Killzone Q&A
Sony passes on a Q & A with Killzone developer Guerilla
Tags: Killzone Categories: Features, PS2 Features
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Oct 18th, 2004
Q: Where is Guerrilla located?
A: Guerrilla’s studio is located in the heart of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Q: When was Guerrilla founded?
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A: Originally the studio was founded due to the merger of 3 smaller studios at the beginning of 2000 and at the time was known as Lost Boys games. When the studio recently became part of the Media Republic group, we became known by our new name, Guerrilla.
Q: How many employees work at Guerrilla?
A: We currently employ more than 85 people across all disciplines.
Q: What is the overall vision of Guerrilla?
A: Our mission is to create critically acclaimed games in a commercially successful way and be renowned within the publishing and development communities for attracting, developing and retaining exceptionally creative and talented people.
Q: Please describe the work atmosphere at Guerrilla.
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A: Guerrilla is a real melting pot of talented people from all over Europe. We have employees from the Netherlands (of course), but around 30% of our workforce comes from countries such as Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium and the UK. Our employees are real perfectionists, striving to make sure every element in the game is that best that it can be. With 2 games scheduled for release this year, there is a little healthy competition between the teams involved, but this helps to raise the quality of the games even further.
Q: Please list the past titles that Guerrilla has developed.
A: In the past we developed a number of GBC and GBA games. 2004 will be a busy year for Guerrilla with our first 2 big releases, Killzone and ShellShock: Nam ’67.
Q: Please list the Producer, Lead Designer, Lead Programmer and any other relevant team leads on the development of Killzone.
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A: Alastair Burns: Producer, Martin Capel: Lead Designer, Michiel van der Leeuw: Lead Programmer, Remco Straatman: Lead AI Programmer, Jan-Bart van Beek: Lead Artist, Roy Postma: Lead Visualiser and Joris de Man: Music Director.
Additionally our technology team provides the basis for all the games in development at the studio, without the hard work of this team, some of the groundbreaking techniques used in Killzone would never have been possible.
Q: Why did you decide to bring Killzone to PlayStation 2?
A: We first caught the attention of SCEE, when we showed a groundbreaking curved surfaces PC technology demo to them. SCEE were impressed with this, and asked us if we could convert this engine to PS2 and create a FPS game around it. We agreed and work began on developing our PS2 engine. The rest is history.
Q: Please describe the premise of Killzone.
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A: Killzone is set in the near future, in a period of planetary colonisation and revolves around a savage conflict between forces that are still loyal to Earth (the ISA) and a separatist, militaristic faction who call themselves the Helghast. The game follows a squad of four soldiers on a suicidal mission behind enemy lines, as they fight to undermine and defeat the Helghast forces following their devastating Blitzkrieg attack on the human colony. The game takes inspiration from major 20th century theatres of war, from the trenches of the Somme, the street fighting of Stalingrad to the guerrilla warfare of Vietnam.
Q: How is Killzone different from other first-person shooters and what makes it unique?
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A: We think that the squad-based elements make Killzone really exciting. As a player you have the chance to play as 1 of 4 different characters each with their own abilities and strengths. The intelligent AI of your squad means that you don’t have to worry about commanding them, or looking after them, but you experience the camaraderie of working as part of an elite group. When your squad is pitted against the advanced AI of an enemy also working as a team it makes for a really absorbing experience.
Q: Please describe the soundtrack in Killzone.
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A: Joris de man, our Music Director is hard at work composing a full orchestral soundtrack for Killzone, which will be recorded by a professional orchestra. We’re aiming for a really big, dramatic, almost cinematic feel for the music in the game, with fascist undertones to reflect the Helghast. Music and sound plays a really important part in setting the tone for a game and we’re making sure this element gets the attention it deserves.
The music is centered around the menus and cut scenes; during the game we have concentrated on creating immersive and believable ambiences that really pull the player into a world at war.
Q: Please describe the online component of Killzone.
A: We can confirm that Killzone will feature full online play for up to 12 players and will support voice-chat technology – more details to come soon.
Q: Did any military personnel or other professional advisors help with the design of Killzone?
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A: Killzone is set in the near future, drawing inspiration from various 20th Century theatres of war. It was important for us to get a good balance of accuracy, whilst maintaining elements that are unique to Killzone and the Killzone universe. Luckily our Lead Visualiser, Roy Postma is a military fanatic. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of all kinds of guns, their uses, range and their mechanical make up. Using this knowledge, he was able to draw up detailed blueprints for all the guns in Killzone
Q: Please describe how level designs are inspired by great 20th century war conflicts.
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A: From WW I we wanted to show the horrors of the war, the desolation, mud and carnage, the closeness and intensity of the battles. These are represented Killzone by the temporary ISA positions and trenches outside Vecta City- the Helghast forces swarm across the devastated landscape to engage the ISA positions at close quarter.
From World War II we chose to represent the vicious street fighting of Stalingrad, where buildings lay in ruins and enemies could appear from anywhere. This is represented by the close combat fighting that takes place within the slums and industrial areas.
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The features that we were trying to capture from each conflict are those that we found to be the most evocative, the horrors and challenges of war that stick in people’s minds. We also included other particularly strong images such as moving through mangrove swamps and jungles, observing enemy patrols through the vegetation and deciding whether to engage or not.
Q: Are the Helghast supposed to represent any particular past army?
A: Inspiration for the Helghast uniforms came from a number of sources throughout recent military history. We picked elements that looked particularly cool or sinister, and then combined these features and added some of our own style to keep the look consistent.
Where the ISA have expensive, technically superior equipment, they can sometimes appear overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the Helghast’s cheap, efficient and hugely mass produced weaponry.
Q: What is the overall goal of Killzone and what do you hope gamers will gain after playing it?
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A: The player’s goal in Killzone is to stem the Helghast attack, to locate the lynchpin that holds the Helghast forces together and strike a blow that allows the ISA to turn the tide of the war and repel their aggressors. We hope that players will be immersed and exhilarated by the whole experience of playing Killzone; that they will feel adrenalin still rushing when they finally put down the controller, and that they feel that they have made a difference.
Q: How many hours of gameplay can be expected for the average gamer in
Killzone?
A: It will be possible for the average gamer to complete Killzone in around 10 hours, when sticking with just one character all the way through, however, by doing this you would not be experiencing all that Killzone has to offer. In order to experience Killzone in full, and play as all the different characters, taking the varying routes through the levels and sampling all the different weapons, you can expect to enjoy around 35 hours play time.
Q: Could you describe any challenges or accomplishments that the team would care to highlight in the development of this game?
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A: One of the biggest challenges for this new team was to develop a workflow and supporting technology for a new console whilst at the same time developing supporting tools. When we started, we only knew that the PlayStation 2 was ‘different’, it was really one of a kind and whilst using tried and trusted methods worked, we wanted to do more. We wanted to find the limits of the console and make the most of what was possible.
Game design, AI and technology coders and artists all had to work together and were highly dependent on each other whilst experimenting with the machine and working out how to make the most of what the PlayStation 2 had to offer. We think that visually and technically the team has managed to achieve something quite unique with Killzone on the PlayStation 2.
Q: Any last thoughts you would like to add?
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A: The support and encouragement we have been receiving from the press and PlayStation 2 fans has been overwhelming. We really are flattered and amazed by the attention Killzone and Guerrilla have been receiving recently. We’re working hard now to complete the game and we can’t wait to see the result of our efforts on store shelves.
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Tags: Killzone
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Oct 18th, 2004 and is filed under Features, PS2 Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
