Survios Chief Product Officer TQ Jefferson revealed new details about: Alien: Rogue Invasion In an exclusive interview with Game Rant. Among other things, Jefferson discussed the game's protagonist and setting and explained how the game would be played. rogue intrusion Expected to appeal in the long term alien Both fans and newcomers to the franchise.
Alien: Rogue Incursion is a VR-only action horror game officially announced in April 2024. It promises to combine suspenseful gameplay with an original narrative starring Zula M. Hendricks, a former American Colonial Marine who has previously appeared in more than six films. alien Comics and novels. Although he is no longer part of the military due to the incident. rogue intrusionShe is determined to fight the Xenomorph threat wherever she goes.
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Ahead of the game's launch, Game Rant sat down with Survios CPO TQ Jefferson to discuss what to expect. rogue intrusion How did it happen and how does it fit in? alien Franchise, etc.
Survios CPO TQ Jefferson talks Alien: Rogue Incursion and more.
Q: It looks like you've been working in the video game industry for a long time. Can you tell us about your experience and any highlights you would like to share?
A: I started working in the gaming industry in 1997 as a quality assurance tester at Activision. It's been almost 30 years since I entered the gaming industry. At that time, I was fortunate enough to get promoted and work at a great company with great people working on a ton of games, platforms, and intellectual properties. This happened when I was at 20th Century Games. Alien: Blackout and Predator: Hunting Grounds. There are so many great games out there, I'm sure. Alien: Rogue Invasion It will probably find a place among my favorites (because it already has).
Q: You said you’ve been active for a long time. alien Pan. How did this happen?
A: I'm not sure if the word 'fan' fully captures my complex relationship with my fans. alien franchise. I love franchises. I love everything: not only movies, but also novels, comics, and collectibles. Ask me about my Xenomorph tattoo! But I saw it first alien At a very young age, it scared me terribly. Then, as I got older, I became a fan of science fiction and horror, along with James Cameron's films. alien. Since then, I've gone from being a casual fan of the film franchise to being part of the development team that created the first film. alien A video game made for VR.
Q: You said it was made specifically for VR? What does this mean and how is VR different from PC gaming?
A: There are several challenges faced when developing VR first compared to PC/console, but I will briefly outline the three main ones. One of the most obvious is in narrative. In VR, you are the camera. That means you can't do dramatic cutaways to show what's happening elsewhere in the world. Storytelling must be primarily first-person and real-time. with alien Story is so important to the franchise that we had to find creative ways to present the story to players while keeping these unique considerations in mind.
Another is performance, running at a smooth and comfortable frame rate and visual fidelity. We decided early on to use a more realistic art style to showcase the Xenomorphs to their best effect and create the deepest sense of immersion possible. People may not realize this, but for VR to work you have to render everything twice, once for each eye. The level of detail, number of physical objects, number of Xenomorphs, number of visual effects, lighting, etc. all affect performance. Everything in the game must be designed and tuned with performance in mind.
Lastly, the main differences that are most noticeable to me are the way you physically use your gear in VR, the way you reload your pulse rifle, infuse yourself with health, and open doors with your plasma torch. In VR, the player actually performs these actions. On PC/console, the animation plays when you press the button. It's a completely different experience.
All of this and more contributes to creating a sense of presence, or the feeling of literally being in the world. alien.
People may not realize this, but for VR to work you have to render everything twice, once for each eye.
Q: How did it go? Alien: Rogue Incursion Is there a project coming out?
A: Survios wanted to develop large-scale licensed properties, especially VR games with global appeal and wide reach. By doing this, you will take your development beyond anything you have done before. At 20th Century Games, where I worked just before coming to Survios, I was the Vice President of Game Production for Licensed Properties. I have worked with developers on the following games: Alien: Blackout, Aliens: Fireteam Eliteand Aliens: Dark Descent. Meanwhile, I had this dream. alien A game I would like to make if I could. As a fan, I had to be well-versed in the film series, and I wanted people to feel immersed in the film. alien world. Fast forward to now and I'm at Survios and on a mission to find the next big project. I knew this franchise was perfect for this opportunity.
