Sin Episodes Interview Fans

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Following on from our own in depth interview on the first Sin: Episodes release, Emergence, Ritual's Michael Russell invited an array of questions to be posted in one of his famous 'question of the week' threads on our forums. Lots of our community members jumped at the chance to pose questions to the development team, ranging from topics from the gameplay on the Source engine to the delivery of the game on the Steam platform. Carry on reading to find out the responses in an interview created by the fans, for the fans. We would like to thank the SiN Episodes development team for their time. This Interview by Forum Members was published 2005-11-30 on ritualistic. 
==Interview==
In your own words, describe the most noticeable changes coming from Sin to Sin Episodes.
The game obviously looks a ton better than the original SiN, sporting high resolution textures and models, as well as more detailed environments. SiN Episodes also has a fully fledged physics engine, so when the player (or any of the NPCs, for that matter) interacts with objects or machinery, everything reacts physically correct. Compared to SiN, this takes a huge load off the level designer's back, since this kind of stuff no longer has to be scripted. That also allows us to have many more objects in the levels, which in turn makes them more realistic.
Overall, things have definitely evolved a bit, but at its core, the game still feels like SiN. The combat is as tight as ever and our characters are still the driving force behind the story. SiN fans will feel right at home.
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Can you describe further on how much interactivity we should expect with the environment and how it plays into the game itself?
We've tried to adhere to the interactive standard set by SiN. We've got many useable objects in the world - Lockers, Cabinets, etc. That's just the start of things though; we go a step further in many cases, giving useable elements a direct tie to gameplay. We didn't forget the play factor in interactivity either. We've created a cool in-game GUI system that allows the player a deeper level of interactivity with things like display kiosks, elevator panels, control terminals, and phone booths. The GUI system operates as our updated analog for the consoles found in the first game. We have more of a foundational implementation at this stage - it's in and it does some cool things, but count on us expanding on it significantly in upcoming episodes, though. We've really just begun exploring the possibilities that the system provides us.
Of course, being on the Source engine, we've got a very powerful physics system to take advantage of as well. Sin Episodes: Emergence is very combat focused, so we intentionally did not include a lot of physics puzzles, however, we have tried to incorporate physics into the combat. The levels have been constructed so you can shoot down supports and knock down shelves. You can catch an enemy's grenade in-flight and toss it back at them (or if you're really good, simply shoot it back at them.) Where we really pushed this though, was the 'explodable language' we developed. We have the usual exploding barrels, but we also have oxygen tanks that will take off from the point you shoot them, bouncing around and taking out whatever they collide with; and Acetylene tanks which operate like rocket propelled grenades. We have rooms FULL of these items. A strategic player can take his or her time, pick up and maneuver objects how they want and set up elaborate ambushes; a more action focused player can just enter the room with guns blazing and let things fly where they may. The cool thing is that these objects react to enemy fire as well as your own, so you might begin an intense fire fight and realize you're standing in a very very dangerous place. It really keeps the intensity up.
Lastly, we have antigen and mutagen containers. Antigen can be picked up and used in health dispensers - Or you can just shoot them and run into the cloud and get healed up. Our health dispensers (called Medstations in the game) actually allow you to eject a partially used container and take it with you if you want. We really wanted to allow for a sense of freedom there. The mutagen containers are set up with multiple chambers, so they can each be triggered multiple times. As for their effect, well - Let's just say it's awesome; a real double edged sword. I won't give away any more than that though; I don't want to spoil the surprise.
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Have you been able to implement Action-based outcomes (ABO's) as planned? What if there is more than one save file with different outcomes on each? Will you require a save to be loaded from Episode 1 when starting Episode 2 to ensure that they do not conflict?
Emergence contains several ABO hooks that will be picked up in future episodes. An episode 1 save will not be required to play episode 2, since that would negate one of the advantages of episodic delivery, namely the gamer being able to choose how much and which parts he wants to play.
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Will you be able to control any vehicles or will you always be a passenger?
Although it's technically possible to have the player drive the HardCorps patrol car we have in the game, Jessica will be controlling it during the first episode, while the player gets to focus on Blowing Things Up™. Future episodes will likely put the player behind the wheel.
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How many difficulty levels are there and is there an insanely hard difficulty level? Playing call of duty on hardest was great; you'd die from a single hit from all rifles and head shots of other weapons.
SiN Episodes utilizes a dynamic difficulty system, which takes into account a huge number of variables, such as the player's accuracy, the headshot ratio, how many times the player is getting hit, how fast enemies are dispatched, and many more. It then adjusts the number of enemies, how many health packs and ammo packs are dropped, and how accurate enemies are with their weapons. We also have a number of other things that adapt to the players' skill. For example, if the system notices that the player is landing a lot of headshots, more enemies will start wearing helmets, which require two headshots in order for the enemy to be killed.
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If I like SiN Episodes, will I be able to purchase the rest of the episodes at a cheaper knock down price in a bundle? Or if we want the bundle, do we have to dive in blindly and buy emergence as part of it as well? The thing is, I don't want to dive in blindly, and yet, if I like the thing, I'd like to bundle the rest up. Is this going to be possible?
