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SSX on Tour Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
26/07/2005
TVG hits the slopes and chats to the Producer of the forthcoming SSX on Tour...
EAâs SSX franchise returns with SSX on Tour, and promises to offer thrills, spills, tricks and stunts, along with a bucket load of new ideas and options, as you take to your board/skis and become reckless and free. SSX on Tour features fully customisable players and an open and expansive world but donât take our word for it - get the full take from Michael Thornton Wyman, Producer, as he speaks with Derek dela Fuente about some of the mesmerising and inviting ideas that SSX offers!
TVG: Is the team pleased, so far, with the SSX titles released and do you feel that with each game you are progressing both technically and in terms of gameplay? What do you see as some of the new or improved features within SSX on Tour? Also what has been the feedback and main âaskâ from fans from the previous game?
The SSX team is incredibly tight and a number of our team members have worked on all 3 previous SSX titles. There are a lot of new people, as well, which is great for continuing to push the franchise forward and inject new ideas into the mix. I think that the core SSX game play experience is so well tuned and so well received that we all felt hesitant to mess with it too much. At the same time, we are constantly striving to introduce new features to take the franchise to the next level. Pretty much all of the major systems â“ physics, lighting, data streaming, etc. - have been updated and improved.
We have a very vocal and active fan base and they are a great source of new ideas as well. Our fans also let us know what isnât working for them. For example the reset zones from last yearâs game were a source of frustration, so we worked very hard this year to avoid them as much as possible and to design our tracks to make reset zones less necessary. Many of the new key features in the game, such as skiing, the trick stick, monster treatment, career mode and create-a-rider, are in response to both what our fans were asking for and ideas generated within the team, many of whom by the way are avid players of the game.
TVG: The onus with SSX on Tour now gives the player a freer reign to become the best and making it to the top. Can you expand on this and the kind of customisable features that are new?
Well for starters we have, for the first time in SSX, a create-a-rider feature. This allows players to create their own egos and bring them into the world of SSX. And as you progress through the game, with success, you are given the opportunity to continue to outfit and equip your character with real-world items from brands like Burton, K2, Sapient, Line, Armada, Grenade, Westbeach, etc.
Player choice was really a main focus for us this year. Creating a male or female character, making all kinds of choices in terms of how that character looks, boarding or skiing, tricks or race, shreds or medal events â“ we have really turned over a lot of the control of the flow of the game to the player, making the experience of Career Mode much more organic. This also adds a great deal to replay-ability, as players might want to complete career mode as a skier, and go back and try again as a boarder to try to master the alternative physics.
TVG: How much day to day research and information does the team source from the Snow Boarding scene and have you a number of Snowboarders who you constantly pass ideas by?
We are fortunate in that we are literally situated in the shadow of Whistler Blackcomb, the pre-eminent snowboarding resort in North America and one of the best places to ride in the world. There are also 3 mountains for skiing and riding here in Vancouver that I can see from my window. So we are immersed in the snowboarding culture, have season passes for one of the local mountains and a good number of our team members ride. A couple of our team members formerly rode professionally, and these guys keep us in close contact with current pros. One key addition in SSX On Tour is twin-tip skiing, and we worked closely with some pros from that sport as well to make sure that our animations and tricks were current, accurate to the sport and cool.
TVG: Can you explain to our readers the progression line through the game - the career mode - briefly highlighting the kind of challenges undertaken, to reach the pinnacle?
In SSX On Tourâs Career Mode you start out as a slope-side wannabe, basically a nobody on the mountain. Your goal is to break onto the circuit and work your way up on the tour, eventually becoming a Black Diamond Rockstar. You start out by successfully completing shreds, which are short, organic one-on-one challenges that are very worlds-based â“ things like a trick-off on part of a course, a one-on-one race across several courses, or a challenge to grind a specific length of rail, find a certain number of collectibles, grab a certain amount of air time, etc. As you complete these shreds, you build up your hype, and eventually get invited into more traditional medal events to work your way onto the Leaderboard. As Career Mode progresses, you are trying to work your way to the top of the Leaderboard, through shreds and medal events, to achieve legendary status on the mountain.
TVG: Please tell us about the cast of characters within the game?
Weâve got 7 returning characters from SSX3 as well as a few new characters for the game this year. Weâll be releasing the specific line-up of characters soon, but I will say that a number of fan favourites will be returning, but all grown up.
TVG: Any new elements pertaining to both the trick system and controls that youâd like to tell our readers?
The biggest news is that weâve moved Monster tricks (Ubers in previous games) down onto the right analogue stick. So, once the player has built up enough boost, he can trigger any of 8 monsters with the right stick, and, with enough boost, twist the stick to trigger level 2 and level 3 Monsters as well. Weâre really celebrating Monster tricks, with specific camera moves and treatments around successfully pulling these tricks. When we first implemented the Monster treatment it was hard to get any work done around here - everyone just played and played to pull off Monsters and marvel at the Monster moments.
TVG: Could you give an insight into the gameâs 3D Engine that drives the game, how important physics is and how it is dealt with?
SSX has always been a physics-based game, and the physics is absolutely critical to the way the game feels. It probably goes without saying that game physics is something that we work on a ton. Again, with so many boarders on the team it is important that the game play feels ârightâ. Of course we are pulling off 60 metres of air, flying over the lips of dams and grinding on bridges â“ we are by no means trying to be an accurate snowboarding simulator â“ but at the same time we spend a lot of energy and focus on making sure that carving, landing, tucking and all the other basic snowboarding and twin-tip skiing mechanics both look and feel right.
TVG: Can you tell us a little about the courses and how you go about designing and testing them?
Weâve got a whole new mountain this year, and the worlds are really the core of the SSX On Tour experience. Again, since the game is so physics-based it is the interaction of the player with the worlds that really defines our game play. Missions, Career Mode, Freeride â“ all of the modes of play take place on top of the worlds. The Worlds team is highly experienced, and many of them have worked on at least 2 previous SSXs. These guys are experts at what they do and highly creative â“ being a world builder on a game like SSX is really a unique position in the industry, as these are the guys creating the game play. Anyhow working with this core team, we had an extensive pre-production phase where we really focused on the key moments for each track. We wanted to make sure that each track was distinct from every other track, from the perspective of visuals as well as game play. We made sure that each track would have a set of key, memorable moments that define it. Once in production, making tracks is an iterative process where we worked in phases â“ building out the main ribbons, making sure the game play is there, tweaking and tuning, then working on side geometry, placing objects, texturing, lighting, VFX, scripting, etc. It really is a huge job, and the worldâs team is the largest group on our dev team.
TVG: What do you see as the main selling points of the game and what makes SSX on Tour a must have game?
Basically all of the things weâve talked about above. Twin-tip skiing, incredible player choice, Career Mode, awesome missions, killer multi-player, a funky new style that pervades the experience â“ the list goes on and on. Above all else, though, SSX On Tour is just plain fun. Iâve been working on this version for the past year and I still have an absolute blast just sitting down and playing this game.
TVG would like to thank SSX on Tour Producer Michael Thornton Wyman for taking the time to answer our questions. The game will be released on Xbox, PlayStation2, GameCube and PSP later this year â“ weâll have more on SSX on Tour shortly.
