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New Prince of Persia Warrior Within In-Game Cinamatic Screen shots
- Thread starter I Work For UbiSoft
- Start date
Aika'svyse
Banned
Yeah 
A must buy.
A must buy.
Btw seen this? http://www.xboxyde.com/news_1183_en.html
Edit: Here's the transcript for the PlayStation.com chat with Yannis.
Baz_Top: Who is doing the voice of the prince ?
Yannis Mallat: To Baz_Top: We have found one very skilled talent from Hollywood and we think he fits the prince character perfectly personality-wise - he's not the same guy as last year. His voice fits the new character of the prince.
SMOKE898: How come we dont get online support but the Xbox counterpart does.
Yannis Mallat: To SMOKE898: Our main data and our lead platform is PS2 and when it comes time to author versions such as PC and XBOX we have the time to develop versions with online features but for the PS2 we devote the max time to make sure that Prince of Persia is an incredible single player action adventure experience.
TheQuantumWhip: What "Sand powers" will we have in this game?
Yannis Mallat: To TheQuantumWhip: There are more powers in this game than in Sands of Time - we have kept the slow motion, the fast forward, we have of course kept the rewind and we have added the SHOCKWAVE. All of those powers are embedded within the action/gameplay meaning that enemies in fighting situations call on those sand powers to be used. The same goes for the exploration part of the game where sand powers are called by the gameplay. The cool thing with the sand powers in Warrior Within is that the prince doesn't need the dagger anymore. He has kept the medallion from the first game and the medallion is embedded into his armor. The medallion does the job of collecting the sand by itself. One of the complaints in Sands of Time was that in order to kill enemies you had to retrieve sand with the dagger and that became routine and boring. In Warrior Within it does the job for you and leaves the fun stuff for the player to do.
alimokrane: Will the Empress of Time be one of the bosses we fight during the game ?
Yannis Mallat: To alimokrane: Yes of course the Empress of Time is one of the numerous bosses that you will have to fight in the game. She is mortal but she certainly is not human. She was made eons ago by the gods and she is some sort of by-product of the creation/timeline itself. Remember that the prince has corrupted the timeline in the previous game by opening the sands of the hourglass, not only is he chased by the DEHAKA but he will have to face the Empress of Time b/c she carries part of the timeline within her. A confrontation is a sure thing. The old man knows a bit about her and he tells the prince.
Drain Red: In the last game Sand of Time there was a surreal feel to the game. Is that same feeling in this one or will we feel more of an anger and rage type feeling?
Yannis Mallat: To Drain Red: A lot of people say that we have lost something with Warrior Within in terms of the general feel regarding the Persian environment. I definitely don't agree. Some people also say that we have lost our inspiration from Arabian Nights - that's not true either. I think if you read the book you can find in it a more gruesome, a more cruel, a more rough description of the world. PoP2 is bringing that view of the game. We are not losing anything, on the contrary we are gaining something. Its the same world we are talking about - but we are showing you a different angle/perspective. I can guranatee that we haven't lost anything. The surreal feel is still here - its not the same though - its a little more crude - but its still here.
meep: As a PS2 Gamer I am curious about your stance on development for different platforms. People always say that the XBox is easier to develop for over the PS2. Is this true in your opinion?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: I think you are right when you say that it seems easier to develop on the XBOX then on the PS2, maybe b/c the architecture is not made the same way but there is one common rule to be followed in ea. platform and the rule is know what your constraints are. I wanted the PS2 to be the best possible for the machine. When you focus on the PS2 and its assets, then you have what we do which is one of the most beautiful games ever on PS2 - even compared to games on XBOX.
Kyrwolf: Graphically the first game was an amazing treat for the eyes. Are you working with the same engine or are you upgrading the graphics in any way?
Yannis Mallat: To Kyrwolf: Both. We are indeed working with the same engine, team and tools. This is the only way I know to produce high quality content in the classic way. Its also the best way I know to better the previous iteration meaning we have been able to optimize the tools. We have a very trained team that knows how to work with each other. In terms of creating the graphics, yes, we have upgraded the graphics in several ways. First, we upgraded the graphics by optimizing the engines. We are able to display more more polygons, more special effects, more maps, less slowdown, more textures, more of everything. The experience for the players, for the eyes, is that you feel like the world is much bigger, much richer. This is some kind of paradox, where we are really surprising the player by providing a rich world in detail that is HUGE. Usually its one or the other -but we have both.
alimokrane: Will the PC version have the same optional modes as Xbox and will it support the downloadable content as well ?
