Ultimate Racing Technology?

By Tom Bramwell Published 17 January, 2006

We chat to Climax about making MotoGP on Xbox 360.

You lot seem to like motorbikes for some reason. Climax probably isn't arguing - its MotoGP series, published by THQ, has won all sorts of plaudits for its realistic depiction of crotchrockets and antics related to them, particularly the series' Xbox Live aspects. MotoGP was one of the first games to make use of Microsoft's fledgling online service back when it was a fledgling in 2002. As Climax gears up for the 2006 version on Xbox 360, we sent a few questions off to Climax about the shift to Microsoft's new console, both in terms of the underlying technology and the new Live.

Eurogamer: Perhaps more than in any previous cycle, we're seeing tremendous overlap between console generations. With the PlayStation 3 and Revolution arguably still lacking definition and Xbox 360 (largely) now on the market, we're in a weird position where Microsoft actually has two available consoles that are more powerful than any of the others. In a sense, you were already on the optimal platform, so what are the benefits of taking the step up at this early stage?

Climax: Well for one thing it puts us in a great position for the future. We've been able to put a strong foundation in place on a next generation platform, earlier than many of our competitors. From a game point of view, it's allowed us to achieve even more realism in terms of audio and visuals.

Eurogamer: One of the things we're seeing quite a bit of with first-generation 360 software is developers making use of just one or two of the console's processors. To what degree have you been making use of the console's new technology?

Climax: We started off on one processor and then we've spread out as we've gone along. By the time our game comes out, we'll be using all of the processor threads at least some of the time. There will still be a lot more untapped power to be had though. We're gunning for 4x anti-aliasing with 20 bikes at 60 frames per second so we're having to push quite hard.

'Ultimate Racing Technology?' Screenshot 1

Eurogamer: Bearing in mind that MotoGP has often been praised for its realistic mechanics and handling, have you found that next-generation hardware allows you to make a real difference to the physics modelling in the game?

Climax: Physics has always been a major focus for the MotoGP series since its introduction on the original Xbox and as such remains central to our vision for the game. We've been extremely pleased with the critical response we've received from both the press and bike fans and for MotoGP URT 3 and we've been fortunate that we have not had to re-write the handling code form the ground up. The great upside of this is that it has freed up our coders' time to focus on other areas of the game to deliver what we feel is the 360's best racing game.

Eurogamer: One of the things Tony Beckwith said when you announced in October was that you've always striven to improve not only the visual side of the game but also the gameplay features that define each new version. What sort of areas have you looked to improve in MotoGP 2006, and what do you feel are its key innovations?

Climax: We have new challenge gameplay this time around which adds to the game structure but where we've really innovated this time is in the audio - especially for the engine sounds. We've devoted a lot of memory to sound samples and reinvented the way we represent engines. It makes a really surprising difference to the way the game plays. You get much more feedback and it feels a lot more exciting. Although in many ways GP 06 will seem familiar, it really is a huge leap forward in terms of the pure gameplay experience. It's not one of these games where you might as well have just bought the Xbox version because it feels exactly the same. Think of it like this: GP3 is to GP 06 as a Mercedes A-Class is to an AMG SL55 - both can take you from A to B in relative comfort but I'd prefer to rip around a track in the 'SL any day of the week! GP 06 is slick, fast and best played loud.

'Ultimate Racing Technology?' Screenshot 2

Eurogamer: MotoGP has always been synonymous with Xbox Live - you were one of the first series to take advantage of it last time, and you've responded as it's become more established. What kind of advantages are there to working with Live on Xbox 360, and what sort of features can we expect? Also on that note, what kind of Live Achievements can players expect to be gunning for?

Climax: Well in many ways, you have to start from the ground up again with the new Xbox Live. It's nice and easy to work with this time around but you have to do a lot of things differently. As you say, we've always done a lot with Live. I think we're still the only console driving game that supports 16 players online, aren't we? We've lived up to our own high standards again this time around. We currently have over 40 achievements in GP 06 so there are lots of targets to try and hit.

MotoGP 2006 is due out on Xbox 360 this year, and we'll be taking a closer look at it in person in the coming weeks.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Martin #1 6 years ago

    I've never experience the MotoGP series - dunno why really.

