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...continued
Interaction
with the game will certainly be unique and derived
from the clever setup, which pits a small, angelic
cherub named Bob against the forces of Hell. So
much for the traditional shotgun-toting marine. The
game uses a third-person perspective to remind
players that the odds are overwhelming and that
success will require as much mental acuity as
battle-borne prowess. Satan is attempting to tear
seven magical seals that protect Earth, and in
doing so will initiate Armageddon. However, all is
not lost. God has given Bob the ability to possess
other characters to accomplish his monumental
mission of stopping the devil and boiling him in a
sulfur stew. This concoction should result in some
classic, brain-teasing moments. Need through a
secured door? Possess the guard who has the access
card. Need to distract someone? Possess the
prostitute. And what about that huge giant who
insists on smashing our diminutive hero? Possess
him and run him into a gorge. The game will be
saturated with genuinely inspirational moments such
as these.
Since
the gameplay was innovative from the start and the
story offers a daring blend of religion and
adult-oriented themes, the game's core blueprint
has also tessellated nicely to the current
standard. "Every time the programmers have added a
feature, the designers have returned to their
levels to utilize those changes," Herrington says.
"They have also gone to the programmers with
requests that enhance the gameplay, so each side
has influenced the other." In sum and substance,
the designers have risen to the challenges that
come with increased freedom.
This
is a good thing since the engine has its limits. As
previously mentioned, it does not render curved
surfaces, something Quake III will have months
before Messiah is released. Herrington, though,
predictably downplays their value to the gameplay.
"Quake III is touting curved surfaces, but to what
advantage?" he questions. "So someone can run
through an archway rather than a door? A ramp is
now a giant tongue? Messiah has been rendering
organic environments for two years and it is
integral to the gameplay. Getting up close to
characters is essential in Messiah, which is why we
developed the RT-DAT engine.
The
AI will bring the characters to stunning existence.
In most games, characters and enemies are placed in
a certain area and given a script to pursue; thus,
their intelligence is limited to a contained area.
However, in Messiah, Bob will control a character
to advance through an area. People will possess the
body, use it, then abandon it somewhere
unpredictable. The character must behave with
reason in that situation, meaning the AI must be
adaptable to an extreme degree. Needing characters
to respond to an environment without pre-scripted
events necessitated the development of neural-net
AI, which, in layman's terms, means creatures are
able to live on their own. They will have unique
agendas, be able to navigate the environments with
ease and respond to combat with
intelligence.
At
this time, the map designers are focusing the
greatest measure of their energies on the action
sections of the levels and the macro-designers are
concentrating on the overall pacing. Herrington
says it is a tough game to balance because players
can be any number of characters in a given
situation, and as a consequence the developers have
had to do more planning and adjusting. For
instance, with a couple hundred locations, around
20 weapons and about 50 male, female, giant and
dwarfish characters, innumerable special case
scenarios must be considered. Harrington admits the
process is time consuming, but promises it will be
worth it.
The
one head scratcher is the exclusion of multiplayer
options. Herrington claims the team is anxious to
include them and might issue a patch after the game
ships. "It was a tough decision, but we wanted to
spend as much time as possible balancing the game
for the single-player adventure," he says. "We
didn't have the resources or time to implement and
test a multiplayer version." He promises if the
team gets ahead of schedule, multiplayer is the
first thing they will be doing. Anticipate the
patch.
Although
Messiah was an impressive technology demo in 1998,
the diverse elements had not coalesced into an
actual game. This upcoming E3 should be different,
and Herrington says attendees will be able to get
hands-on experience, so expect more details
regarding the gameplay in a month. Timing is
everything, and due to some promising technology
and a unique concept, Messiah has all the time it
needs.
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