We currently don't have a set number of episodes planned for this project, so while the current story arc spans at least six episodes, there's definitely room for many more. So with that in mind, a bundle on future episodes option isn't a feasible pricing model right now. We will eventually look into bundled packages of older episodes as we release later ones.
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Do the weapons have dynamic accuracy or fixed accuracy?
We have a dynamic accuracy system in the game. You have your base accuracy, which can then be increased by crouching, as well as utilizing each weapon's iron sight mode, which will offer a huge accuracy bonus, although it will greatly slow down your movement speed.
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Elexis is obviously absent from media - should we expect her to look close to the original Sin model or has Elexis changed since we last visited her? Oh and thong or commando?
Similar to our other characters, Elexis' look has undergone a few changes to better fit our game world. Her personality hasn't changed a bit though, so she'll be her same old manipulative self. As for the second question, you'll just have to wait and see. :)
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How heavily did you modify the Source engine to accommodate certain features (gameplay, storytelling and such) that can be found in SIN: Episodes and SIN: Source and possibly Wages of SIN: Source?
We've added a number of improvements to the Source engine to accommodate our needs for Emergence. We have the dynamic difficulty system mentioned above, but also the Context Look system, which allows non-player characters to accurately respond to what the player is looking at. There are numerous other features as well, such as damage zones for vehicles, so certain parts can be shot off, and our extensive statistics system.
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If high dynamic range (HDR) lighting is not used in Episode 1, and it is later implemented in a later episode, will you go back and "HDR-ize" the previous ones as well?
Emergence does not currently support high dynamic range lighting, but this is definitely something we're looking at for future episodes. Adding HDR support to Emergence post-release would obviously be ideal, but it will ultimately depend on how much time and resources it would take to make that happen.
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What sort of hit detection have you gone for: Per-pixel hit detection or bounding boxes?
The game currently utilizes hierarchal bounding boxes for hit detection. In other words, there is one large bounding box that contains the entire enemy that is used for quick rejections, and then each individual body part is wrapped in its own bounding box.
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What are the current plans for releasing new episodes? You have stated that after finishing Emergence that you plan to focus on multiplayer. When should we expect Episode 2?
We're currently focusing on getting Emergence wrapped up and out the door. We still plan on getting episode 2 done within 6 months after Emergence, especially since the groundwork has now been laid and a lot of the assets, such as character models, are in place.
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Is there going to be co-op multiplayer?
There are currently no plans for cooperative multiplayer.
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Will we have to preload, unlock and authenticate content as seen in HL2?
SiN Episodes will utilize the same infrastructure as Half-Life 2, so the way content is delivered will be identical.
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Are there plans for SiN and WoS to be rebuilt in Source?
We've been playing around with a Source conversion of the original SiN, and the entire first act has already been ported over to the new engine. The majority of our resources is currently dedicated to finishing Emergence, though, so SiN: Source hasn't really been worked on lately. We still want to get it released at some point, but it probably won't happen until after Emergence ships.
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Will you be releasing the Steam version of the original SiN before SiN Episodes for the benefit of those who have not yet played it? I know for a fact I wouldn't have enjoyed HL2 nearly as much if I had played it before HL1 (even if the game can be played without knowledge of the first game).
The Steam version of the first SiN is nearly finished and we definitely plan on getting it out there. The exact nature and the timeframe of the release have not been decided yet.
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Will there be a separate SDK released or do you and VALVe plan to release an SDK version that can accommodate all Source based games (HL2 + mods and SiN Episodes + extensions)?
We are planning on releasing a SDK for SiN Episodes, but the timeframe for the SDK release has not been established. As for a shared SDK between all Source-based games, given that we have added additional functionality to the Source engine that is not part of the core Source engine, a shared SDK would be difficult to implement at best.
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To which extent are you planning to support the SIN community with mods and other aspects that can arise from the community?
We're definitely going to support the SiN Episodes mod community in any way we can. For starters, though, Valve's editing Wiki is a great resource for modding SiN Episodes, since both games use the same technology. As noted above, releasing a SiN Episodes SDK is also on the list, and members of the team will be stopping by the forums on a regular basis to answer questions and hang out with the community.
On top of all that, one of the great advantages of episodic content is that the community will get a new infusion of assets every few months – textures, models, you name it. Future episodes might also add new gameplay mechanics and technical features. So there will definitely be plenty of content for modders to play around with.
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Why haven't we seen updates and or guidance at the puzzles at LegionPharma? It would seem this great viral campaign died and still has so much promise?
LegionPharma / SinclaireTechnologies was a great tool for building hype and getting bits of information out to the hardcore fans, but as we started moving into full development, it just started taking up too much of our time, which is why there haven't been any hints for the current puzzle. Of course, if people figure that one out, we'll most likely come up with a new one. Who knows, LegionPharma might even go back into full swing for episode 2.
==Sources==
* ritualistic.com - unofficial community hub.
Category: Sin Episodes