- Sun Apr 15, 2012 5:49 pm
#44009
I was snooping around on some old snapshots of the DriverHQ website and found an interesting interview with Reflections regarding the (then) upcoming game, Driver 2! DriverHQ's Ross interviewed Reflections' Martin Edmondson for this interview!
This interview is dated April 18th, 2000 and was featured on DriverHQ.com - nothing has been tampered with. No typos have been fixed, etc.
Driver HQ's Interview with Reflections:
Did you immediately start with Driver 2 after finishing the first one?
We started work on the sequel a few weeks after finishing Driver - everyone needed a break !
Is it still the original Team that works on Driver?
It is a mixture of people from Driver 1 and new recruits. Actually we have never carried over a team exactly from one game to another. People often want a change, want to work with other people and so on. Also team sizes are increasing so each new team has fresh blood.
Which are the most important improvements in Driver 2?
Addition of proper curved roads, junctions with sliproads, and overpass systems making the cities far more realistic. Tanner can now jump out of the car and run around. Greater range of vehicles, any of which you can drive, wider range of pedestrian actions. These all lead to a more realist feel to the environment. We've also Improved story and cut scenes which now feature facial animation and lip sync.
What can you tell about the story?
The story is much more interesting and complex than Driver 1. Hopefully this should make players care more about completing the missions. Here is a summary of the story: Violence ignites Chicago when a U.S. crimelord's bookkeeper, Pink Lenny, cuts a deal with his greatest rival, a Brazilian gangster. Tanner and his partner, Jones, go undercover to defuse it. They realise that Lenny's deal, whatever its details, unsettles the balance of power in the crime underworld in the Brazilian's favour. Tanner disrupts the Brazilian's shipments coming in via Havana and tracks down Lenny. The U.S. crimelord, Solomon Caine, is also hunting for Lenny, who's sighted in Vegas. In Vegas Tanner and Jones use Caine to get to Lenny, and begin working for the crimelord, helping him resist the Brazilian's onslaught. When Lenny is sighted in Rio Tanner and Jones head out with Caine to capture him from the Brazilian who's still protecting him. Tanner double-crosses Caine and captures Lenny himself, thereby restoring the balance of power and the equilibrium.
Did you build the Engine from scratch or modified the old one?
Some of the Driver 2 engine has been re-written but not all. We have added, for example, additional code and features to deal with our new curved roads, flyovers and slip road systems. The physics engine remains largely untouched although we are spending considerable time optimising it. Other areas of the engine have been re-written or optimised to get more performance. The addition of curved roads places an added burden on the code and we are investing quite some time in optimisation to offset this. By the time we have finished the game probably around 50% of the city engine will have been re-written.
Can you roughly explain what the tasks will be for Tanner when he goes to foot?
It will be kept fairly simple as we have to remember that this is a driving game first and foremost. Probably players will spend about 85% of their time driving and 15% walking around. He can perform some simple tasks such as opening doors, setting explosives, flicking switches and so on. The fact that Tanner can now get out of the car also means that we can start and end missions more satisfactorily. In Driver one a chase mission would start with one car behind the other. In Driver 2 you may drive to a location and watch a character walk out of a building and get into the car. You will then have to give chase. At the end of this mission you may then have to get out of the car and follow them on foot.
What exactly will be the role of Tobias Jones? Will it be possible to take control over him? (Btw, what do you think about this idea: Tanner is driving the car while Jones leans out of the window and throws grenades or shoots at the chasing copcars?)
Tobias Jones is Tanner's partner. He works behind the scenes to help Tanner and provide him with information. He also acts as a lead in for some missions, some of which take place with and some without Jones.
What about the police? Will they be more clever than before? And how do they act when Tanner is moving without a car? Will the Cops go to foot as well?
They need to be more intelligent as now they have to deal with curved roads and more complex junctions. In Driver 1 the cops had to deal with right angled junctions and other road users. Now that the roads systems are more complex it places a much higher burden on the AI. Tanner cannot get out of the car whilst he is being chased by cops so no the cops do not chase him on foot.
In Driver 1 the police always started to chase you even when you drove slowly and followed the rules. Will it be possible to drive carefully so that the police is not attracted by you?
Actually they only chased you if they were already looking for you. You have to commit a felony (such as speeding, running a red light and so on) before they would decide you were a target. The view cone ahead of them on the rotating map gave an indication of their status. Narrow white cone meant they were not looking for you and so long as you do not commit a felony you will not be chased. Wide red cone means you are currently being chased. Wide white cone means they are actively looking for you (as you have previously committed a crime) but they cannot see you.
Is there anything left what you would like to put in maybe a "next" Drivergame?
I would like to continue our drive for greater realism. Maybe in 10 years time we will have a city indistinguishable from real life !
What was your reaction to the immense success of driver?
We could tell from early reaction to the game that it would be successful, but I think the level of success took us by surprise. It was, after all, a new original game, without license, and in the later years of the format. What really has surprised me is how well the game is selling so long after release.
Do you have any plans or ideas for the PlayStation2? Maybe a Driver 3? What would be possible to realize in ragard to the gamedesign?
