Fracture Interview

With a variety of generic shooters lined-up for 2008, it's getting hard to tell some of them apart. Gameplay wise, very few of these promise innovation. Day 1 Studios' Fracture, however, has a little something - the ability to alter the shape of the terrain during combat, gaining tactical advantage in both multiplayer and single-player. So, it's kind of like taking terrain-deformation and Red Faction-style gameplay to new heights.

Tony Grandlich, Producer for Fracture at LucasArts, talks about some of the game's key features, including terrain deformation, adapting the game's AI to an ever-changing environment, new design decisions, weapons, multiplayer modes and more.

Man, I wish I could do this at home.

Crap. Missed him.

ActionTrip: How long have you guys been working on Fracture and how many people are working on the game?

Tony Grandlich: Fracture has been in development since early 2006. We usually don't discuss team size, but I would say it's comparable with other next-gen titles.

AT: Just how does the terrain-deforming weaponry work?

TG: By using an engine developed by Day 1 Studios ("despair") we are able to dynamically manipulate the geometry of the terrain. This technology allows us to permanently move the vertices in any direction we choose, completely on the fly. What all of this means for the player is that they now have the ability to change the battlefield to their advantage, for the first time.

AT: The player will have a chance to alter the shape of the terrain. The AI has that same ability. Can you tell us a little bit more about some of the tactics used by the AI in that sense?

TG: The AI is very complex. The Pacifican enemies are able to decipher what is happening to the environment at all times, and subsequently determine the best course of action in real-time. If the player throws up some cover, the AI will try to remove that cover. The AI also knows when it is in danger and will try to create its own cover or try to take the players cover as its own. Traditional, enemy AI would follow a set "path" in order to attack the player. Since the path itself is constantly changing due to terrain deformation, Day 1 has had to really innovate in this area. At the end of the day, we want players to get a sense of what an epic war between cybernetically enhanced and genetically enhanced soldiers in the year 2161 would plausibly look like. A key to this experience, then, is sophisticated AI that responds in ways that serve to enhance gameplay.

AT: We've recently received a media packaged from Fracture, clearly showing a re-designed version of the main character. What made you decide to alter the main character's appearance?

TG: Given some of the tweaks we made to the game's fiction, we wanted to make a main character in Jet Brody that was a bit more in line with our vision of a cybernetically enhanced hero. Additionally, there was a lot of feedback from the community about the look of the main character that we wanted to account for as well. We took all of this and tried to create a character that players will be excited to relate to, and ultimately interested in following throughout the course of the conflict to see how his story ends.

AT: Which engine are you using to power Fracture?

TG: A proprietary engine that was developed by Day 1 Studios based solely around the functionality that is terrain deformation. We are also using Havoc physics on top of the engine - the pay-offs that we're getting from the 2 working together are awesome.

AT: The game also features a multiplayer mode. Do you think that the terrain-deforming aspect of gameplay will help set Fracture apart from a majority of multiplayer shooters?

TG: Most definitely. With terrain deformation, every multiplayer match turns out different because the terrain is constantly shifting and changing. Everyone uses the terrain deformation in a different way to assist in their play style. Some people use it purely for defense, some use it for the offensive, and others use it to break up the oppositions strategies. Needless to say it's very entertaining and something fresh. We're having a ton of fun testing out new ways to use terrain deformation in a bunch of new, unique modes.

AT: What other weapons are players gonna get to wield in the game (aside from terrain-deforming weapons)?

TG: The interesting thing here is that all weapons have some form of terrain deformation. At its heart, Fracture is a third person action shooter with an entirely new gameplay mechanic - terrain deformation. As such, we have to deliver a solid experience on each of those levels (action, shooter and TD). So, in addition to simply being cool weapons, we had to design each one with dual functionality. One of my favorite weapons is the Black Widow. This weapon allows the player to fire up to six charges into the world. The charges can stick to any surface and detonate in sequence with the press of a button, both deforming the terrain and taking out huge groups of enemies. The effect and utility of this weapon is devastating. That was the goal we set out to accomplish at the beginning and I think we really achieved that especially with our weapons.

AT: What type of soundtrack are you guys preparing for the game?

TG: We have an interactive soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino. There is themed music for each faction and each location. This allowed us to set the tone for emotion needed to support the characters and story.

(On a brief side-note, award-winning composer Michael Giacchino has an extensive opus, with an impressive number of video game and big-budget movie soundtracks, including animated feature films like Ratatouille, The Incredibles and blockbuster action flicks like Mission: Impossible III.)

Haha, right on target!

Nyah, nyah! Can't catch meee!

AT: Can you reveal a more exact release date at this stage?

TG: At this time we are still planning on shipping in late summer 2008

AT: So far LucasArts only targeted PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms. Is there a chance this game might be heading to PCs as well?

TG: There are currently no plans to release Fracture on the PC.

AT: During the GDC, LucasArts mentioned it plans to prioritize the PS3 in future projects, rather than porting games from the 360 to PS3, as was the case with Force Unleashed. Does this mean your team would've had less problems if it was the other way around (PS3 to Xbox 360)? How does this affect Fracture?

TG: There are advantages to leading the development with both platforms. Day 1 was able to get the game up and running on the Xbox 360 a little faster than the PS3, and we ran with it from there. Day 1 has shipped a title on both platforms, however, so that institutional knowledge has been invaluable.