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Extreme-G 3 Feature
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Here we go, the Full Monty on this Playstation 2 and Game Cube title FROM the people creating this experience!
Acclaim, who appear to have a liking for the PS2, as well as fast and furious speed racing games, is presently putting the final touches to Extreme G3. Harvey Elliott - Head of UK Studios for Acclaim Entertainment, responsible for Acclaim's two UK development studios, and through that each of the games they produce - was the target for Derek dela Fuente to talk and explain all about this up and coming title
Extreme-G was originally released on the Nintendo 64 in October 1997, and was followed by a sequel Extreme G 2 (XG2) just over a year later. Both games offered a completely unique race experience to the Nintendo 64 owners - super powered bikes, at truly extreme speeds, and with a whole host of weapons put in for good measure. XG3 - Extreme G Racing (to give it the official title) is the sequel to those games, but Acclaim has built it for the next generation consoles and so they have been able to do so many of the things that the original team could only dream of. A completely new team has worked on this new version and in effect wanted a new and fresh perspective for the game and didn't just carry over the features from the previous games, which means it really takes the XG experience to the next level.
âAs soon as you put the disk into the console we bring the player into the experience of being part of the Extreme G Racing leaguesâ, a quote that is attributed to Harvey.
We shall start by getting to the part that some might want to read first â“ the essence of the game.
Players must choose a team, select a character and start on a career with one of the six super powered race teams. As players enter races they earn credits, and the credits can be used to upgrade the bike's engines, weapons and systems. The player can also use the credits to enter a time-trial challenge, and if they can improve on their best times they can earn back more money to spend elsewhere. Finally the player's earnings are counted overall, and when career earnings reach a certain level you can move up through the leagues and the speed classes. You also have the option of joining a team with a friend, and undertaking a team career - which soon gets interesting as the credits earned are shared, so whoever gets to the shop first gets to spend the money! XG3 also has arcade mode for quick races, and a two-player versus mode where riders battle against each other, and depending on how well they do get money to spend before going into the next race. You can also load in your riders from memory card, so you can bring your new creations into a versus battle.
When the team agreed to develop XG3, they knew that they would have to make it pretty special. The first versions were hugely popular on Nintendo 64, so they had to make sure it could entertain not only the same original fan base, but also bring the game right up to date to satisfy the demands of the next generation consumers. Fortunately the technology the programmers have developed gave them more freedom in how they created the worlds, and experience, to really draw the players in. One of Harveyâs favourite things about the game was the incredible speed that the bikes reach, and the fact that you still have total control over them! The handling of these super-bikes has been super-tuned... and getting the right feel to the bike handling has been of paramount importance to the game. Harvey also added that he thought the track design was simply breathtaking - huge expansive landscapes and tracks intertwining around them that throw the bikes in all directions. It was hard to know of any other game out there that does what the team was doing right now, so impressively!
