Hey Red Steel 2 fellas!
In 2010, Jason Vandenberghe, our Creative Director, keeps on answering your questions and giving you exclusive intel every week! Check back this forum every FRIDAYs if you'd like to learn more about Red Steel 2, its gameplay, universe or the characters & ennemies.
Also, if you need to get an exact answer to one of your questions, feel free to post it in our Ask the Devs Thread for a chance to get your question answered by the team!
This week's Q&A broaches the <span class="ev_code_BLUE">the Red Steel 2 UNIVERSE</span> so keep your questions coming, and check this forum next week for new answers.
Thanks!
Wuzzi
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<span class="ev_code_RED">[Update January 26, 2010] UNIVERSE part 2 </span>
Will there be weather effects in Caldera (rain, sandstorms, etc.)? [rs2fan_89]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
You betcha. When we were conceiving the ‘mood’ for each level, we tried to give the weather, time of day, and general atmosphere for each space a unique feeling, one that would fit the gameplay for that location. Honestly, there were a few times where our ambience people (lighting, VFX, audio, etc) showed us some stuff that we were convinced wasn’t possible on the Wii… but they did it.
To be clear: our weather effects are static, part of the setting – this game isn’t really about ‘dynamic weather systems’… all that effort would mean shorting the combat experience, and… well, honestly, screw that.
Will there be night, dusk and dawn in the game? [rs2fan_89]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
The gameplay takes place over several days, and the Sun in the Red West rises and sets just like it does in the real world.What I mean to say is that there will be a few night levels, yes.
Are there living people anywhere? I know the inhabitants left but are there any remaining? [Fender0]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
Yes! Yes indeed! Crucial, key, power-granting inhabitants! They wants me to hold my tongue on that for now, so, then, I won’t tell you that there are, in fact, four inhabitants of great importance the player that you will encounter repeatedly, get missions from, buy cool powers from, and who, in general, will help convey to you the Story. That is, assuming you don’t skip the cutscenes.
Too bad though. Because I’d like to tell you that. But I can’t.
(By the way, every time you skip a cutscene, a fairy dies somewhere. I’m watching you.)
<span class="ev_code_RED">[Update January 15, 2010] UNIVERSE part 1 </span>
Is Caldera the whole land and not just the city? [Fender0]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
This might get a little strange, so fasten your seatbelt. J Let’s talk about the world of Red Steel 2 a little.
Caldera is a city in what is generally known as the “Nevada Territories”. It’s kinda northwest of Las Vegas, off the beaten path a bit, in what’s affectionately known as the “High Desert” (a.k.a. the Mojave Desert) – an elevated, hot, flat, chunk of the Rocky Mountains.
The land surrounding Caldera is named “Caldera County” as well – one can imagine that they were a bit low on ideas for names when they settled the area, and the big frickin’ crater was the most interesting landmark (a “caldera”, for the curious, is another word for a big sinkhole or crater).
So, no, Caldera isn’t the whole land (by which I think you mean “the world”? if not, let me know). The “world” of Red Steel 2 is the Red West.
In fact, “the Red West” is a phrase used to describe the whole western part of North America… although we haven’t been talking about that kind of thing very much. It’s a name that was earned during the period before and during World War II (which went a little bit differently ‘there’ than it did ‘here’)… but I’ve also been using it as the “world” name for Red Steel 2.
Will there be other places than desert in the game? [Sebdu60 from Nintendo Master, Penguyen, WiiFolder]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
But of course. The whole story takes place in and around the city of Caldera, and there’s a lot of different kinds of environments in that place. Ancient temples, ramshackle slums, desert, huge modern freight-moving systems… it’s a real city. Then you’ll roll on out into surrounding canyons, where you’ll find a pueblo-style mining town, a huge semi-automated strip mine, old, abandoned underground tunnels, an ancient ancestral monastery / temple clinging to the side of a cliff…
Yep. But if you mean “do you go anywhere cold, like the moon or something” the answer is no.
Will there be any Easter eggs? [Fender0]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
Has there ever been a video game that shipped without an Easter egg or two? I don’t think there has.
<span class="ev_code_RED">[Update January 8, 2010] MOVES part 8/8 </span>
Is the player supposed to rely on his own reactions and instinct during the fighting? [dragonlord777]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
That’s sort of the whole point, yep.
Honestly, this topic has come up again and again as we have been developing the game. Many times, we asked ourselves (and were asked by others) if the game wouldn’t be stronger if we went a lot more lock-and-key in the combat… a lot more “pattern-response”.
You see the kind of mechanic I’m talking about with the Heavy – that big Jackal with the hammer. He, clearly, wants you to attack him from behind… and not for very long, because he gets mad and SMASH!
That’s cool, and it works pretty well… but (to me, anyway) that’s not really the heart of melee combat. Melee fights are dirty, fast, unpredictable, and often are decided by who attacks first, instead of who picks the perfect attack.
Also, everyone has a different way of fighting. Some people (me) prefer to run in and smash everything. Other people (Roman) like to play super-stylish, unleashing the best moves for each moment. Other people like to play defensively, keeping their guard up and moving until they see a moment to attack, and then leaping in.
Our guiding philosophy has been that all of these should work against basic enemies. More advanced enemies may require you to adjust your tactics, but even then there should still be choices.
So the answer to your question is yes. I believe that choices make combat interesting. And when you have only a split second to choose, your instincts will probably be running the show. And that’s how Red Steel 2 is played.
Does Wii MotionPlus know the difference between you trying to turn with the pointer and you trying to slash/strike a enemy, box, etc.? And how? [disBjeFFixD]
From Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director
It does, but it’s actually not so much the Wii MotionPlus that does this. We designed our way out of this problem through the use of the lock system.
Out of combat, you are free to turn, explore, and navigate. In this mode, moving the Wii MotionPlus means turning.
In-combat, you are locked on to your current enemy. Thus, you no longer need to turn, and we are free to use the Wii MotionPlus exclusively for swinging the sword. You can still strafe around the enemy, dash, advance, retreat, whatever you like… in fact, you can unlock if you want (by holding [Z]) and go into navigation mode even in combat.
But, to be fair to the Wii MotionPlus, it actually does go a bit further than that.
You can slash with the sword during navigation. By measuring the speed of your motion, the length of the movement, and a few other things, we can make a pretty reasonable guess about what you are trying to do. In this case, there’s sometimes a little hitch in the camera as the system changes its mind about what you mean, but then the slash takes over, and everything’s okay.
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