Cipher Complex: Q&A with Thomas Coles

Edge of Reality has been flying under the radar recently regarding their Cipher Complex title, even as they provided occasional snippets of info just to keep us perked.

Now, with 2007 just starting up, they’re stoking our adrenaline meters again as creative director Thomas Coles steps into the light for more details regarding the game. In a word, expect the game to be gritty – with none of the stylized, clean-cut kills we’ve grown accustomed to in titles like MGS or Splinter Cell.

Then there’s the pacing. When we talk stealth, it’s often implied that we simply wait it out in the shadows, just biding our time until we can strike. Given Cipher‘s use of the adrenaline meter, expect a far more aggressive take on stealth, with players actively hunting down their targets under the cover of shadow.

Fair enough – we never did like the idea of out-waiting the other guy, and real-life Special Ops teams do utilize a high degree of brutality in quiet take-downs. Think of how predators hunt – aggressively stalking before the kill – which definitely beats waiting under a cardboard box.

Edge of Reality has been flying under the radar recently regarding their Cipher Complex title, even as they provided occasional snippets of info just to keep us perked.

Up ahead is the full interview with Mr. Coles, which covers more info on James Sullivan, the “adrenaline meter,” and a host of other topics we’re sure most of you will be interested in.

1. Just how far back has Edge of Reality’s dev team been working on this project?

WeÂ’ve been working directly on the game for almost two years now, but really, the technology within the game weÂ’ve been working with and molding over the last 9 years.

2. In relation to question 1, was there any particular event that sparked this title’s conception?

Everyone here enjoys military games, but for the most part we just werenÂ’t getting everything we hoped for in the current games, which was what really got us started on Cipher. WeÂ’ve developed a lot of games from the ground up, but this is the first game where we were able to take an original idea of our own and flesh it out. Overall I think it was a combination of the fact thatweÂ’ve been looking to move towards working on our own IP and when we decided on this genre and the eventual storyline we knew it was a go. It was really a case of good timing for both the development team and Edge of Reality as a company, plus its something we all really believe in.

3. What were the most memorable development hurdles the team experienced?

The trickiest bit was answering the question of how to incorporate action into a stealth game. The answer turned out to be really straightforward, but it took some iteration to figure it out. WeÂ’ve had some small issues, but most of them revolve around the story and how we want to fit some of this stuff into the game. Many people ask us how we feel about the whole next-gen development, but honestly the two years weÂ’ve been working on the game gave us a real head start in creating our own engines and tools. I attribute the smooth development to the work we put in early on when most other people were still working on the previous platforms.

4. This one’s for Mr. Mark Bristol: What was the central theme you had in mind when you developed the character profile, specifically that of protagonist John Sullivan? Example: Sam Fisher – the stone-cold professional, Solid Snake- the world-weary veteran…

Mark: The myth of the phoenix rising is the central theme in John SullivanÂ’s (AKA Cipher) character profile. One lesson for all of CipherÂ’s enemies, both foreign and domestic, is to never, ever underestimate him. Even if heÂ’s been double tapped in the chest you better make damn sure heÂ’s dead because he has a nasty habit of surviving and returning highly motivated to kick ass.

Gameplay:

1. With regards to the game’s multi-platform launch on the PS3 and Xbox 360, what sort of unique in-game features and downloadable content can the players expect per console?

CanÂ’t say yet.

2. We noticed that games like FEAR, Max Payne, and Stranglehold have a “bullet time” feature similar to Cipher’s adrenaline meter. What is it about Cipher Complex’s adrenaline meter that sets it apart from others?

I canÂ’t really get into the specifics of how the adrenaline meter works, but overall the way that it interacts with the gameplay is where people are going to see the difference. All of these games use Â“bullet timeÂ” for just thatÂ… gunfights. In Cipher Complex your strength is going to be close quarters combat. This is at the heart of the Â“aggressive infiltrationÂ” weÂ’re going for; the ability is a crucial part of combat, situation assessment and world interaction. Whether you use it to sneak behind your enemies and pounce on them or youÂ’re using it to dodge them and stay in the shadows. It really is all in how you decide to use it, and it is a crucial part of the gameplay.

3. In a previous interview, IGN mentioned that you guys would be featuring more weapons aside from Cipher’s combat knife. Any details on what sort of hardware we get to play with in-game, like specific guns?

There will be guns that fire bullets, usually at the person theyÂ’re pointed at. ThatÂ’s really all I can say.

4. The screenshots so far feature what looks like a vast military complex – any other terrain we can expect in-game, like forests?

That was actually one of the big decisions we had to make in the game, whether or not we wanted the story to span multiple locations or just stick with one mega-location. We ultimately decided to make it one giant Â“complex.Â” We thought that it would really enrich the gameplay if we had this massive location where nearly everything in it was interactive. You can run a player all over the world, but what fun is it when thereÂ’s one track through the map and nothing moves? Furthermore, we think of the location as another tool for the player, the greater familiarity with the setting allows you to strategize and use it to defeat your enemies. What we were really aiming for is making the location just as much of a character as anyone in the game, full of mystery, intrigue and dangerÂ…

Final thoughts:

1. There’s a lot of formidable stealth games already out, like Splinter Cell: Double Agent, and then there’s MGS4. How does the team think Cipher Complex will fare when it launches?

Obviously weÂ’ve played the SC and MGS series and weÂ’re big fans of them and their military subject matter, but weÂ’re also gamers, and we felt that there was an opportunity to make a game that was more dynamic. There was all this tension built up, and never really a release for it. There are some obvious staples of the stealth/action game that we adhere to, but the raw brutality and realistic grit of the game are what we were really searching for in a military game. I think youÂ’ll find that John Sullivan has many ways of taking care of business, and heÂ’ll go to some serious extremes in for the sake of National Security.

2. When the game launches, what will be the studio’s plans soon after – any other projects in mind?

WeÂ’re really focused on Cipher Complex right now, so we havenÂ’t even begun to think about anything other than that. I actually donÂ’t think any of us could even handle thinking of anything other than Cipher right now.

3. Lastly, any specific details for a launch day?

WeÂ’re planning a pizza party, punch and pie will be served

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