Perfect Stu
03-16-2004, 10:41 PM
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031504_299.jpeg
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/499/499241p1.html
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/St....1247.56834.htm
http://www.1up.com/article2/0,2053,1549662,00.asp
http://www.1up.com/article2/0,2053,1549692,00.asp
http://www.gamespy.com/previews/march04/mgs3ps2/
March 16, 2004 - In mid-February, the master designer behind the Metal Gear Solid series, Konami's Hideo Kojima, surfaced from his own self-imposed hiding to give the world a surprise taste of what's to come in the next iteration in the series, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake-Eater. At the Bambuddha Lounge in downtown San Francisco, Ca., Kojima, translator Scott Dolph, and a small crew of camouflage-wearing Konami staff held a quiet presentation on a single aspect of the game, a game that will most definitely appear at this year's Electronic Entertainment Exposition in May. IGN attended the event to give you this report. The topic of that discussion? Stealth, naturally. But not just "ordinary" stealth. At least not ordinary stealth for a Metal Gear Solid game; camouflage stealth. Or as Kojima liked to refer to it, Camo stealth.
Three is the Magic Number
It's been a while since gamers have read anything on MGS3 Snake-Eater, so I'll bring you up to date. MGS3 Snake-Eater takes place in the 1960s, or at least a place and time that appears as if it's in the 1960s -- Kojima sneakily refused to answer this question directly -- and the game is located specifically in the jungle somewhere in the Eastern part of the world. Players take on the role of the series leading bad-ass, Solid Snake (or at least a guy who closely resembles Solid Snake), who's dropped into a thickly mixed jungle on an unspecified mission requiring him to penetrate enemy lines and use the region's resources to survive and persevere.
The new concepts initially introduced in the game via last year's E3 are Snake's outside environment and his abilities to survive and stealthily progress through said rough terrain. He uses camouflage to hide, stalk, and kill his enemies, whether that means hiding in the grass, high up in trees limbs, below the water surface, or by blending into the jungle itself. Using the environment to attack and to survive are also key new concepts that shape the game's new design. Snake can hang from trees with one hand and shoot from his other hand; he can drop down from tree branches to break enemy necks, and he can climb them to snipe enemies as well. In short, all of Snake's high-level military techniques are now being attributed to an outside environment, rather than an indoor one.
The Round Table event gave us a few new insights into game techniques being implemented into this third and most eccentricly named game in the series. If you remember Kojima's presentation from E3 2003 you'll remember that the number three ("3") was a major theme. In his presentation, "three" remained the magic number with three major themes: 1) A new era, the 1960s; 2) A new setting, the jungle (plus others); and 3) New gameplay, via camouflage and survival techniques.
1) The 1960s setting presents gamers with a time in which the US-Soviet Cold War was at its height and simultaneously, the period was a time of innocence and burgeoning change. 2) The new setting isn't just comprised of forests, instead there will be rivers, caves, bridges, snowy areas and rocky, grassless slopes and foothills. 3) The stealth-based gameplay consists of various elements, but the most significant ones are camouflage, stamina, and survival. Kojima focused solely on these elements in this sneak peak look, while essentially revealing everything else until E3.
The Camouflage Index
Using a Powerpoint presentation and recorded video of the game (none of which was distributed), Kojima showed off the newly implemented Camouflage Index, a major element in the series. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen a small meter measures in numerical percentages how well Solid Snake is, or is not, hidden from enemy sight. Ranging from 1-100% (1% being horribly hidden and 100% being totally invisible), the index is influenced by three major criteria -- Posture, Costume and Face Paint. The straighter Snake stands the more likely he is to be seen. The better his outfit blends into the background, the less likely he is able to be seen; and the presence and color of his face paint completes the act of entirely blending into the background. If Snake stands still with the right camo and best face paint, he will be entirely invisible.
