Boom Interview with Stephen Frost

[Crash]

Not sure if this is worthy of a new topic however this interview has new information on the Boom game so I thought it was worth sharing:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD-IAdznEvs

 

Enjoy guys!

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Details...

 

• Hopes this game will bring non Sonic fans or people who used to be fans but have wandered off will come back.
• Take Adventure/World exploration elements from past games + put them with current stuff too.

(I think this next one means the following. "Licensing guys (Tomy/Other partners) Annimation guys (TV show) game guys (Boom game).

• Everyone (who works on it) took a refresher course on Sonic to bring them upto speed. The Licensing guys, the TV animation guys and the game guys.
• Cartoon has been in production for SEVERAL years. Didn't start out as Sonic Boom. 
• Cartoon guys have researched past cartoons.
• Nobody was taking to one another before Boom started production. Licensing did their own thing, so did the cartoon, so did game staff. Boom has brought everyone together.

"What is this world, what is the history of this world..." (that line again).

 

• We have people who have worked at Naughty Dog & God of War on this game.

"What is this world... what is the history of this world" (Take another shot SSMB).

 

 

 

(more to follow).

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Well, the Parkour system's not in this game. But for a good reason.

 

Stephen Frost says that Lost World's parkour system would be too specific for Boom. Since they have their playable characters and animations interact with a heck of a lot more than just specific marked objects and areas! 

[Willsy]

Parkour was too complex too. I don't really see how it can work in a more detailed environment (Lost World generally had flat surfaces).

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Parkour was too complex too. I don't really see how it can work in a more detailed environment (Lost World generally had flat surfaces).

Actually, from the interview, it sounds like they'll be able to proceed, use , and/or venture on MORE surfaces and terrain made versatile than with Lost World's particular Parkour system.

 

Hence the, "too specific" quip.

[Badnik Mechanic]

• Cry Engine works very very well with Sonic. Beaches, green areas, all Sonic, works really well.
• Our studio has the 'fail faster' mentality "No thats not good, throw it away, no thats not good throw it away... OH! That works! Keep it."
• Bit of a dodge with that Wii U hardware question. Hints that there was a lot of problems, but the engines developer and Nintendo helped.
• No Lost World Parkour system in Boom. (HOORAY!)
• Denies taking inspiration from Uncharted, Sly, Ratchet etc. But says their experience from working on those games is going into the game.e.g. personal experience/knowledge of working on those games.

 

Goes on quite a bit on stuff which isn't really interesting. Though admits they won't be able to please everyone.

 

• Says you can't please everyone because the game would just be "5 min of this... 10 min of this"
• Drops a very strong hint that this game was designed for new fans/people who are not fans at the moment.
• Comments on people who can't get over Knuckles.
• It has elements of Sonic Adventure 1 and Sonic Heroes. But it's not, don't go thinking 'I'm getting a SA or SH experience, because it's not."

The final question is 'Is Eggman based on President Theodore Roosevelt?

• He says no.
• Eggman has been re-designed to look more formidable and a threat to Sonic.
• We want people who have not been exposed to Sonic to know he's an enemy. 
• He needs to switch from being a serious threatening individual, to being silly and humorous. 
• Eggman will show up and be a major threat, players will think 'Oh man! I might actually lose!'
• Wasn't sure if we should push 'He's a mad scientist' or 'He's a general'
• Eggman's Boom design was originally a Mad scientist.
• His originally boom design was REALLY different. (Would like to show them, but might not be allowed).

This is one I don't really agree with.

 

• We needed the bandanna and the sports tape. Otherwise people wouldn't know it was Boom Sonic. 

Really don't agree with that, give us some credit we're a lot smarter than that, heck kids have been doing it for 20+ years now.

 

• Knuckles: You need to look at him and say 'he's the Thing, The Incredible Hulk of the team, he's the tank, you need to tell that.'

And that's your lot!

• Kids might have got confused if Knuckles was the same size as Sonic but much stronger.

Yeah I'm not gonna comment on that one.

 

And thats your lot, end of interview. He just thanks the fans and loves it when we analyse and theories Sonic e.g. Where did Eggman come from etc.

[azoo]

I realize he brought up my same points I made a while back here about how when you play a Sonic Team made Sonic title you expect certain things (art style, game elements, etc), and that this won't be like that and instead will shake it up with new, different elements, since it's altogether a different thing from the norm. 

 

Pretty cool that my explanation was valid enough to be used by people directly related to the development of the game, or at least a form of it since we all sort of discussed it for a while on here. Still neat though!

 

I do like the other points he made too. Seems like it will all make for a really good game, in the least.

[Diogenes]

Actually, from the interview, it sounds like they'll be able to proceed, use , and/or venture on MORE surfaces and terrain made versatile than with Lost World's particular Parkour system.

 

Hence the, "too specific" quip.

Yeah I'll believe it when I see it...

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Hmm. Sounds like they're pushing the envelope on making Eggman a smack-dab mix of formidable but humorous to a nice touch.

 

And yes, I do love the how it came to compromise of General and Mad Scientist; best of both worlds for the Doc in my opinion.

I'll believe it when I see it...

I here ya there! Man I can't wait to see what's in store!

[Soniman]

No Lost World Parkour system in Boom. (HOORAY!)

 

Uhh yeah ill just be over here being kinda bummed about that, but ill get over it eventually so that's fine.

[Gabz Girl]

Uhh yeah ill just be over here being kinda bummed about that, but ill get over it eventually so that's fine.

 

They will probably use parkour again in the next SEGA!Sonic game.

