1. What game do you have at E3 this year?
I’m working with two games at E3 this year: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation for PLAYSTATION 3, and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike for PSP. For the purpose of answering these questions, I’ll focus mostly on our PS3 version of SOCOM.
2. What did you do on this game that you couldn’t do on another platform?
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation makes full use of the HDD in the PlayStation 3. One of the often overlooked advantages of the PS3 compared to competing platforms is that it contains a 2.5” serial ATA hard drive which allows us to use the Hard Disc Drive for extremely fast data access. Since we can count on the hard drive to be in every PS3 console, SOCOM Confrontation uses a very aggressive data streaming system which in turn allows for much greater detail in the game environments. For this reason alone, the level of detail which you will see in the environments and characters in SOCOM Confrontation is not possible on any other game console.
Take a quick look at the screenshots below for an early look at what we are able to achieve using the hard drive in the PS3. This is still pre-alpha and the quality will continue to improve as we get further into development.
3. What do you think is the coolest aspect of this game?
The environments are the real star in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation. We are focusing a lot of effort on creating intricate and highly detailed urban environments. The amount of detail in the environment will help you to easily distinguish where you are in the level and the intricacy means that you are going to discover new areas and snipe points long after you thought you had the environment memorized.
The characters are also looking really good.
At the top of the post is an in-game screenshot of our Heavy Commando model. The skin shaders, cloth shaders, normal maps, and highly detailed textures allow us to have extremely realistic characters in the game. Again, this is a work in progress.
4. If you could sit one person in front of your game for an hour, who would it be?
N’Gai Croal. He’s been a long time player of the SOCOM franchise and I would really like to discuss what he thinks about this game. It doesn’t hurt that he is also one of the best journalists writing about video games and also writes for Newsweek.
5. What game do you most want an hour to sit in front of yourself (besides your own)?
Metal Gear Solid 4. I’m very curious how the game plays compared to the videos that have been shown so far.
6. How many E3’s does E3 2007 mark for you?
All 12 of them. I’ve been to every E3 including the first one in 1995.
7. Describe the pre-2007 E3 experience in five words or less.
Very stressful, little sleep…
8. Most over used phrase or expression during E3 season.
“Game of the show.” The press are so busy each trying to be the first to declare the game of the show that they ignore most of the games shown at E3 including some really good ones. Also, half the time they declare a game which is shown as video only as “Game of the Show.” A note to the press, a game by definition is interactive and so a video is not a game and cannot be game of the show.
9. You are asked to make suggestions for an E3 survival kit- what three items HAVE to be included?
Aspirin, water and a GPS unit to navigate LA.
10. Describe what you anticipate from 2007’s newly formatted E3 in five words or less.
One word, fiefdoms.
11. What’s your favorite part about developing games for a living?
My favorite part about developing games is that moment of relief and excitement when I finally see things working in the game as we meant them to be. Most people don’t realize this, but it can take more than a year of hard work and planning (some times several years) before the game is up and running as you envisioned. That whole time you are hoping that things are going to work as planned and that you are going to have a great game but you never know until that moment. It is extremely exciting when it does work and you realize you have something special.
I just hope you fix the hit detection. I put sooo many hours into socom2 and socom 3 and socom 3 1/2… And I can not count how many times people would complain about hit detection (with valid points).
Not to mention Zipper’s lies (map expansion packs etc). I really hop you guys can bring Socom back to what made it great and then make it better without ruining it. Keep it simple… it is an online shooting game… please PLEASE make sure the shooting works first and foremost.. Thanks.
We need America’s Army on PS3… now that good FPS. 50 cal in the head anyone?
Fox
starfoxACEFOX | July 4th, 2007 at 3:32 am
You can play that CRAP on dieonmeBox 360.
Nah I play it on my Quad SLI 7950GX2 MSI cards, top that with MSI mobo with FX55 CPU and TEC water cooling you got something..
I like America’s Army only FPS I can play on dailup :P This fall I’m moving OC12 man!
BF games are ok, but I don’t like idea of respawing, once you are dead there no coming back for more.
Fox
“Take a quick look at the screenshots below for an early look at what we are able to achieve using the hard drive in the PS3.”