Killer looks is always a prerequisite on any PS2 title and the âwowâ factor is essential. Harvey expressed his views: âTo me the gameplay experience is the most important thing to build into a game. How does it make you feel, is it fun to play, is it fun to watch? But to get people to play the game you need to make sure it looks special, and different. To draw people into the game you need to show them something completely original (and awesome), and make them think 'hey I'd like to do that'... When we started the game our programmers had just finished their first PlayStation 2 game, and had developed a whole range of technology that gave us a huge kick-start to the game. This was great as it allowed us to start building the worlds and environments really early on to see how they worked, but to make the game shine this had to be a true second generation experience. Our programmers went back to the drawing board with the technology, and rewrote virtually every system we had - and the results, well they blew even us away.â
Harvey: âWhen we started XG3 we decided to build a race experience that not only gave instant gratification (like an arcade game), but gave people a hint of something more, the extra engines, weapons and so on, and slowly draws the player into our world. We feel we've achieved this, as well as giving the owners of the next-generation systems something that really shows off the hardware. It's great to have a sports car - but if you don't have the keys what's the point of having it. Think of XG3 as the keys to the system, and we'll show you what 1,000mph feels like! You'll be dazzled by what the PS2 is capable of. If you are going across the board how do you taper the game so it is easily playable for one and tough enough for the experienced? Well, there are four classes of engine and several leagues within each one. We've assumed that no one has ever played an Extreme G game before, but also that they haven't driven something as fast as this. So the first speed class gives you a top speed of 350mph, and gently introduces you to the experience. For the first time user this may be enough gratification, but we ramp the speeds up over the four classes, and the results, well it soon hots up... As the player progresses through the game, so do the opposing teams. As you start to afford the weapons and upgrades, you'll find the AI riders have built up their own arsenal as well, and are only too happy to use it. The AI is pretty unique in the game, and the other riders remember who attacked them, so if you put a couple of rockets into the exhaust of the opposition you should steer clear of them in the next race.â
With so many racing/speed games around, what makes this unique is perhaps one of the most important questions that Harvey answered. âThere are other racing games - absolutely, but this gives a new definition to speed. We've built bikes that travel up to 1,000mph, breaking through the sound barrier along the way, and gruelling the riders with roller-coaster style tracks, twists, turns, loops, and gut-wrenching drops. It's intense!â
EG3 also has other distinguishing features for it could be played in a way that matched the playerâs style. The first bike the player gets has a single armament, the cannon, and from there gets the choice of whether to upgrade the engines, shields, or weapons. The weapons do play a major part in the game as the AI will start to use them against you and each other, but they break down into defensive and offensive weapons. Defensive weapons include equipment like the EMP â“ an electro-magnetic pulse that disables all nearby weapon systems, Flash Mortar that blinds the pursuing bikes, and the Leech that drains energy from opposing bikes. On the offensive side we have homing rockets, mines, and a number of other pretty devastating weapons.
The tracks on offer are extremely diverse. The team has tried to make each one a unique experience for people to learn, and with 10 of them raced over the four speed classes, the game experience really evolves. The locations are:
Muon Harbor - Twin cities across a bay, with a speed oval to introduce the player gently to the XG experience.
Verdegrand - A Wind-Farm power plant with caves, rock faces, and a valley to race along.
Crystalaria - An ice level with falling snow, twists and turns through ice-caverns, ice flows, and around an arctic base.
Megalopis 7 - A track just above the cloud layer in a huge bustling city, with flying traffic and a track intertwined around the city's skyscrapers.
Siris Canyon - A vast canyon in the desert with some of the most jaw-dropping scenery yet created. A huge loop features in the circuit and the track throws you deep to the canyon floor.
Oceania - A city built entirely at sea, the track cuts across at sea level before rising into a huge loop and plunging deep into the ocean.
Tundaria - A coastal military base with gun-ships, and military installations all over the locale.
Atradaitoshi - A huge neon lit cityscape with the tracks going through the centre of skyscrapers and across jumps and turns above the city streets.
Pasiphae 6 - A huge dam is the centrepiece to this track that cuts along the edge of the dam before twisting between the trees in the forest and then dropping to the valley base.
Pion 6 - A desert city that is only accessed through finishing all.
Each of the teams has different characteristics and ethics that they work from, be it to win at all costs, or succeed through professional racing. Also, they all carry distinctive engine sounds so players will start to recognise who's nearby just from the sound of their engine. Everything that you can buy for the bike is fitted to it, so as you buy rockets for example, rocket-pods will be added to open up from the side of your bike. It took one of our artists ages to make sure the whole thing fitted together, and he's pretty convinced you can build one... with the right parts of course!
The skill factor for the player has been tuned well and as you play things will develop which includes a few finer skills, like shifting the balance of the bike forwards and backwards as you descend or climb, and using the turbos strategically to get around the circuit quickly. Air-brakes to the bike have been added and they do need to be mastered... they don't just slow the bike down, they can be used to aid turning and to control the bike when the rear-end steps out (skilled players will actually learn how to take control of this, and improve their cornering ability even at extreme speeds). As you progress through the speed classes you can buy bigger engines for your bikes, and you'll be able to afford some of the more expensive items such as the railgun or shield boosts.
