SPACE DEBRIS - Q&A

Interview with Ally Noble and the Space Debris Team

Q.	Describe Space Debris in 5 lines.

A.	A fast action ‘in yer face’ 3D space shoot-em-up for the PlayStation.  Third person action spread over 10 levels of differing geography and bosses.   A game suitable for the trigger happy that rewards the thoughtful player also.  Played across varied terrains (no two levels are the same) with different mechanics, each level is a world within itself. It’s fun and fast and sore thumb inducing!

Q.	What gameplay features make this the best 3D Space Shoot-em-up ever?

A.	Space Debris takes place in a huge environment with massive bosses and a ‘veritable plethora of visual delights’.  

The pad feels ‘right’ and is responsive in the player’s hand.  There is much satisfaction to be gained from blasting aliens!

It is fun to play.

Q.	Please comment on the unique features of Space Debris that you are most proud of.

A.	The engine goes so quick!  3,000 plus polygons and doesn’t slow down.  From a technical point of view this is really something to be proud of.

The level of action is maintained across the whole of Space Debris, there is always something to do and see.

Immensely flexible camera and spline that produces dramatic camera shots. 

Q.	How many ships and weapon systems will be available to the player?  How do these differ?

A.	Ships or modes of transport around the environment as follows:  UED fighter, UED Upgrade to fighter, Rip’s Ship, Halo’s Ship, Mech and the Phoenix, 6 in all.  

The weapons and weapons system for each craft is different, for example, the Upgrade has a triple laser, Rip has a powerful single beam laser and Halo has floating orbs as unique weapons.  Five ships fly and one, the Mech, walks and jumps. 

Q.	Who is your favourite character and why?

A.	Various people like the Droid because he looks like a football!  Others like Halo because she’s arrogant, cocky and ‘always right’ (lets not ignore ‘female’)!

Q.	What games have the Space Debris team worked on before?

A.	Individually the team has worked on very many titles across very many platforms.  Relevant ones and some they just wanted to mention as follows.  Mikie (C64), New Zealand Story (NES), Powerdrive (SNES), Darklight (PSX), Novastorm (PC CD).  The basis of the team we have today came together to work on Darklight for PlayStation.

Q.	Did your earlier products provide inspiration for the creation of Space Debris?  If so, which ones and why?

A.	Yes working on Novastorm was beneficial to the development of Space Debris.

Space Debris was a natural progression from Darklight, where DL was mission based SD is more action packed.  There is always an element of what ever was missing from the last product, you try to put into the next, this is the nature and progression of game development.

Other inspiration has been sighted as the film Star Wars and the game Star Fox.

Q.	The light effects and massive polygonal ships and bosses are fantastic.  Were these difficult to create on PlayStation?

A.	Yes it took time and effort to get the design right, to get them to play well and conform to the technical constraints imposed by the engine.  The PSX will handle big models but we have really pushed the technology to get the maximum sizes for models and transparencies.

Yes the most difficult part was handling the big polys, sometimes as peripheral objects, and keeping up a good consistent play rate.

We are very proud of the 3D engine for moving so many polys.

Q.	What caused the most problems when developing Space Debris?

A.	Draw distance which can’t be masked by fogging as it’s too processor intensive.  No Z buffering which takes too much valuable processing time.  It has also been a very intensive task coming up with good fresh innovative ideas consistently for every level.

Creating an integrated design and development environment to allow the artists and designers to express themselves and getting it all to fit in PlayStation memory.

Q.	Who is the best Space Debris player in the Rage team?

A.	Paul Wright (game designer).

Q.	How much emphasis has been put on sound effects and music?

A.	A great deal in this product. We have employed the services of a team of orchestrators, who take our ideas and theme for each level and then turn it into a full score for orchestra.  Each piece is different and in terms of feel and instruments used from crashing discords and anvil sounds to more mellow and lilting pieces.  Each cut scene will have its own atmospheric soundscape.  It all adds up to a big film sound track!  Sound effects and speech will further enhance the game’s atmosphere. 

Q.	Can you tell us some secrets about Space Debris?  Hidden characters or levels?

A.	No not yet!  There are no hidden levels but discussions are still underway regarding what exactly can be done in the time left at the end.
 
Q.	In one word describe Space Debris...

A.	‘Cinematic’, ‘Shoot’, ‘Fun’, ‘Nemesis’! 

Visit our Website:
www.playstation-europe.com

Developer: Rage Software PLC   Genre:  Space Shooter    No. of Players:  2
Peripherals: Analog Controller (DUAL SHOCK), Memory Card