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Joystiq interviews FarCry 2's Clint Hocking
Ubisoft's Clint Hocking made a special trip to PAX this year to show off his latest project: FarCry 2. But this isn't your run-of-the-mill FPS sequel, as our liveblog of the demo details, but an ambitious open-world shooter set in the exotic locale of the African Savannah. We were lucky to grab a couple minutes of Clint's time following the demo for an interview where we asked about the FarCry brand, the possibility of console ports, and how long they think this open-ended game will take to finish. Why use the FarCry brand to make this game? Well, I think that's kind of a business question for Ubisoft but my answer to that is, Ubisoft started with FarCry, published it and obviously started making the console games. The same time they were doing that – keep in mind I started conception before FarCry Instincts even shipped. They were in production when I started conception. And Ubisoft knew at that time that they wanted a top tier PC sequel. At the same time they knew about FarCry; at that time Boiling Point was announced; we didn't know about Just Cause; they knew they were going to make at least two sequels on the console; LOST was on TV. Literally they said, "We're worried that we're going to dry up this brand."%Gallery-6687%
PAX 07: The Far Cry 2 public demo
They inform us that there will be no visual or audio recording during the FarCry 2 demo. Developer Clint Hocking is on the stage, having flown to Seattle from Leipzig for this one, single demo. They've reserved the first two rows for press, eager to ensure their forfeiture of sleep doesn't go unrewarded. The screen is showing a Windows desktop with a big, shiny FarCry 2 logo. Carolyn Carnes opens up, reminding us there is no recording equipment (OR ELSE!), asking us to turn our cellphones off, reminding us this is a pre-alpha (read: if something goes wrong, it's early!) and of course, they won't be able to answer everything during the Q&A session. They gave a limited demonstration of the game at Leipzig, but this will be the definitive unveiling of the game. She intros Clint, notes he was the lead developer of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (someone yells out, "Oh yeahhhh!") and creative director of the FarCry 2 project. He's been on the project for over 2 years now, starting with a small team of eight guys working to determine how to make a sequel worthy of the original. They went into production three months ago and "aren't even alpha." They're targeting first quarter 2008. The demo, due to a technological circumstance, will be run in an unfortunately low 800x600 whereas the game has been running for them at 1600x1050, 30fps. The good news: the frame rate should be great.