So, how does it all work? Kojima naturally went into exquisite detail about the Camo Index. A few examples of posture and motion displayed how Snake, while standing with an olive patterned outfit in the grass gave Snake a 45% reading on the Camo Index. Crouching in the same grass with the same slightly imperfect outfit gave him a better rating of 65%. By lying down in the same tall grass, Snake's rating jumped to 80%. One of Snake's newest movement's, the ability to stalk (a hunched, slow forward motion), gives Snake a 45% chance of being seen. Straight walking gives him a lousy 20% rating, while running pretty much screams out to be seen, giving Snake a negative (-)5% reading. As Kojima explained, it's like yelling out, "Hey! See me! I'm here!" The Camo Index changes in realtime, so Snake can quickly adjust the reading by moving from one environment to the next -- like from the tall grass to the forest itself. Changing camo types takes place in "videogame realtime," so he can instantly change outfits with a quick press of the button. Snake can also remove his shirt, but that lowers his Camo reading, his temperature and his stamina too.
The Camo Index, however, does not replace the standard MGS radar, which is so well-liked from the previous MGS games. Instead, there are numerous kinds of radars that switch depending on the environment Snake happens to be skulking around in. The Camo Index appears when Snake is outside, while the other radar appears when he's inside, so gamers will have to pay attention to numerous indicators throughout the game.
The idea of finding the right camo outfit is hugely important in MGS3 Snake-Eater. Players have the ability to switch camo stripes on the fly and, as we understand it, they're given a substantial set of types from the beginning. There huge assortment of stripes Snake can change into range from light green grass-colored camo to dead leave colors, to a dark brownish tree bark color, to a dark green leave color. There are tiger stripe patterns, black stripes, snow stripes, and more. There are even fire-style stripes, indicating that there are previously unrevealed snow and perhaps entire levels comprised of fire.
Kojima made a relatively big point about the snow and fire camo aspects. Given the ability to remove Snake shirt is most likely to affect his temperature in the snowy and heated areas. Remember when we first saw the fiery water from the first shots and trailer? Snake probably has to stay underwater to keep his body temperature from shooting up dangerously high, while in the cold areas, he probably has to steal enemy outfits or hide into caves to keep from freezing. Light and dark also play significant part in hiding Snake.
Several movies displayed that MGS3 Snake-Eater is the game you still know and love, but applied to a wild-ranging outdoor environment. Snake can quickly move from a standing position to a crouching or even a lying position in a matter of mere seconds. Using the proper camo colors, he can hide in the tall grass (which, by the way, brilliantly folds down when stepped on, and slowly stands back up after being released) and remain mere feet from the enemy.
Movement plays an important role. The new ability to stalk is a great new way to track and take out enemies. The new ability was created specifically for this game, but it also has its drawbacks. Stalking draws from Snake's stamina, thus utilizing this technique is meant to be employed with prudence. Moving close to en enemy is OK if Snake isn't too close and he doesn't move too much or too fast, but one small wrong move and bingo! Sighted.
Kojima wouldn't reveal everything about how Stamina works, but he did disclose Snake's stamina depends on a healthy food and water supply. What's there to eat in the jungle to keep his stamina up? His is the breakfast (lunch, and dinner) of champions. Anyone who's trained in the military knows what's it's all about. Players eat whatever they can get their hands on, and in this game, that means creatures in the forest: birds, frogs, fish; heck, he can even eat scorpions, alligators and, as Kojima said himself, in a small nod to Nintendo's Shigero Miyamoto, Snake can even eat mushrooms. Though of course, in keeping with the nod to Miyamoto, Snake will not be able to eat turtles. Yoshi lives!
Camo comprises all sorts of additional qualities, too. In quirky Kojima fashion, his presentation showed Snake climbing into an empty log to hide from an enemy. On the other end of the log, an alligator head popped out to scare the enemy like a little girl. Then Snake pushed himself all the way out of the log and appeared to show the alligator mask on his head. Apparently, there are more disguises in the game than we bargained for.
The Camo Campaign
In an effort to blow out the Camo aspect of MGS3 Snake-Eater to even larger proportions, Konami will be launching a massive campaign around the idea later this year. Inviting players to use their creativity, ingenuity, and humor, Konami will launch a contest this summer for people to send in their own camo concepts with the idea that the best ones will be made into workable textures and implemented into the game. Kojima showed off the use of a classic Konami corporate image as an example. Snake appeared with his military gear on, and patterned across his body was a silly set of duck face images. Kojima dryly explained that if Snake found ducks in a pond he could hide using this design, and then he showed off another Snake model with the plain text reading "Konami" on it. He added that anyone wearing this pattern would be able to hide within the confines of the Konami offices. (Such a card, that Kojima.)
