MONACO GP RACING SIMULATION 2
DREAMCAST
Second version : North America and Europe
Launching Date : Q4 1999

Project Manager : Claude Farge.
Engineers Team Manager : Lionel Bouchet
Nationality : French.
Working place : Paris.

1. Would you please introduce yourself ? (area of responsability, previous project ...)

Claude : My name is Claude Farge. I am the project manager of Monaco racing Simulation 2 on the new platform- Dreamcast. It is the first project I worked on as a project manager. Before entering the beautiful world of video-games, I worked in advertising, and I dedicated myself to theater and painting.

Lionel : My name is Lionel Bouchet and I'm R&D Project Manager. I worked on several racing games such as POD, F1RS and I also managed the japanese version of MGPRS2 Dreamcast. 

2. What do you find most exiting about Monaco Dreamcast ? 

Claude : Several aspects are very exciting in this project. First of all, developing on a new platform is great, and it is even more interesting when the platform has such a powerful potential. I have the feeling that we are just opening a door, and that a new world is waiting for us. And it looks like Ubi Soft is going to do a big step forward this year.
From a personal point of view it is the first time I work on a project as a project manager, and I really enjoy it. What interests me the most is the work with the team in every aspects of the game. And the project is also a great opportunity because the sport simulations are going to change deeply within the next years. More humanity, more emotion… The player will really be a pilot and not only a car.
 
Lionel : Well, when we decided to develop this game on Dreamcast, I found such a challenge very exciting. We had the opportunity to program on the first powerful next generation console ! A lot of new programming techniques had to be considered and it was quite different from PC ones. Moreover, racing games on console market were definitively arcade oriented and we decided to bring a big part for simulation. We hope that consumers will like this…

3. Are you working closely with the team that developed Monaco GP on Dreamcast for Japan ? 

Claude : In fact the team is nearly the same. We have new people for the graphics and the game-design because we needed a new point of view on this two aspects of the game. As the engineers are the same, we don't lose time and can concentrate our work on all the enhancements. People who worked on Monaco are very proud of their work, and they are right : the game is considered to be one of the best racing-simulation on PC, and it is a real challenge for all of us to succeed in the same way on the Dreamcast. That's why the team is nearly the same : they want to take care of their baby !

Lionel : Well, basically I managed the Japanese version, so I'm well placed to talk about it. The heart of the team didn't changed too much. This was a good thing to take advantage of their huge experience. Moreover new engineers joined us to bring their external view. On both projects, it was an important thing to have a homogeneous and motivated team. They all made a great job !

4. Do you feel the Monaco GP Dreamcast that has been launched on the Japanese market shall be adapted for North America and Europe ? Why ?

Claude : An adaptation is always necessary between the Japanese version and the North American and European one. 
Of course, our new version will be multi-lingual, but it is not the only change. If fact, we consider that we always have to listen to the consumer point of view. So we are organizing focus-group in North America, UK, Spain, Italy, France, Germany. We are analyzing these results very carefully, and particularly all the points related to the difficulty.
Also, we need to modify a few illustrations in the menus that were especially dedicated to the Japanese audience.
For the rest, we will use the next months to enhance several aspects of the game : graphics, music, sound effects, menus and gameplay 

5. What are the game key features you would highlight ?

Claude : For me, what is great in this game is that you can enjoy all the different sensations of racing. In the arcade mode, you can focus yourself on the fight with the other competitors and the fun. The simulation mode is something more subtle, where the real challenge is also to drive in realistic conditions, and making the best time. The garage mode, is something very interesting because you really can adapt your car to your way of driving. The game also allows you to play a competition mode where you can follow your pilot during a whole season. And to finish with the retro mode is a very interesting mode where you can feel like a pilot in the 50's.
As a conclusion, what makes Monaco very different, is that it is more than just a racing simulation game. Every aspects of the game have been developed to give pleasure to the player : pleasure to have fun in the arcade mode and pleasure of real driving conditions in the simulation mode.
And of course, we are proud to say that this gameplay is highly enhanced by the great job our team did on the graphics. It is not only a playable game, it is also a very beautiful game. And all this graphics are as close as possible to reality.

6. In which way does the AI of the CPU-opponents effect the race ? 

Lionel : This is a huge question and it's difficult to give you a very precise answer (without reveal technical secrets ;-) ). All the opponents are alone and managed independently from the others. They make their own decisions relative to the race environment, so, just like real pilots, they can make little faults or very big mistakes. A lot of parameters can have an influence on their decision : distance to the front/back opponent, kind of bend, state of the road (wet, dry), far from the ideal track, state of the weather, distance to the closest wall or sand area etc. Moreover, they're dependant to all features of a F1 : kind of tires, aero, fuel quantity and strategy, but also the character of the real pilots : anger, experience, speed, reliability etc…   

7. How can you attest that the Set Ups available in the Garage have on the cars performances ? Are those effect really close to reality ? 

