Fracture Interview
Amped News: Because of terrain deformation, the use of physics in a game such as this is vital. How is that going to be handled? Did you license the engine, or is it completely in-house.
DP: The engine was developed in-house by Day 1 Studios; it’s proprietary to them. For physics, we do use Havok physics in the game for all the things that are in the environment that the terrain deformation interacts with. So enemies and objects use Havok physics. So, think if you’re coming down a valley and there are some boulders perched on a cliff, and you’ve got some enemies coming towards you, you can deform the terrain under those boulders and have them tumble down. The act of the terrain being manipulated is Day 1’s engine, and the performance of those rocks tumbling down is Havok’s.
Amped News: Were there any concerns of being considered an unofficial sequel to Red Faction 2?
DP: No, I don’t think so. I think the things we allow the player to do, the dynamism that is created on our battlefield, and the sophistication of the A.I. is something that I don’t think is really being talked about that deserves a lot of credit to Day 1. Since the battlefield is so malleable, the A.I. needs to know how to respond to you on a real-time basis. So, what you’re seeing is not A.I. that’s carefully placed and deliberately pathed, and will perform the same way every single time. I think what you’ll see is that they need to respond to what the player does. So if the player creates cover, the A.I. has to have a way to approach combat in that case. So, the A.I. has to adapt in real-time to what the player is doing to the battlefield, which I think is entirely unique and is a very robust system. So, say I use a tectonic grenade to raise cover in front of me; the A.I. will be able to throw a subsonic grenade to take the cover down, he can use it to flank around the side, or he can try to take it down with the alternate fire on his weapon. And you’ll see that happen in real-time, in front of you. So I think that’s something that we do that’s entirely unique.
Amped News: Are there any plans to support the PS3’s Sixaxis controller’s features?
DP: Yeah, we’re going to take as much advantage of that as possible.
Amped News: Any more information you can reveal on that?
DP: No, we’re holding back on that one too for now. The game’s shipping in summer 2008 and we still have a lot to talk about.
Amped News: LucasArts still heavily relies on Star Wars games. Some have suggested that Fracture is an attempt for them to refresh their portfolio with new IP after years of criticism. Would you say that is the case?
DP: I think Fracture symbolizes our commitment to original IP. We believe that original IP along with the other Lucas properties is something that is very important to the future of the company. I would argue that we’ve done very well with original IP over the last couple of years. Mercenaries was an extremely strong original IP and number one I think in 2005, and last year we launched Thrillville, which was also an original IP. So, I think we’ve had a really strong recent history of putting original properties into the marketplace.
Amped News: Are there any talks of bringing it to the PC, even post launch?
DP: Yeah, we’re certainly looking at our options on the PC. We think that the game has a lot of potential there. It’s just a matter of figuring out if it can be done and executing it in a way that we would want to do it, and finding the appropriate partner. But we’re certainly talking about it.
Amped News: Would you consider the game to have undertones of social commentary on the world’s current state of affairs?
DP: No. I don’t think we’re trying to tell anyone how to feel about those issues. I think we’re just looking at ways of how to tell an interesting story, and the issues that we look at in terms of global warming and genetic manipulation have the potential to make a really cool story for a videogame. And that’s how we look at it.
Amped News: Thanks for your time.
DP: Sure.
Written By: Amadeo Plaza | Tags: Fracture, Playstation 3, LucasArts, Day 1 Studios
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DP: The engine was developed in-house by Day 1 Studios; it’s proprietary to them. For physics, we do use Havok physics in the game for all the things that are in the environment that the terrain deformation interacts with. So enemies and objects use Havok physics. So, think if you’re coming down a valley and there are some boulders perched on a cliff, and you’ve got some enemies coming towards you, you can deform the terrain under those boulders and have them tumble down. The act of the terrain being manipulated is Day 1’s engine, and the performance of those rocks tumbling down is Havok’s.
Amped News: Were there any concerns of being considered an unofficial sequel to Red Faction 2?
DP: No, I don’t think so. I think the things we allow the player to do, the dynamism that is created on our battlefield, and the sophistication of the A.I. is something that I don’t think is really being talked about that deserves a lot of credit to Day 1. Since the battlefield is so malleable, the A.I. needs to know how to respond to you on a real-time basis. So, what you’re seeing is not A.I. that’s carefully placed and deliberately pathed, and will perform the same way every single time. I think what you’ll see is that they need to respond to what the player does. So if the player creates cover, the A.I. has to have a way to approach combat in that case. So, the A.I. has to adapt in real-time to what the player is doing to the battlefield, which I think is entirely unique and is a very robust system. So, say I use a tectonic grenade to raise cover in front of me; the A.I. will be able to throw a subsonic grenade to take the cover down, he can use it to flank around the side, or he can try to take it down with the alternate fire on his weapon. And you’ll see that happen in real-time, in front of you. So I think that’s something that we do that’s entirely unique.
Amped News: Are there any plans to support the PS3’s Sixaxis controller’s features?
DP: Yeah, we’re going to take as much advantage of that as possible.
Amped News: Any more information you can reveal on that?
DP: No, we’re holding back on that one too for now. The game’s shipping in summer 2008 and we still have a lot to talk about.
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DP: I think Fracture symbolizes our commitment to original IP. We believe that original IP along with the other Lucas properties is something that is very important to the future of the company. I would argue that we’ve done very well with original IP over the last couple of years. Mercenaries was an extremely strong original IP and number one I think in 2005, and last year we launched Thrillville, which was also an original IP. So, I think we’ve had a really strong recent history of putting original properties into the marketplace.
Amped News: Are there any talks of bringing it to the PC, even post launch?
DP: Yeah, we’re certainly looking at our options on the PC. We think that the game has a lot of potential there. It’s just a matter of figuring out if it can be done and executing it in a way that we would want to do it, and finding the appropriate partner. But we’re certainly talking about it.
Amped News: Would you consider the game to have undertones of social commentary on the world’s current state of affairs?
DP: No. I don’t think we’re trying to tell anyone how to feel about those issues. I think we’re just looking at ways of how to tell an interesting story, and the issues that we look at in terms of global warming and genetic manipulation have the potential to make a really cool story for a videogame. And that’s how we look at it.
Amped News: Thanks for your time.
DP: Sure.
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| Published by: | LucasArts |
| Developed by: | Day 1 Studios |
| Genre: | Action |
| # of Players: | N/A |
| ESRB Rating: | Rating Pending |
| Release Date: | US: Q3 2008 |
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Gamer 2.0 Rating: N/A | Hype Rating: N/A
Gamer 2.0 Rating: N/A | User Rating: N/A
Gamer 2.0 Rating: N/A | Hype Rating: N/A
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