What question on MP2 would you personally ask Remedy?

[aavenr]

Hi there guys. The Remedy/Rockstar guys have been nice enough to give Deep Six (and other big fansites for that matter: MPA, MPZ and PayneReactor) to ask them 3 questions about Max Payne 2 and they didn't specifically rule out questions on a particular topic. We thought the fanboys would have million of good questions to ask and so here's your chance to ask Remedy something about its upcoming blockbuster through Deep Six. We can't promise that we will pick them from this thread but if somebody here comes up with a really good question, we will probably choose it. You have up to 2 pm GMT time Thursday.

[g.suarez]

How long will MP2 take to complete the first time through for those who played the first one to death?

[Joonas]

1. Will characters get hurt when a "Havoked" object hits him/her?

2. What is the highest resolution of any texture you (Remedy) used in the game? Any 2048x1536?

3. What's your guys' PAR time for the whole game?

4. Is New York Minute mode still in?

5. What was the last tweak you made for the game before it gone gold?

6. Are there any Finland-related easter eggs in the game?

7. How many different skins overall are in the game?

8. Who of your team was the first person to finish the game?

9. Who of you guys have the best computer beast and what are the specs?

...

10. Out of my mind, be back in 15 minutes.



... over and out.

1) What were the circumstances that brought about the new "look" for Max's character-- and was Sam Lake sore about it?

2) You stated that you used John Woo movies and other Hong Kong "Operas" for ideas. Have any of you seen Equilibrium?

3) How has the team's life changed after the rampant success of Max Payne I?

4) Do you consider yourselves "done" with Max Payne II, or would you be up for a third installment? (Just asking, don't start up on it yet-- have a break)

5) Does this dress make me look fat?

6) What words of wisdom do you have for someone trying to enter the industry who can't understand C++ worth ****?

7) Where do you see the future of action games going? Real life physics? Real-time lighting?

8) Have you gotten your "GOTY" bottle of whatever on ice? If not....be prepared.

Out,

[Maddieman]

What about moving?

[Joonas]

What about moving?

Err.... what?

[maxpayne.co.uk]

Err.... what?

I think he was referring to a previous thread that someone made, titled "What about moving?"

[Maddieman]

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthread...=&fpart=1&vc=1

[sawn_off]

1. Did you fix the collision files so I can shootdodge into a brick wall and still see my shoulders?

2. Why were some of the original weapons changed, thus eliminating the feel of "good ol' trusty standbys?"

[Joonas]

How about moving?

What was that about... ?

[ADM]

The only question I have is:

What were the high points and down points that Remedy experienced during the production of Max Payne 2?

[PetriRMD]

What about moving?

What about it? You put one foot in front of the other...

[ADM]

Pshh.. like you would know what do do!

[Violence_Heals]

I'd like to know what actress gave Mona her face?

[Mayur]

Violence beat me to it

Spill it!!!

-M

[White Rabbit]

I'm gonna see if I can answer a few of these too. (Plus I thought it really was time I actually used this account, I've had it for long enough )

1. Will characters get hurt when a "Havoked" object hits him/her?

I'm not really sure about this atm. Some 'havoked' things were certainly designed to, in the warehouse demo me and biXen saw. An example being the shelf full of boxes that get knocked over by a guy driving a forklift. However, what with practically everything being 'havoked' it might get annoying if any flying object could hurt you (for example dropped guns often being thrown around by grenade blasts). I'd guess objects have a 'can hurt' flag but I couldn't say for sure (most of the stuff we saw was done with coder on, don't want Max dying in the middle of a demo now do we? ).

2. What is the highest resolution of any texture you (Remedy) used in the game? Any 2048x1536?

2048x1536 (4:3) sounds like a strange size for a texture to me, I'd say either 2048x2048 (1:1) or 2048x1024 (2:1) would be more 'natural'. Not that that helps me answer the question...

4. Is New York Minute mode still in?

Well we didn't see it specifically but I think I recall seeing the option to start playing NYM on the menu system...

[White Rabbit]

1) What were the circumstances that brought about the new "look" for Max's character-- and was Sam Lake sore about it?

Wasn't this one answered a while back? I though it was one of two things (or both of them) either:
1. Sam wasn't going to have the time to do all the photo shoots etc required for it as well as do the script, etc.
2. As Take 2 now own Max Payne they wanted to have a face for Max that wasn't 'tied' to Remedy.

5) Does this dress make me look fat?

I don't think there is a correct answer for this one...

