The Killzone forum.
Q: “Why do you think there are so few Dutch developers?†[mergh]
A: There’s no sinister reason why there are few Dutch developers. The games industry is high risk and it takes a lot of effort to make AAA product. From the start we set out to bring what is traditionally a very hardcore genre (FPS) to the mass-market, and do it well. Sony have always aimed to have either the first or the best game in any given genre so both our approaches and goals matched each other. This collaboration put us all in a really strong position and gave us as many chances as possible to make a success out of Killzone.
Q: “Who came up with the idea for Killzone?†[mergh]
A: I think it would be fair to all involved to say that like many games, it has been a team effort. The actual game ‘Killzone’ has been in development for three years now and although we started with a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve, we still spent considerable time testing mechanics and checking their gameplay value. As a consequence, a lot has changed since the start and for various reasons – we think for the better.
Q: “Have you set an exact release date for Europe and when will it hit the store shelves in US/Canada?†[Socom]
A: As the game’s developer, it is not really up to us to define the exact, exact date when the game will hit the shelves, that is more a decision for our publisher, SCEE. What we do know for sure is that Killzone will go on sale in both the US and in Europe during the month of October. That’s all I can say – not long now!
Q: “Will the music on the official website feature in the game when it is released?†[EtaCarinae]
A: The music on the official website is composed by the Killzone Sound Director (Joris de Man). Joris has written a full 45 minutes worth of music for the game, most of which will feature in the front-end or in the cutscenes. In a few weeks, Joris will be recording final versions of all the pieces with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. We felt that Killzone really deserved a cinematic score so we pulled out the stops to make sure it happened.
Q: “What influences have you (Joris de Man) incorporated into the music?†[EtaCarinae]
A: Regarding influences, in Joris’ own words: “I’m obviously inspired by film music, although I enjoy various types of music. I really like NiN, Front 242, Peter Gabriel, Air, Talk Talk, Nerd and film composers such as Elliot Goldenthal, John Powell, Cliff Martinez, John Williams and Alan Silvestri. People like John Adams and lately Penderecki are also immensely inspiring".
Q: “Is Rutger Hauer voicing a character along with Sean Pertwee? And do you have any other stars lined up to provide vocal talent?†[TeamSoho]
A: We always set the benchmark for Killzone as high as we could, so that meant quality acting talent. We spent a long time brainstorming amongst ourselves before we actually decided on using a number of very accomplished stars. We didn’t just want ‘a name’ – it also had to mean something to us as well. So, our final choice of voice actors for the game includes established actors like Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon, Dog Soldiers), Stephen Berkoff (A Clockwork Orange) and Ronnie Cox (Total Recall, Robocop).
Q: “As you've said before, while developing Killzone you have put many real life battles into it in a futuristic form, but did you get any ideas from any movies or games in particular?†[Jehuty]
A: We feel that good entertainment is a mixture of realism and fantasy, ‘realism with a twist’ is a phrase we use a lot in the Guerrilla offices. Not only did we invest time researching major theatres of 20th Century conflict but we also took inspiration from the more recent, mature war films we have all seen. In particular we were inspired by the dark, grainy realism of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or the gritty filters of ‘Black Hawk Down’.
Q: “How many levels will Killzone have?†[MuadDib99k | TeamSoho]
A: Killzone has eleven levels in total, each set in a unique part of the planet Vekta. You will be expected to fight in not only in the bombed out residential areas of Vekta City but also the surrounding countryside.
Q: “What sort of environments can we expect, other than jungle and urban locales? And how big are the maps?†[TeamSoho]
A: Killzone is a hero’s journey (hero being the player!) so the player should feel that the game is not only progressing in terms of hours played, but also over distance. Look out for industrial areas, slums, parks, docklands, huge mountains, mangrove swamps, jungles, firebases and lowland plains. Essentially, we have designed Vekta as a living breathing planet and an incredible amount of effort has gone into realising this in 3D. Our largest levels are around 60,000 square meters.
