| Speedway Grand Prix Facts : | ||
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| First off let me thank you for giving your time to this interview. We honor the opportunity to submit an interview to our readers to give them insight into the world of simulation motorsports. BHMS: Your company isn't really known by our visitors so I think it would be best to start with an introduction. What are your backgrounds, on which games have you worked before, etc. Techland: TECHLAND is present on the market since 1991. The company deals in development and distribution of software. The most recognizable products by TECHLAND are our Translators and high quality computer games based on CHROME graphics engine. Although the company was created 12 years ago, it started dealing with the game development 5 years ago. At the beginning our products were released on the Polish market only, but due to their great playability and high quality some of our titles hit the international markets as well. For example Crime Cities, Extermination (also known as Mission Humanity), several titles for younger players like Pet Soccer and Pet Racer, or our latest development: Speedway Grand Prix. Some of the readers might have heard about some of our current projects - Xpand Rally, The Day of The Mutants, or Chrome. BHMS: What made you decide to do a Speedway game and not, lest say a Motocross game? Techland: We based our choice on the fact that speedway is a very popular sport in Poland, far more popular than Motocross. This sport is also very spectacular and brutal, and that’s perfect material for a computer game. BHMS: When have you started working on Speedway Grand Prix? I think our readers would also enjoy reading a bit about stages of development. How does one start? What gets done first? Techland: We started working on the game in September 2002 by preparing the game specification, which was used to get the official license form BSI. The next step was gathering data about particular stadiums (technical data, appearance) and the riders. After gathering all the data the programmers and the graphics artists started working simultaneously. The graphics artists took care of preparing the racers’ models, the stadiums and the user interface. The programmers dealt with the driving physics and the game logic. During that stage we had a lot of ideas and different driving models were created, so we could choose the best solution. In mid October we began working on the most crucial programming assignments. As you know, the final stage of the project is the test stage, when we could make the final corrections of the driving physics parameters, AI logic, and the game itself. BHMS: In relation to the physics, a Speedway bike actually accelerates in a corner by backing off the throttle. How close are the SGP physics compared to the real life physics? Techland: When working on the steering and driving physics in the game, we tried to find a compromise between the game’s realism and playability. That was a huge problem, because the rider not only uses the throttle, but also his body to keep the motorcycle stable. As you can imagine, the simulation of such process is very difficult, especially when you can only use your keyboard. The next problem we faced was to force the player to make some effort in order to keep the motorcycle stable during the turn. We succeeded in doing that, but in order to get better playability we had to loose some realism. Certain parts of the game, due to their complexity, are slightly different than in real racing, but the overall driving impression is a very good imitation of a real race. BHMS: Were there any FIM Speedway Grand Prix drivers/teams who helped you develop the game/physics? Techland: Tomasz Lorek helped us out a lot. He is one of the most famous Polish sports commentators. His tips and suggestions were very useful during the game development. He shared his opinions about the game during an interview, which can be found on the game’s website www.sgp.techland.pl Unfortunately the interview is available only in Polish. BHMS: Getting the balance of the throttle right for the start is a very fine line. Too little and the engine will bog down, too much and you'll loop over. The best result is achieved by lifting the front wheel a few centimetres in the air. How did you approach the starts? Techland: The start of the race is simplified. The computer controls the throttle and the player doesn’t have much control over it. You can start with or without the clutch. What matters the most during the start are your reflexes. BHMS: A track changes constantly. Sometimes the fast line is right against the fence, next lap, it's close in to the pole line. How dynamic are track conditions in the game? Techland: FIM Speedway Grand Prix accurately depicts the dynamic changes of the track’s surface. As the competition advances, the condition of the track changes, just like in real speedway races. What actually happens is the cinder gets out from under the wheels and moves to the outside of the track, that way the places with less cinder have better traction. BHMS: Adjust the position of the back wheel in the frame makes a huge difference in how a bike turns and slides and the angle and bend of the handle bars makes a difference in how tight you can slide. What kind of setup options are available and how do they affect the driving. Techland: We can tune up the engine and change other settings of the machine. In case of the gears, the player can choose different cogwheel settings depending on the current track parameters. During the course of the game, you have to take care of the wheels, engine, and the chassis, because these parts are wearing out and might cause problems. When your parts are defective, the motorcycle’s performance will be lower. BHMS: How closely does the game follow the FIA rules. We all know about the 2 minute warning. The signal for a rider who's not at the tapes when the other three are ready, is disqualified. Techland: The game is based on the Grand Prix rules and these rules are clearly visible in the Grand Prix series and the heat table. We had to give up several things, which were hard to implement in the game. For example we had to give up the 2-minute warning you mentioned, because that way the game would be just too slow. We had to simplify certain things in order to maintain playability.BHMS: A rider can argue his case to the match referee in the pits if he has been disqualified. These decisions are not always clean cut. A rider can be disqualified from the race if he's the cause of the race stoppage (he fell or caused another rider to fall) sometimes who's at fault is a grey area). Have you included this in the game. If not, why? Techland: In FIM Speedway Grand Prix the riders are disqualified for causing an accident of touching the tapes. The decisions are final and you cannot argue with the referee. BHMS: Historically, Speedway started in Australia in the 1920's. The major powers in World Speedway were and are: England, Poland, Australia, United States, Sweden, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany and Czech Republic. Since this is official FIM game, one would thought all real drivers are in the game. Will we be able to edit them (names, riding attributes...)