We asked and UbiSoft answered. We've got an exclusive Interview with Mathieu Ferland, the producer of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. This is part one of that interview, where Mathieu answers questions about the story, gameplay, and much more.
Tony Tomas: Splinter Cell 3 looked pretty far into development already at E3. Just how long has Ubi Soft Montreal been working on the game?
Mathieu Ferland: We’ve been basically working on SCCT since the end of Splinter Cell 1! We had so many ideas on how to improve many aspects of the game that we wanted to go at it right away. So many of the original team members from SC1 were back and some new faces joined us as well, which brought event more new ideas and possibilities to the creative process. So while Ubisoft Shanghai was developing Pandora Tomorrow, the creative team in Montreal was hammering down the third installment of the series. Also, we progressively got many feedbacks from SC community on what they like and what they’d like to see in an upcoming game. This has been important input in SCCT’s creative process.
Tony: The game has traditionally been on Xbox first, followed closely by PC, and then the other consoles get their version. Is that going to stay the same this time?
Mathieu: For the most part, yes. The Xbox and PC versions will hit stores for Christmas 2004. As for other versions, they will be coming after the release of the PC and Xbox versions. No specific dates on that as of yet.
Tony: Is the game being developed as a PC-first game, which will then be ported over to consoles?
Mathieu: Actually, we’re jointly creating the PC and Xbox versions at the same time… The game experience will be similar for both platforms but there is staff in the team developing specific features to make sure we’re using each platform’s best strengths.
Tony: Before development is through, just how many new gameplay elements do you expect to add to the Splinter Cell universe?
Mathieu: It’s hard to put this into numbers… The truth is, our objective was to develop a non-linear game that would allow players to make choices when facing challenges. Having more of an open level-design approach brings more freedom to the player, more replay value and ultimately, more fun! So in terms of gameplay, the essence of stealth remains in the game but you decide how you want to play it. One of our main focuses is proximity – you’ll need to get closer to the enemy if you want to succeed… Going in a room full of guards gun-blazing is probably not the best idea to stay alive.. but you can do it anyway if you wish to… A good example for gameplay could be described like this: You find yourself exiting a vent that leads you in a room guarded by two NPCs… They haven’t noticed your presence… So you’re faced with many choices. You can try shooting at them – but one little mistake and they will alert their friends and work together to force you in a corner. You could try shooting the sprinklers to create a diversion or use sticky shockers to electrocute them with the dripping water from the sprinklers… You can approach one of them slowly – grab him and interrogate him to get valuable clues… or just finish him with a precise knife attack and then go take care of the other NPC… As you can see, lots of possibilities, in term of gameplay, can be done in one very small area!
Tony: Graphically the game looked absolutely gorgeous. Was there a new graphics engine created, or was the existing one used?
Mathieu: Our development studio in Montreal has always been very strong for graphics, and we’re always trying to be ahead of our time and to lead the industry on that area. After SC1, we never stopped enhancing our engine in order to come with what we believe to be the best technology as of yet. So for Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, we’ve been implementing many graphical features such as normal mapping, per pixel specular lighting for reflections and a bit a procedural texturing. We’ve also been developing soft shadows that contribute a lot to the graphical aspect of the game. Those are great additions to Splinter Cell 3 technology, but I would say that what makes the main difference is how well these elements are used by the SCCT experienced development team.
Tony: For the second game in the franchise the ‘stealth meter’ was introduced. It let you know how visible you were to enemies. It appears a new bar was added for the third iteration of the game – a bar that represents sound. What’s the new bar named, is it indeed used to represent how much noise you’re making, and why include it?
Mathieu: Correct! As lights and shadows have always been important features of the franchise, sound is now a new layer of gameplay in SCCT. A new sound gage has been added in order to provide the information about the level of ambient noise in a specific zone. If a zone is very noisy, Sam can obviously make more noise too... This creates nice situations where you may want to synchronize your moves with a repetitive noisy sound, like a clock bell for example, or it simply allows you faster moves without being detected if needed.
Tony: How does the new stealth bar affect your gameplay? Has sound become a more integral part of your stealth tactics this time around?
Mathieu: Like stated in the previous question, Sound will affect your gameplay greatly. Make too much noise, and it will alert the guards. Keep your Sound Meter lower then the Ambient Sound in the area and you can go about unnoticed. The Sound Masking feature will also create more gameplay situations to either trick the NPCs in looking in the wrong direction or cover up your own sounds.
Tony: The first game was considered by many as harder then the second because of the lack of a stealth meter. Will the third game be harder, easier, or the same difficulty as Pandora Tomorrow?
Mathieu: It will be more balanced I believe then the previous games, especially because of the freedom given to the player and the removal of trial-and-error gameplay. We want the players to experiment the game in many ways and not force them into a specific way to do things. That being said, we’ll still playtest the game a lot to make sure it is well balance for any given situations and that each player can find a challenge in completing the game. Casual gamer will find his way through the game achieving primary objectives, while hard core gamers will enjoy discovering and achieving secondary, opportunity objectives, and more…
Regarding the stealth bar more precisely, I’m not sure I understand exactly what you mean since there was also a stealth bar quite similar in the original Splinter Cell.
Tony: Sam interacted with the environment in a couple new ways in the demo (blowing out candles, grabbing enemies through paper walls, cutting through cloth walls). How has that been played up – tell us about that in detail.
Mathieu: We absolutely wanted Sam to interact more with his surroundings. That being said, it was important to have this aspect linked closely with systemic gameplay. If it is just for the show off, then it is less important to us. So by adding more interactions with the environment, it allows the player to go through areas of the game by using different methods. The examples you give in your question are indeed showing this intention. In our quest to make this game non-linear, interacting with the environment brings new layer of gameplay. For example, imagine Sam needing to retrieve information inside a tent guard by two men. You can either confront them, which as you know can be a fatal mistake if you’re not extremely careful… or, by going on the side of the tent, you can cut through the material and get inside unnoticed. Each approach can be rewarding for players and brings more depth in terms of gameplay.
Tony: What exactly can you reveal about the story so far?
Mathieu: The story is set in 2008 – A small local event where the player must interfere eventually push all of the characters in the game – and the player – into the action. That small event is the kidnapping of an American Citizen in Peru… Now, a kidnapping is not normally of interest to Third Echelon, and Sam Fisher is not a hostage rescue specialist. But because the victim has information that any country in the world would love to get their hands on, Echelon pays attention. So Sam will be sent to secure the information held by the victim. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem and Fisher will need to discover the motivations behind the kidnapping that will lead him into an even bigger threat, mostly into Asian countries, but also in New York.
