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Safari Joe Interview Feature
Stephen Leyton
03/06/2003
You may not have heard of Safari Joe being released on XBOX at the end of the year but our resident features writer Derek dela Fuente got the definitive inside information.
Many may not have heard of Safari Joe from Titus being released on PC, XBOX and PS2 at the end of the year but our resident mole, and features writer Derek dela Fuente got the definitive inside information by speaking directly with Rob Stevens, project leader, working on the game in France.
The team that is working on Safari Joe is actually a new Titus team created specifically for this project. I am the only team member who was working at Titus prior to the project getting underway, having previously written Prehistorik Man for the SNES and Lamborghini and Roadsters for the N64. The other team members were recruited from many different parts of the French software industry. The programming lead, Jean-Luc Martinez, has a strong background in 3D content creation, having previously worked for Alias|Wavefront and Softimage. The art lead, Eric Marradi, used to work for Cryo, while other team members have worked for Infogrames, Cryo and Eden Studios, among others. We also have a couple of talented young animators new to video games. A pretty mixed bag in all.
Being a new team we have had to build everything from the ground up and it doesnāt make any sense talking about any specific area of expertise. Weāre not really setting out to specialize in a specific field. We are not, for example, going all out to make the game with the best possible rag doll physics simulation or the most complex pixel shader effects. Weāre just working on the tasks that are necessary to make the game run the way we want it to, which is really what making games is all about.
We are developing all the target platforms simultaneously. There are two reasons for this; the first is that in order to make sure that out technology is truly multi-platform we need to test it on multiple platforms as we go. The second reason is to keep ourselves aware of the various constraints forced upon us by the different hardware architectures and make sure that what we are doing for one platform is possible (in some form) on the others. This doesnāt mean that the game will be identical on every console, just that it wonāt be too different.
What has inspired the game and concept and do you not believe a game on all formats may weaken it?
My first reaction to the second part of that question was āWhy should multiple formats weaken it?ā Releasing a game on all available console formats means that we can offer it to a wider audience, and that canāt be bad. Why snub the users of certain brands of console when you can offer them the same product that is available on another console at the same time? Imagine if the DVD film market worked the same way and films were released at different dates (or not at all) for specific brands of DVD player.
But after a little reflection I can see why a multi-platform development might cause concern for some people. The most obvious one is the āMy console is biggerā ā“ sorry, ābetterā ā“ āthan yoursā syndrome. Obviously a game that takes the multi-platform route is going to make some concessions in order to have it run well on all platforms, instead of being optimised to death for one. We will be making some sacrifices in order to maintain compatibility between platforms, but we will also make an effort to exploit each specific machineās strengths wherever possible. Weāre not going to go for the carotid artery on one machine in order to bring it down to the level of the others. Weāre going to make every version as good as we can reasonably make it without drastically changing the content.
Aside from the dubious benefit of machine specific optimisation (and the fact that it would be easier for us!), there are no real benefits in creating a game for a single console. All it does is reduce the potential market for the game and leave a segment of gamers out in the cold. The only people who benefit from exclusive titles are the console manufacturers (and those insecure chest-thumpers who want to have a game that owners of different consoles canāt have). I think the continuing success of Renderware is a good attestation that simultaneous multi-platform development is the way of the future.
Anyway, back to the first part of the question, the inspiration behind Safari Joe. When I was a kid I was fed a different diet of adventure films than we get these days, like the old Tarzan films and films like The Valley of the Gwangi, The Land that Time Forgot and even the Sinbad series of films. Probably titles that donāt mean much to people these days, but I really loved the idea of adventuring into unexplored parts of the world and discovering the remains of ancient civilisations or weird creatures or both. The trouble is that now we live in an era where the planet has been photographed by aircraft and satellites for years and our hopes of discovering lost marvels has been drained away. Most fiction now sets this type of thing on different planets or in fantasy worlds, mainly for that reason I expect. The only ārecentā films I can think of that capture the atmosphere of what I am talking about are the Indiana Jones films, and even then itās not quite the same.
So one day I was flipping through a video game magazine, thinking about what we could do for a new game, and I noticed that just about every title in the magazine had robots, aliens, alien bases with shiny metal corridors and high tech everywhere. It was then that I thought that it might be nice to go back a few years instead of following the futuristic trend, try to rediscover some of the romance associated with adventure, not just the action. It would be good to replace those cold metallic future backgrounds with something more natural with lots of vegetation, especially as the new generation of consoles can now handle that sort of thing.
Another influence along the same lines was Prehistorik Man. I had been tinkering with the idea of doing some sort of follow up to that game for a while. What I really wanted to keep were the same style of backgrounds, the jungles and forests and so on, but change the period from prehistory to something more recent, while avoiding bringing it all the way forward to present day. This is where those Tarzan films came back to me and provided a good location and period for the game. The African explorer theme offered everything I wanted ā“ a wide variety of natural locations plus a period that was fairly modern, but predated aircraft.
And from that Safari Joe was born.
What is the main task for the hero of the game? What must he do and who does he face? Is there also a backdrop story that involves throughout the game?
