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GZ
Interviews the Masterminds of Jak & Daxter, One of the Year’s Best
Games by
The Badger Unless
you’ve been living in a cave, you know Jak & Daxter, published by Sony
and developed by Naughty Dog, is one of the must-have titles of the year.
It’s been earning rave
reviews from across the web, including a glowing review by our own GZ
reviewer Louis
Bedigian. A platformer of epic scope, top rate graphics, sharp and
witty humor, and gameplay so addictive we’re surprised it doesn’t need a
prescription – it doesn’t come as a surprise that the team behind the game
have just that type of gaming passion that’s needed to create such a
standard-raising title. This
month, I had the immensely good fortune to have a Q&A session with Evan
Wells, Co-Designer, and Josh Scherr, Animator for Jak & Daxter. It’s
always a pleasure to speak with different individuals who take part in the
various processes of game creation – but this interview in particular gave
me the special privilege to get into the minds of the creative gurus that
made Jak & Daxter the new, fresh, and incredible gaming experience
that it is! If
you’ve already played Jak & Daxter, you’ll love to get the chance to
get further insight to the creators who gave it life. If you haven’t
played it yet, then I’m almost certain that once you read this interview,
it won’t be long before this is added to your collection!
####### Q:
One must never underestimate the importance of comic relief. How much
improv goes into creating a side-kick like Daxter? Does input come from
the team as a whole, or do you assign script-writers to take care of the
dialogue? A:
(EW)
There is some improv, and some on-the-spot script changes in the studio,
but for the most part the dialogue is all worked out beforehand. With the amount of time it takes the animation team to create
the scenes, there isn’t a lot of room for adding very much. Of
course the whole team is welcome to add ideas and contribute as much as
they want, but the responsibility for writing the script is left to the
design department. A:
(JS) It’s
a very collaborative process, and while the animators always start with
the script – penned by Dan and Evan (our game designers), there is still
plenty of room for interpretation. Max
Casella, who voiced Daxter, helped bring the character to life; while he
generally stuck to the script, he performed several takes of each line
with slightly different nuances, allowing us to choose the one that best
fit the scene. There’s also a
certain amount of improv that goes into any animated scene, as you’re
essentially giving a performance through the character.
To that end, before we actually started animating a scene, we’d
sometimes act things out in front of a mirror, do quick little sketches,
or film each other acting a scene out.
And sometimes, especially when Daxter didn’t have any dialogue,
we’d try to have him doing something funny in the background.
For example, in the scene where Keira is peering through a
telescope, Daxter is hopping up and down trying to look through the
window. Or when Keira walks
in the Samos’ hut during the intro, Daxter tries to impress her with a
heroic pose and fails to even draw her attention.
He was a very fun character to animate because he’s so goofy and so
flexible; he can be funny just standing still. Q:
What
do you think the biggest challenges are in creating a truly realistic AI? A:
(EW) The
biggest challenge is coming up with AI that is both fun and not too
computationally expensive. First
and foremost the AI needs to be fun.
That should always come before realism, because after all we are
making games! Then, you’ve
got to make sure that it runs fast, because invariably you’re going to
want to have several creatures coming after you at once (over 20 in Jak
and Daxter). Q:
How
much of the game creation process consists of the creation of the game
engine itself? Are there any particular aspects of your new game engine
that were particularly challenging to create or that you’re particularly
proud of? A:
(DM) At
Naughty Dog, a lot of work goes into the engine, which in Jak &
Daxter’s case is actually a collection of engines that each got re-written
many times before we were happy with them.
The biggest challenge overall was to get rid of all the loading
times. It makes everything else much more complicated. A:
(GO) The
game engine is worked on until the end of the project. You are constantly
trying to squeeze a little more performance out of the hardware. The thing
I am most proud of is our level of detail system. You can see forever and
still have this incredibly lush environment. We have all of these small
details near the character and can see other parts of the world far away.
This is exactly what our design goal was and I’m proud
of what we’ve achieved. Q:
.Can
you tell us a little more about the A-Grav Zoomer and Flut Flut? Will you
have access to these two alternate modes of transportation throughout the
whole game, or will you acquire them at certain points of your journey? A:
(EW) The
Zoomer and the Flut Flut are only in available in areas specifically
designed for their use. The
gameplay has been engineered to take advantage of their abilities in those
locations. Personally, my
favorite level in the game is devoted entirely to the Zoomer.
Every task that you complete on that level must be done while
speeding along on your hover bike. It
really adds a lot of diversity to the game. Q:
Naughty
Dog has a long history in gaming and platform titles specifically. What
would you say helped the most when creating a whole new world in a
favorite genre? Does consumer feedback or play-testing play a strong role
in the formulation process? A:
(EW) One
of the things that we really pride ourselves on, is our focus testing.
We get the game in the hands of the consumers as soon and as often
as possible. Every focus test
in every territory is attended so that we can see first hand, the play
experiences that the testers are having.
We also save extensive playtest data on the memory cards so that
the problem areas can be charted and tracked across each demographic.
