Interview with Christian von Fersen

I'm not a big fan of racing games, which are usually uninteresting and, in my opinion,
monotonous as the game goes on, so they don't appeal to me in the slightest. But still, allow me to dwell
on one racing game. Again and again EA squeezes money out of my pocket for a new Need For
Speed, and I'm very glad about it.
Despite the fact that Need For Speed Carbon from EA Black Box won't be out for another four-plus
months, I think it wouldn't hurt to learn something about the new game. I decided to talk to
the game's producer Kristian von Fersen, who can say
something about Carbon.

Shark: They say Carbon is a "reinvention" of NFS. Please explain what that
means?
Kristian von Fersen: Our team is always on the cutting edge of street racing culture and
puts a lot of effort and time into searching for new and unique types of racing that emerge under
the inspiration of what we see in real life. We found only two worthwhile things that hadn't been present in Need For Speed
before, but if everything is done right, they will give us a very great experience.
These are: canyon racing and the crew. In NFS: Carbon the player will need to create their own crew, and
then defeat other crews, controlling the city and the canyon surroundings. The canyon is
a venue for the kind of illegal racing you can only imagine. Picture
a car hurtling down a narrow two-lane winding mountain road that begins somewhere
high up above and ends almost in the valley, below. We worked with some
canyon extreme racers to try to bring the experience and sensations we gained into the world
of NFS: Carbon. Just as Most Wanted evolved from Underground 2, Carbon will be the logical
continuation of Most Wanted. In my opinion, fans of the series will get as many positive feelings from
playing it as we got from creating it.

S: Could you tell us in more detail about the canyon duel?
KvF: The canyon duel is a race consisting of two parts. First, when the player's car
is chasing the opponent's car, their goal is to stay as
close to the opponent's car as possible without flying over the guardrail. The closer you are to your
opponent's car, the more points you get, and if you successfully reach the finish line,
you'll finish with a full score. Then, conversely, the player's car will be leading, and your task will
be to reach the finish without letting your opponent get too
close to you, the farther the better. Your goal is to preserve the points you earned in the first
part of the race. The lead car leading and the chasing car being very close behind it until
the finish results in an immediate victory for the latter. If the chasing
car was too far away, then the first one, the lead car, wins.

S: There are many questions about the artificial intelligence of crewmates. How do they
help (in a race, in the garage, implicitly)?

KvF: Your crewmates will be useful to you outside of racing too. You can have
no more than five people in your crew, but then again there's plenty to choose from. Each member of your crew is unique
in their own way and offers individual help. They can help you in a race if you want to include them in
it, but their main role will be outside of racing, in the visual and performance tuning
of the car. You and your crew are surrounded by the game's meta-world, where some crews challenge others for
control over new territories. The best players can actually dominate and control the map
of the entire game world! All crew members have distinctive traits and have certain driving
styles that match their driving skills and the type of car they drive.
The choice of the crew member who will take part in the race will really depend on the player's driving
style.

S: What skills will your crewmates have, and will it be possible to upgrade them over
the course of the game?
KvF: Besides in-race skills such as defense, scouting and drafting, each crewmate will
have a secondary ability that will help the player in various areas of the game. Some skills
will help you with the visual or performance tuning of the car, others will help you influence your
police heat level. As the player progresses through the game, they will be able to add their
wingmen to your crew, thereby adding new skills.

S: How does the process of recruiting into the crew work? How does the player earn crew members? Does he beat them in
races or how?
KvF: All your crew management is in the Safehouse. Your crew will grow slowly,
since the player gradually earns respect, wins races, defeats bosses. There are only
some who will join you right away, while others will join you later, if,
of course, you take them. It's very important to make the right choice, which will depend on your
driving style and on which skills you consider more important.

S: How many people can you take with you into a race?
KvF: The player can take one crew member with them into a race. You can choose any person
from the Safehouse at any time before the race.

S: How do you control crewmates during a race? Does the player give them commands, or are they on
autopilot, or is it possible to control them both ways?
KvF: You control your wingman with commands, via buttons on the controller. We
tried to make this system as simple as possible so that you can control them without taking your eyes off the
road.

S: And can other racers (AI or human) have their own crewmates too?
KvF: Opponents in races will consist primarily of a crew. They will race
as a crew and will be recognizable by their colors and emblems.

S: Tell us about the territories: how many are there, and are they divided into sub-areas; what exactly do the new territories give the player (for example, new territories open new shops, etc.); and do certain territories add certain cars (if so, must I use only those cars in the new territory, or any one I want)?
KvF: In each area that the player plays through with the crew, there are many territories. Each territory will, of course, give the player more control over the world map, but will also give access to certain new features, cars and other rewards. To take control of a territory, you must take control of the majority of the roads controlled by the crew that owns the territory. Certain car classes are favored in certain territories, and this is monitored by the crew that owns that territory. You can call it "home turf advantage". But I will say that the player can stick with the car class of their choice and take control of the whole city.

S: Tell us about the three car classes? What makes them unique, what are the pros and cons?
KvF: We really spend a lot of time differentiating these three car classes. We based part of the game on this and let the player choose which class they belong to right at the start of the game through career. Each class will have its strengths and weaknesses that the player must balance according to their driving style or preference. There is no class that will directly dominate. Given the driver's abilities, any of these three classes can be equally competitive.

S: What is autosculpt? Tell us about it. And what else, besides autosculpt, is available to players who want to customize their car?
KvF: Autosculpt is truly a revolution in visual customization! Our autosculpt allows the player to take part in the visual customization of the car and actually makes it possible to change a huge number of target areas however they like. This can be done with rims, roof, body kits, spoilers, etc. Without a doubt, this has greatly expanded the already huge number of customization options from previous Need For Speed games and given the player almost limitless control over the appearance of their vehicle. Besides autosculpt, players can use many already familiar car customization options and improve their car in a multitude of ways. I think fans of the game will be very pleased with what they see.

S: Tell us about drifting: a little history; why it was decided to include it in NFS Carbon; how it works in the game, anything else.
KvF: In Carbon, drift races will be better and there will be more of them than before. We spent a lot of time this year improving how drift depends on speed and preserving the feeling of balancing your car as it goes sideways, so you easily avoid hitting the wall. Drift fans from Underground 2 and newcomers, get ready! It's truly thrilling!

S: Why was drag mode removed from Carbon?
KvF: We think drag mode should evolve inward, like drift did last year. We felt it was best to take a short break to understand drag properly. Fans, I think, will be able to see drag mode in future Need For Speed titles.

S: Well, let's sum up. What main new features would you highlight in this game?
KvF: I think there are three key features in the game that fans will especially like. First is the new canyon duel race type, in which you and your opponent play one-on-one in a cat-and-mouse game. Second, we paid a huge amount of attention to physics this time. Last year we had a conversation with some fans who wanted more differences between cars of different classes, and that is the main direction we took this year. Fans will immediately feel the difference in handling, speed and driving technique when driving any car from different classes. And finally, gaining meta-game experience will allow fans to create their own crew of racers and achieve the main goal of the game - to take control of the game city.