To save the world, of course! What else do heroes do?
Well, you now know that the game is set in Africa ā“ central Africa around the turn of the last century to be more precise. Our hero, āSafariā Joe, is hired by an aging anthropologist, professor Livingwood, to take him into the jungle in search of a lost civilisation his research has led him to believe is there. An expedition is formed comprising of Joe, the professor, the professorās assistant, Myra, Joeās partner, Mohammed, and a female journalist, Kate.
Obviously they find the lost civilisation (not much point making a game about wandering aimlessly through the jungle) and a little something extra; an evil witch doctor called Mobaj Mojumbo. While Professor Livingwood is examining a mummy-like corpse laid out on an altar he accidentally resuscitates the malefic priest, who had been defeated during a combat with the priests of the lost civilisation thousands of years ago. Mobaj is now free to continue his plans unhindered and escapes to begin a ritual of summoning that will bring a powerful demon lord to Earth. Alone in the middle of the jungle there is no-one else who can stop the sorcerer, so Joe and his companions set out to find the means to stop him. This involves discovering more about the ruined civilisation and also leads to other adventures with the strange tribes and weird creatures that live in that part of the jungle.
The main goal of the game is to reconstitute the weapon that was used to defeat Mobaj in the past. This involves finding four temples and exploring their interiors to find each piece of the weapon, in the form of talismans. In order to find the temples, however, Joe and his friends must explore the jungle to unearth the traces of the ancient civilisation. During their travels they encounter various different tribes, some friendly, some not, some human, some not, which lead them into various little side adventures to supplement their quest.
What current games on the market do you see this as closest to comparing too and who is the game aimed at?
I donāt know all the games out there of course, but I expect that the obvious comparisons would be to the Lara Croft series. Visual cues will obviously cause comparisons with Tomb Raider since weāll also have stone ruins and things like that to explore, but the eras are quite different, Joeās adventure taking place around 1900, which will have a certain impact on the style. Safari Joe wonāt take itself quite so seriously either.
Iām quite reluctant about categorizing the game into a specific genre, since it will mix adventure ā“clues and puzzles-, action and even platform features. So letās say weāre targeting the game as widely as possible. The video game market has grown to include quite a diversity of players and weād like to have as many of them as possible play the game. Visually the style should appeal to most age groups from the younger players to the more mature ones. I think the content should appeal to a lot of people too. I hate to use the term āfamily entertainmentā, but thatās sort of what weāre trying to do, create a game that everyone can enjoy.
What kind of attributes and actions can Joe undertake and who does he face? Tell us about one of the interesting cast members?
Most of Joeās time is going to be spent running through jungle, climbing cliffs, wading through swamps, crawling through caves, swimming in lakes and exploring ancient buildings. Interspersed with a good deal of enemy bashing and puzzle solving. I should point out that Joe is not going to be the only playable character, there will also be occasions where the player gets to control Kate, Mohammed or Professor Livingwood.
Actually, Livingwood is an interesting character as he is the only one able to read the writing of the ancients. This means that wherever Joe finds any writing that needs translating he has to find a way to get Livingwood to it to find out what it says. But Livingwood is a little old for this sort of thing and is also almost entirely defenceless, with only his brolley to poke things with. The player has to make a route that Livingwood can safely navigate to get to the desired text.
Being in the deep jungle means you will face many wild animals. Is it about killing, trapping - will there be puzzles and other interesting aspects on offer?
Setting the game in Africa has caused us a few problems since the obvious enemy characters are either endangered species or African natives. We are trying to avoid anything that might cause offence, but we also need people to understand that this is just a game and that thereās going to much less nastiness in the game than was actually going on in Africa at that time. There were some pretty horrific goings on in that part of the world during the period at which the game is set.
Anyway, in the earlier parts of the game there will be some wild animals as enemies and the only way to deal with them is to kill them or, if possible, avoid them. There wonāt be any animal trapping involved, though there is a little hunting in one of the missions.
Safari Joeās Africa is a more fantastic place than the Africa we know today. Once again this comes from the romantic European vision of Africa of the time, when it was called the Dark Continent. It has to be pointed out that even today there are huge areas of jungle that nobody has seen, a hundred years ago central Africa was a vast unknown and people could believe that anything imaginable lived in there. Weāre taking the same sort of philosophy and are populating the jungle with mythical creatures inspired by African folklore and adding a few things of our own.
I mentioned the four temples that Joe needs to find earlier on. Most of the puzzle elements of the game will be found within the temples, which are designed to protect the talismans they conceal. Most of the game will involve navigating difficult terrain and solving puzzles, either associated to the builders on the lost civilisation or to the various tribes encountered in the deep jungle.
You mentioned humour as a factor? Is there dialogue and how is this humour conveyed?
