PALGN: Thank you for speaking to PALGN.
Trevor Powell: You're quite welcome.
PALGN: Would you like to introduce yourself and your role at Krome Studios?
TP: My name is Trevor Powell and I am a lead programmer at Krome Studios. We're based here in Melbourne. I've been working with the company for almost ten years on a number of different projects on many platforms. I'm currently working on the Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
PALGN: For those unfamiliar with TFU, could you give a summary of the game?
TP: TFU is a game based around the use of force powers. It's really about ramping up force powers to a level that hasn't been seen before in Star Wars games, films or books. Many of the characters in the game have huge force powers which, for example, rather then simply lifting objects off the wall, can blow down doors, grab spaceships and do other huge tasks.
PALGN: How are force powers balanced with lightsaber combat?
TP: In general, force powers are larger then lightsaber powers, but they're still limited. You have a certain amount of force power that you can use at once. It recharges over time, but the lightsaber is always there ready to be used.
The thing key to remember are the combos in the game. When you fight enemies and earn experience points, your natural instinct is to upgrade force powers. But there are also a number of unlockable combo attacks, both with the lightsaber and combining lightsaber and force powers. People tend to overlook that, but the lightsaber combos are actually really powerful and useful to have.
PALGN: Can you choose the colour of your lightsaber, or wield a dual-bladed weapon?
TP: There are some enemies in the game with double-bladed lightsabers, but the player only has a single blade. However, you can customise the colour of the blade and the hilt using crystals and devices you find in the game – assuming that you are going exploring, and not just running around slashing stormtroopers!
Force lightening will become more powerful as it is levelled up.
PALGN: How are force powers unlocked over the course of the game?
TP: You start the game with every available force power, except for maybe one or two. The powers are all at a base level, so for example, you can use force lightening at the start of the game but you can probably only zap one guy at a time. As you defeat enemies, you earn experience, and that can be used to upgrade your force powers. So if you upgrade force lightening, it will become much bigger and much more damaging – you can start immobilising more and more enemies, but for the same percent cost.
PALGN: Are there any minigames in TFU?
TP: There are combat minigames, or quick-time events, which usually happen when you're defeating enemies or in similar sorts of areas. For the most part, they're all optional, but they're a quick way of finishing off enemies in a cinematic way. Rather then making them button based, they're gesture based. So, for example, the game will tell you to shake the Wii remote to continue on.
PALGN: What features of TFU are unique to the Wii version?
TP: The most obvious feature is the gesture-based controls. Rather then tapping buttons to swing your lightsaber, you're actually swinging the Wii remote. The Wii remote makes sounds, rumbles and acts exactly as a lightsaber hilt would. But moving past the controls, there is a unique game mode in the Wii version called 'duel mode', in which you can engage in Jedi battles against friends, or enemies, for that matter. Basically, you get together and kick each others asses with the force.
There are also five unique missions on the Wii, which take place in three locations which aren't in the next-gen games at all. Beyond that, the levels on the Wii version which are shared in common with the Xbox and PlayStation versions are entirely unique. They are not the same levels – one could purchase both games, and not have one spoil the experience of the other.
PALGN: How many characters are there to choose from in the duel mode?
TP: There are over 30 characters.
PALGN: Do you have a personal favourite?
TP: I'll confess that I've always been a fan of Vader.
Fried chicken.
PALGN: What were the challenges of working with the Wii console?
TP: In some ways, it was actually easier. I have worked on PlayStation stuff before, and the Wii was nice because it has extra memory, more CPU time – suddenly, there was a lot more that I could do. But the biggest challenge was the gesture controls. They were tricky and new. It's not like reading an analogue stick – it's a very different beast, and nobody has got experience doing it. So we were really out there, on the frontier, blazing paths, trying to figure out what works.
PALGN: The next-gen versions of TFU have new technologies like Euphoria and DMM. How have you worked around that in the Wii version?
TP: We've gone back to basics and looked at what the next-gen builds are doing with DMM and Euphoria, and looked at how we can get the same experience on the Wii console. So for example, with Euphoria, while we can't use that, we've used rag doll physicals and custom animations to give the player a similar feel. With DMM, we don't have the same dynamic destruction of metal doors, but we have done it in different ways – players can still blows down doors with the force in much the same way, it's just not done with DMM.
PALGN: How have you found working with LucasArts?
TP: It has been fantastic. They're certainly the best publisher I've ever worked with in terms of responsiveness and getting access to sounds, animations and visual references. What keeps amazing me is how open they are to us creating our own stuff. For example, they're entirely happy for us to make a new character, which in turn becomes a part of the Star Wars universe. We've added our own little bits here and there.
PALGN: What has been your personal highlight working on the project?
TP: My personal highlight was getting to write the code to make the lightsaber effectively become the Wii remote. It took a long time to get right, but it was fantastic.
PALGN: Thank you very much for your time.
TP: Thank you.
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