Lionel : This is the main part of the simulation : we must offer the players an amount of settings which will help them get the best performance of their car. But, some player don't want to make this settings, so default value allows them to drive on each track, but improving can be done to make best lap times. I can attest that Set UP's are available to adjust the car : if you take Monaco settings to play on Germany track, you will have big difficulties to make good laps ! So, players have basic settings which allow them to make their rough race strategy (fuel, tires, aero, steering type etc..) and engineers settings which refine the car's behavior thanks to the driving of the players : for instance, if a player likes to use curbs to cut bends, he should have hard springs and dampers to avoid spinning around.

8. How does the collision model work ? Is it possible to damage the car totally ? 

Lionel : Of course, a racing simulation must provide players the opportunity to drive like the real pilots, so  to be careful to the state of the car. It is possible to damage the front wing, the back wing, the deflectors, the springs, the wheels, and all of them can be twisted, lost or flat for the wheels. Moreover, if there is a huge collision, the car can be totally destroyed. Lastly, if players don't want to worry about the car state, the none damaged option exists !

9. Without unveiling too many things too soon, what will be new compared to the Japanese version ?

Claude : A great job is being done on the graphics for the new version. For example, all the landscapes in the back will be three times more detailed and bigger. We also are going to use vertex color to have more subtle textures for the grass or the road. To finish, we will use multi-texturing to give a great look to the road. The skies have been modified and several pictures in the menus also.

We should also be able to enhance the sound effects and the music. In fact we noticed that there were a huge difference between what could be heard on the CD (I mean listening to the tracks without the game), and what could be heard during the game (the sound is different on the TV and with the sound effects). So we decided to change all the music. We still want something close to a jungle/dance style, but there will be a real melody, strong effects… It will be much more « epic »…

From a global point of view, we want to put the pilot in the center of the game. I mean for the moment, in all racing-simulation you cannot feel really concerned because the hero of the game is only a car. In the reality, the heroes are also the pilots. They are a bit like modern warriors. We want to enhance that fact. The new introduction will go in that direction. For this new introduction we use new techniques like « nurbs » which allow us to do very realistic 3D-models.

As regard to the game play, we are going to change several things in this new version. First of all, a checkpoint system will be implemented in the arcade mode. We will also be able to propose replays to the players. There are of course lots of other changes but i cannot tell you more about them, the players will have the surprise…

Lionel : I think Claude answered to all the main points

10. With what peripherals will Monaco DC be compatible with ? And what will be the saving possibilities ? Is a VM necessary ?
(Visual Memory, Vibration Pak, Steering Wheel....) 

Lionel : Several peripherals are available. Of course, for a racing game, a steering wheel must be compatible, and we integrated it, for up to two players. Moreover, to improve feelings, we developed several kind of vibration to be compatible with the « puru puru pack » , the vibration kit of the Dreamcast. Playing with it increases incredibly the car behavior feeling, and is very funny. Lastly, players will be allowed to save several kind of files on VMS : championship, configuration, list of edited names and of course, ghosts that players will exchange together.
 
Claude : I cannot add anything else… Lionel is a real specialist. I like to hear him speak about « puru puru pack »…. ;-)

11. What is your favorite console game ever ? Why ? 

Claude : You should know it is one of the most difficult question to ask to a hardcore gamer. There are so many games that are references in their category. All I can tell you is that I have great fun now playing Tekken 3, because my room-mate is getting on my nerves these days and it is great to fight against him (and it is even greater to win…). More seriously, I really enjoy this game because it has a huge game-play, you progress constantly, there are plenty of hidden modes, the cinematics are wonderful. 
As I don't want to look like an animal, I would like to underline the fact that I also really enjoy the adventures of Rayman, LBA, Medievil or Tenchu.

Lionel : Of Course MGPRS2 on Dreamcast ;-) ! Well, even if I work all day long with racing games, I like much more this kind of game. I think that the reference came on PSX with Gran Turismo, but I hope that Dreamcast and MGPRS2 will bring a new standard. I also like several kind of games such as Riven, OddWorld, TombRaider, but also little ones such as Pang, BustAMove etc…

12. Would you tell us a secret about the game ?  

Claude : All I can tell you is that the magic sword is hidden in the caves, near the castle, just behind the Troll's endless forest. You will need a special potion to defeat the three-heads guardian. Then you will have to go West, East, East, North, East, North, West and South, and you will find the black sorcerer with his wooden eye…
Concerning Monaco, the only secret is to practice… But, don't repeat it,  it is a secret… the black sorcerer with the wooden eye is listening…