Post by Trig on Feb 25, 2004 8:58:31 GMT -5
JPController here found this interview online at a Game Site. Can't wait for Omega Strain? Niether can I.
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The first three games in Sony Computer Entertainment America's Syphon Filter spy action series were big hits on the original Playstation console but now the series finally reaches the Playstation 2 with Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, which also features a multiplayer online componant as well. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with SCEA creative director John Garvin to find out more about Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
HomeLAN - First, why did it take so long to bring the Syphon Filter game franchise to the PS2?
John Garvin - Two major reasons: We decided to do a 4 player co-op online game and we re-wrote the game engine to take advantage of the power of the PS2. Making a balanced online game is a lot of work and we took the time to make sure we did it right. We have added a career mode with lots of re-playability and unlockables. Also, our missions and levels are far bigger than anything we have done in the past. We needed bigger mission areas to give the four players room to explore.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for Omega Strain and of Gabe Logan's place in it?
John Garvin - The story has been planned from the very beginning. For instance, the "hidden" movie at the end of the credit roll in Syphon Filter One, showed a shadowy Agency character with crates of Pharcom bioweapons (the virus) in Washington DC, and we heard Mara's laugh (after watching her being led off by Agents earlier.) At the end of Syphon Filter Two we saw Mara and the man-in-shadow watching the Teresa's funeral from a hill in the distance. At the end of Syphon Filter Three, we saw a mini-sub salvaging Pharcom crates from the SS Lorelei at the bottom of the Atlantic, and again we hear Mara laugh. From the beginning Gabe has fought to find out who was actually behind the Syphon Filter conspiracy: Phagan, Markinson, Hadden, Mara, the government? Each time he thought he had the answer, another layer of the onion was peeled away to reveal more layers beneath, with Mara Aramov being the common thread throughout it all. Finally, in The Omega Strain, Gabe (with your help) gets to the last layer and discovers, once and for all, who is behind the conspiracy. But in the process, Gabe comes perilously close to the edge himself, and the answers to his questions come at a great price.
HomeLAN - What sort of locations and settings will be seen in Omega Strain?
John Garvin - As usual for the Syphon series, our game goes all over the globe. We send agents to Tokyo, Yemen, Michigan, Myanmar, Chechnya, Kyrgystan, and other exciting destinations, including a deep sea salvage rig.
HomeLAN - How will combat be handled in the new Syphon Filter game?
John Garvin - Our combat system is identical to the original series: we have target lock, first person mode, strafe, ducking, rolling, crouching, etc. There are some new actions as well that benefit multiplayer. For example, we now have a body carry action; if you have an objective to move a wounded SWAT officer, you have to put your weapons away to carry the body; this is much easier in multiplayer because your buddy can defend you while you carry the body.
HomeLAN - What sort of weapons and gadgets will be seen in Omega Strain?
John Garvin - There are over 100 weapons and gadgets in the game, but most of them you have to earn. You start with only a stun baton and a pistol (the 92f). As you earn ranks, commendations, medals, ratings and special ratings, you unlock more and more weapons until you are as powerful as Gabe Logan himself. Of course, you eventually unlock Gabe's powerful line taser.
HomeLAN - What kinds of enemies will be encountered in the game?
John Garvin - Everything from mob bosses, yakuza, anarchists, terrorists, Chechen rebels, the Myanmar rebel army, to powerful Yemeni guards. And they are tough: our AI is vastly improved over previous versions of the game. Good luck beating these guys.
HomeLAN - Omega Strain will feature an online multiplayer element. Can you tell us more specifically what this element is?
John Garvin - The most important thing to keep in mind is that each mission has two "eadlines" which have to be met, one solo and one team. This means that Gabe has set a "par" time for the mission and you are expected to be able to finish the missions under those par times. The "team deadline" is very difficult to achieve. You have to have four agents and you have to do everything just right. In Toronto1, for example, you have to get to Proust, the French Canadian terrorist leader for that level, very quickly to take him out. To do this you need to use the "buddy climb" team action to retrieve the C4 explosive, and blow open the gate to the subway next to the bank. While two players do this, another two must be completing other objectives. If you don't do this, it will take you far too long and you will miss the "team deadline." We also have alternate paths and bonus items that can only be acquired when you are working together as a team.
