 |
|
80 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JOHN DENNIS - DESIGN MANAGER - ALIEN BREED EVOLUTION Posted by PlayDevil.com Staff on Dec 18, 2009 14:59 (Dec 18, 2009 14:59) |
 John Dennis, 'Design Manager' @ Team 17 gives us a closer look behind their newly released XBLA title "Alien Breed Evolution". 1. What is the inspiration behind Alien Breed Evolution? As you probably know, the game was one of our big hits back in the Amiga days. In fact, after “Worms”, it’s easily the game we get most mail about. We’ve been trying for about ten years to bring back a modern version of the game, and despite coming close several times with several publishers, it never really happened.
Now though, with XBLA, Steam and PSN, there are digital channels for developers like ourselves to bring the game directly to market, and so that’s just what we’ve done.
2. Are you guys big fans of Sci-Fi films? What are the office favourites? Of course… we are video game developers after all! There’s a few “Star Wars” posters around the office, and I’ve seen some action figures knocking around on peoples’ desks too. I guess you’re expecting me to mention the “Alien” movies? Personally I’m a big fan of the first two. Great movies.
3. What made you update this game from your classic back catalogue over any other? Well, as I say, we always thought this one was kind of still alive as we’ve been thinking about it and pitching it for the last ten years. Also, we thought it would make a great next-gen experience. The things that made the game good back when it was first released (such as great audio-visuals and co-op multiplayer) could be improved with a modern remake: we’ve used Unreal 3 to develop the game, so it looks knockout, and on XBLA, Steam and PSN, microphone support means that even if you want to play co-op with a friend who isn’t in the same room as you, you can still co-operate and share the experience.
4. Will you be looking back at other Team 17 games and seeing if you can update them? We’ve no plans at the moment, but never say never!
5. Why do you think this kind of update still appeals after 15 years? I think people still remember the original games very fondly. Many of the people now downloading games digitally are the same people who were playing the original games when they were at school.
6. Why did you split single-player and multiplayer into two different campaigns? We haven’t exactly split them completely. The multiplayer game is set in the same environment as the single player game, but it takes the players to different areas of the same decks. When we first started thinking about making single and multiplayer content, we wanted to make something that really suited single player and then something that really suited multiplayer: we didn’t want to build game environments that would only suit one or other.
The game plays differently in single player to how it plays in multiplayer: in single player it’s a bit slower and feels more like a survival horror, whereas in multiplayer it’s a total monster mash! There’s plenty in there for players who want to experience the game either way, so we hope people will be happy with what we’ve done.
7. Do you have DLC plans, or will this just be an episodic release? There aren’t any plans for DLC. The game is episodic: there are three episodes, each of which has something like 5-8 hours of content including its own environments, enemies, weapons, set-pieces and boss battles.
There’s a narrative arc that runs across the three: each episode ends with a cliff-hanger which is resolved at the start of the next episode, but players can buy and play the episodes in any order if they like: they work as stand-alone games or as part of a series.
8. Do the Worms cast feature anywhere in the game, either as an easter egg or intentionally? He he… no they don’t. But somewhere in Episode One there’s a dead guy at a monitor playing the original “Alien Breed”. You have to search for it though.
Thanks again John for answering our devilish questions regarding 'Alien Breed Evolution'.
Alien Breed Evolution is now available from XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points ($10/£6 approx). |
 |
Comments |  |
|
||||||||||
Dec 18, 2009 15:53:01 (Dec 18, 2009 15:53)
