Auch an diesem Wochenende gibt es wieder Neuigkeiten in Sachen NfS:Shift, so haben die Jungs von 1up.com(siehe Quelle) eine Art Preview verfasst in der sie in einem Interview mit Jess Abbney über diverse neue Dinge rund um NfS:Shift sprechen. So geht es hauptsächlich um Bereiche wie die KI, den Karrieremodus oder das Fahrverhalten. Wie das im einzelnen aussieht, seht ihr in der vollständigen News.
[MEHR]
[Quote]1UP: If someone’s getting into Need for Speed for the first time, what can they expect? [/B]
Jesse Abney: We want new fans to experience authentic racing, so we built an authentic racing game. But it’s not a simulation game. It’s not a grind; it’s not overly punishing to the point that you lose sight of what’s fun.
The AI is a big part of that experience: they’re making mistakes; they’re causing accidents. You realize that they’re fallible. And trough the career design and structure, the way we introduce players to challenges, they’ll be learning to drive on these tracks and handle the cars as they go. New drivers will pick up the game and learn every step of the way. However, they’ll be getting rewarded as they go to keep them in the game and keep it competitive. We expect that there’ll be a learning curve, but we’re giving players the tools they need to succeed.
1UP: How is career mode going to work then? Is it a set of challenges instead of a narrative?JA: Absolutely. This is a racing game so narrative doesn’t run as deep as some of the open world games we’ve done in the past. The player wouldn’t be in a Lamborghini or racing in courses around the world right out of the gate. Our career structure evolves as the game experience unfolds.
1UP: Can you talk a little bit about the driving experience, such as the camera moving forward or backward when you brake or accelerate?JA: What other simulation games miss is what it is to be a race car driver. It’s quality over quantity, not the car itself or the number of cars or tracks in the game. Through the camera effects, functional dashboard displays, and the effect of crashing a car at the edge of control, we’re bringing an authentic race experience to Shift.
The car jostles as the track conditions change. But, the head jostles as well; when I accelerate forward, the head snaps back. When I brake, the head snaps forward. When I collide with objects, my head bounces around. When I crash, there’s a blurring and a de-saturation effect that shows the disorientation that occurs when you actually hit a wall at high speed. Then there’s the audio. How it sounds driving through tunnels versus open spaces, and how it sounds to bang up against other cars.
The AI, which I consider the third dimension in that experience, in other games is perfect to the point that the player has to learn to be an expert to compete. The AI knows the race line, knows the brake points, never makes a mistake. However, in Shift, the work that Slightly Mad has done with the AI makes them prone to mistakes; the AI operates under the same pressure that the player does — the pressure of being in first place and having the whole pack behind them racing for their position, misjudging corners, locking up brakes, and hitting walls. The AI runs on a difficulty level that is progressive, but it’s certainly prone to make the same mistakes the player does. The more intense the race gets, the more mistakes the AI makes — just as the player would.
1UP: I think somebody was talking to me about AI „personalities“ earlier. What does that mean, exactly?JA: The „personalities“ are really what allow the „fallible AI“ system to work. For example, if I’m racing behind a guy in third position, and I’m on his bumper, then the pressure becomes much higher and he becomes a much more nervous driver. Those personality traits are what the Slightly Mad guys have built into the game to create human-like fallibility in the AI. It’s a very systematic method in a computer model. However when you create a personality trait, you introduce the opportunity for an AI model to act more organically. Personality traits: nervousness, aggressiveness, precision, cautiousness — those attributes become the way that the AI falls into making mistakes. Again, if I’m on an AI player’s bumper, he becomes „nervous.“ He might misjudge a corner because he really wants to keep his speed high; he locks up his brakes. He crashes. I pass him.
Not only is the player experiencing a bit of a grudge match, but the AI jostling with one another makes them more aggressive and they become more prone to nudge a car that has nudged them. If the player decides to run aggressively then the AI will drive aggressively, and if the player chooses to drive precisely then the AI is going to ensure that they’re driving as precisely as they can. Those are just effects of „we don’t want the AI to ever be perceived as cheating“ that a lot of games get discredited for.