Mostly this will be visual humour worked into the character animation. The goal is to have people chuckling just by working Joe through a stage. Weāre not looking for stand up comedian type humour, so people shouldnāt expect to be rolling around the floor in hysterics, itās more that we donāt want people to take the game too seriously and be able to throw in a bunch of sight gags and stuff to keep things fun. Just stay tuned; youāll learn more about it later onā¦
All of the gameās dialogue takes place during cut scenes and is outside of the playerās control. Weāll be putting in a few gags, but a lot of the script will be spent explaining what the player needs to be doing, if indirectly.
What kind of weapons will you be able to use and can you expand a little on the magic and the evil sorcerer?
Joeās basic weapon is his machete, which he can swipe enemies with and even use to hack at parts of the décor. Beyond his machete Joe has a pistol and a rifle, but ammunition for these weapons is quite limited - no ammo shops in the jungle Iām afraid. Some of the puzzles will involve Joeās use of his rifle, so ammunition should not be squandered. Joeās biggest bang comes from the use of dynamite, which he can either wedge into the background or throw. Using the dynamite effectively will require a good sense of timing, because thereās the fuse to take into account. Use too short a fuse and throw the dynamite too far and it will explode before reaching its target. Joe will also be able to āborrowā some of the weapons of his enemies, like blowpipes, for example.
Joeās use of magic will be quite limited, though he will gain some extra abilities as he gathers together the 4 talismans. Mobaj will appear from time to time to hinder our heroās progress, but is generally occupied by his own affaires. He will zap our heroes with spells occasionally, but I donāt want to go into detail about that yet. Where we see magic at work the most is in the form of the creatures that attack Joe during his quest; bringing statues to life or raising the dead, that sort of thing.
The game has been in development for a little while. Firstly what stage are the team at and how technology focused are they and what is the lead, prime machine, for the game?
As I said earlier, the team is brand new and out technology is too. Weāve been developing the game from scratch, which has involved writing exporters to get the data from the 3D creation tools and formatted for our use. Weāve also been working on a tool shell, a suite of functions that wrap around the PC version of the game that allows us to edit the game content real-time. Though this tool base is now quite advanced we will continue working on it until the end of the project and beyond, as it will form the basis of our technology for all the games to follow.
We are actually doing all initial development on PC and then porting it to the target consoles. We do this because it is the only common platform that everyone has experience with and it is also the only platform that easily supports the tool shell I mentioned just now. So, from the PC we port the various machine specific functions to the target consoles, along with the platform independent code to get the same thing working on each console. Obviously this has involved a lot of work and real progress on the game itself is only just making itself evident. A lot of development is like that, you work for months without any obvious signs of progress, then ā“ BAM ā“ it all comes together in one go.
For the visual side of Safari Joe weāve been working on a few major areas, which donāt sound like much independently, but actually have quite an impact on the visual impact of the game. I wanted the jungle backgrounds to feel dense with vegetation and I didnāt want the vegetation to be static. This means we need to display a lot of plants and have them animating, as if moving with the wind, all the time. This doesnāt sound like a lot, but it is just the first of several hurdles. Being in the jungle only feels right if there are shadows, they are an integral part of the lighting in that type of environment. Real time shadowing is actually quite an expensive feature and weāve been working hard at getting the shadows to function as well as possible at high frame rates on all the consoles. This is made more difficult taking into account the amount of vegetation I mentioned earlier.
Put to put things simply, ambience is achieved through use of light and shadow and by putting strong emphasis in getting both working should bear fruit. Ico is a good example of how lighting can create a strong atmosphere, though the effect in that game is a little gloomier than weāre aiming for.
Are you hoping to expand this possibly into a brand and how much marketing and focus will Titus be doing? Have you great expectations for this title?
Weāre very optimistic about this game and think we will be bringing something fresh to a somewhat jaded market. How successful we are at that only time will tell.
We also have hopes that Joe will expand beyond his video game roots and are currently looking into possible franchises and spin off products. I think there is easily enough there to inspire a whole range of products, but Iād prefer not talking about what weāre actually doing about that right now. As for marketing, I think youāll have to talk to our PR people ā“ itās not really my department
The game looks very interesting with filmic qualities so what innovations and new ideas do you feel will make this game one to watch out for? Will music play a prominent part?
Iāve talked quite a bit about the graphical element of the game, but up until now I havenāt mentioned the audio side of things. Audio is very important for setting the mood and Safari Joe will actually use a mix of music and environmental sound effects to set the mood and help engross the player in the game. The music will be dynamic, changing depending on certain criteria, like what the enemies are doing or where Joe is in the level. Often there will not even be any music, only environmental sounds. Iām keen to profit from the possibilities of surround sound systems to give the impression that the player is really somewhere in the jungle, with jungle noises all around them, surrounding them.
I want the game to have quite a strong cinematic feel, which weāll be working into it with action set pieces, pre-arranged viewpoints and quite a few cut scenes. Iām hoping that the atmosphere of the game will be one of its stronger qualities and really help engross the player. As for any innovations, itās a little early for us to be discussing those yet I think.
Please sum up the game in one sentence!
Safari Joe a video game for console.
No, seriously, howās this; Safari Joe is an action adventure epic that takes you on a breathless journey through the mysterious jungles of central Africa.
Now all we have to do is live up to that.
