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Stephen Leyton
08/05/2003
As it now finally reaches completion we took the opportunity to speak with Cliff Kamida, the Producer for Tron2.0.
Tron2.0 has been in development for over 2 years with a number of release dates missed; all in the cause of ensuring the final game is nigh on perfect. As it now finally reaches completion we took the opportunity to speak with Cliff Kamida, the Producer for Tron2.0.
The game is highly anticipated having received massive amounts of coverage and the fact that the development team â“ Monolith - has an excellent reputation, developing games like No One Lives Forever, No One Lives Forever 2, and Aliens Vs. Predator 2 has helped greatly. The concept of entering the inner-world of a computer was always fascinating, particularly 20 years back in 1982 when the film TRON was released. Now the game has been brought right up to date with new ideas, utilising new technologies but always with the original Tron ethos still in place. Tron2.0 mixes many ideas and some may see this more a console than a PC game but Disney is focused and forthright about it hitting the mark perfectly with PC gamers.
âTron2.0 takes place 20 years after the events of the film. If you havenât seen the movie, youâll still understand the game. That said, having seen the film would definitely add depth to your gaming experience. The events of the 20 year gap between the movie and the game will be revealed during game play, so TRON fans will get to find out what happened in the interim.â
The player takes on the responsibility of the central character, Jet Bradley, a young computer programmer in search of his missing father, Alan Bradely, creator of the Tron program/infamous digitization technology, and Mercury, a fearless computer artificial intelligence or âGame Botâ which was created by an unknown user to help Jet navigate the dangers of a mysterious digital world.
âInvestigating deep into a strange and chaotic digital world, Jet must meet head-on evil forces that are setting up to take over the world's computer systems by using his father's human digitisation technology. The pursuit leads players through threat-filled action in astonishing locales. Players, armed with a mixture of digital weapons, gadget subroutines and shields will be able to compete on the legendary Game Grid, contend with deadly programs and circumvent devious obstacles as they travel through settings never-before-seen in PC gaming.â
Tron offers variety and a rich storyline but with a linear approach in that after completing a level, you go to the next level, but there are different ways to approach the same objective within the game.
TRON 2.0 is basically three games in one. There is a 30 level single-player mission, a single-player light cycle racing circuit mode with 16 races, and five multiplayer disc arena levels. The single player game is played in the first-person perspective, with the exception of light cycle racing, which defaults to third-person. You can race light cycles in first-person if you want the rush, but itâs much more difficult from that perspective.
Although essentially an arcade romp, RPG and some forethought do play a part in that the playerâs expertise grows. âThe player collects âbuildâ points along the way that increases his/her version number. When your version number increases, your performance ratings enhance as well, which gives you more health, energy and weapon accuracy. (In effect the better you do the better you get!) You can also allocate your build points so that you can support one aspect over another (e.g. choose more energy over more health), depending on your personal style of gaming.
Players can also enhance their weapons and abilities via subroutines, which are similar to pickups or powerups in other games. For example, acquiring and using a âY-Ampâ subroutine will increase your jump height, while a âFuzzy Signatureâ subroutine will soften the sound of your footsteps. The number of subroutines that you can use at any time will be dictated by the system memory of the level. The idea is that each location has different memory requirements - a desktop PC will have more system memory than a PDA â“ so the number of subroutines that you can use will vary from level to level.â
Although this may sound slightly strange, in effect it is all very obvious and cleverly put together in terms of a computer-generated story within a game and all becomes apparent and intuitive once you start playing.
The essence of the film, the visualization of a sci fi Disneyesque presentation, along with a computer-generated atmosphere is perhaps the strongest feature of the game â“ one that the game rides on. The team wanted to move this forwards â“ evolve as opposed to change. They have used Syd Mead, one of the production designers on the film, to design a new light cycle for the game. Syd also did an âArt of TRONâ presentation to Monolith at the beginning of the project so a synergy was formed. To fully complement this Steve Lisberger and Richard Taylor (writer/director and special effects director of the film, respectively) have also seen the game and given us the thumbs up!
Tron offers an assortment of sub games and puzzle solving, along with fast reactions, which will be the order of the day. This is very unlike any other offering but then would you expect anything else? What's stimulating about the puzzle aspects in Tron is that they will be very contextual to the universe. Players will encounter all sorts of life forms and will adventure in a lab research system, navigate a power router, manipulate a firewall, and even spend some time in a handheld PDA.
Speech and dialogue play a part in the game and specially created music and sound effects will give the game a rich â“ movie like feel. (Consideration to speech), via the character models using a phoneme based mouth animation so they will no longer appear to have 'lip flap' but will instead better fully articulate their words, shows off just one area of expertise. This combined with facial expressions will give the cinematic elements of the game a much richer feel.)
The creative tools being used to create Tron are some of the finest used in the PC world so this can certainly be viewed as a cutting edge game. Although the background story and concept appear very cerebral, the instinctive nature of the controls and the fast action on offer will pull the player into the game and the rewards given for success with push the player further into the experience. Playing and getting immersed in the Tron experience is the only way to get a real feel for what has been created!
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