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BlowOut Feature Feature
Derek dela Fuente
11/08/2003
A shed load of the deadliest enemies the universe has ever seen, one would be hero and an intriguing selection of weapons, many of which could be stashed on dead bodies, are some of the interesting components that go into making BlowOut.
A team influenced by films like Aliens and Event Horizon and games like Metroid, and a little Contra bodes wells for an epic title.
BlowOut is billed as an 18 plus, sideways-levelled, action game with strong character focus where the famous Yasushi Nirasawa has helped designed 14 unique enemy types - he previously crafted the style of Soul Caliber and has worked on character designs in top movies, including Final Fantasy and Men in Black.
The ambience and look of the game has a forbidding feel and merge old ideas with new. Sideways scrolling may be wholly retro but the way it has been recreated brings new life and appeal to an old genre making it stand on its own as being fairly unique. We spoke with David Elmekies - VP Product Development - to find out more.
Developed by DiezelPowered Studios, team members have been involved in a wide variety of product genres. The one thing they all have in common is a passion for gaming, and has them with BlowOut returning their roots with classic ideas, which have been remodelled. As kids all would play games like Contra, R-type, for hours on end. The twist now for them is to incorporate current 3D and lighting technology into a retro style to not only give the player a chance to relive the style but do so in a visually stunning and highly compelling manner.
Before we got underway the team supplied a rather enigmatic background story to the game.
2261: Massive and heavily fortified battle platform, Honour Guard, is stationed at the far edge of the Properties, a collection of off world industrial sites. The Honour Guard is manned entirely by multiple MI-2 clones derived from a veteran military crew. The MI-2 clones replicate and replace themselves as necessary, thereby efficiently providing a top-notch crew for, effectively, eternity.
An MI-2, or 'clamped', clone inherits the functional skills and physical capabilities, though not the emotional needs or drives-of its forebears. MI-2's are no more than expendable biological machines, legally devoid of souls and perfectly suited to extremely dangerous or perpetual labour.
2352: All goes as planned for four generations aboard Honour Guard; the battle platform defends the Properties from a number of human interlopers, as well as Xeno attacks. The Honour Guard template is deemed successful, and similar battle platform operations are launched. A decade later the Patna, Talib Squire, Jessamine Vengeance, and Polyphemus battle platforms defend Properties throughout known space.
2364: In benign response to the proliferation of MI-2 manned battle platforms, the TransFed Authority creates a special enforcement branch to police them and enforce TransFed law, resulting in well-trained Jump Posses.
2368: While defending Property 714 (Fuel), the DNA of 4th-generation MI-2 clone Honour Guard Gunner C.F. Stephens is unknowingly exposed to a Xeno genome virus. The genome virus slightly alters Stephens-4's replication sequences and plants a third, latent chromosome. Stephens-4 finds himself suddenly self-aware, and like his namesake, relentlessly ambitious. He discovers the ability to replicate himself at will and creates a small army. The resulting horde of Stephens clones are created rapidly and under partial control of Stephens-4. While not fully independent, they are extremely aggressive and hostile.
The latent chromosome in Stephens-4 blossoms, and his newfound self-awareness is shoved into screaming, homicidal insanity.
Then he shifts.
When human DNA is sufficiently altered and stretched, any number of mutant physiologies can result - even shapes intended to more closely resemble the original creators of the genome virus. Stephens-4 and most of early replications twist and explode into hideously alien forms. The mutated Stephens-4 leads his clones on a brutal, bloody massacre on all other Honour Guard clones. He gains control of the Honour Guard and closes off all external communications. He prepares to launch cultures of the genome virus to all the Properties in the Honour Guard jurisdiction.
Marshall John âDutchâ Cane is called off current assignment on the Talib Squire and assigned to rendezvous with his Jump Posse already at the Honour Guard. Marshall Cane and his men are to quash the clone insurrection and restore order at all costs, including the destruction of the mammoth Honour Guard, if necessary.
Dutch responds, and using the super-accelerated drives that give the Jump Posses their name, arrives at the darkened, quiet Honour Guard in three weeks. He docks his Jumper, Baphomet, near the Jump Posse ship at Honour Guard's Aft Bays and uses TransFed override codes to force entry into the Battle Platform.
Inside the Honour Guard, he finds Hell.
Dutch will travel throughout the Honor Guard, killing the Xeno and zombie Stephens clones, searching for his scattered Jump Posse, and finding teleporter codes that allow him further entry into the depths of the Battle Platform. Eventually, he will set charges at each section to destroy the Honour Guard. Posse members communicate with him through written messages and over voice com, telling him (the player) the story of the clone takeover. When Dennis, the last surviving posse member, reveals Stephens-4's plot and is violently murdered, Dutch will concentrate on destroying the Honour Guard before it can launch the virus to the populated Properties.
As Dutch, you need to discover what really happened but ahead is action and mayhem. The excellent use of the camera certainly aids the process not only in getting into the game but assimlating things.
"The all important camera is intelligent and inertial but in an isometric field (hence side scroller). Cut scenes will interrupt gameplay and stop the action so we are keeping them to a minimum to keep the intensity up."
"Iâd like to pass over an excerpt from our design doc to give the readers a better idea of what's going to happen."
The camera operates from a 'fixed' position to the hero's side. It moves along with the hero, panning slightly in the direction the reticle is aimed and trucking back and forth to accommodate the aim distance. If no aiming controls are pressed, the camera pushes in to its closest extent (about 15 feet) which shows about two tiles width of the level. When aim is fully extended, the camera pulls back to its furthest extent (about 30 feet) which shows about four tiles width of the level. These camera moves are slow and smooth to avoid jarring the player. Even if the player intentionally jitters the aim stick, the camera will smoothly transition to its intended destination.
The team has benefited by using their own proprietary engine. This allows for quick modification of the editor itself to meet their needs and move into full scale production with a minimum delay for tool creation.
Graphically the game already looks fabulous and this comes with a nice set of innovations. "The high dynamic range lighting and our particle system are things we are quite proud of. Our engine really gives us so much latitude on all platforms it is easy to create new technology and take advantage of it very quickly."
The game route is linear but it does have some key aspects. Your enemy is fixed on the destruction of you and every other human in its quest to become the dominant species in the universe. With Universal Weapon Mounts implanted into their right arms, Jump Posse soldiers carry a wide variety of weaponry and ammunition. Using particle compression technology in the base of the mount, the soldier can carry an entire arsenal of extremely powerful firearms.
"Switching weapons involves converting the currently mounted weapon to a particle/data stream and storing it in the Mount's memory tank. Then, the particle/data stream for the desired weapon is used to reconstitute the
weapon in the socket of the Mount.â
Drones have been mentioned as being part of the in game action and cast but David was slightly reluctant to expand, "All I can say at this time is that we are working on including a special class of suit modifiers which link to the hero's suit AI and carry out a variety of offensive and defensive tasks (drones). Other than that...the rest is top secret."
With 5 different environments based on moving through an enormous ship - most of which the team wanted to keep quiet on at present, what was on offer sounded fascinating. With nearly the whole of the environment fully destructible, basically, that's why the game is called BlowOut...because you will be able to BlowOut pretty much everything, (even included is a level editor) and with tons of weapons and intense gameplay - this will be a non-stop rush. The successful strategies will be to use your environment to help you and have the right weapon for the right enemy.
A final quote came from David. "For the team it has been a wonderful visit to our past and a chance to create a game that has the unique traits of being both technically advanced and classic at the same time."
We can't wait!
