September 2003 Tron-Sector Q&A With Frank Rooke
Submitted By:
tronprogram
Apart from the obvious new super lightcycle, have there been any updates in any vehicles like the tanks or recognizers?
Yes. Many elements from the movie made it into the game in one form or another. What we tried to do was push the idea that the game takes place twenty years after the film, so the role and functionality of vehicles such as the tank and the recognizer have changed to reflect this time difference. For example, the recognizers are no longer the imposing force they once were, they are now nothing more than tugboats hauling data around.
How much problems did you have when making a game like Tron 2.0 taking from the cult classic film of Tron. And updating it 20 years later to present day life and what it might look like inside the computer. With the way the computer were changing every 1-4 months in technology. And the introduction of the Internet in the mid 90's. How much problems did you have in knowing what to put into the game from what has changed since the initial cult classic was shown way back in 1982. As for what kind of things that is in the games from computer technology.
The changing technology actually worked in our favor. The resource of ideas available to draw catchy tech phrases, analogies and metaphors was enormous. But in the day of the film, they had to be extremely careful not to use a language that nobody understood. Today, most people are computer literate. The internet boom helped greatly in this regard.
When were developing the game of Tron 2.0. Did you decide that it was going to be done iniaitally in the the windows enviroment, Or was its already perfected in another enviroment like in the Unix/Linux enviroment. And all it really needed to be done was to port it over to the windows enviroment, Meaning that it was fully functional and working in one Operating Ssystem enviroment. And bring it into another operating system enviroment. And do the essential changes that were needed to work properly and efficiantly in the other. I have read up in some magazines that games like Unreal Tournament were done initially in another OS. Then ported over to other OS like Microsoft windows enviroment.
TRON 2.0 uses a modified version of Jupiter—our proprietary game system and tool set. The structure of Jupiter makes it extremely flexible when it comes to what OS it will use. However, TRON 2.0 specifically used Jupiter for the windows environment.
Will you eventually bring Tron 2.0 to other Operating Systems like Linux/Unix, Solaris, Nextstep (a rival of Mac computers which is no longer being manufactured, But there are still around.I'm one of the lucky ones that have two of them still in working order.), or Macintosh systems as well?
This is entirely up to bvg. But with that said, Monolith will most likely not be involved with the porting TRON 2.0 to other platforms.
Was Tron a big influence on the 2.0 team? If so, can you share with us some of that influence?
The film TRON was certainly an influence on the game. I also think it affected us in other ways too. For example, we now realize that a good first person action experience does not have to take place in hyper-realistic environments with a military bent to be fun and engaging.
Was there any artistic challenge's the 2.0 team was faced with when designing the new look and style of Tron?
Absolutely. The film’s style is very recognizable but to some it can appear rather dated. The artists were challenged with the task of updating the TRON aesthetic while retaining the original look of the film.
Was there any design aspects explored in 2.0 that wasn’t explored in the original movie? If so explain.
Yes. Ourclick website click here