? Techland: No, that will not be possible, because it’s not allowed by the rules of Benfield Sports International. Only real drivers race in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix. Their statistics are based on the 2003 standings. Parameter modifications are not possible, but perhaps we will release appropriate tools for any alterations in the future. BHMS: How open to editing will this game be? Will we be able to pain bikes, rider suits? If there isn't a paint shop in the game, how "hard coded" are the files, if someone would like to paint their bikes, suits... Let us not forget the track editing. Techland: The game does not include any editing tools to change bike or rider suit colors, but edition is possible by editing the graphics files. We learned, that the greatest speedway fans in Poland are already creating their own players and editing tracks. BHMS: The two main Speedway Engines now are Jawa (Czech) and GM (Italy). They develop their power at different stages, so some are suited to one track and not so good at another. Are these two machines available in the game and what are the bike differences physics wise? Techland: Two types of engines are available in the game. We did not call them Jawa or GM, because we do not use brand names in the game. We simply called them ‘engine1’ and ‘engine2’. There are significant differences between those two engines, and that has substantial effect on the playability. BHMS: The starting tapes go up at different intervals after the green light goes on. This is important to create the anticipation. If you go too early, you'll touch the tapes and be disqualified, too late and you've get left behind. Tell us more about the starts in Speedway Grand Prix. Techland: The start is crucial in SGP, just like in a real Grand Prix. You need great reflexes in order not to be left behind right at the beginning of the race. You should practice the start, especially before racing with the best riders. BHMS: Gate positions are critical. Do they follow the Speedway Grand Prix format? If they do, it might be a good thing to explain the rules to our visitors. Techland: In FIM SGP, just like in real speedway competition, the gate positions depend on the results of the previous heats. Only in training the gate positions are awarded at random. The rules of determining the gate positions are in agreement with the SGP heat table. The heat, in which the rider will race, and the gate position in that heat depend on the place taken in the previous heat. For example, if you win the first heat, you will race in heat 7 from gate A. BHMS: Clutches overheat if they are held too long. This slows the take off speed. What kind of damages, breakdowns can we expect in the game? Techland: The parts of the motorcycle are wearing out in each run. Extensive use of a given part increases the probability of a malfunction and lowers the bike’s performance. BHMS: Have you included a career mode or just one year championship? If there is a career mode, can a driver get injured at a high speed crash and miss some events? If the career mode is missing, why didn't you include it. It seems like more and more games these days are forgetting about this. Techland: The game does not include career mode, because each year new riders take part in the GP events. FIM SGP was based on the 2002 Grand prix series and includes riders taking part in those events. BHMS: Over the past few years, multiplayer almost became more important (or so it seems) then off-line racing. What have you prepared for SGP buyers in on-line department? Will people be able to run leagues? Is there an option to run a dedicated server or maybe an in-game server search engine? Techland: You cannot run leagues in FIM SGP, because the game was developed under a license of the original speedway championships and includes only the Grand Prix events. The current version of the game supports a multiplayer mode for up to 4 players on one computer. It is possible that in the future we might publish an on-line version of the game. BHMS: Now that the game is completed and in the stores, would you add anything or maybe change some things, if you would have more time? Techland: If we had more time we would have added the on-line mode, but it is possible that in the future we will implement that option. BHMS: How world wide are you planning to go with this game? Right now it is only available in Poland. Techland: We’re planning to make this game available in all places, where men desire a bit of an adrenaline rush. We have finished the negotiations with the distributor for the United States. Currently we are negotiating with the distributors in Germany. Of course we would like to invite distributors form other countries as well. BHMS: What holds the near feature for your company? Maybe another racing game? Techland: You guessed it. In the nearest future we’re planning to release a realistic racing game with a built-in career mode - Xpand Rally. Besides Xpand Rally we’re also planning to release the long-awaited Chrome. We firmly believe that Chrome will be a very successful game. |
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Comments : |
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| Author: ozracing | 11-02-2003 |
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Jure gives it to the apologist from Techland...Maybe SIMULATION loses something in the translation to Polish. A sports commentator as their realism adviser??? Now I get it. |
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| Author: Andre Wagner | 19-02-2003 |
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I hope, that the game will be released soon in germany. I play the Demo all the time. Thanx to techland for this game! |
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| Author: rocket 12 | 09-04-2003 |
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most all of speedway in the u.s is ran in california .they need to concentrate on the california market when bringing it to the states.i guess i will have a england based american rider pick a few of these up in poland if they have time |
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| Author: bender | 22-08-2003 |
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This game is as stable as a hand grenade with the pin out .also doesnt have the feeling of speed looks very slow .only game i have problems with blue screening often |
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| Author: greg | 12-02-2004 |
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This game is extremely unstable and most of the time it doesn't work at all. Create a patch please!!!! |
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| Author: paco | 21-06-2004 |
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esta re vuena y lo quiero conceguir |
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