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10-12-2008, 02:02 AM
So, I just got the EDGE magazine, with the Chinatown Wars. I read through the feature and I discovered several pieces of info that was new to me, probably new to most of you anyway. It wasn't mentioned before in the community, so I thought I might share with you guys.
They had a long interview with Dan Houser, but I only got two snippets for you (it's a pain typing all of them out) that are most interesting from the magazine:
Dan Houser says in the interview with EDGE magazine, “The characters on foot are exaggerated for the very simple reason of being able to inject them with character when viewed from above, it just isn’t fun otherwise - we did various experiments with this kind of thing. This way, you can actually see what your character is doing. And one of the great successes of the game at the moment is that the out-of-car action feels really fun. It was a challenge to make that seem fun in Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, and as much as we loved them at the time, I think it’s more explosive and fun that it ever was before. Part of that is simply an issue of clarity, so the explosions are really powerful, and the firefights look great. The bullet traces are obviously super-exaggerated but that help with what you’re doing”.
(What it means is that the proportion of objects and characters will not be as realistic as Grand Theft Auto IV, meaning that characters will look bigger than cars, etc.)
It was also mentioned that pedestrians in Chinatown Wars will act like they did in GTA IV, they will talk to each other, buy snacks from food carts and buy stuff from newsstands, and even take out their umbrellas when it's raining. Here's Houser talking about the assisted driving:
"There's a little bit of auto-allignment, but it's subtle enough and it's to make the driving a little forgiving, without it feeling like you're wearing armbands or something. In some ways it's no different to auto-aim, really. For a while we were nervous because I think one of the other things that's very important to Grand Theft Auto is the seamlessness - it's a very flowing experience. A core element of Grand Theft Auto is that there is no line between shooting and driving, which were traditionally very segmented aspects within games. So we were very nervous about the minigames until we played them, and then we realized that the guys at [Rockstar] Leeds had nailed them - they worked really well with what the hardware can do."
Also, it was mentioned in the magazine that although knocking police cars off the road will lower your wanted level, destroying them ramps up your wanted level. The magazine also states that Alderny will nt be included in the map of Chinatown Wars. The magazine also mentions that although it's isometric, the Y-axis will be taken into account, meaning you cannot fire over a certain height.
UPDATE: I discovered several other new things in the magazine:
- Fences, street lamps and newsstands can be smashed aside
- The camera will rotate dynamically around the player to provide an optimum view
- Dan Houser described Chinatown Wars as "It's cutting your cloth to match the body you can put it on, isn't it?"
- Dan Houser also mentioned that Rockstar Games had wanted Chinatown Wars to be a "GTA version of a classic arcade game", and not GTA for children, because Dan Houser felt that "GTA has to be M-Rated. It can't be softend to make it family-friendly -- that's not the game we're making. We're not watering it down."
- It was mentioned that Rockstar Games had toyed with the idea of an isometric view shortly after GTA2.
- The story will be told through a comic-strip style cutscene, like Max Payne and Max Payne 2.
- Missions will be shorter to be suited for play on the bus, as Houser felt the PSP versions felt more suited for playing on a plane. In addition, there will be an autosave feature.
- Houser mentioned, "We've got some outlandish stuff in there. We always try to put in as much variety as possible. There's one mission where you're robbing a bank in Chinatown, and there's a parade, and you dress up as a dragon. There's a lot of fun stuff like that. Not silly, but varied."
- The drug-dealing minigame will intersect with the story mode, and geogaphical locations will affect sales of drugs.
- Throwing of projectiles like grenades will be done via the touchscreen while the shooting is done via the d-pad.
Anyway, enjoy!
They had a long interview with Dan Houser, but I only got two snippets for you (it's a pain typing all of them out) that are most interesting from the magazine:
Dan Houser says in the interview with EDGE magazine, “The characters on foot are exaggerated for the very simple reason of being able to inject them with character when viewed from above, it just isn’t fun otherwise - we did various experiments with this kind of thing. This way, you can actually see what your character is doing. And one of the great successes of the game at the moment is that the out-of-car action feels really fun. It was a challenge to make that seem fun in Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, and as much as we loved them at the time, I think it’s more explosive and fun that it ever was before. Part of that is simply an issue of clarity, so the explosions are really powerful, and the firefights look great. The bullet traces are obviously super-exaggerated but that help with what you’re doing”.
(What it means is that the proportion of objects and characters will not be as realistic as Grand Theft Auto IV, meaning that characters will look bigger than cars, etc.)
It was also mentioned that pedestrians in Chinatown Wars will act like they did in GTA IV, they will talk to each other, buy snacks from food carts and buy stuff from newsstands, and even take out their umbrellas when it's raining. Here's Houser talking about the assisted driving:
"There's a little bit of auto-allignment, but it's subtle enough and it's to make the driving a little forgiving, without it feeling like you're wearing armbands or something. In some ways it's no different to auto-aim, really. For a while we were nervous because I think one of the other things that's very important to Grand Theft Auto is the seamlessness - it's a very flowing experience. A core element of Grand Theft Auto is that there is no line between shooting and driving, which were traditionally very segmented aspects within games. So we were very nervous about the minigames until we played them, and then we realized that the guys at [Rockstar] Leeds had nailed them - they worked really well with what the hardware can do."
Also, it was mentioned in the magazine that although knocking police cars off the road will lower your wanted level, destroying them ramps up your wanted level. The magazine also states that Alderny will nt be included in the map of Chinatown Wars. The magazine also mentions that although it's isometric, the Y-axis will be taken into account, meaning you cannot fire over a certain height.
UPDATE: I discovered several other new things in the magazine:
- Fences, street lamps and newsstands can be smashed aside
- The camera will rotate dynamically around the player to provide an optimum view
- Dan Houser described Chinatown Wars as "It's cutting your cloth to match the body you can put it on, isn't it?"
- Dan Houser also mentioned that Rockstar Games had wanted Chinatown Wars to be a "GTA version of a classic arcade game", and not GTA for children, because Dan Houser felt that "GTA has to be M-Rated. It can't be softend to make it family-friendly -- that's not the game we're making. We're not watering it down."
- It was mentioned that Rockstar Games had toyed with the idea of an isometric view shortly after GTA2.
- The story will be told through a comic-strip style cutscene, like Max Payne and Max Payne 2.
- Missions will be shorter to be suited for play on the bus, as Houser felt the PSP versions felt more suited for playing on a plane. In addition, there will be an autosave feature.
- Houser mentioned, "We've got some outlandish stuff in there. We always try to put in as much variety as possible. There's one mission where you're robbing a bank in Chinatown, and there's a parade, and you dress up as a dragon. There's a lot of fun stuff like that. Not silly, but varied."
- The drug-dealing minigame will intersect with the story mode, and geogaphical locations will affect sales of drugs.
- Throwing of projectiles like grenades will be done via the touchscreen while the shooting is done via the d-pad.
Anyway, enjoy!