Updated 3/1: Steve Caterson Interview Live! I Ask Questions & Stuff Is Answered!

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Updated 03-01 - Inteview is now live!

I took some of your questions along with mine and posed them to Steve last Wednesday, like: How many endings does the game have? Does it run at 720P or 1080P? What comprises most of the 35GB on the Blu-Ray disk? Will the God of Wat 3 engine be licensed out? When will we see DLC? Has work begun on the next God of War trilogy? And a ton more questions, so I hope you Enjoy! It was a lot of fun. :)

Here is a snipet:

"Each GoW game has had a different director and each one has brought a different vision. What kind of affects has this had on the game?

Oh it’s awesome! I think it’s one of the best ways we could have done it. I don’t want to draw direct comparisons to this, but one of my favorite series of all times was Band of Brothers. I love that series! Each episode is set in the same period with the same characters in the same events, but there were different directors for each episode. When you watch the whole thing and reflect back its like ‘wow, ok so it is a little different’. It’s the same with the GoW series—each guy provided a different perspective."

The interview is too big to post here so I just wanted to let people know that it can be found here: http://eat-games.blogspot.com/2010/03/interview-steve-caterson-sr-producer-of.html

________________________________________________
Updated 02-25 - I'm back!

You will have to excuse me--I'm still coming down from my high from my experience last night. I suppose I should probably let everyone know that I'm a really big fan of the God of War series. I love both 1 and 2 quite a bit (and I'm a bit of a Greek mythology geek too), have played through both of them multiple times and consider them some of the best action games to ever have been released.

First to bring everyone up to date, I got a chance to play God of War 3 from the very beginning of the game all the way up to the first boss fight at a Sony event last night. In addition I got a 30 minute interview with Steve Caterson (Sr Producer) that turned out really well! Unfortunately the details on what I played and saw is embargo'd until 03-01-10. However I can say this--those of you who have played the GoW3 demo haven’t see ANYTHING yet, and I mean that. That demo--which great in its own right--is more tame than what I played. Santa Monica Studios has expanded on the series in just about everything facet of the series that made it great. Seriously, it's stunning what they've done. It's absolutely KILLING me that I cannot talk about what I saw because I want to scream from the rooftops. Oh well. It's only a few days right?

I know that everyone is chomping at the bit to get more information on the visuals so here it is. I can confirm (from my interview) that the game runs at a variable frame rate running between 30-60 FPS @ 720P with V-sync enabled. In my time with the game last night I didn’t notice a single tear, hiccup or stutter the entire time (and I was looking for it too).

Steve (Caterson) was very candid and answered most of my questions. I forgot my voice recorded so I ended up using my iPhone and it--to my surprise--recorded our entire conversation really well. I was just going to use it for notes but because the audio is great and I come from a Podcasting background I'm considering jazzing it up a bit (read: trim the fat) and putting it up on my blog. What do you guys think about this? Would you rather have it transcribed? I think you'll like the audio because Steve was so great.

Here are some of the questions I asked that (mostly) got answered:

- What was your role in the development of GoW3
- What was the greatest challenge in regards to the development of GoW3?
- Have any games released this generation influenced the development GoW3?
- What inspired a moving level? Was it something the team wanted to do with the first two games?
- In your opinion the series has had different directors for each game wondering what kind of positive affect this has had on the series?
- Can we expect to see some DLC? Any of it free?
- Has work began on the next God of War trilogy?
- God of War 2 was released roughly 3 years ago and the genre hasn’t moved forward too much in terms of gameplay. What are you guys doing, gameplay-wise, to move things forward?
- Is the game running at 60 FPS/720P?
- Zippertech: What exactly does it do? Go beyond?
- What’s the majority of the 35GB used for on the BRD?
- Are there any pre-rendered cutscenes in the game or are they real time?
- Will the GoW3 engine be licensed out?
- Will GoW3 be more in line with the first game or the second game in regards to narrative?


I did get word from Sony that I will be receiving my review copy of the game perhaps as soon as next week! As always I will let you guys know my honest opinion on the game and keep you up to date.

God I love this hobby! :)


_______________________________________
Heres the deal, tomorrow I will be attending a press event down in LA where we will take a peek into the making of GoW3, interview the team, get hands-on time with the game. I'm coming to you guys for good questions to pose to him and the team. What would you like for me to ask of the project lead/team? It can be in regards to mostly anything like tech, gameplay, production & design process, DLC, Etc. Also, keep in mind that there is a chance that the interviews might not happen since I'm very low on the totem pole.

I dont know if it's true but rumor has it that the content is new and Stig might have a "special announcement"? Grain of salt and all, but you never know.

Also, I will be Twittering from the event with my impressions and photos: http://www.twitter.com/heymarkd
 
Last edited:

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
Does God of War 3 run at a constant 60FPS, and if not, is it at least a constant 30FPS? After playing the GoW3 demo after playing GOW1 and 2 on the collection disc, it felt fairly slow compared to the older ones.

Is the length of God of War 3 longer, shorter, or about the same as parts 1 and 2?

