A Dutch website (http://www.gamekings.nl/) recently recorded a video interview with staff members of Guerrilla Games that sheds some interesting light on the studio's past as well as possibilities for future games in the Killzone franchise.
Here is the interview (translated by k79 on neogaf):
- After completion of Killzone 1 the team consisted of around 55 people. It's around 140 people now.
- Most people who worked on killzone 1 are still working at Guerrilla. And for many of them Killzone 1 was the first game they worked on, and even their first job. Talks a bit about how there was virtually no game-development education in the Netherlands.
- Internally they were pretty pleased with killzone 1, but they recognize there was much to be improved. The bad points of killzone 1 were a consequence of a lack of skill of the team back then (see above).
- Skill improved by making more games (Shellshock, Liberation), learning from past mistakes. Bringing in external people/expertise (Sony) helped contribute to the progress.
- Biggest challenge was to meet the benchmark.
- Team is looking forward to the reviews. Previews not so much. They like the positive feedback from press/game communities. They feel the press/game communities understand what kind of fps they're trying to make.
- Talks about first party and how it's supposed to get the best results from the hardware. They want to make benchmark titles, so its a good fit. That was important for them when they were in discussions about selling the company.
- Talks about the benefits of 1st party relationship - good contacts with other 1st (and 2nd) party developers (Polyphony, Naughty Dog, Insomniac etc) and the good facilities (highlights mo-cap).
- The helghan planet is (also) awesome from a creative standpoint. Talks about the wind physics. Throw a grenade and the wind can blow it back to you. It influence your walking/running speed as well. Depending on wich way the wind blows ofcourse. In short, wind affects combat.
- In killzone 2 other planets are involved/referenced to flesh out the story of your buddies. Says the killzone universe is big and diverse enough to make another trilogy so to speak. An option could be to take the battle to Earth (oh fuck yes!).
- Killzone 2 is a good foundation for new (killzone) titles. A lot different than how it was with killzone 1. They got plenty of ideas for the next killzone title. Most important thing is making the production processes more professional.
- They want to appeal to as many people as possible with MP. Talks about the deep customization options - amount of players, character classes, badges, maps, missions etc.
- Keeping the same high standard of graphics in MP was important (and challenging). Especially to keep the framerate playable/stable.
- Talks about bot-matches and how this is important for people who, for instance, dont have an internet connection, or are intimidated by other online players.
- Bot-AI are reasonably good. Three difficulties : Easy, Medium and Hard. Internal testers had problems with Hard difficulty. Seems bots on Hard are very proficient in making headshots
That's it. Don't make fun of my English bitches. I tried my best.
While Guerrilla Games was initially formed out of the remnants of another studio, many of the primary members of the company joined during the simultaneous development of Shellshocked and Killzone (Shellshocked hit in Sept. '04, and Killzone hit two months later. It is obvious which one recieved more of their attention during development). These were the first two games that many of these guys had ever worked on, and thus they had a lot to learn. Through the development of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation (and through new relations with other Sony first party developers), they've grown to what they are today.
