Earlier this week, Streamline Studios announced they would be delaying their Unreal Engine-powered, basketbrawling XBLA title, HoopWorld, until 2007 in order to ensure that the title conforms to Microsoft's stringent Xbox Live Arcade guidelines, notably that itsy-bitsy 50MB footprint Ross Erickson told us about. To help them achieve that goal, they've employed "hardcore engineering house" Virtual Toys who've been tasked with the alchemical magic of crunching the game down without removing any gameplay elements. That's like, something for nothing.As a matter of fact, Hector Fernandez, Chief Creative Officer of Streamline Studios, told us that not only would they not be paring the game down, but they would actually be "adding things in that [they] were contemplating having to cut before." Magic. Continue reading for the rest of our short email Q&A.
How long has HoopWorld been in development?
The original concept for HoopWorld came to me five years ago, and has been a "labor of love" between projects over the years. The XBLA version has been in development for the past year.
Were the Xbox Live Arcade guidelines unclear when you began development?
It's not really about guidelines being unclear; it's about the challenges of creating a compelling game with great graphics, awesome multiplayer, and enough content within 50MB to satisfy ourselves and players around the world. Believe me, it's one hell of a super geek challenge!
Do you think the 50MB size cap is too small?
To be honest, I've learned to convince myself that "size doesn't matter" (insert your own joke here). The reality is that you can make a great game that fits in 50MB or 100MB; it really just depends on the kind of experience you want to create. With HoopWorld, we want it all! For us that's the bottom line. There was no way we wanted to compromise our vision of the game and fortunately our partnership with Virtual Toys brings us a strategy for squeezing more content into the XBLA memory footprint.
While the basic structure of the game won't change, are there components that will need to be removed that you'll miss?
Actually, we're not removing components; in fact, it's quite the opposite. We're adding things in that we were contemplating having to cut before.
When the 256MB Memory Unit is released, there's a chance the size limit for an XBLA game will be increased significantly. Is this being considered in your plans with Virtual Toys.
This in the back of our minds for obvious reasons, but we're working with the space that we have, and not really concentrating on larger MUs.