Was there ever any consideration in ramping up the sound effects of Kratos weapons (mainly the knives on fire)? I've always felt that they sound very weak and drowned out and didn't sound very 'painful' when attacking someone with them.
 

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Oh AT how you make me so sad. Out of all the forums I posted this in, you had the least questions. Kinda thought it would be the other way around. :(
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
i mean in all honesty there just isn't that much mystery to the game. it is going to be more of the same, which in this case is a very good thing. there isn't any multiplayer or anything to ask about either.
 

Dumac

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2005
9,391
1
0
I am happily content with how God of War 3 is shaping up.

The only other thing I guess I'd want to know about is total projected play time and unlockables.
 

Beev

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2006
7,775
0
0
i mean in all honesty there just isn't that much mystery to the game. it is going to be more of the same, which in this case is a very good thing. there isn't any multiplayer or anything to ask about either.

Yep, I agree with this. There isn't anything I don't already know that is important.
 

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Updated 02-25

You will have to excuse me--I'm still coming down from my high from my experience last night. I suppose I should probably let everyone know that I'm a really big fan of the God of War series. I love both 1 and 2 quite a bit (and I'm a bit of a Greek mythology geek too), have played through both of them multiple times and consider them some of the best action games to ever have been released.

First to bring everyone up to date, I got a chance to play God of War 3 from the very beginning of the game all the way up to the first boss fight at a Sony event last night. In addition I got a 30 minute interview with Steve Caterson (Sr Producer) that turned out really well! Unfortunately the details on what I played and saw is embargo'd until 03-01-10. However I can say this--those of you who have played the GoW3 demo haven’t see ANYTHING yet, and I mean that. That demo--which great in its own right--is more tame than what I played. Santa Monica Studios has expanded on the series in just about everything facet of the series that made it great. Seriously, it's stunning what they've done. It's absolutely KILLING me that I cannot talk about what I saw because I want to scream from the rooftops. Oh well. It's only a few days right?

I know that everyone is chomping at the bit to get more information on the visuals so here it is. I can confirm (from my interview) that the game runs at a variable frame rate running between 30-60 FPS @ 720P with V-sync enabled. In my time with the game last night I didn’t notice a single tear, hiccup or stutter the entire time (and I was looking for it too).

Steve (Caterson) was very candid and answered most of my questions. I forgot my voice recorded so I ended up using my iPhone and it--to my surprise--recorded our entire conversation really well. I was just going to use it for notes but because the audio is great and I come from a Podcasting background I'm considering jazzing it up a bit (read: trim the fat) and putting it up on my blog. What do you guys think about this? Would you rather have it transcribed? I think you'll like the audio because Steve was so great.

Here are some of the questions I asked that (mostly) got answered:

- What was your role in the development of GoW3
- What was the greatest challenge in regards to the development of GoW3?
- Have any games released this generation influenced the development GoW3?
- What inspired a moving level? Was it something the team wanted to do with the first two games?
- In your opinion the series has had different directors for each game wondering what kind of positive affect this has had on the series?
- Can we expect to see some DLC? Any of it free?
- Has work began on the next God of War trilogy?
- God of War 2 was released roughly 3 years ago and the genre hasn’t moved forward too much in terms of gameplay. What are you guys doing, gameplay-wise, to move things forward?
- Is the game running at 60 FPS/720P?
- Zippertech: What exactly does it do? Go beyond?
- What’s the majority of the 35GB used for on the BRD?
- Are there any pre-rendered cutscenes in the game or are they real time?
- Will the GoW3 engine be licensed out?
- Will GoW3 be more in line with the first game or the second game in regards to narrative?


I did get word from Sony that I will be receiving my review copy of the game perhaps as soon as next week! As always I will let you guys know my honest opinion on the game and keep you up to date.

God I love this hobby! :)
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
good stuff warcrow.

i am going to barbados on march 20th, but i hope that i can finish gow3 before then haha.

i doubt it though :(
 

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Thanks. Yes the games release is imminent. Looking forward to next week for sure.
 

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Updated 03-01 - Inteview is now live!

I took some of your questions along with mine and posed them to Steve last Wednesday, like: How many endings does the game have? Does it run at 720P or 1080P? What comprises most of the 35GB on the Blu-Ray disk? Will the God of Wat 3 engine be licensed out? When will we see DLC? Has work begun on the next God of War trilogy? And a ton more questions, so I hope you Enjoy! It was a lot of fun. :)

Here is a snipet:

"Each GoW game has had a different director and each one has brought a different vision. What kind of affects has this had on the game?

Oh it’s awesome! I think it’s one of the best ways we could have done it. I don’t want to draw direct comparisons to this, but one of my favorite series of all times was Band of Brothers. I love that series! Each episode is set in the same period with the same characters in the same events, but there were different directors for each episode. When you watch the whole thing and reflect back its like ‘wow, ok so it is a little different’. It’s the same with the GoW series—each guy provided a different perspective."

The interview is too big to post here so I just wanted to let people know that it can be found here: http://eat-games.blogspot.com/2010/03/interview-steve-caterson-sr-producer-of.html
 

warcrow

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
11,078
11
81
Woa! My interview is getting picked up by a bunch of gmaing new sites--woooo! :)