Title:	Collapse
Date:	06.15.2007
Platform:	PC
Genre:	Action
Developer:	CREOTEAM
Publisher:	Buka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like blowing up the landscape? Want realtime terrain deformation? Then Fracture is the game for you. We had the chance to pick David Perkinson's brain about this exciting new title from LucasArts.

 

 

Please introduce yourself and the game Collapse.

 

My name is Roman Gunyavy, I am working at CREOTEAM as an Art Director and Game Designer of Collapse.

 

Collapse is a 3D Action game with adventure elements. Among the key features of the game I would call an accordant combination of the cold steel and fire-arms, easy control of combos on PC, colorful strikes and dynamic fighting acrobatics. Lively non-stop action of the game takes place in the interactive destroyable world with the unique design and profound storyline.

 

 

What graphics engine is powering Collapse?  What kind of features can we expect?

 

Collapse has a home-developed engine that provides a great number of opportunities. Among them there are support of indoor and outdoor locations, soft shadows, normal mapping, specular, face animation, advanced system of blending and animations, paired animations, realistic physics, destroyable objects and many other exciting features

 

 

What gave you the idea for Collapse?

 

Accordingly to the storyline of the game, in 2013 there happens a world catastrophe. As a result in Eastern Europe there appears an odd district full of unexplainable anomaly. Hordes of weird creatures are thronging out of this zone and attacking the rests of the destroyed world.

 

Rodan, the main character of the game, has to find the answers to many questions, to reach the very center of the anomalous zone and to clear up the true reasons of the disaster…

 

The storyline is very deep. It raises the global questions which make Rodan (and perhaps you;) thinking about what the humanity is doing, why he is here, what forces actually rule over our world.

 

Besides, through the main storyline there goes a moving love story of Rodan and Elena – a girl who also participates in this huge experiment. Though, in the end it’s not a happy love story…

 

 

What are the team’s inspirations when working on the game?

 

Apart from the analysis of the market, we were guided by the CREOTEAM’s capacities. Key people in the company have a great background in the game industry and particularly with the action titles. They are truly ingenious guys capable of creating such amazing and unusual things that can be seen nowhere but in this game! ;) I don’t think that we should force them to make the models for the Second World War with the historical accuracy even if this setting is popular on the market:). It’s a potential of the team and we should use it at full!

 

Collapse is quite a unique project for PC market. All the elements of the game fit into the whole system and every element can be used in the most effective way so the player can create his or her own style of play! That’s what I mean when talking about an accordant combination.

 

For instance, destructions of the game world exist not only as a spectacular setting. They affect the gameplay! If you are taking cover from the enemy fire behind the part of the wall, don’t be surprised if in few minutes the partition is destroyed and turned just to the empty framework! Of course, you can disable your enemy in the same way, but if you are inventive, you can do it in some other manner! Short of patrons? Then just kick the barrel full of fuel and shoot it at the right moment. It’s just a tiny example – there can be plenty of ideas and opportunities to interact with the game world. Every little part of it makes up the whole game system which is so enthralling!

 

Imagine that, furthermore, in your arsenal there are some energy blows that allow you to control time and space! A number of amazing combos for the cold steel, more than ten types of the fire arms… And all these exist in the stunning atmosphere of a post apocalyptic world full of incredible creatures. Apart from this I would like to tell about the unique control system developed especially for PC players, but I will keep it for later.;)

 

Such a project is a great challenge for the team, and it makes working on it even more interesting!

 
Tell us about some of the weapons we should see.

 

Fire-arms in Collapse have a distinctive design and unique features. Though, in general we can sort them into the common types like pistols, submachine guns, shot-guns, big guns. Of course, in this game we can’t do without unique weapons of the fantastic future world and extraterrestrial civilization, but wait, I’ll tell about them a bit later… The player can carry at the same time 2 types of fire-arms: a light one (like pistols) on the belt and a heavy weapon on the back. You can choose and use any weapon to your liking from what you’ve found in the arsenal of your enemies.

 

It’s different for the cold steel as there is no need to use the weapons of your enemy. Rodan has his own very special sword and can improve it in many ways. Learn new mind-blowing combos, enhance your fighting technique! Besides, Rodan has a unique peculiarity. Hi has a biomechanical hand which allows him to change the weapons, to take out or to put down his sword in a moment!

 

 

Other than weapons, will the character find armor, useable items, etc?