This gives us invaluable tuning and gameplay adjustment
information. Q:
What’s
the hardest thing about a free-roaming 3D platformer? Does making a
free-roaming title make the level design process more difficult or does it
actually allow more leeway in creative level design? A:
(EW) It
is absolutely more difficult than linear level design.
Coming from work on the Crash Bandicoot series, it couldn’t be more
obvious. Jak and Daxter also
had the added difficulties of the world being completely connected and
seamlessly loaded. But even
with the challenges, there is an amazing satisfaction that comes with not
just doing "level" design, but actually creating a fully
realized world. A:
(DM) In
a lot of ways it makes it more difficult because you have to keep the
player interested and challenged, yet the player is free to roam around
and miss all the wonderful things you have laid out for him. It’s a
difficult balance between giving total freedom and steering slightly to
make sure the player doesn’t miss something important.
We’re very excited about where we netted out. Q:
How
much concept art do you work with on a game like Jak & Daxter? Does
most of it occur in the very beginning of game creation, such as in
character design, or is it an ongoing process? A:
(EW) There
was an enormous amount of concept art work done for Jak and Daxter. Enough
to fill several books. We
have an artist on staff devoted to doing nothing but concept art. There is nothing that went into the game that wasn’t sketched
first. From the most minute
shrub, to an overview of the entire world, the digital artists always had
concept art to work from. Q:
.How
do you go about making a platform title appeal to as wide an age-group as
possible? Do you think that platformers have increased in their target
audience scope as technology has progressed? A:
(EW) As
I mentioned before, we put a lot of effort into the focus testing process.
From the data we receive from these tests, we are able to make
adjustments to the gameplay that allows the broadest range of people to
enjoy the game. Also,
building the world as an immersive experience with the beautifully
animated cut scenes, I believe, will extend the appeal of the game even
further. A:
(DM) I
believe the secret is in offering something for everyone and letting the
game have multiple layers of humor and difficulty. Q:
With
a visually intensive game like Jak & Daxter, how do you go about
"proofreading," per say, the game process? Does the same team
who is involved with the actual gameplay development also take an
editorial position to look over the work as a whole, or do you have a
separate team that looks over the product as it progresses toward
completion? A:
(EW) Early
on, we had our focus test groups offer their feedback about the
development of the game. We
listen closely to what they have to say, and adjust accordingly.
Of course we have the SCEA internal test department to help us
track down the bugs at the end of the development cycle.
And we also hired a sizeable staff of testers on site at Naughty
Dog for good measure. A:
(DM) The
game designers have the hardest job at Naughty Dog because they are
directly in the line of fire of the entire team’s opinion. But we are so
proud of the caliber of people we have on the team – we all work towards
delivering innovative and fresh interactive entertainment – we may be
very critical of our own work but we can only deliver the best when we
push ourselves. Q:
Do
you think platform titles are moving toward including more adventure
aspects than in previous years? What other elements do you see becoming an
increasing part of the platform genre, if any, as time goes on? A:
(EW) Clearly
the addition of a more adventure-like feel was one of our major goals in
the development of Jak and Daxter. I
really believe that it has enhanced the overall feel of the game.
The addition of story-based gaming gives players a purpose for the
tasks they are completing and a greater sense of accomplishment.
I think that the days of simple do-or-die Crash Bandicoot-like
gameplay are numbered. Today’s
gamer is more sophisticated and wants a more complete experience. A:
(DM) I
think story is becoming a huge part and people are becoming more and more
annoyed with plotless games or plots that are just made up to justify a
certain section of the game. What we tried to do with Jak & Daxter was
to have a story which makes sense and takes place in a world which makes
sense and I think this is definitely something that you’ll see more of in
the future. Q:
How
did you get involved in the gaming business? Are there any directions you
haven’t gone yet that you might like to tackle in the future? A:
(EW) I
grew up living and breathing video games.
From my first trip to the arcade I was hooked.
Eight years ago, when I was offered the amazing and generous
opportunity to work at ToeJam and Earl, I knew I had found my calling.
As far as the future is concerned, we’ll see.
This industry moves so fast, and there is always new technology
just around the corner, so I never know what to expect next. A:
(DM) I’ve
always played games and I used to program at home as a hobby. So when the
time came to look for a job, I jumped onboard a game company that a friend
was starting so that I could do my hobby all day long and get paid for it. I’d
like to explore what possibilities online games bring, especially with
creating communities of players around a game or a series of games. Q:
Is
there anything else you’d like to share with our users about Jak &
Daxter as they head on out to their local retailer to pick up the title? A:
(EW) Jak
and Daxter is the perfect blend of action and adventure.
The animations, and environments are beautiful, and the gameplay
and story will keep you immersed in a world like never before. A:
(DM) I’m
sure they’ll have a blast with the game. It’s very hard to describe how
fun it is to evolve in the world of Jak & Daxter and everyone is
always amazed at how coherent it is when they start playing the game.
Have fun! #
# # The
Badger would like to thank: Evan
Wells, Co-Designer and Josh
Scherr, Animator for
their generosity, time, enthusiasm, and all of their talents in giving us
a game that reminds us what gaming is really all about! |