Krome’s Lindsay Parmenter talks about the invasion of the Quinkan in TY the Tasmanian Tiger 3
By Michael Lafferty

“We love the look and feel of TY – it’s pretty unique – so we stayed true to that”

He comes from a land Down Under, where tigers use boomerangs (or ‘rangs’) to defeat their enemies and this time, the threat is of the ‘otherwordly’ kind.

TY the Tasmanian Tiger is on his way back to store shelves in his third instalment in the series, and this time out TY and his buddies have to tackle an ancient evil known as the Quinkan.

Upgradeable boomerangs (they can be customised), new mechanical conveyances, and a wide-open adventure awaits the tiger and his friends in this pending release (early October, and TY 3 will be published on the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Game Boy Advance platforms).

Lindsay Parmenter, a producer at Krome Studios, took time to talk about TY the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan.

Question: TY and his friends are facing a new invading force this time out. What is going to make the Quinkan extremely dangerous and provide some of the biggest challenges for TY and the team?

Lindsay: “This year’s game contains more than 100 characters, both good and bad, but it’s very apt of you to hone in on the fact that the Quinkan are the biggest and baddest of the enemies. Was it the name of the game that gave it away?? Grin. But seriously, we’ve definitely upped the ante in terms of challenges and excitement in this game, and the Quinkan help make that possible. In developing the main baddies, we had the opportunity to really be creative and expand the boundaries of what a cool enemy could do since the Quinkan are mythical as opposed to real-life creatures.

“There are different kinds found through the game and as you progress you encounter more challenging ones with the ultimate being the Quinking. That said, the Quinkan are almost impervious to TY’s rangs and they’re a lot tougher than many of TY’s enemies including the ‘frills,’ which are a featured baddie in this year’s game but have also wreaked havoc in previous TY the Tasmanian Tiger games. We’ve made it so that it will take multiple hits to defeat the Quinkan, even when you’re in a Bunyip mech! Luckily TY’s got a few new tricks up his sleeve to help him out and his friends often accompany him on missions.”

Q: Have the gameplay mechanics changed at all from the previous TY titles, or are you keeping the game feel pretty much the same? In the same vein, are you using the same engine you used for the last TY title, or can we expect a new visual experience?

Lindsay: “While we really liked the open sandbox feel to TY the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, it was missing some of the more platformy elements that were in the first game, so we’ve tried to address that in this instalment of the series by going back to more on-foot action. This year, we were able to bring back more of the platforming spirit of TY while enhancing the vehicle portions of the game without taking anything away. For instance, we’ve created a cool new vehicle called the Crabmersible (a crab-shaped vehicle that players can drive around in to get from mission to mission); we’ve imbued it with jumping, swimming and other abilities so it moves and feels a lot like a Bunyip does. Additionally, we’ve made sure that there are large sections of the Overworlds (there are two) that are ‘on-foot,’ so there’s more room for TY to move around, and more puzzles to do.

“We love the look and feel of TY – it’s pretty unique – so we stayed true to that but also made sure to raise the bar in terms of what players would see and experience. We’ve made a lot of improvements and enhancements to the engine for this game, so while the art style is the same, there are a few new things that really make the game come to life – the new lighting system and continued improvement to our LETs (Living Environment Technology) system are really good examples of this.”

Q: How many new weapons are in the game, and how will players be able to customize or upgrade them?

Lindsay: “TY’s signature weapon is his boomerang so this time around we’ve added the ability for the player to completely customize their rangs. Players can purchase basic boomerangs in the shops and then apply combinations of Bunyip stones (which contain elemental powers) to the chassis to create any sort of rang they could want. So if you’ve ever wanted a flamerang that could also zoom and bounce between enemies, you now can build one! With this system there are over 2,000 different rangs you can create, so it’s bound to keep people entertained. Then on top of this there are new weapon upgrades for the Bunyips and weapon pickups for the Gunyips (a new class of flying vehicle which is also available for multiplayer missions). Oh, and we’ve completely re-vamped the pickups for cart racing too!”

Q: How many levels and what types of environments will the game have?

Lindsay: “There are about 30 missions spread out across the game world in over 12 different environment types, all of which can be travelled between seamlessly (without loading screens) thanks to our streaming technology.”

Q: Will there be marked differences between the GC, PS2 and Xbox platforms, or will they all be fairly similar? Are there any multiplayer elements in this title?

Lindsay: “There aren’t huge differences between the console platforms, but the Xbox does draw models further and also runs at a higher framerate.  As in the second game, you can access two-player cart racing from the main menu and this time around there is also a multiplayer dogfight mode for the new Gunyip mini-games as well! Both of these are available from the main menu as soon as you start the game, you don’t have to unlock anything to be able to play against your friends. It’s great fun.”

Q: Tell us a bit about the soundtrack (both the vocal and musical elements) and how they combine to bring a unique feel to the TY titles?

Lindsay: “Well, the music was composed and recorded in-house by George Stamatiadis, who did most of the music for all the TY the Tasmanian Tiger games thus far, so it definitely fits the TY feel. That said, with the introduction of the Quinkan and the new mini-games the music has shifted accordingly – there are definitely some spookier tracks thrown into the mix.

The voice acting for the game is excellent – we recorded using many of the same cast from the second game, and the script definitely has the same humour and style as the previous titles. Also, we spent a lot more time building character relations this time around, so hopefully people will be drawn into the storyline more.”

Q: Are there mini games or side quests in the game that players can embark on?

Lindsay: “Cart racing is featured in the game again, though this time around it’s tied in to the greater storyline. Once again, in TY the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, after you’ve competed in each race once, you can do them over and over to get a money reward. We’ve added a new mini-game type: the Gunyip. This is a new flying Bunyip that TY uses to fly around and complete missions in some parts of the world, though there are plenty of Quinkan around to try to stop him. Finally, there are the battle arenas – run by Karlos the evil scientist koala. These arenas pit TY against hordes of Quinkan and TY has to defeat them all for a prize.”

Q: To whom do you think this game will primarily appeal?

Lindsay: “We’re very proud of the fact that the series has been so popular and has sold more than two million units worldwide. TY the Tasmanian Tiger has always been geared for the younger gamers, we’ve never strayed from that core audience whereas others games have tried to ‘age up.’  However, I will say the game has a pretty loyal fan base with even older kids, and for sure parents and families love it. The game has taken a slightly darker and spookier approach which we think kids will love so it’s definitely still focused on the younger gamer, with an emphasis on family-friendly fun.”

Q: What is the biggest challenge of bringing a TY title to life and what do you consider to be the hallmarks that set this game apart from similar titles?

Lindsay: “Creating any game in a short development cycle is challenging – we’ve only had just over a year to put this one together, but we’ve got a great team who all really put in an effort to make this the best TY the Tasmanian Tiger game yet.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure the TY the Tasmanian Tiger series has many qualities that set it apart from other platformers and family adventure titles on the market at the moment. The obvious advantage the TY series has over its peers is that its setting, cast, vocal accents, themes and content is uniquely and boldly Australian. The 100+ characters, critters and enemies list is almost exclusively made up of loveable animals native to Australia (with accompanying Aussie accents to boot!). Additionally we can boast open-ended gameplay, a huge web of interactive storylines and kid friendly fun and humor that adults can enjoy too. On top of all that, the TY the Tasmanian Tiger series is our own IP that we’ve devoted more than five years to developing and we’re very committed to seeing it continue to grow under our supervision without compromising its charm and appeal.”

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