Konami is using three criteria to judge the contest entrees for The Camo Campaign: 1) Effectiveness; 2) Funny concepts; and 3) Cool ideas. Effective designs will be smartly applicable and useable in the game. Funny concepts are those silly and irrational ideas that make strange or little logical sense in the game, but are whimsical and humorous nonetheless. Cool ideas are those that are stylish in nature, whether they are effective or not. Kojima said he hoped that even corporations would send in their own company-inspired designs.
The entire Camo Campaign is designed to get people involved in Kojima's upcoming game, but also to utilize the newly implemented online aspect, too. As explained last year, MGS3 Snake-Eater will enable players to upload data to the game, such as camo designs. MGS3, however, will not be a playable online game. Konami is working on a separate MGS title that will be playable online.
The campaign will begin this summer, and all major media outlets, including this one right here, are sure to be big parts of it. Get your designs ready now!
If there was anything we learned at the Kojima Round Table was that Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake-Eater will, without a doubt, put a new twist on the growing stealth genre. And that Kojima is one sneaky fox, who's able to play the media for all it's worth. He showed up for a demonstration that revealed a whole lot about one minute aspect, and despite a packed room of journalists asking smart and pointed questions, he escaped quite unscathed. We now know about the Camo Index quite thoroughly.
Make sure to check out our Roundtable Interview as well, wherein Kojima answers even more questions like the stealthy master of game design that he is. And check back at E3 when we break out with new screens, video and detailed impressions from Kojima's newest effort.
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/MGS3pair02a_031604_19med_1079461392.jpeg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/MGS3pair03b031604_23_1079461469.jpeg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_020.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_004.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_003.jpg
http://www.gamespy.com/previews/march04/mgs3ps2/01.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen005.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen001.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen009.jpg
More to come, if interested...
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/499/499241p1.html
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/St....1247.56834.htm
http://www.1up.com/article2/0,2053,1549662,00.asp
http://www.1up.com/article2/0,2053,1549692,00.asp
http://www.gamespy.com/previews/march04/mgs3ps2/
March 16, 2004 - In mid-February, the master designer behind the Metal Gear Solid series, Konami's Hideo Kojima, surfaced from his own self-imposed hiding to give the world a surprise taste of what's to come in the next iteration in the series, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake-Eater. At the Bambuddha Lounge in downtown San Francisco, Ca., Kojima, translator Scott Dolph, and a small crew of camouflage-wearing Konami staff held a quiet presentation on a single aspect of the game, a game that will most definitely appear at this year's Electronic Entertainment Exposition in May. IGN attended the event to give you this report. The topic of that discussion? Stealth, naturally. But not just "ordinary" stealth. At least not ordinary stealth for a Metal Gear Solid game; camouflage stealth. Or as Kojima liked to refer to it, Camo stealth.
Three is the Magic Number
It's been a while since gamers have read anything on MGS3 Snake-Eater, so I'll bring you up to date. MGS3 Snake-Eater takes place in the 1960s, or at least a place and time that appears as if it's in the 1960s -- Kojima sneakily refused to answer this question directly -- and the game is located specifically in the jungle somewhere in the Eastern part of the world. Players take on the role of the series leading bad-ass, Solid Snake (or at least a guy who closely resembles Solid Snake), who's dropped into a thickly mixed jungle on an unspecified mission requiring him to penetrate enemy lines and use the region's resources to survive and persevere.
The new concepts initially introduced in the game via last year's E3 are Snake's outside environment and his abilities to survive and stealthily progress through said rough terrain. He uses camouflage to hide, stalk, and kill his enemies, whether that means hiding in the grass, high up in trees limbs, below the water surface, or by blending into the jungle itself. Using the environment to attack and to survive are also key new concepts that shape the game's new design. Snake can hang from trees with one hand and shoot from his other hand; he can drop down from tree branches to break enemy necks, and he can climb them to snipe enemies as well. In short, all of Snake's high-level military techniques are now being attributed to an outside environment, rather than an indoor one.
