Second interview with Chuck Osieja

Question: Was the decision to make Need For Speed Underground 2 more non-linear something you wanted to do already in Need For Speed Underground but couldn't due to time constraints, or was it a completely new idea?
Answer: Actually, it was one of the ideas we wanted to implement back during the development of Need For Speed Underground. But due to some issues and, as you already noticed, due to time constraints, we opted for greater linearity. Well, developing the open world in Need For Speed Underground 2 became the first step toward non-linearity. We listened to consumer feedback about what they liked and didn't like. Everyone liked different details in the game. For example, I love drift, and I love drag. But that shouldn't apply to the rest of the majority, since some people like sprint... Since we gave the player a huge number of options for upgrading their car, in Need For Speed Underground 2 we gave the player even more choices. Now you will choose where to go, which competitions to participate in and which not, which shop to visit. We want to give the player the same choice in car tuning that they have in real life.

Question: Did you think about the balance between the story and player choice? Didn't you think that a huge number of options and choices might confuse the player, or do you believe there can never be too many choices?
Answer: We thought about both. Of course, having choice without a goal is very bad. Choice with knowledge of the goal or a specific idea is better, and that's exactly what we tried to achieve. Despite the fact that the player has a choice of which competitions to participate in and which not, they are not required to participate in everything in order to complete the game. But we want to provide them with options that will help them progress through the story faster. The story is more developed than it was last year and it provides a large number of options for player decisions. What will players do? I think that first of all, different players will try to achieve perfection in certain types of competitions.

Question: What is the main goal of the game? Will it be one big task, or a collection of several?
Answer: Again, both. The goal is the same as in the first game - to become the king of the streets, to become the best racer in this world. But along the way there will be many tasks, the completion of which will lead to different outcomes. Thus, the character Brooke Burke will give you certain goals as the game progresses, but mostly you will arrive at these goals by meeting some other character. For this we created a new mode called Outrun. You can just drive around the city and see another tuned car. You can offer its driver to race yourself, or he will do it before you. If you win, you get money, respect and various useful information. You will complete a large number of small tasks that are components of the main story. As you complete them, you will improve yourself and your car. All these tasks are closely interconnected and their main goal is to give the player the opportunity to explore the world.

Question: Are you going to pay more attention to the car upgrade process in Need For Speed Underground 2? In the first game this process was quite linear: you earned reputation, that gave you access to a certain number of new parts and you installed them. Are you going to add something new to this process, or will everything stay the same as before?
Answer: Of course it won't stay the same. After analyzing all the data we received after the release of Need For Speed Underground, we realized that people liked the visual tuning options for the car, but almost everyone asked for the ability to look under the hood. Interestingly, when we released Need For Speed Underground, we hoped it would appeal more to arcade racing fans, but later we realized that it also appealed to racing simulator fans. That is, everyone was able to find something new for themselves in the game. But still, most people wanted more options for tuning car parts. And we gave them that opportunity. The game still has Kits and Packages that are installed immediately and entirely with all settings. But if you have the desire and skill, you can buy individual parts and install them on your car, while changing their qualities and settings. For example, you are tuning a Mazda Miata, the best car for drifting. You make all the settings you need and save them. But then you need to prepare this car for drag. You make other settings and save them. And when the car is needed for drifting again, you won't have to set everything up again - you can just load the old settings. You will be able to keep several cars in the garage. Tuning them will be quite deep and engaging. There are more than 20 areas that you can work on during tuning. Also now the parts that last year were considered visual tuning will be adjustable. For example, you can install a spoiler and change its angle of attack, which will help change downforce.

Question: As I understand it, there will be more real and official parts suppliers?
Answer: Well, I can't talk about that yet, since we haven't signed contracts with everyone. But, honestly, I hope so. It's interesting that last year we ourselves asked representatives of companies to give their consent to the use of their items in the game, and this year representatives of many companies came to us themselves with the words: "Hey... we want to be part of this too..." For example, representatives of companies from Spain came to us. We are very pleased that Need For Speed Underground has become a phenomenon not only in North America, but also all over the world. Sales were successful in Spain, and in Australia, Italy, France, Germany, in general everywhere. After that, people came to us with the words: "Add this to the game. It is very important for our consumers." And we did it. Of course, we added new areas for upgrading your car. For example, the sound system, because there are many brand-name manufacturers in this area.

