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What state's Die Hard on Gamecube in at the moment?
Katan - It's in a very good state It's actually running on the Gamecube now we have the hardware, which is really cool, because obviously before that we were testing it on PC.
How far through development are you?
Katan - All the environments are built. All the voice-overs were done just before Christmas: other than a few changes it's all going in. We've got four levels built with voice-overs in, which is probably about half way through. But, as I say, all the other environments are built, so it's just a matter of putting in the gameplay and the other voice-overs
Can you give us a taster of what to expect?
Katan - We're going to show part of the gameplay, so people will be able to play it, but only a snippet. We're going to show some of the cinematic effects, too.
The demo you showed at last year's ECTS was done on a PC, right?
Katan - At the time it was taken from a PC dev kit, but it all looks better now [it's on Gamecube].
What level of improvement can we expect?
Katan - Everything will look better. The characters and the texturing is better, the detailing of the backgrounds, and the lighting is definitely a lot better - the way shadows are cast is much more correct now, and the voice-overs are better. All the voice-overs - except the John McClane one, which was a test of the actor that we did use in the game - were just guys in the office basically.
Will any of the actors from the movie feature in the game?
Katan - The only real sound is Big Al [Rickman], who is the real character - all the others are sound-a-likes. [As for other characters] there's the journalist who drives everyone mad in the first movie - he's back in the game, and we've invented John McClane's daughter, so it follows on from where Die Hard 3 ends: she's grown up and joined the police academy, and that's where McClane comes to help her out and becomes dragged into the convoluted plot.
What makes Die Hard stand out from other FPS games?
Katan - A number of things: the whole cinematic approach, which takes it outside of the first-person: it's part of the game even though you're not controlling it at that point, which is really cool. I also think the character involvement is a lot better than a lot of the console games - it's more Half Life, if you like. And there are more environmental puzzles - there are a lot of these. They're just really cool and really different.
You saw one clip in the trailer [at last year's ECTS] where McClane went up behind a guy - in no other game can you go up behind a guy and take them hostage, and there's a lot of gameplay that come from that: you have to detain the right person, and so on. The other great thing about it is that it's not just about action - you need to be stealthy. When you go into stealth mode, it's an actual mode you're in.
If you take Agent Under Fire; it's a very pretty game a
nd I think they did a really great job on that, but I think its weakest point is the puzzles; they're really simplistic. It's a pity as it took a lot away from the game. I'd hope that people really enjoy some of the puzzles in Die Hard.
What's you working relationship with Fox been like?
Katan - They've been very good. They worked closely with us when we did the story - there are obviously certain things that are Die Hard and things that are not, but overall they've been very good about it. John McClane is such a New Yorker, so it's very hard when the script's written in the UK to get it just right, so we did the first part, they came up with comments, and we did the second part. There's been about three or four parts to the script. In the end it worked really well. To get the whole New York attitude and flavour is something that's very important. It's very hard as a developer to get that kind of feel on your own.
The trailer was very adult in content, with swearing and high levels of violence. Will this be retained in the finished Gamecube version?
Katan - On the Gamecube version I don't think so; other versions may have it, but the Gamecube version will not have so much. At the end of the day it's not our decision and it's up to the publisher, but if the Gamecube market going to go the way it looks like it will, clearly you can't afford to go for a mature rating, so we'll try and go to Teen if possible. Whether Teen is allowable with any violence, I'm not sure, but if it is then we'll put it in.
So we'll be seeing Die Hard on PS2 and Xbox?
Katan - PS2 at some point, but nothing we can announce. Definitely Gamecube as lead though, and that's what we're focusing on at the moment.
Will you be creating different content to appeal to each console's specific demographic?
Katan - I would like to - put it that way. Also, there's a lot of snobbery between versions of games, and in my view if you make an effort with other versions it's appreciated by those people, so definitely we'd like to do that.
What's your experience of working with Gamecube been like?
Katan - It' s a really, really nice machine - much easier than the N64 and clearly a lot easier than PS2 . It's interesting because in terms of raw power, the PS2 and Xbox can shift more polygons, but in terms of usability, it's a lot easier to get the power out of Gamcube than PS2, and even Xbox isn't that far ahead. The Gamecube and Xbox are very comparable technically: there are definitely things we're doing on Xbox that are more easily done on Xbox, but overall both machines are pretty similar.
When can we expect Die Hard to be released?
Katan - There's a good chance it'll be out in the states before it's out in Europe - I'd say, probable some time in Q3. I'd hope we'd finish it in second quarter - it all depends on how much we want to tune it and make it tighter and better. There's a lot we haven't shown - come February 19 a lot more's going to be shown.
What state's Die Hard on Gamecube in at the moment?
