Remedy Entertainment"s lead designer, Petri Järvilehto, discusses the upcoming sequel. New screenshots and movies.
The original Max Payne was released in 2001 to critical and popular acclaim, despite its numerous development delays and its rather short single-player game, which most players completed in about 10 hours. Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment is now wrapping up development on Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, which is scheduled for release later this year. We caught up with lead designer Petri Järvilehto for his insight into the game"s physics.
GS: Why did you choose to use Havok physics in the game?
Petri Järvilehto: Choosing a separate physics engine like Havok was a pretty easy decision. We evaluated different physics engines, and it seemed like Havok was hands-down the best solution to our needs. Using a physics engine allows us to create the great-looking combat scenes [that Max Payne is known for] with increased realism and dramatic, movielike action. Havok"s software and user support have been very professional, and they have made the precise and effective integration of the physics engine to our code possible. Long story short, we felt that to be able to really push the gameplay and interaction, we just had to have realistic physics.