Agents can finish the entire game without ever beating a single "mission deadline," but most of the higher ranks, ratings, medals, and bonus missions are all tied directly to beating these par times. And since these bonuses are how agents unlock most of the 100 weapons in the game, I think they will strive to get them.
HomeLAN - What other gameplay featured will Omega Strain have?
John Garvin - There is also a robust career mode where your agent can advance through agency ranks to become as powerful as Gabe Logan. Along the way you not only unlock weapons, but abilities like neck-snap, dual wield, and extra health. You can also create or join Agency cells: groups of online players who want to work together.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine that will be used for the new Syphon Filter game?
John Garvin - There's a quite a bit actually to our graphics engine that the we spec'd and created for the game. Below is a list of many of the features our engine is capable of doing:
High throughput multipass texture terrain engine (peak
2M pre-lit textured verts per second)
Character engine - 21 bone support, fully customizable & interchangeable body parts, realistic blood effects
6 dynamic point light sources per terrain model
4 dynamic parallel light sources per character model plus dynamic ambient light calculation
4 character shadows / ground reflections per model, castable by all light souces
Multipass effects (multi-texturing, environment mapping, bump mapping)
Animated texture support (texture movies, scrolling textures)
Unlimited occludable dynamic light glows
Spline & physics based particle effects engine
Environment special effects (Fresnel effects, heat haze, diffraction, lens flare, light dazzle)
HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?
John Garvin - We are currently in open beta and expect to release in May 2004.
HomeLAN - Are there plans for another PS2 game in the Syphon Filter universe after Omega Strain is released?
John Garvin - We are currently focussed on completing Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Syphon Filter: Omega Strain?
John Garvin - Join us online for some exciting missions. I can't wait to be able to play Syphon Filter with my friends. But we've also taken great pains to make sure people who can't go online will have an awesome experience as well. Over 30 cutscenes, 700 pages of story, 300 backstory graphic files, career mode, and all 17 missions are available to both online and offline players.
--------------------------------------------
-Site B News JPC Reporting
February 25, 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------
The first three games in Sony Computer Entertainment America's Syphon Filter spy action series were big hits on the original Playstation console but now the series finally reaches the Playstation 2 with Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, which also features a multiplayer online componant as well. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with SCEA creative director John Garvin to find out more about Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
HomeLAN - First, why did it take so long to bring the Syphon Filter game franchise to the PS2?
John Garvin - Two major reasons: We decided to do a 4 player co-op online game and we re-wrote the game engine to take advantage of the power of the PS2. Making a balanced online game is a lot of work and we took the time to make sure we did it right. We have added a career mode with lots of re-playability and unlockables. Also, our missions and levels are far bigger than anything we have done in the past. We needed bigger mission areas to give the four players room to explore.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for Omega Strain and of Gabe Logan's place in it?
John Garvin - The story has been planned from the very beginning. For instance, the "hidden" movie at the end of the credit roll in Syphon Filter One, showed a shadowy Agency character with crates of Pharcom bioweapons (the virus) in Washington DC, and we heard Mara's laugh (after watching her being led off by Agents earlier.) At the end of Syphon Filter Two we saw Mara and the man-in-shadow watching the Teresa's funeral from a hill in the distance. At the end of Syphon Filter Three, we saw a mini-sub salvaging Pharcom crates from the SS Lorelei at the bottom of the Atlantic, and again we hear Mara laugh. From the beginning Gabe has fought to find out who was actually behind the Syphon Filter conspiracy: Phagan, Markinson, Hadden, Mara, the government? Each time he thought he had the answer, another layer of the onion was peeled away to reveal more layers beneath, with Mara Aramov being the common thread throughout it all. Finally, in The Omega Strain, Gabe (with your help) gets to the last layer and discovers, once and for all, who is behind the conspiracy. But in the process, Gabe comes perilously close to the edge himself, and the answers to his questions come at a great price.
HomeLAN - What sort of locations and settings will be seen in Omega Strain?