We are working on PlayStation 2 now but certainly a Driver game for PS 2 would be a very long time off.
This interview is dated April 18th, 2000 and was featured on DriverHQ.com - nothing has been tampered with. No typos have been fixed, etc.
Driver HQ's Interview with Reflections:
Did you immediately start with Driver 2 after finishing the first one?
We started work on the sequel a few weeks after finishing Driver - everyone needed a break !
Is it still the original Team that works on Driver?
It is a mixture of people from Driver 1 and new recruits. Actually we have never carried over a team exactly from one game to another. People often want a change, want to work with other people and so on. Also team sizes are increasing so each new team has fresh blood.
Which are the most important improvements in Driver 2?
Addition of proper curved roads, junctions with sliproads, and overpass systems making the cities far more realistic. Tanner can now jump out of the car and run around. Greater range of vehicles, any of which you can drive, wider range of pedestrian actions. These all lead to a more realist feel to the environment. We've also Improved story and cut scenes which now feature facial animation and lip sync.
What can you tell about the story?
The story is much more interesting and complex than Driver 1. Hopefully this should make players care more about completing the missions. Here is a summary of the story: Violence ignites Chicago when a U.S. crimelord's bookkeeper, Pink Lenny, cuts a deal with his greatest rival, a Brazilian gangster. Tanner and his partner, Jones, go undercover to defuse it. They realise that Lenny's deal, whatever its details, unsettles the balance of power in the crime underworld in the Brazilian's favour. Tanner disrupts the Brazilian's shipments coming in via Havana and tracks down Lenny. The U.S. crimelord, Solomon Caine, is also hunting for Lenny, who's sighted in Vegas. In Vegas Tanner and Jones use Caine to get to Lenny, and begin working for the crimelord, helping him resist the Brazilian's onslaught. When Lenny is sighted in Rio Tanner and Jones head out with Caine to capture him from the Brazilian who's still protecting him. Tanner double-crosses Caine and captures Lenny himself, thereby restoring the balance of power and the equilibrium.
Did you build the Engine from scratch or modified the old one?
Some of the Driver 2 engine has been re-written but not all. We have added, for example, additional code and features to deal with our new curved roads, flyovers and slip road systems. The physics engine remains largely untouched although we are spending considerable time optimising it. Other areas of the engine have been re-written or optimised to get more performance. The addition of curved roads places an added burden on the code and we are investing quite some time in optimisation to offset this. By the time we have finished the game probably around 50% of the city engine will have been re-written.
Can you roughly explain what the tasks will be for Tanner when he goes to foot?
It will be kept fairly simple as we have to remember that this is a driving game first and foremost. Probably players will spend about 85% of their time driving and 15% walking around. He can perform some simple tasks such as opening doors, setting explosives, flicking switches and so on. The fact that Tanner can now get out of the car also means that we can start and end missions more satisfactorily. In Driver one a chase mission would start with one car behind the other. In Driver 2 you may drive to a location and watch a character walk out of a building and get into the car. You will then have to give chase. At the end of this mission you may then have to get out of the car and follow them on foot.
What exactly will be the role of Tobias Jones? Will it be possible to take control over him? (Btw, what do you think about this idea: Tanner is driving the car while Jones leans out of the window and throws grenades or shoots at the chasing copcars?)
Tobias Jones is Tanner's partner. He works behind the scenes to help Tanner and provide him with information. He also acts as a lead in for some missions, some of which take place with and some without Jones.
What about the police? Will they be more clever than before? And how do they act when Tanner is moving without a car? Will the Cops go to foot as well?
They need to be more intelligent as now they have to deal with curved roads and more complex junctions. In Driver 1 the cops had to deal with right angled junctions and other road users. Now that the roads systems are more complex it places a much higher burden on the AI. Tanner cannot get out of the car whilst he is being chased by cops so no the cops do not chase him on foot.
In Driver 1 the police always started to chase you even when you drove slowly and followed the rules. Will it be possible to drive carefully so that the police is not attracted by you?
Actually they only chased you if they were already looking for you. You have to commit a felony (such as speeding, running a red light and so on) before they would decide you were a target. The view cone ahead of them on the rotating map gave an indication of their status. Narrow white cone meant they were not looking for you and so long as you do not commit a felony you will not be chased. Wide red cone means you are currently being chased. Wide white cone means they are actively looking for you (as you have previously committed a crime) but they cannot see you.
Is there anything left what you would like to put in maybe a "next" Drivergame?
I would like to continue our drive for greater realism. Maybe in 10 years time we will have a city indistinguishable from real life !
What was your reaction to the immense success of driver?
We could tell from early reaction to the game that it would be successful, but I think the level of success took us by surprise. It was, after all, a new original game, without license, and in the later years of the format. What really has surprised me is how well the game is selling so long after release.
Do you have any plans or ideas for the PlayStation2? Maybe a Driver 3? What would be possible to realize in ragard to the gamedesign?
We are working on PlayStation 2 now but certainly a Driver game for PS 2 would be a very long time off.
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Formerly known as CarLuver69 / Dr. Doom
Formerly known as CarLuver69 / Dr. Doom
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