Community Interview with Remedy #2

[ADM]

It's live!

You can read that below but before we get to that we've actually decided to start a special competition to win a signed copy of the Alan Wake poster that was bundled with the latest issue of Pelaaja, you can see all the details in this thread here. Well the forum staff and Remedy decided to give to the best question submitted in the community interview a signed copy of the poster as well.

So congrats Kitt! Check your PM inbox

Now onto the interview...


Remedy's content team hard at work

Very similar to last community interview we held, a month ago we asked the community to start submitting questions for an interview with Remedy Entertainment. We had an amazing response and so armed with a great selection of questions we decided to force Markus Maki to answer the questions that were on the tips of everyone's tongues.

Markus is one of the founders of Remedy and works as a Development Director at the company. He was the project lead for Max Payne 2 and prior to that worked at Remedy's sister company Futuremark as the CTO and leading multiple benchmark projects. With almost 15 years of game development experience, he now helps where most needed at any given time to make Alan Wake the best game it can be. He can occasionally be seen posting on the >Remedy Alan Wake forums as well.

Now on to the interview, we've split up the questions in to categories similar to how we've set up the Alan Wake FAQ.


General

Jay 2: Is there a demo planned for the game?

At this time, a demo is undecided.

Ruutu: Will there be an option to disable the HUD?

Currently disabling the HUD is not in the plans, but if we see a need for such a feature it can be considered. But the HUD you have been seeing around E3 should not be seen as final...

Alex: What percentages of the game involve action, exploration and suspense?

They're all mixed up. Suspense may turn into action at any moment! Or it wouldn't be suspense! Exploration is player dependant, there is content to be found which uncovers even more of the mystery should the player choose to look deeper.

Reno: Will Poets of the Fall be involved with the game?

We're not ready to talk about the musical choices for the game but we're really good friends with Poets of the Fall, so anything can happen...

Demite: Who is the voice actor for Alan Wake?

This has been discovered by a fan and will be revealed by her at around the Cologne Games show. We’re not going to steal her thunder

ZeusLaand: Will the music in the E3 demonstration and trailer be used in the game?

Yes, but none of the music has been properly mastered or finalized yet so expect improvements.


Development

Jay 2: Has the game’s development hit milestones at the expected times or have there been delays along the way?

I don't think any developer plans on working on a single game for this long, but for the last 1-1.5 years we've hit our own milestone targets very well and thus were confident on announcing the Spring 2010 release.

Ruutu: What have been the most challenging aspects of the technology to develop or utilise?

I don't think there is a single piece that's hard, and Remedy's a fairly tech oriented company. It's just the scale of the project that makes it challenging - games are getting huge!


Technology

Alex: Does Alan Wake utilise the new Microsoft Natal motion control technology?

No. E3 was the first time we set our eyes on it and it looks like a really cool piece of tech, It’s really interesting and what the future holds remains to be seen, but it was too late to include in Alan Wake now. In my opinion, natal works best if the game's controls are designed from the ground up for it.

Awake15: Apart from light, are there any other features in the game that the team would consider to be “new” or “ground-breaking”?

The use of light is of course the most obvious one, it being a combat tool, a safe haven, attached to the weather system and the day and night cycle, it’s really an integral part of the game which the player will have to learn to predict and utilize, we’ve gone to some extent to make it really dynamic and versatile. Our technology most definitely has new, never seen before capabilities and on top of that we never compromise on story and the means to deliver a story driven experience, we believe it’s depth will be quite compelling. And finally, Remedy is known for cinematic action, we have a few surprises, don’t worry, we won’t be short changing you on this either.

Alex: What aspect of Alan Wake makes the team particularly proud of their work?

I think being able to create a new kind of game, setting and story premise from scratch, see a story and character come to life, show it at an event like E3 and see it being accepted and appealing to a wide audience

AnttiApina: How many polygons does Alan’s model have?

The model has been done based on real photography and the high resolution version has ~1.2 million triangles. For in-game use, this information is baked to e.g. bump, occlusion and wrinkle maps and the in-game model currently has 13058 triangles.

Morry: Are there optional camera angles or is the camera fixed?

There are situation-dependent camera angles, but there's no first person mode if you're asking...

ADM: Now that the game is developed exclusively for the 360 are there any design changes that have been made? Will the game look as good on the 360?

