May 29, 2008

Top Spin 3 Development Challenges, Variations and Evolutions with Producer Anthony DeLuca
By Louis Bedigian

“We have a new World Tour mode, where twice a month you can enter a new World Tournament.”

When it came time for 2K Sports to re-enter the world of Top Spin development, Producer Anthony DeLuca says they started by going back to the gameplay. “We wanted to kick it up a notch,” he said excitedly. “And pretty much jam-pack the controller with different types of shots. We took everything into account: ball physics, your environment, your actual character, and really wanted to bring it up.”

Having already worked with the Xbox 360 on Top Spin 2, the developers knew what to expect from the newer hardware. But now they had to consider PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. “There were different challenges and obviously different markets for the different consoles. The Wii version is a little bit more family-friendly, while the 360 is more graphically intense, realistically. We took advantage of what each hardware offered.”

Play(er) Time

One of the challenges in developing Top Spin 3, DeLuca reveals, was the process of acquiring real-world athletes. “This is something you have to worry about in the beginning,” he said. “There is no player association like in MLB and NBA. You have to deal with each of the individual players and the agents, so there’s an enormous amount of work to do. I was nervous about it, but I have to say it went really smoothly. [The players] were really excited. We had all the big names at the photo shoot. We had some of them come in again for a second shoot. They were all fun to work with.”

Regarding player choices, DeLuca says they had a wish list from the start. “But like I said, we had to negotiate individually with the agents and lawyers and brands and actual players themselves. We chose the people that were really into it.”

Console Differences

Before picking a version of a new game, players want to know: what are the differences? Is there a significant advantage in choosing one over the other? “The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are graphically better, more in-your-face,” DeLuca answered. “The Wii version, we wanted control with the Wii remote. It’s more family-friendly with mini-games and party games, and obviously the DS version is as well, using the stylus.

“They [Wii controls] are simple, but we went more in-depth than Wii Sport Tennis. You have to actually hold the controller to the side, like a tennis racket. Depending on which way you hit the racket, forehand, backhand, or whether you’re hitting up or down, you can put a spin on the ball and change the power.

“With the mini-games there’s definitely a stronger emphasis on the Wii and DS versions. On Wii we have party games for four players. On the DS version we have mini-games like Tic-Tac-Toe, things with the stylus.”

In-Game Customization Versus Real Gamer Faces

Considering how 2K Sports is touting the extensive customization features of Top Spin 3, you might wonder if players will be able to use their camera peripherals to transfer their own faces into the game. DeLuca commented: “We definitely thought about the camera on 360, but we really wanted to put [our] effort [into other customization features]. You can actually articulate player faces. You can change points on players’ faces and mold them how you see fit. So we really wanted to spend time on that rather than the camera, which is a little bit more difficult to work with. You can create some really unique players. You can look like yourself or look like an alien.”

Career Mode and Unlockable Bonuses

Like any career mode, you’ll begin as an amateur player. DeLuca says that “as you progress you make it past amateur and become a pro, and eventually can play against these legendary players. And you can visit the French Open, U.S. Open, places like that.”

What about the unlockable content? “Unlockable characters are something we thought about, especially when talking about bringing in the [legendary players]. But we were so excited about having them that we decided to make them available from the start. [Will there be other] unlockable content? Yes. We have equipment, attributes, new animations, clothing, new brands. We have tons of different brands. Custom rackets, shoes, and other customizations.”

Double the Fun

Regarding the doubles matches, DeLuca says that while you can have four real players, you can only play two consoles against each other. “The reason for this is our game is so much about positioning and timing that having to connect four consoles together would just cause too much lag. We wanted to focus on the two consoles.”

But don’t let that make you think the game will skimp on multiplayer. “We have a new World Tour mode, where twice a month you can enter a new World Tournament. It’s one huge leaderboard ranking. After two weeks the leaderboard resets and you’re able to start over. The goal of this is to simulate what happens in real life, and you’ll get to play against other real people.”

DeLuca says there will also be online leagues. “The World Tour lends itself well to this, so we definitely plan on doing some online leagues.”

Top Spin 3 is set for release this June on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Stay with GameZone for more details in the coming weeks.

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---