Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild Q&A

The original Splashdown turned heads when it was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, thanks to its accessible gameplay and impressive water effects. The game was developed by Rainbow Studios, whose previous efforts include ATV Offroad Fury and Star Wars Racer Revenge, and it was eventually brought to the Xbox as well. The game's sequel, Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild, finds the burgeoning franchise undergoing a few changes. A new publisher, THQ, and revamped gameplay and graphics are taking the water-based racer into new territory. We recently talked to producer Mark Mahler, co-designer and co-lead programmer Adam Kraver, and co-designer Jordan Itkowitz from Rainbow to find out more about the promising game.

Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild takes the Splashdown franchise in a new direction.

GameSpot: How long has the game been in development?

Mark Mahler: Preproduction and design started about 16 months ago, and we've been in full production for about 13 months. Pretty amazing, considering how large the game is and how much new stuff we're packing in.

GS: How big is the team working on it?

MM: About 30 people--Rainbow's biggest team so far.

GS: What is the team's background?

MM: The core team from the first Splashdown is back--both designers, our water and physics programmers, and myself. The art team on the first game wasn't all that big, but it's much bigger this time. Some worked on Star Wars Racer Revenge and Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2, and some are new to Rainbow (but not the industry).

GS: How satisfied was everyone with the original Splashdown? What went right? What could have gone better?

Adam Kraver: The first game turned out great. It was fun, fast, and beautiful, and it's still a blast to pick up and play today. We really wanted to readdress the waves on this one, though, and our level designs as well. We wanted to create a wilder, more exciting experience overall.

Now we've got huge waves you can get air off, dynamic waves that you can trigger off, downhill currents, and rapids. Basically, everything the critics and fans were asking for last time. As for the new courses, well, I'll let Jordan take this one.

GS: How did your feelings about the first game influence your approach to developing Splashdown 2?

Jordan Itkowitz: Last time, the course design was centered on real-world locations, and that can be limiting. This time, we wanted to let the concept dictate the gameplay, not some preconceived notion of what a location should or shouldn't be. Our most common phrase in design meetings was "Wouldn't it be cool if..." The courses just came from there. It was a very free, very open design process, and definitely a lot of fun.

Early on, we knew we wanted to do a lot of animated, dynamic events during the races, and then we hit on the whole theme-park/thrill-ride concept. We designed the courses as if you were racing through a huge elaborate ride at Disneyland. You know, big visual spectacle all around you, always something new to look at. Our courses aren't necessarily supposed to be thrill rides, but they were certainly developed with that experience in mind.

The levels in the game will feature a more open design.

MM: Well, we've got two career modes: one for the eight world courses, which Jordan described above, and one for the 12 indoor stadium tracks. We had four stadium tracks in the first game, and they were pretty popular, so we created a lot more this time out. You can race these 20 courses in the circuit, time trials, and practice modes as well.

Technical time trials is a new mode with 20 courses that's for players who want to race the SeaDoos on open water without doing stunts or having to jump. They're small, open-ocean courses, about 30-45 seconds per lap, and it's all about mastering the lines and getting the best times. You can set the wave height in the UI, and the difficulty level will mark off your performance meter (which controls the range of your speed) at a set level. It's a very addictive, hypnotic race mode--you'll sit down to play a lap or two and then look up to see that you've gone around 20 times already. And then you say, OK, just one more. But you won't stop there.

Finally, there's the new freestyle mode. Six indoor tracks with pools stacked level upon level up to the ceiling, ramps and crisscrossing paths all over--they're pretty crazy. We have a huge stunt system this time, with 360 separate combos, and this event was tailor-made for it.

So, all in all, 46 separate courses, offering a lot of different racing gameplay experiences. There's definitely something for everyone.