Epic Mickey 2 Interview With Programmer Rodd Oblander

During E3 2012 I met Rodd Oblander, a Network Programmer for Junction Point Studios Texas who are working on the new Epic Mickey 2 title.  I managed to get an interview with Rodd and learnt a lot of new interesting things about Epic Mickey 2.  Check out the video after the jump. For those who wish to read the interview as well, a text version of the interview is also included.

 

Dan: Hi this is Daniel from Push-Start and I’m with

Rodd: Rodd Oblander, I’m a network programmer with junction point studios from Texas.

Dan: One of the key things that I was fascinated by is the fact that Epic Mickey 2 is now on multiplatform, was it a big decision for you guys to choose to move to multiplatform in the programming sense, making three different versions of the game.

Rodd: Ah, that’s a very good question; it’s not a difficult decision at all given the success of the Xbox and PS3, obviously the Wii with the painting is a natural choice for this type of game. The other difficulty was learning how to develop a new control system, whilst you have the PS3 and the Move, which has similar functionality, the Xbox, and somebody with a PS3 without that [Move] has to use a standard controller. So that was part of the consideration when going into multiplatform. Additionally, the assets for developing the Wii was primarily a junction point; we developed the Wii version. A company called Blitz off in England were doing the PS3 and Xbox version based off our engine. The Wii has assets that aren’t HD, but the Xbox and PS3, we can bring those assets up to a higher resolution. So that added a new dimension to the art team and that level to make sure we had assets that supported HD and looked good as well as still looking good on the Wii version. I think I had more, but I don’t remember what I was going to say.

Dan: How long has the title been in development for the platforms?

Rodd: I believe the initial work for the physical game began in around January of last year. We used many of the components from the original epic mickey engine, gameplay and systems like that, and expanded on it, and the Wii has really been pushed to its limit. This is a really good title for the Wii, you’re counting bytes on, do we fit in memory, do we cut, take a period off this word, it’ll save memory. But then Blitz is taking that, they work six weeks behind, because they’ll take our engine and they’re bringing certification for the Xbox and PS3 meeting the needs of those first party vendors; audio, graphics and the controller, and re-work that to match those platforms. We have to be conscientious of changes we make impact them, so that’s been a challenge, so overall story in Warren Spectors mind has been over several episodes. Disney Epic Mickey 2, he has future ideas already laid out, but the groundwork for the story has been around for a while before Epic Mickey one.

Dan: That’s good, I was just wondering as well, will the platform have co-op, split screen co-op?

Rodd: All three platforms have co-op. What we have, it’s called couch play, but it’s co-op gameplay where you sit next to each other. The benefit of this, some people ask, why not network play, the benefit is because Mickey is the playable character, Oswald can drop in and drop out at any time. The way Oswald and Mickey interact in Co-op play, you have to really be sitting next to each other for the full benefit because of their communication, and watching what’s going on at the same time. Plus it’s more personal, it’s more family oriented; it’s Disney, when you sit and watch Disney cartoons together, now you sit and make a Disney cartoon together.

Dan: What characters have returned from the original Epic Mickey game, are there new movies included in the worlds?

Rodd: There are new places, there’s old ones, new ones that have been expanded on, not working in the design area, I can’t name off the different ones but the world has expanded and the old ones have changed, due to the world changing events that occur, and the game, areas that you once recognised, you don’t recognise anymore, and it has a new dimension to things you’ve already seen.

Dan: Can you play Epic Mickey 2 single player, or is it a separate co-op campaign or is it constantly drop in drop out?

Rodd: So it is, you want to say that its single player with co-op drop in drop out at any time. To have Oswald be drop in with a different player, you don’t have to start any differently to how you normally do. And that benefits the fact that if little Jimmy or Cindy are playing and they get frustrated, Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister, friend, can come over whatever they’re doing, help out, put it down and leave again and it doesn’t change the game at all. Oswald will jump in as AI at any time when nobody is playing Oswald directly.

Dan: I know that the PS3 has PlayStation Move made controller, as so does the Wii, will the Xbox have any Kinect functionality at all?

Rodd: That’s a good question, and it’s one of those head scratches where you go if we made it work with the Kinect you’re getting a different game, because the motion versus painting with the controllers, whether you’re using shock, or the boomerang with Oswald, all the different moves; spin attack, how do you work that in to the Kinect without a controller? So whilst it’s possible, it would just be a different game.

One thing I’ll add that’s very different from Epic Mickey that adds significantly to Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2 is that the in-game characters have a voice now and I think that’s really important to talk about. So all the text you read is spoken and not only just spoken by somebody, its Disney voice talent. Mickey Mouse is Mickey Mouse like in the cartoons, no different. Oswald for the first time has a voice, Frank Welker does the voice, Carry Elwes from the Princess Bride does Gus, we’re bringing in some good talent and it really heightens the level of it a lot, with the music , that’s a part of the story, it makes it feel more like a cartoon, a Disney feature film that you’re involved in and that’s fairly exciting from a players standpoint, it’s a pretty challenging game. It’s not a simple as running around and collecting ‘this’  or jumping over this box, the concept of when to use paint, when to use thinner, and how they work together and combination moves between Oswald and Mickey, when their AI and you can do more with a player than you can do with AI. It really brings up the level of what you can do, and there’s multiple ways of solving every challenge, you can play with all paint or you can play through with all thinner and still finish the game and have a different experience. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you can choose that path as the player.

Dan: What characters have already been confirmed? Are any original Disney characters or film characters returning to the game. You mentioned voice actors, is anyone, say from the Lion King going into the game at all? Original voice actors from the feature length films?

Rodd: The voice actors are just known by their characters, not by their names or what different voices that they do. So it’s Mickey Mouse’s voice and that’s pretty much all we want to talk about that.

Dan: Thank you very much for your time, it’s been great, it looks amazing and I look forward to more.

Rodd: Thank you very much.