Senior Designer Jeff Gregg of Day 1 Studios recently stopped by Xbox.com headquarters, so we could ask him a few of our burning question about the making of MechAssault® 2: Lone Wolf. Here's what we found out …
Xbox.com: Part of the allure of the BattleTech world has always been piloting these immense vertical tanks.MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf seems to encourage players to recognize the proper scale of the machines, in contrast to the world around them. What did you do differently from the first game to really make the player feel like they were controlling a huge machine?
Gregg: The main thing we did was put the player in the shoes of a pilot. In the original MechAssault®, the player chose from a selection of giant ‘Mechs to play. Since the player was always a ‘Mech, he began to perceive the environment around him by using what was always on screen as a base of comparison (the ‘Mech). MechAssault 2 reinforces the scale and the power of the ‘Mechs by making the pilot the core controllable object. When the player gets into and out of ‘Mechs, he can instantly see just how big and bad-ass these machines are. We also gave the player other controllable vehicles, such as the BattleArmor and the VTOL, to show the battlefields from different points of view.
Xbox.com: Fans of the MechWarrior series have pined for more customization options for the 'Mechs themselves (e.g. altering their weapon load out). Can you explain why, from a design standpoint, 'Mech customization isn't available in theMechAssault games?
Gregg: ’Mech customization is a lot of fun for the true simulation fans and fans of the MechWarrior universe. We did look for ways to make this feature work in MechAssault 2, but found it was not in sync with our core action-oriented goals for the game. We wanted the vehicles and ‘Mechs to be “known quantities” that the players can instantly recognize and play with. Any time we had a feature that required the player to do a large amount of non-action oriented tasks (such as equipping a ‘Mech and all the baggage that comes with that task, including application of heat-syncs, armor, etc.) we asked ourselves, “Is this fun? Is this how the player wants to spend his time?” By and large, we found that, for a console audience, the answer was no.
Xbox.com: What was the single largest design hurdle that faced Day 1 while developing Lone Wolf?
Gregg: The single biggest hurdle was the BattleArmor. Almost every one of its abilities was very unique and had to go through much iteration before we were satisfied with them. ‘Mech Neurohacking, Wall Climbing, and the Mortar were all big challenges.
‘Mech Neurohacking in particular went through many stages of design and development before we found something that met our expectations and worked well in both single and multiplayer. Some of our initial ideas were great in single player but didn’t work with our multiplayer systems. The most common issue was making the system balanced and make sense for both the ‘Mech and the BattleArmor player.
Wall Climbing allowed design to work neat climbing gameplay scenarios into the levels, but special care had to be taken to make sure the player couldn’t exit the world boundaries by climbing somewhere we didn’t expect him to. Also, we couldn’t use climbing as a specific objective goal, since we wanted to encourage the player to blow buildings up, not preserve them for climbing purposes.
The Mortar was also a challenge to make fun and functional. It fires like no other weapon and has very unique aiming needs.
Xbox.com: What were the most important innovations in MechAssault 2? How is the game better than the firstMechAssault?
Gregg: Putting the player into the shoes of a pilot was the big innovation. Not only did this help the sense of scale, but it also allowed for much more gameplay variety. The player could now change vehicles in the game, on the fly, to suit the current situation (be it single or multiplayer). Adding the new vehicles and their unique abilities (such as the BattleArmor) on top of this made for a very robust canvas of flexibility.
We wanted to make sure MechAssault 2 was more than just the original game with new maps and ‘Mechs, and I think we very much succeeded. By adding new vehicles and in-game ‘Mech switching, we created a game that has a lot of depth, without sacrificing the immediate action-oriented core that made MechAssault so popular.
Xbox.com: Where does the story line fit into the history of MechAssault?
Gregg:MechAssault 2 starts a couple of years after the first MechAssault game ended. The team (Natalia, Foster, and the MechWarrior) have hidden away with their data core to recuperate and reorganize.
Xbox.com: If you could add another ’Mech to the game, which one would be your first choice?
Gregg: If I could I would loveto throw in a Warhammer ‘Mech, but I can’t. The Warhammer was one of my favorite ‘Mechs back when I started playing the table-top game. Even though it’s an “old school” Inner Sphere machine that lacks all the bells and whistles the clans brought to the battlefield, it still holds a special place in my heart.
Xbox.com: What’s your favorite map for XboxLive?
Gregg: I really like “Ill Wind”. It has a lot of fun play potential built into its varied terrain without seeming too confining. It has ample opportunity for all of the vehicles and ‘Mech types to excel and is always a blast to play. That being said, a guilty pleasure of everyone here is “Going Commando” for some pure BattleArmor-on-BattleArmor action. There is nothing like 12 mortars in the air at once to get your blood pumping. You can tell when someone fires up that map because the office suddenly gets really loud.
Xbox.com: Which map was the hardest to make?
Gregg: Believe it or not, “New River City” was probably the hardest to make. We started by just slapping in the layout from the original MechAssault and quickly found it to not be extremely fun with the new gameplay mechanics and vehicles. Through a prolonged trial-and-error period of trying different layouts and building positions that both improved the fun factor and stayed true to the original River City, we finally got a really fun map. But, it wasn’t the slam-dunk process we all expected it to be.
Xbox.com: Who’s the best MechAssaultplayer at Day 1? Do you play against gamers on XboxLive?
Gregg: I would like to claim to be the king, but I have to give that crown to Bryan, our lead tester here at Day 1 Studios. He has sent my ‘Mech into meltdown on more occasions than I care to mention. I will claim to be the best VTOL pilot though. I can get you salvage usually before you know you need it!
And, we do indeed play against other gamers on Xbox Live. We rarely announce that we work for Day 1 Studios though. Who knows? You may have been in a match or two with several of us!
Xbox.com: Have you added any features to the game to make Xbox Live play more exciting?
Gregg: Multiplayer was a very key focus for us when making MechAssault 2. We were very proud ofMechAssault’s multiplayer aspects and wanted to build on them. The VTOL is a great example of how we helped make the multiplayer experience both deeper and more team-oriented. Support roles that are well executed can quickly decide the fate of a battle.