Q: “How linear is Killzone. Will we be able to play the game again, and choose different paths, or is it pretty much an "on rails" FPS affair?†[Raven]
A: We have four different playable characters in Killzone: Templar (Commando), Luger (Stealth / Assassin), Rico (Heavy Weapons) and Hakha (Spy). All of our characters are suited to a particular play style and the levels reflect this as well. This means that once you have finished a level with your favourite character, you can immediately go back and play it from a different perspective, using another character. You can also play the whole game with one character before returning to the beginning with a new one.
We felt that a totally freeform approach would essentially dilute the cinematic presentation of Killzone so we have purposefully kept the storyline in Killzone quite linear to make sure the relationships between Templar, Luger, Rico and Hakha stay fresh and entertaining.
Q: “How many hours, realistically, can we expect out of it?†[Raven]
A: It’s hard to say exactly how long Killzone will keep you busy but we think that it will take an above average player a good 20 hours to play through the story (knowing the game intimately and without dying!). Multiply that by four playable characters, three difficulty levels, offline and online multiplayer... well, we can certainly keep you busy for a while!
Q: “Will there be any non-standard FPS controls, such as slo-mo dives(?), or rolls(!?!) or something.†[TankX]
A: Over the course of our pre-production and early production stages, we experimented with a wide range of different controls, moves and actions including rolls, dives and peeks - and eventually settled on a configuration that we feel really suits the gameplay experience of Killzone. This includes a range of context sensitive controls such as vaulting over walls and close combat attacks.
We really wanted the player to feel that they were in the middle of all the action so we spent a lot of time and attention on the first person animations, getting the timing right and showing enough detail to keep the battle immersive, but without breaking gameplay.
Q: “Can the vehicles in Killzone be destroyed?†[Moises319]
A: All of the vehicles in Killzone are AI entities in their own right and will fight you with every weapon at their disposal. Killzone is set during war-time and it was important to us to create the Helghast and ISA armies in as realistic a fashion as possible. Armies are made up from all manner of soldier types – but also from various supporting vehicles. The ISA favour the more conventional: APCs and Shuttles; but the attacking Helghast are well equipped with Tanks, Dropships, Jet Bikes, Fast Assault Craft. Many Helghast vehicles are able to carry and deploy more troops onto the battlefield which makes for a very nasty surprise! All of our vehicles can be destroyed … but will you get them in time?
Q: “Can you clear up something regarding the videos in PSW and Gamepro, Is this of an old build of the game? The AI was terrible and the Helghast’s speech, they keep repeating the same words repeatedly.†[TeamSoho]
A: The article in PSW was incredibly positive towards the game so we were obviously a little disappointed when we saw the gameplay footage on their disc. It is worth saying that on the whole, the hype surrounding Killzone has really surprised the team and we have been heartened by the support. Seriously… a big thank you to everybody for the kind words.
So, yes, these movies were obviously made without our knowledge and using one of our less polished builds. One of the tricks to making a good game is to always have a version or build running. This means that the team can put new features into the game and test it out – experiment and evaluate whether the feature works or decide if we need to implement it in another way. We use mock-up vocals (amongst other assets) at this stage which also explains the repetition.
Effectively PSW got their hands on one of these old work-in-progress builds and hey-presto! Water under the bridge as far as we are concerned. To be honest though, the response from the footage was still extremely good. Many people were able to take the rough edges with a pinch of salt and concentrate on the good stuff - and many people wanted to see more... Thanks PSW!
Q: “What Multiplayer modes will it have? How many Multiplayer levels will ship with the game?†[MuadDib99k]
A: The multiplayer element of Killzone was always destined to be complimentary to the single player experience. Killzone is a war game and we wanted to keep the look and feel of the multiplayer game types as close to the battle for Vekta as was possible. This means that you will be playing scenarios either before or just after the events in a single player level.
We are still not ready to reveal the exact game types, we are keeping quiet on them for a little while longer but I will reveal that you can play both Helghast and ISA, that the games are much more team and objective based and that you can play split screen offline, with AI bots if you want to. Oh, and we couldn’t leave deathmatch out of the formula… but you all saw that one up and running at this year’s E3, didn’t you?
Thanks for the questions, everyone. We hope you enjoy the game when it is released later this year!