Question: Did you expect that the success of Need For Speed Underground would be so big? Of course, the press praised the game, but could it really just please everyone like that?
Answer: If I say that I didn't expect it, I'd be lying. I mean that when we started developing the game, we knew we were creating a new hit. But we didn't know that this game would become so popular. Next, it was interesting for us to conduct research, listen to consumer opinions, in order to find out exactly what players dream of. I think we understood it, and I hope we can implement it in Need For Speed Underground 2. The first time it was something new, but now there will be nothing stunning. The reason for this is that the players themselves decided what they want. All the innovations are their idea.

Question: Need For Speed Underground is very different from previous games in the Need For Speed series, specifically from Hot Pursuit 2, and specifically in the area of tuning. How will this process develop in Need For Speed Underground 2?
Answer: Well, we have several guys on the team who tune cars professionally. They tune cars for racing and for shows. Thanks to these people, Need For Speed Underground did not become just another Need For Speed: racing exotic cars on open country roads. Those were cars that cost more than 125 thousand dollars and accelerated to 100 miles per hour without any modifications. You understood what it meant to own such a car. Tuned cars are the complete opposite. It's somewhat like Frankenstein, isn't it? You take a car, for example a Ford Focus - a great car, but it is not capable of reaching such speed. But if you work on it, tune it - tuning - you can squeeze a huge amount of horsepower out of it. The cars in Need For Speed Underground are significantly different from the cars in Hot Pursuit. They are cheaper, but not worse, they are faster and smaller. They are exactly what you can drive in city traffic conditions. In Need For Speed Underground 2 we gave the player the opportunity to tune their car exactly as they want. If the player wants the car to be heavy - they will do it. If the player wants to achieve excellent handling - they will do it. You yourself choose what to do with the car.

Question: So there will be different competitions for different cars?
Answer: Yes, of course. When you see the new game modes - you will understand that each of them will take place on different types of tracks and require different car settings. Last year there were three main variants: circuit races on regular tracks, drag and drift. Each of these types was different from the other, but this year the differences will be even stronger.

Question: Have you thought about compatibility of Online modes on different platforms: PC, Xbox and PS2?
Answer: Yes, but not on Xbox. In general, we thought about compatibility between PC and PS2. But for this we will have to make some changes in the PC version.

Question: Will there be any other differences in the versions on PC and game consoles?
Answer: Well... LAN play is one of them. We also want Game Cube to have the same effects as on PS2 and Xbox. Honestly, on Xbox we can make many graphical improvements, but we don't want there to be any differences between versions on different gaming platforms. We also have some requests from consumers, and we try to fulfill them.

Question: You already talked a little about the ability to upgrade the audio system in the game. Will this feature be purely cosmetic or deeper?
Answer: Well, cosmetic too. The first reason people played Need For Speed Underground was that they had the opportunity to create their DreamCar. But instead of making this opportunity purely external, we want it to also affect the gameplay. Therefore we created some new upgrades, such as the music system and several new ones that we will tell you about a little later. When we made the first Hot Pursuit - we added police to the game. This gave life to new modes, since the cops became not just a cosmetic improvement of the game, but fully influenced the gameplay. With the release of Hot Pursuit 2 we thoroughly worked out the police AI and their reaction in a given situation became different. The same will be with car tuning and visual tuning. After the release of Need For Speed Underground our competitors started saying: "we give you the opportunity to create millions of combinations" but they themselves understand that this is unrealistic... Therefore we did not add police to Need For Speed Underground, although many asked us to. Game resources simply do not allow it.

Question: One more little question. Previously, style points allowed you to unlock new vinyls and cars. Previously, the number of style points was multiplied by the reputation level, which, in turn, depended on the parts on your car. Now style points will be directed toward nitrous refills. Will this be a worthy reason for earning these very style points?
Answer: Yes, we liked this idea. The game is entirely based on Street Racing culture, and that includes not only how your car drives, how it looks and how I can show it off. If you look at footage of racers burning rubber while doing loops at a stop, you'll understand what style is. So we decided to revisit the goal for earning style points. Of course it's cool to unlock all the vinyls, etc., but that didn't seem to us to be the goal worth earning those points for. Now every jump, every drift, every corner cut will convert into nitrous. So that I have the opportunity to use it, I have to watch the style of my driving, make it beautiful and as close to the real thing as possible. I think filling the nitrous bottles is a fitting goal for this.

Question: Will there be any changes to the method of earning reputation level?
Answer: Of course, since the game has become non-linear. But there will still be situations when you can't participate in some competitions because the car isn't prepared enough for them. But there will also be a mode in which absolutely all cars can participate without exception.