[Nepenthe]

Considering how much it's been hammered home that this is a new thing entirely, who was expecting any previous gameplay to return in a meaningful capacity anyway?

[Soniman]

Considering how much it's been hammered home that this is a new thing entirely, who was expecting any previous gameplay to return in a meaningful capacity anyway?

 

We'll even though it's a new thing it's still Sonic related so I expect some things to tie it to the main franchise, admittedly though this game was in development around the same time or a bit before SLW so I can understand why parkour wouldn't be present.

[Blue Blood]

We'll even though it's a new thing it's still Sonic related so I expect some things to tie it to the main franchise, admittedly though this game was in development around the same time or a bit before SLW so I can understand why parkour wouldn't be present.

 

Nepenthe is totally right when she says it's been made very clear how different Boom is. People would be much better off if they stopped looking at this as a Sonic game. The characters and some of the loosest elements have been retained, but only in as much as to retain the brand. Everything else is completely new and different, not least of all the gameplay. Surely the parkour system wasn't something you expected to make a return here, was it? Even if you cast everything you know about the project aside and just focus on what you see in the trailer or screenshots, it blatantly isn't there.

[Soniman]

Nepenthe is totally right when she says it's been made very clear how different Boom is. People would be much better off if they stopped looking at this as a Sonic game. The characters and some of the loosest elements have been retained, but only in as much as to retain the brand. Everything else is completely new and different, not least of all the gameplay. Surely the parkour system wasn't something you expected to make a return here, was it? Even if you cast everything you know about the project aside and just focus on what you see in the trailer or screenshots, it blatantly isn't there.

Well that's what I mean, It's a completely different continuity but it's still Sonic so I expect some basic connections here and there/

 

As for believing the Parkour system would return um well yeah bit? The trailer still didn't really present a whole lot in terms of raw gameplay, even still I knew the chance was low anyway. Now that it's confirmed its rather disheartening but it was expected so I'm not to bummed about it anyway..

[Octarine]

I'm sure somebody's brought this up before, but a fair way to look at Boom would be as something like what SMB2 was to the original Super Mario Bros. It'll have familiar characters and at least a few of the series' most iconic items, but only as a veneer over what's basically a totally new thing. Still more or less the same genre, but a wholly different game right down to the foundation.

[Blue Blood]

Well that's what I mean, It's a completely different continuity but it's still Sonic so I expect some basic connections here and there/

 

As for believing the Parkour system would return um well yeah bit? The trailer still didn't really present a whole lot in terms of raw gameplay, even still I knew the chance was low anyway. Now that it's confirmed its rather disheartening but it was expected so I'm not to bummed about it anyway..

 

It's not just a different continuity, it's a different everything. In a way, basically an entirely new product and IP simply using the Sonic brand as a front. That's what you really need to recognise looking at Boom.

[Diogenes]

I'm sure somebody's brought this up before, but a fair way to look at Boom would be as something like what SMB2 was to the original Super Mario Bros. It'll have familiar characters and at least a few of the series' most iconic items, but only as a veneer over what's basically a totally new thing. Still more or less the same genre, but a wholly different game right down to the foundation.

I dunno, I feel like SMB2 was a genuine conceptual extension of SMB, in spite of everything that's different. Like, SMB is a very horizontal game, and SMB2 is "what if we made a game that went vertically?".

Boom seems more like just "how do we make Sonic appeal to kids these days? Bring in some people who haven't failed as hard as we have with platformers!".

[Milo]

I dunno, I feel like SMB2 was a genuine conceptual extension of SMB, in spite of everything that's different. Like, SMB is a very horizontal game, and SMB2 is "what if we made a game that went vertically?".

 

Isn't SMB2 (assuming we're talking about the US ver.) primarily a Mario-themed sprite swap of Doki Doki Panic, though?

[Diogenes]

According to Wikipedia:

 

Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic originally started as a Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype, both developed and directed by Kensuke Tanabe.[4][5] The prototype emphasized vertically scrolling levels and throwing blocks. Notably, it was originally intended to be a two player cooperative game allowing players to toss each other around. The gameplay was considered not fun enough at the time and was scrapped until later when Tanabe received instruction to use the Yume Kōjō mascots in a game, at which point he expanded the gameplay and developed Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic,[6] released in Japan on July 10, 1987.

[Milo]

So Doki Doki Panic started out as a sequel to Super Mario Bros., but was later created into it's own game, only to be retooled back into a SMB sequel for the Western release / replacement for SMB2: The Lost Levels.

 

Hmm. The recursive adaptation radar is off the scale here.

[StaticMania]

They thought it was too different in a un-established formula(Didn't stop them from making Zelda 2)and opted for a Mission packed sequel...then the developers or at least Miyamoto realized they liked their original concept more than their other product when the N.A. Nintendo pushed the development of the original concept.

[frostman007]

Yeah I'll believe it when I see it...

 

Actually, from the interview, it sounds like they'll be able to proceed, use , and/or venture on MORE surfaces and terrain made versatile than with Lost World's particular Parkour system.

 

Hence the, "too specific" quip.

 

What I was trying to say in that interview, and it maybe didn't come out exactly as I wanted it to, is that this is an action/adventure game. Due to that, the characters have a larger assortment of moves and ways that they are interacting with the world, such as with the Enerbeam. In that regard, a Parkour system, like the one in Lost World, wouldn't really make sense or add value. It's a very specific feature with a specific purpose and that purpose makes more sense in a game like Lost World than it ever would in an adventure game like Sonic Boom. Hopefully that makes a bit more sense.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Ah, yes! That clears thing up immensely! Thanks for the tidibit!

[Willsy]

So for those of you who aren't familiar with 'fail faster'....