    Seems a tad boring to be honest.

    /shrug

  • BartonFink #2 6 years ago

    Excellent news. This series has to count as one of the best racing games anywhere. Good to hear they are actually making use of the six hardware threads too. Bring it on. And yes it will have /\/\0t0r61k35

  • Stickman #3 6 years ago

    "Perhaps more than in any previous cycle..."

    Loving your work!

  • jeff #4 6 years ago

    I hope they make a better version than gp3,ok that game had the street bikes in it to make it appeal to a wider audience but it was overall a disapointing game marred by gliitches on xbox live.Why couldnt Climax make the moto gp bikes handle a bit more simmy and keep the arcade style handling for the street bikes.The game turned into a powersliding contest,fine for the streetbikes but surely this should have been toned down for the moto gp mode.


    Dont get me wrong i bought all the versions from Climax [gp2 being in my opinion the best] and the reason for getting live a couple of years ago was because of moto gp.Its going to be interesting to see how Polyphony respond with Tourist Trophy on the ps2 [due Feb 2nd,in Japan and provisionally dated as April in the uk],an interesting time ahead for bike fans.

  • MrGrumpy.au #5 6 years ago

    Quote Interview - "I think we're still the only console driving game that supports 16 players online"

    Destruction Derby Arenas (or as it was nicknamed down under "Dodgy Framerate Arenas";) is 20 players online but it's a client/server model not peer-to-peer. That's also assuming Sony still have the severs up, because it became a ghost town in .au by Oct - Dec '04 (I guess it'd be the same everywhere else).

    Anyway as usual the new MotoGP looks impressive and probably will play just as impressively. It's also nice to see more than one core being used as well.

    MrG
    Edited by 1 at 17/01/06 @ 16:02

  • TedBaker #6 6 years ago

    @ Jeff:

    I think Climax's Nottingham office handled MotoGP3 (anyone care to confirm?) unlike the previous 2 which were by the blokes in the Brighton office. I guess with MotoGP4 being on the horizon, MotoGP3 had to be offloaded somewhere...

  • Tricky #7 6 years ago

    @Martin - it's certainly one of the more "hardcore" games out there in that if you don't get on with the handling of bikes then you just aren't going to enjoy it. I first got into the game because it was the only decent Live game worth playing as a beta tester. Initially I was merely okay at it, spending a fair amount of time off the track and in the sandtraps, but it's one of those games that you really reap the benefits of repeated play, learning exactly where the best lines are for taking corners etc. Add that to the Live scoreboards with the online racing and it just really grabbed that competitive part of me.

    If you're not into games that you need to plough a lot of time into, then I'd probably say that it's not your thing. It's definitely not boring though ;-)

  • Tweakmonkey #8 6 years ago

    GP3 is to GP 06 as a Mercedes A-Class is to an AMG SL55

    Anyone else think this was an odd comparison to make for a motorbike game?

  • jeff #9 6 years ago

    TedBaker
    17-Jan-06 16:03:55 @ Jeff:

    I think Climax's Nottingham office handled MotoGP3 (anyone care to confirm?) unlike the previous 2 which were by the blokes in the Brighton office. I guess with MotoGP4 being on the horizon, MotoGP3 had to be offloaded somewhere...


    Cheers for the info.

  • chronom4n #10 6 years ago

    Hell of a short interview i should say so. and yes i agree with you tweakmonkey, it does seem to be a weird comparison, the a-class versus the amg sl55. i mean the a-class is mediocre anyway. i mean he could have used maybe a skyline versus the sl55 comparison. I have always found the handling in MOTOgp URT to be frustrating at times. for example i found it difficult to find your 'sweet spot' like you can with other racing games. And i am aware that bikes do handle in a different manner to their 4 wheeled counterparts. i found out that i needed to reprogram my head in order to make the most of the game. Still visually Motogp2 URT was an absolute blinder. and the view from first person perspective when playing in the wet was just mindboggling. why cant all racing games have this much detail when playing inthe rain. cant wait for the visuals to be optimised for 360. oh and one other thing THQ/climax started the cray frog sound for those in the know!

