Dyack Talks Twin Snakes

Dyack Talks Twin Snakes




Learn about the making of Twin Snakes and wherefore Denis Dyack thinks more developer collaborations will happen in the futurity

Denis Dyack, the President of Nintendo developer Silicon Knights, likes to talk. He also likes to compare Miyamoto to Aristotle. And since he's working upon one of the highest profile upcoming GameCube games, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, we like to listen. We sent three editors down to Konami of America lately to question Dyack on Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 3 and the coming time of games.

1UP: Could you bring a percentage on what parts of Twin Snakes Silicon Knights is responsible for, what Nintendo's responsible for, and what Konami's responsible for?

Denis Dyack: That's an interesting question, individual that's never been asked before. It's fair hard to define, at the extreme point of the day. I can count you certain things that certain clumps are definitely doing -- Kojima's collection is working on the many-sided figure demos, for instance. But we're collaborating upon everything else. Rather than give you percentages, that's probably the best way to describe it. Miyamoto's involved, Kojima's involved -- we have discourse calls three or four times a week, and upon top of that just not long ago we had four or five stays staying at Silicon Knights for a month working with us, for a like reason there's all kinds of exchange going upon constantly.

1UP: in what way different is that from working upon Legacy of Kain, which was just you, and then Eternal Darkness, which was overseen through Nintendo?

Dyack: Eternal Darkness was a collaboration as well -- Miyamoto have the direction ofs everything, but that was a collaboration as well. We worked closely with game designers at EAD upon Eternal Darkness: Tusnami, Tsuchida, Yamada, clan from NOA as well. with equal reason it was entirely a collaborative effort.

Legacy of Kain was just, as an example, we reflection of this concept and we went with it. Whereas with Eternal










Apparently these guards are running away from Snake--must be upon "easy" mode.



Darkness we notion of the concept with Nintendo in mind and started working with Nintendo from the beginning.

Now, this [Twin Snakes] was level more complex because Kojima's cluster talked to Miyamoto's group and said they wanted to work together. Kojima was working upon Metal Gear Solid 3 and didn't have a fate of experience with Gamecube, thus he was looking for a reliable team. And it wasn't just going to be a regular port. for a like reason Miyamoto asked us, if we were interested in doing it, and in the way that we said great, sure.

There's a three-way collaboration there, and it's really exciting -- the relationship itself. It's a meeting of the minds -- I always say Miyamoto's like Aristotle and Kojima's like Socrates, thus you have these two great masters working together. It's bonny exciting that we get a chance to be part of that.

1UP: Since you're working with an established template here, Kojima's Metal Gear Solid, to what stage do you think you're making this your possess game, and how?

Dyack: I don't think we're doing that -- well, we are and we aren't. What we're really trying to do is retain the spirit of the first game; that's really important. I really like the first Metal Gear Solid. It's single of my favorite games, thus from that perspective, if someone other was remaking it and shipwrecked it, I'd be really angry. with equal reason there's that part of it.

We're taking all the things you could do in MGS2 and combining them into the first game, and that's really exciting. It creates a fate of new stuff, stuff that wasn't in the next to the first one even. There are things you can do that weren't in the next to the first game. I think what we're doing is trying to bring the Metal Gear Solid experience, with the collaboration of all three parties, into this of recent origin product. And we're very confident that race who enjoyed the first game will regard with affection this.

Certainly MG is Kojima's baby, and it's not something we would flat want to change much. We're taking the spirit of that, and doing whatever we think is best.

1UP: Has it been difficult to translate a game that was made for the Dual shog onto a different controller?

Dyack: That was something we reflection about. We spent a apportionment of time on the controller and it was challenging, on the other hand we think we've










Opening cabinets and locker was a skill Snake learned in MGS2 and it will carry above to Twin Snakes.



come up with something profitable We've sat down and focus-tested it with tribe who are big Metal Gear Solid fans -- they pick it up and flat though it's on the Gamecube controller it works.

1UP: You're integrating all the gameplay ultimate parts from MGS2, so you start with that change, on the contrary how does it propagate [i]or[/i] part of to the other the rest of the game?

Dyack: Like an avalanche. [laughs]

It has to affect horizontal design, mission design, AI, and all that. Yeah, it affects a allotment of things, everything's changed. I'd say if there's individual thing we underestimated with the games, that was it. Metal Gear Solid 2 is an enhancement of Metal Gear Solid. In gameplay boundarys you can do more things than you could before, on the contrary when you try and combine one as well as the other you just can't stick MGS2 above MGS.