In case you somehow missed the cover on your way to this column, this month Develop takes you behind the scenes at social giant Zynga, and asks some of its top staff about the company's methods, and other developers' willingness to criticise it. The feature offers a fascinating insight into
why Zynga is one of the most successful, controversial and closely watched tech companies on Earth. The Develop team has also gathered some of games audio’s finest minds to offer unique perspectives on a range of sound-related issues, from using a VO session for simultaneous capture of facial animation data to managing voice production for large scale MMOs and RPGs. Sound libraries also go under the microscope, as do the merits of generative audio. Our Audio Special starts on page 23 Elsewhere in this issue there’s an encouraging tale of a temping-tester turned Lionhead game creator who is now bringing Fable Heroes to the masses in the wake of Peter Molyneux’s departure, and advice direct from LucasArts production supervisor Jason Smith on getting through a job interview. We’ve also taken a detailed look and the
future of QA and testing as it adapts to the likes of mobile and social gaming, and taken a trip to the UK’s northerly county Yorkshire, where a surprising number of high profile studios have made themselves at home. If that weren’t enough, The Creative
Assembly’s move from high-end PC games to iOS is documented in a analysis of what larger studios must do to embrace a mobile space that is rapidly starting to mirror the ecosystem of triple-A development. And, last but certainly not least, if you turn to page eight you will see some very big news about this year’s eagerly awaited Develop Industry Excellence Awards.
The popular Trials series has undergone something of a change. Will Freeman talks to RedLynx CEO Tero Virtala about creating Trials Evolution, the ‘illusion of independence’, and giving users your tools
How did you approach making sure Trials Evolution felt like more than a number of extra levels for Trials HD? At the starting point, we knew that the core essence that makes Trials such a special game is ultimately the physics model combined with the simplicity of the controls for the motorbike. That remains the same in Evolution. But in terms of how you play the game, and the various game modes, I think the latest game has truly taken the series through a huge evolution. While Trials HD was a great game, when you look at Evolution it’s our biggest game ever, and I would be quite
06| MAY 2012
confident in saying that it is one of the most ambitious digital console games ever made.
So, in terms of the task of developing the game that is, at its core, similar to the previous game, how did you keep the team motivated. Was there enough in the process to excite and challenge them? Well, when we made Trials HD, which was a huge success for us, we were left feeling still hungry. There were so many things we could have added to expand Trials HD at the time. The only kind of covenant we had in our team when starting Evolution was that we