 

For sure, there will be a minimal set of habitual items, but keep in mind that Collapse is not an RPG. Here we deal with non-stop action! Any upgrading in Collapse is supposed to increase the dynamics of fight, to make it more efficient and spectacular. With the cold steel it means learning new combos and counter-strikes. With the fire-arms you will be increasing fire power, rate of fire, accuracy of the shooting. Also you will be able to perfect your fighting acrobatics skills: learn to run over the walls, to roll over in many different ways, to dodge the blows. Besides, the main character can develop his energy blows and get new impressive capacities.

 
Is Collapse just for fans of third-person action titles?  What’s being done to make it appealing to all gamers?

 

I guess that a great number of unique features of the action game will attract quite a wide audience. This game is interesting for everyone who likes games with the dynamic gameplay, unusual design of the game world and deep storyline. And the third-person view was chosen as the most spectacular and flexible in controlling such a character.

 
From the bits of story we’ve read and from the screenshots, it looks like Collapse takes place in recognizable locales.  Has the team gone to great lengths in recreating real-life areas?

 

Indeed, the action of the game takes place mostly in Kiev (the capital of Ukraine) and its surroundings. It’s an old and very beautiful city with a great architecture. Everyone who has been there at least once will understand me. And even after the world cataclysm you will explore not only fantastic locales with the unreal design, but you will also see some recognizable sights like Kievopechorskaya Lavra, Kiev Railway Station, famous Maidan and the others. All the sights were recreated with a great authenticity, though in the game they underwent devastation.

 

 

Where else will the game take place?

 

Of course, there are some real localities in the game, but they have changed vastly!;) The player is immersed into the world in 80 years after the terrible catastrophe. You will see four different kinds of settings that are closely interlaced and tied together as a part of the game concept.

 

One sort of locales covers the ruined city that went through the great disaster of 2013. Other settings present incredible innovations and hi tech of 2096. Also you will see technologies of the extraterrestrial civilization brought by the unwelcome guests from the other dimensions. Stratification of different worlds caused many inexplicable occurrences and filled the world with unimaginable newcomers, menacing inhabitants and endless riddles. All these gave birth to another type of setting that opens to the player the world of paranormal phenomena and horror.

 

Though there is a common style that unites all the settings, yet each level in the game is absolutely distinctive and has an exceptional design.

 

 

Give us an example of how the keyboard and mouse are used to perform moves.

 

We’ve made a huge work on analysis and creation of the animations of Rodan’s movements. There are more than hundred of animations by the moment, and it’s just one of the milestones in development. I would say that today Collapse is one of the best third-person games on PC regarding control system.

 

Collapse features a unique intuitive hit combo system developed especially for PC players - One-click combo. In this game you will never meet a complicated key combination! Amazing combos and counter-strikes can be performed easily and clearly. You just start to play and have fun, without racking your brains! Combos should be a deliberate action of the player so you can feel that all your movements are meaningful during the fight. And the most important here is that you can perform those combos and blows in an easy and habitual way – you don’t need to use more than two keys to control fighting!

 

As a result we have a very flexible and varied system with an active use of directions of movements and pauses between the strikes. This fighting system is very sensitive to the player’s wishes and echoes his or her actions. It’s easy to use and doesn’t require learning something new, but at the same time it’s exceptionally effective!

 

 

Though there are many talented developers in Europe, many of their games either don’t make it here to North America or are poorly received.  Do you agree, and if so, why is that?
 
We have many brilliant developers indeed, but in our country game industry is quite young. And not till today there are appearing noteworthy projects that are truly skilful and well done for the world market.

 

 

Do you think there is a distinct difference in gaming taste between American and European gamers?
                                                 
For me it’s quite hard to speak about the whole Europe. I would better focus on Eastern Europe as it has a specific character. No doubt, there is a difference, and it has both advantages and disadvantages. Basically, the US market is already formed. Most often new ideas and projects that appear on this market are based on the well-tried ideas that proved to have a great success in the past or even at present.

 

Besides, budgets of the American projects are generally higher, and also because of that it’s more risky for them to develop some innovative ideas. We have more fresh ideas here, and it’s one of the key features of our market that allows us to get to the higher level with the smaller budget. Though, today our experienced developers reach a very high level, and thanks to them now we can compete not only with the ideas, but also with high-quality picture and good technologies.

 

You can consider similarly, for example, film studios. European cinema more often demonstrates non-standard approaches and fresh findings. Though, it doesn’t prevent Hollywood from gathering immense audience with their original solutions and interesting plot. :)

 

While planning development and game design of Collapse, first of all we were guided by the new ideas that are at the same time totally clear to the player.

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

Thanks for your interest in Collapse!

 

 

 

Interview By: Alex Hammond