Alan Wake as game design and our technology has from the start been primarily targeted towards consoles. We knew most of the gamers would play our game on the consoles and wanted to ensure they got a really good experience -- we learned that lesson when doing the Max Payne 1 & 2 games.

Definitely, the game looks and runs excellent on the Xbox360. We've always used the same assets when working with both platforms and there have been no design changes based on this. The console is hassle free and smooth experience.


Gameplay

Christopher: What other weapons will be available to the player?

Light is a key gameplay element, thus naturally we hook the player up with some cool light related weapons as well, so there is a good selection of different kinds of weapons from conventional to not so conventional. We are however sticking with real world lights and weapons that would be authentically available in a small town such as Bright Falls.

Jonny K: Will there be wide variety of vehicles to operate in the game?

There will be a variety of different machinery and vehicles in the game. We're not revealing details as to what they are at this point though.

Bstarter29: Throughout the course of the game, how much freedom is there to explore the game world?

Alan Wake is built from the ground up on open world technology, however it has never been our goal to go head to head with sandbox games like GTA. In order to deliver a strong story driven experience we opted quite early on in the design process for a more linear structure which supports our goal to deliver the ultimate story driven experience. We’ve always wanted to give the player the best possible rollercoaster ride through the game and the thriller story is our way of doing it. Having said that, the world is large and episodes are played out in large areas of the world. The player will not feel like he’s being pulled by a string. Players make decisions and have plenty of exploration opportunities should they wish to look and dig further into the game, meet the locals and find hidden extra’s to uncover more of the mystery.

AnttiApina: Are there any other towns near Bright Falls that the player will explore?

The area around Bright Falls is large and contains different kinds of interesting locations, but there are no other towns.

AnttiApina: How many radio stations are in the town of Bright Falls?

There's only one radio station. Radio, TV are tied fairly directly in to the story and setting.

Justinsch: Will there be a similar gameplay mode to Max Payne 2’s survivor mode?

There won't be a similar mode, but we have a few good ideas. It'll depend on how much time we have to work on these to see what gets in the final game.

Christopher: During gameplay, Alan is seen ducking to avoid a projectile. Is this a reactionary move that Alan will perform frequently? What other “moves” can Alan perform?

That is a dodge move, triggered by the player. We aren't ready to talk about all other moves yet.

Matt s: How will the player be stopped from exploring past the edge of the game world?

There are good natural limitations, Pacific Northwest is a mountainous area.

Morry: Is Alan’s appearance / clothes customisable?

No.


Story

ADM: How much of the original story premise has changed, if at all?

On a high level, original story premise hasn't changed much at all, but the story has kept evolving constantly to a more thrilling, entertaining experience. I think we have gone through 15 story synopsis revisions, each getting better and more detailed. The 1st one was 4 pages, the last is 37 pages long.

Ruutu: Can the player’s actions affect the course of the storyline? Does the main storyline have multiple paths and endings?

It is a linear story.

Morry: How many characters are involved in the story?

There are more than 30 named characters involved in the story.

Crage: How long would the main storyline portion of the game take to complete?

The experience will obviously vary from player to player, but it will be comparable to other available action games on the market today.

Kitt: Alan’s character appears to be a fairly famous fellow, and one could only hazard a guess that the disappearance of his wife might raise his fame meter. Is this reflected in the game? Will Alan be haunted not only by the darkness, but the evil that is the paparazzi as well?

You've of course seen Wake's biggest fan already in the trailer and he's definitely recognized in the area, Bright Falls is a small place out of the public eye, one of the reasons why Alice chose the destination.

Matt s: Will there be side quests to the game, separate from the main storyline?

There is plenty of exploration material offering more depth to the story that the player can find out should they choose to look for it.

AnttiApina: Will the player be able to find out the history of Bright Falls from information within the game?

Yes.

AlanWakeCZ: What proportion of the game will take place during the day / night?

We have many daytime episodes also to balance out the night episodes but even in the day the player should be careful when in the dark.

Jay 2: Can you explain what is occurring during the E3 demonstration – where does this scene take place in the storyline of the game?

The E3 demonstration takes place in Elderwood national park. We have that location and the characters you saw (Rusty, Barry) in the game, but the story is different - we didn't want to give any clues away on the story!

Morry: Do you have a choice in what to say during conversations?

No. We decided against going the quick time event route.