John Garvin - As usual for the Syphon series, our game goes all over the globe. We send agents to Tokyo, Yemen, Michigan, Myanmar, Chechnya, Kyrgystan, and other exciting destinations, including a deep sea salvage rig.
HomeLAN - How will combat be handled in the new Syphon Filter game?
John Garvin - Our combat system is identical to the original series: we have target lock, first person mode, strafe, ducking, rolling, crouching, etc. There are some new actions as well that benefit multiplayer. For example, we now have a body carry action; if you have an objective to move a wounded SWAT officer, you have to put your weapons away to carry the body; this is much easier in multiplayer because your buddy can defend you while you carry the body.
HomeLAN - What sort of weapons and gadgets will be seen in Omega Strain?
John Garvin - There are over 100 weapons and gadgets in the game, but most of them you have to earn. You start with only a stun baton and a pistol (the 92f). As you earn ranks, commendations, medals, ratings and special ratings, you unlock more and more weapons until you are as powerful as Gabe Logan himself. Of course, you eventually unlock Gabe's powerful line taser.
HomeLAN - What kinds of enemies will be encountered in the game?
John Garvin - Everything from mob bosses, yakuza, anarchists, terrorists, Chechen rebels, the Myanmar rebel army, to powerful Yemeni guards. And they are tough: our AI is vastly improved over previous versions of the game. Good luck beating these guys.
HomeLAN - Omega Strain will feature an online multiplayer element. Can you tell us more specifically what this element is?
John Garvin - The most important thing to keep in mind is that each mission has two "eadlines" which have to be met, one solo and one team. This means that Gabe has set a "par" time for the mission and you are expected to be able to finish the missions under those par times. The "team deadline" is very difficult to achieve. You have to have four agents and you have to do everything just right. In Toronto1, for example, you have to get to Proust, the French Canadian terrorist leader for that level, very quickly to take him out. To do this you need to use the "buddy climb" team action to retrieve the C4 explosive, and blow open the gate to the subway next to the bank. While two players do this, another two must be completing other objectives. If you don't do this, it will take you far too long and you will miss the "team deadline." We also have alternate paths and bonus items that can only be acquired when you are working together as a team.
Agents can finish the entire game without ever beating a single "mission deadline," but most of the higher ranks, ratings, medals, and bonus missions are all tied directly to beating these par times. And since these bonuses are how agents unlock most of the 100 weapons in the game, I think they will strive to get them.
HomeLAN - What other gameplay featured will Omega Strain have?
John Garvin - There is also a robust career mode where your agent can advance through agency ranks to become as powerful as Gabe Logan. Along the way you not only unlock weapons, but abilities like neck-snap, dual wield, and extra health. You can also create or join Agency cells: groups of online players who want to work together.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine that will be used for the new Syphon Filter game?
John Garvin - There's a quite a bit actually to our graphics engine that the we spec'd and created for the game. Below is a list of many of the features our engine is capable of doing:
High throughput multipass texture terrain engine (peak
2M pre-lit textured verts per second)
Character engine - 21 bone support, fully customizable & interchangeable body parts, realistic blood effects
6 dynamic point light sources per terrain model
4 dynamic parallel light sources per character model plus dynamic ambient light calculation
4 character shadows / ground reflections per model, castable by all light souces
Multipass effects (multi-texturing, environment mapping, bump mapping)
Animated texture support (texture movies, scrolling textures)
Unlimited occludable dynamic light glows
Spline & physics based particle effects engine
Environment special effects (Fresnel effects, heat haze, diffraction, lens flare, light dazzle)
HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?
John Garvin - We are currently in open beta and expect to release in May 2004.
HomeLAN - Are there plans for another PS2 game in the Syphon Filter universe after Omega Strain is released?
John Garvin - We are currently focussed on completing Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Syphon Filter: Omega Strain?
John Garvin - Join us online for some exciting missions. I can't wait to be able to play Syphon Filter with my friends. But we've also taken great pains to make sure people who can't go online will have an awesome experience as well. Over 30 cutscenes, 700 pages of story, 300 backstory graphic files, career mode, and all 17 missions are available to both online and offline players.
--------------------------------------------
-Site B News JPC Reporting
February 25, 2004