  • Empedocles #11 6 years ago

    Ted Baker and Jeff.

    Moto GP3 started at Climax Nottingham, but the bulk of the project was transfered and finished at Brighton.

    In my opinion the best bike racing studio in the world - and no I don't work there!
    Edited by 1 at 17/01/06 @ 18:11

  • velocity_girl #12 6 years ago

    i ride an s2r and Climax are the only developers to ever get remotely close to the real feeling... I can't wait for this. And at last they seem to be paying alot of attention to the sounds - fantastic cant wait to hear ducati v4 in 5.1 :).. also 4x anti alialising at 60fps - i hope they manage it...

  • Beano #13 6 years ago

    "GP 06 is slick, fast and best played loud."

    Yes... just like all other Xbox 360 games which have to be played loud to compensate for the NOISY DVD drive!

    Looking forward to the new Moto GP game though... lets hope the framerate will be SOLID 60fps this time ;)
    Edited by 1 at 17/01/06 @ 19:07

  • velocity_girl #14 6 years ago

    beano - i agree... dvd drive is soo damn noisy... only with 360 games tho.. not xbox games..

    also i find when playing demos like fight night the console is actually very quiet (and very cool) for how powerful it is... that drive is what is making all the noise!

  • smelly #15 6 years ago

    Oh goody! Another racing game! Just what we need!


    Btw, TedBaker: Fairly sure I remember that they shut down their notts studio years ago. Probably wrong though (no doubt i am).

  • neon #16 6 years ago

    The bikes look good in those screen shots, the tracks look far less impressive. Moto Gp2 running on an Xbox did not look as good as the screen shots touted about on various game sites. Does this mean the screen shots on offer for Moto Gp 2006 Xbox360 here on Eurogamer are simply renders and not what the actual game looks like running on a stock Xbox 360. The riders do look stiff, and was looking forward to seeing really real looking riders on next gen platforms.


    /waits for the Japs to sink their teeth into motorbike games. Maybe on Playstation 3 motobike fans will get to experince the Grand Turismo of bike games. Now that would be worth waiting for.
    Edited by 1 at 17/01/06 @ 20:33

  • DjDATZ #17 6 years ago

    wow...i have no clue why i havent played a motorcycle racing game yet. odd really, i love motorcycles...so i guess i'll hafto get this game too.

  • smelly #18 6 years ago

    Does this mean the screen shots on offer for Moto Gp 2006 Xbox360 here on Eurogamer are simply renders and not what the actual game looks like running on a stock Xbox 360.


    Doubtful, but you'd be a FOOL if you think they are actual GAMEPLAY shots and not replay cameras (which we all know are easy to make pretty).

    Dont we? Oh, please tell me people arent still falling for that old trick?

  • symmetry #19 6 years ago

    Just watch the footage on Eurogamer.tv - here

  • smelly #20 6 years ago

    Just watch the footage on Eurogamer.tv - here


    LMFAO yes, people are STILL falling for that old trick. That proves my point rather than disproves it. Not a SINGLE ONE of those cameras was playable from.

    Every single one was a replay camera.

  • kangarootoo #21 6 years ago

    @jeff
    "I guess with MotoGP4 being on the horizon, MotoGP3 had to be offloaded somewhere... "

    A friend of mine worked on MGP3 for a time, and he moved from Brighton to Nottingham to do so. Not sure who else (if anyone) on the staff relocated, but I figure some of the MGP team continued on with 3.

    I've played MGP1 and 2 but they weren't quite my bag. I actually ride a bike in reality land, but when it comes to racing games I'm more in the Burnout camp than GT and the same applies here.

    There comments made by Tricky make sense to me. If I'd put more time into it I would have got more out, but I prefer to be able to go quickly from the off without sliding out at every corner.

    I didn't find being able to ride a bike much help when playing the game, as bike riding is so much about shifting your weight around and no game can give you enough feedback in that respect.

    I thought the controls were great though, independant brakes and body position is far beyond what most biking sims give you. Just not my cup of tea in a gaming sense is all. Anyone who likes sim type race games (CM Rally always springs to mind) will get a lot out of this I think.

