Split/Second Developer Interview: Nick Baynes, Director - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 17 May 2010 / 3,374 Views
You've heard of Split/Second, right? The upcoming racing game from Disney and Black Rock Studio (the guys that made the way-too-fun Pure) is all set to release... in a few hours. Studio Director Nick Baynes recently shared some time with us, and VGChartz has all the info you'll need.
The concept for Split/Second has been around roughly five years, from back when the current-gen's technical specifications were first announced. A lot of other racers did the same ol' thing with the new hardware: improved vehicle customization, car damage was getting more realistic and impressive, and AI was getting smarter. Black Rock wanted to do something different with the powerful new processors: let's change the whole environment, they thought.
At first, changing weather seemed like a good way to impact the gaming landscape. Rain, blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes... they would all change the way gamers approach each race. This was eventually tossed aside in favor of a reality TV style, letting the player destroy the environment himself. Further emphasizing the TV aspect, each race is treated like an episode of a running series. Win, and you'll get a "Next time on Split/Second..." preview of the next race. It gives it a bit of continuity to the game. Nick noted that you don't need much of a backstory in a racing game, but a context for the races is good.
First you'll race some qualifiers. Finish in the top three, then advance to the Elite Race against the "gladiators." There are some other game modes, too: Elimination, Detonator (time trial), and Survival, where helicopters chase you around, dropping bombs the whole time. This leads to the standout aspect of the game: the destruction.
There have been plenty of comparisons made between Split/Second and the Burnout franchise. Both favor over-the-top risk-taking to win, and both maintain the Michal Bay-esque BOOM KAPOW BOOSH! The key difference: whereas risky driving in Burnout (drifting, near-misses, jumps, drafting) awards you with boost, Split/Second has a Power Play meter that fills with each trick.
Power Plays are what sets Split/Second apart from everything else on the market. It's a simple half-circle under your car (there is no HUD) that fills with reckless driving. One bar allows you to unleash a Level 1 Power Play on the car(s) directly in front of you, things like a bus blowing up sideways into their car, or a drive-through gas station collapsing onto their roof, or it may open a quick shortcut to shave a few seconds off your lap time (each race has three very different laps).
Level 2 Power Plays, though... dang. Fill all three bars under your car, and you have the power to bring down a commercial airliner on your rivals, or detonate a whole nuclear power plant, or destroy an entire (and vital) bridge that previously held up a section of the racetrack. This changes the track entirely (and hopefully takes out a few of the other racers at the same time), and it makes each lap a unique experience. You won't see any slowdown here, either; the whole game runs at a solid and constant 30 frames-per-second.
It's not all sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, however. The sheer amount of raw computing power required to render the millions of explosive particles means that there will be no end-of-race replay (you can watch the crash immediately post-wreck, however), and the ever-changing course means that you have no mini-map to find your way around. You have a "split-second" to decide which way to go... get it, now? (Hint: that's the title of the game.)
However, you're not able to just drive around mimbly-bimbly, destroying every single thing in your path with explosiveness. Black Rock spent a LOT of time balancing the amount of control you have over the environment with the amount of control you feel like you have over the environment. The Power Plays are all scripted explosions, but they are incredibly frequent (you'll discover new ones even after playing the race numerous times) and specifically designed to be destructive, effective, and impressive. They are.
There were some fun behind-the-scenes topics Nick talked about as well, such as early builds of the game having some wonky physics that occasionally shot cars out into space (don't worry, everything works like it should now!), or a giant one-armed bandit slot machine that would explode if you lined up three "BANG" symbols. It was eventually decided that that would be more appropriate in an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon. Oh well.
Split/Second isn't all about the arcade-y "blow up stuff" mentality. There's a deep physics engine running under the hood, and adaptive AI will keep every race competitive (similar to the AI in Burnout Paradise, but without the "rubber band" effect of too-slow racers magically catching up to the leaders). The Power Plays are incredibly simple, too, so nearly any racing fan can jump into the game and start blowin' stuff up right away. (To keep the Power Plays from being too powerful, you can only use them on the cars in front of you. So, you hang out in first place, or you blow stuff up. Your choice. Remember, though: the leader will be the biggest target for the rest of the drivers.)
There are about 25 different cars in the game. While that's nowhere near some other racers, Split/Second has variety on its side. Each car is a whole different beast than the others; there's no Scorpion/Sub-Zero-style palette swap creating a "new" vehicle. Muscle cars, trucks, and "soup cars" round out the roster, and each caters to a different personality type. Black Rock's main focus with every car and every track: "Will this be fun?" At the end of the day, that's all that really matters, right? If nothing else, Split/Second's thrill-a-second ride is sure to get your adrenaline pumping.
No news yet for DLC, although it's definitely a possibility - more tracks, more cars, more routes? Split/Second releases May 18th, 2010, on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 (playable demos are available right now if you can't wait)... be sure to check back soon for the official VGChartz review!
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agreed
Looks awesome
The game is a great idea and stuff but claiming they are the first to make the environment changing .. It's nothing new, just better maybe.
It's like they mixed ExciteTruck and Burnout. I'll try the demo first, but this looks like a buy for me.
The collapsing buildings are the most impressive and funny thing,but all these big explosions are almost trivial.Don't know,the gameplay seems dull,but when it get cheaper I will buy it...
