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Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
with Gordon Hall
Works for: Rockstar Leeds
Position: Studio Director
Questions: 7
Interview by: in-house
Date posted: 1 December 2005
Publisher Take2 has send us today an interview with Studio Director '"Gordon Hall' from Rockstar Leeds regarding their upcoming (since the game is getting released on 2nd December in Europe) "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories" adventure on Sony's PSP.
Gordon gives us more answers regarding the multiplayer bit of the game.
And since we are so bloody fast, we deliver you this Q&A probably as the first gamin' site. Remember where you have read it first.
Enjoy.
1- How early in the development process did you know multiplayer modes would appear in LCS?
Initially we concentrated on fitting a fully atmospheric city into the constraints posed by the PSP. It became clear that we could not only fit the whole of Liberty City in without sacrificing any detail, but could actually add some new effects.
When we realized that was the case, we were able to start working on adding multiplayer elements. We worked very closely with Rockstar North and the production team in New York, both of which had been toying with the idea of Grand Theft Auto with multiplayer for some time.
The fact that the PSP offered wireless multiplayer coupled with our confidence that we could execute it well, made Liberty City Stories the ideal vehicle to launch a full multiplayer aspect of Grand Theft Auto.
2- How many multiplayer modes are there in total?
There are seven multiplayer modes available. They’re all available as soon as you fire up the game. Each game is played in any of the three islands featured in Liberty City Stories.
Initially you’ll only be able to host games on Portland Island, which is the first borough. As you progress through the story mode of the game you’ll progress to Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale.
Once these are reached in the story mode, you’ll be able to host games there. You’ll also unlock various characters that you can play as against your opponents – there are over sixty (60) characters to choose from in total.
3- What’s special about the multiplayer in Liberty City Stories?
We’ve concentrated on bringing the level of freedom associated with the single player game into the multiplayer game. There’s an enormous area to cover, that you’ll be familiar with from the story mode, but you’ll need to explore it in much more detail to come out on top in multiplayer games.
You’ll need to find good sniping spots and be aware of other players trying to snipe at you. You’ll need to know good escape routes for when you’re about to die and looking for health and armour. And of course, you’ll need to know where to go to find the best weapons; there’s no point chasing me down if you’ve only got an Uzi and I have a full arsenal.
We’ve also added in some power-ups which can really tip the balance of a game. Find the Invisibility power-up and you’ll disappear from the other players’ maps, suddenly you’ll be free to blend in with pedestrians and sneak up on your quarry. Or find the Mega Damage power-up to inflict four times the damage with each shot, you’ll very quickly find people rushing to get as far away from you as possible until your power-up expires.
4- What is your favourite multiplayer mode and why?
It’s probably Tanks for the Memories.
The aim is be the first player to spend a certain amount of time in the tank, while all the other players gang up on you and try to destroy the tank. Everybody races to the tank, the first man there takes control of it and then defends against all other players. The player in the tank could suddenly be faced with up to five enemies with rocket launchers trying to blow him up!
It’s certainly not one sided though, as the tank comes complete with an unlimited supply of shells to fire from its turret.
The best course of action is to keep moving and stay out of the way of the other players. This is easier said than done – the tank may have tough armour but it isn’t the fastest vehicle in the game so be prepared to take a lot of hits very quickly.
I love this one because I think it’s probably the most tense mode – everybody is after you and somehow it feels like it should be easy when you’re in the tank, but believe me; it isn’t.
5- What were the biggest constraints in bringing multiplayer modes to Liberty City Stories?
From the very beginning we knew that we had to offer the full, living, breathing experience that is the signature of the Grand Theft Auto games.
There was never any question of offering a restricted area to play in or of having an empty city. There was also a feeling that we needed to offer at least 6 players so that in team games it would feel like you were part of a team, not just half of a couple.
Getting all this to run smoothly with no frame rate slow down and without compromising graphical quality was the biggest hurdle we overcame.
It was quite a feat making sure that all the machines playing together could accurately portray what was happening to the other players. When you’ve got sniper rifles in a game that can see half way across the island, you need to be sure that what I see on my scope is the same as what is happening in your local area. This means that each machine is dealing with more data than it usually would during the course of the single player game.
6- What sacrifices, if any, did you have to make to get the multiplayer mode working?
Amazingly, we were able to transfer the whole experience to a multiplayer environment. The radio stations even work when you steal ambient cars!
We had to prevent players from going inside buildings during multiplayer games but this doesn’t affect the experience, and we’re really proud of the achievement.
7- Does the inclusion of multiplayer in Liberty City Stories signify a move in this direction for the whole series?
We cant talk about the rest of the series, who knows what the future will bring! We’re certainly very happy with the way we’ve been able to present a multiplayer option in Liberty City Stories.
One of the beautiful things about the whole series is that so much has been learnt since it all began.
With each new iteration, people have been blown away with the new features, and also better ways have been found to develop the existing features. I’m sure that the tradition of continually learning from the development process will continue.
Thanks again for doing this devilish interview with us!
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