« RALLY RACING SIMULATION »  
working title
PC CD-ROM
Launch March 2000

Project Manager : Jean-Marc Sabiani.
Nationality : French.
Working place : Paris.

1. Would you please introduce yourself ? (area of responsability, previous project ...) Is the team the same as  F1Racing Simulation or Monaco GP 2 ? 

JM : I am Project Manager on Rally Racing Simulation. First, my job is to be responsible for the content and the quality of the game, and to guarantee that it is in line with the initial concept. Then, I am in charge of the coordination of all the technical teams working on the project, including graphists, developers, game-designers. Among other things, that means dealing with planning constraints, and be sure that the communication between the teams runs well. I am also responsible for the deadlines and the costs of the Project.
Many people of Rally Racing Simulation had previously worked on F1RS and Monaco GPRS2, especially the lead graphic designer, the artistic director, the lead game designer, and the lead developer. So the team has very strong skills in racing games making.

2. What do you find most exciting about “Rally Racing Simulation” ? 

JM : I think that what is the most astonishing about RRS is its realism. Most of the existing rally games are arcade games rather than simulation games. With RRS, for the first time, the player will have the true feeling of rally racing sensations, because we have decided make a pure racing simulation. That means we have reproduced a real rally as accurately as we could. Of course RRS is before all a game, but for instance it will be possible for the player in the simulation mode to race the entire stages like a real rally. For the longer stage, it means racing over 36 Kms of tight mountain road without stopping !

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

JM : There are many ones :

-	The game will feature 18 stages covering 360 Kms of asphalt, mud, and, snow. These stages reproduce the track of one of the most prestigious and difficult rally of the world.
-	3D Graphics are incredibly realistic, with a level of detail in the landscapes that has never been seen before.
-	Each of the 30 cars available will have its own behaviour, elaborated by our mechanical engineers, and comprehensive settings.
-	The game will feature damages anf collisions, with real impact on the behaviour.
-	Each car category will feature a specific engine sound.
-	Our 3D cockpit views will be fully playable with pilot animations, and copilot voices.

4. When did the project begin ? How was determined the definitive game design ?

JM : The project started in the middle of 1998. The definitive game design was driven by the original concept : building a real rally simulation. That led us to the idea that it is more worthy for the gamer to race all the stages of a famous rally than few stages of several rallies. Then our designers focused on how to give the player much fun without going much away from the reality. One of our main concerns was to make a game with a very progressive difficulty curve, and with an easy access for the gamer.

5. How was it possible to reproduce and modelise in 3D 360 km of Special Stages ? How far into details did you go ?

JM : First our graphic team is very experienced for doing 3D modeling, and use the latest tools and technology available. Then concretely, this was a huge work of documentation (not less than 700 photos and 18 hours of video) and location checking. After that, we used topographical maps to reproduce the most accurately as we could the landscapes (of the French Alps ?) following the track of the rally. This way, we achieve an ultimate realism for the 3D graphics : we have been going so far in detail that we are sure that some typical places of the actual track like crossroads, famous passes, hamlets, are truly recognizable in the game.

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

JM : All the set ups available are implemented in the global mechanics model, which features at least 500 parameters for a car. So every change made in the set ups automatically impact the car behavior. Of course some have a more direct and perceptible impact than others, especially for a non expert : for example the tyres choice will be crucial and immediately perceptible for the gamer, but the impact of the differential set up may be sharper to handle. Anyway all the set ups are as close to reality as possible, and what is the most interesting is that each car has its own set ups possibilities depending on its group or class.

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

JM : We have built a new collision model for Rally Racing Simulation. It is very sharp and detailed, since about 30 parts of the car are detachable. Of course the damages of your car depends on the speed at the moment of the clash : when you hit a wall at low speed, you only see a deformation, but if you hit at higher speed some pieces of the car are sure to be blown off. The hits have real effects on the car performance : for instance a clash on the radiator grill may have an impact on the engine performance. Finally, a road accident at high speed may cause lethal damages and force you to give up the race. The damages will be set as an option for the time attack, quick race, and training modes

8. Without unveiling too many things too soon, what do you think will surprise gamers ?

JM : I think that one of the things that may surprise gamers is the handling of the car : the steering commands will not automatically cause sliding, as it is the case in many games of this type. Sliding will mainly be caused by handbraking or a hard braking at high speed, so that the gamer will strongly feel when the car sticks to the road or not.
In my opinion, another big surprise may come from the quality of the graphics, offering incredible sights.

9. What is your favorite video game ever ? Why ? 

JM : It is so hard to answer this question, because video games have been evolving so much and so fast for 15 years, with the computer technology, that it is impossible to compare current games with older games. So I do not have one favorite game, but many references : Donkey Kong, Commandos, for the older games, Super Mario Kart and Super Soccer on SNES, Gran Turismo on PSX, …