Q: You mentioned that Survios has been working on this project for several years. How did development go? How did Survios decide on the basis of the game? What should be included?
no way: Alien: Rogue Incursion This is our most ambitious game to date. It's the culmination of 11 years of innovative VR development, complex storytelling, and world-class franchises and stories. As I said before, I had a lot of knowledge in this field. alien A movie franchise is coming to Survios. Nonetheless, we conducted some independent research to get a better understanding. alien Fans, who they are, where they come from, what they like. Research doesn’t tell you what to make. This tells you how strongly your idea resonates with your intended audience. We were encouraged to discover that many of our assumptions were true.
path of development Alien: Rogue Incursion Development on the game was challenging, with several starts and stops and a complete reboot. Early on, we created something we called First Playable. This is a part of the game developed to a high level of maturity that can serve as an example of the final product. The game was as follows alien But it didn't feel like fun or anything. alien.
We realized we weren't making what we had imagined. We were trying to do too much and it got in the way of creating a great core gameplay loop. We decided to leverage our strengths to build custom experiences for VR first and bring them to PC/console.
We reorganized and took months to deliver something compelling. The pressure was undeniable, but the focus was there, and by the end of that period the studio had developed what we call a partner playable demo. We then showed it to Disney, Sony, and Meta, and each time we got amazing responses and confirmation that we had realized our vision.
This demo validated the vision. In it, you were armed with only a pulse rifle and a motion tracker, fighting your way through a facility with steam explosions and blinking lights, trying to reach the Med Bay and fighting Xenomorphs along the way. They come out of the ceiling and crawl up the walls, screaming and jumping, trying desperately to kill you. It looked like this: alienIt sounded like this: alienThe game was as intense, scary, and fun as we originally envisioned it to be. This demo transports you right into the world. alien. We found the core gameplay loop and never looked back.
The development process for Alien: Rogue Incursion was challenging, with several starts and stops, and one complete reboot of the game's development.
Q: Can you tell us more about Zula Hendricks? For those who don't know much about her character, who is she and where does she belong? alien universe?
A: As soon as we decided on the game type – an action horror game with a rich first-person story where you fight Xenomorphs head-on – choosing a player character was easy. Zula Hendricks is a former Colonial Marine who was kicked out of the Corps after being injured on her first deployment. As a result, she is left to find her way in a world suddenly devoid of structure and purpose. During her travels, she meets Davis 01, a battle synthetic who transcends his programming and makes his own choices. The two develop a strong bond as they battle against adversity and the Xenomorph threat, and vow to destroy them wherever they find them. So they put on their clothes, take up their weapons, rely on each other, and begin this campaign.
Zula embodies everything we want players to do and experience in games. That is, a disciplined and capable fighter who knows what he needs to do and is willing to jump in any way he can. This is exactly what is done when the player chooses. Alien: Rogue Incursion. It's rare to have that kind of synchronicity between player and character, and she's already established herself in the game world. alien franchise. This gave us a lot of gameplay and story options.
Zula embodies everything players want to do and experience in games.
Q: It appears she is heading to the planet Purdan. What can you tell us about this planet and its significance?
A: Purdan is a completely original creation of Survios, a major part of the original story we created for the game. Known as LV-354, it is almost entirely covered with silicate salts, giving it an interesting shape and texture. These are considered “dead rocks” that have not been fully terraformed. You can also see the iconic Weyland-Yutani atmospheric processor looming in the background. Zula travels there when former squad member Benjamin Carver, who once saved Zula's life during his time in the Colonial Marines, goes missing. Zula heads to Purdan to find out what happened to his friend. At Purdan, she and Davis 01 discovered that Weyland-Yutani's corporate competitor, Gemini Exoplanet Solutions, had expanded from mineral extraction into more nefarious R&D involving Xenomorphs.
Question: Will Alien: Rogue Incursion Suitable for unfamiliar players. alien franchise?
A: It's important that the story is self-contained and accessible. That means you don't need to know anything about it alien It's a franchise that follows the story of our game. Of course, there will be plenty of content to surprise and delight fans, such as the iconic Motion Tracker and Pulse Rifle, but there will also be nods to all the films in the franchise. We never want players to feel lost, like they're out of the loop or have to do something other than play the game to understand the story.
Q: What do you want your fans to think after playing this game?
A: He said he just played a cool VR game. Survios succeeded. The feel of the world, the atmosphere, and the Xenomorph combat all combined to create something special. Lastly, we want our fans to want more, that this is the game, this is the world, this is the story they want to see more of.
Alien: Rogue Incursion The action horror game will be released on Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR2, and Steam VR. The standard edition costs $39.99, and the deluxe edition, which includes additional cosmetics, costs $49.99. Both are already available for pre-order.