The Round Table event gave us a few new insights into game techniques being implemented into this third and most eccentricly named game in the series. If you remember Kojima's presentation from E3 2003 you'll remember that the number three ("3") was a major theme. In his presentation, "three" remained the magic number with three major themes: 1) A new era, the 1960s; 2) A new setting, the jungle (plus others); and 3) New gameplay, via camouflage and survival techniques.
1) The 1960s setting presents gamers with a time in which the US-Soviet Cold War was at its height and simultaneously, the period was a time of innocence and burgeoning change. 2) The new setting isn't just comprised of forests, instead there will be rivers, caves, bridges, snowy areas and rocky, grassless slopes and foothills. 3) The stealth-based gameplay consists of various elements, but the most significant ones are camouflage, stamina, and survival. Kojima focused solely on these elements in this sneak peak look, while essentially revealing everything else until E3.
The Camouflage Index
Using a Powerpoint presentation and recorded video of the game (none of which was distributed), Kojima showed off the newly implemented Camouflage Index, a major element in the series. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen a small meter measures in numerical percentages how well Solid Snake is, or is not, hidden from enemy sight. Ranging from 1-100% (1% being horribly hidden and 100% being totally invisible), the index is influenced by three major criteria -- Posture, Costume and Face Paint. The straighter Snake stands the more likely he is to be seen. The better his outfit blends into the background, the less likely he is able to be seen; and the presence and color of his face paint completes the act of entirely blending into the background. If Snake stands still with the right camo and best face paint, he will be entirely invisible.
So, how does it all work? Kojima naturally went into exquisite detail about the Camo Index. A few examples of posture and motion displayed how Snake, while standing with an olive patterned outfit in the grass gave Snake a 45% reading on the Camo Index. Crouching in the same grass with the same slightly imperfect outfit gave him a better rating of 65%. By lying down in the same tall grass, Snake's rating jumped to 80%. One of Snake's newest movement's, the ability to stalk (a hunched, slow forward motion), gives Snake a 45% chance of being seen. Straight walking gives him a lousy 20% rating, while running pretty much screams out to be seen, giving Snake a negative (-)5% reading. As Kojima explained, it's like yelling out, "Hey! See me! I'm here!" The Camo Index changes in realtime, so Snake can quickly adjust the reading by moving from one environment to the next -- like from the tall grass to the forest itself. Changing camo types takes place in "videogame realtime," so he can instantly change outfits with a quick press of the button. Snake can also remove his shirt, but that lowers his Camo reading, his temperature and his stamina too.
The Camo Index, however, does not replace the standard MGS radar, which is so well-liked from the previous MGS games. Instead, there are numerous kinds of radars that switch depending on the environment Snake happens to be skulking around in. The Camo Index appears when Snake is outside, while the other radar appears when he's inside, so gamers will have to pay attention to numerous indicators throughout the game.
The idea of finding the right camo outfit is hugely important in MGS3 Snake-Eater. Players have the ability to switch camo stripes on the fly and, as we understand it, they're given a substantial set of types from the beginning. There huge assortment of stripes Snake can change into range from light green grass-colored camo to dead leave colors, to a dark brownish tree bark color, to a dark green leave color. There are tiger stripe patterns, black stripes, snow stripes, and more. There are even fire-style stripes, indicating that there are previously unrevealed snow and perhaps entire levels comprised of fire.
Kojima made a relatively big point about the snow and fire camo aspects. Given the ability to remove Snake shirt is most likely to affect his temperature in the snowy and heated areas. Remember when we first saw the fiery water from the first shots and trailer? Snake probably has to stay underwater to keep his body temperature from shooting up dangerously high, while in the cold areas, he probably has to steal enemy outfits or hide into caves to keep from freezing. Light and dark also play significant part in hiding Snake.
