The launch for the PSP has come and gone, and on many of the screens of the handhelds that were picked up one can probably see WipEout Pure being played. We had a chance to talk with Ashley Sanders, lead artist on Wipeout Pure, about some of the process for making the game, looking at level design, developing for the PSP, and downloadable content, among other things. We'd like to give a big thank you to Ashley for taking the time to answer our questions.

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WipEout Pure Post Mortem

Conducted by Mr. Nash

Let’s take care of the introductions. Who are you, what was your role in creating WipEout Pure, and what other games have you been involved with?

Ashley Sanders, I’m the lead artist on Wipeout Pure. Over the years, I have worked on every version of Wipeout since the original, along with various other PlayStation and PC titles.

How was it, developing for the PSP? Was there much of a learning curve? What sorts of special considerations do developers have to take into account when working on the handheld?

It turned out to be pretty damn good, it’s not that far removed from the PlayStation 2, so the learning curve was okay.

There are various technical considerations we had to bear in mind, such as texture sizes and various issues with the Z-buffer, but I think the biggest challenge was, considering the speeds involved in the game, making sure it remained playable on a handheld screen.

From start to finish, how long did it take to make WipEout Pure? Do you think that the PSP will provide shorter development cycles for games, as has often been the case in the passed for handhelds?

Pure took roughly 18 months, and from an art perspective that includes a wealth of downloadable materials.

There seem to be different expectations of handheld games – certainly not lower, just different. Popular handheld games seem to be more pick-up-and-play and perhaps simpler than living room restricted ones.

So yes, hopefully this will translate into shorter development times and more imaginative and enthusiastic development cycles.

The Wipeout series has consistently been well-received by critics, but with Wipeout Fusion there was a certain amount of grumbling from long time fans of the series over some of the game’s design. What sorts of features did you make sure to implement in Pure to ensure this segment of the gaming population don’t feel put out?

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We do listen to all the feedback we get, whether positive or negative. I think that Wipeout has such a strong past, and with the benefit of learning from our mistakes, we had a pretty solid base to start from.

In relation to the graphics, the Wipeout universe has a very distinct, bold visual language, so it was just a case of evolving it.

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In the end, you just have to make the game that you want to play and hope that that enthusiasm and passion is evident in the finished product.

How did you go about choosing which weapons to include in the game? When introducing new weapons, what sort of factors needed to be considered before they were implemented, both from a technical and gameplay perspective?

From an art point of view, we were most concerned with giving each weapon an immediately recognizable identity.

Utilizing a mixture of polygonal objects, sprites and particle effects, the weapons range from very sci-fi electrical effects to retro-mechanical objects such as the bombs and mines.

How were the different game modes decided upon?

Artistically, Zone mode allowed us the most flexibility. Zone mode was one of the enthusiastically received features of Fusion, so we brought it back, but this time on purpose built tracks.

As it is slightly divorced in nature from the main league structure, being almost a surreal experience, this allowed us to play with the graphical style some more.

The white-on-white minimalism was something we could tie-in with our front end design; while the sweeping abstracted graffiti-inspired lines would help the player zone out.

Up to the game’s release, one of the things a lot of people have been talking about in regards to WipEout Pure is that it’s looking like a frontrunner for best graphics out of all the early titles for the PSP, at least judging from all of the screenshots, movie clips, and hands-on impressions on the Web. Is it difficult to really push the graphical abilities of the PSP? How far do you think developers will be able to go in pushing the PSP to its limit in this regard?

I’m sure, as with any console, as developers spend more time with, they will find ways to push it further. You only have to look at the first-generation titles on PS2, compared to what is being produced for the PS2 now, to see that.

At the minute, I think Pure is pushing the PSP as far as we have currently worked out how to, but as we continue, we are only going to get better at stretching its potential.

When one thinks of racing games, Wipeout in particular, one thing that stands out is how much the genre provides a visceral experience. One could argue that a large part of this comes from playing the game on a decent-sized television, where the action on-screen fills out much of one’s peripheral vision, thus making the game more immersive. Considering that WipEout Pure is on a handheld system, how did you go about overcoming this obstacle?

It seems obvious, but you sit further from your TV than the distance between you and a handheld screen. Playing with headphones and the volume turned up truly is an immersive experience.

How was it, setting up the game’s WiFi options? Is this something relatively easy to get up and running on the PSP? Do you see the system’s WiFi capabilities really catching on with developers?

I can say that eight-player Wi-Fi races seem to have taken off in a big way in the development studio. Finding multiplayer games is really easy.

How did you go about designing new tracks in Pure? Could you walk us through the process?

We have three game designers, who armed with an in-house track editor, create the tracks by laying down racing lines. These would be play-tested and tweaked to perfection before they were handed over to the art team to create the surrounding environments.

How did you decide on which songs to include in the game’s soundtrack?

The songs were made specifically for the game. Each artist was briefed and supplied with previous Wipeout games and a video of the new games levels. Then our music supervisor was in constant contact until he felt the tracks fit the game.

WipEout Pure is expected to have new, downloadable content over time. Will this be regularly scheduled, monthly for instance? Also, how much input will players have on the matter? Will SCEE Liverpool, or Sony have some sort of suggestion box made available?

Yes, we are currently working on some visually stunning downloadable content. Players will be able to remix the in-game music online and download for use in game.

Looking back on the game’s production, do you have any closing thoughts that you would like to share?

It all went surprisingly smoothly. Artistically, Wipeout is a very rewarding game to work with and I just hope that the people out there like our new iteration. I feel it is a game worthy of Wipeout’s heritage and as the technology catches up with us, we certainly have plenty of ideas of how we would like to evolve the brand in the future.

(April 7, 2005)