6) What words of wisdom do you have for someone trying to enter the industry who can't understand C++ worth ****?

Well I'd say go for a different area. There's a lot of jobs involved in making a game: yes programmers but also sound engineers, artists, modellers, mappers, etc. as well as jobs such as PR and marketing.

[Kevin's girl]

1. How old is Max?

2. What was Max's daughter's name?

3. Who's idea was it to bring Mona back into MP2?

4.What are your paychecks like? (he he I know this doesn't have to do with MP2, but I want to know )

5.Are you going to release action figures?

6.What changes are you most happy with in MP2?

Thats all I can think of for now oh and:

7. What kind of personality does Sam Lake have? (yeah, I couldn't resist asking!)

[FullMetalJacket]

1. How old is Max?

2. What was Max's daughter's name?

3. Who's idea was it to bring Mona back into MP2?

4.What are your paychecks like? (he he I know this doesn't have to do with MP2, but I want to know )

5.Are you going to release action figures?

6.What changes are you most happy with in MP2?

Thats all I can think of for now oh and:

7. What kind of personality does Sam Lake have? (yeah, I couldn't resist asking!)

1. Max is in his early thirties.

2. She is unnamed, and does not need to be named, because for the sake of the story her only role is Max's dead baby daughter.

3. It was not anyone's idea...from the first game they all knew her character had merit and would be back.

4. I asked this a while ago and they are not comfortable releasing the actual figures to us. I'm sure the Remedy guys are not starving, so I'd assume their paychecks are adequate.

5. There have been stories of action figures since the first game's release, and there's still no real word on it.

6. I would assume they're happy with the refined AI and various technical enhancements. The core gameplay has remained very much the same, I'm sure.

7. Ask Baskinator, I'm sure she can fill you in.

[Ninja]

What changes have you done to the sound engine? Will there be realistic reverbs and proper sound physics for different materials?

[poo_al]

1. What are some of the things that didn't make it in that you would have liked to see make it?

2. What was the atmosphere at Remedy during development, then during the release of the first screenshots, and finally the release of the actual game?

3. How many times did you guys play through the game during the course of development?

Can't think of any more decent questions that won't get answered by simply playing the game in a week.

[The Baskinator]

What about moving?

Gold-darnit, I was gonna say that.

[Mongorian]

-Will Valkyr be returning in max payne 2?

-Will Max start smoking again?

-What is the soda of choice around the office of Remedy?

-How much influence did 3drealms have this time around? Were they more involved than last time?

-Will the game ship in a dvd case with a box or just a dvd case?

-Who chose the actor to play Max in the sequel? Remedy or take two/rockstar?

-Do the physics in the game offer more than cool death animations? Do they have a role in gameplay?
Maybe i'll think of more later...

[The Baskinator]

7. Ask Baskinator, I'm sure she can fill you in.

Um, OK. He's really nice. He's probably a wizard. Lives in a space station, I've heard. It's unconfirmed, but I think he may be part of an ancient race of genius vegetables (just like the people at Nintendo).

(You didn't expect me to be serious, did you?)

[White Rabbit]

-What is the soda of choice around the office of Remedy?

Another question I should be able to answer but due to my sieve-like memory can't... (No it isn't something I specifically asked, it was just something that came up at lunch)

-Will the game ship in a dvd case with a box or just a dvd case?

I'd guess this depends on where your buying it, in the UK almost all games have come in DVD cases for ages but it doesn't seem to have caught on so much in the US.

Also, obviously the PS2 and XBox versions will be coming in DVD cases whereever you buy them.

-Who chose the actor to play Max in the sequel? Remedy or take two/rockstar?

Well Rockstar 'found' the potential actors for Remedy but I'm guessing both Remedy and Rockstar were involved in the final choice. Possibly T2 as well considering their financial stake in things.

-Do the physics in the game offer more than cool death animations? Do they have a role in gameplay?
Maybe i'll think of more later...

Yes and yes. The thing you've got to realise is that this isn't like UT2K3 which just has ragdoll physics on the dead bodies. Max 2 has havok jammed into everything it possibly can and all these things can interact. An example being in one of the demos we were shown (more on these when I get a chance to write about them) was an NPC in the warehouse who drove a forklift into a set of shelves. The shelves and their contents then falling on Max (unless he get's out of the way sharpish ). None of this was a 'pre-recorded' sequence, it was all being worked out on-the-fly by the havok engine. If you reloaded and played this bit again you wouldn't necessarily know where all the boxes were going to fall exactly. Plus if there was one going to fall on you and you couldn't get out of the way in time you could opt to shoot the box out of the way as your projectiles affect things too.