Katan - It's in a very good state It's actually running on the Gamecube now we have the hardware, which is really cool, because obviously before that we were testing it on PC.
How far through development are you?
Katan - All the environments are built. All the voice-overs were done just before Christmas: other than a few changes it's all going in. We've got four levels built with voice-overs in, which is probably about half way through. But, as I say, all the other environments are built, so it's just a matter of putting in the gameplay and the other voice-overs
Can you give us a taster of what to expect?
Katan - We're going to show part of the gameplay, so people will be able to play it, but only a snippet. We're going to show some of the cinematic effects, too.
The demo you showed at last year's ECTS was done on a PC, right?
Katan - At the time it was taken from a PC dev kit, but it all looks better now [it's on Gamecube].
What level of improvement can we expect?
Katan - Everything will look better. The characters and the texturing is better, the detailing of the backgrounds, and the lighting is definitely a lot better - the way shadows are cast is much more correct now, and the voice-overs are better. All the voice-overs - except the John McClane one, which was a test of the actor that we did use in the game - were just guys in the office basically.
Will any of the actors from the movie feature in the game?
Katan - The only real sound is Big Al [Rickman], who is the real character - all the others are sound-a-likes. [As for other characters] there's the journalist who drives everyone mad in the first movie - he's back in the game, and we've invented John McClane's daughter, so it follows on from where Die Hard 3 ends: she's grown up and joined the police academy, and that's where McClane comes to help her out and becomes dragged into the convoluted plot.
What makes Die Hard stand out from other FPS games?
Katan - A number of things: the whole cinematic approach, which takes it outside of the first-person: it's part of the game even though you're not controlling it at that point, which is really cool. I also think the character involvement is a lot better than a lot of the console games - it's more Half Life, if you like. And there are more environmental puzzles - there are a lot of these. They're just really cool and really different.
You saw one clip in the trailer [at last year's ECTS] where McClane went up behind a guy - in no other game can you go up behind a guy and take them hostage, and there's a lot of gameplay that come from that: you have to detain the right person, and so on. The other great thing about it is that it's not just about action - you need to be stealthy. When you go into stealth mode, it's an actual mode you're in.
If you take Agent Under Fire; it's a very pretty game a
nd I think they did a really great job on that, but I think its weakest point is the puzzles; they're really simplistic. It's a pity as it took a lot away from the game. I'd hope that people really enjoy some of the puzzles in Die Hard.
What's you working relationship with Fox been like?
Katan - They've been very good. They worked closely with us when we did the story - there are obviously certain things that are Die Hard and things that are not, but overall they've been very good about it. John McClane is such a New Yorker, so it's very hard when the script's written in the UK to get it just right, so we did the first part, they came up with comments, and we did the second part. There's been about three or four parts to the script. In the end it worked really well. To get the whole New York attitude and flavour is something that's very important. It's very hard as a developer to get that kind of feel on your own.
The trailer was very adult in content, with swearing and high levels of violence. Will this be retained in the finished Gamecube version?
Katan - On the Gamecube version I don't think so; other versions may have it, but the Gamecube version will not have so much. At the end of the day it's not our decision and it's up to the publisher, but if the Gamecube market going to go the way it looks like it will, clearly you can't afford to go for a mature rating, so we'll try and go to Teen if possible. Whether Teen is allowable with any violence, I'm not sure, but if it is then we'll put it in.
So we'll be seeing Die Hard on PS2 and Xbox?
Katan - PS2 at some point, but nothing we can announce. Definitely Gamecube as lead though, and that's what we're focusing on at the moment.
Will you be creating different content to appeal to each console's specific demographic?
Katan - I would like to - put it that way. Also, there's a lot of snobbery between versions of games, and in my view if you make an effort with other versions it's appreciated by those people, so definitely we'd like to do that.
What's your experience of working with Gamecube been like?
Katan - It' s a really, really nice machine - much easier than the N64 and clearly a lot easier than PS2 . It's interesting because in terms of raw power, the PS2 and Xbox can shift more polygons, but in terms of usability, it's a lot easier to get the power out of Gamcube than PS2, and even Xbox isn't that far ahead. The Gamecube and Xbox are very comparable technically: there are definitely things we're doing on Xbox that are more easily done on Xbox, but overall both machines are pretty similar.
When can we expect Die Hard to be released?
Katan - There's a good chance it'll be out in the states before it's out in Europe - I'd say, probable some time in Q3. I'd hope we'd finish it in second quarter - it all depends on how much we want to tune it and make it tighter and better. There's a lot we haven't shown - come February 19 a lot more's going to be shown.
![[IMG]](http://www.ealasaid.com/fan/shrine/hans1.jpg)
![[IMG]](http://www.ozcraft.com/scifidu/diehard/diehard_drop.jpg)