January 2, 2008
New Developer Diary for MX vs. ATV: Untamed
THQ and Rainbow Studios have released a new
developer diary for their offroad racer MX vs. ATV: Untamed. In the diary, Brian
Coonce, Principle Game Designer at Rainbow Studios, discusses the new Opencross
mode featured in the game. MX vs. ATV: Untamed is rated E for Everyone.
Developer Diary – Opencross
By Brian Coonce, Principle Game Designer,
Rainbow Studios
Over the past decade, Rainbow Studios has been
hard at work fine-tuning the ultimate offroad videogame. As development has
shifted from PCs and consoles to next-generation powerhouses, our vision of
everything offroad has also expanded. Whereas previous games focused exclusively
on MX bikes or ATVs, the latest iterations of the MX vs. ATV franchise have
grown to include all of the offroad vehicles you might see during a weekend
offroad outing, including sand rails, dune buggies and 4×4 golf carts. We then
added the vehicles you’ve only dreamed about tearing through the outdoors in:
trophy trucks, monster trucks, and the all-new ORV Sport.
While we packed in more machines, the greatest
challenge has always been creating a competitive series where players can
demonstrate their mastery over the vast variety of vehicles in the game. To this
end, the design team created the all-new Opencross mode, a series of long-form
races where the machines battle it out to determine who really owns the offroad.
The first thing you’ll notice in your first
Opencross race is that these tracks are huge; in fact, they are the longest
races you’ll find in MX vs. ATV: Untamed. Opencross allowed our track designers
to take full advantage of Untamed’s massive open worlds. In a given race, you’ll
travel across dams, over bridges, up narrow valleys and down steep cliff faces
on your path to offroad domination. These courses were meant to serve up the
toughest offroad challenge you will ever find, so don’t be surprised if you’re
forced to battle for position through shallow river passes or across narrow
natural rock bridges.
Although each vehicle is equally equipped to
handle the harsh terrain, certain vehicles may have specific advantages
depending on the environment. The wide open dust plains of Del Sol and Copper
Valley are particularly well suited for the wide suspension of the sand rail and
dune buggy. The shallow creek beds and rolling hills of Split Oak and Crawly
Creek are easily soaked up by the monster truck’s giant tires. The sudden
changes in elevation at Lakewood and Pine Lakes are quickly traversed by the
light and nimble ORV Sport. The narrow back roads of Clearwater and Sutherlin
Valley are the perfect opportunity to put miles behind you in a supercharged
trophy truck. What vehicle and where you drive it is up to you as long as you
can keep up with the competition.
Choose your path to offroad domination by
downloading the demo today on Xbox Live Marketplace or the Playstation Network!