Several movies displayed that MGS3 Snake-Eater is the game you still know and love, but applied to a wild-ranging outdoor environment. Snake can quickly move from a standing position to a crouching or even a lying position in a matter of mere seconds. Using the proper camo colors, he can hide in the tall grass (which, by the way, brilliantly folds down when stepped on, and slowly stands back up after being released) and remain mere feet from the enemy.
Movement plays an important role. The new ability to stalk is a great new way to track and take out enemies. The new ability was created specifically for this game, but it also has its drawbacks. Stalking draws from Snake's stamina, thus utilizing this technique is meant to be employed with prudence. Moving close to en enemy is OK if Snake isn't too close and he doesn't move too much or too fast, but one small wrong move and bingo! Sighted.
Kojima wouldn't reveal everything about how Stamina works, but he did disclose Snake's stamina depends on a healthy food and water supply. What's there to eat in the jungle to keep his stamina up? His is the breakfast (lunch, and dinner) of champions. Anyone who's trained in the military knows what's it's all about. Players eat whatever they can get their hands on, and in this game, that means creatures in the forest: birds, frogs, fish; heck, he can even eat scorpions, alligators and, as Kojima said himself, in a small nod to Nintendo's Shigero Miyamoto, Snake can even eat mushrooms. Though of course, in keeping with the nod to Miyamoto, Snake will not be able to eat turtles. Yoshi lives!
Camo comprises all sorts of additional qualities, too. In quirky Kojima fashion, his presentation showed Snake climbing into an empty log to hide from an enemy. On the other end of the log, an alligator head popped out to scare the enemy like a little girl. Then Snake pushed himself all the way out of the log and appeared to show the alligator mask on his head. Apparently, there are more disguises in the game than we bargained for.
The Camo Campaign
In an effort to blow out the Camo aspect of MGS3 Snake-Eater to even larger proportions, Konami will be launching a massive campaign around the idea later this year. Inviting players to use their creativity, ingenuity, and humor, Konami will launch a contest this summer for people to send in their own camo concepts with the idea that the best ones will be made into workable textures and implemented into the game. Kojima showed off the use of a classic Konami corporate image as an example. Snake appeared with his military gear on, and patterned across his body was a silly set of duck face images. Kojima dryly explained that if Snake found ducks in a pond he could hide using this design, and then he showed off another Snake model with the plain text reading "Konami" on it. He added that anyone wearing this pattern would be able to hide within the confines of the Konami offices. (Such a card, that Kojima.)
Konami is using three criteria to judge the contest entrees for The Camo Campaign: 1) Effectiveness; 2) Funny concepts; and 3) Cool ideas. Effective designs will be smartly applicable and useable in the game. Funny concepts are those silly and irrational ideas that make strange or little logical sense in the game, but are whimsical and humorous nonetheless. Cool ideas are those that are stylish in nature, whether they are effective or not. Kojima said he hoped that even corporations would send in their own company-inspired designs.
The entire Camo Campaign is designed to get people involved in Kojima's upcoming game, but also to utilize the newly implemented online aspect, too. As explained last year, MGS3 Snake-Eater will enable players to upload data to the game, such as camo designs. MGS3, however, will not be a playable online game. Konami is working on a separate MGS title that will be playable online.
The campaign will begin this summer, and all major media outlets, including this one right here, are sure to be big parts of it. Get your designs ready now!
If there was anything we learned at the Kojima Round Table was that Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake-Eater will, without a doubt, put a new twist on the growing stealth genre. And that Kojima is one sneaky fox, who's able to play the media for all it's worth. He showed up for a demonstration that revealed a whole lot about one minute aspect, and despite a packed room of journalists asking smart and pointed questions, he escaped quite unscathed. We now know about the Camo Index quite thoroughly.
Make sure to check out our Roundtable Interview as well, wherein Kojima answers even more questions like the stealthy master of game design that he is. And check back at E3 when we break out with new screens, video and detailed impressions from Kojima's newest effort.
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/MGS3pair02a_031604_19med_1079461392.jpeg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/MGS3pair03b031604_23_1079461469.jpeg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_020.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_004.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/mgs3_031604__031604_003.jpg
http://www.gamespy.com/previews/march04/mgs3ps2/01.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen005.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen001.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/914828_20040316_screen009.jpg
More to come, if interested...