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SSX3 - Exclusive Interview Feature
Derek dela Fuente
13/10/2003
We chat exclusively with the guys at EA BIG on the return of SSX and what we can expect to see in No.3…
From the team that brought you the breathtaking SSX and SSX Tricky, comes their next presentation SSX3, full of heart pounding excitement and an all-new full mountain experience. âExtremeâ sports have never been so exhilarating!
It has taken the development team 2 years to ensure SSX3 not only lives up to the previous games but expands that experience even further with a variety of all new open mountain experiences. Over the top Race competitions, dedicated Freestyle events, unique Big Challenges, and pristine Backcountry areas are on offer.
Many of the in game features have not only been improved but extended like, for instance, the pivotal characters. SSX3 has four new rivals joining six returning SSX Tricky characters. Mac, Elise, Zoe, Moby, Psymon, and Kaori are back. They are joined by the crazy Swede Viggo, mountain man Nate, 12-year-old phenom Griff, and the ultra hot, ultra talented Allegra.
As you would expect there are more tricks, including a collection of new Uber Tricks where users can combo and hold. Topped up with state of the art graphics and special effects. All SSX fans will be more than pleased.
To get the low down on SSX3, just a mere few week before its release, we spoke with the Dave Elton, the Producer.
In discussion with Dave:
TVG: Do you see SSX3 as more than a continuation of the brand? Apart from the settings are there any other important gaming aspects you have worked on?
Dave: SSX 3 is definitely more that just a continuation of the brand. When we started working on the game two years ago we knew that we had to create something special, something more than just a sequel, and I think we have accomplished that. In addition to all the new features, we worked on all aspects of the game, even ones that had been seen as strengths in past SSX titles, such as our controls. For our trick system we introduced flatland tricks that allow the player to combo long strings of tricks together. The player is even able to do one long combo down the entire length of the mountain⦠a 22-mile long combo.
Character customisation is also a huge addition to the world of SSX. Players will be able to customize their characters with over 600 items, allowing them to truly create some unique characters. The depth of the game has also been greatly increased. SSX 3 is the biggest game that has ever come out of the EA Canada studio, with our experienced testers taking at least 24 hours to finish the game, at least three times as long as SSX Tricky.
TVG: A massive open mountain environment is on offer to the eager gamer. How have you gone about creating the setting? Have you used topography for instance and is this based, loosely on an area?
Dave: In order to create the mountain we did not use actual topographic information, but did look for reference and inspiration from mountain and winter scenes from around the world. We wanted to create a mountain that flowed together, but offered the player different experiences at different points in the mountain. This continuation of gameplay through elements that ranged from pre-dawn glacier experiences through stormy high mountain and down to a perfect afternoon lower range finishing off in a city was a challenge, but I think the player will feel that the transitions as they ride from the very top down to the bottom of the run work well. We worked very hard on creating the best visuals that we could to match the top level of gameplay that we were able to obtain, and in the end I think everyone will agree that we met our goal.
TVG: What kind of detailed research on physics and inertia have you delved into and are there many differing kinds of snow (wet, dry, etc.) that make gaming subtle that may easily be overlooked by the player?
Dave: The amount of control that we have built into our development tools to be able to adjust the physics of each of the different snow types and how the boarder is able to navigate over and through them still astounds me. We are able to tune every aspect of the snow from how much the board is able to 'grab' the snow, how the player is able to carve through the snow, at various speeds, what kind of speed the boarder is able to get through different snow types at different pitches, what kind of snow spray comes off of the board, acceleration curves for each of the snow types, the list goes on and on. Players will definitely be able to tell that they are on many different surface types and see that they do very much affect how they travel down the courses. On top of the tools we have many experienced snowboarders on the team, from a former pro snowboarder, a snowboarding judge, and many boarders who go as often as they possibly can. We were able to take all of their experiences with different snow types and apply them to the experience in the game.
TVG: Can you briefly give the readers an insight into the four new characters and what attributes they have that are different to the regulars that SSX fans will know about?
Dave: We have actually changed how we are dealing with attributes with the characters for SSX 3. All of the characters start off with pretty much the same stats, allowing people to pick the characters that they want to develop, rather than just picking a character based on their attributes.
Our four new characters are Nate, an outdoors type, Griff, a phenom kid, Allegra, a woman with a skater background and finally Viggo, a European boarder.
TVG: Could you enlighten us pertaining to some new tricks that are on offer including perhaps your fav?
Dave: Our new tricks include flatland tricks such as nose presses and tail presses (riding on the nose or tail of the board), three levels of uber ticks and rail uber tricks. The biggest addition to the tricks is using the flatland tricks to link other tricks together for combos. I have a couple of favourite tricks, one being holding the handstand rail uber trick over a gap in the rails (the character holds the hand stand on the board while in the air, and continues the rail uber grind when landing on the following rail), and really any set of tricks that I link together with the flatland tricks, such as doing an uber rail trick, landing in a nose press, launching off of a jump, doing an uber trick and then landing in a tail press⦠I'm sure you get the idea.
TVG: How focused are the team on pushing technology and with this on 3 formats are you working to a generic model? Also are there any neat special/particle effects to watch out for?
Dave: We tried to make sure that the technology that we created for SSX 3 worked across all three platforms, and ended up pushing all three platforms to their limit. I'm afraid there isn't enough space here for me to list all of the visuals that the player should look out for, so I will group them somewhat: Dynamic world effects, such as avalanches, falling cliff faces and lightning storms that knock down trees, dozens of snow surfaces, from groomed snow to deep powder to rock hard ice, atmospheric effects such as blizzards that feature winds that blow the player are, I think, all around some of the best visuals that you will see this year.
TVG: As many of the team fans of extreme sports and of course living in Canada does this give you a better fix on this kind of game?
Dave: We have a large number of extreme sport fans on the team⦠snowboarders, mountain bikers, climbers. A very large portion of the team snowboards, and as I mentioned previously we have a former pro snowboarder, and a snowboarding judge on the team. While I'm not sure that living in Canada gives us a better fix on making this type of game, living near some of the world's best snowboarding does help. We have some phenomenal mountains within 30 minutes to an hour from our office, such as Whistler, that allow us to get our snowboarding as much as we like.
TVG: Is the game pretty much a linear line or are there many hidden factors, knock on effects that can occur?
Dave: The player progresses up the mountain during the course of the game, but really they play the way that they want to play. Players can unlock the entire mountain just following one of four paths, such as competing in Race events, competing in freestyle events such as Slopestyle, Big Air and Super Pipe, completing BIG Challenges and finding collectibles, or by earning money. Players can even open one peak by completing the race events, and then open up the next peak by completing freestyle events. SSX 3 gives the player the ability to play what they want to play, when they want to play that way.
TVG: Please sum up the game in one sentence.
Dave: Toughest question of the bunch⦠Can it be a run on sentence?
Compete in Race and Freestyle events, earn cash, complete BIG Challenges, customize your character and play the way you want to play on a mountain that is bigger and meaner than Mt. Everest⦠the best snowboarding game ever⦠SSX 3.