-Guerrilla Games
Q: “Why do you think there are so few Dutch developers?†[mergh]
A: There’s no sinister reason why there are few Dutch developers. The games industry is high risk and it takes a lot of effort to make AAA product. From the start we set out to bring what is traditionally a very hardcore genre (FPS) to the mass-market, and do it well. Sony have always aimed to have either the first or the best game in any given genre so both our approaches and goals matched each other. This collaboration put us all in a really strong position and gave us as many chances as possible to make a success out of Killzone.
Q: “Who came up with the idea for Killzone?†[mergh]
A: I think it would be fair to all involved to say that like many games, it has been a team effort. The actual game ‘Killzone’ has been in development for three years now and although we started with a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve, we still spent considerable time testing mechanics and checking their gameplay value. As a consequence, a lot has changed since the start and for various reasons – we think for the better.
Q: “Have you set an exact release date for Europe and when will it hit the store shelves in US/Canada?†[Socom]
A: As the game’s developer, it is not really up to us to define the exact, exact date when the game will hit the shelves, that is more a decision for our publisher, SCEE. What we do know for sure is that Killzone will go on sale in both the US and in Europe during the month of October. That’s all I can say – not long now!
Q: “Will the music on the official website feature in the game when it is released?†[EtaCarinae]
A: The music on the official website is composed by the Killzone Sound Director (Joris de Man). Joris has written a full 45 minutes worth of music for the game, most of which will feature in the front-end or in the cutscenes. In a few weeks, Joris will be recording final versions of all the pieces with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. We felt that Killzone really deserved a cinematic score so we pulled out the stops to make sure it happened.
Q: “What influences have you (Joris de Man) incorporated into the music?†[EtaCarinae]
A: Regarding influences, in Joris’ own words: “I’m obviously inspired by film music, although I enjoy various types of music. I really like NiN, Front 242, Peter Gabriel, Air, Talk Talk, Nerd and film composers such as Elliot Goldenthal, John Powell, Cliff Martinez, John Williams and Alan Silvestri. People like John Adams and lately Penderecki are also immensely inspiring".
Q: “Is Rutger Hauer voicing a character along with Sean Pertwee? And do you have any other stars lined up to provide vocal talent?†[TeamSoho]
A: We always set the benchmark for Killzone as high as we could, so that meant quality acting talent. We spent a long time brainstorming amongst ourselves before we actually decided on using a number of very accomplished stars. We didn’t just want ‘a name’ – it also had to mean something to us as well. So, our final choice of voice actors for the game includes established actors like Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon, Dog Soldiers), Stephen Berkoff (A Clockwork Orange) and Ronnie Cox (Total Recall, Robocop).
Q: “As you've said before, while developing Killzone you have put many real life battles into it in a futuristic form, but did you get any ideas from any movies or games in particular?†[Jehuty]
A: We feel that good entertainment is a mixture of realism and fantasy, ‘realism with a twist’ is a phrase we use a lot in the Guerrilla offices. Not only did we invest time researching major theatres of 20th Century conflict but we also took inspiration from the more recent, mature war films we have all seen. In particular we were inspired by the dark, grainy realism of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or the gritty filters of ‘Black Hawk Down’.
Q: “How many levels will Killzone have?†[MuadDib99k | TeamSoho]
A: Killzone has eleven levels in total, each set in a unique part of the planet Vekta. You will be expected to fight in not only in the bombed out residential areas of Vekta City but also the surrounding countryside.
Q: “What sort of environments can we expect, other than jungle and urban locales? And how big are the maps?†[TeamSoho]
A: Killzone is a hero’s journey (hero being the player!) so the player should feel that the game is not only progressing in terms of hours played, but also over distance. Look out for industrial areas, slums, parks, docklands, huge mountains, mangrove swamps, jungles, firebases and lowland plains. Essentially, we have designed Vekta as a living breathing planet and an incredible amount of effort has gone into realising this in 3D. Our largest levels are around 60,000 square meters.
