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XG: For our readers who haven't heard of Argonaut, could you give us a little backdrop? GD: Gavin Davenport, Lead Design; Roger Godfrey, Producer. Argonaut has been producing ground breaking games on all major platforms since the 1980's, with titles such as Starglider, Starfox, Croc and Harry Potter. Argonaut has studios in Edgware, Camden, Oxford and Cambridge as well as Sheffield. Powerdrome has been developed by Argonaut's Sheffield Studio. XG: What separates Powerdrome from other titles on the market such as Wipeout and Quantum Redshift? GD: In Powerdrome the focus is on racing, pure and simple. The speeds at which Powerdrome's vehicles travel make it impossible to worry about additional peripheral tasks such as targeting weapons, so the player's attention is focused solely on piloting a supersonic vehicle round increasingly challenging circuits. The sensation of speed in Powerdrome really is something special and we believe people will see the less is more approach and appreciate it, we believe this is the first futuristic racer to focus properly on racing rather than combat. XG: Will there be a story in Powerdrome? If so, what is it and how does it unfold? In-game cut-scenes or FMV? GD: Powerdrome is an arcade paced straight ahead racing game and doesn't feature an ongoing narrative, though it does feature detailed characters and settings. XG: How long would it take an average gamer to play through the whole of Powerdrome? How about hardcore skilled gamers? GD: An average race will take between two and five minutes, and there is a dedicated single player championship mode. This will probably take the average player a couple of days to play through assuming they never lost a race, but there are plenty more gameplay moments to be had from multiplayer and online play. It will take any player a lot of play to see everything the game has to offer. XG: What stage is Powerdrome at in development at the minute? GD: Powerdrome is approaching final status on both Xbox and PS2. we're about 99% complete on Xbox and 95% on PS2 XG: How have you found working on the Xbox format compared to the other consoles?
RG: The Xbox is like a well engineered German luxury car. It's nice and comfortable and very easy to work with. The PS2 is like a classic British sports car, looks great, is a little quirky and you have to put in quite a bit of work to get the best out of it. However in the hands of a skilled programmer it can really shift.
XG: What differences will we see between the Xbox and PS2 versions both graphically and gameplay-wise?
RG: Both versions will be comparable - we actually took a very different approach to getting the game working on both systems. Most developers produce assets for the PS2 first, then add a bit of geometry and texture detail to make the Xbox look a little prettier. On Powerdrome we produced assets specifically for the Xbox to really push its graphics system. We then rebuilt all the tracks again from scratch especially for PS2 to take advantage of the way its architecture works. This coupled with our hand tuned graphics engine (made in conjunction with the Sony Performance Analyser) makes the PS2 version really fly. We were actually quite surprised at how far we were able to push the PS2 hardware with Powerdrome.
XG: What is your attitude to the 3 main consoles when deciding on making a multi-format title? Why will we not see Gamecube versions of Powerdrome or Carve etc?
GD: Unfortunately we don't have a Gamecube version of Powerdrome in production. This is a shame as we like the machine, however its just not economically feasible right now.
XG: How do you feel about the next generation of consoles? What do you think will be different in the next round and what will stay the same? Are you interested in creating games for Xbox 2?
RG: We are looking forward to working with the next generation of machines. With each new generation we have fewer limitations on what is technically possible within a video game. However there is still a lot of life left in the current generation and we expect to be pushing the hardware still further in the next year. That said we think a Online PlayStation 3 or Xbox 2 Powerdrome game could really blow the socks off anyone who played it! |
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