  • Stickman #22 6 years ago

    Bloody hell, smelly! You don't want any more racing games, you don't want any more WW2 games, what do you want? ;)

  • smelly #23 6 years ago

    Actually i said, i dont want any more racing games, and i dont want any more generic fps games UNLESS they add more to the genre than just prettier graphics.

    If someone comes up with a brand new idea which REALLY improves upon racing games (like trackmania did), or indeed fps's. Then I wont be complaining. But surely if not, once you've played one, you've played them all?

    I'd rather have originality. If all people are prepared to play are racing, sports and fps games, then sooner or later people are going to get bored of the same old same old, start blaming it on the developers, and stop playing games.

    The 360 is bloody powerful, lets see that power being put to something other than prettier pixels please?!?

  • Stickman #24 6 years ago

    Games industry in a nut shell at the mo though isn't it. All about the mighty dollar, and if Need For Speed Road to the World Cup 2007: Allied Assault meets targets because Jonny Chav sees it on the tv, then 2008 version won't be far behind, probably at the expense of a ground breaker.

    It's all about the money, baby!

  • smelly #25 6 years ago

    Aye. Which is why im starting my "dont buy any more racing/fps games" campaign.

    And a word to microsoft: I wont buy a 360 until there is a decent non racing/fps game on it.

  • neon #26 6 years ago

    "Doubtful, but you'd be a FOOL if you think they are actual GAMEPLAY shots and not replay cameras (which we all know are easy to make pretty)."



    Thats what i was thinking, eye candy renders.




  • smelly #27 6 years ago

    No, they're not renders. They *ARE* game footage, just probably not in-game footage.

    I've explained this before. Look at a game like gran tourismo, does it look as good in game, as it does in the replays (where it doesnt have to worry about game calculations, etc, just looking pretty)? If you only show people the replays, it looks stunning. If you look at the in game cameras, it still looks good, but nowhere near as georgeous!

    See?

  • kangarootoo #28 6 years ago

    @smelly
    "Aye. Which is why im starting my "dont buy any more racing/fps games" campaign."

    What about the people who simply want the best race sim available. For them a new title is not going to bring "originality", but rather a greater level accuracy in
    simulation that is presented.

    If that isn't your kind of game (its not mine either as I have said) then fine, but don't be so churlish as to threaten a "campaign" when all it boils down to is a matter of taste.

    "No, they're not renders. They *ARE* game footage, just probably not in-game footage."

    Man, talk about splitting hairs. If they aren't pre-renders (and you accept that they aren't) then they are almost certainly just captures of gameplay in whatever form that takes mid development. I doubt the devs really have time to work on some kind of "not pre-rendered but gameplay footage but not actually in-game but kind of prettier looking" screengrab engine.

    I don't mean to be abll narky with you. I'm just busy, and when I am blurting out my thoughts they tend to be a bit stroppy ;)

  • neon #29 6 years ago

    Anyone remember the Screenshots touted about for the exclusive to Xbox rpg Sudeki. They were hi resolution renders. The actual game looked no where near as good as those renders. Its the same company up to their tricks again.
    Edited by 1 at 18/01/06 @ 12:24

  • Furbs #30 6 years ago

    You lot dont know how good you've got it today. Ask a Spectrum owner what it was like buying a game back in the late 80s, seeing a C64 pic on the back, getting home and having to play the game in monochrome.

    Thank god I had a C64. Until they started using Amiga graphics.

  • evade #31 6 years ago

    @Empedocles

    Thats incorrect :/

    Brighton struggled to get any projects and stabbed nottingham in the back by taking it back at the end.

    I felt sorry for the poor b**tards in nottingham
    Edited by 1 at 18/01/06 @ 13:51

  • neon #32 6 years ago

    who is Nottingham -?-

  • TedBaker #33 6 years ago

    @ neon:

    That be the Sheriff of Nottingham, Sire.

  • smelly #34 6 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Surely it's simple. Take a shot/movie during the actual game, and not while it's going through the replay engine!

    Watch the video, now tell me - do you REALLY think you'll play from any of those angles?

    It's a trick that's been used for years, and people STILL keep falling for it!

    Ho hum, trying to educate people, but every time i try, i get called a fanboy.. so i'll go sit in the corner and give up trying.