Things went all bump and grind as Bizarre showed up with Blur, the game that combines Facebook and Mario Kart to make racing social again.
GameCityNights invited Bizarre Creations to present a special look at the making of their new arcade racer, Blur.
With Blur, Bizarre hope to bring new players to the racing genre. How they plan to do this is with an infectious mix of power-ups, memorable tracks and chaotic gameplay that connects players from the sofa to social networks.
Community manager, Ben Ward, and environment artist, Chris Downey, took the audience briefly through the genesis of Blur before moving on to a step-by-step look at how they modified real world locations to maximise the on-track fun.
“Right back at the beginning of the project… we thought how can we introduce more thought into what the player is doing when they’re racing?” said Ward.
Their answer was to add power-ups that are “fundamental” to the experience. All eight of the power-ups have been balanced so the playing field remains level. For instance, the ‘shunt’ power-up, which is primarily fired at opponents and results in them performing a spectacular 360-degree flip, can be used to clear a ‘mine’ that’s been craftily placed in a narrow space.
“All the power-ups counter each other… and there’s no ‘I win’ power-up either,” said Downey, in reference to Mario Kart’s infamous blue shell.
To encourage more social excitement for the game, Bizarre have directly integrated the likes of Facebook and Twitter in-game. You can send messages to your friends challenging them to beat your scores and lap times. Downey said this will enable players who are on different consoles to challenge each other by responding to ‘friend challenges’ via social networks.
In fact, multiplayer has been a big focus and Ward said four-player split-screen exists “because we need these social elements to bring people in.”
Moving away from simulation racing the studio is best known for posed quite a few challenges for Bizarre, Ward admitted. But he also said that Blur could not have been made without their previous experience on the PGR series. Especially, when it came to deforming the game’s licensed vehicles their relationships with car manufactures was all-important.
Realism was a core pillar of the PGR series and it’s something that Ward said they are keen to continue with Blur.
“You’re not just totalling some random car design, you’re actually wrecking the car that your best mate might own in real life,” he said.
And this extends to the locations as well, which are all modelled on real world environments.
Previously, Bizarre would visit real world locations then model tracks corner-for-corner. Going for “Hollywood realism,” as they call it, they aimed to take the essence of real world locations and modify and distil them to sharpen the play experience.
After deciding on 14 tracks, the team took research trips to each location to gather the necessary materials that would allow them to recreate the likes of Los Angeles, Amboy (Route 66) and even Hackney.
In the example Downey gave, three artists went to LA for 10 days and took 18,465 photographs. Plus, endured three hours of questioning from the LA police department after setting up to take photos on a bridge overlooking the LA River. According to Downey, the LA police were quick to send out a helicopter and several police cars to counter the threat of suspicious game developers.
Getting back to the game’s tracks, it took Bizarre 3-12 months to build each location with 25 artists working on the environments.
Downey booted up the Hackney circuit to demonstrate how they created their virtual hybrid. Everything apart from the A10 and a few B roads is made-up. “The reason we wanted to keep [the A10] is because it’s visibly recognisable, so people that have visited Hackney will recognise it instantly,” said Downey.
A block of dilapidated flats and shops just shy of the Hackney track’s main route were mirrored in the game to provide a sweeping corner and a low bridge was turned into a split route, so players criss-cross under and over each other.
Adjustments also had to be made for the 20 cars that can battle it out on the tracks at any one time. For the Sausalito track that runs under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, they extended the beach and widened a narrow tunnel. Trackside details, like distinctive buildings and cheering crowds, were important to keep boredom at bay for the player.
The final track Downey deconstructed was Amboy, which also happened to be the one “furthest from reality.” Beyond Route 66 and the ‘Roy’s Motel’ sign, there’s little to see but desert. By adding multiple routes and visual landmarks, like a burning oil field, a ghost town and an airfield, Bizarre transformed this “uninspiring” landscape into fertile ground for combat racing.
“It’s taken a lot of time to get [the tracks for Blur] right, but I think we’ve nailed it,” said Ward.
Bizarre Creations have long been known for their work on the Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars franchises, and a few character action titles, like The Club. There are now 200+ people working at their studio in Liverpool. Ward said that the studio has at least two projects currently in development and an announcement should be coming about one of them later this year.
Bizarre are always interested in hearing from aspiring gamemakers, so drop them a line.
GameCity devoted the quiz portion of the evening to celebrating Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary.
Trent student, Joshua Adeloye, also showcased his game, Light the Skies. This dual stick shooter took five months to put together and caught the eye of the folks from Bizarre. Adeloye, who has setup his own company called Drop Dead Interactive, started work on it back January this year.
You can hear more from Ben Ward and Chris Downey in our full interview later this week.
Aaron Lee
Tags: bizarre creations, blur, gamecity, racing