Meh, not very impressive at all. Either this game doesn’t look any different to some of the first FPS’s on Xbox 360, or you’ve made a really bad selection of screenshots. (why not higher res?) You’ve got to come up with something better than this!
First thing I see in that screen shot is the gun is not layered, look like 2D photo of the M16..
Ohh well not to worry about the look, it about making good Simulation FPS, which in the word of “I’m no Quake fan”
Anybody else finds weird that a game announced at E3 2005 and talked about since then is showing ‘pre-alpha’ screenshots? Shouldn’t the game be further down the development path?
Screen looks very nice though…
@107
Confrontation wasn’t announced at 2006, it just got announced at SGD.
I think the screenshot with a close up on the SEALs’ face is amazing. have you seen how deep the textures look on it! you can even see little spots on the guy’s face. so far, character modeling is impressive. great job with the development team!
this is the photo btw.
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=707843495&size=o
The M16 is missing something, he a Navy SEALs, they don’t use a iron sigh, ITL MARS reflex sigh more like.
Well I wouldn’t go without it :P
Fox
Man I love the SOCOM games there really awesome. A note to the developers, if you get around to reading this please try and make it more like SOCOM1 & 2 then the latter ones. Anyways I’ll be getting this day one no matter what.
make sure you do some maps based in some european locales… italy… montecarlo casino…. paris….
CAN NOT WAIT, but i will have to…….. probably another 6 month going off sonys track record with delays in europe!!!!! PLEASE DONT DELAY SOCOM IN EUROPE MR SONY RELEASE DATE MAN!
#108 LOL my mistake. I mistook Socom for KZ2 :-o
I noted that you included a female online avatar for SOCOM: FTB and I wanted to thank you!! It makes it much easier for me to identify with my character and made the online gaming much more enjoyable for me. I do hope that you’ve included a female character in SOCOM: Confrontation as I am looking forward to playing this game.
YES! I have been playing socom since it began, this is really making me excited, finally getting a more A-grade socom (graphics wise).
Seriously looking forward to it, in fact it is the 1# reason for me buying a ps3.
ATM, the screenshots are a big dissapointement. Crappy textures, no shaders, bad design… I just hope they’re taken out of an early development version.
The game is one that i am looking forward to and can’t wait to see more.
The pictures look alright. I definitely hope they improve as time progresses.
atm the screens look great
I think this game is going to rock. It being MP only is going to be awesome. Warhawk being MP is addicting…or so I’ve heard. I think this game will be about the same level of addiction. Can’t wait to play it. Loved the first one but didn’t really get to play much. Wanted to play online with it but it was a friends copy not mine.
Still no response from Mr. Luisi about the Socom 3 and Combined Assault patches and map packs. Socom was THE game i played non-stop on my PS2, then came CA with the same bugs that S3 had and since then, my PS2 has been shelved and i am now enjoying some Crackdown and Forza 2 while i await a Socom replacement on the 360. Its absolute BS the way Zipper has treated us the past couple years.
i think this is the game that is going to sell ps3’s besides killzone 2 because theres no better online game that ive played than socom 2 and the dev said that they tried to bring socom 2 back… I CANT WAIT TO PLAY CROSSROADS!!!!!!!!!!!
Dayum this is a game i need, NOW
ok, I know this isn’t a _itch blog. But, I’ve been playing FTB2 for several hours now and I’ve GOT to b_tch.
Please tell me someone is going to FIX the NPC AI, and FIRE the guy that coded the scope/grenade targeting routines or send them to school for physics 101A, BEFORE releasing the new games.
If the barrel of my weapon extends beyond the boundry of an object then the fired round CANNOT strike said object. Meaning that a round fired through a window cannot strike the window sill if the barrel of the weapon is PAST the window sill. The fired round also cannot/should not move 1 meter horizontally to strike the sides of the window.
B. Deploy grenade does NOT mean run up to the target and drop the grenade, throw the GD thing.
ii. When I shoot the NPC in the head, don’t take the socom ca approach and kill me, but rather DO THE COMMAND I’VE GIVEN YOU 8 TIMES IN A ROW, DON’T JUST SIT THERE. Also, when I put a round into a NPC’s head it’s because he’s an incompetent F-up endangering the fireteam and sending one dead hero home to their mommy is better than ghosting the whole fireteam.
