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AN INTERVIEW WITH DAN HOUSER AND LESLIE BENZIES FOR IGN
1. Sure, all of us in the pc gaming community are snobs. We like our games and were a little surprised when a game that was "rightfully ours" was given to the ps2 first. Please tell us at least that you're excited to get back to work on the pc version
Dan: it's a difficult issue determining which platforms to support first, but of course there are two ways of looking at things - either you want a game first, or you want it second with a further 6 months of technical development and performance9 enhancement. The months since the ps2 version came out haven't been spent idling away time on a beach before rushing to finish a pc port in three weeks flat. To do the pc version justice we had to take our time to make sure everything was right. The delay between versions is proof of the passion the team feel for the pc platform. We have previously released pc and psx versions of gta simultaneously and believed both versions suffered slightly from a lack of attention to detail. To make a game with this varied control systems, with this many textures and with this much to potentially go wrong and release it simultaneously on two platforms was not going to be possible.
2. Will there be mp3 support for gamers to create their own play lists for the different radio stations while driving around in their new rides?
Les: there is full support for playing mp3's in the pc version of grand theft auto iii. All of the mp3's that exist on the pc become an additional radio station that is selectable like any other.
Dan: I think we have taken game music to a new level with the work in gta3. The response to it on the ps2 version has been very positive and proved to us a game soundtrack can have the same impact as a movie soundtrack. We have twenty-year-old guys e-mailing us and asking us about opera! However, although we have over 4 hours of music in the game, the play through time for an average player of the game is something like 100 hours. Of course, we hope people will listen to the radio provided, but the option to slip on something quiet, seductive and personal while driving off to do a particular difficult mission can only add to people's enjoyment of the game.
3. The control system has been debated a bit around the internet as to whether the gamepad is the best control for the game or whether the mouse and keyboard offered a little more flexibility for an action shooter of this type. How are you guys handling the control scheme?
Les: we've spent a huge amount of time perfecting the controls for the pc version and believe we've come up with the ideal setup. There are two control methods. The first we call 'classic' as it is exactly the same as the ps2 controls. This mode works with either the keyboard or a joystick. The second method we call 'standard' which is a completely new configuration made especially for the pc and it requires a mouse to function. In standard mode, the camera and therefore player's direction is controlled with the mouse while movement and all other actions are managed on the keyboard. This means that targeting is very different from the classic mode as there is no lock-on button but instead the player uses the mouse to aim all the weapons.
4. There must have been some pretty hefty thought about multiplayer
support and why it was decided that it wouldn't be included in the final
game. Can you tell us a bit about your thinking on this?
Dan: of course, this was something we thought long and hard about, but in the end it was a fairly simple decision. We feel the single player experience - the game as it is - is very revolutionary - the number of different types of gameplay - driving, running, shooting a huge variety of weapons, interacting with npcs, holding up shops, exploring something bordering on a fully developed game world, driving boats and so on, and above all the seamless way it is integrated into one game represents a step forward for action games. The game has personality and attitude in a way that integrates style and gameplay so that they become the same thing - the way the cars handle, the way the player walks, what you hear on the radio or from pedestrians, the missions and the characters you meet -all feel like they are part of the same, massive world. We just didn't feel we could make similar advances for a multiplayer game. To do justice to the key concepts of gta, non- linearity, seamless moving between the action, attitude and complete immersion into a funny game world, we have to do something more than just death match, and to do that will take a lot of time. We have always had the attitude with gta that any new version must have significant advances on its predecessors and if a new feature is added, it must be as good and complete as everything else in the game.
5. We all know the ps2 is a nice little console, but part of the fun
of bringing the game to the pc was the opportunity to spice up the look
a bit. What all have you guys done to take advantage of the graphical
power offered by high-end pcs?
Les: we've taken advantage of the amazing power available in the latest pc's by allowing the player to configure things like the draw distance for all buildings, cars and peds in the world and by having a changeable amount of cars and peds on the streets, making the city look much busier. The textures used in the city are much higher resolution and have more colors so everything looks much sharper. With the extra memory available in the pc we've added replays, which allow the player to play back the previous 30 seconds of gameplay. If you do something cool then hit the replay button and watch the action again from different camera angles. The replay is also saved to disk so you can e-mail any cool sequences to your buddies. There's some really neat audio effects taking place in the game too. We fully support surround sound systems and you really feel like you're in the action when surrounded by police with helicopters flying overhead. As well as sounding great it really helps with gameplay as you can pinpoint exactly where the cops and other pedestrians are.
6. Along the same lines, what sort of system specs are we looking at
here? How scalable will the game be for those that don't have the top
of the line computers?
Les: we went for a minimum spec of p3 450 with 96mb of ram and a 16mb graphics card with which the game will run well but to see it in its true beauty you need at least a p3 700 with a 32mb graphics card. With the ability to drop the draw distance it will run well on a lower end machine.
7. And of course the most-asked question we hear from our readers every
day...is there a set release date yet?
Dan: the game will hit stores on may 21st in the us and may 24th in the uk
