Kane's Wrath Xbox 360 Q&A with Louis Castle

[Sonic 295]

GameSpot have posted an interview with Louis Castle, the VP of creative development at EALA. In this interview he discusses the strengths and weaknesses of console real-time strategy games and how they apply to the Xbox 360 version of Kane's Wrath, releasing this coming June. A sample can be seen below. Two new screen shots were posted as well.

 

GameSpot: Give us an update on the development of Kane's Wrath for consoles. How are things going? How is the game working in practice, and how is it stacking up against the PC version of the game, in terms of both performance and head-to-head competition?

 

Louis Castle: In terms of console RTS games, Kane's Wrath is tracking to be a strong improvement over Command & Conquer 3. This is the third console RTS in a row that the team here in LA has developed, and it shows. The continual improvements in interface design, performance, and suitable mission design for console gaming is evident from the moment you pick up the controller. The CommandStick controls make even traditionally challenging PC commands lightning-fast and intuitive. The full integration of the PC and console teams allows for great sharing and game design that maximizes all platforms, from concept to final.

 

GameSpot: Give us an overview of the CommandStick control. What does it add to the experience of a real-time strategy game on a console?

 

Louis Castle: The CommandStick allows for rapid command selection from a radial user interface which appears on the screen with the press of a button. This gives players the ability to build units in resource queues anywhere on the map without switching their visual context. This latest improvement in the console UI gives console players the rapid controls associated with dozens of hotkeys on the PC, all at the flick of a button.

Click here for the full interview. And that's not all. Check out this video where Louis Castle gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Kane's Wrath on Xbox 360 controls.

 

Like all of our videos, this one is available on the CNCNZ.com YouTube Channel.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

looks enticing...i may actually buy it

[Luk3us 63]

Ooooo. Xbox 360!

 

lol... Silly consoles.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

my console > luk

[Luk3us 63]

At least I get patches for my games, unlike noob consoles.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

we dont need patches. i win.

 

ps- i get that Kane's Challenge thingy.

 

xbox360=yo daddy

Edited April 29, 2008 by rEdaSbLood

[Luk3us 63]

hahah...

 

hahahahah...

 

hahahahahhahahahahaha....

 

Oh its funny. You have fun playing Mechepede wars....

Edited April 29, 2008 by Luk3us

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Silly 360 owners. You have inferior C&C games.

[G0NE2W4R 0]

RTS on a console sucks no matter what u do to improve it.

Graphics suck.

Commanding sucks.

Online play sucks.

And no patches.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

RTS on a console sucks no matter what u do to improve it.

Wrong. I had the original C&C on the Nintendo 64 and it was very easy to play.

 

Graphics suck.

Wrong. The C&C64's graphics were much better than on the PC.

And they're just as good with TW on 360 as it is on the PC.

 

Commanding sucks.

At first it's cumbersome but you can pick it up easily.

 

Online play sucks.

Only if you suck at the game.

 

And no patches.

In this day and age, also wrong. I'm pretty sure you can patch Xbox 360 games, and I think Wii games as well. Dunno about PS3 though.

 

If you wish to rant, here's a tip - don't suck at it.

[sith_wampa 6]

Wrong. I had the original C&C on the Nintendo 64 and it was very easy to play.

 

 

Wrong. The C&C64's graphics were much better than on the PC.

And they're just as good with TW on 360 as it is on the PC.

 

 

At first it's cumbersome but you can pick it up easily.

 

 

Only if you suck at the game.

 

 

In this day and age, also wrong. I'm pretty sure you can patch Xbox 360 games, and I think Wii games as well. Dunno about PS3 though.

 

If you wish to rant, here's a tip - don't suck at it.

 

Nuff said.

[Luk3us 63]

In this day and age, also wrong. I'm pretty sure you can patch Xbox 360 games, and I think Wii games as well. Dunno about PS3 though.

 

Yes, but not with the kind of patch sizes EA releases. Which means, online play sucks. Which thus means the entire game sucks. Which is true cause its a ****ing console!

[G0NE2W4R 0]

Wrong. I had the original C&C on the Nintendo 64 and it was very easy to play.

If u think console RTS games are 'easy' to play then they would have had PC and consoles cross over the same online service. They had this done in UAW, but people complained about PC players having the advantage.

 

Wrong. The C&C64's graphics were much better than on the PC.

And they're just as good with TW on 360 as it is on the PC.

C&C1 for PC came out on 1995. For N64 it was 1999. 4 years can make a difference.

 

At first it's cumbersome but you can pick it up easily.

Its hard with a controller in my opinion. A mouse is much more smoother.

 

Only if you suck at the game.

There is not true competition on Xbox Live.

 

 

 

 

[Sonic 295]

If u think console RTS games are 'easy' to play then they would have had PC and consoles cross over the same online service. They had this done in UAW, but people complained about PC players having the advantage.

Online cross platform play is not playable Universe at War at this stage. So your comment about people complaining about it is in correct and not true. A patch for PC/360 UaW is in the works right now to enable cross platform play though, see here http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showtopic=9912.

 

[rEdaSbLood 1]

this is all so very subjective.

 

controls are easy, graphics are very nice, xbox live is great.

 

i see no problem with a console. in fact, i enjoy xbox360 very much with all of its extra features.

 

i feel the true difference between consoles and PCs is that consoles are much more game oriented, despite their evolution into home entertainment systems. when i have that remote in my hand, im ready to play. it puts me into a mode.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

If u think console RTS games are 'easy' to play then they would have had PC and consoles cross over the same online service. They had this done in UAW, but people complained about PC players having the advantage.

Sonic said it already but cross-platform is not available in UAW just yet.

 

C&C1 for PC came out on 1995. For N64 it was 1999. 4 years can make a difference.

Fine, I'll use another example - PC StarCraft and Nintendo 64 StarCraft have literally zero differences in graphics.

 

Its hard with a controller in my opinion. A mouse is much more smoother.

No one denied that the mouse is much more effective. I seriously doubt anyone would refute that but controllers can be managed, and managed well. It takes a little practice and some patience but it can be done just as effectively.

 

There is not true competition on Xbox Live.

Then you've never played Halo.

 

Run along, silly n00b. You're just going to make it worse on yourself if you continue in your zeal to argue this.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

flame war? cmonnnnn