Interviews// Exclusive SPOnG interview with Gavin Raeburn
Exclusive SPOnG interview with ‘TOCA man’ Gavin Raeburn
Following our recent preview of the forthcoming TOCA Race Driver 3, SPOnG decided to collar the game’s producer, Gavin Raeburn, up at Codemasters, to ask him a few questions about one of our highly anticipated driving games of 2006.
SPOnG Firstly let us congratulate you on TOCA Race Driver 3, its immense. How did you cram all of it in?!
Gavin Raeburn Thanks! Yes, all the content literally only just fits on a DVD-5. From a development point of view, the network of extra options such as race rules and on-line modes really adds to the complexity. A far cry from the original TOCA where we had less than ten cars and tracks in the game and developed the whole project in just ten months with a dozen people!
SPOnG We imagine that you are looking forward to a bit of a Christmas rest, as its clear you’ve had a busy year. What’s the feeling like internally in the studio now that you are near to completion on the game?
Gavin Raeburn The overriding feelings, with the studio this near to completion, are a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The whole team has been working hard to ensure the final bugs are fixed and the overall game quality is as high as possible. We have been extremely excited by the game previews seen so far, but waiting for those final reviews and the public response can be a nervous time. Having said that, we really feel we've produced something special with TOCA Race Driver 3.
SPOnG The World Tour mode seems to be an interesting new addition to the game - can you tell us a little more about this?
Gavin Raeburn The World Tour Mode is actually an evolution of the main mode in TRD2. Again, Rick makes a return as your pit chief and manager, and guides the player through a series of championships where they get to experience all the diverse elements of motorsport contained within the game. Between races, Rick gives advice and feedback on the player’s performance and introduces new tracks and cars as the player encounters them. In addition to World Tour, we also have the Pro-Career Mode. In this mode, players choose a racing discipline and progress through each championship in turn in that discipline, following the career path of a real driver.
SPOnG The idea of playing this game on-line with 15 mates really is the icing on the cake for us. What new on-line/multiplayer features can we expect to see in TRD3?
Gavin Raeburn Due to the success of the on-line mode in the previous game we've greatly expanded the on-line elements of TRD3. Players now have full control over creating the experience they want. Practice, qualifying and shoot-out sessions are now all available on-line and can be toggled (along with the main race) to any length the player desires. The new damage engine and rule system also means that longer races become just as exciting and even more tactical than shorter races. In addition we have a new Spectator Mode, which allows players in the lobby to view the race, either from the trackside or via onboard cameras on each of the players’ cars. We also have a new game mode entitled Elimination, whereby a group of friends can select any championship and race any track with the last player at the end of each lap being eliminated. There are also a whole bundle of other features, which I'll leave as a surprise for those that play the game!
SPOnG One of our favourite aspects of the game is your player’s cheery, paternalistic Scottish Manager. Is Rick based on a real person? On the Xbox preview code we’ve played he is incredibly realistic - how did you do this?
Gavin Raeburn Yes, Rick is essentially a 3D recreation of a living breathing person. We used motion capture to record the actor’s physical performance, which then drives a CG skeleton and rig within the 3D model. The face is more complicated. We start of by 3D scanning the actors' head to provide a base mesh and colour texture, onto which a variety of shaders including specularity and sub-surface scattering are added to heighten realism. The vocal and facial performances are then captured simultaneously using several cameras. This process gives us an additional 3D mesh and texture for each frame of animation. We then apply this sequence of meshes and textures to run in synch on the base mesh alongside the recorded voice track. The hair and cloth are then added using simulation based software that react to his movement and collisions.
SPOnG Can the series go any further after this? It’s hard for us to think of what else you could do with it, in terms of adding more content (cars, championships, motor racing genres etc). Surely its just a matter now of improving the graphics, the physics engines and so on - or have you got any thoughts on adding in more content for TRD4?
