We got a chance to speak to Brian Allgeier and Ryan Schneider from Insomniac Games on the upcoming platformer for PS3, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction.
What involvement do you have with Insomniac Games and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction?
Brian: I’m the Creative Director on Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. My role has been to work with all the different departments – arts, programming and design – and make sure that the vision of the game comes together as a cohesive whole and all in alignment. I’ve been at Insomniac for 8 years. I was on the first Ratchet and Clank game as a lead designer so it’s a very familiar role for me and I’m extremely excited about Tools of Destruction.
Ryan: I’ve been with Insomniac Games for 4 years. I’m our Marketing Director and I also oversee our community and represent our studio to the fans. I’ve worked closely with Ryan on Tools of Destruction to make sure that the creative vision is communicated to the outside world in the way that we intended it to be.
Can you tell me a little about the characters and story?
Brian: Tools of Destruction marks a whole new beginning for the franchise. We’re looking at Ratchet’s beginning and his origins, which is something we’ve never done before in past titles. All of our fans are asking, “What is a Lombax?” and so we’re going to answer some of those question in the game. As for Clank he has some of his own little questions about his internal struggle. He meets a new type of creature called the “Zoney” that travel through space and time and really, Clank is getting to learn more about his spiritual side. They teach him new abilities like slowing down time, lavigating across gaps, manipulating objects and putting them back together again and he also has abilities when he is on Ratchet’s back, like the Robo Wings which are wings that flop out, allowing them to fly, this cutting laser called the Geo Laser where he can cut through rock. So Clank has his own story which all ties into the gameplay.
Did you have any difficulties coming up with another concept with Ratchet and Clank?
Brian Sure. We always feel, whatever work we do, that we’re our own worst form of competition. How do we out do ourselvesn in terms of the weapons? How do we really wow people?
Has developing for the Playstation 3 give you more abilitiy from a development standpoint?
Brian: Yeah. We’ve got the ability to play with some new toys, like the Sixaxis, where we can whip around tornado’s, fly miniture helicopters, we’ve got tons of new effects like the tornado that has particles and physics that fly around and bounce around. So, the spectical that the weapons can now give gives us a new level to aim for.
So obviously developing for the PS3 has given you more room to work with?
Brian:Yes. Absolutely. In designing games you’re always making trade-offs. You always have to pick which items you can have in and which item’s you can’t. Like the number of particles you can have on screen or how far you can see. So now we’re finding that we’re not walking into those same limitations. With Tools of Destruction those abilities are clearly visible and we’ve had a lot of room to work with.
Thanks for your time and enjoy your stay in sunny Melbourne.
Brian: Thanks.
Ryan: Thank you.
16/11/2007
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Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
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