NFS: Most Wanted Q&A- Larry LaPierre (Senior Producer)

Added 01/28/2006 by coolp

The Need for Speed franchise has been a gaming staple for the last decade, giving people the world over the opportunity to street race without the risk of getting one of those pesky tickets. Last generation the series went in a new direction with a laser-like focus on the tuner scene, a polarizing choice for fans of the cop chases in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. Thankfully, in the last rendition of the Need for Speed series, Most Wanted, EA took a more balanced approach to things, bringing back the cop chases while still including the customization of the Underground series. The approach paid off, and scored Most Wanted the second highest score on the 360 from Talk Xbox at 94%.

But where is the series heading from here? What are the developer's thoughts on the title? How does EA Trax fit into the series? We had a chance to ask Larry LaPierre, the Senior Producer of Most Wanted, these questions and more. Read on.

1) Going into the development of Most Wanted, what were the major goals you set for the title? Did you accomplish them?

LP - One of the key objectives with Most Wanted was to follow up the success of Underground and yet innovate in a different way. So far I’d say wit’s mission accomplished.

2) How did you balance the open world environment? When you have to make track revisions how do you do that without breaking other sections of the game?

LP - The worlds are built from the race splines out so that revisions are minimized. It’s amazing how it all just comes together with good design and strong priorities.

2) What is your favorite feature of Most Wanted? What do you feel can be done better in the next title?

LP - Oh that’s a great question. The best part of Most Wanted for me is the excitement of the police chases. I’ve lost hours of my life running form the law. With that said when you work on a game like this or any other there are always things you see that potentially could be better. The cop experience can still get a lot better.


3) Based on feedback garnered since the game’s release, and the thoughts of team members, what are some of the major enhancements and features we should look for in the next Need for Speed game?

LP - You can count on a couple things. There will be some brand new cool ways to play and anything you thought was good or fun will be better.

4) Why were cops left out of the multiplayer modes in Most Wanted? Should we expect to see multiplayer modes using the cop pursuit mechanics in the next NFS title?

LP - When you develop a game system you have finite HW resources to work with. So what we end up doing is having to make specific trade off calls to achieve different tings in different modes. Cops are a very expensive experience, so sometimes we just can’t get them to fit in all the modes.

5) One of the most often complained about features in EA published and developed games is the EA Trax system. What are your thoughts on it? Does having licensed tracks save development time, or limit musical creativity?

LP - Music is one of the most personal passionate subjects for people next to religion. You can never please everyone. This year we went with a specific purpose of wanting to support the style and tone of the game and hence why the soundtrack was a little harder and edgy. This year we did a combination of licensed tracks and original composed score. Personally I think the scored music has the most impact. It maps to the emotions of the action more effectively and adds value to the experience better than licensed music usually does.

6) Graphically, where can we expect the Need for Speed series to go on next-generation consoles? How can your team leverage the graphical capabilities of the 360 and the PS3 to enhance gameplay?

LP - We have only just begun to tap the potential of NG systems. Just look back at the first xbox/PS2 games to the ones coming out now . . .huge differences.

7) Will there be downloadable content for Most Wanted? If so, when should we expect that to come out?

LP – We are looking into the possibility of DLC for a future release.

8) What do you think of the Xbox 360, from a gamer’s perspective and from a developer’s perspective?

LP - I love HD ! I cant go back . . .from a developer or gamer pov.

9) Thank you for your time, and congratulations on a job well done on Most Wanted! We can’t wait to see what you guys come up with for the next entry in the Need for Speed series.

LP - The team thanks you !