SpacePirate Ridley said:
Thanks!
Did you have the opporunity at the end to ask some questions we put in here?
Unfortunately not, time was very short. But here are some rough answers based on things he said
To what extent is this game supposed to convey to a new audience the reasons early Disney is great?
He wants to get away from modern attempts to make Mickey "cool", and go back to the original 1920, 30, 40s style stuff. Also, explore things like Mickey's mischievous and slightly less babyish sides, that have been diluted in recent incarnations.
Can you ask for a little more information about the Pixar involvement?
He spoke with John Lasseter who gave him some real food for thought, and helped flesh out the more self referential sides of the game, and how the characters are aware they're in a cartoon. He asked Warren "what does a cartoon character want most?" and apparently that will be a big part of avoiding boss fights. He was quite cryptic, understandably.
If they brought in any Disney, or Pixar animators to either work on the project, or on a regular basis to comment on the animation.
Yes, they showed animation tests to Disney and Pixar people, who told Warren to push the animations even further. Introduce stretching and squidgyness to give a more cartoon like feel.
I would love if you asked why they chose to go for the "babble" instead of real voices. im pretty sure it said that the characters would talk all rare-like (bu-bu-bu-bu-buuuu) in the Gi article.
Yes, they do babble. I think it ties into the unfinished storyboard style of the animations. Plus, the 3D rendered cinematics have little to no voice at all, all visual gags and body language, which is very very nice.
-Just how long has this game been in development? It's been hinted at that it's been around for a couple of years now, and the GI article seems to insinuate the rights to Oswald were re-bought for this game (or at the very least Spector couldn't use Oswald until then), despite the fact that happened back in 2006
Yeah, the Oswald 2006 thing was to do with Epic Mickey. They bought in a bunch of game design students and film students to hash out new Mickey related projects (which actually involved the paint and thinner stuff), and then got Warren Spector in to head the project. It's been underway for a while now.
-How much can we expect the style/look to change level to level? Would he describe the game similar to, say, a 3D Mario platformer, where there's a hub world and different entrances/gateways to other worlds with drastically different environment and styles?
Seems like the game will have a linear progression, but each world exists in its own place, I think.
Seeing the talk about toon versus inert, I'm wondering if they'll attempt something approaching that, so the 'toon' content would look somewhat, er, otherworldly, when compared to the inert content. I would say cel-shaded, but we know that's not it.
Toon stuff is colourful and bubbly and marshmallowy, Inert stuff is dark and evil and static.
Ask him how his previous games are influencing this one? Will we see this as Warren Spector presents Zelda-Like or the natural evolution of Deus Ex and Thief?
Both, really. He mentions Zelda as an influence, but anything to do with moral choices and factions and genre blending comes back to Deus Ex.
5.-His thoughts about Wii hardware, it was enough to meet his vision for the game?
Yes, he can't be arsed to worry about pixel shaders and high definition, and would prefer to just focus on one platform. Then there's the obvious Wii Remote stuff.
Also ask him if what they are doing for Mickey in this game is a company wide change for him or just for this game.
Disney dude and Warren both said that Mickey Mouse is more of an icon, symbol or merchandise image nowadays - kingdom hearts is the only Mickey game they've allowed anyone to make in years, until now. Epic Mickey will be making him into a character people want to play/be, so that could be the start of something.
will we see Oswald anywhere else? Does the company plan to use him for other things along with this reinvented Mickey?
I'm sure you wouldn't go through complicated contract negotiations for one video game.
-are we going to see other disney rides, apart from disneyland, like Tower of Terror in DCA and Disney Studios, Horizons at Epcot, etc... If not, maybe in a sequel?
He is absolutely raiding the archives, so expect lots of crazy stuff, including early designs for rides.
-We know about music in the Its a Small World backstage is a version of it in reverse. Are we going to hear more versions of Disney ride and park famous music.
Like the world itself, the music is a slightly twisted/warped version of classic Disney/Mickey tunes.
I'd just stay away from asking questions with obvious PR answers. Like, he's clearly not going to talk any shit about the Wii's capabilities, so don't both
Lol, I just read this. Thanks for the advice, random NeoGAF guy! Don't worry, I wasn't interested in that shit, but someone bought up Wii and he was like "yeah, its Wii. If its 360 or Ps3, thats Disneys choice, not mine".
e question about a company-wide re-design is a good one. I might want to hear if anything from his previous games specifically informed development of Epic Mickey. And what are the narrative "themes" running through this game? Without getting into the games-as-art argument, the premise sounds like it's trying to say a little bit more than your average game usually does.
Read my feature
In short - its about sacrificing personal gain for friends and family, or other way round. Also, redemption plays a big role.
Q2: As Walt Disney company has been telling people of the last few years with the 'It all started with a mouse' speach, is this game a simple exercise for Walt Disney company to sell more branded Mickey goods and making a killing off of the introduction of merchandise with Oswald aswell, than care about the game itself?
Yes, I asked him this question and he said "Disney don't give a fuck 'bout this game, its all about the benjimins!" What are you on. I got a Mickey Mouse shirt, but its not Epic M related. It looks like someones been wearing it for like 10 years, but I guess fucked up clothes and scratched off designs are hip now.
Who came up with the awful name "Epic" Mickey?
Oh that was me, sorry.
