Games
Get ready: Ubisoft’s open world racer is back, and this time the tyres are bigger than the cars.
The starting grid was packed with next-gen racers last Autumn, from Forza Horizon 2 to Driveclub, but arguably the most ambitious of them all was The Crew, from Ubisoft, a publisher not really known for its driving sims.
An ambitious, open world recreation of the entire United States on a small (but not that small) scale, The Crew saw you and a group of online friends racing through a potted history of of the country, taking on gangs and the police alike while screaming away through canyons and cities. It was only natural then that for The Crew’s first major DLC release, developer Ivory Tower turned to the ultimate in Americana: monster trucks. The big four wheelers will be storming onto consoles in The Crew Wild Run later this year along with an entire garage of new vehicle types from dragsters to motorbikes and even a virtual car meet on a festival scale. Ahead of Ubisoft’s big press event at Gamescom in Cologne this week, we caught up with the game’s director Stephane Beley to find out what to expect when the DLC drops in November.
Where did the idea for the Wild Run come from? Who pushed for this at the studio and why? To us, The Crew was always meant to be a game that would grow over time and with its community, so the release of this expansion definitely fits our vision. After releasing The Crew, many people in the team were enthusiastic to take advantage of our huge diverse playground, to deliver a crazier driving experience.
What does the title of the DLC imply? Will we be seeing all sorts of crazy races? Yep, the title of the expansion is quite self-explanatory! On one side, we wanted gamers to feel the very different nature of handling, of mastering a variety of vehicles. On the other side, we wanted to take advantage of this massive playground to allow players rediscover it with new eyes, encouraging them to try very different things than what they could experience in The Crew. So for instance, in Wild Run, you’ll be able to set your own races in the open world, and compete in a frantic race between cars and motorbikes; where you’ll have to choose the best path to finish first, on-road or off-road, depending on your vehicle performance. Or you’ll be able to show-off your skills and experience bigger than life thrills in the impressive Summit arenas we’re designing for monster trucks to star in. You’ll also be able to perform mad jump stunts and gain points by going airborne with – almost – every kind of vehicle. These are just a few examples of the new crazy experiences you’ll be able to take part in.
What challenges does introducing motorcycles into the game present? Give us an idea of the scope of the work that goes into that. Do they have entirely different physics models? It is indeed a lot of work for the team to include motorcycles in the game. Balancing cars and motorcycles rivalry has been tough to tackle, so that every type of vehicle can compete fairly against each other. In terms of production, our vehicle artists had to create all new models in 3D as well as customisation options, and all visible engine parts, that are usually hidden under the car hood. Then as for cars, we’re working with a licensing team to secure the rights with manufacturers. We’ve also created a brand new physics model for motorcycles that handles leaning depending on grip and speed, and that includes animations like wheelies and stoppies varying according to acceleration and braking. We’re of course creating riders with their own set of animations, during jumps, collisions, or off-road riding and so on. Last but not least, a lot of effort was put in to adapt the design of The Crew's existing game mechanics to integrate the motorcycles and provide full compatibility.
How about dragsters? What challenges did you face getting those kind of powerful cars into the game? How have you incorporated the feeling of trying to tame such a powerful car? Dragsters demand a lot of precision in their handling, which is reflected by the specifications we’ve added in-game and time spent tuning – like tyre temperature, an anti-wheelie bar, and a specific engine torque. We’ve worked a lot with our artists and designers on the user interface, to give appropriate feedback to the player so that he or she gets a clear notion of how their mastery evolves. For example we’ve incorporated in the speed counter a gauge that indicates the best moment to shift gear, and also a tyre temperature gauge to help the player know when they have an optimal grip.
Drift spec cars also look a lot of fun – why were they mostly left out of the original launch? Indeed, drift cars capture the most exciting aspects of our favourite styles of racing, in a breathtaking showcase of vehicles, cars with massive horsepower racing sideways, door-to-door with each other at insane speeds. There are so many types of vehicles we would have liked to include in the base game, but developing them all properly with their own handling required more time and this is why drift cars are only arriving now in the game. We believe it’s for the best since it perfectly fits this crazy touch we’re bringing to the experience with Wild Run.
Monster trucks look like a ridiculous addition too – did you guys just want to go all out with what you were including with this DLC? The American car culture was our initial inspiration when settling The Crew in the U.S. countryside and Wild Run is our way of honouring that. As driving fans, we definitely love these larger-than-life vehicles, because they allow us to make things we couldn’t achieve with everyday life rides: rocks climbing, river crossing, wheelie contests, exhibition jumps…you name it. And we witnessed in past play tests that monster trucks have the most success among players: they can perform crazy moves, or crush things on their way; with these vehicles they can really let steam off – forget about competition or performance – this is just plain fun.
What have fans been saying about the game since its post-launch woes? Have the kinks been ironed out now? Are you confident Wild Run will launch without a hitch? Fans have been very supportive, they’ve helped us improve the game a lot. The team has put a lot of efforts to hold a program of monthly patches right from game launch. We’re confident The Crew Wild Run release will be a smooth one.
Can you explain how The Summit will work? The Summit is a gathering of car fans from around the world, who will face-off in various challenges across multiple game modes, putting every driving skill to the test. We don’t want to spoil it all now, we’ll have much more to tell you about The Summit before we launch Wild Run this autumn.
You talk about the graphical overhaul – will the Xbox 360 version be getting this, or the DLC? Unfortunately, neither the graphic overhaul nor The Crew Wild Run will be released on Xbox 360. Ubisoft is shifting its development force towards new-gen consoles in order to accompany market transition to these new platforms. Ubisoft has always been a pioneer on new technologies and this decision is consistent with their strategic orientation. Nevertheless, the team will still continue to provide technical support to our current Xbox 360 gamers.
Dare we ask, what’s next for The Crew? Can players expect any more DLC as sizeable as this? We’re of course already thinking about the future of our newly created series. We’ve always thought of it as an hybrid MMO-driving game, that we would make grow over time. Now, to say which format this additional content will take, whether it’s a DLC, a full expansion, or something else – we haven’t decided yet. We’re confident the input from the community will certainly help us in making this type of decision.
The Crew Wild Run is released on 17 November.
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