Interviews

Simon Adams from Tag Games talks Car Jack Streets 2, delays, and the changing world of mobile gaming

'This will be something new. Really new'

Simon Adams from Tag Games talks Car Jack Streets 2, delays, and the changing world of mobile gaming
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iOS
| Car Jack Streets 2

It's been almost three years since Car Jack Streets tore up the App Store with its top-down GTA-like action.

Since then, we've seen a few early screenshots and a teaser video that hint at a promising sequel to Car Jack Streets, but otherwise Tag Games has been very quiet on the subject of when the game might be coming out.

I sat down with Tag Games product evangelist Simon Adams earlier this week to ask him about what's taking so long finishing Car Jack Streets 2, and whether it can still compete in a much more mature and developed App Store from that of '09.

Pocket Gamer: Why is Car Jack Streets 2 taking so long to make?

Simon Adams: The real issue has been the necessity for Tag to balance its interests between B2B [business-to-business] and B2C [business to consumer] work.

In the world of mobile games, it is becoming increasingly hard for a studio to turn a profit, so working on a B2B basis has become the default position.

After Real Time Worlds collapsed, Tag made the decision to balance things out, which meant that we had to allocate resources to B2B developments, obviously eating away at time for Car Jack Streets 2.

Additionally, over the past year and half, we have seen the industry u-turn on what is the optimum business model for mobile games. Now, we have free-to-play, service-modelled games which require the technology we simply did not have last year.

We spent a lot of time developing that technology (server infrastructures, user-profiling databases allowing for sociability, a new game engine, etc).

So, really, the game has taken so long because we have had to ensure the survivability of the business while developing the costly technologies that will make Car Jack Streets 2 such an immersive, enjoyable experience - technologies that even the 'big players' in social mobile don't have.

Have the changes in mobile tech - such as the launch of the new iPad - since the initial announcement of Car Jack Streets 2 also had an effect on how the game has been developed?

Not particularly. We actually foresaw the potential of the iPad (our Astro Ranch title was a launch title for the platform, for example), and we are seeing a lot of potential in Android tablets, especially those with their own marketplaces.

So, when we developed our social mobile technology, we knew that we wanted to let players play with their friends regardless of whether they were on an iPad, an iPhone, an Android device, etc. Hence, we developed this ability for all of our games - current and future ones - not just Car Jack Streets 2, in particular.

Funpark Friends, one of our current titles, is cross-platform in this way. The game was just built around our tech, so it was inherently capable of being played on tablets.

Is Car Jack Streets 2 really scheduled for launch "this year" or is the release date still uncertain?

Right, so, we have a team working on Car Jack Streets 2, we are hiring two new senior staff to work on the project, and we are super, super-close to our first vertical slice [pre-alpha working proof of concept].

All that being said, I cannot give an estimate, really: it will be done when it is done, which I know will make your eyes roll. This game is our darling, and we want it to be as good as it can be.

We have the map laid out, the environments are being constructed as I type this, and if we are happy for it to be released this year, it will be.

If we aren't, then it won't, but we want to make sure that you are aware that we do have staff working on this game full time (and more). We ourselves are aware that this game has dragged out.

Can you say anything about what we can expect from the title in terms of the gameplay at this stage?

One of the things we have been very happy to talk about is that the map is being built in a modular format. And since players will have profiles, it is possible for us to save player actions that have affected the environment and update the game to then update the world around the players - as if they are in a living environment.

For example, on a mission the player explodes a drug baron's hideout, but then later we decide to have an event - say, the baron escapes and builds his hideout again. That is reflected in the game, because we have put the new land module into the player's save, and the player then involves him or herself with the event.

Additionally, building the game's environment in a modular format allows us to continually add to the map ad infinitum.

So, like when you played GTA, and you went to cross the bridge but you couldn't because there was a road block. When you were at a high enough level, you could go there.

Well, we can keep blowing players away with new environments all the time, not just when they reach a level or whatever.

Are these global events decided on the fly or are they more locally based? As in, is the event of the baron rebuilding his hideout a certainty in everyone's game?

We have discussed both. The intention is to have environment changes originate from our servers and then autoload on the player's device so we 'can' do both (we have done similar things with Fun Park Friends), but I can't give up more info than that at the moment.

Since the original Car Jack Streets launched, there have been quite a few attempts at bringing open-world GTA-esque action to smartphones (not least GTA3 itself). Do you feel Car Jack Streets 2 will still be able to make an impact on gamers when it launches?

Yes, because Car Jack Streets 2 will attempt to do something no sandbox driver-shooter on mobile has done before.

We are creating a living environment for players to influence via their actions in game, through their discussions on our communities, via comments on Pocket Gamer, etc.

This is an environment which will breathe and grow with the player and their friends as they delve into the Car Jack Streets 2 experience.

This will not be a linear experience; this will be something new. Really new.

Next Thursday (June 28th) from 6pm BST / 10am PST, Tag Games will be holding a live-streamed 24 'Tag Jam' featuring discussions on Car Jack Streets 2, tips on breaking into the games industry, and more. Head on over to the Tag Games Facebook page to learn more.
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).