Thanks to everyone for the great questions! I'll try to keep up with the forum and continue posting there, but as we get nearer to ship it's likely going to get really busy and won't see me posting every day. Thank you for the support!



I'd like to thank everyone for submitting your questions, it saves us a lot of work! Also thanks to Markus for spending the time to answering these questions. Apologies to those who have submitted questions that weren't answered, I'm sure we'll be bugging Remedy in the future to answer more questions for you all.

[Matt S]

Awesome read - lots of great questions answered...thanks Remedy! Thanks to everyone at this site too that had a part in this. I feel better about the exploration. And more than ever, cant wait to play

30 characters? Holy..........

[AnttiApina]

Hallelujah! Awesome read! And congrats Kitt!

[gonzax]

a few questions still left unanswered like the game´s length for example but quite an interesting interview.

[accel99]

That was a great interview.Answered a few of my questions.

[shwhjw]

More information is always good

Will the player be able to find out the history of Bright Falls from information within the game?

Yes.

That's a pretty short answer. Is the history of Bright Falls key to what's going on? Like in Twin Peaks - the "evil in the woods"...

[Maddieman]

Congrats Kitt - great question!

And thanks for answering the questions Markus!

[Morry]

Originally Posted by gonzax

a few questions still left unanswered like the game´s length for example but quite an interesting interview.

Game length is always a personalised answer. You have the type of gamers who just want action and will rip through the game in one marathon sitting. Then you have other gamers who will look in awe at the scenery, taking their time to soak up the sights and sounds of the game. Then you have the obsessive compulsive types who have to collect every page of Alan's journal and unlock all of the achievements...

Is the history of Bright Falls key to what's going on? Like in Twin Peaks - the "evil in the woods"...

Questions like that will just go unanswered until the game is released. When we went through the submitted questions, it was fairly straightforward to see which ones Remedy could/would answer. Anything related to story details was almost guaranteed to be ignored.

[Dennis]

Best interview so far
And congratulation Kitt

[Matt S]

Originally Posted by Morry

Then you have the obsessive compulsive types who have to collect every page of Alan's journal and unlock all of the achievements...

that is me, right there.....I seriously take forever on a game I am pumped for....I just look for stuff

[COEY69]

Interesting read. Cheers Remedy and the forums staff.

[shorty]

Thank you Remedy. Finally some new info

Congrats Kitt

[QuantumWake]

Great interview. Lots of good questions and great answers. Cheers!

[Kitt]

Squeeeeeeeeeeee.

Edit: While the fatigue right now keeps me calm enough to type something other than blubbering nonsensical squeals of joy--

Thanks everyone, especially Remedy and the adminnies here (who do a fabulous job at being fabulous, by the by). I'm very very grateful, and can't wait for my mail! (Although, would ya send it soon? I'm going to Boston next Friday. ) THANKS! I'll post a picture, heh.

[GENE_BC]

From now on I,m waiting for BrightFalls.net Community Interview 2

Good work Kid... Kitt

[GENE_BC]

The most interesting part of interview, IMO:

we hook the player up with some cool light related weapons as well, so there is a good selection of different kinds of weapons from conventional to not so conventional.

Maybe even mirror?

Radio, TV are tied fairly directly in to the story and setting.

Something like AlanWake.com Tv!

There are more than 30 named characters involved in the story.

My guess was around 10...

I think we have gone through 15 story synopsis revisions, each getting better and more detailed. The 1st one was 4 pages, the last is 37 pages long

good progress.

[MarkusRMD]

Glad to hear you all liked it, it sure was fun to answer as well.

[yogibbear]

Nice interview, thanks for all the effort everyone

[Morry]

Hopefully there are no more niggling questions out there, so that should keep you all happy for the next few months.

[Maddieman]

You know, there was one question we forgot to ask...

[Dennis]

Don´t want to start a new thread.

New Interview with Sam Lake by Develop.

[yogibbear]

Originally Posted by Maddieman

You know, there was one question we forgot to ask...

Wait.. oh man... dammit! Why didn't you ask if there were going to be space stations in Alan Wake?! Oh now i will be in suspense for another year.... not knowing if Remedy have got a Space Station in there somewhere...



Actually Remedy can we have a space station inside a glass bottle hidden somewhere within Brightfalls as a tribute to that thread? Cmon.....