Tracks, tracks...TRACKS!
So..the topic I've probably should've covered weeks ago, but here it is: The tracks!
I just start by saying that we're excited, extremely excited what we've accomplished with the track designing and ultimately brought into the game. And here's why:
It was great doing the tracks for FlatOut and back then we were quite satisfied with what was achieved in the time we had. Doing FO1 was a big learning experience, and now we had had the chance to apply those learnings to really deliver that "wow" or "ooomph" factor so to speak. The wildness, the excitement and the action that banging cars together in high speeds brings into the game, is taken a lot further in the action oriented FlatOut 2 tracks.
The tracks are full of jumps, ramps, buildings to crash, thousands of dynamic objects (that remain where they land after flying 30ft thru the air), and lot's more! Also the graphics have taken a huge leap forward due to our advanced lighting system. We have overhauled the effects and particles, but I let those reveal themselves in the screenshots to come =).
The tracks are exciting, full of action, and that's the way it should be in this kind of game. We've also been taking a lot care to make the tracks fun to drive, well balanced and properly challenging. The difficulty factor is also quite difficult (pardon the pun =)) to set appropriately for each part of the career. The game flow should be smooth. Easy at first and "catchy enough ". Then the pace needs to pick up by throwing much more action packed races into the mix to get you, the gamer, to grin like a speeding maniac. It should leave you wanting to play a lot more - offline and/or online. If the game accomplishes that, we've done our job right.
To really support a great offline experience, you need as intelligent, interesting, and "human-like" AI as possible to accompany you throughout the career. It needs to crash with you, make mistakes, challenge you, amuse you etc, etc. There are (driving) games out there that have overlooked the importance of proper AI. In FlatOut the AI was "okayish" in my opinion, but there were people also who considered it to be too hard to beat and "machine-like". In FlatOut 2 we've created different profiles to support the "human" factor in AI driving. Now, this isn't exactly a new idea, but our AI thrives in race situations, and it will surprise you in many ways. Like in FlatOut 1, there are many alternative routes scattered through out the track. This time though there at least 3 times more of them per track and the AI uses them! =). The profiles also dictate how brave and bold the AI guys and gals are, so a smart gamer will study the AI and use that knowledge to their advantage in the races.
Probably one the most played game mode in FlatOut 1 were the Ragdoll Stunts. Now..I cannot yet reveal what we've in store for you, but I will tease you a bit by saying that it will blow you mind, and you will have good laughs playing those offline and online with your friends. :)
Another popular ones were the derby tracks which I've been working on. I've covered those in my blogs from last year, so you might wanna check them out, if you haven't yet. :) All of those are playable online too, out of the box.
At this point of development we're getting close to finishing tracks when it comes to content, driveability and fun factor. Every tracks needs that last bit of extra care as we're progressing towards next big milestone. In FlatOut when the project was wrapped up, we felt that we have done our best in the given time period, but we still had a lot of ambition left. This time, we've had the time and resources to really try to meet those personal ambitions.
- Tomi
