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Sliced Gaming Feature: GameBiz Interview with Aussie Developers Tantalus

Writer: Brad Dodd
Posted: 31st October 2003, 8:49pm November 14th marks the release of TG Rally on GBA, the latest effort from Aussie development house Tantalus. Tantalus have been around for nearly 10 years and in that time they’ve developed over 20 titles on every major platform since the SNES. In the early days, they mainly did conversions from Arcade games to Saturn and the PSX. Their first original title was South Park Rally, on PSX, N64, DC and PC and they have only started doing GBA titles a couple of years ago. As we await their new release, GameBiz spoke with Tantalus CEO, Tom Crago.

GB: What did you set out to achieve with TG Rally?

TC: We wanted to make the best handheld racing game ever. We wanted to address all the problems people had pointed out with earlier racing titles, while rasing the bar significantly in terms of graphics and car physics. We also wanted to create a really deep and long lasting gaming experience. There’s just so much depth and detail in TG Rally; a bunch of different game modes and tons of different tracks and locations.

GB: Were there any influences for TG Rally?

TC: Absolutely. Our designers looked at every GBA racing game that had come before ours. We also looked at console titles, since we wanted to create a game the looked and played more like a PSX or N64 title. In the end, though, we created our own game, while certainly drawing on the best elements of previous releases.

GB: How long it did take you to make the game?

TC: It actually took our team over a year to make TG Rally. This is quite a long development cycle for a GBA game, and hopefully it shows in the finished product.

GB: Does it feature licensed cars?

TC: No it doesn’t. It was a lot of fun creating original car designs, though. Our artists came up with 15 or so concepts which have found their way into the game.

GB: Does it include graphical effects such as dirt and water?

TC: Absolutely. We’re very proud of the particle effects system. We have effects like dust, smoke and burning rubber, plus realistic weather effects including rain, snow and fog. If the track is wet, the car will behave differently to in dry conditions. Some of the tracks have a real rally feel, with mud flying left and right as you wind the path through the trees.

GB: Has it been harder to get TG made because you're based in Australia?

TC: We think Australia has some of the best creative and programming talent in the world. I feel quite strongly that the team that developed TG Rally is among the best and most experience hand held development teams anywhere in the world. It’s harder for us in Australia only in that we’re so far away from the world’s game development and publishing centres in America, Europe and Japan. But that just means we have to travel lots. It really is a pleasure to develop games in Australia. We have (continued next page)