Yannis Mallat: To alimokrane: No. Unfortunately the reason behind this is that its one thing to plug some online components on the XBOX but its another thing to do that on the PC. XBOX is basically a plug & play this is not the case at all on PCs where you have to support all systems, configurations, internet connections. PCs are naturally our target.
NoGame13: What improvements have been made to the fighting system?
Yannis Mallat: To NoGame13: The dev team has listened to players & consumers after Sands of Time launched and we have found ways to improve the game even though the game was well received. In our opinion the fighting system lacked depth. Enemies were responding here & there out of nowhere leading to frustrating situations. The biggest of all changes was made on the fighting system. We made sure it was embedded into the core action of the game, into the core campaign. We addressed that in 2 ways, we have added a lot of moves/fighting behavior. All of the moves we have in Warrior Within make him able to fight while using the environment which was not true in Sands of Time. And that makes the difference b/c in Sands of Time you had this sequential experience where you fight & figure out puzzles. Now you can do both at the same time. The other way is through the enemies. In Sands of Time, the enemies are sharing the same AI. In PoP: Warrior Within, we have specific AI per enemy which allows us to use specific enemy behavior per enemy. Now running on the wall can be more dangerous b/c you may have to fight while running on the wall. All of the level ingredients, the wall, columns, the rope, the curtains are here to enhance/ support the fighting experience. If you are surrounded by 4-6 enemies, you can use that column to fight. It combines level design & fighting.
Deltan: We'll be closing the question queue in 10 minutes. Please post your questions now. Once the queue is closed, you will not be able to make a submission. Questions currently in the queue will be answered.
SMOKE898: Is the storyline continuing with the first PoP in any kind of way.
Yannis Mallat: To SMOKE898: Yes definitely. The prince is living the consequences of his own actions in PoP1. So the story takes place 7 years after Sands of Time and during all of this time the prince has been chased by the Guardian of the Timeline called Nona the Dehaka. In terms of continuum its a pure sequel story-wise. In terms of how you approach the story, there is a usual shift, its really about the prince, the prince is the center of everything in this game. Its not saving a damsel, its risking your life to change your fate.
meep: Prince of Persia has some stunning physics and gameplay movements. How were these realistic moves accomplished? Some form of full motion capture?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: The last thing that you want to do to achieve such a high degree of animation is use motion capture. What we've done instead is build upon Sands of Time. We made all of the animations by hand. Motion capture could give you maybe the best/ most beautiful animation cycle. But say you want an animation of a double backflip/back-kick and then you ask Jackie Chan to do that move, you need the best animation cycle. When it comes to link that cycle in a game engine with 80 animations it will look bad. The secret is building all of the animations by hand and all of the transition animations that link all of the animation cycles with the others. That cannot be achieved through motion capture. In terms of physics we have developed our internal physics engine and we have decided that physics would take a big part of the game so we have lived within the contraints. We have devoted some CPU power and memory to that so yes, we are able to develop physics animated curtains that move according the wind. Its only a question of choice. When you decide to do pure things better, than you will get good results.
maricam: What prompted you to make this game M-rated instead of T-rated like the original? Do you think that will have an impact on sales?
Yannis Mallat: To maricam: The whole idea behind switching from T to M. It came from the dev team - it was not a marketing thing. Why go M? Because we new that we had to make this character, the prince, evolve. We new that he was cool in The Sands of Time but we wanted to make him oustanding. Our desire to make him appear was to make him grown up, older, aware of his destiny. In order to do that, we had to leverage all of the cruelty around him, all of the nasty things that happen in his world. To be able to exploit that in the best way we wanted no limits so we decided to go M. This would give us no limits to realize this character as strong & grown up. I don't think this will impact sales at all. If anything we will gain more sales.
SlaughterX: Will the dificulty be significantly harder in this game, I found TSOT to be pretty easy, will there at least be multiple difficulties?
Yannis Mallat: To SlaughterX: Yes and no. There are several difficulty levels but the global and overall difficulty of the game is harder in a sense that it is a much longer game, much more challenging in terms of fighting. But, the prince has much more at his disposal now. For example, if you master the princes abilities, then the difficulty will be adjusted by the system.
meep: Kind of a 2 part question, how many people does it take to create a game like Prince of Persia Warrior Within? What is the time required from concept to release?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: To create a game like PoP: Warrior Within it takes a team of 140 people but the avg. size of the team throughout the year is about 80 people. Now the time required from concept to release may not be significant because Warrior Within was a sequel. We started concepting in August 2003 and we are releasing on November 30th.
