GZ Interview
9/30/02

Enter the world of Jango Fett with the director of Star Wars Bounty Hunter
By Michael Lafferty

He is the galaxy’s most dangerous bounty hunter – ruthless and cold, he gets the job done. It doesn’t matter what that job may be; if the money is right, Jango Fett will do the deed.

Now game players will have the opportunity to enter that dark world when LucasArts releases Star Wars Bounty Hunter for the PlayStation2 and GameCube platforms in November.

Featuring 18 levels across six diverse worlds, Jango will face off with some of the most notorious and deadly creatures to inhabit the Star Wars universe.

Other game features include a third-person view of amazing worlds like Coruscant and Tatooine; a back story that explains how Jango was chosen to be the source for the clone army seen in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones; a deadly arsenal which includes Fett’s jetpack; 100 unique characters; an orchestral soundtrack that includes music from Attack of the Clones; rich atmospheric sound design by Skywalker Sound; and the voice talents of stars from the movie, such as Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett and Leeanna Walsman as Zam Wesell.

Jon Knoles, director of Star Wars Bounty Hunter, talked with GameZone about the title.

Question: This game delves into another aspect of the current Star Wars feature. Is there a bible that all designers need to adhere to when designing games in the Star Wars universe?

Jon: “When setting out to design a game set in the Star Wars universe, there are some rules, either implicitly stated or simply understood, that one must follow. Lucas Licensing is the keeper of the Expanded Star Wars Universe (or E.U.), which includes among other things novels, comics, toys, and of course video games – anything that is not directly linked to the Star Wars films, which are the ultimate source of ‘canon.’ Beyond the films, there is a mountain of E.U. that can also be referenced. Lucas Licensing also maintains an extensive database that includes every single Star Wars-related product ever created. It is a wealth of information.

“Additionally, before setting out to write the design and story for Star Wars Bounty Hunter, I was provided the script from Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and to view concept art from the film months before its release, and was also able to submit several important questions that only George Lucas could answer – which he did. This allowed me to test my understanding of Jango Fett and my own knowledge of the Star Wars universe against both the established canon of Star Wars as well as the yet-to-be-established canon. In fact, the story and situations in Star Wars Bounty Hunter are now part of the fabric of the Expanded Star Wars universe, which is ever-growing, and yet somehow maintains consistency.”

Q: The game also features characters new to this universe. Can you describe the creative process that goes into developing additions (which will likely be embraced as standards) to this incredible universe?

Jon: “In setting out to make the game, and the story that drives the game forward, it was important to further develop the character of Jango Fett, and to create characters that helped in this regard. Jango is a man of few words; he needed someone to convey to the player what he might be feeling, or the dangers that face him. Jango would never balk at taking on a dangerous job--that's his line of work. Jango would also never openly discuss his own personal needs, like that of wanting to raise a son, or maintain a sense of honor and professionalism in his very dangerous profession. So we created a ‘foil’ for him, someone else to worry about him, tell him he should settle down and have a kid, that this hunt is too dangerous.

“But this person inhabits Jango's harsh world, which is full of shady characters, so it should not be an altruistic character. I wanted someone like a doting aunt, someone who is pretty eccentric, and also in for the money, like Jango. That's where Rozatta came from. She's like Watto, another Toydarian, who is all about the money. But she's also got a sweet spot for Jango. Maybe it's because he gives her a finder's fee for bounty tips, maybe she really cares about him – hard to tell.”

Q: Obviously, fan expectations for Star Wars games are quite high. Does that translate to pressure or driving enthusiasm for game designers?

Jon: “Pressure and enthusiasm. We're Star Wars fans, too. We're also gamers. We have our own high expectations when it comes to creating games, especially Star Wars games. The game should satisfy the gamer first, and the Star Wars fan second. If we do it right, we achieve both goals equally. But we're also making a consumer product for a company that would love nothing more than to keep on making excellent products, so building and finishing the game in a timely manner is also important.

“We need to balance these goals while maintaining and strengthening the core vision of the game all times. Our primary goal is to give gamers and Star Wars fans the chance to live the fantasy of being the most dangerous bounty hunter in the galaxy.

“Everything we set out to do in this game enforces that principle. It was also very important for us to take this game in a different direction – and give it a different attitude. You're not the ‘good guy.’ "

Q: Having seen the game demo'ed at E3, I was struck by the lush graphical elements and the remarkable animation. What graphics engine was used to create such an incredible environment? Are the animations motion-capture or all computer-generated animation?

Jon: “Star Wars Bounty Hunter uses a custom engine developed in-house to drive the game and the graphics. We looked around for external engines when we began, but realized we needed to build our own engine to achieve the level of graphic detail and performance that gamers expect from such a high-profile title, and to ensure that the game ‘belongs’ in the graphically fantastic Star Wars universe.

