Q64 recently had a chance to meet the man behind Rayman 2, Michel Ancel, at Ubi Soft's Montpellier, France, studio. We spoke about many gameplay issues, and more importantly, what Rayman 2 will be all about.
Q64 — How will you let game players know what kind of moves your Rayman can perform?
MA — There's a learning map at the start of the game, and the player can't move on to the gane itself if he hasn't mastered all the movements, as well as Rayman's first skills and powers. As soon as he is more at ease with the character (the controls are really intuitive), he leaves the map and the adventure can begin. If he doesn't succeed after 5 minutes, a virus is automatically generated which erases the hard disk and socks him one as an extra bonus. But seriously, the map is really simple.
Q64 — Is an analog stick vital for 3D platform games?
MA — When the controls are similar to Mario or Banjo, we think it's really useful. We opted for it with Rayman 2. Player reactions are really put to the test in Rayman 2, and the analog stick is a real comfort for the player. But of course it's possible to play Rayman 2 with a pad and without a stick, as well as on the keyboard in the PC version. Anyway. we think the analog stick introduces a really sexy element into 3D games.
Q64 — How will you keep players working through your game?
MA — The basic principle of Rayman 2 is to force the player to move quickly through the maps. Speed and intensity are at the root of Rayman 2. This makes it really different from all the other 3D games where the player can spend hours wandering through immense worlds where there is nothing for him to do except admire the scenery. In Rayman 2, the player hasn't a second to waste because everything keeps collapsing behind him, because he is riding this strange animal or because he is pressed for time, lack of oxygen or strong winds.
Q64 — Can adding new skills seem like a token gesture? What interesting skills will you be implementing in Rayman 2?
MA — Giving the hero new skills in the course of the game isn't an essential phase, but it adds a lot of depth to action and adventure games. The player derives positive pleasure from revisiting universes and discovering hidden doors and levels that were inaccessible until he acquired some special power. He can then enjoy the beauty of the universe, the special effects, all the details he couldn't appreciate first time round because he was driven by the tension and intensity of the game.
Compared to his first incarnation, Rayman has became a veritable athlete: he jumps every which way, rolls about the place and somersaults, flies a helicopter, climbs trees and walls, swings from nets over precipices, underwater (and does a good job of it too!). He also rides strange beasts that take him through the maps at incredible speeds. Besides. his projectile has acquired lots of different uses: not only is it a veritable weapon that he can use to strafe the enemy but it is also a grapnel, a lasso and even as a rather special means of transport (but enough said about that).
Q64 — Will you base level progression on a series of courses (like most 2D games) or on open-ended worlds? What led to your decision?
MA — We were determined to avoid the major shortcoming of 3D which, if the worlds are too open, leads to a slack game where, even if the immersion is successful, the player isn't really sure what he's supposed to be doing because the action plods along too slowly. With Rayman 2, we hope that the player will very rarely have time to wonder what he's supposed to be doing. There are some very open passages with magnificent perspectives, then tighter pathways which are therefore more intuitive and better paced, before again leading to incredible panoramas.
Q64 — What has been the biggest difficulty in designing a camera for your game?
MA — I think we had the same difficulties as everyone else. At each moment in the game, we asked ourselves what the camera was to show the player: where to go, who to fight, where enemy shots are coming from, etc. Then it's up to us to place the camera correctly, it's just a question of work. One of the many challenges of the game was to make a very "director's cut" type of game. There are therefore very many different cameras which are used in a very studied manner in all the delicate passages of the game.
Q64 — Does the design of your camera dictate level design? For instance, tight claustrophobic levels are somewhat prohibited by the fact that cameras can't pan out as like in open spaces — unless walls are removed as in Mario 64's rope-bridges.
MA — This didn't really bother us. Of course the artists who created the levels graphically were careful not to construct scenes so tightly that the camera couldn't move about. But in reality this wasn't really a major constraint because the game designers or level directors, who are in charge of cameras and maps, can always switch to the standard game camera: either a fixed high-angle side view, or a low-angle shot. There is a great range of freedom and the work is almost comparable to directing a film, except that it's interactive too!
Q64 — What have you retained from 2D platform games and why?
MA — Some golden rules that remain valid for all games, therefore for 3D action games. These rules can be summed up in 4 words: SPEED (all the ingredients that force the player to keep constantly moving), TIMING (all the ingredients that require the player to move at the right time), PRECISION (in shooting, moving about, jumping) and RESOURCEFULNESS.
Q64 — And lastly, what would be your '3 Golden Rules' of 3D game design?
MA — As many actions as possible for the hero. Clear objectives for the player. Pacing, pacing and more pacing. To sum it up, the player shouldn't have to find the action, the action must come to the player.
