Interviews// Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

After a seven year wait since Banjo-Tooie, the third console game in the series, Nuts & Bolts is nearly here.

It doesn't come without its share of controversy, either. The more traditional platforming elements of earlier Banjo games have dropped into the background in favour of a massive level of customisation in the form of vehicle creation. This isn't your Grandad's Banjo.

SPOnG caught up with Neill Harrison and Elissa Miller, lead technical artist and lead animator respectively, to get the skinny. This is what was said.



So, how's Nuts & Bolts coming along? What stage are you up to?

Neill Harrison: Almost finished, that build (that we demoed with) was about two weeks old. We're just sorting out the last few bugs, like crashes and so on, doing a few last minute optimisations, stuff like that. We're pretty much there now.


Just to clarify some things. You've mentioned that there will be parts that become available as you move through the game. Will there be any sort of stock vehicles?

Elissa Miller: At the beginning when you go to Showdown Town (the game's hub) there's a tutorial. That will take you into the garage and spoon-feed you how you edit the vehicles. So, it'll give you a couple of wheels and the tray to make that shopping trolley (that you start with). So, that'll be your basic vehicle.

Neill Harrison: You actually get given blueprints as you progress through, as well. Like Humba will award you with blueprints if you get so many jiggies (which you win throughout the game) he'll say, “Well done, here's some blueprints that you might now be able to build”. You can buy blueprints as well, in the store.


And you can share your vehicles online?

Elissa Miller: Yeah, you can send them to your friends.

Neill Harrison: Deliberately, as well as the old espionage tactic...

Elissa Miller: Exactly! You can always lock your vehicles (to other players). If you've got a really special vehicle, you don't want to share it, you can always lock it.

Neill Harrison: Yeah, 'cos you can steal vehicles essentially, on multi-player, by going up to them and taking a photo of them.