Its also quite neat to have someone from the SSX team here on our boards. I am incredibly fascinated by the development history of the SSX franchise and how the internal politics of a company as large as EA have shaped the tone and quality of each game in the series. More specifically, I'm curious as to why On-Tour was such a departure (stylistically, gameplay-wise, UI-wise and overall tone) from the rest of the games in the franchise.
I can't speak too much to the earlier games. Though we have folks on the team that have worked on almost all the iterations, I wasn't one of them. This was my first SSX.
From what I've heard, I think a lot of the stuff in On-Tour was because that specific team wanted to make something that really stood out from the other iterations. They wanted to make their mark, I guess. You can see somewhat of the same thing with our game, trying to make a game that's ours as much as it is a sequel, and the delicate balance of making that fit in with what the community rightly expects from an SSX game. If you're especially curious about On-Tour I'll ask a few questions to the series veterans on staff to see what they have to say.
Thanks for your candor. The development history of this franchise was always something I've been curious about. From some of the earlier videos your team was releasing it was apparent that members of the core team had come back for this game, which was a reassuring feeling.
Developing a sequel to such a beloved game is a gift and a curse. On one hand you must try to stay true to the roots of what made the original(s) so appealing while at the same time you have to offer a new set of unique mechanics to allow the game to stand on its own. Its a delicate balance but I get the feeling your team has pulled it off. Time will tell, but I'm really looking forward to picking up what you guys have put down.
Best of luck going gold -- see you on the slopes.
Thanks for the well wishes. I think we're almost gold? Or maybe we are, it's a close race. Either way I'm excited to start playing against actual consumers soon, I need some new competition.
@coonce: I thought it was interesting that you mentioned Happiness - it's actually in the game. There's an uprezzed version of it somewhere, I don't want to spoil where though. Honestly, it doesn't bear as much resemblance to the original as you might expect - the whole scale of our game is different than SSX in some key ways.
Interestingly, Happiness was one of the benchmark levels we used when we were figuring out the physics of the game.
There are some fairly wide course. I'd say the Himalayas event peak is pretty wide, but obviously it's chock full of stuff.
That is great news! Happiness is my favorite run from SSX3 -- its fantastic to hear its being resurrected in this new game.
Its also quite neat to have someone from the SSX team here on our boards. I am incredibly fascinated by the development history of the SSX franchise and how the internal politics of a company as large as EA have shaped the tone and quality of each game in the series. More specifically, I'm curious as to why On-Tour was such a departure (stylistically, gameplay-wise, UI-wise and overall tone) from the rest of the games in the franchise.
If you have the time (and the inclination), I would love to hear your perspective. Either way, welcome to GiantBomb.
I can't speak too much to the earlier games. Though we have folks on the team that have worked on almost all the iterations, I wasn't one of them. This was my first SSX.
From what I've heard, I think a lot of the stuff in On-Tour was because that specific team wanted to make something that really stood out from the other iterations. They wanted to make their mark, I guess. You can see somewhat of the same thing with our game, trying to make a game that's ours as much as it is a sequel, and the delicate balance of making that fit in with what the community rightly expects from an SSX game. If you're especially curious about On-Tour I'll ask a few questions to the series veterans on staff to see what they have to say.
Thanks for the welcome to the site. I'm not usually a forum poster, but it was great to see Giant Bomb folks excited about the game. I've been a member for a couple of years now (and sold a few memberships to folks at the office) so it's really cool to see people I admire dig the game.
@coonce: I thought it was interesting that you mentioned Happiness - it's actually in the game. There's an uprezzed version of it somewhere, I don't want to spoil where though. Honestly, it doesn't bear as much resemblance to the original as you might expect - the whole scale of our game is different than SSX in some key ways.
Interestingly, Happiness was one of the benchmark levels we used when we were figuring out the physics of the game.
There are some fairly wide course. I'd say the Himalayas event peak is pretty wide, but obviously it's chock full of stuff.
It is super awesome to see so many people excited for the game! I was worried how that quick look would turn out, you're never sure how the game is going to show.
I'd love to throw down in some global events. I'm not sure how fair it would be, seeing as I've been playing the game for 3 years and I don't think Connor's "I'm the best SSX player in the world" line is totally true, but we'll see. I'm sure you dudes will smoke me pretty quick.
@rmanthorp, if you want to friend me up that would be easiest (gamertag is insatiablegames)
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