Yannis Mallat: In comparison, it took 26 months to make Sands of Time.
xlToxiclx: Sands of Time had some amazing character moves. (Slow down time, speed up time, wall jumps, ect.) What can we expect in Warrior Within? Anything returning or added?
Yannis Mallat: To xlToxiclx: Everything that was cool in Sands of Time regarding the moves has been kept b/c they are the keystone of our gameplay/core mechanics. Running on the wall, rebounding, running on enemies, sliding down stuff, has all been kept. The thing is that we have added a lot more moves to emphasize the fighting and to incorporate the fighting with the environment. Let's say you can slide down curtains, you can extend the capabilities of your walling by grabbing ropes. You can run on enemies, as soon as you stand on an enemies shoulder you can choose from a slew of finishing moves. One of th biggest additions is for the prince to use a secondary weapon. We got rid of the dagger of time so you have another free hand. The prince can grab his sword or weapon and combine that with his time powers moves. This gives you the most action-packed fighting system of any action adventure game for sure.
Loving Live: So how does the sands of time still exist in WW
Yannis Mallat: To Loving Live: Storywise the Sands of Time have to exist because they have not been destroyed. In fact, the prince is trying to travel backwards through time through the creation of the sands themselves. If there are no sands then there will be no guardian of time to chase him. Regarding gameplay, I think I would think twice before getting rid of the Sands of Time because its cool to play, rewinding time, its just cool. The whole quest is to get rid of the sands. Who knows if he will manage to achieve the quest it will be up to the players to do that. The sad news is that we know that the prince is going to die...
anybodykilla: SoT was a great game but way to short will WW be longer and by how much
Yannis Mallat: To anybodykilla: We know for sure that Warrior Within will be 3 times the length of Sands of Time. I know this sounds suprising but once again since we have been working with the same engine, tools, team, we have been able to create real high quality content in a very short amt. of time. Because we have listened to the players one of the complaints was that the game was too short. We have really expanded the length of the whole game. For an anecdote: last year our best tester was able to finish The Sands of Time in 3 hours. But with Warrior Within it took him 8 1/2 hours. You should expect 20 hours of gameplay for Warrior Within!
Yannis Mallat: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within will be available on November 30th so go out and buy it! Also visit www.princeofpersiagame.com for more info on the game. Thanks for your time - its been fun.
Deltan: Thank you very much for your time Yannis! Excellent chat.
Edit: Here's the transcript for the PlayStation.com chat with Yannis.
Baz_Top: Who is doing the voice of the prince ?
Yannis Mallat: To Baz_Top: We have found one very skilled talent from Hollywood and we think he fits the prince character perfectly personality-wise - he's not the same guy as last year. His voice fits the new character of the prince.
SMOKE898: How come we dont get online support but the Xbox counterpart does.
Yannis Mallat: To SMOKE898: Our main data and our lead platform is PS2 and when it comes time to author versions such as PC and XBOX we have the time to develop versions with online features but for the PS2 we devote the max time to make sure that Prince of Persia is an incredible single player action adventure experience.
TheQuantumWhip: What "Sand powers" will we have in this game?
Yannis Mallat: To TheQuantumWhip: There are more powers in this game than in Sands of Time - we have kept the slow motion, the fast forward, we have of course kept the rewind and we have added the SHOCKWAVE. All of those powers are embedded within the action/gameplay meaning that enemies in fighting situations call on those sand powers to be used. The same goes for the exploration part of the game where sand powers are called by the gameplay. The cool thing with the sand powers in Warrior Within is that the prince doesn't need the dagger anymore. He has kept the medallion from the first game and the medallion is embedded into his armor. The medallion does the job of collecting the sand by itself. One of the complaints in Sands of Time was that in order to kill enemies you had to retrieve sand with the dagger and that became routine and boring. In Warrior Within it does the job for you and leaves the fun stuff for the player to do.
alimokrane: Will the Empress of Time be one of the bosses we fight during the game ?
Yannis Mallat: To alimokrane: Yes of course the Empress of Time is one of the numerous bosses that you will have to fight in the game. She is mortal but she certainly is not human. She was made eons ago by the gods and she is some sort of by-product of the creation/timeline itself. Remember that the prince has corrupted the timeline in the previous game by opening the sands of the hourglass, not only is he chased by the DEHAKA but he will have to face the Empress of Time b/c she carries part of the timeline within her. A confrontation is a sure thing. The old man knows a bit about her and he tells the prince.
