Entrevista a Dan Sochan, productor del juego.ModNation Racers was first revealed earlier this summer, during June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. The title was a major highlight of Sony’s press conference at the event, with a full 5 minute demonstration. Developed by United Front Games, this kart racer focuses on user created content, using the same ‘Play, Create, Share’ adage as the 2008 PS3 exclusive, LittleBigPlanet. We recently had a chance to sit down with ModNation Racer producer Dan Sochan and ask him a few questions on their upcoming title.
PCN: First, I just wanted to thank you for sitting down and answering these questions, on the behalf of PS3Center.net and our community.
DS: No problem, it’s my pleasure. It’s been exciting to finally be able to talk about the game since E3, after having kept it under wraps for a year and a half.
PCN: Right now, we’ve seen that you’re able to create circuits with ease. Will other racing modes be created? For example, could you make a combat arena focused on weapon combat or a drifting circuit with emphasis on style rather than speed?
DS: In ModNation Racers we’ll have a variety of different race modes for the user to play, and we’ll be announcing more about them in the next few months. The strength of having such a robust track editor is that you can easily create very different tracks with a unique experience. So you could decide to make it a track that’s covered in weapons and it becomes an all out melee free-for-all. Or you could decide to narrow the width of the road, make it a pure race (no weapons) and have it be all about technical driving prowess. One of my favourite tracks that we’re developing right now is a drifter’s paradise – with skill you can chain one drift to another to get all the way around the track. It’s tough, but oh so rewarding when you do it!
PCN: You’ve spoke about the limitless customization options for the cars and drivers. Will the customization be only skin deep, or will players be able to modify the performance of the cars as well?
DS: This was a discussion we had very early on in development, and we didn’t want to be the kind of racing game that if you want to compete, you have to be driving in the top exotic sports car. This really takes away from the individuality and self expression that this game is all about. We want people to be able to pull up to the start line in their soap box racer, against muscle cars and tuners, and be on the same even playing field. So it’s all about your driving skill and strategy on the track, and not the type of car you chose. But, we do allow the user to do some performance tuning and customization, but it’s more about personal preference then fine tuning your kart to make it better than everyone else’s.
PCN: A lot of emphasis has been put into the ModNation Racers track creator, and it looks incredibly robust and intuitive. However, a masterfully crafted track is no good if it’s no fun to actually race on. What are you doing with the actual race mechanics that will ensure an enjoyable experience and differentiate ModNation Racers from other kart racers?
DS: I couldn’t agree more – it’s a racing game at its core, so we have to deliver an amazing driving experience. Our goal, from the beginning, was to have a great pick up and play game, but with more depth than a traditional kart racer. We’ve achieved this by putting real world physics in our game, so that collisions feel realistic and the kart handles differently on different terrains. For us, it was important that the kart reacts the way you’d expect and it doesn’t feel like it’s on rails. We’ve also spent a lot of time tuning the physics so that it’s forgiving and doesn’t feel like a sim racer. Then on top of the intuitive driving controls we’ve added some more advanced maneuvers for experienced racers, created an innovative boosting system, and included weapons that you haven’t seen before in an action racing game.
PCN: ModNation Racers’ is set to have 2 players local split screen – is this number set in stone? Is it possible the game could be bumped up to 4 players split screen?
DS: Having 4 player splitscreen is something that we’re interested in doing, so we’re currently investigating the possibility.
PCN: The PS3 has several features unique to the console; will ModNation Racers take advantage of any of these? YouTube recording, SixAxis steering, in-game voice chat, Motion Wand usage, etc?
DS: The PS3 is a great system to develop for and we’re certainly pushing it to the max with this game! And with PSN being free, it allows anyone to go on and enjoy the online community we’re creating. As for some of the other unique features with the PS3, more on that in the upcoming months.
PCN: LittleBigPlanet came under fire in the way it handled user-generated content that stepped on the toes of copyrighted material, deleting players’ creations without warning or explanation. ModNation Racer will inevitably run into the same situation, someone out there is bound to recreate Rainbow Road. How do you plan on handling copyright infringement so you avoid any of the controversy struck by LittleBigPlanet?
DS: We really want to put the power of moderation into the hands of the community. A lot of time has been spent creating tools that allow the gamer to help maintain a fun and vibrant online community that’s enjoyable for everyone.
PCN: Play, Create, Share is quickly becoming its own sub-genre of games across Sony’s platforms, first with LittleBigPlanet and now with ModNation Racers. What do you think about the future of Play, Create, Share? Are there any other particular genres you could see working well in this format? I could only imagine a Play, Create, Share Hot Shots Golf with motion wand controls…
DS: The Play, Create, Share sub-genre is definitely a very exciting one! It allows anyone to put their video game design prowess to work and show to the world the skills they have; to express themselves as a unique individual. It’s a different mindset as a developer. We have some of the best track designers in the business, and we’re really proud of the tracks that will be shipping with this game. But we’re also excited about all the unique and innovative tracks that all of you will create. So it’s about empowering the user and giving them the right editor tools – ones are powerful but accessible – so that they can build anything we did…and more. So with that kind of attitude and building your game from the ground up with that in mind, just about any genre of game can have great user generated content.
Again, we just wanted to thank Dan and the rest of UFG for answering our questions. ModNation Racers is currently slated for release in 2010. A beta for the game is scheduled to go live in December, codes for the beta are attainable through the purchase of the Game of the Year edition of LittleBigPlanet.
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