[White Rabbit]

3. How many times did you guys play through the game during the course of development?

I doubt they've had time too.

[SkavenRMD]

7. What kind of personality does Sam Lake have? (yeah, I couldn't resist asking!)

Well, I could mention one interesting detail. I've never seen him be angry, or even in bad mood. Even during the worst crunch he was able to smile when answering a thousand stupid questions about the script. From the perspective of someone like me, who'd probably have thrown his computer out of the window if it wasn't so expensive, it seems like an amazing feat.

[poo_al]

^ I mean during testing of certain features.

White Rabbit: did you and biXen fly to NYC to meet up with Mika and Rockstar? That's what I gathered when biXen said that the flight took 6 hours.

Wouldn't it be closer to just visit Remedy HQ in Espoo?

[MikaRMD]

^ I mean during testing of certain features.

White Rabbit: did you and biXen fly to NYC to meet up with Mika and Rockstar? That's what I gathered when biXen said that the flight took 6 hours.

Wouldn't it be closer to just visit Remedy HQ in Espoo?

Yeah, like we are going to let anybody in our top secret development facilities...

[aavenr]

Okay guys, we have made our mind as to what questions we will ask Remedy but I won't ruin the surprise announcing them here. Once we have the answers you will be the first to know.

Thanks a lot for your help. Way to go people!

[biXen]

I think Mika mentioned energy drinks go down by the tons at Remedy, like Battery or Red Bull or whatever. Late nights eh?

And there's a lot of questions here I could answer. Btw, I'm also pretty sure I saw New York Minute there. The loading pics in front of the levels also cracked me up, you'll see

[Qtipie]

funny, what a difference a done computer game makes. all of a sudden you get answers to questions that were blatantly ignored before.

developers are a weird species...

[Joonas]

I'm gonna see if I can answer a few of these too. (Plus I thought it really was time I actually used this account, I've had it for long enough )

I'm not really sure about this atm. Some 'havoked' things were certainly designed to, in the warehouse demo me and biXen saw. An example being the shelf full of boxes that get knocked over by a guy driving a forklift. However, what with practically everything being 'havoked' it might get annoying if any flying object could hurt you (for example dropped guns often being thrown around by grenade blasts). I'd guess objects have a 'can hurt' flag but I couldn't say for sure (most of the stuff we saw was done with coder on, don't want Max dying in the middle of a demo now do we? ).

2048x1536 (4:3) sounds like a strange size for a texture to me, I'd say either 2048x2048 (1:1) or 2048x1024 (2:1) would be more 'natural'. Not that that helps me answer the question...

Well we didn't see it specifically but I think I recall seeing the option to start playing NYM on the menu system...

For the number 2. The ratio of 4:3 is standard ratio.


... for non Max Payne in-game texturea anyway

[Samuli Viikinen]

funny, what a difference a done computer game makes. all of a sudden you get answers to questions that were blatantly ignored before.

developers are a weird species...

Well, during game development a lot of things keep changing. When the game is done you can be 100% sure that the info you give is accurate also in the finished product. Developers weird? Lately I've started to think that most of us are from outer space...

[Raptor]

I know I'm LATE & u r not gonna include my question but here it is

From screenshots it seems that Mona Sax is a playable character, is she so?

[FullMetalJacket]

Um, OK. He's really nice. He's probably a wizard. Lives in a space station, I've heard. It's unconfirmed, but I think he may be part of an ancient race of genius vegetables (just like the people at Nintendo).

(You didn't expect me to be serious, did you?)

He walks here and there, they say...as an old man hooded and cloaked. He comes from a land ruled by space coyotes, where people wear hats on their feet, hamburgers eat PEOPLE, people throw ducks at balloons and generally nothing is what it seems.

[Violence_Heals]

----------------------------
quote:
Violence beat me to it

Spill it!!!

-M
----------------------------

[MrUniq]

I'm a programmer....and u have to think like an alien to do the job

[The Baskinator]

Developers weird? Lately I've started to think that most of us are from outer space...

Exactly. And you live in space stations, too. \o/

[Kevin's girl]

Well, I could mention one interesting detail. I've never seen him be angry, or even in bad mood. Even during the worst crunch he was able to smile when answering a thousand stupid questions about the script. From the perspective of someone like me, who'd probably have thrown his computer out of the window if it wasn't so expensive, it seems like an amazing feat.

Thanks!