“For the Sony Playstation2 and Nintendo GameCube versions of the game, we're pulling out all the stops to push every last bit of performance we can out these amazing little machines. Beyond pushing polygons, we focused on improving texture quality and quantity, shader techniques, and visual effects. All in-game animation was done by hand by our extremely talented animators. Animations are very stylized, hyper-quick and exaggerated to fit the action of the game, making them exciting to watch. Our carefully hand-animated Jango is much more cool than any motion-captured Jango would ever be.

“Motion capture was never considered for the game (although ILM did employ some limited use of mo-cap for a couple of key rendered cinematic moments).

“We looked to our favorite graphic novels for art inspiration, as well as the wonderful visionary concept artwork by Ralph McQuarrie, Doug Chiang, Joe Johnston and others who created the ‘look’ or the Star Wars movies, not to mention our own amazing concept artists. Our levels are modeled free-form, textured, and lit in a state of the art 3d package, not a ‘level mapping tool,’ to give the game its rich atmospheric look.”

Q: Other than his involvement as a backdrop to the Clone Wars, what was so intriguing about Jango Fett to warrant his own game? He is described as a ruthless bounty hunter, and in the film he is quite angry - can you give us some background into these traits?

Jon: “I would argue that Jango Fett is anything but angry. He is a cold, ruthless professional. He is not, however, evil. He's a guy hired to do a job. He's a mercenary. Thing is, the bad guys usually pay more for Jango's services, so he end up performing their evil doings. Hey, if the good guys paid as much, maybe he would go after the villains. Maybe Jango does have a mean streak. Who knows?

“Jango is an interesting character for a few reasons. First off, here's this ruthless and deadly bounty hunter who is willing to kill for money, and yet he's also father who appears to have a fairly normal father-son relationship with his (clone) son, Boba. Why did he want a clone son? He probably cares for his kid like any father would, but he certainly teaches Boba some of his deadly skills – and takes him along on dangerous missions. Maybe someone once took Jango under his wing as a boy and taught him his ways; maybe he's feeling it's time to do the same for someone else. Maybe he feels his days are numbered and wants someone to carry on his ways. Who knows?

“It's pretty interesting to say the least. Lot of directions one can take these ideas... But most importantly, as a videogame character, Jango is perfect. He looks cool, he's armed to the teeth, he moves with swift and deadly precision, and he can blast multiple enemies simultaneously while flying around them – even fire a missile at them from his back or roast with a built-in flamethrower. Or, if he's interested in actually making more money, he can tie them up with his wrist cable and capture bounties alive.”

Q: The game takes a wonderful non-linear line, with Jango having the ability to burn through locked doors. How hard was it to develop maps to cover all the aspects of Fett's abilities?

Jon: “Jango's jetpack was a huge design challenge. In the original design, the jetpack was to be used ‘in areas specifically designed for its use’ (as in a few levels built around flying). But once we got it working, it was apparent how naïve that idea was. You want to use it all the time!

“Jango Fett without his jetpack is like Superman without his cape, or Spider-Man without web-slinging. But we did not want the game to become a flight-shooter. We also did not want to limit the jetpack to a super-jump, or to force the player to run around looking for fuel. The jetpack was a powerful thing that we had to control – without unfairly limiting the player.

“The jetpack has self-recharging fuel cells, and a burn time of up to three full seconds – and with a power-up, up to ten. Enough for the feeling of flight, to outmaneuver enemies, and to make fantastic leaps, but not enough to break the game. It also makes a lot of noise and attracts enemies, though, so you must use it wisely. Jango's jetpack was a tough design problem to solve, but it came out great – and it is Jango Fett's trademark feature.

“Having a jetpack that allows such fantastic leaps means your levels must be larger than a game without a jetpack. So for our level designers, finding just the right scale for the worlds they were creating meant a lot of trial and error.”

Q: Which game elements do you think gamers will be most impressed by? Which proved the most challenging to create?

Jon: “Gamers will dig using Jango's jetpack and dual blasters in combat. They will also love chasing fleeing bounties who try to close doors behind them, but Jango cuts through with his cutting laser and chases them down. The original story that drives the game will draw gamers deeper into the world of Jango Fett, and keep them compelled to the end.

“Everything about this game was a challenge to create, but the most challenging by far was building this game and an engine to drive it simultaneously for two totally different consoles – from scratch.”

Q: What aspects of the game design made the PS2 and GC preferable platforms to support it?

Jon: “No keyboard. No mouse. This game was conceived, designed, and built as a console game. The controls were locked down nearly a year ago, and the game was built around Jango and his actions. This is how many of our favorite console games came about. When you have a great action character who is fun to control in an empty room, and then you build the whole game around his moves, skills, and abilities, you're well on your way to making a fun action game.

“That's the road we started down 18 months ago and we haven't veered off course.

“The PS2 and the NGC have the power to drive the state-of-the art graphics, audio and gameplay that Star Wars Bounty Hunter delivers. They are also two very popular systems owned by a great many people who will (hopefully) love to play this game.”  

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