughout the game, the player will get to interact with a wide range of 3D characters, both good and bad, law abiding and lawless. How the characters interact with the player, depends a great deal on the way they play the game. Some NPCs would rather associate with a fellow criminal, others would rather associate with a more law abiding man.
Ute The Bartender: A large affable man, always willing to lend an ear, though his shotgun is never far away. Katie The Dancehall Girl: A heart of gold, and golden derringer. White Heat: The Gunslinger, dressed in black, the man has a fast draw and quicker temper. Black James: A bank robber known for stealing from rich and the poor and giving to himself. Abe the Blacksmith: Not very accurate with a weapon, but can strangle a horse with his bare hands.
Other characters that appear in our journey West: The Undertaker, Muleskinner, Prospector, Hangin’ Judge Jones, Snake Oil Salesman ,Card Shark, The Rancher, Sod Buster, Mountain Man.
Each of the first half dozen episodes (chapters/levels) are designed to introduce at least one new weapon and one new gameplay element as well as move the plot forward and give us new insight into the player’s character and his quest to avenge his families murder. Each episode is self-contained and contains a moral element, just like the 1950’s TV shows, when the Western was at its prime.
NF: This game is going to include several role-playing game elements. What can you tell us about them? How will it affect the gameplay?
JW: As the player moves throughout the game, they can increase their skill levels. These will not be presented to the player as in a traditional RPG, but will remain hidden beneath the veneer of the game. For example, after capturing the outlaw in a mini-quest, they player may opt to buy a more expensive pistol, which will effectively increase their weapons skill/accuracy. Or they may opt to buy a new deck of cards, which will increase their luck in poker, or they may opt to buy a new horse which will allow them to travel faster, or snake oil, which may or may not make them stronger. The choice will be up to the player. They may end up with a character who is more of a card shark or one who is more of a gunslinger.
We are working on several techniques where you could cheat at cards. We plan to have several games of chance, from poker to faroh.
NF: Are there any other special features, like the ability to use vehicles (ride horses?) or a money system to get better equipment?
JW: You will have the ability to ride horse and trains and steamboats.
NF: Which weapons will be available?
JW: The weapons in Wanted are designed to give the player a wide range to chose from, each with a strength and weakness as well as a primary and alternate fire, so that the game mechanic « takes minutes to learn, and longer to master ». The weapons are a mix of realistic and fanciful interpretations of weapons that users have seen in movies since « The Great Train Robbery. »
Weapons: Bowie Knife, Six Gun (single shot & fast fire), Dual Six Guns (alternate L&R gun & both at same time), Derringer (single Shot & double shot), Double Barrel Shotgun (Single Shot & Double Barrels), Buffalo Rifle (Single Shot & 5X Scope), Gunpowder Barrel.
All weapons would have hit specific damage modifiers for each region of the body that was hit. A shot to the limbs is considered a base shot (illustrated above), a shot to torso inflicts twice as much damage and shot to the head inflicts four times as much. Each weapon’s accuracy and damage decreases with range.
Just as in any good Western movie, you can shoot the gun out of your opponent’s hand. When you do so in single player, the opponent will surrender, when you do so in multiplayer, your health is restored and you acquire all your opponent’s ammo.
NF: The game is said to include a multi-player support. Which modes will be available? Are you planning to include a multi-player cooperative mode?
JW: We’ve taken several existing multiplayer game types and made them western themed.
Bounty Hunter: Either Team based multiplayer or straight up deathmatch. Every time you kill an opponent, they leave behind a « bounty » (a small Wanted poster) which you can pick up.
King of Boot Hill: The player who stands at the top of a « hill » (or other objective) for the longest amount of time wins. The « hill » is a figurative term and can be a building, platform or other easily definable, discrete location.
Team King of Boot Hill: The player’s individual time on the hill counts towards the time required for their entire team to win. This variation encourages players to take turns as the « king » and protect their team’s « king »
Bank Robbery: A version of Capture the Flag. One team is the « Law » and must guard the gold in the bank and return the gold from the hideout, the other team are the « Outlaws » and must steal the gold from the bank and guard the gold in their hideout.
Oklahoma Land Rush: A variation of King of the Hill with multiple « hills. » A team wins when one team holds all the three Hills for 30 seconds consecutively. Again, a « hill » can be a building, a hill, etc. This is similar to Capture and Hold in other multiplayer games.
NF: Which 3D engine and other specific engines (AI, physics,…) are being used? Which platforms & what system requirements are you targeting?
JW: We’ve created our sample worlds with LithTech and Havok (a physics API). Many publishers have long term agreements with technology companies, and have specific console needs, to the final engine used is open for negotiation.
NF: How long this title has been in development? When is it scheduled to be completed and published?
JW: We’ve worked on the title off and on for the last 2 years, rounding out the design doc, making several sample worlds and experimenting with new technologies. Making changes so it will work on the console and the PC.
We do not currently have a publisher or release date. We are actively shopping the title now. Though we have explored the options of self publishing the title because we believe in it so strongly.
