FlatOut 2 - Developer Diary #3 Feature

TotalVideoGames nears the conclusion of its coverage of FlatOut2 with the third and the final part of the diary on Empire's game with Jussi Laakkonen, Business Development Director, at Bugbear Entertainment Ltd, musing over where the series goes from here and the hopes for success for the title.

FlatOut 2 is coming out at the end of the current generation of game consoles. There are a lot of great racing games out there, competition is fierce and next-gen is also underway. It's a tough market, but we welcome the challenge. The challenge also gets even tougher, as it seems a lot of games coming out like FlatOut 2 will be compared to the early next-generation games, although the platforms are widely different in terms of raw performance.

But raw performance isn't everything. It's about what you do with the platform and it is really great to see that FlatOut 2 is turning out to be not just one of the best action racers on current-gen, but that it is also putting up a fight against the early next gen games. For example, FlatOut 2's race tracks are each complete with over 5,000 physics-driven, destructible objects, and that level of interactivity is more than what even the early next gen racing games deliver.

Then of course there is the fact there are around 100 million PS2s out there (hey, maybe you've got one under your telly too?), 40 million Xboxes and countless PCs, and probably only 2 million or so Xbox 360s so far (and no PS3s). So, if we were making FO2 only for next gen consoles, a lot of people would miss out on the game. Next gen is all the hype, but the vast majority of gamers will continue to play with their trusty PS2, Xbox or PC for a couple of years to come. For every one of them, FlatOut 2 is going to be one of the coolest and greatest action racers out there - so make sure you check it out!

Next-gen consoles are coming and games are going to get better because there is simply so much more processing power available to create immersive experiences. Bugbear is known to be a technology powerhouse and we'll definitely make our mark on the next-gen consoles. It is still too early to go into any specifics, but it is safe to say that we'll continue to deliver outstanding racing games.

As for FlatOut, we are only just getting started. We have no doubt that FlatOut 2 will do well. The way the game is designed we believe that both old and new fans will find the game exhilarating and exciting. Although racing is one of the oldest game genres, there is still room to innovate and we'll continue to do that with FlatOut in the future. But before we get ahead of ourselves, there is the small matter of finishing FlatOut 2 =).

We are currently 100% focused on making FlatOut 2 a great game. There is still plenty of work to be done before the game is finished. That final crunch, which is needed to get everything done is always stressful and we are feeling that pressure right now. Working long days and weekends is often necessary and tensions can run high. At the same time the crunch is also often a time when the team meshes just the right way and things get done amazingly fast. We are very much in the "let's get it done" mode right now. It won't be long until FlatOut 2 is finished and we'll be able to take some well deserved time off.

Alright, now it's time to get back to getting the game done.

TVG would like to thank all at BugBear for their thoughts through the development of FlatOut2, which is released for Xbox, PlayStation2, and PC on June 30th. We'll have our review of the game shortly, so be sure to check for that soon.