The protective shield need some explanation. The shield is one of the more strategic elements in the game, as although it provides you with your defence against the weapons, you can also use the turbo that drains the shield energy because of the extra burden it puts on the bike. As the game progresses players will have to start being careful about their turbo usage, and bear in mind that the next recharge lanes could be on the other side of the circuit. As players learn the tracks, they'll start to work out the best way to get the fastest lap times and win races.
Over to Harvey who explained the control method. âThe steering control is through the analogue stick, which is also used to shift weight-balance (you can push forwards down hill to gain extra speed for example) but this is something players will have to master as it gets quite tricky to keep control while pushing the nose forwards, or pulling back. To slow the bikes down we've added air brakes that fold out near the rear-wheels, and can be used on either side or both simultaneously. The twistier tracks can be negotiated more accurately if you use just one air-brake while turning and accelerating, and the back wheel of the bike 'steps-out' and skids as you corner.
Harping back momentarily to the technology of the game, it appeared the all-important AI has been constantly honed as the game developed. Because there is a racing field of 12 bikes they can allow some pretty strong battles amongst the AI bikes and not just with the player, which means that the player may find himself or herself racing through a fire-fight. The AI is also given all the same parameters as the player, so they can only turbo if they have enough energy, and can only turn as much as the human player. The team has added some other rules to work to though, so it ensures the player has a competitive race, rather than sit alone on the circuit, but itâs great to have them racing legitimately! The AI also remembers who hit them, and will seek you out if you barrage them with your weapons.
It is also worth noting that the riders are locked on the tracks but it makes it far from predictable! Instead of just negotiating left and right turns, you have vertical climbs and drops as well as all sorts of twists and turns to negotiate. It gets pretty intense! The bikes all have a 'Graviton Drive' that keeps the bike on the track most of the time. There are various points where you will leave the circuit, such as jumps and drops, and there are various split routes that require strategic decisions - for example on the canyon level there is a longer route, however it allows you the opportunity to recharge your shields or ammunition in exchange for the slower time.
Crash, bang, wallopâ¦â¦. The main interaction is with the opponents and their bikes, but you can use the environment to your advantage. Firing a flash-mortar just before a bend will send riders in the wrong direction and into a nearby hazard or off the circuit, and micro-mines can be dropped from the top of a loop to fall onto riders below. It does start to get complicated trying to work out which way up you are at the time you drop the mines, so you start to look for landmarks from which to fire your weapons.
Mayhem, speed, loads of action, so what effect does this all have apart from sweaty hands? The bike has front and rear suspension, has a full detection zone on its perimeter. When the shield is hit the point of impact is calculated exactly, and the shimmer effect dissipates from that point. All of the physics in the game are properly generated, so although the bikes remain on track, they are all affected by gravity, friction and directional velocities. So a rocket hitting you from behind will drain your shields, but also push you in the direction it was travelling. Because of the way the bikes are on the track it gives a very 'tactile' feel to the game, that is lacking in many other games of this genre.
Onscreen info is impressive. The Head Up Display was designed to give positive quick reference information to the player, while keeping the screen image clean and clear. Included are markers to show where pursuing bikes are, and for those with surround-sound systems you can hear them chasing up from behind. The HUD advises the player on their position, current lap number, lap time, best lap, available weapons, ammo levels, and shield levels. The bike computer voice will warn when ammunition is running low or expired, or when the shields are getting worn down or critical. It also advises when there's a missile locked on you.
To end, you have plenty of honing your bike options for after each race you have the option of going to the XG Mall and buying upgrades and engines, and boosting your career earnings through a time-trial. The objective is for the player to be constantly allowed to improve their bike, but also allowing them to save up for the more expensive items from the start. It took a lot of balancing to make sure the learning curve was just right.
