Spring Break Q&A

If you thought that Tropico was the only Sim City-style game to have tan lines, then say hello to Spring Break, the newest project from Deep Red Games. This relatively unknown UK developer, whose last two games--Risk II and Monopoly Tycoon--were met with critical acclaim, is hoping for more of the same with Spring Break. As you'd expect, the game involves building and managing a series of island resorts complete with hotels, bars, nightclubs, water sports activities, restaurants, shops, and more. In true spring break fashion, you'll have to deal with drunk guests, food poisoning, and even bad weather along the way. Eidos quietly unveiled the game a few weeks ago, and we took that opportunity to sit down the project leader, Steve Beverley, to discuss some of the details you can expect to find when this game is released in 2002--during spring, naturally.

GameSpot: To our knowledge, spring break is a phenomenon that's pretty much localized within the US. As a UK-based team, what inspired you guys to create such a game?

Steve Beverley: For quite a while, we'd been toying with the idea of creating a "people watching," real-life, funny, sexy sim game, but we hadn't finalized the game setting. We got to talking with Ian Livingstone, the chairman of Eidos, and before long, we'd collectively defined the core of what has now become Spring Break. We wanted worldwide appeal, though, so we've incorporated elements from "party" vacation destinations around the globe. In the UK and Europe, the big party islands are Ibiza in Spain and Aya Napa in Cyprus--these are big influences on the game too. Fortunately though, it seems people around the world all misbehave in similar ways on their vacations!

GS: So, during your initial design process, was there any one game that was most influential to the design of Spring Break?

SB: Not one game especially, though naturally we're influenced by other products that we like. Visually, we've been impressed with Commandos 2 and Desperados, and we're aiming to achieve similar levels of beauty with Spring Break. [In terms of] gameplay, I'd say titles like RollerCoaster Tycoon, The Sims: Hot Date, and even Red Alert 2 have all had some influence on the game that we're building. We've learnt a lot from our own products too (Risk II, Monopoly Tycoon), and those experiences have been applied to Spring Break also.

GS: How many types of islands are there in the game? How much do they vary in size?

SB: We can't reveal the actual shipping number until we get there, though our target is around 12 to 16 different islands at this time. In terms of size, the settings will vary considerably, though more importantly, we want to give each island a unique feel. This will mean each island gets its own weather patterns, music, objectives, guest types, hazards, etc.

GS: Different weather patterns? Does that mean the game will have disaster events like tropical storms? What about shark attacks? How can you ward against those?

SB: We're playing around with this stuff at the moment; things on the menu include shark attacks, jellyfish on the beach, bad weather, mosquitoes, illnesses (through bad water or food), etc., etc. In most cases, you'll be able to only react to these events and sometimes even make money through them. For example, when there's a shark attack, you can instruct your lifeguards to close the beaches--this drives your guests inland for a while, and you'll see your bars and restaurants taking in more money for a while.

GS: You just mentioned the lifeguard. Spring Break has four other types of people that you can employ, right? Can you tell us a little about the duties of each of these five?

SB: Actually, we're up to six now; we have holiday representatives, lifeguards, builders, cleaners, security guards, and mechanics. Briefly, here's what they do:

Holiday reps work tirelessly to improve the mood of the guests and to promote facilities in the resort. They also act as an information source by gathering guests' opinions and relaying the strongest feelings back to the player. Lifeguards, fairly obviously, look after the safety of your guests in the water and on the beaches. (And they look good too; they are all attractive men and women and are very popular with guests of the opposite sex.) Builders are responsible for all construction and demolition work in your resort. Cleaners have the unsavory task of cleaning up all the mess your guests leave behind. Security guards help to keep the peace in your resort; they act as a deterrent to troublemakers and will even detain serious offenders. Finally, mechanics are essential to the smooth running of all your attractions--they'll inspect and/or repair any structure on the islands.

GS: How much influence can you exert over your guests?

SB: Lots, though "influence" is the key word here--you don't manipulate guests directly in Spring Break. The play style focuses on maneuvering people into different situations. You can play around with the strength of the drinks in your bars, for example. If you make them very strong, your guests will start staggering around and maybe even get ill; some will get violent; others will want to party even more. Learning these effects and finding out their limits is all part of the fun of the game.

GS: Seeing that the game is focused around spring break, your guests can tend to get a little amorous, right? Can you explain how this aspect of Spring Break works?

SB: Under the hood, guests have a flirt value, and this drives their need (or not) to try to form a relationship with another guest. Things that increase the desire to flirt include the amount and strength of alcohol the guest has consumed and the quantity (and quality!) of suitable partners. Things that drive it down include too much alcohol (!) and failure to find a suitable partner and rejection (i.e. nobody's attracted to this guest--awww!).

GS: The interface has an "ideas" icon. What does that represent?

SB: This is the equivalent of a "research" mode--here, you can spend money to get cool upgrades or add-ons for your resort. One of the structures you can build in the game is an event stage; through the ideas mode, you can get whole new acts for this stage (like a wet T-shirt contest or guest DJs).

GS: How many objects and buildings are available in the builder?

SB: There are around 60 buildings and scenic elements to build right now, though this is creeping ever higher.

GS: You've told us that the last scenario is an "island where the guests will want everything." Can you describe that final level in more detail?

SB: I can elaborate a little, though all of the scenarios are in a state of constant change whilst we're tuning and refining them. Basically, we introduce new concepts one by one throughout the game. Each scenario focuses on one or two new things that the player needs to worry about or deal with. The final scenario brings everything they've ever seen together in one place and hurls it all at them. It should be a real test, and it'll be a lot of fun, but I don't want to be drawn too much on what's in it just yet...

GS: Is there anything else you'd like to add about Spring Break?

SB: We're having a lot of fun putting Spring Break together; it's an awesome concept with lots of potential for humor and amusement--I'm sure that the effort we're putting in will mean that everybody else can have as good a time playing it as we are creating it. In some ways, I'll even be sad to finish working on it (unless of course that means we can start the sequel...).

GS: We're counting the days, Steve. Thanks for your time.