Drain Red: In the last game Sand of Time there was a surreal feel to the game. Is that same feeling in this one or will we feel more of an anger and rage type feeling?
Yannis Mallat: To Drain Red: A lot of people say that we have lost something with Warrior Within in terms of the general feel regarding the Persian environment. I definitely don't agree. Some people also say that we have lost our inspiration from Arabian Nights - that's not true either. I think if you read the book you can find in it a more gruesome, a more cruel, a more rough description of the world. PoP2 is bringing that view of the game. We are not losing anything, on the contrary we are gaining something. Its the same world we are talking about - but we are showing you a different angle/perspective. I can guranatee that we haven't lost anything. The surreal feel is still here - its not the same though - its a little more crude - but its still here.
meep: As a PS2 Gamer I am curious about your stance on development for different platforms. People always say that the XBox is easier to develop for over the PS2. Is this true in your opinion?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: I think you are right when you say that it seems easier to develop on the XBOX then on the PS2, maybe b/c the architecture is not made the same way but there is one common rule to be followed in ea. platform and the rule is know what your constraints are. I wanted the PS2 to be the best possible for the machine. When you focus on the PS2 and its assets, then you have what we do which is one of the most beautiful games ever on PS2 - even compared to games on XBOX.
Kyrwolf: Graphically the first game was an amazing treat for the eyes. Are you working with the same engine or are you upgrading the graphics in any way?
Yannis Mallat: To Kyrwolf: Both. We are indeed working with the same engine, team and tools. This is the only way I know to produce high quality content in the classic way. Its also the best way I know to better the previous iteration meaning we have been able to optimize the tools. We have a very trained team that knows how to work with each other. In terms of creating the graphics, yes, we have upgraded the graphics in several ways. First, we upgraded the graphics by optimizing the engines. We are able to display more more polygons, more special effects, more maps, less slowdown, more textures, more of everything. The experience for the players, for the eyes, is that you feel like the world is much bigger, much richer. This is some kind of paradox, where we are really surprising the player by providing a rich world in detail that is HUGE. Usually its one or the other -but we have both.
alimokrane: Will the PC version have the same optional modes as Xbox and will it support the downloadable content as well ?
Yannis Mallat: To alimokrane: No. Unfortunately the reason behind this is that its one thing to plug some online components on the XBOX but its another thing to do that on the PC. XBOX is basically a plug & play this is not the case at all on PCs where you have to support all systems, configurations, internet connections. PCs are naturally our target.
NoGame13: What improvements have been made to the fighting system?
Yannis Mallat: To NoGame13: The dev team has listened to players & consumers after Sands of Time launched and we have found ways to improve the game even though the game was well received. In our opinion the fighting system lacked depth. Enemies were responding here & there out of nowhere leading to frustrating situations. The biggest of all changes was made on the fighting system. We made sure it was embedded into the core action of the game, into the core campaign. We addressed that in 2 ways, we have added a lot of moves/fighting behavior. All of the moves we have in Warrior Within make him able to fight while using the environment which was not true in Sands of Time. And that makes the difference b/c in Sands of Time you had this sequential experience where you fight & figure out puzzles. Now you can do both at the same time. The other way is through the enemies. In Sands of Time, the enemies are sharing the same AI. In PoP: Warrior Within, we have specific AI per enemy which allows us to use specific enemy behavior per enemy. Now running on the wall can be more dangerous b/c you may have to fight while running on the wall. All of the level ingredients, the wall, columns, the rope, the curtains are here to enhance/ support the fighting experience. If you are surrounded by 4-6 enemies, you can use that column to fight. It combines level design & fighting.
Deltan: We'll be closing the question queue in 10 minutes. Please post your questions now. Once the queue is closed, you will not be able to make a submission. Questions currently in the queue will be answered.
SMOKE898: Is the storyline continuing with the first PoP in any kind of way.
Yannis Mallat: To SMOKE898: Yes definitely. The prince is living the consequences of his own actions in PoP1. So the story takes place 7 years after Sands of Time and during all of this time the prince has been chased by the Guardian of the Timeline called Nona the Dehaka. In terms of continuum its a pure sequel story-wise. In terms of how you approach the story, there is a usual shift, its really about the prince, the prince is the center of everything in this game. Its not saving a damsel, its risking your life to change your fate.