3. Smoke and tear gas grenades don’t always ignite if you can’t see them land or aren’t watching them deploy. I’ve chucked 6 gas grenades in the same spot where they land behind rubble or over a fence and they don’t deploy. Bug or were they manufactured by union labor?
j. Boomer my NPC is standing in front of an open door, I order him to deploy a grenade inside the open doorway. Why does he throw the grenade at the outside wall?
V. When I press the triangle button to make my character lie down. NOTHING should cause them to stand again unless I press the triangle button again. Standing when a rock/tree/shrub gets in your way gets you sent home a dead hero.
Thank you very much. I feel much better now.
WOOT lair is only rated T!!!!!!!!
To be honest I never played a Socom game in my life, but I know many hardcore gamers of this genere. I, am really considering getting this game from the point it is standing on now and it can only get better. Since this game is gonna be a PSN download what is the target size for the download, if you can make a guess although it is still in development?
Ever since I’ve started playing Resistance online, I stopped playing Fireteam Bravo 2 online, so I hope Tactical Strike can get me back into the momentum of portable online play. Plus, with Confrontation, I’ll definitely become more involved in the Socom series. Great work, everyone. Oh, and happy 4th of July, lol
Remember people, they did say this was PRE-ALPHA!!! That means it still way in development. Also there were shaders in the one with the shop.
ONE LETTER, ONE NUMBER
E3
One more thing switch the camera back to the original socom camera, not the OTS view seen in the video from Sony’s gamers day
I can’t wait for this game. Looks freakin awesome!
Cant wait to get back into Socom, It’s been awhile.
the graphics are great,but i liked to know more about the game play and if there is a ploblem with glitching and things like the mics not working will be addressed faster then they have been in socom ca?
Graphics look great for a downloadable game.
a must buy, man im going to be broke in the fall
Maybe I’ve missed something here but, looking at those screenshots (yes, the high res ones on Flickr), I just can’t see anything particularly special about them. If someone told me it was a new Xbox 360 game, I would not bat an eyelid.
I haven’t played these SOCOM games before so, as an outsider, this game just looks like yet another FPS set in some drab & dusty middle eastern setting.
What singles this game out above, for example, the Tom Clancy games?
Extremely impressive guys, I’ve been a long time SOCOM player under the screen name C3LL 4554551N, had a tiny falling out near the inclusion of ‘Combined Assault’ nice to hear that slant six is going back to form, and creating an excellent online tactical game, I am seriously overjoyed, and gauranteed I’ll be one of the first in line to download or buy this… and a kudos to this site/blog etc… probably the best thing that ever happened to gaming, is Sony devs and related IP leads coming in and discussing directly with all of us hardcores, makes us feel closer to the industry if you know what I mean.
I’m a huge fan of SOCOM and I’m so glad the game play is being brought back to where it ALWAYS should have been. The feel of SOCOM is so important and any changes made and innovations made should be done in such a way as to feel like SOCOM 1 & 2. I’m happy to hear the vehicles are out, but I also wish 8 vs. 8 comes back Small and detailed maps are where SOCOM should be for the next few games.
please make some small map 16 vs 16 is good make some 8 vs 8 like frost fire,desert glory,etc
Thank you so much for returning to the old roots of Socom. I have many friends who love the Socom series, but were very upset and disappointed with the direction of the series (too big of maps, vehicles being included, etc.). The last request is that we hope the game will on a server, similar to Resistance, where there’s absolutely no lag (many friends of mine who liked Socom II, their only complaint was laggy server, compared to the first).
I can’t wait for this and thanks for replying Seth.
I loved the first socom me and brother played that 1 so much, part 2 was ok and 3 wasn’t very good at all, they tried to be to much like battlefeild and it really didn’t work for me, they are supose to be navy seals so why are u having these huge battles i like 8 on style a lot better u felt more like a team and it just made the game so much better, but thats for online as far as single player i never really liked any of the socoms
Seth Luisi is a complete idiot…
He says that he would love to hear what N’Gay Crotch has to say about the game and what he likes and dislikes, but yet we, the CUSTOMERS have been telling him from DAY ONE what we like and dislike and he NEVER ANSWERS us. HE IS A BLIND FOOL WHO IS OUT OF TOUCH WITH HIS MARKET BASE.