Q: “How linear is Killzone. Will we be able to play the game again, and choose different paths, or is it pretty much an "on rails" FPS affair?†[Raven]
A: We have four different playable characters in Killzone: Templar (Commando), Luger (Stealth / Assassin), Rico (Heavy Weapons) and Hakha (Spy). All of our characters are suited to a particular play style and the levels reflect this as well. This means that once you have finished a level with your favourite character, you can immediately go back and play it from a different perspective, using another character. You can also play the whole game with one character before returning to the beginning with a new one.
We felt that a totally freeform approach would essentially dilute the cinematic presentation of Killzone so we have purposefully kept the storyline in Killzone quite linear to make sure the relationships between Templar, Luger, Rico and Hakha stay fresh and entertaining.
Q: “How many hours, realistically, can we expect out of it?†[Raven]
A: It’s hard to say exactly how long Killzone will keep you busy but we think that it will take an above average player a good 20 hours to play through the story (knowing the game intimately and without dying!). Multiply that by four playable characters, three difficulty levels, offline and online multiplayer... well, we can certainly keep you busy for a while!
Q: “Will there be any non-standard FPS controls, such as slo-mo dives(?), or rolls(!?!) or something.†[TankX]
A: Over the course of our pre-production and early production stages, we experimented with a wide range of different controls, moves and actions including rolls, dives and peeks - and eventually settled on a configuration that we feel really suits the gameplay experience of Killzone. This includes a range of context sensitive controls such as vaulting over walls and close combat attacks.
We really wanted the player to feel that they were in the middle of all the action so we spent a lot of time and attention on the first person animations, getting the timing right and showing enough detail to keep the battle immersive, but without breaking gameplay.
Q: “Can the vehicles in Killzone be destroyed?†[Moises319]
A: All of the vehicles in Killzone are AI entities in their own right and will fight you with every weapon at their disposal. Killzone is set during war-time and it was important to us to create the Helghast and ISA armies in as realistic a fashion as possible. Armies are made up from all manner of soldier types – but also from various supporting vehicles. The ISA favour the more conventional: APCs and Shuttles; but the attacking Helghast are well equipped with Tanks, Dropships, Jet Bikes, Fast Assault Craft. Many Helghast vehicles are able to carry and deploy more troops onto the battlefield which makes for a very nasty surprise! All of our vehicles can be destroyed … but will you get them in time?
Q: “Can you clear up something regarding the videos in PSW and Gamepro, Is this of an old build of the game? The AI was terrible and the Helghast’s speech, they keep repeating the same words repeatedly.†[TeamSoho]
A: The article in PSW was incredibly positive towards the game so we were obviously a little disappointed when we saw the gameplay footage on their disc. It is worth saying that on the whole, the hype surrounding Killzone has really surprised the team and we have been heartened by the support. Seriously… a big thank you to everybody for the kind words.
So, yes, these movies were obviously made without our knowledge and using one of our less polished builds. One of the tricks to making a good game is to always have a version or build running. This means that the team can put new features into the game and test it out – experiment and evaluate whether the feature works or decide if we need to implement it in another way. We use mock-up vocals (amongst other assets) at this stage which also explains the repetition.
Effectively PSW got their hands on one of these old work-in-progress builds and hey-presto! Water under the bridge as far as we are concerned. To be honest though, the response from the footage was still extremely good. Many people were able to take the rough edges with a pinch of salt and concentrate on the good stuff - and many people wanted to see more... Thanks PSW!
Q: “What Multiplayer modes will it have? How many Multiplayer levels will ship with the game?†[MuadDib99k]
A: The multiplayer element of Killzone was always destined to be complimentary to the single player experience. Killzone is a war game and we wanted to keep the look and feel of the multiplayer game types as close to the battle for Vekta as was possible. This means that you will be playing scenarios either before or just after the events in a single player level.
We are still not ready to reveal the exact game types, we are keeping quiet on them for a little while longer but I will reveal that you can play both Helghast and ISA, that the games are much more team and objective based and that you can play split screen offline, with AI bots if you want to. Oh, and we couldn’t leave deathmatch out of the formula… but you all saw that one up and running at this year’s E3, didn’t you?
Thanks for the questions, everyone. We hope you enjoy the game when it is released later this year!
-Guerrilla Games
