MX vs ATV Supercross Tent

During the AMA Supercross event this weekend in Las Vegas, BroBible got a chance to talk with MX vs ATV lead designer, Elliot Olson.

Here Olson talked about the new game, new downloads available for MX vs ATV, and what type of rider influence has helped shape it.

Check out the rest of BroBible's article's here.

BroBible: How long has your team been working on the new MX vs ATV: Alive?

Elliot Olson: All said and done it's been over a year and a half. We started on this one just as we were wrapping up the last one.

Did you work on the previous MX vs. ATV games?

Yeah, I've been on this franchise all the way back to MX unleashed so this is the fifth title I've worked on.

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What are some of the things that you guys are excited about for Alive?

Well from the consumer side, everyone gets the game for $40 instead of $60. THQ is trying something specifically just with our game where we get the game out earlier. Basically you get a full-featured game so it's not like a value game at $40, it's still a $60 game. Then we have this really big plan for downloadable content, with a lot of free stuff, not just paid stuff.

So instead of people bitching about DLC after paying for a $60 game, this could push more people to grab content they want after launch?

Yeah, we give it out a little cheaper and then for example in this game we have 12 national tracks and then if you buy the game new you get James Stewart's house and compound to play, which is his real place and that's two more national tracks. So thats 14 tracks right out of the gate and the last game we had eight, so we already have more than that one. There's also the short tracks and free ride so it's not like we are just cutting a bunch of stuff out and then saving it for later; it allows us to get the game out earlier and we can work on downloadable content longer. It actually comes down to being able to extend the game however you want to.

So that covers the consumer side. What do we have to look forward to on the game side?

There are a couple things that are pretty cool. The reflex sticks were new last game, where you have dual control with the sticks, and that went over really well, but this time we were able to go over the physics and really smooth everything out. This makes it a lot more approachable for people to play but at the same time makes it so that all of our core users and hardcore guys have a lot of depth there so they can do what they want with it. We also have these things called assists, which help people that don t really care so much or are more casual players. It can help them turn easier or apply the brakes out of the corner so they don't blow out of the corners. You have to use the brakes a lot more in this game. Also, a lot of times when jumping, players will fly off the track, so the assists will help guide them towards the center. And it's cool because people like myself or the core guys can't stand that (the assists), so it is toggleable in the UI.

This goes into the next thing, where instead of a traditional career, where you have to play this, then play this, and on and on, you just play the game. You play offline, online, it doesn t matter, and you have rider [experience points] much like a shooter. As your rider levels up it unlocks gear, it unlocks all kinds of different stuff so that's how you get your rewards. So you start out on a stock bike and then you earn performance parts that make your bike better and faster.

For people that know our studio, it's a tradition, we don't just revamp something and just add some tracks, we go to the next level, and we have definitely done that with this new game.

So we are here at the Supercross finals, and you guys are releasing on Tuesday, how did this scheduling work out?

Well, we have gone from being a tele-sponsor to being an official game, so everything with Supercross we are always involved with them. It's actually a really big, important thing to us because myself and some other people at the studio actually ride and race, so it gives a different perspective on what a motorcross game should be like.

What bike do you ride now?

I have a CRF450 and a CR250 two stroke, so I'm a Honda guy. So that's cool to have that and then because of that it gives us all these perspectives on what the motorcross game should be, which helps us add authenticity and realism.

In addition to your team's riding experience, what outside help did the studio get to bring more realism to the game?

Ya know, it's funny, because we are so involved in the sport, we really wanted to be a part of the sport, not just somebody that mimics it. So we have in this game over 50 pro riders, and that's probably the most we have ever had in MX-ATV. The guys are always playing the game; if you go to any of the rigs here, it's in their rig in the back where they are resting. We have had the guys come to the studio, we threw a big thing at the Phoenix Supercross, where everyone got to play.

James Stewart was really involved, it was really important to him that he helped and it wasn't just his name in the game and him on the box cover. We went out to his house and worked on that to get his compound in, and he also came to the studio a lot. He is actually part of the in-game progress, where he starts out as sort of your mentor and eventually becomes your nemesis.

What is it like getting these racers to be a part of building games like this?

For a long time we were beating down doors, saying Hey you should be a part of this, but now it's cool that we have enough relationships that everybody really wants to be involved and be a part of it.

Anything else you want to throw in there that people should look forward to?

Just that there is a lot of stuff in the game, and even more coming. I think people are really going to be surprised at how big of a game it is.