Gavin Raeburn It would be easy for us with the next game to just add more cars and tracks and then give them a 'next-gen' polish. However, I think fans of the series are really coming to expect that TOCA pushes the boundaries with each new release, and this is something that all the team are keen to continue. We have a number of incredible ideas for future iterations, but our focus is currently on making Race Driver 3 as good a racing game as possible.
SPOnG Firstly let us congratulate you on TOCA Race Driver 3, its immense. How did you cram all of it in?!
Gavin Raeburn Thanks! Yes, all the content literally only just fits on a DVD-5. From a development point of view, the network of extra options such as race rules and on-line modes really adds to the complexity. A far cry from the original TOCA where we had less than ten cars and tracks in the game and developed the whole project in just ten months with a dozen people!
SPOnG We imagine that you are looking forward to a bit of a Christmas rest, as its clear you’ve had a busy year. What’s the feeling like internally in the studio now that you are near to completion on the game?
Gavin Raeburn The overriding feelings, with the studio this near to completion, are a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The whole team has been working hard to ensure the final bugs are fixed and the overall game quality is as high as possible. We have been extremely excited by the game previews seen so far, but waiting for those final reviews and the public response can be a nervous time. Having said that, we really feel we've produced something special with TOCA Race Driver 3.
SPOnG The World Tour mode seems to be an interesting new addition to the game - can you tell us a little more about this?
Gavin Raeburn The World Tour Mode is actually an evolution of the main mode in TRD2. Again, Rick makes a return as your pit chief and manager, and guides the player through a series of championships where they get to experience all the diverse elements of motorsport contained within the game. Between races, Rick gives advice and feedback on the player’s performance and introduces new tracks and cars as the player encounters them. In addition to World Tour, we also have the Pro-Career Mode. In this mode, players choose a racing discipline and progress through each championship in turn in that discipline, following the career path of a real driver.
SPOnG The idea of playing this game on-line with 15 mates really is the icing on the cake for us. What new on-line/multiplayer features can we expect to see in TRD3?
Gavin Raeburn Due to the success of the on-line mode in the previous game we've greatly expanded the on-line elements of TRD3. Players now have full control over creating the experience they want. Practice, qualifying and shoot-out sessions are now all available on-line and can be toggled (along with the main race) to any length the player desires. The new damage engine and rule system also means that longer races become just as exciting and even more tactical than shorter races. In addition we have a new Spectator Mode, which allows players in the lobby to view the race, either from the trackside or via onboard cameras on each of the players’ cars. We also have a new game mode entitled Elimination, whereby a group of friends can select any championship and race any track with the last player at the end of each lap being eliminated. There are also a whole bundle of other features, which I'll leave as a surprise for those that play the game!
SPOnG One of our favourite aspects of the game is your player’s cheery, paternalistic Scottish Manager. Is Rick based on a real person? On the Xbox preview code we’ve played he is incredibly realistic - how did you do this?
Gavin Raeburn Yes, Rick is essentially a 3D recreation of a living breathing person. We used motion capture to record the actor’s physical performance, which then drives a CG skeleton and rig within the 3D model. The face is more complicated. We start of by 3D scanning the actors' head to provide a base mesh and colour texture, onto which a variety of shaders including specularity and sub-surface scattering are added to heighten realism. The vocal and facial performances are then captured simultaneously using several cameras. This process gives us an additional 3D mesh and texture for each frame of animation. We then apply this sequence of meshes and textures to run in synch on the base mesh alongside the recorded voice track. The hair and cloth are then added using simulation based software that react to his movement and collisions.
SPOnG Can the series go any further after this? It’s hard for us to think of what else you could do with it, in terms of adding more content (cars, championships, motor racing genres etc). Surely its just a matter now of improving the graphics, the physics engines and so on - or have you got any thoughts on adding in more content for TRD4?
Gavin Raeburn It would be easy for us with the next game to just add more cars and tracks and then give them a 'next-gen' polish. However, I think fans of the series are really coming to expect that TOCA pushes the boundaries with each new release, and this is something that all the team are keen to continue. We have a number of incredible ideas for future iterations, but our focus is currently on making Race Driver 3 as good a racing game as possible.