Watch, he will never answer ME or ELESSAR TELRUNYA’S questions.
We as customers need to SPEAK UP AND SEND ONE GIANT UNIFIED VOICE TO GET ANSWERS.
I can’t believe how many of you guys haven’t played Socom before. It’s good to see there will be new players of the franchise, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve been playing Socom since the first, and have purchased them all.
I’m really looking forward to this incarnation of the franchise.
I have all of the Socom games previously released and have never played a single player mission, I’ve only played online, and am glad that this is an online only game since I never played the single player missions in any of the others, no fillers.
pix look great, cant wait to see it up and running. Socom is a great franchise that has had its ups and downs, lets hope you guys nail this one on the head. (8 vs 8; no vehicles)
FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!!!!!
Glad to see you guys are hard a work.
I was a big Socom 1 fan. I loved that game. Socom 2 was also great, but there was something about Socom 1 with the smaller maps that made it more enjoyable to me.
I hope Confrontation delivers that same feel that I had with the original.
I have to admit that I am not that impressed with the graphics and physics I have seen so far in the videos.
I have been playing GRAW 2 on the 360, and that game has set the standard.
I am looking forward to see what the new Socom will deliver.
Don’t disappoint us
SPARDA
Hey Seth,
I trully hope your studio takes over for Zipper. Zipper stinks at helping thier customers and thier play testing is horrible. There is always 5 to 10 multiplayer glitches that really ruin the game.
Also ass alot more scope drift and take away the ability to run while scoped in…
also drop the player limit.
Let warhawk do 32
Perhaps socom could do 20?
Keep vehicles and big maps, just don’t make every map huge.
Bring back the realism too along with dead bodies that don’t disapear.
Well when is this map pack 2 and s3/ca patch coming out? I’m sure map pack 3 and 4 is scrapped. I love how Zipper breaks promises. Like us old schoolers been around since s1 day 1 release. Bought every game and hdd and chased after magazine disks for s2 map packs. Conned into the hdd. Then fat ps2 getting the disk read errors. The turn the white gear tricked helped for a while. Then was forced into buying a slim ps2. Then couldn’t use hdd. Then had to buy a flashdrive for map packs on s3/ca. Then you guy botch the Sony store back in March 2006. I love how ya said a map pack every 1-2 months and the word “soon”. Map pack 2 was promised way before we even heard about CA. Then we get CA and still no map pack 2 or a patch. But yet you want us to fork out $600 for a ps3. No wonder half the community jumped ship. I been very generous to Sony through the years. Bought a ps1 on launch day and well over 100 game library. I was a launch buyer for a ps2. Also bought a slim after fat ps2 crashed. Didn’t buy many ps2 games cause I was hooked on a addicting shooter where I dedicated all my time and money into. I bought 1 s1 day 1,3 copies of s2. Also got s2 on launch day of course. Reason for 3 s2 copies cause I worn out 2 cause I played it to much. Also I think the fat ps2 rubbed on them during play made a perfect burn circle and couldn’t play certain maps online anymore. Got s3 on launch day. I got CA on the second day cause shipments didn’t hit stores near me on day 1. Also bought 7 mic’s. But guess what I was gonna let Zipper bleed my bank account dry if they had map packs out monthly. But no such luck there. I hate to see what the future holds for Zipper and Sony. Also 32 players for Confrontation is a bad idea. Just going to what failed us as in s3/ca. So the map crossroads isn’t gonna sell ya much once some old schoolers find out its 32 players and stretched out map.
I just find it sad that a series as popular as Socom could become so disconnected from what it used to be (its past glory). I still [eagerly?] await the patches that will fix Socom 3 and Combined Assault, but until then, i won’t touch the game(s).
Also with Socom Confrontation only 5 maps that will get old real fast. It will need a map pack like a month after first release. I say price tag on this should be $15.00. Cause I figured its gonna take 3 more map packs of 5 maps each to bring it to 15 plus the starting 5 to equal 20. Then it be a real $60 game. I love how they make a new blog too. They let the socom blog die after CA release. Bad enough Zipper’s Devgru echo cant even keep up with Q&A on the http://www.playstation.com forums. Seth you better get over there and show some love.