Q&A: Naughty Dog's PS3 Project
The famed developer brings us jungle action, hidden treasure, and the legacy of Jak and Daxter... any questions?
by Jeremy Dunham
May 26, 2006 - Among the several premiere games unveiled at Sony's 2006 E3 press conference was a brand new untitled project from the guys at Naughty Dog. Void of an official title and one of the best looking games at the presentation, the unnamed project had show-goers and viewers at home wondering if the jungle-themed trailer was built using target renders or if it was actual in-game action.
To find out, we hooked up with Naughty Dog's own game designer Evan Wells. With previous credits that include work on titles like Crash Team Racing, Crash: Warped, Enter the Gecko, and ToeJam and Earl, Evan has experience in the realm of fun. We shot over some quick questions about his team's new mystery project and this is what he had to say:
IGN: To begin, let us just say that your trailer looks pretty awesome and we were immediately interested the moment we saw it. We weren't the only ones either; did you expect it to go over as big as it did?
Evan Wells: We've been working hard on this game for quite some time so it is good to hear that the debut of our trailer was met with enthusiasm.
IGN: Definitely. Of course, we think that the most important question that a lot of people have right now is "how much of that footage was CG and how much was real-time?"
Wells: The entire trailer was rendered in real-time using our PS3 game engine. All of the models, textures, shaders and effects are in-game.
IGN: Important question number two: what the heck is this game called? "Untitled Naughty Dog PS3 game" can't be final. But if it is, that's awesome!
Wells: We are working on the title of the game. You'd be surprised at what a complicated process that can be.
IGN: How long has the game been in development?
Wells: We have been ramping up development for over a year and a half. At first it was just a few programmers working on technology but slowly over time designers and artists were added to the team as the game moved from pre-production into full production.
IGN: When we first saw the trailer and screenshots we immediately thought the main character looked like Jason Rubin. Is that just our imagination or are you just paying homage?
Wells: It's interesting that we've received so many questions about who our hero looks like. I've literally been told that he looks like over half a dozen different people. We weren't trying to model him after anybody specific and the concept artist who drew the original sketches hasn't even met Jason Rubin. So, as they say in the movies… "Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental."
IGN: What sort of game is it anyway? Our Initial impressions here is that it looks to be a cross between Tomb Raider and Resident Evil 4 with a heavy emphasis on action? Lenny Croft?
Wells: Sticking with Naughty Dog tradition, this is a third-person action adventure game with heavily story-based gameplay. There will obviously be a lot of traversal mechanics, two-fisted brawling, gunplay, and puzzle solving. We're trying to evoke the mood and emotions from a classic pulp adventure, but give it a modern day twist so you can expect a lot of dramatic stunts and exciting cliff-hanging moments.
IGN: How close will the actual gameplay be to what was shown in the trailer?
Wells: This trailer is really just the tip of the iceberg as far as what you can expect from the gameplay in the final product. Animation has been a huge focus for us in terms of where we've been spending our development resources and is really something that we think will set next-generation games apart from current-gen. Bringing a realistic human character to life in a believable way, but still maintaining the controllability has been our emphasis.
IGN: There are some really cool moves shown in the trailer, especially the fight moves. The scene where the lead character smacks that guy against the wall; is that possible in the real game?
Wells: As I mentioned, fighting and brawling are important aspects of the gameplay and our animation system allows us to take it to the next level on the PS3 -- but we also want to give a very cinematic presentation to the action. This means a heavily-scripted camera that highlights key moments of gameplay. We've actually hired the designer behind the camera of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time to head up our camera efforts.
IGN: Is the entire games set in the jungle or are there other locations?
Wells: The game takes place primarily on a jungle island. However, there are a large variety of settings on, around and below the island where the adventure will take place.
IGN: What can you tell us about the storyline? The trailer hints at a treasure and a curse. What sort of background are we looking at?
Wells: Unfortunately, at this time, the hints in the trailer are all that we can reveal about the storyline so far.
IGN: Does this more realistic look mean that Naughty Dog is done with "mascot" type titles?
Wells: As mentioned before, the technology of the PS3 allows us to achieve this more realistic style in a believable manner, but it doesn't exclude us from working with a more stylized approach as we have in the past. So really, our options have just been expanded.
IGN: What is it like programming for the PlayStation 3 compared to the PS2?
Wells: Like the PS2 the PS3 is a sophisticated and powerful piece of hardware. Our engineers are working very hard at making specific optimizations to take full advantage of the Cell and its SPU's. However, there is so much depth to this machine, that much like the PS2, you will continue to see developers squeeze more and more out of it over the course of what I am sure is going to be a lengthy life-cycle.
IGN: The art style is actually pretty cool. It's definitely unique. What can you tell us about its origin and your decision for going after this kind of style?
Wells: It was a very conscious decision to head in this particular direction. Looking at the landscape of next-generation games being developed it was clear that there were a gluttony of titles that featured bald, buff space marines wearing body armor and fighting aliens. Fortunately for us, we didn't have much interest in heading in that direction and we felt that we could work in a style that really excited us and stand out from the crowd at the same time.
IGN: What kind of technology are you using? Is it a proprietary engine or does it use a popular toolset like Unreal of Offset?
Wells: The engine we are using is completely proprietary and is being developed here at Naughty Dog. We have some of the industry's top engine programming talent dedicated to getting the most out of the PlayStation 3 possible.
IGN: Insomniac and Naughty Dog have a history of sharing assets and technology. Is that the case this time as well? Does Resistance and this game work on similar stuff?
Wells: With the introduction of the SCE Worldwide Studio there has been an increased sharing effort between the internal teams. It extends far beyond Naughty Dog and Insomniac this time and I think you'll see a lot of first party titles that reap these benefits.
IGN: When is it coming out?
Wells: We have not announced the release date yet, so please be patient.
IGN: Any last comments you'd like to add as a goodbye to IGN readers?
Wells: I hope you're as excited about the next title coming out of Naughty Dog as we are. This trailer is just the beginning and you can expect many more details to follow over the coming months.
