Interview with Peter Morawiec from Luxoflux
posted 02/03/06
Pretty soon you'll be able to leave all your GTA3 loving, PS2 owning friends in the dust! Why? because we'll all be playing 'True Crime : Streets of L.A' by Luxoflux, the creators of the successful Vigilante 8 series!
Inspired by Hong Kong action films, the game lets players assume the role of tough-as-nails detective Nick Kang, bent on settling a personal vendetta with the L.A. underworld. As Kang, players will be able to dispense their own personal brand of justice through automotive combat, a variety of rib cracking martial arts moves and the business end of dual 45s.
Peter Sharpe spoke with Peter Morawiec, Creative Director at Luxoflux and Lead Designer on True Crime: Streets of LA
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about your upcoming game Peter. Previews suggest that True Crime bears a similar playing style to GTA III. What can gamers expect to see True Crime doing differently than GTAIII?
Obviously, people are quick to make such comparisons. The idea originated 2-3 years back, prior to us knowing much about GTA or the Getaway. We were brainstorming about how to best package the in/out of the car mechanic, which everyone seemed to agree was the 'next level'. The detective idea seemed a natural and we liked it a lot for variety of creative and gameplay reasons, but also because it is a rather under-utilized theme in video games.
So, TC was built around the detective angle from the ground up, and I think the differences will be obvious as soon as you go about playing it. First off, the gameplay philosophy is different -- you are rated based on solving crimes, and solving them well. Second, you've got a high degree of realism. Third, every gameplay component -- be it driving, shooting, fighting, or stealth -- offers more moves, abilities and control (without sacrificing accessibility). Lastly, there is our unique story-driven branching system, which not only engrosses the player in a cool cinematic story, but ensures non-linear gameplay, which means that even a non-seasoned player will get the chance to experience a significant portion of the game.
Being that players take the role of Detective Nick Kang in True Crime, rather than a criminal as in GTA III, will the level of choose-your-own-victim-of-violence be curtailed at all?
Nick is a detective, not a thug, so his set of moves and reactions is tailored to be consistent with that. For instance, if the player initiates fire in the middle of the street with no obvious perpetrators in his vicinity, Nick fires into the air, sending civilians scurrying for cover. However, if Nick is in hot pursuit of a suspect, he will target the suspect and can harm civilians in the crossfire. Of course, casualties are considered a bad thing in the career of any cop.
Luxoflux has a history of car-combat games with the Vigiliante 8 series. Will players spend more time behind the wheel, or running and gunning on foot?
Driving takes a slight precedence, but only barely.
With the game being released on Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube, can we expect to see an improved version taking advantage of the Xbox's superior hardware or specific features such as custom soundtrack?
We're certainly taking full advantage of XBox's power, primarily in the areas of graphics quality, running high resolution textures, multi-pass texturing etc. We are also looking into taking advantage of XBox's hard drive, in order to significantly reduce load times. Other enhancements are discussed, but have not been settled on.
Are there any multiplayer features such as system link or any other multiplayer modes planned? If not can we look forward to a multiplayer or Xbox Live! variant of True Crime or a sequel in the future?
TC was designed as a single player game. If the console online market takes off, I'm sure we would consider adding multiplayer features in the future.
True Crime promises a 400 square mile re-creation of Los Angeles. How accurately and down to what detail is the city portrayed?
The street layout is exact, converted from existing elevation and street census data, stretching from downtown L.A all the way to the Pacific coast. Hundreds of landmarks are present, as well as freeways. We currently have a three-man team working using our custom tool set to 'populate' the city in as natural and realistic way as possible.
You guys obviously have an appreciation for John Woo style cinematic action, if screenshots of True Crime are anything to go by. Will we also see a variety of hand to hand combat situations in the mix with dual 45 handgun action?
We do have some cool disarming and hand-to-hand moves within our shooting set. For instance, Nick can grab an enemy human-shield style, or he can knock a guy down with the butt of his pistol or a kick, then follow up with a flash arrest.
What so far has been the most challenging aspect of developing True Crime?
It's our biggest project yet. It relies on a lot of custom technology and it hasn't been easy to get it off the ground. Also, the quest to infuse the game with a strong story and cinematic flair, while retaining a sense of 'freedom', has been tricky. But, I believe we've overcome all these hurdles now and are on our way to complete this baby.
Any chance of a sequel one day set on the mean streets of an Australian city? The likes of Sydney and Melbourne get pretty rough and tumble on a Saturday night :-)
“Rough and tumble†you say? Hmm, let us think about that :-)
Thanks again for your time Peter. When can we expect to see True Crime: Streets of LA hit our store shelves?
We're very much striving for players the world over to give TC a whirl in the first half of 2003. Thanks for the interest!
Thank you Peter.
Interview by Peter Sharpe.
