Interviews// Full Auto 2 - Producer Interview

SPOnG: Can you tell us some of the weaponry and customisations that we will be able to use on our chosen battle cars?

Cord Smith: The stock favourites have made their return, but we’ve taken things a step further with the inclusion of a Flamethrower, Laser, 20mm Cannon, etc. Additionally, we’ve done away with weapon pre-sets entirely through the addition of a weapon and car capacity system. Depending upon which vehicle the player chooses, he or she will have a host of options as to which weapons they mount to the front and/or rear.


SPOnG: There are roughly 20 tracks in the game we hear. What sorts of locations can players expect to be causing havoc within?

Cord Smith: Meridian City is full of some very interesting districts. Crashing through banks and office buildings in the financial area is a blast, but you can also exploit the shipping containers along the docks in the Shipyard district or push your speed to the limit on the straightaways along the Outskirts. Each and every district has been crafted to highlight its own brand of driving challenges, shortcuts, and environmental hazards.


SPOnG: We love making life harder for our opponents using the city surroundings. Can you give us a few examples of what kinds of things to our rivals to knock them out of the race?

Cord Smith: Meridian City’s physicalized environment provides players with numerous opportunities to use the world to their advantage. Players can detonate propane tanks, or ignite gas pipelines to burn their opponents. Players can bring down smokestacks, cranes, monorails, overpasses, and sides of buildings to crush opponents, or simply make their drive path more treacherous. Alternatively, players can nudge opponents through storefronts, into ramps, medians, or off into the harbour. There are a lot of different ways to make “friends” in Full Auto!


SPOnG: What’s the status of the multiplayer modes – how many players can play at once, what sorts of modes will be available and can we expect to see an online mode?

Cord Smith: Letting players take their skills online and directly compete against each other has always been a high priority for us. To facilitate this, Full Auto 2: Battlelines provides 5 different online game modes - Race, Gladiator, Team Gladiator, Cat & Mouse, and Base Assault. The last two are exclusive to online.

These game modes are extremely customisable in “Unranked Play”, where players can tailor the matches to their exact specifications. Alternatively, “Ranked Play” gives players pre-determined challenges and a competitive framework, where they can fight each other for Rank points, and try to climb the leader boards. All online matches support up to 8 players.


SPOnG: The “Unwreck” feature has been toned down in this game, but since its introduction it was always going to be abused and an easy way to complete the game wasn’t it? What was the draw to use this feature in Full Auto? How has it been toned down?

Cord Smith: “Unwreck” has always been a contentious issue. Some people loved it in the original game, and others thought it was “unfair” or “cheating”. For FA2, we merged “boost” and “unwreck” into a single resource so that players who want to use “unwreck” a lot will have to sacrifice their ability to boost and go faster. Of course, players who keep “boosting” will find themselves unable to “unwreck” after they’ve made that fatal mistake and pushed themselves too far. These abilities now really trade off against each other, and there is considerable strategy when choosing whether to hoard your “second chance” or just “throw caution to the wind.”


SPOnG: What’s your favourite trick to take down your opponents? I bet a few hilarious moments have arisen amidst the mayhem.

Cord Smith: Odd as it may seem, one of my favourite interactive elements is the massive sliding hangar door found in the Outskirts arena: “Skunkworks.” This door can be toggled from a top or bottom position by shooting at it, sealing off one exit while opening the other. Near the middle of the arena there’s a concrete jump that—when taken properly—can send you straight into the upper doorway. When I see an opponent trying to take this jump, I get incredible satisfaction from shooting the door in its lower position and sending it up to crush the guy as he lands—turning what he assumed would be a triumphant stunt into a punishing and humiliating death.


SPOnG: Thanks for your time.