Gamesblog Live: Need for Speed Shift 2's Andy Tudor on simulation versus emotion

As lead designer of Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed, Andy Tudor is close to finishing the second iteration of the simulation wing of Electronic Arts' Need for Speed driving game franchise. He is the only home-grown developer at Gamesblog Live – Slightly Mad Studios is based in London – Tudor revealed the complexities of making an ultra-realistic racer, and argued passionately about how mathematical realism in games falls flat unless it is complemented by emotional engagement.

What level of detail do you have to go into to make a modern racing game realistic?

Starting from scratch, with the cars in the game, we get the CAD data from the manufacturers. We have great relationships with the manufacturers, and they want to be in our game. Of course, we want them just as much, to showcase these amazing cars that most of us can't afford to buy. They give us all their assets, and when you look at those amazing cars, there's craftsmanship in terms of the technical side of things – how fast they go, their acceleration and so on – and then the aesthetic side. So the craftsmanship that they put into the real cars, we try to recreate as accurately as possible, in 3D as well. And it's the same with the tracks. We try to get as many tracks in as possible, and to get them mathematically correct, but we also take the guys out to track days, so they can drive the tracks themselves. Because what you find is that what looks correct on a Google Earth map doesn't necessarily give you the same sensation when you drive it. You find yourself thinking things like: "Oh my God, that's way steeper than I thought it would have been, or than the mathematical height elevation tells me it is."

What are your favourite cars and tracks?

In Shift 2, we've got variety, which people want. It's like if you ask me what my favourite game is, I wouldn't be able to answer that, because I like one from each genre – one last-generation game, one handheld one, one MMO and so on – so when it comes to my favourite cars, I personally drive a muscle-car, but other people may hate that. The new Pagani, which we announced today, is absolutely stunning. But then there are lots of people who like old retro machines.

Do you have tracks such as the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Shift 2?

Absolutely: we've got fifty unique locations in the game now, including the Nordschleife and the Nürburgring GP circuit. Then we've included the Bathurst circuit. Again, speaking to variety, Bathurst is something we really wanted in the game – it's out in Australia, there's an epic event there every year, and the scenery stretches out over an amazing vista, which you won't get somewhere smaller, like Hockenheim. I think Bathurst is one of my favourites, as is the new Shanghai circuit.

In technical terms, what does Shift 2 have that other racing games don't?

The simulation genre, really, is just a numbers game at the moment; it's all about "We've got the greatest physics engine, and we're going to add 1,000 cars, tracks etcetera." Which is quite a dry experience. We want to turn that on its head, by adding in social features, such as Autolog, for example: which lets you compete with your friends, even if they're not online right now. But having that thing, where I can see all your lap times, and spend half an hour or an hour trying just to beat you is great. And we're continuing to pioneer in new areas. Many games have night racing, for example, but nobody has night racing like we do it, because previous games have always done it the same as normal, just with darker lighting – there's no new gameplay in there at all. What we do is strip away all the lights and now you've just got your headlights to guide you, which is a scary place. That's based on feedback which has been given to us by real drivers: they say: "We've got these high-beams on, but as powerful as they are, we still can't see the next corner coming up."

Is Shift 2: Unleashed finished yet?

We're so close to finishing – we're just adding the last 5% of polish, making sure that things are stable and everything is as polished as it can be, and it will be released on 1 April.

Where can simulation games go in the future? What lies beyond complete realism?

One thing is that graphics will always get better and better: cars will look smoother, tracks will have more spectators and detail – every single blade of grass will be modelled and all that. So we can sort of discount that: that will naturally happen. Where we feel it's going to go is adding in the real feeling you get when you're driving: the emotional response, the G-forces. When you're sat at home on the couch with a gamepad, that's already one step removed from a wheel, which is one step removed from actually being in a car with suspension and so on. We feel that rather being just a mathematical simulation, we need to be an emotional simulation of what's happening. So with the helmet cam, for example, the physics from the track are transferred to the tyres, which are transferred to the suspension, which goes to your body, which goes to your head, and that's where the helmet cam comes in. Your head moving around simulates the stuff you can't actually feel with just a gamepad in your hands.

What can you tell us about the racing drivers you used as consultants?

I'm sure lots of other games say they had feedback from drivers, but in Need for Speed's case, we have a racing team, Team Need for Speed. They're out there – they won the Dubai 24-hour race, running a BMW Z4 GT3 car. And another team are winners of the Formula D Drift championship. Those guys are winners, the best in their field, and they are driving under the Need for Speed flag. They've been giving us feedback on how the cars feel, how they handle, what angles the lights should be at, how powerful they should be, how hard the handbrake should be, what angle your head should be at going into a corner and so on. That kind of feedback is probably unprecedented.

How do you reckon Shift 2: Unleashed stacks up against Gran Turismo 5?

I've gone on record before saying GT5 and Forza are on pedestals at the moment: everyone believes they are the games to beat. They are great products, but they stop at being a numbers game, a mathematical simulation of great physics, whereas we go beyond that with the emotional and social aspects. This has happened previously in games, when FIFA was trying to keep up with Pro Evolution Soccer and Dante's Inferno with God Of War: it's the same kind of sparring we have with our competitors. We'll see where we go, but we're in it for the long haul.