Italian developer Milestone has had some rather mixed success with the MXGP franchise since its introduction. However, with the announcement of MXGP3: The Official Motocross Videogame, it’s obvious the studio is pulled out all the stops. Along with Unreal Engine 4, some new features like dynamic weather and much more, MXGP3 could see the franchise ascend to new heights.
GamingBolt had a chance to speak to lead designer Luca Simonotti to discuss what’s different, the new mechanics and much more.
"Career customization will have an even more important role in MXGP3."
What are your thoughts on criticism for MXGP2 and how will MXGP3 work to improve on it?
In my opinion MXGP2 was a great game with certainly some flaws, mainly because of some drop in frame rate during races on certain tracks. With the introduction of the new engine we have made great strides from every point of view and now also graphically speaking we have improved a lot. As for the gameplay we tried to add all the feedback came from users. An example is the scrub maneuver: it was criticized because it seemed “scripted” to our players. We tried to make it as free as possible, just as they have asked to us.
What can we look forward to in the career mode this time around? Will it be more cinematic than past outings?
Career customization will have an even more important role in MXGP3. In fact, while players are racing with their own private team, they can also use 2-strokes dirt bikes and they could apply on each motorcycle used the sponsor’s livery with which they have signed a contract. On Career mode also the brand new Skills system will have a strong impact on the results. The more the player races, the faster skills grow and help him to reach the podium.
What other modes are available besides career mode and what challenges can players look forward to?
In addition to Career mode there will be the Official MXGP World Championship, Time Attack mode, the Official Motocross Of Nations with 23 of the best national teams, a Compound mode which can be played to improve player’s ability and to find the right setup for the bike. Least but not last the Online mode that, with the inclusion of skills for the custom rider, will take players around the world to compete on a more realistic way.
"The combination of dynamic terrain and skills are two factors that together will affect gameplay and difficulty."
Dynamic weather is a first for the series. How does it significantly change up gameplay? Was it hard to implement without affecting performance?
Dynamic weather has a strong impact on gameplay in fact the grip of the terrain changes according to sunny or rainy weather. Hard pack terrain on sunny races will become wet and slippery when it rains so we have also added a specific skill for the custom rider that is linked to the ability of riding on a wet surface. As far as concern performance, a good job has been done on Dynamic weather in order to do not have any impact on the frame rate.
“Dynamic deformations” are also included in MXGP3. Could you tell us more about how this affects a racer’s performance?
Yes, of course. As in real life, if a rider is not very strong in the management of the bike while he is facing up ruts, or otherwise he is not so skilled, he will have a harder time racing on a bumpy track and therefore he will not be as fast as the others. So the combination of dynamic terrain and skills are two factors that together will affect gameplay and difficulty.
"In the game you can also find 132 official riders, 1 customizable rider, 14 4-Stroke dirt bikes and 10 2-Stroke dirt bikes."
Could you tell us about the “enhanced customization” that players can take advantage of?
The customization feature has been expanded with more objects and with the update of certain kinds of components to their new versions. Some parts have been reorganized so that the player is free to customize some elements separately, differently from the previous chapter where these elements were united.
How many tracks, riders and bikes can we look forward to in MXGP3?
A lot of tracks and riders obviously! We have about 18 tracks taken directly from the official world championship, 5 tracks from the official Motocross of Nations and 1 compound divided in 2 tracks. In the game you can also find 132 official riders, 1 customizable rider, 14 4-Stroke dirt bikes and 10 2-Stroke dirt bikes.
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