Check out this Q&A with Warren Spector, the Studio Director for ION Storm Austin.
Note that the interview was originally conducted in January by Chris "Necro-tron" Cochran. Warren updated the answers a bit recently, and told us we could post 'er up.
[Necro-tron]The X-Box promises to bring incredible performance to the console market.
The system (along with a future add-on for the PS2) will feature a
hard-drive built into its structure. How do you think developers will use
this added feature, and what options (beyond better save storage) will be
available to the user community?
[Warren Spector]
From my perspective, the coolest thing about having a hard drive on a
console is that developers can store game state information, which means
more dynamic games, games that are more player-choice-driven. Unique player
experiences are, to some extent, what makes or breaks a game for me and
being able to track player choices is critical. It's hard to do that without
a relatively large, writable storage device.
[Necro-tron]A hard-drive, coupled with high-speed broadband capabilities, offers the
perfect environment for game modification and utility development. Do you
think that the hardware developers themselves will make use of this and
allow gamers to create their own programs and mods? If not, do you think
software developers will supply the needed tools?
[Warren Spector]
Maybe I'm missing something but I'm not sure I see what the hardware
folks can do to facilitate this -- all they can do is give software
developers hardware capable of allowing game mods, right? It's up to the
software side of things to exploit that capability. I certainly haven't
heard any hardware manufacturers saying they WOULDN'T allow developers to
provide content creation tools to players! That'd be crazy...
[Necro-tron]Hard-drives aren't the only increases in a system's storage medium. The
standard memory card for the PS2 is 8 MB. Nintendo GameCube will offer a 64
MB "digi-card" and Sega will later release a Zip drive for the Dreamcast.
Given that game content on the N64 could well fit within 8-16 MB and the
current standards in memory cards will match that, do you think developers
will offer add-ons or extended gameplay via online sources or more
customizability to gamers?
[Warren Spector]
I hope developers offer add-ons and extended gameplay, whether that's
through broadband and downloading of content, through player content
creation tools or both. I can't see an argument in the world for keeping
players out of the game creation loop. Building a community of gamers
committed to playing and expanding your game is critical in the PC world
these days -- at least the part of the PC world I've always inhabited -- and
I suspect the same will be true in a world of new, more powerful consoles,
too.
[Necro-tron]Console games already seem to be conforming to the idea of user-created
content. Timesplitters and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series feature simplistic
editors that allow gamers to create their own maps. Agetec released a series
of games that allow gamers to make their own products (most notable of these
games would be RPG Maker). If this generation of consoles doesn't support
the user-community in terms of mods and utilities, do you think the console
market will evolve enough for the next generation to support it.
[Warren Spector]
I've messed around a little with the Timesplitters map creation tools
and think it offers a slick solution to the problem of making content
creation tools available to an audience that hasn't had the opportunity to
master a process as complex as building maps for, say, Quake or Unreal. Or Deus Ex,
of course... Given how much more diverse the console market seems to be than the PC
market (in terms of age and technical expertise), I'm not sure it makes
sense to release fully-featured SDK's the way we always have. Something
along the lines of Timesplitters might be the way to go. At the end of the
day, I think it's inevitable that content creation tools of SOME kind will
end up in the hands of console gamers, now that they're moving into the
world of hard drives, big save carts and internet connections.
[Necro-tron]Not all PC companies release the SDK or mapping tools for their games.
What factors do you think could hinder the introduction of modifications and
more advanced editing to the console market from the software developer?
What factors could stop first parties from releasing such tools?
[Warren Spector]
As I said a minute ago, the big thing I see standing in the way is the
fact that the console audience is different, demographically, than the
mods-building PC community. Then throw in the fact that consoles (at least
so far) don't typically come with a mouse and keyboard, both of which are, I
think, vital to the creation of a detailed, entirely original map. That's
why you might see more content creation tools like Timesplitters' -- they
provided pre-built chunks that players can combine in different ways rather
than an editor allowing players to build maps from scratch. Something else I
just thought of -- hardware manufacturers might want to maintain tighter
control over content than they could if they just let players create their
own. I mean, developers have to go through a stringent acceptance process
that involves, among other things, making sure some kid's parents won't be
offended by a game's content. What happens to THAT idea when anyone can
build maps? Heck, I can already hear the screams from parents across the
country when some kid downloads an unofficial age- or content-inappropriate
level for a game. Yeah, I can see where console manufacturers might be a
little concerned about that!
[Necro-tron]Let's assume mods and mapping utilities do find a way to implement
themselves into the next console war. The various systems all offer
different advantages to develop for. X-Box is more PC-like, which should be
easier for current mod developers, but the GameCube is also supposedly very
easy to develop and may support the more entertaining of franchises to
develop mods for (besides, David "Zoid" Kirsch's next project is a team-based
FPS on the GameCube.). What platform seems the most tempting to develop for
and for systems like PS2 and GameCube will mod developers need learn a new
language (I'm thinking that is an obvious "yes", but I could be wrong, no?)?
[Warren Spector]
I'd rather not get too much into the specifics of the various systems.
They're all so much more powerful than earlier consoles and so capable of
supporting pretty much any kind of game you can imagine it seems kind of
nit-picky to say one's the clear winner (especially given that Xbox and Game
Cube aren't on the market yet!). Having said that, it does seem that, of the
new consoles, the PS2's going to require the most rethinking for PC guys.
But, really, any console is going to require some rethinking and relearning
on the part of people new to consoles...<<
[Necro-tron]Let's focus less on mods and go more into level design itself on
consoles. Consoles have for some time been supporting simplistic editors for
the development of user-made maps. However, their straight-forward and plain
nature prevent gamers from creating levels as intensely complex as maps made
on say, editors like Worldcraft, Quark, Radiant, or UnrealED. With more and
more games supporting some type of editor, do you suppose that the
functionality of these editors will evolve to allow more complex design or
stay the way they are?
[Warren Spector]
If you're talking about tools available to players, I think there are
UI, demographic and manufacturer issues that may limit what the player
community can do in the way of content creation. And it wouldn't surprise me
if the more established hardware folks played it conservative and keep tight
control over content creation to avoid arousing the ire of the mass
market... Or, it may be that the new guys in the console market, with no
existing market share to lose, might open the doors to all sorts of content
(and content creation strategies) to attract people turned off by
conservative, big company thinking... I don't know. If you're talking about
developers and the levels they'll build for consoles, I think you'll see
maps as complex on PS2, Xbox and Game Cube as you've seen on PC's. Frankly,
you'll probably see maps that are MORE complex then PC gamers are used to!
Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch this all play out, won't it? Sure
isn't a boring time to be a game developer, let me tell you!
[Necro-tron]Of all the systems, which would you mostly likely support and what
customization options will you give the user-community if any?
[Warren Spector]
No comment! Sooner or later we'll announce our platform plans.
Emphasis on the word "later." Nice try, though...
PlanetDeusEx thanks Warren and Chris Cochran for a cool interview.
RSS Feeds