If a player is a precise, expert player, the AI will do everything in its control to drive precisely and to avoid contact. Those are the elements of a real racing experience. I’ve seen somebody running an aggressive race set where the AI racers were jostling one another and causing accidents that the player wasn’t even involved in; the whole grid became very aggressive because of it. Normally the player will want to run a precise race, keep damage down, and keep their car in good shape. The AI assists in that; they won’t come and clip the player off the road in a tight corner.
1UP: Something I noticed earlier is the reflection on the hood as the player drives around. Is this something that Slightly Mad brought to the table?JA: This is one of those things about a next-gen engine that’s really important to us. It’s not only the quality of the immersive experience, but it’s just something people expect out of games today and certainly in this segment of simulation game: Crisp, sharp, pixel-perfect graphics are the prerequisite. What Slightly Mad has done in their engine are little things like showing the entire high-resolution environment map on the hoods of the cars. What that does for people who like the [cockpit] view is it provides a full, dynamic reflectio model of the world. They see the light on the tunnel, and the lines on the road and the brake lights from the cars ahead get reflected back. It’s one of the attributes of a great next generation engine, and the multi-core architecture has the ability to push this stuff like never before.
1UP: Everything on the dashboard is fully rendered, correct?JA: It’s fully 3D and fully functional. [points on-screen] The GTR here has both the analog and digital display, a gear shift indicator with a digital LCD, and all the other elements that someone would expect if they had been in a GTR. And if they haven’t, they can see fully what the inside of that car looks like. we have the head-mounted camera as well, which lets the player look around as though it were their own head; they can see much more of the car, the driver, the steering wheel, the feet moving the pedals, and the whole rest of the car by just looking around. Certainly not something anyone does very often when they’re driving at high speed, but it is possible. The third person view offers a free, rotatable camera, so players can see the entire model of the car and the damage that has occurred in a race and can get feel for the presence of the car on the track.
1UP: Where do you see Shift fitting into the field alongside other racing games.JA: It certainly sits in the simulation sub-genre. But what we don’t want Shift to ever be perceived of as is a simulation game. We don’t see it as the typical hardcore driving simulator that requires you to have a license to play and have fun with. While we see it competing with quality games in that segment, we expect it to stand out. The authentic racing experience and the game’s many other features will bring the player closer to the car. And the capabilities of the engine, the types of cars, the interior and exterior customization, and the tracks from around the world (as well as the fictional tracks) will further set Shift apart from the competition.
1UP: What’s the level of customization possible? Is it aesthetic as well as functional?JA: Vehicle customization really brings the player further into the driving experience: who they are and what’s their car. This year, interior customization will be an aspect of performance driving. As the player upgrades their car and does performance tuning, the interior of the car will also evolve. However they envision their racing cockpit, they’ll eventually be able to buy those upgrades: full roll-cages, carbon fiber instead of fabric, or no interior at all, etc. And certain aspects of the HUD will be completely different because of the modifications that Shift will make possible
1UP: This is as you progress in career mode and as you complete challenges?JA: Yes, depending on where the player spends their money. And those types of things affect weight, so they’ll need to performance modify their car to drop that weight. At some point the player will probably take out the seat next to them because they’ll need that fifteen/twenty pound weight drop when taking a corner at high speed. Interior customization will be as important as exterior aerodynamic customization.
1UP: One last question. You have different types of cars: back engine, front engine, etc. Will these perform in different ways?JA: The simulation physics engine is based on real chassis‘, so the player will have to understand the mid engine/front engine/rear engine and how they play into the weight of the car, how they affect balance and control in and out of corners. Those things are calculated based on real-world physics. The engine is the most significant weight in the car, so where that is affects how the car handles.
[/QUOTE]
