Behind Mech Assault Download #1
Although more than 100,000 gamers have already downloaded the new maps and 'Mechs, some people seem to think downloadable content is stuff that just didn't get done in time for the release of the game. (Don't try to deny it, we read the forums, too!) Still others assume the new content is throwaway stuff the publisher tosses onto the servers to appease the hungry masses. Also not true. To get the straight story, we spoke to tj "PAINGOD" wagner from Day 1 Studios. He's the producer of MechAssault, and he told us how it went down. After MechAssault released, tj said, the team took a couple weeks off. They came back refreshed and ready to go to work. "We were one of the first Xbox Live titles," he explained, "and we wanted to be the first to provide new content to download." A subset of the Mech team took a look at the boards and forums and really listened to what gamers were saying. They asked themselves, "What can we do to make the online aspect even better?" So tj and three of his designers sequestered themselves in a room for a brainstorming session. Of all the game maps, "River City" was being played the most. It's relatively small and you get to the action immediately. There are also plenty of buildings for cover. The two new maps made available for download, "Hell's Kitchen" and "Stone Cold," were designed to provide lots of cover and allow gamers to cut to the good stuff right away. The team also thought about what 'Mechs are already in the game and where the holes were. They knew Capture the Flag is a gamer favorite (and it'll be in the next downloads package!), so they wanted to add a couple fast 'Mechs that would be really good at CTF. Raven and Corvus were the result. As tj pointed out, Raven is equipped with Double Null Six "to run in, grab the flag, and get out." OK, OK, here's the killer question: why did we have to wait so long for the first content download? Easy, said tj. Content creation took three weeks. Testing and refining lasted two weeks. The tough part was getting the Xbox Live download portion right. That ate up six weeks. "That's part of the joy of being first," he told us. Subsequent downloads will have a much quicker turnaround. The response to the download made it all worth it. "It's amazing!," tj exclaimed. "I was in a meeting when I got a phone call saying there were 90,000 downloads in the first 24 hours. I had to interrupt the meeting to tell everyone." |
