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Sunday November 29, 2009 4:22 AM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Features > Finishing touches go on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Finishing touches go on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
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FEATURE

Finishing touches go on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

by Staff writers  on Jun 25, 2008
Tags: Krome | Star | Wars
1 comment in this discussion
"This game looks very fun. I can't believe you didn't mention the Euphoria engine! This game is using it, check it out: http://www.naturalmotion.com/eup... Comment made about the PC Authority ..."
By .:Cyb3rGlitch:.
 
Do you think there has been an increase or decrease, or neither, in the level of human talent in the Australian games industry in the past five to ten years?
There’s been a huge increase in talent. A lot more people have come into the industry. Krome itself has probably tripled in size but across the board everyone is getting some really cool gigs. About five years ago you’d be lucky if anyone had a big game but now any studio in Australia is likely to have a big game that they’re working on with a big publisher. That shows how the industry is growing.

You might hear that some people may argue that other countries are cheaper than Australia in making games but the one thing about Krome is that we’re not about doing things cheaper, it’s about doing a better job and that’s pretty much the same with a lot of the other developers. Some of the other countries might on paper, be able to say they have 500 people to work on a game but that doesn’t mean they necessarily have the skills or resources to make the best games. In Australia it has grown to a good level by people who understand games and have a lot of experience.


What have some of your earlier games taught you over the years?
Yeah... we’ve learned to keep a good eye on the scope of a game. It’s easier to make a game on paper a lot bigger than they really need to be. I don’t mean that in terms of the player, but I mean in terms of more work for the developer, with not as much pay-off. Over the years we’ve learned to do ‘less better’.

Take Ty 2 for example. We had so much going on in that game. It was big and grand but we never did all those things absolutely perfectly. It wasn’t half finished, but compared to what we wanted to put in the game...
With Unleashed, we’ve able to focus on Force powers and the combat stuff. With Viva Pinata (Party Animals), we also focussed on key elements of the game. When you do that, you can really polish it up and it makes the games better.

What recommendations would you give to Australian gamers looking to get into video game design/production?
The best way to get into the industry is to make games. Look, make a Flash game and put stuff into practise. It’s the best way to learn all the tricks and there’s nothing better than taking that along to a developer. That’s the way to show you’ve thought out all the elements of a game, and that’s better than someone who comes along who just says they have a degree and wants to make games.

So you encourage people to keep that bedroom-coder culture alive?
Yeah, and if you’re an artist work on mods. Put stuff together, you’ll learn more and your skill set will be far greater than anyone who’s gone through and done a course.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil is in development for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PSP. Any plans for PC?
No, not at moment.

With console gaming so huge now – do you think that has that made PC gaming a smaller, more specialised area?
Yes and no. I personally don’t play as many PC games as I used to but at the same time, console games are becoming more like PC games in the way that you play them. Having said that, one of my favourite games last year was Peggle so PC games aren’t necessarily going to always be the niche stuff that some PC gamers might be expecting. The internet and browser-based games is a big area and a huge market for everyday people who browse the internet and want to play a game at the same time. The non-hardware pushing stuff might actually be the games that shine, in some ways.

What is the next big thing that game developers face? Is it working with emerging challenges such through technology, like 3D screens?
A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about when I started out doing 2D artwork and how it got to a point where I wondered what else there was to learn. But then 3Ds cards hit and suddenly there was a lot more stuff to learn. At that point I realised that was the reason I was doing it, because there is always something new. I don’t know what will be next but I do know there will be something.

Just look at multiplayer and physics, there’s always something that will pop up or there was an old way of doing something but then something will come along that gives us a whole new idea of playing with this stuff which basically re-opens up the canvas of game design. Every year there’s something new that makes you re-look at something. Even digital distribution, like Xbox Live, there’s all these new things popping up and keeping up is the challenge. It’s also the beauty of it all.

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Comments: 1
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Jul 12, 2008 9:59 AM
 This game looks very fun. I can't believe you didn't mention the Euphoria engine! This game is using it, check it out: http://www.naturalmotion.com/euphoria.htm


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Finishing touches go on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed?
Krome is busy putting finishing touches on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. We spoke to them about the game, Krome's new Merkury3 engine and more.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
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