November 13, 2008

Peter Anthony Chiodo is "Stoked" for Another Season of Snowboarding
By Louis Bedigian

“We want players to be able to go anywhere they want and ride the way they want to in the conditions they want to ride in.”

There have been many snowboarding games released over the years, but only one – the forthcoming Stoked for Xbox 360 – is associated with Absinthe Films, a producer of snowboarding videos. "We always wanted to make a game that looked like a snowboarding movie," said Peter Anthony Chiodo, Producer and Director of Product Development. "We carefully developed our cameras in the game to meet this goal while making sure that they were complimentary to the gameplay.

"Both the developer and the publishing crew at Destineer watched Absinthe's films; we even attended an Absinthe movie premier to make sure we nailed the feeling and captured the same presentation. We think that some of the stuff we are doing in Stoked is also complimentary to what Travis Rice has done in his new That's It, That's All movie.

"Absinthe Films helped build relationships with the snowboarding world and make sure what we're doing in the game is true to the culture. With their assistance, we've signed eight pros for the game. Travis Rice, Nicolas Müller, Wolle Nyvelt, Annie Boulanger, and Tadashi Fuse each headline a mountain in the game. Gigi Reuf, Bjorn Leines, and Romain DeMarchi will also appear in game, and we've got excited plans for them! Thirty of the industry's most influential brands have parts of their 2008-2009 clothing and gear catalogue featured in the game. Absinthe Films, Blue Tomato, Method Magazine, Snowboard Magazine, Huck, Onboard, Snowboard Canada Magazine, and Asthetiker all sponsor different aspects of the game."

When and where was the project conceived? Is this the work of Absinthe, who then looked for a developer to get the job done?

Peter Anthony Chiodo: The developer of the game (Bongfish) had a pre-existing relationship with Brusti at Absinthe Films. I had also worked with Brusti in a limited capacity on Amped 2. We all had a conference call really early on when Stoked was a rough prototype and we talked about how we could all work together. The producer from Bongfish and I crafted out a rough plan for the type of game we wanted to make. All we needed to do was pitch it to Brusti. He was excited about what we wanted to do and things just evolved from there.

Stoked brags that you can explore anywhere you please in each of the game's five environments. What is the benefit of that freedom? To find shortcuts?

PAC: It's a lot more that that. We want players to be able to go anywhere they want and ride the way they want to in the conditions they want to ride in. There are challenges all over each mountain, but if you want to set your own challenges and invite friends to ride them with you, you're free to do so. Just like in real snowboarding, you're free to go anywhere you want. If you can see it, you can ride on it. Of course, if you just want to visit the pre-existing drop points and challenges and work your way through the game's path from "nobody" to snowboarding phenomenon, you can do that too!

I'm assuming that you'll ride around each mountain to find new competitions. If that's the case, will there also be a quick-jump feature that allows you to select competitions from a menu screen?

PAC: We want to keep the players on the mountain as much as possible, so there's very little time spent in menu screens in Stoked. But we have made it possible to quickly jump to your favorite drop points and challenges. There is a mountain view that lets you quickly flip through all the preset drop points, and when you find the one you want, you just select it and the helicopter takes you there. If you want to keep an eye out for cool places to ride, you can sit back and watch while the copter flies to your destination. But if not, you can skip the ride with one button press and you'll fast-travel to your chosen drop.

Players also have the ability to drop into the environment via helicopter. Can you drop in at any time? Let's say I'm exploring and I get stuck -- can I remedy the situation with a helicopter?

PAC: Absolutely. You can call the helicopter anytime, anywhere. Once you've unlocked the pilot's license, you can even fly it yourself. From the helicopter, you can drop out anywhere you want, so if you're on your way to a drop point and you see a great peak you want to ride, you can drop onto it and start riding right away.

The weather is said to be dynamic and evolving. Could you tell us about it?