meep: Prince of Persia has some stunning physics and gameplay movements. How were these realistic moves accomplished? Some form of full motion capture?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: The last thing that you want to do to achieve such a high degree of animation is use motion capture. What we've done instead is build upon Sands of Time. We made all of the animations by hand. Motion capture could give you maybe the best/ most beautiful animation cycle. But say you want an animation of a double backflip/back-kick and then you ask Jackie Chan to do that move, you need the best animation cycle. When it comes to link that cycle in a game engine with 80 animations it will look bad. The secret is building all of the animations by hand and all of the transition animations that link all of the animation cycles with the others. That cannot be achieved through motion capture. In terms of physics we have developed our internal physics engine and we have decided that physics would take a big part of the game so we have lived within the contraints. We have devoted some CPU power and memory to that so yes, we are able to develop physics animated curtains that move according the wind. Its only a question of choice. When you decide to do pure things better, than you will get good results.
maricam: What prompted you to make this game M-rated instead of T-rated like the original? Do you think that will have an impact on sales?
Yannis Mallat: To maricam: The whole idea behind switching from T to M. It came from the dev team - it was not a marketing thing. Why go M? Because we new that we had to make this character, the prince, evolve. We new that he was cool in The Sands of Time but we wanted to make him oustanding. Our desire to make him appear was to make him grown up, older, aware of his destiny. In order to do that, we had to leverage all of the cruelty around him, all of the nasty things that happen in his world. To be able to exploit that in the best way we wanted no limits so we decided to go M. This would give us no limits to realize this character as strong & grown up. I don't think this will impact sales at all. If anything we will gain more sales.
SlaughterX: Will the dificulty be significantly harder in this game, I found TSOT to be pretty easy, will there at least be multiple difficulties?
Yannis Mallat: To SlaughterX: Yes and no. There are several difficulty levels but the global and overall difficulty of the game is harder in a sense that it is a much longer game, much more challenging in terms of fighting. But, the prince has much more at his disposal now. For example, if you master the princes abilities, then the difficulty will be adjusted by the system.
meep: Kind of a 2 part question, how many people does it take to create a game like Prince of Persia Warrior Within? What is the time required from concept to release?
Yannis Mallat: To meep: To create a game like PoP: Warrior Within it takes a team of 140 people but the avg. size of the team throughout the year is about 80 people. Now the time required from concept to release may not be significant because Warrior Within was a sequel. We started concepting in August 2003 and we are releasing on November 30th.
Yannis Mallat: In comparison, it took 26 months to make Sands of Time.
xlToxiclx: Sands of Time had some amazing character moves. (Slow down time, speed up time, wall jumps, ect.) What can we expect in Warrior Within? Anything returning or added?
Yannis Mallat: To xlToxiclx: Everything that was cool in Sands of Time regarding the moves has been kept b/c they are the keystone of our gameplay/core mechanics. Running on the wall, rebounding, running on enemies, sliding down stuff, has all been kept. The thing is that we have added a lot more moves to emphasize the fighting and to incorporate the fighting with the environment. Let's say you can slide down curtains, you can extend the capabilities of your walling by grabbing ropes. You can run on enemies, as soon as you stand on an enemies shoulder you can choose from a slew of finishing moves. One of th biggest additions is for the prince to use a secondary weapon. We got rid of the dagger of time so you have another free hand. The prince can grab his sword or weapon and combine that with his time powers moves. This gives you the most action-packed fighting system of any action adventure game for sure.
Loving Live: So how does the sands of time still exist in WW
Yannis Mallat: To Loving Live: Storywise the Sands of Time have to exist because they have not been destroyed. In fact, the prince is trying to travel backwards through time through the creation of the sands themselves. If there are no sands then there will be no guardian of time to chase him. Regarding gameplay, I think I would think twice before getting rid of the Sands of Time because its cool to play, rewinding time, its just cool. The whole quest is to get rid of the sands. Who knows if he will manage to achieve the quest it will be up to the players to do that. The sad news is that we know that the prince is going to die...
anybodykilla: SoT was a great game but way to short will WW be longer and by how much
Yannis Mallat: To anybodykilla: We know for sure that Warrior Within will be 3 times the length of Sands of Time. I know this sounds suprising but once again since we have been working with the same engine, tools, team, we have been able to create real high quality content in a very short amt. of time. Because we have listened to the players one of the complaints was that the game was too short. We have really expanded the length of the whole game. For an anecdote: last year our best tester was able to finish The Sands of Time in 3 hours. But with Warrior Within it took him 8 1/2 hours. You should expect 20 hours of gameplay for Warrior Within!
Yannis Mallat: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within will be available on November 30th so go out and buy it! Also visit www.princeofpersiagame.com for more info on the game. Thanks for your time - its been fun.
Deltan: Thank you very much for your time Yannis! Excellent chat.
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