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GT Legends - Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
04/10/2005
TVG chats to the Producer of GT Legends about the forthcoming racing title...
There seems to be a pocket of teams in Europe producing racing game to the very highest standard and this can be said of GT Legends which is nearing release. Although there could be many who may not have heard of the developement team, SimBin, nor thier German publisher 10tacle, both should be viewed with a lot interest. 10tacle have a number of capivating titles due for release but this title will be coming out via the distribution of Atari. TVG shall also be giving an insight into Simbin shortly via our developerās profile.
GT Legends is the successor to the internationally successful GTR reviving the legendary cars of bygone days. Derek dela Fuente spoke with Rod Chong, producer of GTL.
How pleased were you with GTR ā“ FIA GT Racing Game which was released by Atari and do you see GT Legends as a follow up?
GTR did very well for a game in the simulation genre, and Atari did a great job with the distribution of GTR. With GTL, we wonāt have a repeat of the delayed release issue we had with GTR. Atari will be releasing the game simultaneously in all western European territories shortly.
Tell us what the mission statement for GT Legends is and what do you believe the game offers new to the scene?
GT Legends is a classic car racing game. We aimed to make it as authentic a racing experience as possible, while having a clear game pathway for the player and increasing the "fun" factor as much as possible.
How did you managed to source all the information for GT Legends cars and what has been the hardest aspect so far in putting it together?
It was reasonably straight forward researching the cars. We went to several FIA GTC-TC races and photographed all the cars and worked closely with the drivers, owners and mechanics of these amazing machines. Everyone involved was quite helpful. The FIA organization also gave us access to the FIA Homologation booklets for some of the cars.
I don't think I can identify any one aspect of the production that was harder than the rest really. Itās all quite a challenge to produce a project like this!
Name a couple of the adverse driving conditions and locales on offer and does weather or climate play a part?
For GT Legends we chose to focus on the new 24H lighting system rather than updates to the weather systems. So the most adverse driving conditions you can experience in the game are if you crash out during a night race and damage your headlights! You'll have a tough time peering through the dark for the brake markers with no headlights.
There are many racing games around ā“ what do you see as their shortfalls and do you feel that the gamers who play your releases appreciate the immense amount of detail you place in them?
Well I don't want to get much into criticizing other people's work here as everyone has different opinions as to what a racing game should be. People who play our games understand that we do everything possible to make the racing experience as realistic and authentic as possible within the technology limits of that time period. Itās really what makes us different from other game producers.
What do you see as the main focus for the game? Is it the vehicles, players driving skills, the retro feel etc and what part does character building and rival drivers play?
The main overall focus for the game was to take hardcore realism and marry it with a cup type of progression. We wanted to give them a place to start, and a pathway to improve their driving skills and abilities with the old 1960ās cars before rewarding them with the wild and crazy 1970ās beasts. For us, each element of the game is integral to creating an overall experience with each component working seamlessly together.
What kind of technology focus do the team have and what improvements from GT can we expect to see in Legends?
We are always looking to push what is possible in a PC game, to the limits of hardware specs. We have made so many improvements from GTR to GT Legends itās hard to know where to start! The 24Hour lighting system is quite revolutionary for a racing game. We have also put a lot of effort into AI updates to make the racing as challenging as possible. The whole graphics engine is a massive leap forward as well with the new DX9 shaders.
What race modes are on offer and what are some of the diverse challenges?
There are many different types of driving and racing experiences in GTL.
We have a test drive mode where you can try out most of the cars before purchasing them. Open Practice and Quick Race are of course present, but itās the Cup Challenge mode which challenges the player to some great racing scenarios.
We have created many different types of races, from short sprint championships with single car makes, endurance events, night races, 60 Touring car Championships, 60ās GT Championships and 70ās GT/Touring car championships as well as mixed class racing. There is quite a lot of varied racing to experience with GT Legends especially considering there are 3 different types of racing in separate championships in the FIA GTC-TC series.
What kind of deformation of cars and environment is executed in the game and what part does real physics play?
The cars do bend up with damage with a lot of breakable parts on each car. These old machines are quite tough so you can race rough with them, but the results may not be that pretty if you are rubbing up your competitors regularly. The handling of the car of course changes if you bend the suspension up or get a flat tire.
What customising and online features does Legends offer?
The customizing possible with the game should be familiar to fans of GTR. We have also created a 5 stage difficulty system which gradually locks out driving assists and increases AI strength. This difficulty system is also carried over to multiplayer so that different players of similar skill levels should be able to find each other online to match skill level races.
In multiplayer the race host can chose what car class or models are allowed which should make it quite easy to have custom racing championships. We're quite hopeful to see some Mini Cooper racing leagues out there for example.
TVG would like to thank Rod Chong for taking the time to answer our questions; weāll have more on GT Legends shortlyā¦