PAC: In Stoked it snows. Unlike other snowboarding games, when it snows isn't just for graphical effect… it really snows! Snow builds up on mountain and trick features building sweet snow pillows, covering rocks allowing for parts of the mountain to be more accessible than they were before the storm. You can check out a 5 day forecast and plan when and where you want to ride based on the weather conditions that interest you. When you crash you'll get up, covered in snow. Snow accumulates on you as the storms blow in and drop their snow. Nobody else has ever done this. We wanted the dynamic weather to be a global system for all players so, if you are playing the game on Xbox Live, everyone in has the same weather as you. Hopefully Xbox Live will be filled with friend's list messages from players saying "Hey, there's fresh snow on Mt. Fuji! Lets go!"

Anyone who has ever skied or snowboarded before knows what a huge impact the time of day (and the sun position) has on how snow feels! I grew up in Utah, a place world famous for its snow, especially its powder. If I rode an area in the morning I'd feel it slushier than later in the day. After the sun moved through the sky that area became more icy and slick. It felt different. It sounded different. The experience was different. We've built that into Stoked, along with the cool lighting and shadow elements that go along with the sun's movement. Nobody is going to look at Stoked and say… "wow… that's a lot of white." We also have not just recreated a face on a mountain, we've built the whole mountain, the full 360 degree rotation. So the sun moving through the sky really has a cool impact on the feeling and look of each of the mountains in the game.

When bringing in pro riders like Travis Rice, did you have them involved with motion capturing or take special photos of them to get the in-game models just right?

PAC: These guys fly all over the world and are in a different places all the time, so we weren't able to motion-capture all of them, although there is a ton of mo-capped animation in the game! The development team spent a good amount of time with Wolle Nyvelt, reviewing animations for tricks and really getting down the nuances of style. Each pro was voice recorded and provided a ton of reference photos and video in their real gear, not only do we have their gear and clothing we also have their boards.

Talk about the different styles, such as "Style Rider" and "Hucker." Are these styles general terms, or do they provide different gameplay experiences?

PAC: Huckers are the guys who go for quantity, the guys who throw as many tricks as they can off any kind of a mountain feature. They generate a lot of points but they look sloppy. The Stylish Riders are the guys who go for quality, the guys who do fewer, more polished tricks. There is no right or wrong way to ride; the scoring system is balanced so that equal points are earned regardless of whether you are a hucker or a stylish rider.

To build differences between the two styles we add pre-wind boosts for huckers so the more you huck tricks, the faster you'll be able to spin (which, in turn, allows you to do more tricks) and the stylish riders unlock tweaks and bones and they will see their riding and tricking animations smooth out over time. Individuality is everything. We think that our method of stylecrafting, along with being able to choose your sponsor, set your bindings, and pick and choose your clothing and gear will make everyone on the mountain unique.

Stoked's multiplayer mode lets you team up with other riders. Tell us about this and any other multiplayer feature.

PAC: The most important aspect of our multiplayer is that it's seamless. You can invite your friends to join you on the mountain without ever leaving the game world via your in-game cell phone. There are lots of different multiplayer modes in the game, and you can just invite your friends to ride around if you like. There's also a really fun element that involves sponsorship called Battle of the Brands. Let's say that you get sponsored in the game by Rome, and your friend gets sponsored by Burton. If he hits the top spot on a challenge, that challenge will be "owned" by Burton. If you beat his score, you'll capture it for Rome. So there's going to be a ongoing battle between to the sponsors to own the mountains in the game.

Snowboarding games are an intense breed, but they're also very popular and have paved the way for numerous "me-too" games. In addition to what's been covered in your answers thus far, what are some of the things that will prevent Stoked from ending up on that list?

PAC: There are three main things that really differentiate Stoked from other snowboarding games: the ability to craft your style, dynamic weather, and dynamic time of day. These are things we think everyone is going to be really talking about! They have also not been featured in a snowboarding game before. It all comes together to give you more freedom to ride the way you want to. You choose your style, your gear, and where and in what conditions you want to ride.

Thank you for your time.

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